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Lillie was trembling as she walked down the familiar Aether hallways. She hadn't been back a week, and could already tell that something was amiss. The one person she had wanted to see more than anyone just seemed to vanish the day she showed up. It had taken a few days to piece together, but apparently Moon had been unofficially declared Alola's answer to the Ultra Beasts that had shown up every now and again. Apparently a portal opened on Poni Island the day Lillie had arrived, with an unusual specimen- even for UB's. Wicke had told her that it was similar to a Nihilego, only the coloration was unlike anything they'd seen before. It's venom was different, too, and they were working on a way to cur-
Lillie's line of thought cut short, as she almost slammed into the door Wicke had spoken to her about. D-34, a small storage area for eggs and pokéballs, just overlooking the wildlife enclosure. She walked into the room, looking around at the cubbies against the wall and the single desk in the room. She still couldn't quite absorb what Wicke had said, and half expected Moon to be in a chair, or a stretcher, or something... She swallowed, knowing she had to be strong now, and walked over to the cubbies along the wall. Some were designed to incubate pokémon eggs that had been abandoned or couldn't be looked over by their mother, some were temporary storage for pokeballs that might have been chipped or damaged. On the far wall, she found the marked off cubby. Between two incubation cells, it kept warm but not oppressively so. Lillie pressed the button on the side, and the door to the cell slid open.
Inside, curled up in the center cup of the cell, was Moon.
Wicke explained that moon had managed to capture the rare Nihilego, and was en route to have the Aether Foundation examine it when she collapsed. Apparently, it had poisoned her, with some unusual effects. Rather than build her up and expand her ambitions, it almost had the opposite effect, dwindling her down to what lie before Lillie now. She couldn't be more than 3 or 4 inches tall, and she seemed to have changed her outfit since the two of them had travelled with Nebby together. Pink looked good on her- heck, most things looked good on her. And that cute little gem in her hair was a nice touch. Lillie was quickly snapped back to reality when Moon began to stir at the unexpected intrusion.
Lillie watched with bated breath, as Moon looked up at her groggily. The tiny trainer's face lit up, before reality caught up to her and she shivered a little, backing away anxiously. Lillie tried to hide the concern in her voice, softly saying "H-hey Moon, I'm back... I'm sorry it took so long." Moon took a deep breath, taking a seat on the back edge of the divot she had been resting in, finding it hard to look up at her friend. Lillie tried again, "Come on, let's get you out of there, it can't be comfortable in a little cubby like that." She reached a hand in towards Moon, but stopped short. Moon had flinched back, shivering harder than before. It was like a knife to Lillie, as a thousand possibilities raced through her mind. She wondered how many of the researchers had been complacent in using up Nebby and Null. How many of those same scientists were working on UB projects, how many had handled her friend with the same indifferent hands. How much blood do you need to draw to analyze a poison? From someone so small? Her stomach tied itself in knots seeing Moon so frightened, especially of her.
"No no no no no, Moon I'm sorry, I won't- I won't grab you, I promise. I just- just want to help..." Lillie looked down at her little friend with concern, when she noticed just how chilly it was getting in the cubby now that the door was open- especially since only one of the incubators was in use at the moment. She took a step back, giving Moon time to collect herself, while she brought her hands up to her mouth and blew out hot, slow breaths into her hands. She rubbed them together, building up friction and warming them up, eager to provide Moon with some sort of relief. When she was done, she closed the distance again and looked to Moon. Slowly, Lillie stuck her hand into the cell, palm up and off to the side. "Please Moon, I promise I'll get you out of here. Just, please trust me. You know I trust you." The tiny trainer looked up at Lillie's face, and hesitantly pointed to her as she began to sign "you- you promise you won't put me in a bag?"
Lillie was a little taken aback, a bag? That hardly sounded like anything the researchers might do. Then she remembered. It felt like it had been so long ago, travelling with Nebby. "No, no of course not, I promise I won't." Moon nodded, and started to take the first tepid steps onto the warm palm while Lillie did her best to keep her hand steady. It was a small victory, but she was glad to have gotten this much trust so quickly. As Moon clambered onto Lillie’s outstretched hand, her other hand gently came in and cupped together, to keep Moon from falling. Lillie took the tiny trainer out of the cubby, still kneeling on the ground, looking her up and down for injury. She looked to be alright, and Lillie slumped over in relief, as Moon got accustomed to her new seat.
Lillie’s hands were warm, pleasantly so. It had gotten harder to keep her body heat now that she was so small, and was thankful for the kind gesture. She just had to keep reminding herself who this was, that Lillie was her friend who would never hurt her. Moon lay down in Lillie’s hands, trying not to think about how radically things had changed, and finally let herself be glad to see her friend again.
