1. Ash's Story (Part 9: Alola)

Chapter 63: Z-Powered Resolve

Aether Paradise looked quieter after Lusamine vanished, but quiet did not mean safe. The mansion lights still shone over polished floors, and the beds Wicke had promised were waiting somewhere nearby, yet none of us moved toward rest at first. Lillie sat with Nebby's evolved shell held carefully in her lap, while Gladion stood close enough to help and far enough not to crowd her.

I called my mom and dad first, because after everything that had happened, hearing their voices felt like touching solid ground. Lillie's father, Mohn, had already been contacted by Wicke and was on his way through the foundation's inner halls. When my mom answered, the concern in her voice came so sharply that I almost forgot how to start.

"Ash, what happened? Wicke said Lusamine entered an Ultra Wormhole."

"Yeah, Mom," I said. "Lusamine and Guzma went after Necrozma. Nebby forced itself to evolve after the machine used too much of its power."

I turned the screen so she and my dad could see the small, silent shell in Lillie's arms. My mom went quiet, and that silence scared me more than a gasp would have. Dad's expression tightened, but his voice stayed calm enough to help me breathe.

"At least all of you are alive," Dad said. "That means the next choice still belongs to you."

Gladion looked toward the screen, exhaustion heavy around his eyes. "There is still too much to do. Mother and Guzma are somewhere beyond an Ultra Wormhole, and Nebby cannot move. Even after everything, she is still our mother. We cannot leave her alone in some unknown world."

Lillie lowered her face toward Nebby. "I do not know how to forgive what she did. I only know I cannot abandon her."

The door opened before anyone could answer. Dulse and Zossie entered together, both of them looking shaken in ways their strange suits could not hide. Dulse stopped when he saw Cosmoem in Lillie's arms, and Zossie's eyes widened with guilt.

"What is this?" Dulse asked. "Lusamine was not attempting to defeat Necrozma for our sake, but for her own satisfaction?"

Zossie clasped her hands near her chest. "Miss President, why would she do something like this?"

"The machine the scientist Colress helped develop with our technology was meant to restrain Necrozma," Dulse said. "We intended to send it back to our world with someone strong enough to use it safely. She has taken that purpose for herself."

Mohn entered behind them with Wicke, his expression pale as the name of the machine reached him. The moment he saw Lillie holding Nebby, grief crossed his face before memory fully found the shape of it. He stepped closer, but stopped when Lillie looked up.

"Lillie," he said softly. "I am here."

"Father," Lillie whispered, and her voice almost broke.

Mohn looked to Dulse. "You said you were going to send someone back to your world. Do you know another way to open an Ultra Wormhole?"

Dulse turned toward him with a formal nod. "The altar on Poni. The Pokémon that appears there is called the beast that devours the sun."

Zossie leaned forward eagerly despite her worry. "We rode on the back of a Pokémon like that to reach Alola."

"The altar may provide a path," Dulse said. "But understand this. If Necrozma awakens fully, it will come to steal the light from Alola."

The words settled over the room like the shadow of the wormhole had followed us out. Hau's usual restlessness disappeared. Selene held Brionne's Poké Ball in both hands. Trenor looked toward the windows, as if he could already see the island we would need to reach.