Farewell: Saying Goodbye / Choice: A Fork in the Road

So now, Qiao Ran had come here and posed the question to Lillie before him, hoping the girl could give him a different answer.

"After the crisis happened, Mother told me... the Aether Foundation's research was actually research into the future."

Lillie hesitated at first, but when she saw the longing in Qiao Ran's eyes as he waited for an explanation, she chose to speak.

The situation had already become extremely dire, and the boy before her had saved her... She had nothing left to hide.

"One part of that research into the future is the power of other dimensions. Through special devices, we can open caves called 'Ultra Wormholes.' These caves lead to another world, which we call—the 'Ultra World.'"

"The world where Ultra Beasts live?"

Qiao Ran rubbed his chin. Other worlds existed beyond the Pokémon world, so could the world he originally came from also count as an "Ultra World"?

"Yes. Among countless other planes, there are countless unknown Pokémon. Researching Ultra Wormholes is, in truth, researching the unknown... But my father was sucked into an Ultra Wormhole while conducting this research, and his whereabouts are still unknown... It was from that time onward that Mother became somewhat obsessive... She wasn't like that before."

A trace of loneliness filled Lillie's green eyes as she curled up slightly. She had lacked a father's love since childhood, and lacking that love meant lacking a sense of security. It had been far too long since she had felt the warmth of an embrace.

"It's okay. Things will definitely get better in the future."

Qiao Ran could only comfort her for now. As someone who had played Pokémon games, Qiao Ran knew that Lillie's father was actually still alive, though he had lost his memories and become a modern-day Robinson Crusoe...

"Get better..."

Lillie sniffed softly. Things getting better... For her now, that was simply too extravagant a hope—she could only watch helplessly as her family left her one by one. Her father had been swallowed by an Ultra Wormhole, her brother had been exiled to the Ultra World by the invading Nihilego, and her mother had been frozen by her own hand...

What had once been a complete family of four, the owners of the Aether Foundation, now had only her left.

"Lillie..." Seeing her friend so upset, Mei sat beside Lillie and gently took her hand, hoping to ease her loneliness this way.

"..."

Qiao Ran fell silent for a while, but he still chose to continue asking. Bringing up painful subjects would not make anyone happy, but someone had to solve the problem.

"What about outside the Aether Foundation? The Aether Foundation ended up like this because of Nihilego's invasion, but what about Alola's other islands...?"

"Alola's other islands suffered the same attacks. Before the Aether Foundation's equipment completely stopped functioning, we monitored the situation on Alola's other islands... Just like us, things didn't look good. Large numbers of Ultra Wormholes opened across all of Alola. The Aether Foundation was only one part of it."

This time, the one answering was Mei, who had remained silent until now. Her home was on Alola's Melemele Island. More than once, she had wanted to return and check on her mother, but for certain reasons, she had been unable to put those thoughts into action.

"The same..."

Qiao Ran was speechless. Opening so many Ultra Wormholes across all of Alola at once to deploy Ultra Beasts... What exactly had happened?

How much power would that require?

"Have you considered going somewhere else in Alola to take a look?"

"Go somewhere else?"

Hearing Qiao Ran's question, Mei shook her head gloomily.

"Give it up. The space around the Aether Foundation is

as if it has been constrained by something. Once we leave this area by a certain distance, an Ultra Wormhole suddenly appears and sends us back into the Aether Foundation."

"...!"

Hearing Mei's words, Qiao Ran's eyes widened in shock. Sent back... There was an operation like that???

Parting: Farewell

If it had been a spatial barrier or some kind of "invisible wall," Qiao Ran could have said he had seen plenty of those in games and was already battle-hardened. But this kind of operation that simply teleported people back was truly his first time seeing it.

"I'll go out and take a look later. What exactly does it mean to teleport someone back? Instant recall to base?"

Qiao Ran truly could not imagine what that would feel like. He felt it would be better to go out and experience it himself.

"Go if you want. You'll know when the time comes."

Mei rolled her eyes at Qiao Ran. If it had really been that easy to leave, she would have taken Lillie and the others far away long ago. Why would she stay in a place like the Aether Foundation, where they could not even see the sun, barely clinging to life?

"What are you planning to do next?"

