Alola: Lillie / Containment: Power

Mei picked up Toxapex and used her like a turret, spraying boiling water all around. The surrounding Nihilego were forced into a dilemma by the area-of-effect attack, unable to advance or retreat. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Mei carved out a path.

Mei's escape went smoothly. Without anyone directing them, the Nihilego were nothing more than a disorganized rabble. They might all have been powerful, but they had no way of banding together like Qiao Ran and the others.

However—the situation ultimately developed beyond Qiao Ran's expectations.

After Mei jogged over to Qiao Ran's side, panting heavily, the two of them simultaneously looked toward the black Nihilego on the ground. Yet when they saw what was happening there, their expressions froze.

"Damn... why hasn't this thing gotten off Lillie yet?"

Qiao Ran blinked. He had no idea what principle was at work here. Could it have been because it had possessed her for too long, so separating took longer as well?

Qiao Ran thought back. In the games, whenever other people were parasitized, it came off in an instant, didn't it?

Could it be that they were too compatible?

"What do we do?! Should we carry them away together?"

Mei panicked too. She had managed to fight her way out of the encirclement only because those Nihilego had lost their commander. Once they slowly came to their senses, neither Mei nor Qiao Ran had enough energy left to withstand wave after wave of attacks.

Qiao Ran took a deep breath and finally made his decision.

"...Carry them!"

He bent down and slipped both hands beneath Nihilego's limp tentacles, trying to help her up. Yet even after using the full strength he usually used to carry a shovel, he could not move her an inch.

"She's so heavy!"

Qiao Ran's face turned red from the strain. Neither Lillie nor the Nihilego reacted at all. In the end, Qiao Ran toppled into a heap with them and only managed to get back to his feet after much difficulty.

"We're doomed, we're doomed! We can't take them with us at all!" Seeing Qiao Ran in such a sorry state, Mei became even more flustered. If even Qiao Ran could not carry them, then there was no way she could do it.

"What do we do? What do we do??"

Qiao Ran stared at Nihilego and Lillie on the ground, his mind racing.

But just then, a voice suddenly broke the tense atmosphere.

"Master, use a Poké Ball, use a Poké Ball! Hurry!"

The voice came from Rotom, who flew out of Qiao Ran's pocket. However—upon hearing her words, Qiao Ran nearly spat out blood.

Hey! The one lying there was a human! What the hell did she mean, use a Poké Ball?!

"Hurry, Master! There's no time! Just try it first—have you forgotten our objective?"

Although Qiao Ran still did not quite believe it, Rotom continued urging him from the side. At the same time, she mentioned the concept of an "objective."

The objective—namely, the mission Qiao Ran had to complete after arriving here. He remembered that the mission had been "eliminate or control the source of the anomaly." Could it be... that control meant this? Throwing a ball and capturing it?

"What do you think, Mei? Should we keep trying to move them, or should we try throwing a ball?"

Qiao Ran looked conflicted. To be safe, he still asked his companion for her opinion.

"I don't know. I don't understand." Mei shook her head like a rattle drum. Drawing the enemy deeper earlier had already drained all her energy. She had no idea what was happening anymore.

"...All right."

Qiao Ran fell silent for a moment before taking a Poké Ball from his pocket.

Although Qiao Ran knew that humans could not be caught in Poké Balls, and this throw would likely end in failure, he was someone willing to try things. He felt that Rotom's words might have had some truth to them.

Taking up a throwing stance, Qiao Ran hurled the Poké Ball at the pile of girls on the ground.

The red-and-white ball traced a graceful arc through the air before striking Lillie and Nihilego.

"Smack."

The Poké Ball bounced off and fell to the ground. Nothing seemed to happen.

"Hah—" Qiao Ran and Mei both let out a breath at the same time, wearing expressions that said they had expected as much.

"Rotom, I knew you were definitely lying to—"

Qiao Ran turned to look at Rotom, but the instant he did, something seemed to enter the corner of his eye.

—A beam of light suddenly emerged from the Poké Ball on the ground, shooting straight toward Nihilego and Lillie. Then—wrapped in the light, Nihilego and Lillie vanished from the ground with a "cua."

The Poké Ball snapped shut seamlessly, glowing red as it began to shake on the ground.

After shaking several times—

"Ding...!"

The Poké Ball made a crisp sound.

At the same time, a line of small text appeared on the Rotom Dex.

—"Anomaly mission completed...

Reward pending collection...!"

Yet Qiao Ran, who had witnessed all of this, raised his head and stared up at the sky at a fifty-degree angle, falling into a long silence.

Then, his gaze gradually lowered, and his mindset underwent a series of changes.

Qiao Ran: "..."

Qiao Ran: "?????"

Qiao Ran: "...wtf???"

Looking at the motionless Poké Ball, he felt as though tens of thousands of Groudon had stampeded through his heart in an instant.

Was there... something seriously wrong here??????

Alola: Lillie

"Hallucination. This was definitely a hallucination..."

Qiao Ran rubbed his brow. He felt that he had probably overworked himself and was now seeing something strange.

However, when that massive group of Nihilego came toward him, he decisively recalled his Pokémon, picked up the Poké Ball from the ground, scooped up Mei—who had petrified into a plaster statue—and began sprinting.

Sometimes, people only unleashed unparalleled potential when cornered, and their ability to accept things rose dramatically as well. Judging by the situation, Mei had clearly suffered an even greater shock than Qiao Ran.

She had watched her best friend get stuffed into a ball with her own eyes... If a child had seen that scene, they would definitely have nightmares that night.

But Qiao Ran had no time to worry about that now. He picked up Mei, jumped directly from the broken section of the bridge, and released Altaria again in midair.

