After flying across the ocean this time, Ash and friends spotted Lillie at the start of the bridge she was at, and landed down to the surprise of the blonde girl. And she happened to be with Lunala as the Legendary Pokemon hovered in front of the bridge.
"Oh, hey guys! I wasn't expecting you to come see me. In fact, how did you know I was on Melemele? I didn't tell you where I was."
"Thanks Salamence." Ash told his Dragon Pokemon before returning it. "Gladion told us you were somewhere around here."
"Ah, I see. Actually, there was something I wanted to tell you, and you saved me the time of looking for you guys."
"Oh? What did you want to talk about?" Misty inquired. Lillie blushed as focused entirely on Ash.
"Ash. I've... I've been wanting to thank you for saving Nebby that day. When we first met." Even Nebby cried out in appreciation along with a spread of its wings. "Nebby, you've come very far away, didn't you? I'm glad that I could take you with me. That we got to experience that journey together." Turning back to Ash, Lillie nodded as she closed her eyes. "Ash, I know this may be sudden, but I hope you will consider what I ask of you. I want to entrust Nebby to you."
"What?!" All three of Lillie's friends gasped.
"Nebby the legendary Pokemon?!" Rotom popped out, just as surprised.
"Lillie... I don't understand. Why give Nebby to me?" Ash questioned, taken aback by such a generous yet unexpected request.
"I think Nebby should be with Necrozma. From what I've heard, Necrozma would not suffer as much or ache so for the light if it can remain close to Nebby. I think it would be best... if they both stayed together with you Ash. I thought hard about this, I've talked to Nebby about it, and that's what we decided. So... please..." Despite keeping a smile to save grace, Lillie's green eyes were tearing up as she pleaded. "Face Nebby as a trainer would. As only a trainer can. I... I want you to provide them a home." Seeing that one of his close friends was close on the verge of breaking down from trying to make such a sad yet noble decision, Ash went up to Lillie and hugged her. She was silent as he told her,
"Don't worry Lillie. I'll do whatever you think is best. I'll take care of them both when I capture them." Hearing that nearly pushed Lillie over the edge of crying, but instead of bawling like a baby, the blonde smiled as she hugged him back.
"Th-thank you." Letting him go, Ash turned towards Lunala, whom was ready for battle.
"I'm surprised Lillie's giving Ash Nebby." Hau commented. "I'd figure she'd be too attached to let it go.
"Poipole?" Since the little poison type was unaware of the context, it wondered what this was all about.
"She wants everyone to be happy. Even if it means she can't keep Nebby forever." Misty explained. "As much as she loves Nebby, she thinks it would also be selfish to do nothing by keeping Nebby. She's giving Ash the chance to set everything right."
"I see. In that case, come on Ash! Catch Lunala!"
"You can do it Ash!" Misty cheered as well."
"Eevee!" Even the redhead's normal type gave her support.
"Thanks guys." Ash nodded to them before initiating the battle with Lunala. "Salamence, I choose you!" Sending out his Dragon Pokemon, the pseudo-legendary roared as it was ready. Flying up into the air, the battle commenced.
"Salamence, use Dragon Dance!" Flying around in an intricate dance, glowing orange and gaining power, Lunala was able to keep track as it gave a battle cry and formed a powerful pink ball. Firing the orb, Nebby was actually able to land a fast strike against the dragon/flying type, aiming for where he was flying instead of where he was. But from the smoke of the powerful explosion, Salamence still flew, if quite bruised.
"Alright buddy! That's how you do it! Now use Iron Tail!" The Dragon Pokemon swooped in with a glowing metallic tail, but with its eyes glowing bright blue, Lunala started to grow with the color of crimson. Before they knew it, with a spread of its moon wide arms, a pink and crimson force field was projected out, and Salamence did not have the time to react aside from giving a shocked expression before being repulsed by the counter attack, which sent the dragon/flying type falling and crashing into the ground. "What was that?!" Ash gasped.
"That was Night Daze!" Rotom answered. "It's a force field of dark energy that attacks at all angles!"
"Force field, huh? Then we'll just have to outpace it. Salamence, return. Hawlucha, I choose you!" Coming out of his pokeball, the Wrestling Pokemon posed, before realizing he was facing against Nebby, the legendary Pokemon. He just grinned from the challenge of fighting a ghost/psychic type. "Hawlucha, use Acrobatics!" Speed blitzing out of Lunala's sight, the legendary Moone Pokemon looked around before being rammed in the back by the flying/fighting type, crying out from the impact. Lunala started to glow crimson again, to which Ash pleaded, "Get away from it!" Leaping up high, Hawlucha was fast enough to evade the force field of pink and crimson energy. "Alright, now use X-Scissor!" His wings glowing white, the Wrestling Pokemon spread his wings and started to descend upon towards Nebby. However, with a third eye opening on its forehead, the Moone Pokemon shifted into its full moon form with its arms coming full circle and the night sky wings turning bright blue. Hawlucha and everyone was nearly blinded and grunting from the intense light, even though it was day time. While the flying/fighting type was distracted, Lunala formed a pink orb and fired it at Hawlucha. The ball exploded and he went screaming into the ground before crashing hard, sending dust and rock flying. Nebby turned its light down so that everyone could see the Wrestling Pokemon's defeated body.
