A/N: Another chapter is finally done. I've been working on this a while, but it took some time to get it where I wanted it to be. To everyone whose commented, subscribed, and favorited this story, your support means more than I can say. I'm well on my way to making this the most popular story I've ever posted, and I couldn't be doing that without all of you. I have big plans and big dreams for this story, and I hope you all will stick with me as I reach for them.

Unlike most days, Sun awoke as soon as the light touched his eyes. He yawned and sat up, causing the pokémon huddled around him to begin to stir. "Good morning, everybody," he said sleepily, rubbing his eyes.

His pokémon responded by burying him under a warm mass of nuzzles, hugs, and licks. "Okay, guys, okay," he told them, laughing. "I love you all too."

"Good morning, Sun," Lillie said from the floor, laughing fondly at the sight of her boyfriend buried under his pokémon.

"Good morning, Lillie," Sun said a little Mareepishly. "It looks like everyone wanted a lot of attention this morning."

"Pew!" Nebby squeaked in agreement, floating beside Sun. "Pew pew!"

"No need to worry," Lillie assured him. "Your parents shouldn't be getting here until the afternoon, right?"

Sun nodded. "They'll be getting here around lunch time, last I'd heard," he confirmed. "So we've got some time to ourselves."

"Do you mind if we check in with someone before we head over there?" Lillie asked. "I had hoped to meet up with her a couple days ago, but then those Drowzee attacked us."

Sun nodded and sat up, causing his pokémon to separate from him a bit. "No problem," he replied. "Just give me a few minutes to get ready."

After a quick breakfast Lillie and Sun were walking down the streets of Heahea City, hand in hand. Over breakfast, Lillie had explained she wanted to visit the Dimensional Research Lab that was a bit farther into town and wanted to introduce Sun to the woman who ran the lab. She hadn't gone into any further details, but Sun had simply rolled with it.

Sun's pokémon followed dutifully behind them, Nero noticeably more on edge than the others as he looked every which way, scanning for threats to his trainer's well-being. Nero wasn't worried about Team Skull Grunts, but the way those strange psychic types had attacked, and then the strange way his partner had acted during his nightmares last night… Sun's starter could feel it. Something big was coming, and it was aimed right at their team, and Sun in particular. "Torrr…" the Fire Cat Pokémon hissed thoughtfully. He would need to get even stronger, the team would have to get stronger, if they wanted to be able to protect their Sun.

"Rock," Caligula barked bluntly, interrupting the Fire Cat's thoughts. "Rockruff."

The pup had a point, Nero supposed. They had managed to deal with those creepy Drowzee without too much trouble, even after some had evolved into Hypno. "Tor," he grunted in begrudging approval. Still… "Torra ra!" Sun had been okay this time, but that wouldn't necessarily always be true. They'd done well, and Nero was proud of his teammates, as well as himself. But they needed to, he needed to do better.

Sun's other pokémon cried their approval, causing their trainer and Lillie to turn back to look at them. "Everything okay, guys?" Sun asked his team.

"Bri?" Bubbly piped up from beside her trainer's feet. "Bri bri?"

"Ruff!" Caligula assured their trainer, running up and rubbing against Sun's leg. "Rockruff!"

With his free hand, Sun scratched his Puppy Pokémon behind the ears. "I'm glad to hear that, buddy."

"As it happens," Lillie said pointing, "we've just arrived at the lab."

Sun and his pokémon took in the building she'd pointed out. It looked closer to the labs Sun had seen in pictures his dad had sent him than Kukui's more casual lab had. A moderately large, grey building. The only thing Sun hadn't seen before was the large satellite dish out front. With a name like "Dimensional Research Lab" he'd expected to see something more impressive. "It's… certainly a lab," Sun offered awkwardly.

Lillie laughed. "It looks more impressive on the inside," she assured him. "Come on, Sun. Let's get in there, okay?"

Lillie wasn't expecting anything too out of the ordinary at the Dimensional Research Lab. She'd been here a couple times over the past three months, stopping by to visit Professor Burnet with Professor Kukui. So, when she and Sun stepped off the elevator and into Professor Burnet's part of the lab a loud, joyful cheer caught her entirely by surprise.

"Was… Was that Professor Kukui?" Sun asked, even more surprised than she was. "Did you know he would be here?"

She shook her head. "I'm not surprised he's here, but I wasn't expecting to see him today," Lillie explained. "Still if he's here, she will be too. This way."

Lillie pulled Sun past the various computer monitors and ginormous screens that covered several of the walls, until they eventually reached Professor Burnet's office in the back of the lab. Much to Lillie's confusion, blue balloons were taped up to the walls in a few places. Professor Kukui and Professor Burnet didn't seem to have noticed that she and Sun had entered the room, far too preoccupied with something on Professor Burnet's computer screen, but Burnet's Munchlax did, happily skipping over to Lillie with a big smile. "Lax!" cheered the Big Eater Pokémon in greeting, finally causing the professors to look their way.

"Hi there, Munchlax," Lillie said, patting the baby pokémon on the head. "It's been a while."

"Munchlax?" asked Munchlax, looking from Lillie to Sun.

