A Hui Hou Kākou

by BraviaryScout

As they continue on separate paths; the newly crowned champion of Alola, Elio "Sun" Northstar looks back to remember the one person who gave him the strength he needed to complete his island challenge while he awaits her return. Pokemon Moon novelization. Sun X Lillie. Hau X OC. M for later chapters. Cover art by Chocolexii. Same universe as Brendan's Journey by jmoul18.

84. Entry 80: Her Love That Still Remained

Alola readers! We are here at Ultra Space, the climax of the story where Lusamine and Guzma are confronted in Ultra Space! It was originally going to be a shorter read, but I figured I could combine everything you're about to read here into one much bigger chapter, making this the largest one in the entire story! I hope everyone enjoys!

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Finally in the domain of the Ultra Beasts and it was unlike anything I've ever experienced. It was dark and rocky everywhere, but the biggest difference was that the air felt hard to breathe…like trying to suck in liquid oxygen. Elio had noticed it too.

I just wanted to find Mother and Guzma and get out as soon as possible.

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The flight through the wormhole into Ultra Space came to an abrupt end.

Worst of all, neither of them could see it coming. Elio felt weightless for what could've been hours or minutes or seconds. Then he blinked and he was somewhere again.

The ground rushed to greet him and Lillie, who fell next to him with an audible grunt. Together they landed in a tangle of limbs parodying intimacy as her head was face first straight into his chest.

As soon as he had come to his senses, the embarrassment was quickly overtaken that something felt…wrong. The air was dense and heavy. Though there was an unusual chill, he felt a dampness as if his exposed skin was submerged in cold water. Breathing in felt forced, like he was trying to fill his diaphragm that rattled with a thick viscous fluid.

He felt Lillie shiver as she lay on top of him, suddenly her face flushing pink as she realized her situation, staring at him with their noses and mouths just a couple of inches apart. Within kissing distance.

"Sorry," she whispered, using an arm to prop herself up and off him.

Elio was about to tell her he absolutely didn't mind it when he noticed the change.

"This is Ultra Space?" Her voice was amplified to be louder, as if banging across invisible walls in an echo chamber. "I…I don't think I've seen anything like it."

She was right. They were in a dark cramped place with a few hills surrounding them in an irregular pattern. Light from an unknown source illuminated the entire area yet when they craned their necks for a sun or moon overhead, all they saw was an inky blackness. It reminded him of those footage of submersibles in the depths of the sea. Unnerving was probably the best thing he could do to describe it.

Either the ground is fluorescent or something. Elio was about to ask Rotom about it, but the quirky haunted Dex had made no sound or any indication whatsoever that it was active.

"Rotom?" Again, no response. He slipped the device out of his bag, getting a little more unnerved when nothing had happened even after hitting any buttons.

"Wow, even Rotom is quiet." Lillie whispered in a mix of awe and uncertainty. "Does being here shut it down?"

For once.

Nebby cooed softly behind them, her entire body intensifying in a glow. She eased forward, leading the way.

"How are we even knowing where we are? Or if Lusamine or Guzma are close by?" They had no devices to track in a completely foreign land. Elio wouldn't be surprised if they were only the second pair of humans to set foot in Ultra Space, the first being the two they were hunting.

"I trust Nebby. We may not know the way, but she certainly does."

As if she had heard them, Nebby spread her wings once more, moving noiselessly and effortlessly as if an ominous wraith over water. Her radiant glow of bluish white moonlight illuminated the surroundings. Elio thought that the sparkles and glistens of rock mounds resembled Cerulean City's coastline at low tide.

That's good. At least someone knows where they're going. If Nebby had some paracausal innate ability to rescue wayward humans in Ultra Space, she'd be able to make a quick exfil. While they didn't see anything or anyone else, he would've been more than happy to avoid coming here.

Nebby stopped, floating in place and turned to the teens. She had spread her wings wide again, crying softly.

"Nebby? What is it?" Lillie thought for a moment. "Wait, you have to stay here to keep the portal back to Alola open right?"

They saw her nod in an affirmation.

"I understand. Thank you so much for everything!"

A grunt of surprise nearly made him jump out of his skin as he followed the sound, glancing up on the jagged outcroppings that peaked several feet above. Seeing Guzma Gutierrez sitting and staring blankly down at them made his eyes widen in surprise.

"Guzma?"

Lillie followed his gaze and was nearly as surprised herself.

The Skull boss' voice was raspy, as if his throat was lined with chalky dust. He shook his head, massaging his temples with a silent agonizing scream. "Kid…ya…what are ya doin' here?"

Guzma grunted as he slid off the perch he had been sitting on down to their level. He let out a sharp cry of pain, nearly falling backwards had it not been for the two teens quickly grabbing his arms. As soon as his feet had touched the ground, his legs buckled and he collapsed.

Lillie had put an arm around his back and supported him into a sitting position. Elio helped him sit against a rock. His hands were clenched around his stomach in a death grip and one of the most likely current sources of his pain.

As Nebby's light illuminated him, Elio could see that Guzma's eyes were more sunken than usual, wrinkles creasing his features despite his mid thirties age. Dry flakes of dead skin covered his lips that nearly made him gag. The Skull boss' breathing was paced irregularly, some breaths calm and steady before it increased to the point he was certain he was about to hyperventilate. His mouth twisted in additional silent screams of agony, a symptom of a migraine brought on by lack of water. His dark eyes blinked rapidly as if he had wanted to shed tears, however Elio suspected that he was so dehydrated that such a thing wasn't even possible.

It's a good thing we got here. If Guzma hadn't drank anything since he jumped in that portal, he might've died from thirst.

"Y'all are stupid!" Guzma choked out as Elio unslung his backpack, rifling through for the food and drink that he had brought. First came the packet of emergency drinking water. He found the opening spout, twisting it and using his knife to break the seal.

Guzma's eyes went wide at the sight of water and he nearly lunged for it when Elio put a hand over his arms. Though the Skull boss glared at him, he was far too weak to really protest.

"Sip."

He held the opening up to his lips, slowly pouring it down as Guzma's own desperation for water nearly had him ignoring his advice. Elio held it in the manner his father had taught when having to tend to someone dehydrated.

"I don't need ya…to feed me like a child." Guzma growled. If it weren't for the higher stakes, Elio would've laughed…he was in no position to protest.

"Swallow your damn ego for once and let me rescue your dumb ass." He tilted the packet higher, allowing Guzma to drink the last of the water. Though having a brackish chemical taste from added electrolytes, most wouldn't particularly care and likely thought of it as the best tasting in their lives after having been deprived of it for so long.

If he had done it on his own and greedily sucked the ration packet dry; the abdominal cramps that would have inevitably followed could be just as brutally painful as his original thirst. Either way, the Skull boss was going to have to spend some time in the hospital under an IV saline drip.

Next came the energy bar, which Elio broke into four pieces and placed them in Guzma's free hand, who weakly lifted one up to his mouth. They had three more packets of water and a half dozen energy bars between the two of them. He wanted to save at least two of the packets for Lusamine when they found her.

If she's even willing.

"I'm the Team Skull boss, been scared of nothin' or nobody! Hell, I live my life makin' people scared of ME!"

"Real scary of you." Lillie muttered sardonically. Again, had it not been so perilous, Elio would've laughed out loud to that as well.

"How in the world did the two of ya even get to this place? And it's been like forever!"

"Forever?" Elio asked, sharing a puzzled glance with Lillie. "Guzma, you jumped through the Ultra Wormhole four days ago."

"Four…days?"

Guzma sighed. "It feels like a month…fuck…a year. There's beasts everywhere. I tried to catch one."

Elio didn't see any new pokeballs on the man's belt. Many of them had new scuffs and dings on their metal surface, making them seem as if they had been manufactured eons ago. If he had to foster a guess, Guzma passed time by bouncing them off a rock to himself.

Way to treat your pokemon's home.

"But it possessed me! And that's when it happened! My body, mind started runnin' wild and I couldn't do nothin' about it!"

So there were Ultra Beasts here. A creeping dread filled his senses and he suddenly felt like they were being watched from somewhere he couldn't see.

"It was like I became someone else and I finally felt what fear felt like!" Guzma's voice raised up and he seethed in agony, gripping his temples through his mop of curly ashen white hair. "It was terrifyin' I tell ya!"

Elio saw Lillie's breath hitch at that. He was just as unnerved as her, hearing how easily the beasts could parasitically possess people on a whim. Immediately he went back to when the one they met during their first visit to the Paradise had tried to latch on him from above, wrapping barbed tentacles around his arms and trying to get to his spine.

He shivered and it wasn't from the cold. And he was damned if he was going to let that happen to Lillie. They'd tear the beast apart if it laid a single finger on her.

As much as he wanted to scold Guzma for finally experiencing the suffering and scrutiny he had harassed others on Alola about, they were still here to rescue Lusamine. There was no place to lecture.

"I may be the boss of Team Skull and I've never been scared of nothin' or nobody. But that lady. Madam Prez…she's on a whole 'nother level! She's way far gone!"

"Gone?" Lillie's face fell. "She can't be gone."

"Like possessed?"

Guzma shrugged. "She's lost her mind over these damn Ultra Beasts! There was no talkin' nor reasonin' with her. She's just…gone."

"No."

Both boys turned to Lillie, who shook her head in denial. "My mother is strong and I know she's still here. This doesn't change anything, I still have to go!"

Guzma shook his head and almost looked like he was going to spit on the ground. "Ya crazy kid. I don't think ya will succeed any more than what I tried…but hey, it's your life."

She ignored him, walking by further down, moving between several winding openings between mounds of the glossy rocks. Up ahead was another clearing that widened, not unlike the area where he had battled the totem kommo'o right before.

"Where did she go, Guzma?" The uncertainty crept back, but in order for Lillie to give it her best shot, he needed more information.

"If I tell ya…will ya get me outta this place?" He asked.

"Yes," Elio said. "I promise we won't leave you behind."

Guzma slowly chewed on another bite of the ration bar. "She's ahead, just down that way ya girlfriend went. Ya won't miss her and I'm sure she's already spyin' on ya and me."

