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

Chapter 40: Lessons Between Islands

By the time I returned to the house on Melemele, the sun had begun to lean toward afternoon. Mom opened the door before I knocked, and Lillie stood behind her with Mohn and Trenor nearby.

Lillie's face told me she had not slept much. Nebby's bag rested against her side, and Snowy pressed close to her boots as if guarding every breath she took.

"So," Lillie said quietly, "how is Mother?"

I took a breath. The words from Aether Paradise had followed me across the water, and saying them in this house made them feel heavier than they had on the ferry.

"At first, everything followed what I remembered from the Ultra Dimensions," I said. "A wormhole opened, and Nihilego appeared."

Lillie went pale. Mohn stepped closer, though his expression showed that the names still reached him through fog instead of clear memory.

"But then it changed," I said. "Dulse and Zossie appeared. They explained Necrozma, Ultra Space, and the danger to Alola's light. Your mother never gave that eerie smile I remembered. She looked worried about you."

"Worried about me?" Lillie asked softly.

"She thinks Cosmog teleported you away somewhere dangerous," I said. "Maybe to Ultra Space, maybe somewhere like what happened to your dad. She asked me to find you and bring you back."

Lillie looked down at Nebby's bag. "Did she sound angry?"

"Afraid first," I answered. "But Aether is still experimenting with Ultra Wormholes. I heard enough to know we cannot walk in blindly."

Mom's expression tightened. "Then none of you go alone next time."

Mohn's hand settled on Lillie's shoulder. "I cannot remember Lusamine clearly, but I know there was a reason I married her. If she is angry or afraid, that does not mean she cannot still love you."

Lillie leaned into him, trying not to cry. "I want to believe that."

"I do too," I said. "I told her I would find you. I did not tell her you were here."

Trenor folded his arms. "Good. A promise can be true without giving away the whole road."

That sounded like something Mom wanted to argue with and something she knew was right. She brought us inside and made everyone eat before any more serious planning. The food did not solve anything, but after Aether's glass walls and hidden signals, a real table felt like protection.

Pikachu sat beside my plate, listening as Lillie asked careful questions. I told her about Wicke, the conservation area, the jamming signal, Hau's accidental mention of her name, Nihilego's confusion, and Lusamine's final line about experiments.

Lillie flinched at the jamming signal. "So if something went wrong, you only had Pikachu, Absol, and Zoroark."

"That was enough this time," I said. "But next time, we prepare before entering their rules."

Nebby peeked from the bag, trembling faintly. Lillie placed one hand over it.

Mohn watched Nebby with a sadness that seemed to come from somewhere his memory could not reach. "If Lusamine lost me to something like this, fear may have grown around her love."

"Fear does not get to own Lillie," Mom said firmly.

The room went quiet. Then Lillie smiled weakly, and the promise settled over all of us. It did not solve Lusamine, Aether, or the hidden experiments, but it gave us a rule strong enough to stand on.

Mohn sat with his hands folded, listening harder than anyone. He did not interrupt when I described Lusamine's hug or the way her voice changed around the word children. His lost memories did not make him empty. They made each small detail matter to him like a clue.