1. Ash's Story (Part 0: Prologue)

Chapter 5: The Broken Paradise

A few weeks after Serena earned permission to train beside Ash and Alice, Adam invited the children to visit Alola. He called it a reward for their progress, though Aurora heard the caution beneath his voice. The Aether Foundation had asked for advice on strange spatial readings, and Adam never trusted scientific curiosity when it began opening doors nobody fully understood.

Ash treated the invitation like an adventure. Alice packed quietly, checking every strap twice before Ash helped her. Serena brought the riding gloves Grace insisted she keep, because Grace claimed balance mattered in every kind of training.

Aether Paradise rose from the Alolan water like a white island made by human hands. Sunlight flashed across glass walls and shining walkways that looked nothing like the guarded stone of Atem Castle.

Lusamine waited at the entrance with her hair shining beneath the Alolan sun. She smiled when she saw Ash, but the smile carried a fragile edge he recognized from adults who remembered Golly and tried not to say her name too quickly.

"It's so nice to see you again, Ash," Lusamine said, bending slightly so he would not have to look too far up.

Ash smiled back, though his hand tightened around his bag strap. "It's good to see you, too, Ms. Lusamine."

Lusamine's gaze softened when she looked from him to Alice and Serena. "And these must be Alice and Serena. I have heard wonderful things from Adam and Aurora."

Alice gave a polite bow. "Thank you for inviting us."

Serena copied the bow a second later, cheeks pink with nervousness. "The building is beautiful."

"It is more than a building," Lusamine said, warmth entering her voice with practiced pride. "Aether Paradise is a place where injured Pokémon can heal, endangered habitats can be studied, and people can learn to protect life instead of only using it."

She led them through bright corridors where staff moved with tablets, carts, and soft voices. Water-type Pokémon rested in wide pools, while Grass-types recovered under filtered sunlight.

Alice slowed near a sleeping Corsola being tended by a nurse. "You help Pokémon from different islands?"

"Whenever we can," Lusamine answered. "Some are hurt by storms, some by human carelessness, and some by conditions we still do not understand."

Ash watched a small Wingull stretch one bandaged wing. "Do they get to go home?"

"That is always the goal," Lusamine said. "Protection should not become a prettier cage."

Two blonde children appeared near the next corridor. The boy stood slightly in front, guarded but not hostile, while the girl hid half behind his shoulder. They looked close to Ash's age, though the girl held herself as if every person might be too loud.

Lusamine smiled at them. "Gladion, Lillie, come here. These are Adam and Aurora's children and friends from Sevestar."

The boy stepped forward first. "I'm Gladion."

The girl peeked out after him. "I'm Lillie."

Ash offered his hand because Aurora had drilled proper greetings into him. "I'm Ash. This is Alice, and this is Serena."

Lillie looked at his hand, then took it carefully. Her eyes widened as if touching him confirmed the stories. "You're the Ash Ketchum Mother told us about."

Ash shifted awkwardly. "What did she say?"

"That you protected her from Giovanni," Lillie said, then immediately looked uncertain. "And that you were very brave when... when your sister..."