Days and nights were spent in Professor Burnet's lab, constantly analyzing the strange Nebby, most of their time spent awake as they tried to figure out how to send it home. Lillie could only keep up with so much, eventually collapsing against a sofa in sleep as her father draped his coat over her shoulders so she could at least be comfortable. Professor Burnet definitely linked Nebby to the wormholes, but as for what to do about them… that was still a mystery. The good professor had no clues other than to pursue the truth, and that meant going to the other islands.

"You've done well so far…" She mused, holding a cup of coffee. "Can I ask why Lusamine has been so…?"

At first, Emiya didn't know how to answer. There were a lot of ways he could respond, but none of them were so appealing as the truth. "I think it has to do with her father."

"Her father…? I thought her whole deal was loving the pokemon that came from the Ultra Wormhole."

"Yes, but… there was a tragic accident not long before that obsession began. Her father had been the first person to investigate the existence of Ultra Wormholes. I wasn't in the lab when it happened, but Lusamine told me. She told me her father had disappeared during a test with them, and she's never seen him since."

Professor Burnet blinked, before putting her hands on her hips incredulously. "This would have been so much better to know earlier!"

"I know, but—" Emiya shook his head. "It's difficult to bring up. You can't just say your father-in-law disappeared into another dimension out of nowhere, can you?"

"So she's trying to bring him back…?"

"I don't know. She seems to be focused on something else right now. Maybe that's the goal that started the obsession it morphed into."

He glanced back at Lillie, who was still sleeping. "She doesn't know about this. Lusamine didn't want our kids to know a terrible accident claimed their grandfather."

"Could he still be alive?"

Emiya shrugged. "Beats me. If he is, he has a lot to explain to us once he gets back."

Burnet looked at Lillie somewhat sadly. To go on an adventure with your father was a wonderful thing, but when it was at the behest of stopping her mother from her own monomania, one couldn't help but feel a little pity. There was a lot to her story that didn't quite add up. Emiya's trust in Lusamine, Lillie's somewhat quiet fear… and the enigmatic Nebby, which bore no name and seemed to be connected to everything involved.

Not to mention, his son… wherever he was, had to be worried sick about his family, regardless of what he told himself.

Lillie had listened to every word.

She'd grown adept at overhearing quiet conversations she wasn't meant to hear—such was the way she grew to fear her own mother. Her quiet obsessions, the growing gap between her and her family… to hear her grandfather had disappeared to who-knows-where was disquieting, but it gave her an odd sense of hope. Hope that her mother wasn't just doing this out of a commitment to beauty or finding rare pokemon to coddle to death. The overprotectiveness in her family was generations' long, with her grandfather being the eldest installment to it. It was only Lillie's own father that seemed to embrace freedom and encourage that for his kids.

It made Lillie want to strike out on her own, to find her own answers, but was that just her own way of hiding from her father, who wanted to confront Lusamine head-on? Emiya was a brave person, and Lillie wasn't. If it were up to her, she'd want to hide from Lusamine forever.

… maybe not forever. She still remembered the kind woman from her youth, and to say that the courage handed down from her father had passed over Lillie wasn't entirely correct. It was just nervewracking.

She sat up in the middle of the conversation.

"Is that true, dad?" She asked Emiya, pointedly. "It's true that our grandfather disappeared?"

Instead of acting shocked, he merely cast his gaze towards her, knowing that this was the risk in speaking openly around her. He didn't want to keep any more secrets around her, either. She'd had her fair share to keep with Lusamine.

"It's true. I've always meant to tell you, it's just…"

"I understand." She gripped the straps of her bag tightly. "Who would want to tell their kid that their own grandfather disappeared during her mother's experiments?"

"Hold on, it was your grandfather's—"

"But she's continuing them—" She emphasized, nervously. "What if it had been you, Dad? What if you disappeared and we were left alone with mother?"

He knelt down in front of her, hands gently rubbing the sides of her arms. "That's not going to happen."

Emiya wasn't dumb, though. He could easily tell why Lillie was so worried, why any child would be in their situation. His goal wasn't to hide or deflect, something Lusamine was more practiced in—it was to shoulder the burden their family now carried. Lillie just wanted him to know she wanted to shoulder it just as much as he would.