"That's Sun, Munchlax," Lillie explained. "We've been traveling together for about a week or so."

"Lillie! Sun!" Professor Kukui exclaimed, sweeping them both up in a massive Beartic hug. "It's so great to see you! Oh, I'm so glad you came Round right now!"

"It's good to see you too, Professor," Sun said, awkwardly hugging the exuberant professor back.

"Oh, Cousin, I have to Present you and Lillie with some wonderful news!" Kukui said, tone still absolutely ecstatic and still hugging them tightly.

"Can't… breathe…" Lillie gasped out. She didn't mind that the Professor had hugged them, but it was getting a little too tight.

Professor Kukui loosened his grip on the pair. "Sorry about that," he apologized, still beaming at them. "Didn't mean to Constrict you like that."

"Well," Sun said, beaming at the young professor, "don't keep us in suspense! What's the big news?!"

Professor Kukui looked over at his wife who nodded and in unison they shouted, "We're having a baby!"

"Congratulations!" Sun said, going to shake Professor Kukui's hand but being caught up in another Beartic hug by the energetic professor.

"Congratulations," Lillie told both professors, making her way over to wrap Professor Burnet in a hug of her own. "I'm sure you'll both be wonderful parents."

"Don't think you're left out of this," Professor Burnet said softly, giving Lillie a warm smile as the girl pulled away. "We're counting on you to be the best big sister our baby boy could ask for."

Lillie's mind went completely blank at Professor Burnet's words. It wasn't that the idea was unwelcome, far from it, but she hadn't been expecting to hear them at all. She had no idea how to respond. "I… Um…"

Professor Burnet seemed to take this as a denial. "If that makes you uncomfortable Lillie…" she began before a panicked Lillie cut her off.

"NO!" Lillie exclaimed. "I mean, I don't mind! At all! I'd be honored! I was just surprised!"

Sun chuckled, resting a hand on Lillie's shoulder. "Lillie, relax," he told his girlfriend. "There's no need to worry."

"Easy for you to say," she retorted, though without any heat. "You've never been an older sister before."

What little tension remained collapsed as Sun replied with a laugh. "That would've been a neat trick. I think I'd be an older brother, not an older sister." Soon, all four of them were laughing

"So," Professor Burnet said, once they'd all calmed down, "what brings you both here today? As happy as we are to share the news with you, you couldn't have known that before coming here."

"Actually, yeah come to think of it, why are you here, cousin?" Professor Kukui asked Sun. "Just coming along with Lillie to check in?"

"If so, I'm sorry to say that we haven't learned anything new about how to get Nebby home," Professor Burnet told them apologetically. "We'll keep looking however."

"There's no need to look for a way to send Nebby home," Lillie told her happily. "Nebby's found a home, haven't you Nebby?"

"Pew!" squeaked the little Cosmog in agreement, popping out of its pokéball on Sun's belt and floating over to Lillie. "Pew pew!"

Both professors stared at the pokéball that Nebby had just left. "You… caught Nebby?" Professor Kukui asked Sun, for once at a loss for words.

"It was our idea," Lillie explained, indicating herself and Nebby. "Nebby decided it wanted to stay with both of us, but it's interested in battle. So, we decided Sun should be the one to catch it."

"Pew!" Nebby squeaked in agreement, floating back and forth between its mama and papa. "Pew pew!"

"So is that what you came here to tell us?" Professor Burnet asked, looking pleased. "I'm glad that Nebby found a home, though I'm not too surprised it chose to stay with you two."

"Not entirely," Lillie said, stealing a quick glance at Sun who tilted his head in confusion. "I'm meeting Sun's father for the first time today, and well…" Lillie took a deep breath. What she wanted to say was obvious, especially in light of Burnet proclaiming her the baby's big sister, but it still took her a moment to prepare herself to say it. "You've been like a mother to me these past few months, so I wanted to introduce you to him." She took Sun's hand in hers. "Professor Burnet, this is my boyfriend, Sun."

Sun's face went red. She really couldn't have warned him that this was going to be a "meet the parents" thing? She'd gotten a warning about meeting his parents.

"I told you it would be within the month," Kukui said to Burnet with a grin. "You owe me a soda!"

"You knew?!" Lillie and Sun exclaimed in unison.

"Pew pew pew!" Nebby giggled.

Burnet laughed. "He's been telling me how obvious it was since you met," she explained. "And seeing you both together now, he wasn't wrong."

Lillie and Sun looked at each other and then laughed in spite of themselves. Considering Sun's dad had been giving him a hard time about Lillie after only briefly hearing about her, perhaps the good professors had a point.

Seeming to suddenly realize something, Kukui snapped his fingers. "Your dad is coming to Akala today, Sun?" he asked. "I wasn't expecting to start working with him for a couple more weeks."

Sun nodded. "He mentioned during a call a few days ago that he had some time off saved up," the Island Challenger explained. "I'm guessing he cashed in as much as he could now, so that he could spend some time with my mom before he starts working with you."

Kukui nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I get that, cousin," he agreed. "Just let him know to get in touch with me whenever he's ready to help me out."