Qiao Ran shrugged. This would not work, that would not work—were they really planning to be trapped in a place like this for the rest of their lives?

"First, clean up all the Nihilego. Then we'll use the seeds and materials stored by the Aether Foundation to restore the basic infrastructure here. Once that's done, we can wake up Lillie's mother. Maybe we can even use the technology here to find the people we lost... With Lillie here, there'll definitely be a way."

Mei looked toward Lillie beside her, her expression finally easing somewhat. As the child of two scientists, Lillie possessed some relevant knowledge as well. At the very least, she understood the facilities within the Aether Foundation very well.

"Mm, that's what I think too... If the three of us work together, we'll definitely be able to rebuild this place..."

Lillie looked at Qiao Ran's face, and a trace of hope gradually appeared in her eyes.

Everything was moving in the direction of rebuilding the wasteland. Qiao Ran's arrival had also given Lillie a much-needed boost. If she had held even a sliver of confusion before, now she was filled to the brim with power.

This once cautious and timid girl had decided to change herself. With her family gone, the youngest child in the family had to stand up too.

—And if Qiao Ran could keep petting her like he had yesterday, that would be even better...

As she thought about it, Lillie's body unexpectedly felt a touch of heat. As a human, she was actually experiencing withdrawal symptoms from Tokiwa Power. Perhaps her body had undergone some unforeseen changes while she had been parasitized by Nihilego.

"Lillie, what's wrong?"

Mei, who had been holding Lillie's hands all along, was the first to notice something unusual. She had never seen her good friend make that kind of expression. In her impression, Lillie had always been a pure child, perfectly matching her inner image of a refined young lady.

Yet... Lillie had been acting strange lately.

"Stare—"

Mei turned her gaze toward the man before her. In any case, Qiao Ran was the only one she suspected. It had to be this guy who had made Lillie become like this.

"Why are you looking at me?"

Qiao Ran blinked speechlessly. He was completely confused himself.

Over the following period, Qiao Ran worked with Mei and the others to clear out some Nihilego. Although Lillie was not a Trainer and had no combat ability whatsoever—she could not even lift a shovel—she was extremely familiar with the Aether Foundation's layout.

Not only that, having her stand nearby to cheer them on worked quite well.

Qiao Ran also discovered that Lillie seemed to possess a natural attraction for Nihilego. If they placed her in an open area, many Nihilego would come straight to her. At first, fear still lingered in Lillie's eyes, but after she thought of certain things, her expression became much firmer.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Qiao Ran caught another dozen or so Nihilego with Poké Balls. Although the chance of catching Ultra Beasts with Poké Balls was not high, as long as they were knocked out and put inside, everyone was the same.

After finishing those things, Qiao Ran went to the highest level of the Aether Foundation and tried leaving the artificial island by flying. He called out Altaria, then rode her into the clouds.

However—just as Mei had said, once he left the artificial island's range by a certain distance, a white cave suddenly opened before him and enveloped Qiao Ran and Altaria. By the time Qiao Ran came to his senses again, he was already back inside the Aether Foundation.

"So it really is teleportation???? There's absolutely no time to react."

Not only that, Qiao Ran tried ascending higher as well, hoping to fly to a greater altitude and observe the distant scenery. But after leaving the ground by a certain distance, he once again encountered that irritating Ultra Wormhole and was teleported back.

"Damn... It really leaves no loopholes."

Qiao Ran could not help complaining. Although he had also considered diving underwater,

he ultimately gave up on that idea.

The Aether Foundation had been built in the sea. Even with Suicune's control abilities, protecting Qiao Ran in the ocean would still be somewhat difficult. There was no need for him to take such an unnecessary risk over something so unnecessary.

Qiao Ran rested at the Aether Foundation for another day. During that day, he continued exploring part of the Aether Foundation's terrain and became more familiar with Mei and Lillie.

Just as before, Mei's attitude toward Qiao Ran alternated between good and bad. Things were fine when they spoke alone, but whenever Lillie was mentioned, she could not help getting angry at him.

Lillie's changes were probably the most obvious among them. Qiao Ran could clearly feel that she was trying her best to become better and stronger. With her family absent, the youngest child had to step forward.

During the nights of those past few days, she had been studying the books in the Aether Foundation. It seemed she truly wanted to use the power of technology to bring the others back.

