In the Lush Jungle of Akala Island.
This was one of the official trial sites in Alola. Deep inside the forest, Selene was currently undergoing her trial alongside the Trial Captain, Mallow—pushing forward through thick greenery, heat, and the kind of wild terrain that made every step feel like part of the test.
Outside the jungle, far from the noise of the trial itself, Lillie sat alone on a long bench in her white dress.
She took a letter out of her bag with both hands. The paper looked ordinary, but her fingers held it as if it might burn her. Hesitation and anxiety fought across her face as she stared at the handwriting.
A stranger had handed it to her earlier that morning.
Only after she opened it did she realize who it was from.
Her mother—Lusamine.
Lillie sat there, caught between fear and duty, not knowing what to do.
Should she follow the letter's instructions and return to Aether Paradise?
But she was afraid—truly afraid—of what Lusamine had become.
And Lillie knew, better than anyone, what Lusamine wanted. She wanted to use Nebby for her research. She wanted to force answers out of it. Her father had vanished because of experiments like that, and the thought alone made Lillie's stomach twist.
Yet the fact that Lusamine could get a letter to her through an outsider…
Did that mean Lusamine had already found her?
"What… what should I do…"
Lillie bit her lip until it hurt. She had searched ancient texts for anything—any clue about Nebby's origins, anything that could help her protect it.
It still wasn't enough.
Her plan had been to visit the ruins scattered across Alola, to keep digging until she finally understood what Nebby was.
But now…
It felt like the walls were closing in. Time, which had never been on her side, had finally run out.
Lillie's hands tightened around the letter. She felt completely lost.
"Mo… mo…"
At that moment, her bag shifted.
The flap lifted, and Nebby poked out half its body, chirping cheerfully as if nothing in the world could possibly be wrong.
"Nebby? Could it be…?"
Lillie blinked, startled by the sudden change in Nebby's mood. Then something clicked in her head—an idea, sharp enough to cut through her panic.
Her expression wavered between disbelief and quiet hope.
"Well now. Lovely lady—fancy meeting you again."
A familiar voice reached her ears: warm, clear, and somehow annoyingly calm.
Lillie turned her head.
And there he was.
Damian stepped out from the shade of the trees as if he'd been waiting for the right moment. He wore a simple, fitted colorful shirt and black trousers—clean, understated, and sharp in a way that made it hard not to notice him. With the light behind him, it almost looked like he'd walked straight out of it.
His smile didn't help.
It was the kind of smile that made people feel safe before they even realized it.
Lillie stared, momentarily blank.
He was exactly as she remembered.
Good-looking to the point of unfairness.
"Mo!"
Nebby, of course, didn't bother with Lillie's complicated thoughts. It zipped into the air, floated straight to Damian, and circled him in happy loops.
"You little rascal. Are you really that excited?"
Damian chuckled, reached out, and caught Nebby with casual ease. He pulled a piece of candy from his pocket, unwrapped it, and offered it to the little one.
Nebby accepted it immediately.
Its eyes narrowed into satisfied slits as it hummed contentedly.
"As soon as you appeared, Nebby suddenly perked up," Lillie said softly.
Without realizing it, a gentle smile had formed on her face. Her eyes followed only two things: the youth in front of her, and Nebby in his hands.
This—this was what she'd wanted.
To see him again.
Fate was strange. In just two or three months, they had met three times.
It felt like something more than coincidence. Something she didn't have a name for.
"Ha. I like this little guy too," Damian said, rubbing Nebby's cheek before walking over and sitting down beside Lillie.
Of course, Damian had his own reasons. Nebby could grow into a legendary Sun or Moon deity someday. He didn't know which one this Nebby would become, but either outcome was excellent.
In the anime, it became Solgaleo. In the Evolution special, it became Lunala.
A domineering lion or a majestic bat—Damian wasn't picky.
But Lillie didn't know any of that.
All she felt was the sudden heat rushing to her face when Damian sat down so close.