"Okay." It wasn't really enough information to just go by, but he did also have a hunch that if she was already aware of their presence, she'd come to them. He carefully opened another packet of emergency water rations and set it in Guzma's free hand.

"Stay here and drink this. We'll come back for you."

Elio stood and moved to join Lillie, dimly aware hearing the Team Skull boss whimpering softly. He had stared blankly ahead the entire time.

The first bit of movement in the air caught them off guard.

Elio and Lillie paused, the former taking a moment to let out Arclight and Akela. He saw the familiar opaque white bell of a beast as it lazily floated several feet above them. The thin veil that trailed behind was reminiscent of a dress. With so little light, it was easy to miss. Their main source was staying back a ways next to Guzma as he nursed himself back from being parched and famished.

Wait a second…a white dress and a bulbous bell top that was round.

It suddenly dawned on him as to why the beast's appearance was so familiar.

That…that fuckin woman. She dressed up her own damn daughter to look like an Ultra Beast?! Elio couldn't believe her and it angered him even more that in spite of that atrocious act, Lillie was still willing to dive headfirst into this unknown world to rescue her.

He knew for a fact that Lusamine did not deserve this rescue attempt they were mounting. At all.

More shapes began to appear above them. Akela tensed and Arclight's jaws crackled with electricity. She was more than ready to fire if one of them decided to challenge them. And there would be no warning shots. Still a little uncertain, but he felt a lot better that he had two of his pokemon out and ready to defend them if necessary.

But the beasts ignored them, staring in their direction for just a couple of moments before lazily drifting along some unseen current. It reminded him of the carefree wind riding drifloon, a ghost type that was commonly found in the windy areas of northern Sinnoh.

And so you come at last.

Elio froze. Did I just hear something or was it my imagination?

And yet you!

Okay, seeing Lillie stop and tense told him that it wasn't just him. She glanced around, clearly recognizing the voice.

"Mother?"

The woman's voice was noticeably louder. "I am where I belong. How uncouth of you to defile this beautiful plane with your existence."

Elio remembered that Guzma had told him Lusamine was likely already aware of their presence. She would be prepared for them even more. Though the beasts had begun to float in front, none had made an aggressive move.

He heard Akela growl softly and gently rubbed the wolf's side to keep him calm. Arclight spun around, her eyes quickly acquiring five of the beasts that had all formed a stack on top of another.

"What's going on?" Lillie asked.

The beasts trilled and screeched and he immediately felt that adrenaline spike in his system. It was as if he was right back in the Paradise, about to get snatched up once more.

One by one, the beasts floated away into the darkness, vanishing from sight in a manner that made Elio's hair stand up. Terrifying was the least he could describe it as they disappeared just meters away from being illuminated by the ghastly blue glow of the ground.

"Look at this. The world of my sweet and beautiful beasts." Lusamine's voice was much more clear and crisp now. Elio and Lillie gasped as the final beast had vanished into the darkness behind, leaving the tall slender woman herself sitting on a rounded rock nearly in the center of the clearing. She had appeared as if a hidden actress on a stage revealed by special effects.

"A world that exists is the love between myself and my dear Nihilego! So beautiful…so delicious! This is what paradise truly feels like!"

Nihilego? Elio thought. Is that the name of these things?

Unlike Guzma when they had found him earlier; Lusamine showed close to zero ill effects for being stranded in Ultra Space for just as long. Her skin was the same clear paleness with no signs of flaking. Her long icy blonde hair had retained its vibrant fullness, held in place by the long emerald clip. There wasn't as much as a speck of dirt on her polished heels, dress or bare skin at all. Nor any signs that she was dehydrated or starved.

She was like an angelic virgin queen if it weren't for her mouth that was twisted in a wicked grin.

"I must ask why you two continue to pester me again and again?!" Lusamine's pure aura of divinity vanished as her face contorted into one of anger. She bared her teeth at them. "I am sick of you! Through and through!"

"Mother?" Lillie asked, completely ignoring the rant. "Are you alright?"

Lusamine's sneer left her and she spread her arms around with a chilling grin. "I have never been better, wretched daughter! Surrounded by my beasts where I can love them for all of eternity! Who told you that you could desecrate the world that belongs to my dear Nihilego and I?!"

Lillie gasped and Elio wondered if she was starting to realize Guzma's words rang true that Lusamine was far too gone.

It has only been a few days! How can she be this depraved?

"Think about what you're saying!" She begged her mother. "What about Guzma? Don't you care about what happens to him?"

Elio felt the tension in the air thicken with every passing moment. Beside him, Arclight and Akela similarly got into their battle ready stances, sensing a conflict was inevitable.

"Just leave." Lusamine said flatly. She didn't even bother to say anything, let alone think of the one person who accompanied her through the wormhole. "I don't need you in my world anymore. I don't need you anymore. How could you possibly ask me to go back to such an imperfect place like that? Even you cannot be that stupid!"

"Stupid?" Lillie stifled a laugh, which completely surprised Elio. "Crazy maybe…but not stupid! You always do that, just like back at Aether Paradise! Always thinking what you want…you never gave a thought…a goddamn thought about your family or anyone else that cared about you!"

"And why shouldn't I?!" Lusamine shot back. "I can live here in a world filled with all the things that I love! I don't care if you're my daughter, if you were loyal. I don't care one bit if you're the rarest pokemon I can find! If you're not beautiful for my world…I don't need you. Ever."

Elio saw Lillie falter. Lusamine was starting to get at her in the same tactic she always used. Get inside her head.

Say no. Stand up to her. He wanted to speak it out loud, yet lacked the proper words for it. As much as he wanted to see this through, this was not his fight.

To his astonishment, he saw Lillie's stance immediately change from being reasonable. Her fingers balled into fists and her pupils had narrowed in anger.

"No. I'm not backing down." She said softly. He watched as she slowly stalked up, moving forward until she faced her mother square on, merely a few paces away. Akela snarled and crept forward, ready to make a move if Lusamine tried anything. The Aether President was unmoved by Lillie's brazen gesture, displaying a flippant smirk on her porcelain features.

"I am the one that's sick of you Mother! All this talk about children!" She spat the last word as if it were poisonous acid to her tongue. "Children are not just things and objects that belong to their parents! Pokemon are not just things to do and be what their trainer does whatever they want to! I am alive! Cosmog is alive!"

Lusamine shrugged dismissively. "That poor thing survived? I hope it has suffered enough that it won't interfere again!"

Wait a second, Lusamine doesn't know what happened since Nebby turned into that cocoon and Lunala after she went through the Ultra Wormhole!

"We aren't things for you to collect!" Lillie said with her newfound defiance. Elio stood silently by her side, offering the best support he could. This was who she was meant to be. Somehow he felt like the Lillie he saw with him now was more of her true self than the timid and meek girl he had first met on the dark Mahalo Trail months ago.

"Your children…your FAMILY aren't to be simply discarded when you're bored or done with us! That's terrible Mother! You are terrible!"

For a moment, Elio thought she had actually gotten to her. Lusamine's own veneer slipped just long enough for him to make that assumption. That moment was gone when she gave another flippant shrug, apparently completely disregarding Lillie's arguments.

"Terrible? Me? Ha! What makes me different from any pokemon trainer like your little friend Elio? Hmm?" Lillie stopped and her expression fell, knowing all too well that her own mother had baited her into saying such things that could be easily countered by staying silent and "listening" like she had always wanted.

"I…I."

Lusamine's smile widened and Elio was pretty sure it could've been full of knives. "So…what do you do with a pokemon you can't use? You remove it from your team as you please."

As much as I hate that coming from her…it's a valid point.

"You leave Elio out of this!" Lillie had shouted. "He's shown me more love in the time I've known him than you have in your whole life!"

"Enough of all the theatrics Lillie! This useless talk is useless! I will never ever forgive you for stealing Cosmog from me! I will never forgive Gladion for stealing Null! Back when you both were small you would listen to everything I would say and demand without question. For a time, you were adorable."

She straightened her posture to her full height, a full head over the teens in an attempt to intimidate them. Neither backed down, staring with equal intensity.

She thinks she's getting into our heads. Lillie thought. No. With Elio at my side…we're getting into hers.

"But you've changed. Become ugly. Ever since you met this little boy Elio, ran away from my loving embrace and defied your own mother!"

"You still don't understand." Lillie's voice went soft as she shook her head. "I've wanted us to be a family again. You, me, Gladion. I've had so many hard nights where I've wished that things could go back to the way they were."

Her voice dropped even more at her next words, though Elio saw the reaction immediately.

"If Father was seeing you now, he'd be just as disappointed."

Lusamine's nostrils flared and her hand moved to deliver a vicious backhand to Lillie's cheek. Akela sensed it before the thought had even crossed Elio's own mind to signal him to guard. Arclight's jaws sizzled with electricity, ready to intervene alongside her teammate.

To her credit; Lusamine held her hand in midair, pausing as if to consider her next actions.

"I bet you won't have this same act of defiance if I had gotten rid of your hateful trainer friend." She turned to Elio with a sneer on her face. "That arm of yours must still hurt. Good. I hope it does."

Truth be told, he had nearly forgotten about them. The sting from the scars had either faded or his body had adapted to tolerate the pain. Dark crimson scabs were still on his shoulder and still going to take time to fully heal.

"You know," he started. "I was against Lillie's own idea to come here to this godforsaken place to get you and Guzma out. I figured that considering you made Lillie and Gladion's life a living hell, this was probably something you deserved."

Elio stepped forward. "And I still think so. Yet here I am despite my own efforts in trying to convince Lillie that this was a bad idea. I held out some hope that you and her could actually settle this like grown ass adults. Seems I was wrong."

"Of course. For a trainer like you…your talents were put to waste defending that wretch. All you would have had to do was pledge your fealty to me. Then you would have had anything…or anyone you desired."

Elio wasn't convinced. "And all I'd have to do is the same thing as Lillie. Obey every order without question while you surround yourself with a cadre of things that either are exactly to your liking...or do nothing but echo their agreements. I'm a free man to do what I please, mahalo nui loa."