Qiao Ran's movements flowed as smoothly as water. These were skills he had honed through adventure.

"Clear—!"

A crisp cry rang out in midair. Altaria caught the two of them with extreme precision on her back, then beat her wings and flew rapidly through the sky.

Although Nihilego were not slow over short distances, they had no way of catching Altaria in long-distance flight. It did not take Qiao Ran long to bring Mei back to her base beneath the bridge.

"Did she pass out because she couldn't accept it after all?"

Qiao Ran looked at her tattered clothes and could not help shaking his head with a sigh. Although her skin was exposed almost everywhere, and if Qiao Ran wanted to look, it was practically no different from her wearing nothing at all, he had no mind to pay attention to such things now.

He had more important matters to handle.

Mei had truly been indispensable in this operation. If it had been anyone else, they might not have been able to last so long under the siege of so many Nihilego.

Hmm... bringing so many Poison-type Pokémon along was actually pretty useful.

Qiao Ran planned to put her on the bed first and let her rest for a while. As for himself, he took out the Poké Ball from his pocket. It was still a little warm to the touch.

"Seriously?"

Even now, Qiao Ran still could not quite believe what he had seen. Why could a person be put inside a ball?? Why???

What was the principle behind it? What was the meaning of it? What earth-shattering secret was hidden within it?

Qiao Ran's mind was completely muddled.

In any case, Qiao Ran decided to release whatever was inside the ball first and see what happened. Just in case, he called Dianxi and the others out as well—if anything unexpected happened, they could help from the side.

However, just as Qiao Ran was about to open the Poké Ball, Mei on the bed suddenly sprang up with a carp leap and a swallow flip, shaking off the grayish-white petrification covering her body.

"Where's my Lillie? She was just here! Where did such a huge Lillie go?"

Qiao Ran was not the only one who could not believe it. This girl could not believe it either. If humans could be put into balls, wouldn't the whole world fall into chaos?

In the future, no one would raise Pokémon anymore. They would all start raising pocket humans instead??

Qiao Ran helplessly shrugged and answered Mei's question.

"She should... be in the ball. I was just about to release them and take a look."

Qiao Ran deeply understood that practice was the sole criterion for testing truth. To answer their doubts, they had to release whatever was in the ball.

This was actually like Schrödinger's cat. Unless they released what was inside, they would never know what state it was in.

Qiao Ran pressed the switch on the ball. Wrapped in light, that Nihilego appeared on the ground again. However—unlike before, her body had changed from black to the same white as ordinary Nihilego. She only looked a little larger than the others.

Beneath her, Lillie was separated out as well.

"Lillie!!!"

Mei cried out and hurried forward to check on her friend. Lillie's body was sticky, and her thin dress clung tightly to her. It was impossible to tell what exactly coated her, but her expression had become much more peaceful, and her long hair had returned to its original dazzling gold.

Mei pressed her ear to Lillie's chest and listened to her heartbeat. Only after hearing its clear rhythm did she reveal a happy smile.

"It's all right! That's wonderful... Lillie's okay! That's wonderful!"

Excited ripples filled Mei's eyes. Her best friend had been lost and found again. At this moment—no one could possibly have been happier than her.

Qiao Ran did not interrupt their reunion. Although Lillie was still unconscious, as long as the flame of her life had not gone out, recovery was only a matter of time.

Besides, now that Lillie had separated from Nihilego, many of the previous problems were no longer problems. Even if she had been put inside the ball earlier, that had to have been an accident.

—Once she recovered, she would still be the same innocent and cheerful Lillie as before.

"...Although that Nihilego looks pretty weak, forget it... I should return her first."

Qiao Ran looked toward the Nihilego sprawled on the ground and could not help shaking his head. Although she had caused him plenty of trouble before, she was now his Pokémon no matter what. Qiao Ran had no choice but to return her to the Poké Ball first and let her rest for a while.

Leaving her sprawled on the ground like a flattened pancake was just too pitiful.

Qiao Ran pressed the button on the Poké Ball. A beam of light emerged from it, aimed directly at the Nihilego lying on the ground. However—there was a small mishap in the execution. Things like this were actually fairly common sometimes.

—The beam of light deviated slightly from its intended direction and finally struck Lillie with a smack.

"Chua!"

In an instant, Lillie vanished from Mei's arms.

"Eh???????"

Mei, who had just been crying tears of joy, instantly wore a dumbfounded expression. Even her hands remained curled in the position of holding Lillie.

????

Mei's head was filled with question marks.

"Where's my Lillie? She was just here! Where did such a huge Lillie go?????"

Flying Away (Cavalry Version).jpg

Containment: Power

"What... are... you... doing!"

After looking around and understanding the full sequence of events, Mei decisively rose from the ground and ran over to Qiao Ran.

Just now, just now—this man had actually put her best friend into a ball... Was that something a human being should do?!

Mei stood on tiptoe, demanding an explanation from Qiao Ran.

"This... this was just an accident. Just an accident..."

Facing Mei's resentful gaze, Qiao Ran awkwardly scratched the back of his head without losing his manners. Honestly, he had not wanted this either. But who knew that the beam would hit Lillie?

Could it be because Qiao Ran's skill at controlling Poké Balls was so terrible that he could not aim properly? Could the beam even split off halfway through???

That should not have been possible...

Qiao Ran weighed the Poké Ball in his hand, opened it again, and released Lillie. Mei seized the opportunity and caught Lillie's limp body.

"Don't make that kind of mistake again! You jerk!"

Mei glared at Qiao Ran. If Qiao Ran had not left such a good impression on her before, she definitely would have given him a proper talking-to. Putting an unconscious, defenseless girl into a ball was simply awful.

"I definitely won't do it again. Definitely."