She didn't scoot away.
She couldn't bring herself to.
Or rather…
He smelled… good.
Lillie's small nose twitched almost involuntarily. It was the first time she'd been this close to a boy her age, and for a moment her head felt light. There was something familiar in the scent—clean, faintly floral, like expensive soap and a perfume she'd smelled many times before.
It reminded her of her mother, strangely enough.
It made her feel safe in a way she didn't fully understand.
Damian, meanwhile, fed Nebby another piece of candy. Nebby happily chewed, completely pleased with itself.
"Come to think of it," Damian said lightly, "this is our third meeting, isn't it? Lovely lady."
Lillie's blush deepened instantly.
"P-please… please don't say things like 'lovely'…"
The shy girl gripped the fabric of her dress with both hands, voice so soft it was almost swallowed by the breeze.
"But you really are cute," Damian said, tilting his head as if he were honestly confused by her reaction. "And you're beautiful, too."
Lillie's face burned. Her heart thumped hard enough to be embarrassing.
"They say if it's meant to be, people will meet even if they're thousands of miles apart," Damian continued, smiling as if he enjoyed watching her short-circuit. "Our… 'affinity' seems pretty deep."
Then, as if finally deciding to stop torturing her, he shifted gears.
"Let's do this properly. I'm Damian, from the Kanto region. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"I… I'm Lillie."
Lillie forced herself to move through the embarrassment and took the hand he offered.
Warm.
That was her first thought—the steady warmth of his palm.
But her upbringing snapped in immediately, and she let go quickly. Holding on any longer would be far too improper.
"Lillie," Damian repeated, as if tasting the name. "That's a pretty one."
"Thank you."
Lillie fanned her cheeks with both hands, trying to cool her face down before she melted into the bench.
Damian glanced at her, then at the letter she'd been clutching earlier.
"I saw you sitting here alone from a distance," he said, stroking Nebby's chin. "Something on your mind?"
Lillie stiffened. So he had noticed.
Her eyes lowered. Her lips pressed together, then parted again, as if she couldn't decide which feeling deserved to come out first.
"My apologies for letting you see me in such a pathetic state, Damian."
Damian raised an eyebrow.
"Pathetic?" he repeated, leaning in slightly. His voice turned serious—not heavy, not dramatic, just firm in a way that made Lillie listen.
"There's nothing to apologize for. Everyone has moments like that. Every person alive."
He didn't look away.
"Everyone carries regrets. Everyone has a past they'd rather not touch."
His tone stayed calm, but his words landed cleanly.
"And the people who look happy every day? Sometimes they're the ones who go quiet at night and deal with it alone."
Lillie's eyes widened a little.
"Joy and sorrow are part of being human," Damian continued. "So if you're hurting, or embarrassed, or stuck… you don't hide from it. You face it. You step over it."
For a moment, Lillie forgot to breathe.
She stared at the youth sitting close beside her, eyes clear and unfocused, like she'd been pulled into a thought too big to hold.
He really was—
"What's wrong, Lillie?" Damian asked after a long pause, genuinely puzzled. "Why are you just staring?"
The sound of his voice snapped her back to reality.
Lillie jolted, the blush returning immediately, and she turned her face away.
"S-sorry… I spaced out again…" she murmured.
"It's fine."
Lillie swallowed, then the words slipped out before she could stop them.
"Damian is so gentle."
"Hm?" Damian blinked. "What did you say?"
"N-nothing!" Lillie panicked, mortified. "Please don't mind me—I was just talking to myself."
She rubbed the hair near her cheek, eyes wide with embarrassment.
Why did I say that out loud?!
And then, as if the universe wanted to make it worse, a new thought rose up—clear and terrifying.
She suddenly understood why Selene never stopped talking about how wonderful her boyfriend was.
Because if someone like Damian were her boyfriend…
Lillie was pretty sure she'd be bragging to Selene every single day, too.