"Oh don't feel so bad. You would be nothing like what Lillie was living in her fantasy novel and at least be in a real world."

"And you're not?" He took another step up, knowing his Pokémon would have his back. "Do you actually believe the bullshit coming out of your mouth?! Lillie had her own share of problems. Gladion too. You know what they did? Instead of running off and away from those problems, they faced them head on. Yes it took a while to convince them, yes they weren't used to having to go to other people like Hau or myself to help them solve it."

Lillie blinked, her mouth parted agape at seeing how fiercely her crush was defending her.

"But they realized that they didn't have to boss people around or whine like a child. They were both perfectly capable of asking others for help while pulling their weight. And they did. They asked their friends. They asked their ohana. We offered more help to them than you ever did and you're the one that's blood related."

Elio reached down, gently slipping his hand into Lillie's and glaring at Lusamine once more.

"If anything you said about reality and fantasy is true…it's you who's the one that lives in the own fantasy novel that you find so repulsive and it's Lillie who lives in the real world!"

"Ha! Do you really believe that? I'll just show you how wrong you are!"

Lusamine drew a poke ball and Elio immediately sensed she was preparing for a battle.

What he didn't expect was for her to throw the blue and yellow beast ball into the air where the biggest nihilego he had ever seen materialized above, nearly one and a half times larger than the others that had surrounded them. The creature shrieked and trilled, spreading its veiled tentacles apart.

What the hell?

"Come to me my sweet beast! Let us banish these tainted heathens together!"

"Mother! What are you doing?!"

Lusamine never answered as the creature descended down. She spread her arms up, twisting into another smile. Nihilego's longest outward tentacles wrapped them around her shoulders as the bell settled on her head. The veil smoothened and latched onto her spine, lifting the Aether President off the ground as if she were a doll.

Elio and Lillie gasped.

They heard Lusamine grunt and yell in pain as she was slowly swallowed into the creature's body. Its opaque white body turned into a terrifying inky black and silver. Lusamine's blonde hair had taken on the same dark dye as she let out a euphoric sigh. She laughed, a haunting echo going along the dark floor.

"Ooh! How this feels too good!" Through one of the tentacles, plucked a trio of poke balls from her belt that had dangled out from the bottom of the fusion's bell. "Now I shall destroy you!"

As she threw them to reveal three pokemon, Elio glanced at Lillie.

"Whatever happens; stay behind me." His voice left no room for debate or arguing. Lillie nodded absentmindedly, still a bit paralyzed by indecision and fear.

Pix the clefable, Skell the mismagius and Gisele the milotic charged forward. As he watched and his pokemon got ready for battle, he noticed that each one had that same yellow amber colored aura surrounding them…just like it had the totems he fought on his island challenge.

They're gonna have some sort of stat boosts. Which means they're harder to take down.

Arclight and Akela jumped straight into action. The former's jaws powered up and she fired a zap cannon that hit Gisele. The totem stat boosts didn't do anything against the paralysis and though she showed no signs of fainting, her speed slowed down significantly. Gisele fell behind the others.

Akela was split between the other two, reacting just in time as both Pix and Skell fired a moonblast and shadow ball respectively. He dodged both, using a stone edge that pelted Skell. An airborne opponent would be harder for him to take care of. The ghost flinched and he charged forth, meeting it with his fangs in a crunch.

Elio noticed that Lusamine wasn't giving any commands, merely staring at the battle and them with that same intense glare. He assumed that either she was doing it some way he couldn't tell or they were just going to act on their own.

Either way, he had to treat this as a totem battle or a way that he couldn't anticipate the other trainer's attacks. This wasn't a sanctioned fight at all, especially if the Lusamine-Nihilego hybrid wasn't keen on adhering to rules.

Are there even rules to be enforced in Ultra Space?

Giselle had finally caught up alongside her comrades, her body shimmering in a familiar green as her recover had erased the damage from the zap cannon. She had looked barely fazed from it in the first place from the super effective attack whereas he was fairly sure Arclight was powerful enough to knock her out in a single blow.

"What are we dealing with here?"

A loud crash interrupted his thoughts as Akela was struck with a shadow ball from Skell. He tumbled to the ground and was about to be hit again from a combined moonblast and shadow ball with the aid of Pix when Arclight unleashed a discharge right over him to intercept and dissipate the attacks.

It's two on three. Time to make this a fair fight. Elio wondered how he could make things better to help.

"Bravo, use tailwind!" He summoned his third pokemon. The braviary looked a little confused at the environment, but he rapidly flapped his wings to create a series of wind currents that started to come from behind. Both Arclight and Akela felt its effects immediately, now able to move noticeably faster to dodge Lusamine's pokemon.

Okay that's a bit of a relief. We'll need all the advantages we can get.

One thing that was immediately to his own advantage was Arclight's zap cannon. With the aid of the tailwind, she was able to fire it at an incredibly fast velocity in the blink of an eye. Even with the tailwind coming from behind the opposing side, the speed was a lot slower. That could also be played out too as a shot slowed by the tailwind would eventually be caught by the gale and curved around for a second go.

The problem with that was maneuvering her foe into a position where they'd get hit and she wouldn't.

Arclight was already taking the initiative, shooting another zap cannon towards Skell. Crazy enough, the ghost had a sixth sense to see it coming and drifted out of the way. One downside was that once fired with the tailwind, adjusting the zap cannon's aim was difficult.

Maybe we should stick to distracted opponents or ones that don't move so fast.

Bravo drew fire from Gisele's ice beam which left both Akela and Arclight free. So far, Skell had taken the most damage and been the most upfront. Lusamine's clefable Pix had slower moving moonblasts and wasn't quick enough to get a bead on any of his pokemon.

Gonna have to prioritize.

"Arclight, discharge!" Elio cried. "Akela, stone edge on Skell now!"

His pokemon were quick to their attacks. Akela smashed the ground with his fist, creating a row of jagged stones that hit Skell strictly on her underside. The mismagius cried out as it struggled to stay in the air. Arclight was ready for the discharge.

They didn't notice Pix rushing in to help. In a flash, she was there to wave her arms in a rectangle shape to form a mirror-like pane of light that was precisely positioned between them and Arclight as she unleashed her big wave of electricity The light screen allowed the waves of electrical energy to pass through, greatly weakening them in that Skell had all but shrugged it off.

Dammit. Fuckin light screen. And he had no brick break to be able to shatter the said barrier. If he wanted his special moves back in play, he'd have to wait it out.

Worst of all, Arclight's zap cannon having that velocity boost from the tailwind would run out unless he whipped up another.

For now, he opted to keep the pressure on Skell, forcing Pix and Gisele to intervene. The milotic was slow to catch up since the paralysis hindered her movement. Elio took advantage, having Bravo attack the ghost from up high with an aerial ace while Akela lunged with a crunch. His wolf pokemon hit first, fangs clamping down at the edges of the gown trailing. Skell cried out, shaking herself as much as she could to dislodge him, but he hung on with his familiar tenacity and used his heavier weight to swing her into the path of Bravo closing in with the aerial ace.

He had done it too early, the mismagius smirked gathering a handful of eerie wispy flames around and shooting them out. Bravo saw it coming and was forced to break off his attack, swooping by and turning around for another go. It was a lucky miss from the will-o-wisp.

Skell made another mistake in taking her eyes off her first attacker.

With a snarl, Akela smashed the ground with both his fists, casting two stone edge attacks, one of them going towards Skell and the other towards Pix. The big pink clefable quickly waved her hands to summon a cosmic power and stat flare that helped negate some of the damage. Skell was less lucky, having regained her levitation to be battered by a furious barrage of sharp rocks. She formed a shadow ball, shooting it haphazardly in the direction of Akela in an attempt to at least block some of them before finally succumbing to the onslaught.

Akela saw the shadow ball coming and leapt out of the way, immediately going back on the offensive as Pix had waggled a metronome off to the side and lunged at him with two long sinewy vines trailing from her arms as Skell's defeated form spun to the ground.

Thanks to the tailwind, he was able to dodge the power whip with ease. Pix lashed out again. Even as Akela dodged, Elio was immediately suspicious as to why it was aimed high up.

Then Bravo soared overhead as he was in the midst of a crush claw towards Gisele. Pix's vines snared around Bravo's right foot and both his speed and strength easily lifted her off the ground, dragging her behind him whilst flying.

Pix still had that smirk. That damned smirk.

Even as one of the vines faded away, she spun her free hand and unleashed a devastating thunderbolt that ran through the still attached vine up to the eagle. Bravo screeched in agony, his flight dipping down until he threatened to crash headfirst into the ground. Just as he nearly struck the rocky surface, the power whip tethering Pix to his leg had faded, causing her to drop down to the ground. At the same time the Lusamine-Nihilego hybrid tossed in another pokemon, Glacinta the jynx to replace the fallen Skell.

"Shit." Elio had grumbled. Next to him, Lillie's hand squeezed his a bit tighter.

Like her previous pokemon, Glacinta didn't receive any verbal orders to attack and summoned a great blizzard. Elio's pokemon immediately responded and halted their own attacks to be ready to evade the oncoming gale. Arclight and Bravo rolled to the side to avoid the worst of it while Akela snarled in defiance, not having the flight options of his two comrades.

But as the blizzard approached, Elio saw that it behaved rather oddly. The tailwind was still up, though he knew that it was going to die down at any moment. Going against the winds caused the fast moving drifts of frigid air to behave erratically. Instead of a specific area of effect, the tailwind caused it to billow up like an enormous cloud.

Straight towards Arclight and Bravo.

Lusamine had actually used his own tailwind to her advantage for Glacinta's blizzard.

Arclight shuddered as she was pelted by flecks of ice, but Bravo wasn't as lucky. He tucked his wings in, spinning as he went down towards the ground. At once, Pix unleashed a thunderbolt and Gisele fired an ice beam that collided with him in midair. Elio cried out Bravo's name as the gigantic eagle finally crashed and tumbled into the ground with a bone crunching halt. There was no telling him to get up to try and power through, he was out of the fight.

