Chapter 50: A Different Person

"Rowlet, the grass quill Pokemon. It's a grass and flying type. It stories energy during the day from photosynthesis. It swoops down without making a sound and unleashes a powerful kick without being noticed."

"Litten, the fire cat Pokemon. It is a fire type. Litten shows few emotions and it prefers being alone. It can take time for it to build any level of trust with fellow Pokemon or Trainers alike."

"Popplio, the sea lion Pokemon. It is a water type. Popplio can control water balloons and works hard so it can make its balloons bigger."

Seeing Lusamine's gift appear before our eyes, the three of us became stunned, after seeing what they looked like.

Not only had Lusamine acquired the three Alola starter Pokemon, each one of them was shiny!

"Mother...where on earth did you acquire three alter colored Pokemon as rare as these three?", Lillie asked with a look of shock.

"What, is my darling little sister still questioning how our mother does business? You ought to know by now not to question Mother.", a sudden voice said with a hint of annoyance, which drew all of our attention to the screen once again.

This time, we were interrupted yet again by a sudden male voice. On the monitor, we saw a screen appear beneath Lusamine's image. A blond haired boy who had the same hair color as Lillie appeared on it. His hair was styled to where he had large bangs of it going down the right side of his face, hiding his eye away. As for his outfit, he wore a gray sweatshirt and black pants with a black undershirt. the clothes over his arms and legs were torn in a few spots, he appeared much like a punk did.

Yet despite his look, Lillie became very surprised seeing this person appear, as if she couldn't believe it.

"Brother Gladion...is that really you?", Lillie asked with a dumbfounded voice.

"It is. I'm glad to see my little sister found her own path to take. As for mine, unfortunately it has come to an end."

Hearing that, I also became confused. I've met Gladion several times during my ten year stay in Alola. It was really disheartening to hear about their father, Mohn's disappearance. I did see Lusamine grief a lot during this time, but she handled it quite well. As for Gladion, well, he went on a journey of sorts to try and find Mohn in Alola.

As for Lillie, well, she is now beside me ten years later. Let alone growing scared to a Pokemon's touch and presence, she wouldn't even speak half the time in the first couple years. But now, Lillie put it in her own words, she no longer has a shell to break out of, and she is on her own path together with Serena and I.

And from the looks of it, Gladion is currently back in his room. Man whenever I visited Lusamine's mansion in Hau'oli City, I could never explore it fully. It was just that big. Thankfully we spent most of the time at Kukui's place which was much smaller.

Concluding this thought, I was the one who spoke out next.

"Gladion, since the last time we spoke, with the way you worded that, has he finally been found?"

"Yes. In actuality I found traces of him a couple years back. I decided to monitor how he would go about from there. An Ultra Wormhole popped him out in a string of islands to the northeast of Akala Island."

"Brother, are you referring to...?", Lillie started to question, and her heart began to thump.

"Our Father, yes.", Gladion answered bluntly.

"So you did find that man after all, Gladion.", Lusamine said, finding no more trace of emotion.

"Yes, Mother. Unfortunately I say that with being a bearer of bad news.", Gladion answered with a hint of sadness.

"What bad news could there be? Brother, you said you were able to locate Father. Just knowing that he is safe relieves my heart greatly!", Lillie responded with a smile.

"True, there is that, but Lillie, I need you to understand what I'm about to say next. Father...he is no longer the Father we grew up with."

"Eh?"

"Oh? And what would cause you to say that, Gladion? Was this the result of your investigation?"

"It is, Mother. I can be safe to say Father no longer has memory of any of us. He spent his last couple years opening the Poke Pelago for Pokemon to have fun, which was oddly enough his dream. So I did the direct approach and finally confronted Father. Lillie, Mother, he didn't even recognize me. Something must have wiped his memory of us while he was in that stupid place!", Gladion cursed out, forming a fist with his hand. Anger streaked across his eyes.

"Brother...Father truly has no memory of us? How can you say such a thing when Mother or I have yet to pay a visit too! Perhaps...!", Lillie replied back, trying to interject as she gripped hard onto my hand.

"We will do no such thing. As Gladion said, it will be pointless for us continue pursuing. I had come to my own terms accepting that man's disappearance as his death and grieved for a period of time. If he has shown up fine, it is no longer a concern to us. Perhaps him getting his memories wiped of us could be considered a blessing.", Lusamine responded with a rather harsh tone.

"But Mother...how can you even think of this like that!? We haven't even tried!", Lillie responded.

"Then go ahead and try. You will reach the same end as Gladion did. Gladion, thank you for reaching the end of this matter."

"Of course, Mother."

"You're really just going to drop this...?", Lillie asked.

"Well I guess that depends on you, Lillie. We can take it into our own hands should you really want to continue. It would have to wait until we start our journey in Alola though.", I asked her.

"Itsuki...", Lillie responded, smiling at me. "Yes. I feel like we should. There is just no way Father would not remember a single thing about us!"

"Hmm, you've definitely changed, Lillie. I can see why Mother would bring about this today. You are awaiting to give those three out, right?"

"Yes. I am glad this time has come. I apologize for using more of your time than we should have,.", Lusamine said, reaching out to Kukui.