"Professor Burnet," Lillie looked up at the other woman. "I'm afraid we can't leave Nebby here, b- but… please keep in contact with anything that you find. It's probably risky that we've stayed here for so long…"

"Of course…" Professor Burnett turned her gaze towards Emiya. "Your daughter's right. You guys should probably get moving. The next island you'll want to visit is—"

"Team Skull's headquarters." Emiya finished her sentence for her. "I need to find Gladion, first."

"Then you'll want to go to Ula'ula Island. Po Town is their headquarters, but I believe it's swarming with Team Skull's grunts."

"Not a problem. Lillie? You're right. We should head out. Thanks for everything, Professor."

"Just stay safe out there…"

As the father and daughter duo stepped out into the sunlight outdoors, Professor Burnet poured over the information she was left behind with. If pokemon could survive in the wormholes, it was entirely possible humans could as well. Just what kind of person could survive beyond a natural phenomenon like that, though?

A short distance away, as the two walked towards the docks to find a ferry, another duo watched them from the nearby shadows.

"Gladion…"

The kid only perked up upon hearing his name from Team Skull's own admin, Plumeria.

"I have a feeling you aren't loyal to the cause." She chided him.

"I have my own reasons for being here." He responded curtly, walking past her. Type-Null followed at his side, glancing toward his master. Both of them knew they weren't meant to stay here very long, but this was the only way to get people on the peaceful Alola to surefire fight you—be a part of the public nuisance, Team Skull. Plumeria could see through it in an instant, and while Guzma wasn't dumb, either Gladion told him something he didn't tell her, or he just took such an interest in Gladion that he didn't care.

(The truth would be neither of these things, but.)

He'd kept his father's trusted pokemon in its ball ever since he let it out the first time, for concern it might go find its true companion or something like that. His father was… strange. Most of his roster were pokemon he kept close to him from his time rehabilitating them. He didn't use them to fight—and he'd professed he'd rather throw a punch with anyone who picked a dangerous fight than use them too. There was one he usually let go free and come to him from time to time, a beast that lived in the sky that considered his father a 'friend'.

He wasn't a real trainer, more like a protector of the world. In that sense, it made sense Lusamine had chosen him. She liked rare things and wished to collect them, Gladion thought bitterly. She even viewed her children this way, thinking that because they were hers, they were gems that needed polish and perfection.

Well, Gladion wasn't perfect, nor would he cower before her whims. He took pride in the rough edge he'd inherited from his paternal side of the family. While he did want his mother to go back to something normal, he didn't necessarily believe it would happen. That would take a miracle or several.

He didn't get along with the other Team Skull grunts, to say the least. He thought he was too good for them, and they knew it and let him know that he wasn't. As long as he was part of Team Skull, he'd be running with the same kind of hoodlum he detested. He'd become one of them, so he better get used to it! Still, Gladion packed a lot of power defending their turf, so that when times got rough, he'd usually be at the front lines—not for their sake, but for his own in growing strong.

He wasn't stupid. He knew his father would come find him sooner or later, but the sooner he got stronger, the sooner he could give in and go along with him and help protect Lillie. He knew his sister's secret confidence in him—how she was scared of their mother now, how she worried her mother might not even care for them anymore now that she had these rare pokemon to look after.

"If that's how it is, then that's how it is. We just have to make sure she doesn't hurt anyone else."

He was sure his words hurt Lillie, but he didn't cushion the blow for anyone.

"Oh, are you two all right?" Wicke asked, standing on the outer edge of Aether Paradise with a phone in her hand. "It's been ages since I heard from you. I just hoped…"

"We're fine. How's Lusamine?" Emiya asked.

"She's… her research has grown more and more unstable, and so has she. I think you were her rock. With you gone, she's gone further off the deep end than before."

"…" At least Wicke was being honest. "As soon as I have Gladion and Lillie somewhere I know they'll be safe, I'll return.

"There are Aether Foundation workers swarming the islands, now. You'd better take care in where you go. I'll try and keep you posted what places are dangerous."

"Thanks, Wicke. Are you sure this call is safe?"

"This is a cell phone, not Aether Paradise communications. I'm sure it's fine."

"Good. See you soon."

As they arrived on Ula'ula island, Lillie hopped off the edge of the boat and onto the pier. Knowing her brother was on this island… she turned to her father to ask him something.

"Do you think Gladion will go with us?"

"I made him promise to come with us when we met up again after I gave him that Type-Null pokemon. He wouldn't break that promise."