But it was about time for Qiao Ran to leave. He had to return and tell Mei about the information here. Besides, after Nihilego lost their leader, the remaining Nihilego would no longer be a match for Mei.

—In other words, Mei and Lillie's basic safety could be fully guaranteed.

"Is that so? You're planning to leave... As expected, you came here through some special method, didn't you?"

When she heard Qiao Ran's intention to leave, Mei froze at first, then revealed an understanding expression. She seemed to have anticipated this long ago.

"I've never seen you at the Aether Foundation, and it's impossible for anyone to come directly from outside... So there's only one explanation. You have a special method."

"Mm, I do have a somewhat special method, but only my Pokémon and I can use it. Otherwise, I'd want to take you with me too."

Qiao Ran shrugged. He wanted to take people with him, but he had no ability to travel between worlds with others. So he could only leave Mei and Lillie here.

"I'll come back to see you often. I hope that by the time I return, this place will have changed."

Qiao Ran offered his blessing. Next time, he would also bring some necessary supplies. They would surely need them.

"No... Don't go!"

However—

Lillie, who had been silent with her head lowered at the side, directly stopped Qiao Ran. She wrapped both arms around his waist and held him tightly.

"I... I thought you would stay forever..."

Lillie's voice choked up. The reason she had changed so much recently was because she believed Qiao Ran would support her, that they could continue onward while supporting each other. Yet... after giving her that sense of security, this man had chosen to leave. Lillie could not accept such a blow at all. It felt as though the world she had finally begun rebuilding was about to collapse again.

"I'm sorry... I really can't take you with me. All I can say is that I'll come often... We'll still see each other frequently in the future."

Qiao Ran was helpless and could only let Lillie hold him. She was a girl who embarrassed easily, so for her to take such initiative showed just how agitated she truly was.

"No... Don't... Don't leave me too..."

Lillie raised her head. Golden strands of hair hung over her forehead, and her eyes were filled with tears. Clearly—Qiao Ran's intention to leave seemed to have stirred up some painful memories.

She had already been all alone. She had finally found someone she could rely on and lived happily for a few days, but why... had he chosen to leave in the end?

Would everyone... disappear?

The more Lillie thought about it, the worse she felt.

"...Stop crying."

Qiao Ran patted her head, not knowing what else to say. He looked toward Mei, but Mei merely shook her head silently. She did not know what to do either.

"Lillie..."

Qiao Ran seemed like he wanted to say something else, but at that moment—his Rotom Phone suddenly jumped out of his pocket.

"Ah! I can't watch this anymore, Rotom!"

Seemingly unable to bear the atmosphere, Rotom flew directly in front of Qiao Ran and slapped its screen against Qiao Ran's face.

"Master, I'm telling you, can't you just put her in a Poké Ball and take her away? Why make things so complicated!! If it can go into a Poké Ball, then it's a Pokémon!!!!"

"...Huh???????"

A whole string of question marks appeared over Qiao Ran's head.

"Wait... You can do that???"

Without question, Rotom's explanation had completely touched upon Qiao Ran's blind spot.

In other words... Lillie counted as a Pokémon now?????

Choice: Diverging Paths

"Th-This..."

Hearing Rotom's words, not only Qiao Ran but also Mei and Lillie beside him cried out in shock.

After all, no matter when one heard something like that, it sounded utterly shocking—putting a person into a Poké Ball and treating her as a Pokémon...

"No! I won't agree to this. You can't

do this to Lillie again! She's a human!"

Mei was the first to object. Lillie was her best friend, and she could not possibly watch as Lillie became a "Pokémon" in a man's hands.

That was far too messed up.

However, after a stretch of silence, Lillie was the first to tug on Mei's sleeve.

"No... Mei, I'm fine with it."

Lillie struggled internally as well, but in the end—she made her choice.

"Though I don't know why either... when I'm by his side, I feel very safe..."

"So... even if I have to use this method, I still want to spend more time with him..."

"But, Lillie..."

Mei took a deep breath and let her hands fall limply to her sides. Lillie's words had already made her attitude and position clear. This girl was even willing to enter a Poké Ball just to stay with this man.

Was it really worth it?

To pay such a price for something like this?