Elio recalled him, choosing to substitute Lochagos. He saw that Lusamine through her fusion had a slight surprise of a reaction, but otherwise returned to her seething self.

Lochagos' footsteps were heavy and his larger frame demanded attention. It was a risky choice in his eyes, but he was hoping that using him defensively meant he could draw said attention away from Akela and Arclight.

"Which means the light screen should be done about."

His side evaded more attacks and counterattacked themselves. Arclight's bug buzz hit Glacinta and sent her reeling back as the prismatic mirror that was set in front of them finally faded. Similarly on his own side, they felt the tailwind peter out. Since Bravo had fainted, he couldn't start another one.

Pix had been the one putting on the light screen setup, so she could erect another if given the chance.

"Now."

Akela led the charge, summoning a rock slide that fanned out with large boulders tossed like on a flatbed. The tender pokemon grunted from the blow, wrenching her head in Lochagos' direction to shoot an ice beam. Pix deftly jumped out of the way and fired a moonblast.

The kommo'o knew that the attacks coming were meant for him and he calmly threw his hands out to create a protect barrier. Both the moonblast and ice beam crashed heavily against the shield and he had begun to strain in order to keep it running. His feet dug into the ground as Gisele kept the ice beam up. Elio was worried she could outlast the protect until she twitched and had to halt her attack as the paralysis sneakily returned.

On the other side, Pix had refocused on Akela, wagging her fingers back and forth for another metronome. She finished and jumped forward to hit him with a mega punch. Akela was hardly dazed by the blow, quickly realizing that he had been hit by a physical move to use counter. However the low damage he had received meant that the double dealt back was still just shy of knocking her out. To his dismay, Glacinta had moved in to guard Pix as the latter had conjured a life dew to heal herself.

All that was for nothing! Elio gritted his teeth in frustration. Pix was proving to be much more resilient and difficult to put down. From her overall bulk to the defensive stat boosts to her ability of magic guard. She was only going to faint from direct attacks.

Using Strongside to burn her wouldn't work.

Lochagos did have iron head, but that meant he'd have to get close enough for the attack to hit. Didn't fare well that he had a double fairy weakness.

I really wish there was a way we could change a pokemon's typing.

Arclight was somehow keeping the agro of Glacinta, so he instead used both Lochagos and Akela to see if he could deliver a final blow to Gisele. While Pix was still recovering.

"Akela, use crunch!" Even as the werewolf pokemon dashed forward with teeth outstretched, Gisele calmly slithered away, repositioning to shoot another ice beam at Lochagos.

"Quick, repulse it!" Elio cried. The dragon raised a gauntlet, allowing that smaller and weaker protect to activate. The thin stream of icy energy deflected right off into the sky.

"Clanging scales!" No sooner did he say that when his hands flew to his ears to cover them. Beside him, he saw Lillie do the same.

Lochagos' scale armor began to jingle until it reached a fever pitch and he quickly brought the two largest plates on his outer forearms together to create that same devastating soundwave that created a concussion aftereffect.

The attack not only blasted Gisele back as Akela drove his fangs into her serpentine neck to finish her off, it sent the Lusamine-Nihilego hybrid into a frenzy. A dropping stat flare cascaded down Lochagos' side, an indication that he lost some physical defense.

"Enough!" Her voice was somehow crystal clear and sounding like she had a mouthful of gulping copious amounts of water. "I want that blasted dragon destroyed!"

The two remaining pokemon that were still enthralled immediately redoubled their efforts as Lusamine released a third, Makamae the lilligant.

If she was going to focus on Lochagos.

Means the rest of my team is a non factor in her eyes now. He wasn't sure what good it did. Both Akela and Arclight had started the battle and he was more than sure that the exhaustion of battling was starting to catch up.

Pix and Glacinta attacked Lochagos with an ice beam and blizzard respectively, forcing him to throw up another protect. Makamae spun around in the back with a move Elio recognized as a quiver dance. If he ignored her for too long, she too was going to be a headache.

He also remembered how annoying confusion was with teeter dance.

"Bug buzz on Makamae, Arclight! Akela, be ready for my mark."

Arclight spun up, gaining altitude as she vibrated her wings in a wave that bypassed Glacinta and Pix. Makamae had finished her quiver dance, shuddering as the damaging sound waves hit her. That temporary stun to keep her out of the fight also put her in a perfect position to attack from above.

"Now Akela, stone edge Glacinta!"

Glacinta had launched a psychic, attacking Akela with that strong telekinetic force just as Akela had stamped the ground and sent a wave of jagged stones. Incredibly enough, it knocked the jynx out, but Akela was left battered for the worse and directly in front of Makamae.

The lilligant twirled around to fire a huge barrage of glowing leaves. Despite Lochagos' efforts to repulse some of them, he was struck by several and staggered back. Akela took the worst of the leaf storm, crashing into the ground.

Elio returned him and sent out Nani. On the other side, Lusamine had sent out her final pokemon. Her bewear, Soffie.

With Makamae still in the process of recovering from the bug buzz, he turned his attention to Pix, now finally determined to put it down once and for all. But Soffie moved quicker than either of them expected, charging forward in a take down towards Arclight. She buzzed, flying backwards and suddenly veering off to the side.

It was the perfect distraction for Pix to shoot off a fire blast that struck the vikavolt from behind.

"No!" Elio cried. Arclight stayed still in midair before she crashed to the ground. The fight was even once more and he had lost two pokemon within seconds.

Elio grimaced as he returned his defeated pokemon. It was up to Strongside now. The incineroar growled as he deftly landed on his feet and nodded to his two focused teammates.

Pix had used a life dew to heal herself further during the time she had been away from the fight. Again she was wearing him down by being able to shrug off his attacks and replenish health so long as he didn't knock it out.

The leaf storm had sharply reduced Makamae's special attack and she had retreated just for a moment. Soffie had instead charged forward in a take down that Lochagos countered by stiff arming, however she continued to push through in knocking him to the ground. Elio watched as he used the momentum to roll back on his feet and deliver a sky uppercut. What should've been a super effective move seemed to barely faze the bewear as it kept coming forth. Nani was quick to slither behind and fire a dragon pulse.

Then to his astonishment, Soffie had ducked down, allowing the orb to pass over her head straight towards Lochagos.

Elio was in the middle of shouting at him when the dragon barely had time to put up a protect barrier from an attack that would've most likely knocked him out. While safe, the distraction allowed the gigantic ursine creature to round on Nani closing in. Soffie's arm crackled with bluish white electricity and threw a thunderpunch over her shoulder. The knuckles connected with Nani's neck and she went down.

"Shit!" It wasn't enough to knock her out, but she was definitely slow to get up, not expecting a hit like that. Luck had been on his side from not having paralysis inflicted from the blow.

Elio grimaced as Pix summoned yet another life dew that healed the damage from the other attacks. Lusamine had instead made her retreat back to support Makamae and Soffie.

There wasn't really much of a way for him to draw her back out. She'd heal again and again and the game would continue until it was his turn to be exhausted. Only difference was that he only had Nani's recover as a healing mechanism.

Maybe there is a way to draw her out after all.

He was going to have to make his dragon be too irresistible of a target. Lochagos traded blows with Soffie, but his longer arms meant that a sky uppercut could still hit and he'd skirt out of reach of any retaliatory hammer arms. Knowing that was a secure advantage, he turned to Makamae who was moving to assist the bewear.

"Bulldoze!"

His gigantic dragon stamped the ground, sending a powerful shockwave that hit both opposing pokemon. Soffie stumbled back, very nearly losing her balance while Makamae easily stayed upright as typical of her species.

He saw that Pix was starting to move after taking some damage from the ground termor attack. The Lusamine-Nihilego fusion saw its opening and was about to take it.

Perfect.

By moving away from Strongside towards the easier target, she had taken her eyes off his starter.

"Strongside, darkest lariat! Nani, iron tail! Lochagos, iron head!" Elio shouted as loud as he could. His throat felt suddenly sore. "Everyone hit that clefable!"

His three pokemon sprang into action. Nani sharpening her tail into the sword and lunging first. Lochagos immediately repulsed an oncoming brutal swing from Soffie and rushed to join her. Both pokemon used their steel type attacks at the oncoming Clefable, who was readying a moonblast to hit the latter. She cried out as Lochagos' crown smashed into her front and as she stumbled back. Nani gave her no time to steady herself and swiped just after Lochagos. While they had been super effective against a fairy type, the defensive buffs from the cosmic power had done surprisingly little damage.

That's when Strongside came in.

Darkest lariat ignores all those nice raises to the defense. Shame it's a dark type though.

Pix had only begun to pick herself up when Strongside's arms slammed into her side like a pair of hammers infused with dark energy. Pix crashed into the ground, wobbling as her small limbs finally grasped onto something and she rolled back onto her feet.

"Life dew that." Elio couldn't help the smirk forming on his face.

Rather than be baited into using the healing attack, Pix wagged her fingers in another metronome.

Rolling the dice again huh?

She completed the attack in moments, suddenly shooting out a blast of eerie black and white energy that hit Strongside. He shuddered for a moment and then fell to his hands and knees.

"What? No!"

Then he saw that Pix had stopped moving, her posture stiff and erect as a board of wood. She tipped backwards and fell on top of the wings of her back.

That was final gambit! Out of all the damn moves!

The move in question would cause the attacker to faint on the spot, however the damage given out to its target would be equal to what the attacker had sustained before fainting themselves. It was a common tactic for high risk battlers, often seen as one last sacrifice play. Hence the name. Elio felt like that damn clefable was giving him one last middle finger before finally succumbing to her fate.

Strongside had been reduced from being in solid shape to on the verge of fainting in a matter of moments.

However he glanced back at his trainer and bared his teeth in a savage grin as a familiar fiery orange aura began to steam to life around him. Elio suddenly had the realization that the said final gambit might've played into his hand very well.

Because now he had two remaining opposing pokemon that were weak to fire, which was now empowered even further by Strongside's blaze.