Lillie nodded, sticking close to him. If the rumors were true, Team Skull swarmed this island. Not only that, but they had people from the foundation to worry about, too. She didn't fear anything like that with her father by her side, but she would prefer he didn't have to fight. Everyone else fought with pokemon by their sides, something her father staunchly tried to avoid.

"There's a library here in Malie City. Do you think we could stop there? I overheard Professor Burnet say something about one."

"That's right…" Emiya began, walking into the city. "She said that the library's upper floor had something on the guardian deities. You head there. I'm going to take a look around."

Somewhat grateful to be left on her own, Lillie headed down the street, trying to remember the roads from when she visited in her youth. Everyone in Alola was friendly enough to give directions, and the library was only a short way in, but it never hurt to be too careful. As she stepped into the small library (at least, in comparison to the ones at the Aether Foundation), she was quick to keep the zipper on her bag firmly shut and started walking down the halls of books.

"You looking for something?"

A petit girl with violet hair had suddenly spoken to her. Looking around herself somewhat nervously, she answered. Maybe she worked for the library…? But in clothes like that—

"I want to know about the Island deities. Do you know where I could find something?"

The girl's strange, catlike expression didn't waver a bit. "My family donated some books on the topic a while back. I know where they are, follow me."

That's… awfully convenient, thought Lillie, as she followed the other girl into the back of the library. Pulling a dusty old tome from the wall, she wiped off the cover with her arm before letting it fall open on a nearby desk.

"There's an ancient poem that talks about the guardian deities in this one… want to hear it?"

Lillie sat down, gently placing her bag beside her as she flipped open the pages.

"The empty sky broke asunder, a hole appearing where there had been none. A single beast appeared from in it: it was called the beast that devours the sun. The king of Alola bowed before it: the beast that shone so like the sun. The island guardians fought against it, but in the end the beast had won. Then did the beast that devours the sun shine its light on a line of kings. Then did the beast that had won bring nature's gift to bless all things. Beast of sun and beast of moon, through their union, they brought new life. A fragile heir in Alola born that island guardians would keep from strife. The ancient kings sang their thanks for Solgaleo with song of flute. Two tones rang out across the altar—a perfect pair, ever after mute."

"This is…" She muttered quietly to herself, amazed. Could this be about Nebby? 'through their union, they brought new life. A fragile heir…' this had to be about a pokemon, right? It was then that the doors opened downstairs and Lillie peeked over the edge of the balcony.

They were Aether Paradise goons.

"Have you seen a blonde girl in here?" They asked the librarian, in a calm tone that didn't betray their true intent. "White dress? Duffel bag?"

"Oh…?" The purple haired girl beside her looked curiously at Lillie's scared expression. "These guys are bad for you, huh? Want me to handle it?"

As Lillie backed up from the balcony, the girl simply walked down the stairs, opening a pokeball behind her back.

"Is there a problem here?"

"Acerola," One of them said, surprised. "Have you seen a—"

"Nope," She said, shaking her head aloofly. "I overheard, and I never saw anyone by that description come in."

"Do you mind if we look around?"

"Oh, go ahead!" The girl said cheerfully. "But this library is haunted, so I wouldn't be here too long. They say one of the pokemon who took up residence here…"

A lamplight nearby began to flicker unnaturally. "… died in the Aether Foundation's care, so it bears a bit of a grudge."

"That's fine, if it's for our—"

A table began to rattle, scaring off one of the library patrons. The two Aether grunts looked at one another, wondering if the library was worth it. "On second thought, we'll take your word for it. Would you look around for us?"

"Sure," She responded, as cheerily as she could. "Bye now."

As the two left, Lillie was cautious making her way downstairs. "How can I thank you?"

"Don't worry about it. I've got a sixth sense for trouble. Those guys were no good, huh?"

"They're just doing their jobs, which happens to be… very bad for me—anyway… do you know of a secret way out of here? I have to meet my dad and tell him what I found."

"Sure! Back door over there, can't miss it."

As Lillie made her way out of the library, careful to look around every corner she walked around, she cursed herself, knowing she should have told her father a time and place to meet at. How would she find him in this busy city, knowing that the Aether Foundation was already here?

She just hoped he'd made headway into finding her brother, or else they would be in serious trouble.

(Author's note)

Apologies for the delay! Huge family issues that we're still going through. Hopefully I can get this fic to 20k and to a good stopping point before the contest ends. Cheers to everyone who reviewed and also thanks for the constructive criticism!