Ash's POV-
Lillie turned her head and stared at me for a few seconds before nodding. "Alright, what do you wanna ask?" She questioned.
I leaned my head side to side as I contemplated what to ask.
"Well, I guess I'll start with something basic. What's your favorite color?" I chuckled as I asked.
Lillie fixed me with a look of mild amusement. "well I...honestly don't know. No one really care's enough to ask simple things like that." She quietly responded.
I grimaced momentarily when I heard this. "So that's what it's been like for her..no wonder she never talks to anyone." I thought to myself.
"Though if I had to choose...I'd have to say...green would be my favorite color." Lillie continued.
I nodded. "Good choice, though, mine would have to be blue." I said.
Lillie smiled at me. "Blue is nice too." She said.
"Yeah, it is." I responded.
I glanced over at Lillie as we walked. Her head was down, like she was thinking about something. "So what do you usally do for fun?" I asked her.
Lillie stayed silent for a minute or two, a quiet and thoughtful hum emanating from her.
"Really the only things I can do at home is read, and watch Pokemon play around outside the manor." She answered.
I nodded in understanding. "Well, time to start asking the real questions." I silently told myself.
I took a deep breath before looking over at Lillie.
Only to find her looking back at me. "Hey Ash, can I ask you a question?" Lillie asked.
"Oh, uh yeah, go ahead." I responded with mild suprise.
"Why did you come to Alola, why attend a school if you've been through six regions?" She asked me.
I sighed and put my hands behind my head. "I've...been in six different leagues over the course of my travels. I haven't been the victor in any of them, and the closest I have come to winning is runner up. After my last go at trying to win a league, I realized that I still had a lot left to learn." I said.
"It's demoralizing, being in six different leagues and not winning any of them...I try to not think about it too often." I continued with a bittersweet smile.
Lillie fixed me with a curious gaze. "But wouldn't you have learned all you'd need to know?" She asked.
I chuckled and shook my head. "You of all people should know, you're never really done learning." I replied.
Lillie nodded after a few seconds. "Yeah...I guess you're right." She said.
We kept walking for another twenty minutes, talking the whole way. The subjects ranging from favorite foods, to favorite kinds of music.
A few minutes of silence followed afterwards, until I finally spoke up.
"So Lillie...Why did you come to school covered in bruises?" I tentatively asked.
Lillie's cheerful expression turned to one of slight panic. "W-what do you mean, I-I f-fell down the stairs, remember?" Lillie responded, a nervous laugh following closely after.
"Lillie, I'm not stupid... I've fallen down stairs plenty of times, they don't leave those kinds of bruises." I responded.
"I-I don't really wanna talk about it." She said, averting her gaze so I couldn't see her face.
I was so focused on talking to Lillie, that I didn't realize that we had arrived at her home.
The front doors opened to the home, and out stepped a woman with long blond hair, green eyes, and a white and yellow dress on.
"Ah Lillie, so glad you're back, who is this?" She asked.
There was something about her smile that made it almost sickly sweet.
"O-oh, th-this is my friend Ash." She responded.
The woman nodded. "Nice to meet you Ash, my name is Lusamine, Lillie's mother." She told me.
"Ah, I see, nice to meet you ma'am." I responded.
I looked over at Lillie and moved a bit closer to her, before whispering to her. "I have to go, stay safe ok." I said to her.
Lillie nodded as I moved back. "I would love to stay and chat miss Lusamine, but I'm expected home soon, so I should really get going." I told her.
Lusamine nodded without saying a word.
I gave one last glance to Lillie, before turning and walking back down the path.
"Hopefully she'll be ok." I thought to myself.
Lillie's POV-
I watched Ash disappear around the bend, his words echoing in my mind. "Does...does he know?" I thought to myself.
I turned back towards my mother, she looked upset to say the least.
"Lillie, would you be a dear and come inside, there's something we need to talk about." Lusamine said.
Her tone sent shivers down my spine. I nodded and slowly walked into the house. Lusamine closed the door before turning towards me.
"So Lillie, who gave you permission to make friends?" Lusamine asked.
"P-permission?" I responded.
Lusamine nodded her head. "That's right you little brat." She said.
"I'm not going to let you drag that Ash boy, down with you." She told me, slowly approaching me as she spoke.
"So here's what you're going to do, tomorrow, you're going to go and find this boy, and tell him you're not his friend anymore." Lusamine continued.
My stomach starts sinking as I listen to her speak. "I can't let her do this, I can't let her take away the first friend I've had in years." I told myself.
"I-I c-can't do that, he's my first friend in years." I told her.
Lusamines expression quickly changed to one of anger. "If you don't do as I say, then this Ash boy might have an accident." She told me.
The pit in my stomach grew infinitely larger, "I knew she could do it if she wanted to...but to actually threaten it.." I thought to myself.