Time to take care of fuckin business.

"Strongside, overheat on Soffie! Nani, keep that lilligant busy."

Emboldened by the loss of their support pokemon, Lusamine's side fell back towards her position. Strongside centered his gaze on Soffie, unleashing a devastating beam of white hot fire from his mouth. Soffie's fluffy fur instantly caught ablaze and she rumbled in discomfort. Lochagos dashed forward, delivering one final sky uppercut that finally took the gigantic bear down.

Meanwhile Nani slithered out of the way of a petal dance from Makamae. Lusamine's own expression had turned into outright fury as the tide of the battle had slowly been turning against her onto Elio's side. He still had his three pokemon working in tandem together, picking her team apart one by one until one remained.

"There's…there's no way it can end like this! IT CAN'T!"

Elio ignored her, pulling out the newly acquired Dragonium Z and sliding it into the ring and powering it on. He performed the dance as best he could, having seen it by finding a vague description on Rotom Dex's archives before they were whisked to Ultra Space. Both arms were stretched out with palms facing one another and he pulled them apart, one high and one low, fingers flexed out like the teeth in a dragon's maw.

"Channel clanging scales!" The zenith energy amazingly worked out here in Ultra Space, coalescing around Lochagos. Into whatever the zenith move is called!

Strongside sensed this being the endgame and rushed forward in a flame charge. Makamae had seen him coming, turning to fire off another petal dance. The fire surrounding his body easily burned the majority and he barely flinched, crashing into her side. An extra bit of power was added from his blaze ability.

The distraction was all Elio needed for Lochagos' zenith energy to finish building up as he thrust his gauntleted hands forward to launch a huge purple and white specter of power had lanced forward, taking on a rough draconic shape with narrow wings and a spiny head and tail.

The specter let out an otherworldly scream as it looped down and homed right on Makamae like a missile, the energy pent up inside let loose with a monstrous explosion that blossomed into a sphere that engulfed the lilligant.

Elio and Lillie instinctively shielded their eyes, trying to regain their senses after the deafening blast rolled across the hills and outward. Several of the orbiting nihilego shrieked and fled further into Ultra Space. Makamae swayed for a couple seconds and then collapsed into the rocky surface facefirst.

As the dust cleared, the Lusamine-Nihilego fusion was seething in anger, her arm tentacles flexing up and balling the knife fingers into fists.

"NO! I will not be denied!" Lusamine emerged just as the dust had begun to settle. She was dangerously close to the teens, very nearly in striking distance. Elio saw them moving idly and had no desire to get anywhere near it. No less someone who was less than mentally stable like this.

"I…I don't understand." Lillie stammered, still transfixed with fear and uncertainty, even as Elio grabbed her shoulder to pull her back. Lusamine was clearly not accepting her defeat well and he was wondering if he'd have to have his own pokemon actually attack the hybrid itself. Strongside had been thoroughly exhausted, but the flames on his belt grew to the same fervent intensity as he bared his teeth at the abomination coming closer. Next to him, Nani eyed it coolly and Lochagos had raised his right gauntlet, his left ready to shield the teens at a moment's notice.

"Elio won."

She's not going to accept defeat.

Lillie sighed, her frustration building in that even when she was so close to everything, it felt so tantalizingly far away. Nebby being back in her domain, her mother freed from the wicked Nihilego's influence. She was so close.

But so close still wasn't the end. If anything, it felt farther than ever.

I'm not gonna stop this time! Months ago, I would've run without hesitation…but now…that's not happening!

"Nebby!" Lillie blurted out. "Help us please!"

The giant lunala was there in an instant, her wings spread wide, casting a gust of harsh wind that rippled at their clothes as she glared at the fusion between Lusamine and the nihilego.

"You dare bring that thing here!" Lusamine's furious voice kept warbling as if she was trying to speak while drinking something. "You petulant children will never leave this place and-" Any further comment was cut off as Nebby unleashed a trio of white rays that struck the Aether President dead center. The amalgamation let out an inhuman shriek as Lusamine's dark tentacle limbs seemed to shudder and shrink before their eyes.

"Nooooo!" Her face contorted as the squishy bell began to compress, almost as if sliding up and away. They heard gushing and sloshing as if seeing a stomach churn from a recently ingested meal.

Slowly the two came apart, Lusamine's body sliding out from a tear underneath as the nihilego's grip on its host weakened by the second. A foul smelling fluid pooled on the ground, quickly dissolving into the ground. The woman collapsed on her back in a heap, eyes closed and unmoving.

Is she?

"MOTHER!" Lillie broke out of Elio's grip rushing towards Lusamine before he had a chance to stop her. She paid the nihilego no attention as it floated up and was unexpectedly recalled back into the beast ball that Lusamine had captured it with earlier.

"Lillie wait!"

"Mother!" She wasn't listening, sliding down and kneeling over her mother, gasping in panic when she noticed her unresponsiveness. "Mother are you alright?!"

Elio wasn't sure how to react. Lusamine was beaten and there was no telling if she was…dead or not.

"Hurry Elio, we have to do something!"

For a split second, the thought of leaving this damned woman here where she wanted to stay had fit him just fine. She had abused Lillie, tore his skin with a knife until he bled ungodly amounts of blood and willfully whisked herself and Guzma into a portal to Ultra Space with zero qualms of the ramifications.

Then he realized it wasn't going to be like that. Losing Lusamine here and now would mean that everything they had worked for since arriving on Poni Island would end up wasted. Hell, everything all the way back when Lillie willingly surrendered herself to Aether to protect the orphans back at the house on Ula'ula Island. Along with everything else in between. The trials, the journey through the canyon, the flute to finally allow Nebby to overcome her cocoon state to take up the mantle as the legendary pokemon. All of it would be for naught.

Lillie would never look at me the same again if I willingly said no to helping.

His family helped anyone they could in need.

That's always what my dad said. Damn you Dad.

Decision made, Elio worked in haste, once again thankful that he made it a priority to have a first aid kit at all times while out on the journey. Adrenaline racked his body and he had to steel himself to stop his trembling hands from fumbling the latch as he opened the small plastic box's clasp. His three pokemon looked at him curiously, but kept their eyes peeled for any other threats.

He found what he was looking for instantly, a plastic sheet that was a mouth barrier. While he was unsure if Lusamine wasn't infected with anything, he wasn't about to take a chance with the nihilego venom or whatever the fluid was that clung to her like gelatin.

Ugh, it smells and feels nasty. I can't even believe I'm doing this. But I have to.

"Move her head to the side," Lillie nodded and did as he ordered, tilting her to the right. He felt her jugular right under her jawline, sighing with relief as he felt a weak beat. She still had a pulse. He peered in her open mouth, seeing nothing blocking the airways, same with the nose.

The issue was that she wasn't breathing on her own. The even bigger issue was that it was out of his reach.

It would only be a matter of minutes for a human brain to start suffering serious damage if it didn't get oxygen. Normally he was just with his father on lessons and retraining reps in the hopes that he had the skills on hand, but never needed to use them. Even his father would have to do enough until the professionals, the actual paramedics arrived to take over.

But he had none of that. No father to help and no paramedics coming to Ultra Space. He could only do what he could.

Oh fuck, I hate the fact I'm doing this to Lusamine of all people.

"Come on." His fingers finally found her sternum and he started chest compressions. Lusamine was larger than either of them, so he had to straddle her between his legs in order to get the leverage he needed. The heel of his palm pressed down and up in the rhythm he kept in his head.

Eight, nine, ten. Elio was already panting at the effort exerted as he quickly leaned over to put his head next to Lusamine's nose and mouth while touching her jawline. Still a weak pulse and no breathing.

Come on! He slipped the mouth barrier on and sealed his over hers.

Don't even think about the fact you…nevermind. One breath, two breaths, Elio inhaled as greedily as he could to deliver air and then resumed chest compressions in the standard cadence. Already lactic acid burned its way through his muscles and his pace automatically slowed.

No. I can't stop. If I do, she dies.

Nothing else mattered. Not his own fatigue that set in harder than before. Not Lillie, reduced to a sniveling mess beside him. Not even Guzma who was watching the entire spectacle with a mix of bewilderment and uncertainty.

"Come on!" Elio's shout snapped Lillie out of her stressful stupor as he had finished another set of compressions. "Breathe for fuck's sake!"

It was the same thing repeated over and over. Two breaths, ten compressions, two breaths, ten compressions.

"Come on!" I didn't come all this way to fail now!

But it was no use. Despite the warmth of Lusamine's skin and the pulse that was almost non existent, she still refused to breathe on her own.

Finally he couldn't continue any more, after repeating three more times to no avail. His own breathing ragged and arms incredibly sore, something he was definitely going to be feeling later. Elio nearly collapsed, his limbs wobbly from the strenuousness.

Fucking goddammit!

"Why-why did you stop?" Lillie asked, already fearing the worst.

"I-I can't." He breathed. "I can't help her…she's."

"No. No! Don't tell me she's gone!" Lillie almost shoved him off Lusamine's body as she tried to copy his technique. "NO! Mother! You can't just,"

"Lillie, she's,"

"Don't tell me she's gone!" The blonde shouted, tears streaming down her eyelids. "I can't lose her!"

Elio reached for her, he already knew that she was beyond the point of no return.

"NO!" She slapped his hand away. "I won't leave you Mother!"

"Lillie stop!" Elio lunged, a little more forceful this time. He threw his arms around her midsection and practically had to wrestle her away from her lifeless mother. "Stop it! She's gone!"

Lillie stared at him, a mixture of disbelief, anger and horror.

"There's nothing…we can do." The boy told her. He was angry. Angry at Lusamine for everything and angry at himself that he still failed despite his best efforts. Somehow, this hit him harder than losing any battle or failing any trial before. "I tried my damndest! I really did! I couldn't do it! You have to let her go."

I lost my dad to alcohol and now Lillie's lost both her parents. This is so fucked up.

"I'm so sorry."