"Oh wow, that was a smart move!" Hau gasped.
"That's what I would expect of a legendary Pokemon." Misty gulped. Lillie didn't say anything. She watched intensely to see how this would go.
"Thanks Hawlucha, return." Ash recalled his Pokemon. "Primarina, I choose you!" Sending out his water starter, he commanded, "Use Moon Blast!" The Soloist Pokemon sang to form a pink colored ball, which she launched, but not fast enough as Lunala formed a black ball and fired it towards the Moon Blast. The Shadow Ball was much larger and thus more powerful as it not only halted the fairy type move, it pushed it back immediately before the weaker attack exploded, allowing the Shadow Ball to explode against Primarina, yelping from the intense pain as she was pushed back towards Ash's feet.
"Don't give up! Use Shadow Ball!" Deciding to fight ghost moves with ghost moves, the water starter created a similar black ball. Not deciding to let Ash and his Pokemon get a hit in so easily, Lunala went into its full moon form again, only to build up a bright blue energy that swirled around, then fired a beam of the same color which overwhelmed the Shadow Ball like the previous exchange, along with once again inflicting big time damage onto Primarina as she was blasted into the ground with a drowned out cry, Ash beforehand having to dive out of the way with a yelp so that he wasn't hit. An explosion took place where Primarina was. But from the smoke and dust, a blue aura could be seen, and Ash grinned. Getting up, he started to do the Waterium-Z dance. "Never give up! Use Hydro Vortex!" Pushing the smoke out of the way, the Soloist Pokemon sang with all her might as she went and formed an aquatic tornado around the Moone Pokemon. Lunala couldn't see anything past the torrent of the attack before it was bombarded by the incoming attacks of the Torrent empowered water started. Needing space, the legendary Pokemon glowed with crimson energy before blasting out a Night Daze, negating any further use of Hydro Vortex as Primarina screamed from the attack as she crashed into the ground. She was defeated. However, it appeared Hydro Vortex did a number on Nebby as it fell to the ground, using its wings as support. "Go, Ultra Ball!" Throwing a black and yellow ball at Nebby, it was absorbed into the hi-tech sphere, which shook a bit before it clicked.
"Wow, Ash caught Nebby!" Misty gasped.
"Woohoo!" Hau cheered for his friend. Lillie still didn't say anything, but she was smiling, and a tear did stream down her face.
"Wow, you caught a legendary Pokemon!" Rotom came out to congratulate his owner. That'zzz, well, legendary! Lunala, the Moone Pokemon: Said to live in another world, this Pokémon devours light, drawing the moonless dark veil of night over the brightness of day. It sometimes summons unknown powers and life-forms here to this world from holes that lead to other worlds."
"Cool. Thanks Rotom. And thank you Primarina. I could tell you were giving it your all." Ash stooped down to pet his starter, whom hummed with appreciation. Lillie walked up to the Ultra Ball, and picked it up, holding it to her heart.
"Nebby... you belong with Ash now. He will be the one to raise you. Just like any parent should raise their child. He will be your father now." Ash blushed from hearing that. If he were now the father, and she raised Nebby up to this point, would that mean... "Nebby... you have brought your light to everyone, and..." She stopped for a moment to turn to Ash and nod as she silently cried. "...I know you be able to keep everyone smiling and happy, Ash. Thank you for taking care of Nebby for me. Both of you, I'm going to become stronger. I know I will! Now it'll be your turn to watch me as I grow, ok? Please watch me." Walking up to Ash, she took a deep breath to compose herself, and dug something from her pocket. "Also, Nebby gave this to me, so that I could give it to you. Care for it." Lillie gave Ash a dark purple Z-Crystal with Lunala's wings in them.
"Wow, thanks." The male trainer nodded. He hesitated at first, but resolved his nerve as he said, "Lillie, I'm sorry it took me this long to properly respond to when you gave me the Destiny Knot, but with Misty's help, I finally found a way to answer." Ash took something out of his backpack, and Lillie gasped, bringing her hands to her mouth with sparkling eyes as she saw that he used the string to make necklaces. Each were in a loop with half a heart in the center. Ash placed one of the necklaces over the blonde girl's head so that she wore one of them, and Ash put his on so that he could clip the hearts together, showing they were one in unity. "Lillie...will you be my girlfriend?" Tears welled in her eyes as the young Hartley girl progressively nodded from slowly to rapidly as she hugged him.
"Y-yes. I'd love that. I-I love you." Ash grinned as he hugged her back.
"I love you too."
"Whahahaha!" Hau started crying from heartfelt this was as he and Poipole fell to the ground on their knees. "You guys, that's so freaking wholesome for crying out loud!"
"Poipooole!"