Lillie gave Sun's hand a squeeze. "Speaking of contacting your father," she said. "Should you give him or your mother a call? It's not too long before we're supposed to meet them, right?"

"Zzt! It'z eleven-thirty!" Dexter piped up from Sun's pocket. "Zzt! You wanted to meet them around noon, right?"

"Thanks Dexter, I'll give Mom a call, and see how close they are," Sun agreed, pulling his phone out of his pocket. His phone rang for a few seconds, and then words muffled by it being pressed to Sun's ear. "Hi Mom," Sun greeted cheerfully, "it's not going to be long until noon, so we just wanted to see when you thought you'd arrive on Akala." More muffled words, and Sun blushed slightly. "Yeah, she's right here." His mother continued speaking, and Sun's smile shrank a little and so did the blushing. "Yeah, yeah, she knows. Why does that matter?" More muffled words, and Sun sighed. "Okay Mom, I'll see you soon. I love you and Dad, too. Bye."

"Sun?" Lillie said hesitantly. "Are you okay?"

Sun gave them all a big grin, but it was easy for Lillie to tell how fake it was. "Oh yeah, I'm fine," he lied. "My folks'll be here soon. Do you want to meet them down by the docks?"

Lillie hesitated. Whatever Mrs. Ray had just told him, it clearly had bothered him greatly. However, he clearly didn't want to talk about it, or at least he didn't want to talk about it in front of the professors. "Shall we go then?" she asked, and he gave her look of such pure relief that she became even more worried.

"Yeah," Sun agreed. "Let's go. Professor Burnet, it was lovely to meet you ma'am. And congratulations, both of you, on your baby." And then he took off for the elevator, like a Rockruff turned loose from a leash, with Nebby trailing behind him.

Lillie looked the way he had gone, and then turned back to the professors, worry etched on her features. She didn't want to leave them so quickly like that, but the way Sun had reacted to whatever his mother had told him scared her.

Burnet gave her charge a very gentle smile. "Go see what's eating that boy of yours, Lillie," she urged. "We'll have plenty of time to catch up before you all depart from Akala."

"Thank you," Lillie said quietly, and ran off after Sun.

Sun was waiting for her just outside the lab, expression slightly guilty and shaking like a leaf, despite Nebby snuggling against him in a desperate attempt to comfort. "Sorry," he told her, "I shouldn't have run off like that. But… But Mom said…"

"Are your parents alright?" Lillie asked, figuring that was probably the first thing to ask since he was having so much trouble getting the words out.

"Mom's fine," Sun told her, though he continued to shake. "Dad's fine. But… Well… Mom said that…" He took a deep breath to steady himself. "Mom said that she needed to talk to me about my uncle," he explained. "There are very few reasons that she would bring him up, Lillie, and I just… I'm worried about which of those reasons it'll be…"

"Sun," Lillie said, gently but firmly, "listen to me. Whichever reason it is? Whatever your uncle's done, or is planning to do? We'll figure something out. You aren't in Kanto anymore. You're in Alola, and you've got me, and Hau, and our pokémon, and whatever other friends join Team Sun."

"Zzzt! That'z right, Zun!" Dexter chirped in agreement, leaving his preferred place in Sun's pocket to float in front of them both. "No matter what happenz, we're all here for you! Zzt!"

Sun took a deep breath, and the shaking eased to a gentle twitch. "Thank you, Lillie. And you too, Dexter. I needed that." He gave them both a shaky smile, but at least it wasn't fake.

"Any time, Bozz Zun!" Dexter chirped cheerfully, before it zipped back into Sun's pocket.

"Now," Lillie said, offering him her hand, "shall we head for the docks to meet your parents?"

Sun took her outstretched hand and laced his fingers with hers. "Let's," he agreed.

Andrea Ray had very mixed feelings as she disembarked the ferry onto Akala Island with her husband. On one hand, she was overjoyed that her husband was back by her side, and probably for good this time. On the other hand, the news she had to share with her son weighed heavily on her heart. While there was still a chance Looker's search will ultimately prove pointless, she considered it unlikely.

Sun had been so much happier since the move, and while his new friends and pokémon were largely to thank, she knew all too well that having left Kanto and gotten out from under the shadow her brother had always cast over him was also a heavy factor. The Ray Matriarch hoped against hope that her news wouldn't compromise the happiness he'd found here.

And so, with a nod and a smile of reassurance from her husband, Andrea Ray stepped out into the Akala Harbor where her son waited for them.

Sun wasn't hard to find, with his entire team of pokémon standing around him and the lovely young lady who'd helped bring Sun's father back to them beside him with what was most likely her own pokémon team. Her little Sun twitched slightly, as he looked this way and that before he finally spotted them. Whatever tension her words had brought on seemed momentarily lost as he rushed at them and wrapped his father in a tight hug. "Dad!" Sun cried as he embraced Bruce. "I've missed you so much!"

Bruce chuckled slightly as he hugged their son back, equally tight. "I've missed you too, kiddo," he assured their son before the two pulled back to look at each other more closely. "You've grown so much this past year; I barely even recognize you!" the aide told Sun, only partially serious. While it was true Sun had grown greatly in the past year, they'd kept in touch enough that Bruce wasn't fully surprised.