She broke down immediately into sobs, latching onto Elio and crying into his shoulder as if her life depended on it. Now she would have to break the news to Wicke, Gladion and the rest of the Foundation. Though he had his own reservations about it, he could still understand and feel the pain of losing a parent. Death was a natural part of life and kids didn't go through their childhood in fear of having one or both of their parents pass away.

He breathed again, slower to calm himself down. And that's when he heard it.

Gurgling?

Nothing had made a gurgling noise in here like that. It sounded like some sort of fluid surfacing.

His senses alarmed, Elio looked back down at Lusamine, heart skipping a beat when he saw her opened mouth suddenly full of that viscous purplish-black fluid that had been inside the beast when she fused herself with it. It had been sitting further down her airway than the immediate nose and mouth, hence why he couldn't see it. The chest compressions had helped.

She's trying to breathe!

Elio's hope soared as bubbles frothed to the surface. Lillie gasped, seeing it too. He quickly knelt by her again.

"Quick, move her on her side!" Lillie joined him and together they managed to roll her so that she rested on her left. Lusamine made another gurgle as her eyes blinked in confusion. They focused on Elio and then Lillie, widening in surprise at her daughter and unable to speak.

"Come on!" Elio encouraged. "Cough it up!"

She did as he cajoled, mustering just enough air to vomit up a stream of the gelatinous fluid. He held onto her back, preventing her from falling over while Lillie had grasped her hand in support.

Lusamine spat out another stream, coughing up what looked like lungfuls more before croaking in just enough air to properly breathe. Her arms flayed out, grasping the teen with an uncanny determination.

"It's okay Mother." Lillie whispered as they slowly rolled her back to sit up. Elio stayed behind to keep her from laying down. "It's okay, you're safe."

It took just a couple of minutes before Lusamine's breathing had returned to normal as she leaned on Elio's shoulder for support.

"L-Lillie." Her name came out rasped and breathless. "M-my daughter."

"Mother?!"

"It's you, it's really you." Lusamine had mustered just enough strength to say.

"Yes Mother." Lillie couldn't help the tears from dripping in her eyes. She had succeeded, hardly believing so.

No. We did it. Elio and I. Together.

"Heh…you smell really awful."

Lusamine's face cracked a thin smile, melting away any previous tension from before. Elio saw it too, no hint of deception or malice. Just a pure, sincere smile that was virtually identical to that of her daughter's.

It was pretty.

Lusamine had weakly croaked. "Heh…when did you…start…becoming beautiful again?"

Start? She always was.

"Coming here…to this place. Ultra Space…it was a mistake. A huge mistake." She started down ashamedly, having to practically wheeze in breaths. "I…I've hurt you and…and so many people and I never saw the futility or how wrong I was."

"I," Lillie couldn't find the words to say. Her expression darkened, suspecting that Lusamine was trying to trick her or something. No way she's this quick to come around.

"I felt helpless." Lusamine continued talking. "I felt fear that even with what I expected…it was nothing like it. What fear truly is. What pain truly is. I'm sorry Lillie."

Her eyes shifted over to Elio on her other side. He hadn't said anything yet, but his own expression and lips were unreadable. She couldn't tell if he was relieved, angry or upset.

Maybe he was all three.

"And Elio. I'm sorry for what I did to you. I know I can't take it back…but I made my choices and had committed to those, caused the two of you immense pain. I am so so sorry."

Elio opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted when another piercing shriek resonated through the air. Immediately Nani, Strongside and Lochagos went on high alert, their focus towards the clearing where they had first spotted Lusamine.

Four bulbous bells moved towards them, all large nihilego with their veils parted in threatening stances. Behind them, they could see a dozen more approaching.

"Oh this is not good." Elio whispered before standing up. "It's time to go."

Lillie stood with him, Lusamine weakly putting an arm around her shoulder and the other around Elio. Unknowingly, her hand had grasped his left deltoid and he hissed in pain as her fingers dug into his shoulder.

Relax, she's not trying to hurt you. This time.

The three of them hurried as quick as they could back to where Nebby floated next to Guzma, escorted by Nani. Elio snuck a glance back to see that the nihilego had risen into the air, their demeanors unchanged. Behind them, Strongside and Lochagos brought up the rear, making threatening growls to try and deter their pursuers. The dragon jingled his scaly tail, causing an irritating scrape noise, but that only seemed to anger the beasts even more.

"There are so many nihilego!" Lillie cried. "What do we do?"

"We run! Run!" Elio's shout spurred them into action as the three moved as quick as they could. However having to help carry a woman he estimated had to be a hundred and forty pounds greatly hindered their progress. Lusamine's feet weakly trudged along and he figured that she wasn't able to support her own weight or balance.

The sounds of Elio's pokemon battling were heard moments later, Strongside's flamethrower and the roar of Nani's hydro pump, followed by the angered screeches of the nihilego as they began firing beams of retaliatory attacks. As much as he wanted to look back and take charge of the situation, he had his own objective to complete. Best thing was to see it through and let his team of veteran pokemon do theirs.

"W-what da hell is goin' on?!" Guzma limped over to meet them. His eyes narrowed when they settled on Lusamine in barely concealed surprise. "Just when things were startin' to get good!"

"It's time to go!"

"Ya don't have to be askin' me twice!" The Skull boss seemed to have regained a little bit of energy from the food and drink Elio had left him. He jerked a thumb at Nebby, who was patiently waiting next to him. "I'm guessing glitter wings here is gonna take us out?"

"That's the plan." Elio heard the sounds of fighting getting closer and finally risked a look now that they were all close together. "We're almost there."

A loud crash finally forced him to take a look. Two of the nihilego had fired beams of power gem at Strongside and their combined attacks knocked him over their heads where he had finally given out from his previous exhaustion.

"Strongside!" Elio cried, grabbing his poke ball from his belt and returning his starter. They had to keep moving. Nani and Lochagos in tow just behind. Lillie yelped in fright as a power gem struck the ground not four feet from where she was standing. The nihilego that fired it was swiftly taken out by a well placed hydro pump.

Lochagos moved so that his bigger frame shielded the teens and Lusamine, throwing up protects to glance off incoming attacks and then using his bulldoze to deter any of them from coming too close.

"Kalua, powder snow!" He heard Lillie shout, seeing her throw the poke ball to her side. "Help them!"

Her alolan vulpix materialized in front and quickly dashed behind to assist. She inhaled a deep breath and blew a fine cone of sparkling wind and snow crystals that blanketed a wide area. One of the attacking nihilego had been frozen solid while the others had been temporarily disoriented.

Kalua crouched down proudly again and fired another attack, this time a blast of rainbow light struck another that had dove down from above.

"That's aurora beam!" Lillie gasped. "Amazing!"

Lusamine couldn't keep her surprise to herself, not beliving how much Lillie looked and acted like her in battle...like her younger self.

With Guzma just ahead, he had sent out his forretress Smoothbore to help provide some extra cover. The long cannon muzzles flashed bright yellow as it fired electrical spheres of zap cannon at their pursuers.

"Hurry!" He shouted at them.

Elio and Lillie finally got to his side as Kalua, Lochagos and Nani joined them. A moment later, Nebby had conjured a circle of blue light that shimmered into a dome that surrounded them. The dozen or so nihilego halted just outside before their behavior had suddenly dropped all signs of agitation. As if there was no other care in the world, they all had begun to drift in that same lulling idleness when they were first spotted.

Then a moment later, the twisted domain of Ultra Space faded into blackness once more.

---

As soon as it was upon him, he blinked and suddenly felt himself on solid ground again. Immediately the heaviness on his chest vanished and he relaxed in feeling the muggy Alolan air again. Elio gasped in his first full breath since entering Ultra Space.

Wow. That first breath of island Alolan air is so sweet.

"We're…we're back?" Lillie said next to him. She sighed with relief and nearly sobbed again. "Thank…thank goodness."

Guzma was in the midst of exclaiming something along the lines of never being so grateful to see Alolan soil again. Elio saw him kneel down to kiss the ground in his own respite.

I guess we all have our own ways of coping and being gratuitous. Checking on Lusamine, she had lapsed into unconsciousness whilst on the journey back, lying on her side. He felt for a pulse in her neck and saw her chest rise and fall as she now began to breathe on her own accord.

She's gonna have a nasty bruise on her chest after all those compressions. Along with everything else. But she'll live.

To their surprise, Kahuna Hapu Encarnación had been nearby with Miles and they made their way over, hearing the wormhole open up and their return. The girl's face was mixed with surprise and relief, flashing them an easygoing smile.

"I summited the Altar of the Moone and what do I find? The legendary pokemon of Alola!" She laughed. "What a day you two. However I am relieved to see that you are all safe and unharmed."

"Hapu!"

"For the most part." Elio laughed lightly as the kahuna and Lillie shared a brief hug. "Thank you for being here on such a short notice."

"After Lillie had told me of her desire to rescue her mother, I knew that it would be quite a difficult walk back into town." Hapu said to him. "I've informed the hospital in Seafolk and they're going to have a helicopter to airlift her arrive here at any minute."

"Mahalo Hapu." Lillie said. "For everything."

"A'ole pilikia." Hapu turned to Guzma, who was now sitting down and watching them. "You there!"

Her sharp voice immediately snapped him out of his daze and he surprisingly stood at attention from the good amount of authority in her tone. "Carry the lady onto Miles here. She's weakened, but I do not believe she's seriously injured. We shall take you both to the hospital in Seafolk to be treated directly."

"Huh?" Guzma looked confused, but nodded as he remembered how fatigued he was when the teens had found him. "Okay."

Elio helped him with hoisting Lusamine onto Miles and using the straps on the attached saddle to keep her from moving. Through it all, she continued to sleep soundly. He envied the woman just a little bit for that.

But the uncertainty of Ultra Space and the less than warm welcome from the local fauna left a bitter impression in Elio's mind. At least there, it was a hostile environment that he was not cut out for, no matter how well he had trained his pokemon beforehand.

He'd be more than happy to never go back if he could help it. Not until he had the means to appropriately deal with the threats he came across.