"Come on, don't ruin the moment." Misty told him off annoyed. She turned her attention back to the new couple, her smile returning to her face. "Well done Ash. You managed to find love."
"Eevee!" Her normal type Pokemon agreed.
"Lillie... I love you too." Ash responded to Lillie's proclamation. Lillie's quivering mouth shivered into a smile before she went to kiss him, which the Ketchum boy returned passionately. He even raised a hand to cup her cheek, which she mewed to. Once their kiss ended, the blonde wiped away her tears as she suggested,
"Let me look at your Pokemon. They and Nebby should be back to full health." Slowly nodding, Ash agreed.
"Yeah." Thanks to her bag full of supplies, it didn't take long for the four of them to heal every Pokemon with a Max Revive crystal. However, once Nebby had its full strength back, it made a cry as it spread its wings, startling everyone around.
"What is it Nebby?!" Lillie cried out. Nebby shifted its gaze towards a mountain. Mount Lanakila. Noticing this, she asked her former partner, "You think something's there?" Lunala hummed as it lowered a wing, wanting them to get on.
"I think it wants us to take it there." Ash deduced. "Guys, you don't mind riding Salamence, right?" He asked his friends.
"Don't worry, a high flying route is no big deal." Misty waved it off.
"Yeah, I want to see what Nebby wants to find there!" Hau accepted. Ash grinned.
"Alright then. Lillie, let's go."
"Right!" His new girlfriend agreed as they got on Lunala's back.
"Primarina, Hawlucha, return!" Ash recalled his Pokemon before they took flight, with Misty and Hau following as Salamence let them ride on his back. At their speed, they were able to reach a certain section of the mountain that had a crater. A crater nesting Necrozma.
"Necrozma?!" Hau gasped, along with Poipole.
"Nebby could sense Necrozma from here?!" Lillie pondered. "We have to be careful!" However, upon noticing them, the Prism Pokemon didn't become hostile. On the contrary, it cried out like it was in agony by the way its shriek sounded very distressed.
"It sounds like it's in a lot of pain." Ash noted.
"Necrozma izzz almozzzt out of energy." Rotom detected. "It needzzz Z-Power!"
"Is that it?" Hau questioned. "Perhaps if you catch it Ash, it'll accept our Z-Power without fuss."
"Good idea." Ash nodded in agreement. Getting off of Nebby upon reaching the ground, Ash threw an Ultra Ball at the Prism Pokemon, whom was absorbed and quickly accepted as it soon clicked. Going over to the hi-tech sphere, Ash soon let Necrozma out, whom seamed weary. "Don't worry Necrozma. We're here to help. Hau, you ready?" Ash asked his friend.
"I'm ready all the way! Let's do this!" Hau shouted as he and Ash started to synchronize with their Z-bracelets, and shot pure energy from them into Necrozma, whom absorbed the energy greedily. As much as they tried though, after a solid minute of giving it power, both trainers stopped as they were becoming exhausted and couldn't give more energy. Despite this though, Necrozma, while still weak, seemed a bit more content as it moved more freely, and didn't sound as in pain as when they arrived.
"Amazing!" The group heard as they turned to see Colress entering the crater with them. "It's been a while, friends. You managed to capture and tame the mad Pokemon, Necrozma. I was sent to study the Pokemon myself, but it appears you've beat me to it. You are indeed formidable trainers. If you were to somehow to gain access to its combined forms, especially with both Lunala and Solgaleo, you'd have an unstoppable Pokemon! I happen to know quite a bit of Pokemon fusing myself, but that is a different tale. Good luck." And just like that, he left just as he arrived. The group stood there silently until Hau mentioned,
"As cool as it would be, I'm not sure if I could handle seeing that completed form of Necrozma again."
"Yeah. That would require fusing it with Nebby and Solgaleo." Lillie shuddered. "I'd rather not go through that again."
"Me too." Ash agreed. "So Necrozma, you good?" Instead of replying, it looked away, rather apprehensive about the situation. "It's okay Necrozma. We'll take care of you." Returning Necrozma, Ash looked up towards the top of the mountain. "Time to see what's on top."
A/N: Hello my most loyal readers! I'm so sorry for such a long delay. I had a bad school semester which both took up a lot of my time to the point of exhaustion, and so difficult I had to audit two of my classes so that I didn't go through a mental meltdown. But now I'm back thanks to summer break, and you can expect to read more chapters on a frequent basis again. I just want to thank Dcoon for giving me the idea of what to finally do with the Destiny Knot. And now we're here, the Elite Four. Or... at least a prologue since in-story wise it's still a few months too early, which we'll need a time skip for in the middle of the next chapter. I can't wait to see what happens, especially how much of the anime I might be able to incorporate into this, if I can at all. Let me know what you think in the reviews, especially since it's been such a long time that I've heard from my fans. I'd love to hear your input after such a long time since last. Also, I'm considering starting my next story, "Ash Journeys" early. After such an unexpected hiatus, I can't wait to have Ash start on both his Galar run along with adapting the World Coronation Series to go along with it. It'll be wonderful.