Alola readers, MWIM's back with the newest chapter of A Hui Hou Kakou.
Normally I don't write an author's remark at the beginning of a chapter, although that is very subject to change from this chapter forward. Hopefully this kind of format won't be too confusing.
Anyway, this is what it looks like; an entry and novelization of the different entries in Lillie's diary. Although we get a small glimpse at what she's written, I decided to make my own entries since she likely continued writing up to the point where she had left for Kanto.
Right now, I've got about two dozen of these chapters that will cover various points of the events that occurred during the game and it's safe to say that there will be plenty more even when this flashback group is finished.
So without further ado, enjoy the first diary entry.
I've finally decided.
I have to leave Aether Paradise so that I can protect Nebby. I told Wicke about my plans in secret and she told me to find someone named Professor Burnet and that she might be able to help. Wicke thinks that this Professor Burnet is researching the Ultra Wormholes.
I wonder what kind of person she might be? And how will I ever find her? I don't even know were in Alola she might be right now…
Lillie grabbed a tiny pink doll off her shelf and threw it into the big white duffel bag that Miss Wicke had secretly brought into her room. It was this, her diary plus a few other personal items that she was planning to take with her.
She was about to make the hardest decision in her life. The thought of it scared her half to death, as she had never been outside the Aether sanctuary by herself. Lillie knew that once she made her move…there was no turning back. She would never walk through the grounds on good terms ever again.
But she had to do this for herself…for her mother…for her brother…for Nebby.
All that remained was getting Nebby.
The clothes she had used to wear were locked away in a wardrobe that her mother kept in the room. She'd have to leave wearing the white sundress that her mother forced her to don every day of the week. It was only when she went to bed was there allowed to be a change of clothes. The sleepwear was a white nightgown with long flowing straps that breezed behind her when she walked.
Her mother claimed that she always looked beautiful in the dress and never wanted it to fade away, so her wardrobe of older clothes were put away and sixteen sets of the identical dresses were replaced instead. She had found it to be a bit uncomfortable to wear, especially for prolonged periods of time.
Nebby was the little pokemon called cosmog that remained the centerpiece of her mother's obsession. It appeared ever since father disappeared and Lusamine began a slow but inevitable spiral into madness, where every unexpected reaction of fruitless attempts in opening ultra wormholes was the next eureka breakthrough in accomplishing her goal of finding and bringing him back. She and her brother were constantly shunted aside by her regardless of the time or place. Rather than appreciate the pieces of her family she still had; it became a never-ending narrow minded ambition to get the piece that was lost.
Her older brother Gladion had ran away two years ago, stealing one of the irreplaceable top secret Type: Null experiments and now it was her turn to vanish with a part of Aether's research. Lusamine was about to lose the other pieces, but she was so focused on experiments with Nebby that they seemed to be hardly a bother. Lillie had seen her mother's livid rage when the news broke out of both her brother and the Null's disappearance. It was about to happen again.
She had seen some of the tests, using the cosmog's gases it emitted. They seemed painful and yielded little results which only served to further Lusamine's persistent anger at being so close. Lillie couldn't stand it being in pain and decided that saving it meant getting both of them as far away from Aether Paradise as possible.
Wicke was the only person she could trust with this matter. She had come on as the new Assistant Branch Chief when she was just a little girl and became a favorite among the foundation's staff due to her caring personality. Lusamine's busy schedule hadn't freed up any time to raise both her and brother as they grew up, so Wicke had stepped in to become their surrogate mother. Without her; living with their actual biological one would be pretty unbearable at this point.
She had told Lillie to find a woman named Burnet, who resided somewhere on Alola when she finally escaped. There would be a small boat at the docks with a preprogrammed navigation system in order to save her the time it took to instruct her on how to operate a waterborne vessel.
Two nights ago; Lillie had overheard some staff talking among themselves while visiting in Lusamine's office by their house. Apparently, the cosmog, which she had already nicknamed Nebby had shown signs of extreme pain after a recent test proved too much for it to endure. It had produced favorable results, so they had claimed. Although she didn't know what it meant; the words stung at her heart and she immediately sought Wicke to tell her that she intended to run away within the next three days.
Lillie took one last look around her room. Everything was put up in an orderly fashion and glancing at the holo-clock on her nightstand next to the exeggutor lamp, it read was a half hour until midnight.