"Elio, you have done a fine job with guiding Lillie, even if she is just starting out as a trainer." Hapu said. Next to her, Miles shuffled by to descend the steps from the Altar's ziggurat with Guzma carefully following. "And Lillie, you have done your best and succeeded. I'm very proud of you both!"

"Mahalo Hapu!"

"Very well. The helicopter should be here shortly, if you're wanting a ride. We shall await you at the bottom."

The kahuna likely sensed that they were wanting some time alone and made her way down the steps after Miles and Guzma. As she descended, she threw a knowing smirk back at them.

She knows something we don't.

Lillie sighed with relief again, finally much more content now that everything was finally looking to be alright. Her mother was rescued and expressed remorse for her actions. Nebby was no longer being pursued by the Aether Foundation.

It had been a long journey. For her. And for Elio too.

"You okay?" The boy asked, moving closer and taking her hands in his.

Lillie glanced up to look into his eyes. For the first time since he had met her, he felt an unbridled amount of confidence that made her just as radiant and stunning as the most beautiful woman he'd ever lay eyes on. Sure, some of it was there when she had changed her outfit after confronting Lusamine in the depths of the Paradise.

But now he felt as if he was looking at the real Lillie. The finished product that was forged, tempered and refined. Like this was always meant to be who she was. Yet at the same time, it wasn't the end of it. It was just the beginning.

"Yes." There was something in her voice too that had now changed. No tinge of worry or fear. Just content. "It feels…liberating. Like a weight that's pinned me down has finally vanished. Nobody's chasing us anymore. Nebby is safe and we can finally get her back to her home."

"Maybe. Or maybe you found the strength you needed to lift that weight off."

Elio. Always the one to spin it around like it was me all along.

A cry sounded off and Nebby floated to them, craning her neck down to nuzzle the others in her family with her blunt snout. Lillie and Elio laughed. Despite having become a powerful legendary pokemon, they knew she was the playful little cosmog all the same.

Is this what having a son or daughter is like? Lillie wondered to herself. We've been with Nebby for the whole time, when she was a baby and then all the way until we discovered her true form as the legendary pokemon of Alola.

That meant that this was the part she would leave the nest and go on her own.

"Lunala," Lillie whispered, trying her hardest not to think about it. "All I ever wanted for you was to get you back to your home where you belonged. But instead you were the one that helped me over and over. Thank you."

I don't want to say goodbye. But I have to.

He heard her sniffle. "Now we can. You can finally go to the place you call home."

Damn it, don't do this to me!

Lunala's head cocked sideways in confusion. She leaned down to nuzzle Lillie again, but instead gently bumped the lone poke ball attached to her hip.

"Huh?"

Elio was just as confused as Nebby turned to him and did the same. Arclight's ball slipped out of its clasp and he was fast enough to grab it before it hit the ground.

"What's wrong Nebby?" He asked her. "You can finally go home now."

Nebby shook her head from side to side and nudged Elio again.

"I…I think I know what she's trying to say."

"Let's find out." He realized that Rotom Dex was still deactivated, previously not noticing that the rather obnoxious haunted device had piped up with something to say. Rotom's arms and legs were in the folded position and he cycled the power switch.

"Bzzt! Rebooting and downloadzzzz complete! Bzzt!" Rotom's eyes flared to life and Elio watched a grid of something flash by. He stopped it, eyebrow twitching as he saw what was being downloaded.

Rotom Dex watches Galarian soap operas?!

"How much did you download?"

"Enough to keep me buzzzzy while you zleep and don't talk to me! Bzzt! Don't worry. I have more than enough ztorage data to fulfill all your pokedex needz az long as the company keepzzzz dezzzzigning them! Bzzt!" Rotom gave a curt bow and went up to Nebby. "We have a lot of episodezzzz to catch up on!"

Lillie groaned out loud. "You're turning into Mother." She stifled a laugh. "Mother likes to watch Galarian soap operas too sometimes. They're…well you know how they are."

Yeah I don't care for them either. But it's not everyone's thing.

"Nebby's trying to tell us something." Elio said. "You can tell right?"

"Oh yezzz I can!" Rotom Dex chriped happily. "I think that big ol' Nebby wantzzz to keep on traveling with you! Bzzt!"

"You do?"

Nebby let out another affectionate cry and flexed her wings.

"That's great! After all, we've all been together for so long. We're practically a family. Ohana. Because I feel the same."

She pat Nebby's wing. "We've met so many amazing people and pokemon on our journey together. Professor Kukui, Professor Burnet. Kahuna Hala, his grandson Hau. Hapu, Leilani."

Elio saw her turn to him. "And let's not forget Elio! Our very own hero who risked his life to save you from those Spearow all those months ago…so many others too! I don't know what kind of world you come from Nebby, but Alola is pretty great! You just want to see it all and find a place to call home."

Her face fell. "Just…when we first found each other Nebby…you were already home. I wish…I wish we would've learned that sooner. It's like what kahuna Hala once told us. You can go so many places, meet so many pokemon and people and they will enrich your life!"

Elio put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey it's okay. Nebby is where she wants to be. Traveling with us. You'd be a super lucky trainer to have a pokemon like that."

"But I can't." She had shaken her head. "I'm not there yet. Nebby, I can't take you on the adventures you want or give you those fierce battles."

"Says who?"

"Elio, I…can't."

"Nonsense." He told her. "Nebby's like your best friend…or pretty much like your little daughter. I can't take that away from you."

Lillie sighed. "But you…I want you to catch her, face her in a battle the way a proper trainer can. Give her a poke ball to call home. I know this is what Nebby wants. She doesn't want her journey to end with you…and I want you to fulfill her wish!"

She faced him once more, leaning forward. "She's your daughter too."

That made his own face heat up and a pink tinge graced his cheeks. They gently touched foreheads, closing their eyes.

Nebby is our daughter. Like I'm dad and she's…mom?

"Okay." He finally said. "I will catch her."

As they parted, Elio snapped his fingers. "Nani!"

The milotic's head perked up from where she stood beside Lochagos and slithered over to their side.

"Are you good for one more battle?" Her posture relaxed and she glanced around to search for a potential opponent.

Elio gestured to Nebby, who floated to one end of the flat stone area that was wide enough for a battle to take place. Her red eyes went wide and she glanced back at her trainer in confusion.

"Yeah. We're gonna battle Nebby. A battle is a battle right?"

Right. She got into position just in front of him and assumed her battle-ready pose, coiled up just enough to spring in any direction. Lochagos moved to Elio's side, standing by if he had to substitute him in. At the centerline of the stone area, Lillie stood to watch, scooping up Kalua in her arms.

"Nebby are you ready?" He got a nod from the Lunala as her expression changed to one of fierce determination. "You don't want me to hold back…so neither should you. Okay?"

Good.

"Nani, ice beam!" Elio called out, ready to get the battle started. The milotic uncoiled herself, spinning upwards and firing her thin blast of white ice energy.

Nebby beat her wings once, dodging it by a great distance as she swooped above. Her having a flight and height advantage meant Nani would have to constantly be looking up for oncoming attacks. Elio immediately noticed how quiet she was as she effortlessly sliced through the air.

The lunala blasted a cone of energy at the ground that immediately detonated into a spreading disk of violet black. Nani smartly slithered out of the way, shooting another ice beam at the ground to serve as a breaker in an oncoming wave.

"That wazzzz night daze! Bzzt!"

Elio felt the raw power from the attack even just by standing close. Though a part of him wanted to show restraint since she was still the tiny pokemon he and Lillie had watched over and protected, this was a battle with no holds-barred. Nebby wanted it that way and so did he.

If he was going to have a pokemon this powerful in his possession, he'd have to earn that right regardless if he had helped raise it as not his own.

Nani sprang off the ground, meeting Nebby as she looped around and descended. She had gone too low, unable to react this time as the water serpent sharpened her tail and slashed, scoring a hit on the lower part of her wing. Nebby cried out, but as she passed and gained a safe distance, had lowered herself into a nosedive. She targeted Nani's trajectory while falling and formed a quartet of the same icy white power Nani had used in her ice beam.

Nebby fired them, the four streams weaving together as if helix spirals. Nani was hit and she vanished in a fine vapor mist of ice crystals that shattered moments later.

"Holy," Elio was taken aback. "Did Nebby just learn ice beam by watching Nani once?"

Both pokemon had sustained some damage, quickly recovering on their feet and ready for the next go. Nebby was a little quicker, gaining altitude with her wings and launching a pair of shadow balls. Nani expertly dodged one, but was hit by the other and fell back to the ground again.

"Nani, are you okay?!" She shook her head to refocus and reared it back to launch a wide hydro pump, taking note to lead her target. Nebby was swallowed, clipped and diving back down.

She cried, forming her wings together in a complete circle. Her claws had interlocked at the very end of the membrane. Elio recognized it as the same attack posture she had did when she opened the portal to Ultra Space.

Nebby had charged her attack in an instant, unleashing it with a grating shriek that resonated across the Altar. Nani was quick on the draw herself, slithering around and staying ahead while seeing if she could find an opening to take a shot. Nebby adjusted her own aim, moving it as if it were a laser beam, but the milotic was too fast and agile to get a bead.

"Nani, move closer and directly underneath!" Elio saw that if she stayed well within view, adjusting the aim to dodge was just a running game.

But if she were to go directly under Lunala, Nebby would have to reset her pose and he had to guess whatever that beam was had been her most powerful attack.

"Rotom, what was that?"

"I don't know. Probably a zignature move! Bzzt! I'll analyze the recordzzz." It looked up his query. "I found a match! Bzzt! The ancient Alolanzzzz called it Moongeist Beam! It'zzz an attack that can bypazzz a pokemon'zz ability! Bzzt!"

Interesting.

Nani was still evading the moongeist beam as she moved directly underneath. Before Nebby could refocus her aim, she fired a glowing green sphere upwards. The dragon pulse hit her, exploring twice and throwing her off. Nebby screeched loudly in surprise and protest, her flight a little bit shaky.

"It's okay Nebby!" He heard Lillie shout in encouragement. "I know you got this!"

