Hau'oli City, Fountain Plaza.
Gladion left after all.
Neither Lillie nor Ash had managed to stop him.
Mostly, it was because Lillie no longer wanted to hold him back.
"As long as Older Brother is okay."
Since she had run into Ash, Lillie invited him over to her house.
Ash wanted to learn more about Gladion anyway, so he accepted her invitation.
"It's okay, you go on ahead. I'll come find you later. I still need to buy a few things for Professor Kukui!"
Lillie suggested, "What do you need to buy? I'll have James go with you."
James placed one hand over his chest. "At your service."
"That sounds like a good idea, roto!"
Ash didn't actually need to buy anything particularly expensive, just some everyday supplies he could get at a supermarket.
It was nothing more than the freshly squeezed Pinap Berry juice Professor Kukui liked and a few household essentials.
Once he arrived at Lillie's house, Ash learned more about Gladion's story.
Looking at the photo of the family of four,
Ash suddenly remarked, "So that's Gladion! He looks just like he does now!"
Lilia couldn't help laughing. "Well, this photo is only five years old. Of course he does."
The photo had been taken before Lillie's father went missing, back when Lillie could still touch Pokémon.
Ash already knew about that. James had told him the last time he visited Lillie's house.
What had happened to Lillie hadn't taken place in her current home, but after a visit to their old house at Aether Paradise.
It seemed that no one except Lillie herself knew what she had gone through.
In any case, after that,
Lillie could no longer touch Pokémon.
Even now, Lillie couldn't recall what had happened back then. It wasn't just that she resisted