"Fine...I'll do it..just please..don't hurt Ash." I told her.
Lusamine nodded. "Good choice...maybe you're not as stupid as I thought." She said with a snide laugh.
She turned and walked down the hallway, leaving me at the entrance of the home, pondering what I'm going to do about tomorrow.
"I wish I could just run away from this place." I muttered to myself.
I sighed and started slowly walking down the hallways to my room. "I can't do that, I can't end my friendship with him..What am I going to do?" I contemplated.
Ash's POV- Half an hour later
I had just walked into professor Kukui's home, intent on finding him and asking him something. I didn't see him anywhere on the first floor, so I decided to try calling out for him.
"Hey, professor Kukui! Where are you?" I shouted.
"Down in the basement Ash!" He responded.
I set my backpack down on the floor next to the door, before making my way downstairs to the basement. I found Kukui sitting at the desk downstairs, Rockruff laying down next to his feet. Pikachu jumped off of my shoulder as soon as he saw Rockruff, he ran over to him and woke him up, and soon enough, the two were playing and running around the basement.
Kukui turned around in his chair and looked at me. "Where were you Ash? I was expecting you home an hour or so ago." He said.
"Sorry about that professor, I was walking Lillie home." I responded.
Kukui nodded, a slight smirk adorning his face. "That was nice of you, how's she been lately?" He asked.
I tilted my head side to side. "She seems to be doing alright." I told him.
"That's good." Kukui responded. He turned back and continued working.
"So, professor.. do you by any chance have a video phone I could use, and a way I could get Pokemon transferred here?" I asked.
Kukui turned back around, giving me a curious look. "Yeah there is, it's in the corner over there." He answered while pointing his pen towards the video phone in the corner of the room.
I nodded. "Thank you." I told him.
I walked over to the phone and powered it on, I put in the number I wanted to call, and waited for it to dial.
The dial tone stopped a few seconds after it started, the face of a man with gray hair popped up on the screen.
"Hello there Ash." The man said with a smile.
I smiled back. "Hello professor Oak. How are things going at the lab?" I questioned.
"They're going well, thanks for asking, so what can I do for you Ash?" Oak asked.
"Well, I was hoping you could send some of my Pokemon over." I told him.
The smile from professor Oaks face slowly faded. "I must say Ash, that's quiet odd, usually you don't just ask for your previous Pokemon, unless something's going on. Is something going on?" He questioned.
I grimaced slightly. "No, not particularly, lets just call it a hunch, besides, it'll be good for them to stretch their legs in a new region." I responded.
Professor Oak nodded after what I can only assume was a few seconds of thought. "Alright Ash, who would you like me to send?" He asked.
"Well, for this hunch, I'm gonna need Greninja, Noctowl, Donphan, Sceptile, and finally Infernape." I told him.
Oak nodded. "Alright, give me a few minutes to go and grab them." He told me.
I nodded and looked around the basement. Kukui was looking at me curiously.
"Ash, what do you need all of them for? Those are mostly powerhouse Pokemon." He asked.
I sighed and started rubbing the back of my neck in slight embarrassment, my cheeks lighting up with a red blush. "It...may have something to do with Lillie..something about all this doesn't seem right." I told him.
Kukui nodded. "Well, at the very least, keep me informed with what's going on, ok?" He asked.
"Of course professor." I replied.
Kukui turned back and kept working, while I waited for professor Oak to return.
A couple of minutes passed before professor Oak finally returned. "Alright Ash, I have all of them, I'm gonna start sending them through." He told me.
"Alright professor, ready when you are." I said.
He nodded and began putting the pokeballs in the transfer. The machine on my side started coming to life, and a few seconds later, the first pokeball came through. I grabbed it and waited for the next one to come through.
The process took a couple minutes, but by then, I had all five of the Pokemon I had asked for. "Thanks professor, I got all of them." I told him.
"Glad to hear it Ash, I'm sorry to cut this short, but the other Pokemon need attending to, so I must be going." He said.
"No worries professor, I'll call you later." I said.
Professor Oak nodded and ended the call.
I gathered the five pokeballs and placed them on my belt, before turning to professor Kukui. "Thanks for letting me use that professor." I said to him.
Kukui turned to me and smiled. "You're welcome Ash. I'll be upstairs in a few minutes, I just have to finish what I'm working on." He said.
I nodded and headed back upstairs, once upstairs, I went and sat on the couch by the TV.
I sighed and leaned back against the couch. "Hopefully my hunch is wrong, and I won't have to use any of them." I thought to myself.
A/N
I hope all of you enjoy this chapter, It's a bit calmer than the other chapters have been.
As always, if you have any comments or questions, don't hesitate to say them.
I'll see you all in the next chapter.
-Pearlshipper332