Lillie uncertainly approached Andrea as father and son embraced once more with Sun's pokémon and her own trailing behind her. "Hello, Mrs. Ray," she said shyly. "It's lovely to see you, ma'am."

"No need to be so formal," Andrea told the pale young woman. "It's all thanks to you my husband is in Alola right now."

Lillie blushed. "I didn't do all that much," the young lady protested. "Sun was the one who asked Professor Kukui and Professor Kukui is the one who pulled the strings to get Mr. Ray transferred here."

"Even if that's true," Bruce said as he approached Lillie and Andrea with Sun in tow. "You got the ball rolling. We can't thank you enough."

"And it was your idea," Sun reminded her. "I wouldn't have even asked the professor about it if not for you."

Lillie looked slightly uncomfortable in the face of all the expressions of gratitude, but relaxed a bit when Sun took her hand in his. "Sun's done a lot for me," she said finally, addressing both of them, "so I'm happy to help your family in any way I can."

"Well," Bruce said with a smile, "it's nice to finally meet you, Lillie. My wife and son told me a lot about you, last time we spoke."

Andrea expected Sun to redden at the reminder, but he didn't seem embarrassed at all. Lillie was the one who blushed, to the older woman's surprise, and the girl's grip on Sun's hand tightened. "Actually, Dad," Sun replied with a smirk, "it's funny that you bring that up. I had planned to tell you over lunch, but you said you wanted to meet my girlfriend so…"

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well," Lillie told them with a cheeky smile.

Andrea's eyes went wide. The idea of Lillie and her little Sun becoming an item at some point was not a surprise, not at all. But she hadn't expected it to be this quickly either. While she tried to find her words, however, Bruce merely chuckled. "So much for her 'not being your girlfriend', eh Champ?" he asked with amusement.

Sun shrugged, but their boy looked happy. "You know me too well," was all he said in response.

"Pew!" piped up a small pokémon that floated up to perch on Sun's head, a huge smile on the little creature's face. "Pew pew!"

"Who's that pokémon?" Sun's father asked as he studied the unfamiliar pokémon with curious eyes.

Sun smiled fondly. "That's Nebby," Sun explained. "A Cosmog. Lillie used to take care of this little one, but I'm training it now. We're kind of raising it together."

"Pew!" the little psychic type agreed contentedly, before it floated down to nuzzle against Sun. Then it looked over at Bruce and gave a happy squeak and perched atop the aide's head.

"It's nice to meet you, Nebby," Sun's father told the little psychic type which caused it to give another happy squeak. "I've never heard of Cosmog before, are they common in Alola?"

Despite the fact it seemed to be an innocent question, the two teenagers stiffened as expressions of discomfort briefly flashed across their faces. Sun gave Lillie a subtle nod, letting his girlfriend know that he would follow her lead with how to answer that question. "Cosmog are a very rare pokémon," she replied carefully. "Nebby's the only one in Alola at the moment, to the best of my knowledge."

If Bruce noticed the fact their son and his girlfriend had suddenly tensed up, he didn't comment on it. Instead, he just gave them both a grin that promised teasing in the future and said, "And you're letting Sun train it? You must think very highly of him, then."

Lillie opened her mouth to reply but she was cut off by the rumbling stomachs of four humans and nine pokémon.

Andrea laughed, in spite of herself. "Why don't we go get some lunch?" she suggested. "And we can talk more about everything you two have been up to?"

Before too long the four humans and their pokémon were enjoying a delicious meal in one of the restaurants within the Tide Song Hotel. Lillie was mostly content to let Sun explain about their various misadventures, only occasionally chiming in to explain her side of the story or give further context.

It was only when it finally came time to talk about the other day, and how Prince had evolved that Sun looked to her for more direct input. She understood why, it was the only escapade they'd experienced that directly tied into her family's secrets. And, while she liked Sun's parents, she was not ready to explain all of that to them. Not now, maybe not ever.

So, she omitted details that concerned her mother's business as best she could. The Drowzee and Hypno were framed as wild pokémon who'd attacked without warning, and their surprising amount of coordination was attributed to being a pokémon gang. While they were rare, pokémon forming gangs to attack humans wasn't unheard of, even in places as peaceful as Alola.

All of Sun's pokémon rumbled with displeasure at the reminder, even the ones that were typically calmer in comparison to the rest of his team, and Bruce turned white as a sheet. "Andy… Do you think-" the researcher began, but his wife shook her head.

"No," she replied, cutting him off. "Dispatching pokémon on their own isn't his style. He always has them working with at least one of his grunts."

Lillie winced. Truth be told, she hadn't considered the idea that a gang of pokémon sent to attack her and Sun could be read as an attack by Team Rocket, and now they'd caused Sun's father to worry.

"Still, while we're on that subject," the Ray Matriarch said in a businesslike fashion, "Lillie could Sun and I be excused for a moment? There are some things I'd like to discuss with him privately."

"Of course, ma'am," the pale girl replied politely. The way Sun shook as he got out of his seat worried her, however, so she grabbed his arm before he followed his mother out of the restaurant. "Sun… I'll be waiting for you," she told him quietly.