Lusamine always went to bed at eleven after reading the final night reports submitted by Wicke and Faba before arising the next morning at precisely six. She quietly passed the master bedroom and snuck a look inside.
Her mother was sound asleep.
The only way to get inside the labs where Nebby had been experimented on was getting a pass in order to access both the elevator to the sublevel as well as getting into the lab itself. Rules were quite strict in allowing one person in a door to a secure area at a time and the same badge was not to be used twice for different individuals. Not all employees had equal access around the Paradise either; she had to get one that had a higher clearance tier of four or higher. Out of the five tiers, only the top two had unrestricted access to the secret labs below.
Only three people had tier five access. Lusamine, Wicke and Branch Chief Faba. Lillie didn't care for the older man. He wore bug-eyed green sunglasses and possessed a wiry build. His pompous, boasting nature often meant that he cared little for children. Other than curt greetings; neither Lillie nor Gladion managed to get much else out of him. The hypno that accompanied him around gave off quite a creepy vibe as well, strutting by its trainers side, giving a weighted glare at the two teens whenever they crossed paths.
Lillie silently thanked having a tile floor as she slowly made her way over to Lusamine's bedside. Her socks made moving across its smooth surface silent. Years of memorization came into play as she always knew that her mother kept her badge in a drawer just by her nightstand.
She quietly opened it up and found the plastic card in its clear jacket. Lillie glanced over at her mother's sleeping form. Her long blonde hair was disheveled and the fresh sleeping gown she wore had wrinkled despite having been pressed earlier in the day. The chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm, which meant that she was already in a deep sleep.
I'm sorry mother. She thought somberly, But I have to do this for Nebby and for me.
Quietly exiting, the girl slipped a large brimmed white hat over her head and quietly exited the house. There was a house security alarm that was state-of-the-art that had been installed and upgraded almost annually. The master control panel for the entire mansion was just next to the front door that led out onto the main courtyard. Opening any connection to the outside of the house would trigger an alarm unless it was disabled.
A couple nights past; Lillie had watched Lusamine enter the arming code and woke up early to secretly watch the sequence of numbers required to turn it off.
She cautiously approached it and punched in the six digits, wincing automatically as if she had gotten it wrong.
Her fear dissipated when the panel flashed green and she silently thanked the fact that the disarming chirp was quiet enough not to wake her sleeping mother.
Exiting the house; the warm humid air of Alola hit her and the nerves of getting caught had caused her skin to prick.
"Hang on Nebby," She whispered and hurried down the path.
The courtyard to their house was elongated, preceded by a massive building that towered ahead with giant glass panes that stretched to either side as if moving to embrace the house in a hug. Circling the entire facility was a large barrier that stretched a good distance around the floating structures to protect it from rough waves when the weather took a turn for the worse.
She continued along the path; fighting tears that threatened to boil over in her eyes. Leaving her home was going to be the hardest decision she had made thus far. She had to do this…in order to save cosmog and herself from her mother's obsessive clutches.
The night shift in the atrium was a skeleton crew; staffed by sleepy employees who often took to reading books, watching television or listening to music to pass the time. She had made her way over to the main elevator and had yet to see anyone glance in her direction.
Flashing the badge in front of the panel, it lit green and she hit the button for the lower levels.
The labs looked just like she had last seen them. Everything was bare white and spotless with a cool dry air. There wasn't even a speck of dirt on the floor.
Cosmog will be in Secret Lab B. Wicke's words echoed in her head, Once you've taken it out of its test chamber, the security staff will be immediately alerted since the President nor Branch Chief Faba have not authorized its withdrawl.
Lillie used Lusamine's badge to open the lab and peered inside. The equipment looked to be powered down save for the low humming of a few systems.
Cosmog lay in the tiny chamber at the lab's center. It must've been asleep since it quickly sensed a presence and perked up, immediately backing away in fear.
"Nebby?" Lillie cautiously asked.
"Pew?" The tiny pokemon still looked a bit apprehensive, but it clearly recognized her, coming closer to the glass.
"It's okay," She reassured it, hitting the release button causing the test chamber to slide open, "I'm getting you out of here." Gesturing to the bag at her side, she opened the zipper, "You're going to have to stay in here until we're safe. Okay?"
