Interlude: Lost but in Love

"Are you going to be alright getting to Hapu's?" I asked. "You don't even have a Pokemon, Lils."

"I'll do my best to keep up, Sun," the blonde girl beamed. "And I'll be fine. I've got max repels with me!" With a fresh new look and a smile on her face, Lillie seemed more confident and happier than ever, which also made me happy.

"And I've got you, too…" She trailed off, a dreamy look on her face. Our eyes met, and, strangely, for much longer than the usual second or two.

"…Uh…"

…

"Well, let's go!" And just like that, Lillie took off down the trail, leaving me alone with a shaky heart and a bright red face. I sighed, and then laughed at myself: Lillie may have changed, but her effect on me hadn't.

I took a deep breath of the Poni Island air, fresh and pure, and then went over the plan. Lillie and I were going to find Hapu, and then save Lusamine.

…Lillie and I. It had a nice ring to it.

With a light wind at my back and an encouraging buzz from Rotom-dex, I ran into the woods after Lillie, spirits high.

6 hours later, in the middle of the woods…

"Lils…I hate to break it to you, but…we're lost."

"Don't be so negative," Lillie snapped back as she gingerly pushed her way through a collection of bushes. "The old Lillie got lost a lot, but the new Lillie is different. I'll get us to Hapu's in no time!"

I gave an exasperated sigh. New Lillie was certainly braver than old Lillie, but about as stubborn. We had been walking in the wilderness for hours, but Hapu's house was nowhere to be seen. As I pondered a reasonable way to convince Lillie that we were in fact lost, a low rumbling caught my attention.

Grrrrrrrrrr.

I tensed up. What was that sound? A wild Pokemon?

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

There it was again, but longer this time, and louder too. Was something going to attack us?

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

"Lillie, do you hear that? It sounds like some kind of monster…" My voice was a bit shaky, and my hand was already on a Pokeball.

Curiously, Lillie stopped walking, and then she replied in a hushed tone.

"…I'm just a bit hungry, okay?"

"…"

I tried my hardest not to burst out laughing, but a few chuckles still got through, and Lillie turned to confront me with a pout and peach-pink cheeks.

"Well…I forgot to bring snacks!" She opened her backpack (a replacement for the duffle bag she used to carry Nebby around) and dumped a dozen or so tin spray cans all over the tropic forest floor. "All I have are these stupid max repels."

I couldn't hold back a grin. Maybe Lillie hadn't changed too much.

"Jeez, if you had asked earlier I would have shared some of my food with you," I said. Her eyes lit up like diamonds at the offer, and her signature warm smile returned.

"Thanks so much, Sun! I really appreciate it."

…

"So…can I have some?"

There was an awkward silence, and then I gave an awkward cough.

"I meant, like, if you had asked earlier I would have given you some, but…uh…I ate the rest of it while we were walking."

…

"I thought I could rely on you!" Lillie grumbled as she turned and stampeded off deeper into the jungle like a Tauros, loud enough to make the nearby bird Pokemon fly off in fear.

"H-Hey, wait up!"

"I'm going to find my own food," she shouted over her shoulder, "and you can't have any!"

I chased after her for about a minute or so before I caught her in front of a lush tree, where she had stopped and was kneeling by the base.

"See this pile of berries?" she said, pointing to a colorful assortment of fruits lying next to the tree. "I read about them in a book once…They're all edible, and they're pretty tasty too!" Without a hint of hesitation, Lillie stuck her hand into the berry pile.

"Ow!"

She instantly pulled her arm out, taking with it not a berry but instead a wild Crabrawler, which had latched onto her wrist.

"Get it off!" she shouted shrilly. "Get it off! Get it off!"

For the second time that day, I found myself holding back a flood of laughter, but I still had a fat grin on my face as I grabbed a Pokeball from my back pocket.

One short battle later, Lillie and I were sitting next to the tree and digging into the berries, which she had "graciously" decided to share with me after saving her.

"This is delicious," she mumbled in-between bites of an Oran berry. She looked very cute in the moment, her new sporty dress and ponytail a bit roughed up after the encounter. For once, she seemed…free, almost. Like a bird out of its cage for the first time.