Sun opened his mouth, perhaps to in a vain attempt to convince her he was fine, but he shook his head as if to dissuade himself of the thought. "I'll fill you in on everything I find out later, okay?" he offered instead.

Lillie nodded. "I know you will," she replied sincerely. "I'll see you in a bit."

Sun left to follow his mother, and most of his pokémon stayed behind to continue their lunch. However, Nero followed Sun, which hadn't been requested but was not unwelcome.

After her boyfriend had left, Sun's father stared at her like he'd never seen her before, which left the pale girl with a mild sense of discomfort. "Is something wrong sir?"

The professor's aide shook his head. "Not at all," the older man replied. "It's just… I think you're the only person I've met that Sun would be willing to share 'family business' with."

"He's told me what life was like for him in Kanto," she offered. "I don't know that he had anyone to confide in before now."

Bruce's face gained a tinge of regret. "I should've convinced Andrea to move here years ago," he said distantly, gaze fixed on something only he could see. "She's always wanted to, and it's clear how much Sun loves it here."

Lillie didn't really know what to say in response to that, if anything at all, so the two of them fell into an awkward silence.

However, just because the two humans didn't know how to handle the blue mood that had fallen over them didn't mean that the pokémon didn't. With a loud "GRIME!" Emperor tightly wrapped his trainer's father in a Beartic hug. Bruce made a strange face at the unexpected gooey embrace, which made Lillie giggle, before he gratefully returned the Sludge Pokémon's hug.

Nebby, always sensitive to Lillie's emotions, snuggled into her side with a soft squeak until she gave in and picked the little psychic type up.

Bruce chuckled, feeling better after Emperor's death squeeze, and patted the poison and dark type on the head. "I needed that," he told Sun's Grimer gratefully. "I suppose some good came out of not moving until now; Sun met all of you." All of Sun's pokémon that were present, Nebby included, beamed at this, and moved to crowd around the scientist with happy cries and cheers. "That includes you too, Miss Lillie," her boyfriend's father added. "I don't know if you would've met otherwise, and I am very glad my son has gotten to know you."

"I… I'm very glad for that too," she replied, with an embarrassed blush. Lillie noticed the teasing glint the older man gained in his eyes after her reaction, and in a desperate attempt to avoid being teased further asked, "Sun's told me a bit about your research into pokémon variance, but could you tell me in more detail?"

Bruce Ray gained a different sort of glint in his eye when asked about his research. The glint was familiar in a way that took her a moment to place, but she eventually realized it was the same shine that Sun had when he and his pokémon were in the midst of some intensive training, or a particularly fun battle. After seeing all the many ways Sun had taken after his mother, it was nice to see something he shared with his father.

"ABSOLUTELY!" Bruce Ray declared loudly, which resulted in a few annoyed looks from other patrons of the restaurant. "Sorry," he apologized, a tad awkwardly, before looking at her with the same bright expression Sun so often had. "But yes, I'd be glad to. Where would you like me to start? There's a lot to it, after all."

"Maybe start with something simple?" the pale young woman suggested. "Like… Orange Island Pokémon subspecies?"

The researcher chuckled. "Sun told you about them?" he guessed, receiving a nod. "Well, first of all, the most important difference is the tropical climate, that's what causes their distinctive appearance."

As he continued on, Lillie listened utterly enraptured by his explanations.

While Lillie and his father continued to discuss pokémon variance, Sun had followed his mother into the battlefield he and Lillie had been practicing on the other day. After a brief scan of the area to make sure they were alone, Sun fixed his mother with a firm gaze. "So," he began without preamble, "what's Uncle done now?"

Andrea Ray took a deep breath before she spoke. "At the moment? Nothing," she replied. "But there have been reports that his agents were sighted here."

Sun's eyes went wide with shock. "Rocket agents were seen here?! As in Alola?!" he demanded incredulously. "Who told you about this? Why are they here?!"

"An old acquaintance," the Ray matriarch explained. "You probably don't remember him, but he was part of Interpol's investigation into your uncle's organization back in the day."

Sun scowled. "Was he here to ask if you were involved?" the young man growled, body starting to twitch. "To point out that our move here lined up suspiciously well?"

"Relax, my little Sun," Andrea urged. "He came to warn me. No more, no less. He knows what you went through last time, and felt our family deserved fair warning."

Sun felt himself relax, ever so slightly. That was good. It was good to know there was at least one person from back then that knew he wasn't affiliated with his uncle's crimes. The Island Challenger took a deep breath. "Okay," he said, his twitch gentler and less erratic than it had started to become. "What did he have to tell you?"

"Not much else," his mother admitted ruefully. "He didn't seem to know much himself. I think that's why the detective is in Alola to begin with. To find whatever information he can. Letting me know what was going on was a courtesy, not the reason he was here."

Sun nodded; hands clenched into fists. "Okay," he said again. The young man closed his eyes. He knew what he wanted to say but wasn't sure how his mother would take it. "Mom don't worry about the Rocket Syndicate. If they show up here, if he shows up here… I'll crush them."

"Tor," Nero growled in agreement, stood by his trainer's side, and golden eyes filled with fury akin to his trainer's.