"Pew!" Nebby hesitated for a moment before floating over and diving inside.
"Okay," Lillie breathed. Her plan had to be set in stone now. As soon as she walked out that door; there was no going back.
She was just to the entrance of the elevator room when a shrill alarm resonated through the hollow confines of the floor. The sudden loud howl caused both her and Nebby to jump in fright.
"SECURITY BREACH DETECTED IN LAB BRAVO. UNSANCTIONED RELEASE OF TEST SUBJECT HAS BEEN NOTED! LOCKDOWN PROTOCOLS ARE TO BE ENGAGED AND REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTIL CONTAINMENT LEVELS HAVE BEEN RESTORED TO CONDITION GREEN!" The intercom was a deep male voice that boomed from unseen speakers that was felt more than heard. After the message had finished, it repeated itself all over again.
Lillie broke into a run for the elevator and hit the button for the docks. The whole foundation was on high alert and she knew that the lockdown drill was practiced once every three weeks. It included shutting off the facility's access points by air and sea.
If she didn't hurry, this was going to be the shortest escape plan in history.
Panic seized Lillie's body when the elevator didn't ascend.
She tried hitting the button for the docks again. No response.
"Come on," Every second she spent trying to get it to work meant another second they would have at finding her.
The badge! Of course!
She swiped it again and her hand flew to the panel in desperation. Her eyes widened when she realized what she had done.
No!
She had hit the wrong button. Instead of going to the docks, the elevator rose past them, headed for the top floor of the conservation area.
As soon as the platform stopped, she cautiously stepped forward. The preserve was unnaturally quiet, devoid of the usual sounds of the many different species of pokemon that inhabited this part.
"Hey!" A voice came from behind her. "She's on the conservation floor headed for the north exit!"
Lillie whirled around to see a trio of white uniformed employees, who quickly sprinted in her direction. The girl's feet left before her mind and she ran ahead, down another one of the walkways. She heard the footsteps of the men; they were right on her heels. Her feet hit the floor, jarring her entire body with each impact. Breaths became more frantic as her limbs demanded additional oxygen for the increase in movement.
I have to keep going! I have to keep Nebby safe!
"We'll stay on her trail! Go to the north exit and cut her off!"
"Got it!"
As Lillie ran; she went through the various choices in her head. The docks were likely to be locked down, so her best chance of escape was gone thanks to her impulsive decision to hit any button on the elevator. She thought that maybe, she could weave through the walkways to lure away her chasers in order to get back to the elevator for a second chance, but figured that even it was going to be restricted from access in an escape situation like this.
What should I do now? I can't keep running forever!
Nebby glanced about nervously in her bag and made a soft cry, shaking in terror.
"It's okay Nebby," Lillie reassured, even though she knew it was everything but that. She glanced down, a mistake that caused her to trip right in front of the floor's north exit.
Pain shot up the side of her leg and she felt tears welling up in her eyes. Yet, she struggled to her feet and continued running, despite the persisting ache threatening to hamper her progress.
Her heart sank when she saw two more employees waiting for her, standing between her and the north exit, which meant freedom. Beside them were two pokemon; one was a rocky quad-armed creature with electrical crystals lining its body. The other was a small blue figure with a large swirled pattern over its stomach.
"Gotcha!" The same voice came from behind her.
The other two employees pursuing her had caught up, releasing a big blue pokemon with reb orbs on its head and a multitude of deadly looking stinger tentacles. The other partner was avian with a large horn on its head with red wings and a sleek metallic appearance.
No! Lillie thought in defeat, I can't go back! Nebby can't go! What do I do?
"Just hand the cosmog over," The one with the tentacruel said. His voice was reassuring, but the rather malicious smirk plastered on his face betrayed the promise.
"I won't give Nebby up!" She defiantly cried, "Not to you or my mother!"
His partner shook his head, "Fine." He gestured to the bird, "Skarmory; get the bag."
The pokemon let out a harsh caw and extended one of its sharp claws out. Lillie stepped back as it came closer with the intention of tearing it apart and snatching Nebby with its talons.
A glow caught her eye as the cosmog began to glow bright. The flash caused the skarmory to break off its run and it swooped up above the action, screeching loudly in protest.
Lillie gasped as she was enveloped in the strange energy as she suddenly faded into unconsciousness. Her last thoughts went to Nebby and grew increasingly worried if it was safe.