She stopped and suddenly covered her mouth, the fact dawning on her with those words, she was actively cheering against him.

He resisted the urge to laugh at her flabbergasted expression. There'd be time to tease her about it later.

Nebby had stabilized herself and formed a pinkish sphere in front, the crest on her head glowing similarly. She fired the moonblast quicker than Elio and Nani anticipated, scoring a hit that sent her tumbling down. Nani was a bit slower to get up, but she eyed her opponent with that same fierce determination.

"Alright Nani, let's give ourselves some breathing room. Recover."

She closed her eyes and surrounded herself with a dark greenish aura to regenerate some of the health she had lost. Nebby moved into position overhead like an orbiting satellite. Her hands were interlocking for another moongeist beam.

Elio recognized the same tactic he had faced when going against the Totem ribombee. Maintaining a superior height against a grounded opponent.

But he had his own tricks too.

"Nani, use an ice beam on the ground!" She looked puzzled for a moment, but obeyed without question doing as he asked. Her attack spread around the stone floor, forming large mounds and jagged stalagmites that sprouted up and glistened in the overhanging moon.

Elio waited just a hair too long for Nebby's moongeist beam, she was observing his move carefully.

Instead of her signature move, he was surprised to see her shooting the ice beam of her own at Nani. The milotic hunched down and went back on the evasive, heading straight for the formations of ice that she had created. Nebby moved slowly above, adjusting her aim and fire rate to shorter bursts instead of a continuous stream. Some shots were trying to lead while others aimed for gaps. The narrow crevices allowed for a sort of trench that she could slither through and avoid getting the brunt of the attack.

However as she remained in the ice mounds for a moment too long when Nebby had used a longer ice beam to buildup and seal off the center.

Elio gasped. She had used the random ice beam attacks as a distraction to funnel Nani into a choke point. His own tactic had been twisted against him to her advantage.

He never felt so annoyed and proud at the same time.

"Sorry Nebby, you don't know all my tricks." He smirked. With her cut off from potential escape routes, Nebby had now moved into position to begin charging her moongeist beam. It would only be a matter of seconds before she was ready to fire.

"Nani, use scald to blast your way forward!"

He could barely see what was going on, which meant that Nebby's birds eye view of it might not be as good either. Puffs of steam rose around the ice mound and it had begun to crack. Overhead, Nebby wasn't moving much, but her head constantly scanned down below for any signs of Nani to emerge.

"She's right where we want her!" Elio made a fist and pointed up. "Dragon pulse!"

Unbeknownst to her, Nani's scald had carved a separate path through where the ice had started to melt the fastest and break off into large chunks, dissolving into water. By moving concealed underneath the fresh ice Nebby had used to trap them, she was now in a firing position where the Lunala faced down and away.

Nebby heard it too and frantically turned to search just as Nani launched her attack. While remaining relatively still, she was an easy target.

Not wanting to waste another opportunity, Nani followed it with an ice beam as Nebby was tossed around in the subsequent explosions. The crystalline ice beam connected dead center, causing another vapor explosion that caused Nebby to stiffen.

Then she began to fall. Elio saw that thousands of fine crystalline growths had trailed off her body as she was diving down uncontrollably, landing in the middle of the ice mounds and shattering them.

Nani's ice beam had frozen her solid.

He saw her crest glow pink as she was preparing a moonblast that would likely be more than enough to break free. Digging into his backpack, he found the perfect poke ball to use, thumbing the capture matrix to arm it and heaving it right towards Nebby with a grunt.

With a proud cry, the moonblast dissolved any ice that had encased her into slivers as the ball sailed through the air, finding her signature and quickly encapsulating her within. The teens held their breath as the ball rolled along the smooth floor, shook once, then twice and then a third time before hearing the audible snap of the center button.

Elio let it out as Nani and Lochagos went next to their trainer to celebrate.

"Thanks you guys," he flashed them a weary smile as he made his way over to the poke ball containing the newest member of his team. "Thank you for everything."

He bent down to scoop up the black, red and gold luxury ball he had used to capture Nebby. He only figured that using one of the ones that Lillie had impulsively bought for him was the right call. From saving her from that Team Skull thug to her being as thoughtful as she was to help him along her journey. It meant a lot.

"You've regizzztered a legendary pokemon! Bzzt!" Rotom said. "That'zzzz well…legendary! Here'zzz the spiel! Lunala. Moone pokemon. It is the final evolution of cosmog. Said to be a female evolution of cosmog, it is known as the beast that calls the moon. It absorbs light and showers it across the night sky. Lunala is a psychic and ghost type. Its ability is Shadow Shield, which reduces the damage of an initial oncoming attack while at full health."

The blonde was practically beaming as he held the ball up, examining it in his hands before moving towards her.

"Y-you used one of the ones I got for you?" She shook her head at him in amazement. "Nope. I said what I said."

A small sigh escaped her lips. "Lunala. No…Nebby. Nebby, you belong with Elio now. He'll be the one to raise you. Just like any parent…should raise their child. He will be your dad…he's always been like that."

Me? A dad?

"I may have not been able to do anything for you Nebby, but I'm still glad I took you that day. So go with Elio and see the world! Have battles against strong pokemon where you can use your full power! Meet other trainers who will make your heart dance with the thrill of it all! And create so many memories that you'll both cherish forever. I know I will! That's the kind of world Elio can share with you!"

She turned to face him. "If it's you. I know I can trust you to raise my Nebby well!"

Elio was about to remind her of something when they both heard a familiar noise cut through the still night sky. A bright star began to move, causing the whump whump of helicopter blades to grow louder.

The chopper moved over their position and circled once before making a descent down to the bottom of the long staircase at the ziggurat's base. He saw that it was painted white, pink and orange in the familiar colors of the Alola Coast Guard and Rescue Corps.

That has to be the medevac for Lusamine and Guzma.

"I…I will go to my mother." Lillie's face fell and she seemed dejected all of a sudden. Elio felt his heart hammer, left in the midst of wondering if this was goodbye.

"I need to see that she'll be alright. And to start making things better. Right her wrongs together."

"I understand." Elio nodded, still confused.

"Nebby, please don't wiggle out of your poke ball the same way you did with my bag!" Lillie said to them. "A-and, don't forget that you're really strong now. You'll have to be careful not to accidentally hurt anyone until you get used to your strength! And you can't just run off into the other world without telling anyone! You'll make Elio worry a lot!"

A full on laughter brought her out of her own motherly talk and she blinked at Elio trying to cover his mouth to muffle the noise.

"Okay!" He laughed even more at the joke. "Nebby promises to be a good girl and listen to Mom!"

An idea hit her, causing her to smirk. "And if Dad ever gives you trouble, you know where to find me! I'll set him straight!"

The teens giggled at their own jokes before Lillie stopped, knowing that the helicopter was going to be leaving once her mother and Guzma were aboard.

"You better get going." Elio said to her. "Go be with your family. Your real family."

"Right." Lillie started down the steps, before stopping and turning around to him. "They may be my family, but you and Nebby…you're ohana too. Don't forget that."

She stepped forward, flinging her arms around Elio in a fierce hug. He returned it with equal amounts of affection, holding her close. Hoping that it wouldn't ever end.

Lillie is the most beautiful person I've ever met. Such a pure soul and Ed was right. She is absolutely drop dead gorgeous.

"I have to go now." They finally parted, much to their reluctance. Her head leaned forward and Elio froze as her lips kissed his cheek. "A hui hou and Alola Elio! You're amazingggg!"

He still stood there in shock as she bounded down the steps, shrinking down until her small figure disappeared into the helicopter's cabin. As soon as she was aboard, it began to rise into the air and turn towards the south, vanishing in seconds.

He had watched her go, seeing her blonde hair swish from side to side, eyes drawn to her shapely retreating figure. Had she always had that model body tone?

No, there was no way that this was going to be the last time he'd see her. She wouldn't leave his life with so much as that.

We did so much together. Made so many memories…that I'll indeed cherish like she had said for the rest of my life. I never said it…I never said that I…loved her. I wish I did. I am in love.

The helicopter leaving put the monolithic Altar back in that familiar silence. He sat down as Lochagos and Nani went beside him. Elio looked at the clock on the Rotom Dex, one-forty two in the morning. Everything from the final kahuna battle, the trek through the canyon, the final final trial and the whole ordeal of confronting Lusamine in space. Fatigue was finally catching up. His stomach growled for food and his eyes were slowly closing as his body demanded sleep.

He opened his bag, sifting through one of the pockets to find the ride pager. Powering it on, he found that it had some signal reception and was able to call for a ride charizard for a pickup. Selecting his destination, it beeped back at him within a few seconds to indicate that one was en route to his location.

Elio stood up and yawned. "Well, that was quite the journey. I'm exhausted from it all. You guys ready to go home?"

Both Nani and Lochagos growled their agreements.

"Yeah me too."

Alola. It's my home. It sounds great. It sounds...right.

Elio fondly smiled at the thought of that. It was another thing he never imagined doing.

---

Whew, finally...finally done. The main story save for the Pokemon League is finally over! We've got a little more to cover after that until we can finally close the book on this story that's spanned nearly 8 years to complete. Thanks to everyone that's been faithful reviewers to the silent readers. Each chapter isn't easy to write, taking a lot of time to do, so I appreciate everyone who does take the time of their own to favorite, follow and review!

That being said, I'm in the process of launching another game novelization...or at least the concept of it. This one will be of the more recent Pokemon Scarlet and Violet versions (most likely the latter) that will have some ties to this story as well as Brendan's Journey/Into the Storm/Sinnoh's heir shared universe. Not sure when that will officially kick off, but I'm hoping that once I get comfortable enough to balance the end of this story with regular updates on the SV fic, it'll be sometime before the year ends. Stay tuned!

The name of this chapter; Her Love That Still Remained derived from A Mother's Love by Gena Hill

Translations:

Mahalo nui loa - Thank you very much

A hui hou - Until we meet again

A'ole pilikia - You're welcome/No problem

As always, mahalo for reading and reviewing. You give my writing purpose!

Brav