Pokémon: Mysteries of Alola

Chapter 19 - Rush to Aether Paradise -

Before they could leave, Hau asked to stop by the Pokémon Center, he wanted to be fully prepared for what they were going to do. Akihiro and Gladion stood by the sea, neither speaking to one another for a bit. Akihiro was the one to break their silence.

"Gladion..." He glanced around, making sure it was just the two of them, "Lille's your sister, huh?"

"..."

"And Lusamine is your mother... I knew she looked familiar when I saw her..." He sat down, trying to reach the ocean with his leg. It was a habit he had as a kid, "Hau mentioned Lillie to her briefly and accidently, and she didn't look happy. I thought it was weird at the time but now..."

"Stop talking." Gladion wouldn't look at him, but he could tell it wasn't a good subject for Gladion. So he obeyed and kept quiet.

A sigh behind them broke their silence again. "If only Team Skull could've just kept to themselves and their troublemaking to Po Town..."

Gladion turned, surprised to see the person behind them. "O-Officer Nanu..."

Akihiro stood up to see him, and Nanu slowly walked up to him. "Listen, I'm actually the Island Kahuna... Dunno why that Tapu picked someone as sorry as me but hey, each of them have their own reasons. I won't stop you for a battle against me, I know you're busy, so I believe you could beat me." Nanu held out a Z-Crystal to him, "This is the Darknium Z crystal, and here's the Z-Move dance."

"Thank you, Kahuna Nanu."

"Just Nanu is fine. Now get going, and try not to destroy the whole place." He started walking away before coming to a stop again, "And you, Gladion... If you're really trying to get stronger like you say, then why're you dependin' on Team Skull."

Gladion stared in shock as Nanu left, and Hau came up to them soon after.

"Akihiro! Gladion!"

"I swear if you say something about this being fun..."

Hau shook his head, his smile getting smaller, "No, I won't... If I had just been stronger, then Lillie..." He looked at the two of them, determination in his eyes, "I'm ready to do whatever it takes so that we get our smiles and our fun adventure back!"

"We need to get going," Akihiro glanced towards the ocean, in the distance he could see Aether Paradise, "...I have a bad feeling that we need to hurry."

Gladion had to drive the three of them on his boat, well, Team Skull's boat to be more clear, to Aether Paradise. Hau stared at Ula'ula Island, watching it get smaller and smaller, while Akihiro and Gladion kept their focus on the man-made Island.

"You know, they're going to be waiting for us..." Akihiro said softly, "There's no way they won't be."

"Then we'll have to avoid them," Gladion replied, picking up the pace a little, "Let's just focus on getting to the Harbor without running into trouble."

When they got into Aether Harbor, it was strangely quiet. Each of them hopped off the boat as silent as they could be.

"It's too quiet..." Gladion mumbled, turning towards the elevator, "And no one is in sight..."

"So neither of you have explained why Lillie would be here..." Hau replied, "Can you two explain please?"

"She just will be, now come on, we have to take the elevator."

Hau groaned, but didn't ask further questions. They quietly made their way to the elevator, Akihiro began coughing slightly. "The air just got a little heavy..." he mumbled, and Gladion nodded.