Chapter 101: Happy Birthday, Lillie!

Lillie slowly blinked her eyes open as the first rays of sunshine hit her face. With a big yawn, she stretched her arms out, basking in the morning sun. Snowy was also waking up, her tails wagging as she greeted Lillie.

"Morning, Snowy! Do you know what day it is?"

"Vul?"

"It's my birthday!"

Snowy jumped on to Lillie and began licking her face, making Lillie giggle.

"Thank you! Now come on, let's go see if everyone else is up."

But to Lillie's surprise, neither Goh or Ash were in the cafeteria. Chloe was there, gently rubbing Yamper's belly with her foot as she ate her bowl of cereal.

"Morning, Lillie!"

"Morning Chloe, morning Yamper, morning Eevee."

"Yamp!"

"Evoi!"

"Have you seen Ash or Goh?"

"Oh, Ash had an errand to run back in Pallet Town, and Goh wanted to catch some more Pokemon. They said they should be back by sunset, though."

"Oh."

"What's wrong?"

"Well…It's my birthday today, and…I guess I was hoping Ash had a special date planned or something."

"Is this your first birthday away from home?"

Lillie nodded. Chloe thought for a minute, before a big smile appeared on her face.

"Well, let's celebrate! We can have a girl's day out, just the two of us!"

"Really?"

"Of course! It beats what I was going to do all day."

"That sounds great! Thanks, Chloe!"

Just then, Chloe's phone rang. When she saw who it was, she panicked, but quickly hid it.

"Hey Lillie, why don't you go on ahead? I need to take this."

"Uh, sure."

Once Lillie was outside, Chloe answered the phone.

"You idiot, couldn't you have called later? If she hears you…"

"Sorry, I just wanted to make sure you guys had left."

"We were about to leave when you called."

"Great! Remember, keep her busy until 5."

"Yeah, yeah. Just a heads up, she might not be that happy with you when she sees you."

"Trust me, she'll love it. Thanks, Chloe."

Chloe hung up the phone with a sigh, before grabbing her bag and meeting Lillie outside.

"Who was that?"

"Oh, just dad making sure Ash or Goh haven't burnt the place down while he's gone."

Lillie giggled.

"Alright, where too first?"

"How about the mall? I could use some new clothes."

"Sounds great!"

A while later, Chloe was waiting outside the dressing rooms, waiting for Lillie to come out.

"Hurry up, Lillie!"

"Don't rush me, I'm almost…done! Alright, I'm coming out!"

Lillie stepped out, wearing a slightly more revealing top with a picture of an Alolan Vulpix. She now had on a pair of black shorts, and her hat replaced with a sun visor.

"Well, how do I look?"

"Amazing!"

"Thanks! Come on, let's go pay."

Back at the Laboratory, Ash was busy wrapping up Lillie's gift when he checked the time.

"Ah man, I need to get to the airport! Goh, will you be alright on your own for a while?"

"Yeah, I got this!"

Ash nodded, and left for the airport. Goh then turned to the rest of the balloons, and sighed. He still had hundreds left to fill, and he was winded.

"Well, maybe not."

Luckily, Dragonite came over to help. Carefully, she picked up a balloon and blew into it, expanding it to a massive size…

Before it exploded, leaving small bits of balloon everywhere. Dragonite whimpered sadly, but Goh patted her on the back.

"Thanks Dragonite, but I think I'll just use the tank. But you know how you can help? Take Pidgeot and hang the banner up."

Dragonite clapped happily, before grabbing Goh in one of her classic hugs, making him grunt in pain before she flew off to do just that.

A little while later, Lillie and Chloe were walking to an ice cream parlor after having lunch.

"Thanks for this, Chloe! I really needed something to keep my mind off Ash."

"You're welcome, but don't be so hard on him. He couldn't help having to leave, his mom needed him."
"I know, it's just… I really miss Alola right now. I was hoping maybe he could help me keep my mind off it, but…"

Chloe nodded.

"I'm sure he'll do something to make up for it. Now come on, let's get some ice cream!"

"Sounds good!"

As Lillie walked through the door, balloons and streamers fell from the ceiling as a party popper went off in her face.

"Congratulations, miss! You are our 1,000,000th customer! You just won free ice cream for a year!"

Chloe chuckled at Lillie's shocked face.

"I think your luck is changing for the better."

At 5, Chloe led Lillie back to the lab after their day of fun, Lillie's mood much happier.

"Thanks for all this, Chloe. This was a great birthday!"

"Of course, Lillie. Now come on, I think I can hear Ash and Goh in the park."

Lillie nodded, and followed the girl there. When she opened the door…

"SURPRISE! Happy birthday, Lillie!"

Lillie gasped in shock. Not because of the surprise, but because of three special guests.

"Mom? Dad? Gladion?"

"Happy birthday, Lillie!"

Lillie ran to her family and gave them all a big hug, tears of joy running down her face.

"H-how?"

"You didn't think I would miss my precious daughter's birthday, did you?"

"I've missed enough already, there was no way I would miss this one."

"Besides, Ash wanted to surprise you."
Lillie turned to her boyfriend, who had a massive grin on his face.

"You planned all this?"

"Well, I figured if I couldn't bring you to Alola, I'd bring Alola to you!"

"Was Chloe in on this?"

"Yeah, but I did genuinely want a girl's day out. I needed a break from Mr. Mew over here!"

"Hey!"

"Oh hush, you know I love you."

Lillie ran at Ash and gave him a big hug, making him grunt as he fell over.

"Thank you! I…I'm sorry I ever thought you'd forget."

"How could I forget anything about the most beautiful girl in the world?"

Lillie blushed, and gave Ash a big kiss.

"Now come on, let's get this party started!"

As the party winded down, Lillie sat on a ledge in the park, gazing up at the stars as she finished her slice of cake. Snowy was with her, sitting in her lap as Lillie fed her some of it.

"Hey Lillie, did you enjoy the party?"

Lillie glanced up to see Ash approaching her.

"I did, it was…it was amazing."

"Just like you."

"Oh, stop it!"

Ash chuckled, and sat down next to her. Sensing that they would want to be alone, Snowy got up, giving Ash a gentle rub against his chest before leaving.

"You know, I haven't given you my gift yet."

"Ash, after everything you've done, do you really think you need to give me anything?"

"I know I don't have to, but I want to."

Ash reached behind his back, and pulled out a small gift-wrapped box. Curious, Lillie unwrapped it to reveal a small heart shaped locket.

"Open it."

Lillie did, revealing a picture of Ash on the inside. Ash then pulled out a similar locket, only this one had a picture of her.

"That way we'll always be close to each other's heart."

Lillie smiled, and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

"I love it, but not as much as I love you."

"That's good, because I love you even more."

"Uh uh!"

"Yeah huh!"

The two giggled, and cuddled up together as they watched the stars.