When Lillie turned her attention back to her precious cargo, Moon signed up to her “I missed you.” Seeing the cute little trainer curled up in her hands, Lillie felt her face flush as she broke out into a smile. Lillie stayed there, knelt on the floor of an underused storage room for a while, just enjoying being around Moon again, before deciding she should probably make her way to the docks so they could get off Aether Paradise. Unfortunately, finding Moon had been the easy part.
It felt like no time had passed at all, that she was fleeing the halls of Aether Paradise all over again, carrying someone precious to her. But this time was different, Lillie had gained a lot of confidence from her time with Moon, and was a fully fledged trainer now. No one was going to stop her from rescuing her friend this time. Lillie held Moon close to her stomach, still cupping her with both hands, to help her keep balanced. She soon realized she would need a better way to conceal the tiny trainer, when two workers walked past in the hall. She had just barely managed to cover Moon with both hands, pretending to have stomach problems, but careful not to oversell it. The passing workers didn’t even recognize her though, engrossed in conversation, and walked past without any difficulties. Once she was around the corner, Lillie breathed a sigh of relief and checked on Moon. Moon wasn’t any worse for wear, and assured Lillie that it was ok, though Lillie could feel her trembling now- even though she was plenty warm.
It was tricky to figure out how to hide Moon, without her cool down. Lillie’s bag was the first thing off the table, they both agreed to that pretty quickly. Lillie couldn’t just hold her as thing were though, it would be too easy for someone to spot Moon, and neither of them wanted to get off the artificial island the hard way. Eventually, they settled on the breast pocket of Lillie’s shirt. It was warm, and close, and Lillie was immediately on board with the idea. As Moon settled into the pocket, and stopped moving about, Lillie made sure the contents of her pocket weren’t obvious to the casual observer. She gave the pocket a gentle pat, and continued down to the docks.
It was surprisingly cozy, being in someone’s pocket like this. Moon could hear Lillie’s heart beat, rhythmically pumping to her side. It was calming, and she felt at ease for the first time in a week. No- longer than that. This was the nicest she’d felt in a year. Being the league champion, racing around the islands to keep Ultra Beasts in check, it had been a stressful year. She felt so distant from people, everyone wanted to challenge her for her position, or become her next rival. It’s hard to think of worse circumstances to meet, but she was glad to have reunited with Lillie, to feel this close to her. Moon snuggled in closer, and knew that things were going to be ok now.
On the ferry off Aether Paradise, Lillie had managed to secure a booth with a divider, offering her a bit more privacy, and a chance to check on her special passenger. Moon was groggy, but still awake, and grateful to have the chance to stretch her legs. Lillie gently scooped her out of the pocket, and held her in open hands, watching intently as Moon stretched out. It felt surreal, looking at such a tiny person in the palm of her hand. More than that, it was Moon, of all people. Moon! Lillie could hardly contain herself as a smile spread on her face again. These were certainly strange circumstances to meet, but she was thrilled to be back with Moon again. She felt more confident than ever, wanted to tell the tiny trainer everything she had done in Kanto. Show off all the pokémon she had caught, all on her own. She’d been in Alola for a week, but this was the first time she felt like she was home.
As Moon settled down, Lillie couldn’t help but notice her uneasily glancing at Lillie’s bag on the booth with them. Lillie reached back, depositing the bag on the ground, before turning her attention back to Moon. She began to gently rub the tiny trainer’s back with her thumb, as Moon had taken a seat on her palm. Moon visibly relaxed, feeling far less anxious with the bag out of sight, and leaned into Lillie’s thumb. Moon broke the silence first- well, started conversation at least- signing up to Lillie “Is it really ok for you to be doing this? Won’t they get upset?” Moon looked genuinely concerned, and Lillie stopped idly rubbing her friend with her thumb. Instead, she gently pushed the trainer’s arms down, “I don’t care what they think, I won’t leave you there like that. Besides, I seem to recall that the last time something like this happened, you fought your way through every Aether Foundation Employee looking for me- this is the least I could do!” Moon’s eyes went wide hearing Lillie’s explanation, and looked off pensively, never realizing how Lillie might have felt about all that.
Lillie let her thumb rest in the trainer’s lap, as she looked out the window to see the approaching Island. “We’re almost there, let’s see if Professor Kukui can spare that old loft of his again. Then, I’ll call Wicke and see how long it will take them to figure out an antidote
without
doing anything invasive. We’re not going back there until they have a cure all ready, I won’t let them experiment with you, I promise.” As the coast came into focus, Lillie felt Moon stir in her hand. She could feel her own cheeks flushing with color, and looked down- painfully slowly, worried she was wrong and the spell would break when caught a glimpse of it- and saw the tiny Moon hugging her thumb. Yeah, she was home.