If the anger in her son's voice bothered her Andrea didn't show it. "Is that really what you want?" she asked him calmly.

Sun nodded. "If I'm going to become a champion, then it'll be my responsibility anyway," he pointed out, tone still angry but body only slightly twitching. "My pokémon and I will get stronger and stronger, and we'll crush Team Rocket. Just like the heroes of Kanto did!"

At Sun's mention of his idols, his mother's face softened slightly. "Even if I told you to stay out of trouble, you'd just go looking for them anyway, wouldn't you?" she asked in a tone that held both affection and resignation.

Sun shrugged, but some of the anger had left his posture and expression. "It's come looking for me so far," the young man quipped. "I doubt that'll stop even if I don't go looking for it."

"Just promise me something, my little Sun," Andrea requested. "Don't be like Silver, okay? Don't shut us all out chasing after your uncle's shadow."

Sun sighed at the mention of his cousin. "He came back to us in the end, Mama," he reminded her. "He didn't come back to stay in Kanto afterwards, but he came back to see us. It was bad enough for me as 'the Nephew of Giovanni', but it was far worse for Silver when he got branded 'the Scion of Team Rocket'." Sun scoffed. "Not like those stupid tabloid reporters actually asked us what we thought of the organization, anyway…"

His mother bit her lip, clearly wanting to argue the point but not having much leg to stand on. "Just don't leave us behind chasing his shadow," she requested again.

"I won't," Sun replied in his best attempt at a reassuring tone. "Alola is where I want to be, Mom. I've made friends here, real friends, and it's where I can achieve my goal of becoming a champion. I'm not going to waste my time chasing him if he doesn't come here. But if he does, once I'm strong enough, I'll crush him." Sun crouched to scratch Nero behind the ears. "Team Sun will crush him."

Nero purred approvingly as he leaned into Sun's affections. "Torrrr…"

Whether she realized this was the best she'd get, or this had been all she'd been hoping for, Sun didn't know, but his mother nodded in seeming approval. "Okay," she agreed with a small smile. "I suppose you're going to tell Lillie all of this?"

Sun nodded. "And probably Hau, next time we meet up," he mused thoughtfully. "They're my friends, and my admins, they both deserve to know."

Andrea's smile grew into a teasing grin. "Oh, is that why you're telling her?" she asked, laughter in her voice. "I know she's your girlfriend, but this is family business. Are you planning to make her a permanent member of the family?"

"Mom!" Sun protested, but he couldn't keep the laughter out of his own voice. The shadow that had been over them mere moments before had begun to lift, even if it was not entirely gone.

Nero recognized this and rubbed up against his trainer with a loud purr. "Torrrr…" the Fire Cat rumbled affectionately.

After they both had laughed themselves breathless, Sun clutched his sides. "Ohhh man…" he groaned though he still grinned. "I needed that."

His mother looked at him affectionately. "I think I did as well," she agreed. "Shall we rejoin Lillie and your dad now?"

Sun nodded, and, more out of habit than necessity, whistled for Nero to follow him as they made their way back to the others.

Lillie wasn't sure what to expect when her boyfriend came back from talking with his mother. After all, whatever news he'd received couldn't have been good.

So, she was pleasantly surprised when Sun and his mother came back with expressions that were far lighter than those they had left with. Sun's pokémon all rushed to greet their trainer with cries of concern, but her boy just crouched and allowed them all to crowd him.

She gave Mrs. Ray a nod as she made her way over to Sun, and the older woman took a seat beside her husband. Lillie rested a hand on Sun's shoulder, which caused him to look up at her. "Everything okay, Sun?" she asked.

Sun smiled at her. "Not yet," he admitted, though he still smiled, "but it will be."

"Do you want to talk about it?" she offered. She knew he had promised he would tell her before, but she wanted to reiterate the offer in case he needed to talk about it now.

"Actually," Mrs. Ray piped up, "I think we'd both rather have some fun at the moment, wouldn't you agree?"

Sun pushed himself to his feet and offered Lillie a hand up, which she grabbed. "Yeah, that would be great," Sun admitted. "What are you all up for?"

"Well," Mr. Ray said, "your mom and I will be staying at the Tide Song Hotel for about a week, so we have full access to the amenities. Is there anything here you'd be interested in doing?"

"Well…" Lillie began with a smile. "There's a room here that guests can do karaoke. I've been interested in checking it out for a while, to be honest."

"Do you like music as well?" Sun's mother asked her with a pleased expression and received a nod. "I think that would be fun, I haven't done karaoke in years. What do you two think?" she asked Sun and his father.

Sun grinned. "It sounds like a blast! Come on Dad, we can sing that old cartoon's theme together!"

Mr. Ray stroked his stubbly chin and pretended to think about it. "Hmm… I suppose there'd be no harm in it," he mused with a bad attempt at suppressing his smile.

"Can you show us where it is, Lillie?" Andrea Ray asked. "This is our first time here, so we don't know where everything is."

"I don't actually know," Lillie admitted. "We'd have to ask at the front desk."

"Well, it sounds like a winner," Sun noted. "Let's do it." The Island Challenger whistled for his pokémon, and they settled into their positions around and on him.