"Is something wrong, Sun?"

As usual, Lillie caught me in the middle of my thoughts, and I scrambled to answer.

"What? No, uh…you just look really nice right now." I saw a flash of red run across her face, but she quickly composed herself.

"Hmph. Flattery won't get you more than your fair share of the berries, you know?"

We sat and chatted for a while longer, gradually thinning the once thick pile of berries. When she had finally had her fill, Lillie leaned back against the tree and sighed, looking up to the sky.

"It'll be dark soon," she said, and I followed her gaze upwards. The canopy of leaves and branches were set against an orange and red backdrop, creating a breathtaking mosaic pattern. I felt a content smile slip across my face. Sunset in Alola never failed to impress.

Lillie must have been as mesmerized as I was, because the two of us sat there for what felt like hours, just watching the sky turn from a bright red to a deep blue. Night came peacefully, and the stars were out in full force.

"I'm sorry," is what Lillie said to eventually break the silence. "I didn't mean for us to get lost…I was just so confident that I could take us to Hapu's on my own…You know…Z-Powered Lillie?" Sitting down, she half-heartedly performed her made-up dance, her arms ending in the shape of a Z. Then she let out a loud sigh, sad enough to make the Pokemon in the trees around us tear up.

"Maybe I'm not cut out for this. Maybe my mom was right."

"…No."

"…Sun?"

I stood up. With only moonlight illuminating Lillie's face, I turned and spoke.

"You're not weak, Lils. You're stronger than you think. Stronger than your mom thinks. For so long, you've taken care of Nebby, the professor…taken care of me. We know you can do it. We believe in you…You just have to believe in yourself."

…

…

…

"Wow, Sun…" Lillie began. "I never knew you were such a good speaker. But…thanks. I really feel better. Now sit down, you're scaring the wild Pokemon!" She grabbed my wrist and pulled me down next to her, laughing loudly despite her own warning.

I laughed too, but conveniently forgot to mention that I had paraphrased most of that speech from one of my mom's trashy romance novels. Oh well. This is basically our own trashy romance novel, right?

"It's getting late," Lillie said, much quieter than before. She let out a yawn, and then gave me a minor heart attack by curling up against me, her head on my shoulder. "We need energy to find Hapu tomorrow. Good night."

…

I didn't want to go to sleep. I wanted to enjoy this feeling of being close to Lillie forever. Despite that, my body was telling me otherwise, and my eyelids eventually fell shut, heavy like Snorlax. But before I drifted off, I heard Lillie mumble something, her gentle voice right beside my ear.

"This is fun…This is like our own private adventure…I don't ever want it to end."

The next morning….

When I woke up, I had a panic attack. Lillie was nowhere to be seen.

I was only moments away from running into the woods, screaming her name, when I heard her calling me from through the trees.

"Hey!" she said, her silhouette faintly visible through the brush. "I found Hapu! She was just around the corner! We have pancakes!" I squinted my eyes, and could just barely make out the shape of a small house behind her. Huh. Lillie hadn't been too far off after all.

"Come on, sleepyhead!"

I smiled.

Lillie's words from last night rang clear in my ears.

I don't ever want this to end, too.

Author's Note: Hey, guys and gals, this is WeNeverGiveUp, not Rotom, here to give you an update. I know it's been a REALLY long time since the last update, and for that, I want to say: sorry. Life has been really hectic and I just haven't had the time until recently. More importantly though, it's hard to stay motivated sometimes. I want all you readers to know that I write for both myself and you, because I like writing and hopefully you all like reading. Every follow, favorite, and review means the world to me, because I really care what you think. When I made this account, I chose the name that I did because in the past I've started things (including other fanfiction accounts) that I just never seem able to finish, and I wanted this to be different. Well, I'm going to let you in on a secret: this time, it's going to be different. I'm going to finish this story, and, if there's still enough support, go ahead and write a whole new story about Lillie and her own adventure. Thanks so much for reading, and I love you all! –WeNeverGiveUp

P.S. I know this chapter is pretty short, but no worries! Miscellaneous Misadventures 3 coming soon.