Maki was certain that this little troublemaker just wanted to scare Lilie, knowing full well that she was afraid of Pokémon.
Whimsicott pounced onto Lilie's shoulder, a mischievous grin on its face. That confirmed Maki's suspicions—this wasn't just a prank; there was a hint of petty revenge in there too. This Whimsicott was definitely a bit of a troublemaker.
"Uh..."
This time, Lilie didn't scream. Instead, she froze completely the moment Whimsicott latched onto her.
"Alright, that's enough. Keep it up, and I'll have the staff return you to your Poké Ball." Maki grabbed a tuft of Whimsicott's cotton and pulled it back onto his shoulder.
"Sorry about that. This one just loves playing pranks... Are you okay?"
Maki waved his hand in front of Lilie's face, but she remained unresponsive.
Was it really that bad?
Maki's mouth twitched in disbelief.
Clefairy, who had been nestled in Lilie's arms, noticed the situation and quickly hopped down, tugging at her leg in concern.
It took a while, but eventually, Lilie snapped out of it.
"You—come over here and apologize."
Maki held Whimsicott by the cotton and dangled it in front of Lilie. No matter how much it struggled, there was no escaping Maki's grasp.
"Whiiim~"
"It's not Whimsicott's fault. I'm afraid of Pokémon because of my own reasons," Lilie quickly said, seeing the Pokémon's pitiful expression.
"By the way, Miss Lilie, why are you afraid of Pokémon?"
Maki already knew the answer better than she did but pretended not to.
"Whim!" Whimsicott nodded theatrically—only to be promptly pushed down by Maki with a light slap.
"Just call me Lilie. As for that… I actually don't know why myself."
Lilie shook her head. No one in Aether Paradise truly understood the reason either.
After all, Lilie had always loved Pokémon. Otherwise, she wouldn't have come to the nature reserve today. Her room was even filled with Pokémon plushies.
And yet, despite her love for Pokémon, she had suddenly become too afraid to touch them—only daring to watch from a distance.
"But... but if I really try, it's not like I can't do it!"
As if trying to prove herself, she raised Clefairy in her hands like a trophy.
Maki tried to suppress his laughter, but his lips betrayed him. It seemed Lilie was quite stubborn when it came to certain things.
"I-I'm serious! Maki, you're just like my mother!"
Realizing that Maki was just humoring her, Lilie pouted in frustration. That was the same expression her mother made whenever she brushed off her concerns.
"If that's the case, why not try holding Whimsicott? It's really soft, and hugging it feels great."
Maki held Whimsicott up in front of her. Sensing the implied threat in Maki's grip, Whimsicott forced a very businesslike smile.
"Whiiiim~"
Lilie, who had been full of confidence just moments ago, froze again.
"I-I'm still holding Clefairy. It might be inconvenient."
"That's okay, I can hold Clefairy for you. You'll get to experience how different Pokémon feel when you hug them."
"Umm… well… Clefairy might be afraid of strangers."
Clefairy: (′?ω?`)?
For some reason, Maki found teasing Lilie incredibly entertaining. But he also knew when to stop. After a few more playful comments, he pulled Whimsicott back.
"I really can do it, you know!"
Even now, Lilie stubbornly held onto her stance.
Afterward, Lilie took Maki on a tour of the reserve in place of Wicke. Maybe because she had a peer by her side, she seemed livelier than usual. Even the staff noticed the difference.
"Is there something you want to ask?"
Maki had noticed the conflicted expression on Lilie's face for a while now and decided to bring it up.
"Maki, did you really fall out of an Ultra Wormhole?"
Since Maki had already caught onto her thoughts, Lilie decided to ask directly.
"Yes."
"Then, inside the Ultra Wormhole... did you—?" Lilie started but quickly cut herself off.
"No. I don't remember anything about what's inside," Maki replied without hesitation.
Lusamine hadn't told Lilie about Mohn immediately, meaning she had her reasons. It wasn't Maki's place to intervene. Besides, Mohn's whereabouts were still uncertain—who knew where that island was?
Most of the Alola region was ocean. Finding an uncharted island would be incredibly difficult.
It was better to wait until they had solid proof before giving Lilie any false hope.
Of course, that was just Maki's assumption about Lusamine's reasoning. He didn't actually know what she was thinking.
"I... I see." Lilie lowered her head in disappointment.
"But... this also means that surviving inside the Ultra Wormhole is possible, right?"
Her eyes gleamed with hope as she looked at Maki, waiting for his confirmation.
"Of course. In fact, I know of someone else who got caught in an Ultra Wormhole and managed to escape—though they lost their memory."
"Oh! Someone else has made it out too?!"
A sharp voice interrupted them from a short distance away.
"Director Faba."
Maki greeted him with a polite smile, though he didn't particularly like the man.
After all, in the games, Faba had betrayed the protagonists and aligned himself with Team Rainbow Rocket just to get a promotion—a textbook opportunist.
Wait… but I'm in Team Rocket too.
Well, that changes things.
With that thought, Maki suddenly found Faba's weaselly face a bit more tolerable. After all, people like him could be useful—especially ones with his level of competence.
Unlike Maki, Lilie made no attempt to hide her disgust. She turned her face away the moment Faba inserted himself into the conversation.
Faba, however, was clearly used to her reaction and ignored it, walking straight up to Maki.
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