Sun would never claim to be a particularly good singer, nor would his father, but neither could deny there was something invigorating about belting out bars from cartoons you half remember, especially when you had company.

"I WANNA BE THE VERY BEST!" they sang out in unison. "LIKE NO ONE EVER WAS!"

"To catch them is my real test!" Sun's father continued slightly less loudly but with no less enthusiasm and held up one of his own pokéballs with a laugh.

"To train them is my cause!" Sun followed him with next line, Nero, Prince, and Caligula adding their cries to the music.

Sun and his father continued to sing alternating lines, with Sun's pokémon occasionally adding in their voices. At the end of the song, both father and son's faces were red and a little sweaty, but their grins were mile wide. Sun chuckled and wrapped his dad in a hug. "That was fun," he told his dad.

"It was," his father agreed, hugging him back. "We'll have to do it again sometime. There'll be a lot more chances to spend time together now that I'm going to be working in Alola."

Sun chuckled. "Absolutely," he agreed. "Just give me a call, alright?"

"Sun," Lillie said, causing his attention to shift to her. "Would you… um… listen to me sing the next song? I-I'd like to hear what you think."

Sun figured she was just feeling shy about singing in front of him and his parents, so he gave her a bright smile. "Of course I will," he assured her.

Lillie nodded and seemed to steel herself before she made her way to the microphone. Slow, slightly melancholy piano music began to play, and Lillie took a deep breath. When the pale girl began to sing, Sun's breath caught in his throat. Lillie sang like an angel, there was no other way to describe it. "It's another day to fight the fray, my heart is soaring," Lillie sang softly. "To find the way towards the stage won't come easily."

The song was seemingly one about courage, and believing in oneself, and at first, Lillie kept her gaze on the projector screen and sang along to the words, but eventually she turned back to look Sun in the eyes, and, though she continued to sing, her gaze was fixed firmly on him. "I'll be your sky, and your fire," she sang, still in that same angelic tone. "And I will go much higher. I will be legendary, and I will shine in your eyes, and you'll see that I'm worthy to be in your spotlight."

When the song finally ended, Lillie gave him a shy smile. "H-How was it?" she asked.

"You sang that song beautifully," Sun told her honestly. "Where did you learn to sing like that?"

Lillie blushed. "I just used to listen to music on JWittzTube," she explained. "I'd sing along to songs I took a liking to, that was one of my favorites."

"Really?" Sun asked, very impressed. "I would've thought you'd had lessons or been in a group or something."

She shook her head, though she still smiled. "Nope," she replied. "Just something I did for fun."

"I agree with Sun," Sun's mother said as she walked up to them for her turn to sing. "You sing very well, Lillie."

"Thank you, ma'am," Lillie replied with a nod and handed the older woman the microphone.

After Lillie and Sun took their seats, Sun's mother began to sing a pop song from when she was their age. Sun vaguely recognized it but couldn't remember the name when Lillie asked.

For about half an hour they continued to take turns at singing songs for karaoke and by the end they were all slightly hoarse, but with wide smiles. When that half hour was up, and their allotted time in the booth used up, Sun led them all back out to the lobby and asked, "What's next?"

Bruce seemed ready to suggest something, but Andrea gently grabbed her husband's arm, causing him to look at her in confusion. "We want to check out our hotel room," she told her son. "You and Lillie have one here, don't you? Why don't you check it out yourselves?"

Lillie looked at Sun in confusion, but he just shook his head, equally bewildered. "O-Okay," he agreed uneasily. "We'll do that."

"Good," the Ray Matriarch said firmly. "Once you've done that, why don't you tell her about the family business?"

Oh, Sun thought, that's what Mama had in mind. But all he said was, "I'll do that, Mama."

After he gave his dad one last hug for the road, along with a promise to meet up again before Sun left Akala, Sun gave Lillie a confused look. "Do… Do you still have a room here?" he asked. "I thought you would've lost your access to it when we stayed at the pokémon center the past few nights."

Lillie shook her head, though. "No," she explained, "it's still in my name for the next couple weeks. I just didn't want to stay there when there was… you know…"

Sun nodded, understanding why she didn't finish the thought. It was hard to say who could overhear them in the open hotel lobby. "Well," he said, "why don't we go check out the room then?"

The hotel room was immaculate, and even if she had actually been here to check out its amenities, she probably would've been very impressed. However, she was here to hear Sun's explanation of the news on his uncle.

Lillie sat down on the plush bed and looked over at Sun who'd perched on the couch and waited for him to speak. Her boy took a deep breath, unleashed all of his pokémon, which led her to do the same, and finally he began to speak, "My uncle's agents… They've been spotted here."

"In Alola?!" Lillie asked incredulously. "Or here, here on Akala?!"

Sun laughed a little. "Here in Alola," he clarified. "An Interpol agent told my mother last night."

"Torrr…" Nero rumbled from his position beside Sun, the dark and fiery aura of his signature move licking at his fangs.

"What are we going to do?" she asked him as she idly stroked Snowy's soft fur. "I know you're not going to be able to leave this alone."