The four Aether employees gasped in surprise as a sphere of bluish energy encapsulated the girl before she vanished inside and it zoomed upwards, effortlessly passing through the glass roof out of sight.
Skarmory followed it up, powering a steel wing strike and quickly called off its course when it was clear that it wasn't going to catch it.
"President," One of them spoke into the radio on his wrist device, "The girl got away."
Lusamine's steely voice sent shivers down the spines of all four men, "What?! How!? I thought you had the north exit locked down?"
"We did. We believe the test subject's power was what aided in her escape."
There was a bit of silence on the other end of the channel and all four glanced nervously at one another, no doubt fearing their hard-earned careers could very well be in jeopardy.
"Understood," Her voice never wavered, although they knew that she was seething in anger at her house, "Inform Mister Faba that the emergency has subsided and tell him to report to my office as soon as possible."
I'm sorry mother
Lusamine stared at the lone piece of paper sitting on Lillie's nightstand inside her room. Although the handwriting was precise; after having hours of practice from homeschooling, she thought nothing of how meticulous or even the significance behind the three words her daughter had left.
The President's mind wandered to everything she and Lillie had done together. She was given her unconditional love alongside her brother, even after her husband vanished and now she had ran away with the cosmog. Both of them stole something important to her…the center of her work for months.
Her hand balled into a fist as she picked up the note and gave it a furious rip; tearing her daughter's heartfelt apology into pieces. Now it meant nothing.
"Miss President?" Faba's voice came from the doorway. He leaned against the side with folded arms and a rather concerned expression on his face. The gesture shocked her, as the normally calm and collected Branch Chief rarely ever showed his emotions.
"Mister Faba. We have a lot of work to do."
"You're right," He seethed, "Your little bratty girl ran off with our research and best hopes of opening potential ultra wormholes! How are we supposed to maintain our schedule now?"
"Patience," Lusamine reassured him despite harboring similar resentment herself, "Spread the word to all of our offices on the islands to begin searching. Alola is not a big place and eventually, she'll have nowhere to hide and nobody to protect her." She paused, "How many samples of the cosmog's gas do we have in store?"
"Just one,"
"Begin additional testing when possible. Let her think the trail's gone cold. We'll catch up with Lillie soon enough."
Lillie heard the faint crashing of ocean waves and slowly opened her eyes.
Again, panic seized her body when it felt difficult to move her arms and legs. The ocean stretched all around her, pulling on her bag and dress as she flailed about to try and stay afloat.
She had been given swimming lessons by her mother when she was young in order to go and play in the reservoir with the water type pokemon that resided in the Paradise.
Lillie knew that the worst thing to do when stranded in the middle of the ocean was to panic. Yet it was hard to avoid that when the weight of both her long dress and bag were both weights dragging her down. Her breathing became more rapid with fright as the severity of the situation began to set in. She was out of Aether Paradise, which was good news, but now floating in the middle of nowhere on an endless ocean was just as bad if not worse. While it was widely known for its beautiful appearance; the sea could turn deadly in a matter of seconds.
As she kicked to continue treading water; she felt her muscles as if they were made of lead. Every stroke and lash with her limbs made them burn with lactic acid that made trying to stay afloat a battle of its own. The waves crashed all around her, threatening to swamp her fragile body down. The torrent was relentless, as if it knew that it would only be a matter of time before claiming its latest victim. Remarkably, the bag with Nebby inside kept to her side, as if it didn't want to part from the girl either.
Her foot dashed against something solid and she could barely make out sand under the moonlight. Further ahead, there was a sandbar that led to a brush of tall palm trees that were dense enough to mask the other side of the land.
She didn't even know if she was still in Alola. The entire world felt disoriented and everything had fazed right by Lillie's mind as blackness began to close around her eyes once again.
"Nebby…" She groaned, finally giving in to her body's protests and falling to her hands and knees on the sand. The next wave crashed onto the beach, washing up and eroding away the sand around her.
The bag was opened by a trembling hand and it showed cosmog snugly asleep inside. The rest of her belongings were also intact; not even soaked. At least Nebby had a much less stressful journey than her. From what it looked like; it had slept through just about the entire ordeal after whisking both of them out of the Paradise's confines. At least something good did happen for once today.
