Chapter 3: Sharp Introductions

The Aether Foundation helicopter soared over the ocean as it neared the paradise, the modern safe-haven for Pokémon that lay in a sparkling blue sea. Lillie glanced down at her home nervously as the sun reflected off the glass of the conservatory. She usually came here by sea, but today was different.

"Now Lillie, I don't want you to stress yourself out with doing anything. I just want you to stay at home and relax for a bit?" her mother asked, as she sat across her in the helicopter. Lillie nodded, she had her own things to do here anyway, and hopefully without interruption. If she did get found out, well, she'd have to cross that bridge when she got to it.

The helicopter landed on the helipad at the side of the building, and as Lusamine stepped out, her long blonde hair blowing in the down draft from the rotors, she called for the intern to carry their things. Waiting for them to get back were Branch Manager Wicke, and Intern Faba, the latter of whom still adapting to his new rank after the Rainbow Rocket incident, all the whilse grumbling as he moved to pick up Lillie's pink backpack.

Her mother had suggested that she drop her Pokémon off at the conservatory, and that's what she did. Faba was off to deal with some manual labour asked of a senior employee, so she had her bag back, as she stepped onto the elevator to lead her up, Wicke alongside her to inform that all of her gifts received in the hospital were waiting for her in her room at the manor.

It was then that Lillie threw out all of her Pokéballs, releasing Vulpix, who happily bounded up to Lillie, Clefairy, who was happy to see that her trainer was alright, as well as vice versa. And finally the ground shook as Lillie was hauled up off the ground in a gentle bear hug by her Bewear. The large pink creature affectionately cooing at her. She had to give the bear Pokémon credit, as he was being unusually gentle.

It was then that Wicke noticed a fourth Pokéball in Lillie's hand. "Miss Lillie, I think you've forgotten one." she pointed out. Lillie's face went about sixty shades of red deeper, realising that she must have taken Kartana's Pokéball out by accident too, but luckily hadn't thrown it yet due to Bewear's intervention.

"Huh...? Oh, N-no, I... that's an empty Pokéball. I must of mixed it up!" she said, face flushing and sweating bullets. Wicke cautiously raised her eyebrows at the girl's attitude, noticing her red face, before dismissing it. "Maybe you should go and lie down." she suggested. Lillie nodded nervously, putting the Pokéball away with the empty ones, and waving goodbye to her Pokémon, before the two of them made their way to the manor house.

As soon as the door to her room had closed behind Lillie, she let out a sigh of relief she did not know she was holding. She looked around at her room to notice all the gifts had been laid out, but she was unable to focus on it. It was too close of a call and her nerves had yet to calm down. So she fished out Kartana's Pokéball, placed it on the foot of her bed, and made her way into the bathroom linked to her room. Maybe a cool shower would help her calm down.

As the door to the bathroom closed, the Pokéball shook. It had noticed that it hadn't been released out of the ball yet, and it was quite worried about the whole situation. The Kartana then burst from its ball, able to make out the distinct sound of running water, like a small waterfall, but also noticed it was alone in the room. It let out a quiet lonely noise, as it carefully began to float around the room, to look at the various trinkets and other objects on the shelves.

Its tiny eyes adjusted to look at all wrapped gifts, some of which were bigger than itself. Noticing the tags, it began to read them. Master Kartenvoy had taught it to understand the language of the humans, for when the strange blue people arrived. This label read "Lillie, I hope you get better soon, yeah! Go and Rest like a Snorlax, and you'll be back out there in no time to show your moves! -Professor Kukui"

Kartana wasn't sure what a Snorlax, or a Professor Kukui was, but it assumed the latter was quite upbeat. And Lillie? Was that the name of the girl who had captured it? It drifted away from the presents, noticing a few other names on the cards and gifts, to look at a picture frame. Pictured were four humans.