"Haha, that is of no concern to us. While it is regrettable such a thing has happened, that is something I wish to see come to an end if Itsuki and Lillie are willing. It feels like half of the puzzle has been solved. I have heard of Poke Pelago becoming increasingly popular, but I didn't think he would be behind that. But as Itsuki said, you guys won't come here for a while. So for now, have made your decision, Lillie?", Kukui spoke out, concluding the topic.

"That seems to the best for now. I won't let this end, Mother. As for my pick, I have long decided, Uncle.", Lillie responded with a resolute tone. She then looked over to Kukui's and Burnet's image, only to see the three starters who have been patiently waiting during this family exchange.

"Popplio, would you like to come with me?", Lillie asked, smiling at Popplio.

"Popplio!", Popplio responded back happily, clapping its hands like a seal would.

"Then there goes the first pick." Kukui responded with a nod, recalling Popplio. "Serena, you're up next."

"Then I won't hold back. Litten, would you like to be my partner?", Serena asked, looking at the white and red kitten.

"...Lit.", Litten softly responded, not denying her. Kukui let out a laugh seeing this.

"Haha, don't let this fool you, Serena. Litten just needs some time opening up to new Trainers, you've heard it from the dex reading earlier.", Kukui responded with a laugh.

"Yes. I won't let you down, Litten.", Serena also responded with a resolute tone. Litten nodded and Kukui recalled it.

"So I guess that leaves Rowlet to me eh buddy?", I said with a smile, looking at Rowlet.

"Rowlet!", Rowlet responded by flapping its wings a bit.

In my opinion, Rowlet is definitely not a bad choice to end up with. It had a really unique typing when it reaches its final evolution, being grass and ghost. It was actually one of few Pokemon that changes its secondary typing during its evolution. Rowlet starts off as grass and flying.

And Decidueye, Rowlet's final evolution, is also really cool in appearance. Almost as cool as Greninja, which is the final evolution of Serena's Froakie. Just a tad under I'd say, Greninja still beats Decidueye. She really lucked out seeing Professor Sycamore have a shiny Froakie.

But it looks like our three Pokemon were decided, and Kukui recalled Rowlet.

"Guess the decisions are now over. I'll get these three to you guys in a jiffy. I'll also send Lillie her Pokedex. Thankfully it's still early in the year to register for the Kanto League. You three already said you're in Pewter City already yeah?", Kukui asked.

"Sure did. Once again, this was indeed a surprise Lusamine. Thank you.", I responded gratefully.

"No need to thank me. I'll continue to monitor Lillie's resolve from time to time. As for you, Gladion...what will you do?"

"I'm...not sure. I've no more pressing matters right now. Perhaps I'll stay at our home for a bit before deciding what to do next. Maybe it's time to do my own journey."

"Hmm, if you do go that way, do let me know. Also Lillie, regardless of that matter earlier, I do have one more thing for you."

"What is it, Mother?"

"I'll watch your resolve as a Trainer too. Should you make it all the way to the Kanto League I'll publicize your marriage with Itsuki. As for you Serena, I won't prevent you from joining in, but that doesn't mean I'll do anything for you either."

"Mother...", Lillie responded softly while I saw Serena stare blankly at Lusamine.

"To be honest, I didn't care much about the position number...But you're essentially saying you approve us three being together?", Serena asked, blooming into a smile.

Yet Lusamine didn't say anything else and only let out a strange smile, and cut her video feed off. Seeing Lusamine's screen vanish, Gladion looked up to see it.

"Guess this is where I head out too. Take care you guys, and Lillie, don't expect much from Father whenever you guys arrive."

"That's where I'll prove you wrong, Brother."

"I really hope you do.", Gladion responded, then cut his feed.

"Is there anything else you need of us, Itsuki?" Professor Burnet finally spoke out, watching this exchange in silence.

"Not really. I mainly wanted to let you two know how we were doing. It may not be a while till our next call. If we do reach the Kanto League, you two will be coming, right, Uncle, Auntie?"

"Of course we will! I'm sure your family will probably come too, Lillie. Same for you, Serena. We'll round everyone up!"

"Haha, sounds good. it'd be natural for mine to show up too. Take care."

"Bye bye!", Serena waved goodbye.

"Have a good day.", Lillie responded as well.

And like that, our call ended and we all let out a deep sigh. But we felt reinvigorated from that. It was good to have a chat with Lusamine and Gladion, besides Professor Kukui and Burnet.

With that out of the way, we immediately went to the front desk, and informed Nurse Joy. She worked her system and saw a Pokedex from Alola materialize before our eyes. Not too long after that, we saw three Pokeballs get transferred over too. We then registered Lillie's Pokedex, which she can now use in place of her ID she used last time to sign up.

We welcomed our three new shiny partners for the journey ahead. This also marked the moment where I now have more than six Pokemon. For now, I decided to send Scyther back into my box.

The rest of the day blew by quickly. Lillie also showed my her resolve last night and was quite proactive that night, letting me blow a couple loads over her. Serena was able to help Lillie out.

The next day came waking up with Serena and Lillie beside me. Feeling invigorated, I started to formulate a strategy to use against the first Gym in Kanto. Seeing me start strategizing, Serena and Lillie joined in too, as they too would partake in gym battles from here on.

It was time to meet Brock and challenge his Gym!

*

A bit of family stuff this chapter. Brock is next!

Don't forget to keep dropping those power stones!