To her surprise, the question made his expression brighten, which was something of a relief. "At the moment?" he asked. "We just need to focus on getting stronger. I promised Mama that I wouldn't go chasing after my uncle's shadow, and we technically don't know for certain that he or his agents are even in Alola."

"I learned a lot about pokémon variance from your father today," Lillie mused thoughtfully. "Some of it might even be useful for training my pokémon."

Sun grinned at her. "You're interested in my dad's research, huh?" he asked, with knowing eyes.

Lillie nodded enthusiastically. "Very much so! I've lived in Alola my whole life, but I'd never given Alolan forms much thought until you told me about the more subtle differences of pokémon in the Orange Archipelago."

"That's great," her boyfriend said. "Do you think you'll try to learn more about Pokémon Variance, then?"

"Mmhm," Lillie hummed. "I'm holding you to your offer to travel to the Orange Archipelago with me at some point. And I think I'll see what else I can learn from your father in the meantime." She stroked Snowy's soft fur and the Alolan Vulpix leaned into the affection.

"Do you think you'll shoot for a professor position?" Sun asked, as he reached down to scratch Caligula. "I'm sure Professor Kukui and Burnet could help you get started, at least."

"I don't know," Lillie admitted. "But I think it'll be fun to research pokémon at least."

"Zzt! I'm zure you'll do great, Lillie," Dexter piped up, as it zipped out of Sun's pocket to float in the air.

The other pokémon in the room seemed to agree as well as they all gave cries of approval and excitement, and Lillie's trio nuzzled against her.

"Alzo, zzt, there'z an expert researcher on Alolan forms and Totem Pokémon on the next island we're going to visit," Dexter explained. "Zamzon Oak iz hiz name."

"Samson Oak?" Sun asked in confusion. "Is he related to Kanto's Professor Oak in some way? I know his grandsons are a gym leader and researcher, respectively."

"Zamzon Oak iz the couzin of the Profezzor Oak you're thinking of. Zzt!" Dexter explained. "He waz even one of the people who dezigned the Rotom-Dex zo that I could live inzide it! Zzt!

"Ooh, Sun!" Lillie exclaimed. "Maybe we should tell your father about Samson Oak! Maybe he could help him get his accreditation as a professor!"

"I'll tell him tomorrow," Sun agreed. "I kind of got the feeling that, even aside from telling you about my uncle, my mom wanted my dad to herself for a bit. Dexter, don't let me forget, okay?"

"No zweat, bozz!" Sun's Rotom-Dex assured him with a happy beep. "I'm part of Team Zun, too, right? We help each other. Zzt!"

"So, what do we do now?" Sun asked. "I've told you everything I know, and I don't think we'll be seeing my folks again until tomorrow."

"We could go out and train for a bit," Lillie suggested thoughtfully. "I didn't really have any plans for the day, besides introducing you to Professor Burnet, and meeting your father."

Sun looked over his pokémon, contemplating her offer, and shook his head. "We've been training pretty hard the past few days," he pointed out. "I think our pokémon, as well as ourselves, deserve at least a day off."

"Torracat!" Nero protested in concern. His trainer had just told them all there would be even harder battles coming, and he wanted them to take it easy?!

"Trum," Sun's first capture told Nero. "Trum-um-um beak." The Bugle Beak Pokémon reminded his comrade that their Sun had also been through a lot the past couple days, and probably needed a break just as much as he believed they deserved one.

Nero eyed his cohort uncertainly. It wasn't that the Fire Cat distrusted the bird's counsel, not at all. But he didn't want to risk being too weak if their Sun ended up being threatened.

Sun reached down to scratch his starter's ears. "I know you're worried, buddy," he told his fire type. "But we deserve some fun."

"And on that note, I have an idea. What if we watch the cartoon you were singing the theme song for earlier?" Lillie suggested. "I'd never even heard of it before."

Sun's eyes seemed to both light up and go wide at the same time. "You've never watched Journeys?" he asked incredulously. "Oh, we have to fix that, right away! It's awesome!" Then he looked around the room. "But how are we going to watch it? There's no TV in here, is there?"

"Zzt! You can watch it on my zcreen, zzt!" Dexter offered. "I can ztream videoz and muzic!"

"That's appreciated Dexter, but it's not necessary. Check this out!" Lillie told them, before she pressed a button on the side of the bed and the back end of the bed frame began to telescope upwards, exposing a large television. "Tada! It's one of the perks of this room, you can watch the TV from right in this bed." She patted the bed next to her. "Come on, Sun," she said cheerfully. "We can order some food from room service and watch some of the show."

Sun sat down beside her, and they pulled up the cartoon Sun had spoken of. Lillie liked the show, though not quite as much as Sun seemed to, but she loved how light her boy's expression became as they watched it, how eagerly he'd answer her questions about a new character, or cheer during particularly exciting moments.

And for the rest of the day and into the evening, Lillie and Sun just relaxed together watching cartoons and eating popcorn. And if Lillie snuggled against Sun or Sun fell asleep in that position, well, there was no one to tease them about it, was there?

A/N: The song Lillie sang is Spotlight, by Trickywi on YouTube. It's a beautiful song, give it a listen if you have the time.