One was a slightly chubby man in a labcoat, and a cheery grin on his face, holding the hand of a smaller boy, in a vest and bowtie. The man also had his arm around a woman with flowing blonde hair, and a white and black dress with a blue crystal on it. The woman had her hands on the shoulder of a small girl, who looked an awful lot like-

The sound of the water cutting off broke Kartana out of its thoughts, followed by the sound of a bathroom door unlocking. It frantically flicked around, accidentally slicing the petals off a pink flower that sat in a pot as it did so, before effortlessly flowing underneath the bed, in an attempt to hide. Moments later it could make out bare feet walking around the bed, walking to where it was looking.

Lillie quickly got dressed into fresh clothing, but as she closed the drawer, she noticed something off. The Peony that she kept in a pot on her dresser had a large portion of its beautiful flower cut off. She wondered what could do such a thing, before she turned around and realised that the Pokéball she had left on her bed had opened. Panic had set in now, The Kartana had gotten out? It could be anywhere! It was so thin, it could easily have slipped underneath the door.

Lillie then began to search her room first, checking behind her bookshelf, dresser and bed. She did not find results until she peeked under the bed. As she adjusted her lights to the darkness, she noticed one thing, a familiar glint of metal. The two of them jumped back, Lillie stumbling backwards, and Kartana sliding out from underneath the bed, into the air, and floated away from Lillie, once again terrified.

The two of them stood, eyes locked, trying to stay as still as possible. Not wanting to frighten eachother into doing something they didn't want. The Kartana was partially relieved that it hadn't killed the girl from their last meeting in the cave, but it was still cautious about her intentions.

Meanwhile in the depths of the labs, Zossie was running up to Dulse, a device in her hand beeping frantically. "Dulse! I'm picking up high levels of Ultra Space radiation coming from the foundation itself! We need to look for it, it could be dangerous!" she exclaimed. Dulse nodded. "Is it the same radiation wavelength from the situation near Route 11?"

"Yes."

"I'm... I'm sorry for frightening you, I just... I, you frightened me, and..." Lillie said, attempting to reassure the ultra beast that she meant no harm. The Kartana just floated there, taking in the words and processing them in its tiny brain. It noticed the girl slowly inching closer and closer, still very wary of what she was doing. And then she reached out a hand.

The Kartana went deathly still as her fingers grazed the cool metal of its body, It let out a soft whistling noise of disapproval, which the girl had picked up on. Her hand carefully slid its way up one of its bladed arms. Lillie had a small smile growing on her face, the metal was smooth and well taked care of. Wherever this Ultra Beast had come from, it must have kept itself in high standard.

But as Lillie began to move away from the flat side of the blade and more onto the edge, she felt a sharp pain shoot from her finger. Pulling back instantly, she noticed a fine cut along the tip of her finger, yet she hadn't even applied pressure onto the beast. Was it really that sharp?

Kartana had flinched at the touch, noticing the girl's sudden pain, it carefully floated up to the girl, making sure she was alright. Lillie turned around and fumbled for a first aid kit in her room. Quickly applying a plaster to her finger, before the blood could drip and stain something. She turned around to be face to face with Kartana, intending on continuing to investigate the Ultra Beast, when a sharp knock on her door frightened it.

"Miss Lillie. It's Dulse. Can I come in?"

Lillie could feel her heart beating, she rushed for her Pokéball, scaring Kartana further and recalling it before it could damage things, it let out a frightened cry as it did so. Causing Dulse to knock on the door some more. Lillie briefly then collected herself. "Y-Yeah."

The door opened, revealing the man in the white uniform. But he had noticed the Ultra Space energy had dropped as soon as he entered, which was strange. "What happened to your finger?" he noted. Lillie flushed again, she had to make another excuse. "I... I caught it on something in the bathroom, It's, nothing too bad, really." She nervously spoke again.

Dulse however looked as if he remained unconvinced. Nonetheless, noticing no more energy, he backed off. But before he left completely, he stopped. "There's been increased Ultra Space energy in the paradise as of late. You wouldn't know something of this, would you?"

Lillie could feel her heart stopping. "N... No." Dulse was too close to finding out the truth and she did not like it. The Ultra Recon Squad member then left, making Lillie let go of another breath she didn't realise she was holding. She couldn't stay here much longer, not with Dulse on her tail about Kartana. Maybe she could convince her mother to let her go back out.

After all, she hadn't finished her trials on Ula'ula yet.