Lillie breathed a sigh of relief, thanking Wicke for bringing her a watertight duffel. Sleep and fatigue once again began to gnaw at her as she gave in to its seductive embrace before finally collapsing on the beach.
She saw the prone figure lying facedown on the sand as she took her morning walk down the trail that led close to the beach. The sun was just peeking over the ocean's horizon and a small breeze drifted over Akala Island as its inhabitants began rising up to start their day.
Although she was unconscious, the newcomer noticed the duffel shaking beside her as a pair of tan colored pokemon stood in front of it. Neither of the two sandygast had opened it up, but their presence was enough to frighten whatever lay inside.
The sand pokemon quickly dispersed when a bigger blue and gray pokemon with two robotic arms approached, raising them menacingly. Seeing that they were outmatched, both of the possessed mounds vanished into the ground, knowing that their curiosity was going to get the better of them if they decided to stay and fight.
"Thank you Metang," The pokemon gave off a low rumble as its trainer knelt down next to Lillie. She put a pair of fingers on her neck, relieved that there was a pulse.
"You're alive," She said to nobody in particular, "That's good."
She scooped up the girl in her arms as her pokemon secured the bag and together, they headed right back to the trail. Instead of completing her morning jog, the turn of events made her go straight home.
When Lillie awoke again, it was strange to not hear the rhythmic sound of surf waves crashing against the shore. Instead; she felt her heart pounding in her chest even though she knew that there was nothing to be frightened immediately about. Even in this unfamiliar place.
Her eyes opened a tiny bit as she found herself lying on a sofa inside a comfortable looking apartment. Sunlight filtered through a pair of closed blinds to her right. On her left was a television screen on top of a desk with a computer.
Lillie figured that if she was going to be taken back to Aether Paradise; there would've been something to prevent her escape. She had a few blankets over her body and had finally gathered enough warmth to stop shivering since fading from consciousness.
Where's Nebby?
Lillie opened her mouth to ask for her cosmog companion, but her throat felt dry and it took some effort to even produce a sound. All she made was a muted groan that sounded like a dying pokemon.
She heard a shuffle of footsteps outside the small room and a young woman entered, giving her a warm smile. She wore a gray tanktop and a green headband around her white hair. Although the girl was a little uncomfortable at the new presence, the woman gave an easygoing smile to help calm her nerves.
"Hi there. How are you feeling?"
Lillie tried to make another response, but couldn't do anything except for a muted croak.
The woman reached over on her desk and opened a bottle with a straw on its cap. She held it tenderly up to the girl's lips, "Here."
Although there was no flavoring; the water seemed to taste sweet like honey and felt like the first rain on a desert. She sucked greedily at the straw, enjoying it sluicing around and erasing the parched sensation in her mouth.
"Nebby," Lillie moaned, "Where's Nebby?"
"Nebby? Oh you mean this little fellow," The woman opened the door to reveal the nicknamed cosmog chattering excitedly to a small spherical pokemon that had a pair of U-shaped magnets on its side and a bigger blue pokemon. "Cosmog, Metang and Magnemite here have become quite good friends in such a short amount of time!"
"Who-who are you?" She stammered out, "Where am I? And how do you know what Cosmog is?"
"You're on Akala Island sweetie and perfectly safe. I made sure to let Wicke know that."
Lillie's eyes widened, this woman knew who Wicke was?
"Don't be alarmed," She chuckled at the girl's discomfort, "You're quite safe here with me. I'm the one she told you to seek. I just happened to take a jog on the beach early this morning and found you washed up in the sand. Why don't we get you cleaned up and get something to eat? I bet you're starving."
Lillie had completely forgotten about her stomach, which growled as soon as the matter had come to light. Although still a little apprehensive having just met the woman; the fact that she knew Wicke had put some of her nerves at ease. For the first time since leaving Aether Paradise, she finally felt like this was someone she could trust. "Sure. I'm Lillie and that's Nebby."
"It's very nice to meet you Lillie. You can call me Burnet. Professor Burnet."
So that'll close the first of many diary entries. I was planning to jump right to the point three months later where the game starts, but I would like to expand a bit more about both Lillie's time spent with Brunet and Kukui as well as Sun's eventual move to the Alola region.
Mahalo everyone for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.
MWIM