Climax has now been reached, sorry I didn't post recently I was busy. This may or may be finished with less chapters than I thought, but hopefully not. I honestly thought I'd have finished this story by now, but I'm almost done. Enjoy this one.
CHAPTER 9
Fight and Flight
While Gladion was busy kicking the crap out of Faba, Lillie and Selene traversed through the Wormhole with half of the cyclists while Hau stayed behind with the other half in case any Ultra Beasts tried to wander through. Lillie spent the entire journey through the wormhole and around the area of Ultra Space worrying. Elio had been trapped in there for just under a month at that point. She was worried about what his condition would be like when he was found. Maybe he'd be very sick. Maybe he'd be incredibly malnourished. Or, maybe he was… Lillie shook her head. She must not think about that.
Selene had to stop several times throughout their journey to play the flute. According to her, she, Hau and Elio used this method whenever they went looking for specific materials or new pokémon that Elio or Hau failed to catch. Hearing about the amount of risks Elio took while she was away made her feel increasingly guilty about leaving him behind for that long. But, she knew that moping about it now wouldn't do anyone any good. So she pushed those thoughts aside as well and focused on what they were trying to do.
Eventually, they arrived at the place the Moon Flute guided them to. Lillie looked around the area, hope filling her chest. But that hope was quickly dashed when she spotted something on the ground. Elio's iconic hat. She remembered how loads of shops all over Kanto were selling them under the title of, "The hat of the First Alolan Champion." She remembered just how much she missed him every time she saw them on sale.
But now, the sight of that hat only filled her with sorrow and dread. For the hat was on the ground, not on his head. The rest of Elio was nowhere to be found. Selene grunted in frustration. "The flute picked up the strands from his hat!" she grumbled. "How the hell did it not pick him up!" Lillie started to cry slightly. "I've always hated that damn flute" she said.
The other trainers who were with them didn't need to ask why. By the time Elio needed to travel into Ultra-Space to save the Alola region from Necrozma, he'd built quite a name for himself as an undefeatable trainer, despite only being 12 at the time. The news that the journey he was to embark on to save them was one that could not be returned from spread quickly. The whole region was saddened by this, as they felt the boy had real promise as their first Champion. Once Elio announced his relationship with Lillie, it came as no surprise to anyone that The Ultra Wormholes brought back bad memories for Lillie.
In the present meanwhile, Lillie was about ready to throw something. In her frustration of this tease, she proceeded to kick a few stones, throw several other objects and outright scream in untold sorrow and frustration. However, that last one turned out to be a mistake. As the noise left Lillie's lips, large numbers of Nihilago came charging at them from several locations. The group of trainers were completely surrounded, making escape impossible. So, with no other choice, the group pulled out every pokémon they had at their disposal and threw them out, ready to fight.
As their battle began, Selene called out, "Don't use any Z moves! Save them for when it's absolutely necessary! We don't want to have to drag anymore bodies other than Elio's!" Lillie's eyes teared up at those words. Selene apologised and clarified, "I meant unconscious. Or at least incredibly fatigued. The guy was in here for almost a month without any of his pokémon, so he's bound to be warn out!" Selene realised that she was only digging a deeper ditch, so she shut up and focused on the battle.
The whole group had a much easier time than they first thought against the Nihilago. The giant jellyfish Ultra Beasts were tough, but since Their was enough trainers for two to take on one Ultra Beast, and each Trainer was using all 6 of their pokémon, there wasn't too much trouble with them. However, the trouble did start to brew as more and more Nihilago started to appear. For every one they defeated, there was always another coming to take its place.
Eventually, the group started to get tired. They were running out of potions and PP ups to continue this for much longer. The only pokémon that seemed to be able to keep going at his full strength was Elio's Incineroar. He and the rest of Elio's team were desperate to have their trainer back, but Incineroar in particular, since he'd been with Elio since the beginning. Lillie tried to keep it under control, but he didn't listen to her. He continued to fight, regardless of his health or stamina.
But things only got worse for the Trainers when they suddenly heard a mighty bellowing Roar of anger and hatred. They looked up to see a large black shape float down and blast everyone away. When they got up to see what had arrived, their hearts plummeted. Necrozma had shown up to fight as well. Lillie could hear one of the trainers, a boy of about sixteen, whimper, "We're done for. We're done for. There's no way we can fight that without Elio!"
The group began to try and flee, but the Nihilago encircled them. It was clear that Necrozma was looking for something to fight. And, since It'd been the one to pull Elio in, that could only mean one thing… Lillie's whole world shattered. He couldn't be gone. He just couldn't. Maybe he got away from the creature. It was possible, since Necrozma looked really angry. But the fact that the Moon Flute was tracking his hat as opposed to him also weighed heavily on her mind.
Suddenly, her sorrow was overcome by rage. This creature was the reason Elio was trapped in here. And while she didn't want to think about it, it could also have been responsible for his death. Blinded by rage and grief, she stopped backing away and stood her ground. She summoned Lunala, who came with an angry roar. Clearly the Moon pokémon had put two and two together as well. Lillie raised her hand to activate her Z crystal, ignoring Selene's protests. However, before she could even touch it, Incineroar roared.
Everyone turned to look at the pokémon. To their surprise, they all saw that he was glowing, as Z power from a crystal enveloped him. As he roared again and charged, everyone heard the all-too-familiar sound of rustling clothes and the stamping of feet. With a mighty bellow, Incineroar leapt into the air and clobbered Necrozma and the Nihilago with a Malicious Moonsault.
As the Ultra-Beasts were blown away, the group turned around in the direction the footsteps came from. There, limping slightly but still looking very happy, was Champion Elio. As they stared at him, he looked at them, raised his hands weakly, then signed, "I've been waiting to do that for nearly a month. Thanks for coming to save me." He barely finished that, before Lillie ran forward and pulled him into a huge hug.
Sorry this keeps taking me so long to update, but I've been really focused on this other story and I'm losing interest in this one. But I hate it when stories go unfinished, so I will finish this one. Just not as good as I originally intended, possibly. See you whenever I upload the next one.