Axel really wanted to complain, 'Girl, did you get knocked dizzy or what?'
But obviously there was no chance to ask that right now.
"Is Researcher Eva with you?"
Lillie looked at Axel warily, subconsciously stepping back half a step and hugging Nebby tightly, looking as if she might make a move at any moment.
The corner of Axel's mouth twitched. He had no idea how to explain this at all, so he could only stubbornly shake his head.
"She's not here. When I came out just now, I even ran into her at the cafeteria of the Sun and Moon Research Lab."
"Really?", Lillie didn't quite believe it. She felt like she really had heard Researcher Eva's voice just now.
Axel's expression turned serious as he put his lifelong acting skills to use, "I guarantee it. Absolutely true!"
"Alright~", Lillie seemed to believe him and gradually lowered her guard, then politely bowed to Axel.
"Then please tell me where the Sun and Moon Research Lab is. I might have been too anxious to see Professor Burnet and Researcher Eva, so I probably misheard."
Axel secretly let out a breath of relief and raised his hand to point in the direction of the lab. Before he could speak, he suddenly saw Lillie jump up without any warning, almost pressing her face right up to his.
"Bad guy, today I'm definitely rescuing Researcher Eva!"
Axel: "???"
No wonder people say Lillie is everyone's little sister in the Pokémon world.
Right now he really wanted to curse out loud.
She actually used such a long wind-up just to fake him out. Is this specially trained to deal with Aurient people or what?
If Lillie really saw it, Axel himself would be fine, but what about Eva's lifelong reputation?
Axel swung his arm, just about to make a move, when he suddenly heard Gardevoir telling him not to panic.
The next moment, Axel saw Lillie gripping the edge of the tree hollow with both hands, looking at him awkwardly.
"Ah? S-sorry! Sorry! So there really isn't anyone there?"
"I… I… ah, forget it. Anyway, I'm sorry!"
Lillie's face was as red as the morning clouds. From how nervous she was, the blood vessels under her delicate skin were clearly visible.
After apologizing, she turned around and ran off toward the Sun and Moon Research Lab.
Axel, still shaken, grabbed Gardevoir's arm and Eva's slender waist. Thankfully there was psychic power. As long as Gardevoir thought there was no one here, Lillie would also think there was no one here.
"Let's go. Teleport back to the lab!"
———
Back at the lab, Eva immediately put on a show of seriously doing research.
Axel sat off to the side with nothing to do, enjoying a rare moment of free time.
He was thinking about why, even with the "Chosen One" trait, he still got caught by Lillie while doing that kind of thing.
And this is supposed to be luck?
All of a sudden, Axel heard a familiar voice coming from outside the research room.
"Professor Burnet, I'd like to find Eva. Is she at the lab?"
Professor Burnet replied, "Probably not. I remember they should be..."
Before she could finish speaking, Eva rushed out to interrupt her, afraid Lillie might figure out what just happened.
"That's great, so you really are here," Seeing Eva, Lillie immediately let out a sigh of relief, then started talking nonstop.
"Do you know? I just ran into a man outside who looked really dangerous. He was hiding in a tree hollow, and I think I even heard..."
"Heard what?", Axel stood at the doorway, looking at Lillie with a resentful expression.
A handsome, elegant man like him, good-looking enough to rival Pan An, was actually being described as "looking dangerous."
This was the biggest rumor in Pokémon world history.
"Uh...", Seeing that Axel was also here, Lillie froze for a moment.
"Y-you're the man from the tree hollow! How did you end up here?"
"He went to pick a kind of mushroom that can make people stronger," Eva's face turned red as soon as she thought about what just happened, and she hurriedly cut off the conversation between the two.
"Didn't Gladion take you away not long ago? Why did you suddenly come back?"
Sure enough, as soon as this topic came up, Lillie's attention shifted immediately.
"My brother… We went out originally to try to stop Mother's plan. But you should also know that Aether Paradise disappeared, right?"
"So we traveled all over the place, looking for any news about Aether Paradise."
"Later, we discovered that two people had disguised themselves as me and my brother, leading part of Aether Paradise's teams and staying active in public view."
"But my brother and I are the last hope of Aether Paradise. If everyone else also thought we'd gone down the same path as Mother, then Aether Paradise would probably become the enemy of everyone in Alola!"
Hearing this, the others all nodded lightly.
What she said was true. Over the years, Aether Paradise had gradually exposed its schemes and become disliked by more and more people.
If Gladion and Lillie hadn't been secretly helping other forces all along, Aether Paradise really would have become a public enemy sooner or later.
"So what happened after that?"
When Axel asked, Lillie closed her eyes deeply, her gaze filled with helplessness.
"After that, in order to preserve the last bit of Aether Paradise's reputation, my brother took me with him to confront them, trying to find those two impostors."
"Finding them went fairly smoothly, but once we did, we realized we weren't even close to being their match!"
"While protecting me as I escaped, my brother was captured by them."
"If I hadn't happened to run into that huge red fist, I probably would've already been taken away by Froslass as well."
As she said this, Lillie pressed her lips together, fear flashing through her eyes. It was clear she had been badly frightened when her brother was captured.
Sensing the heavy atmosphere, Burnet smiled and tried to lighten things up, "So in that case, it's a good thing Axel went out to test Z-Moves?"
"No wonder you're the hero who saved Sinnoh. Saving people is basically etched into your bones."
"If you stay in Alola a few more days, you'll probably be called a hero here too."
"Huh? So it was you who saved me?", Lillie finally realized and hurriedly bowed to Axel in thanks.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said you looked dangerous!"
"It's fine," Axel waved his hand, indicating he didn't take it to heart.
"So you came this time to borrow Regirock?"
Faced with the question, Lillie shook her head and said something Axel never would have expected.
"At first, yes. But now, no."
Lillie looked seriously at Axel, "After seeing that punch of yours knock away Froslass, I realized I can't keep being afraid of Pokémon forever."
"I have to become stronger, so I won't be a burden to others."
"So please, take me with you to pick that mushroom that can make people stronger too. Tree hollows, hillsides, even underground, I can train anywhere!"
Axel: "???"
'Eat and take all in one go?'
'You should just take Regirock and go get your revenge instead.'
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