You stare at the TV in disbelief. Lillie puts her hand on yours:
"Ash escaped, Y/n."
You turn around to face Lillie:
"How do you know?"
"He told me he had a Charizard while we were battling."
You shake your head:
"Ash isn't clever enough to escape a ship with no survivors."
She laughs:
"Well, you have a point there, but I'm sure he managed to escape somehow."
You nod, right as the innkeeper tries to calm down the guests:
"Don't worry, folks, the police will catch Team Rocket and lock them up forever! Don't worry!"
You whisper to Lillie:
"Team Rocket is organised. They don't rob people every day. The only thing you hear about Team Rocket is silence, and then they strike. One, heavy blow. Kanto's inhabitants are filled with fear, and that's what they want."
Lillie nods:
"The police won't be able to stop them."
You stand up:
"I have to give the Fellowship orders at once."
You take Lillie's hand and go to your room.

"Hello, Y/n here."
"Hi, Y/n! This is Gold!"
"Gold, you need to inform the others. We need to act fast. Team Rocket is spreading fear all over Kanto. Blue has to gather the Elite Four as fast as possible. The others need to secure the places I sent them to. Lance and Cynthia should try to convince other regions to help us. Misty has to give us the help of the other Kantonian Gym Leaders. And you, Gold, have to search for promising trainers. We need as many trainers as possible, okay?"
"Understood. And what are you and Lillie going to do?"
"We're going to get the eight badges as fast as we can, and try to stop Team Rocket wherever we can."
"Sounds like a plan. See you, Y/n!"
"Yes. Goodbye."
Lillie throws her arms around you and rests her head on your shoulder:
"We should get going, we need to finish these gyms to fully help the others."
You smile and give her a quick kiss:
"You're right. We'll finish the fifth Gym now, then we'll have some sleep, then we'll beat the sixth one too."
She kisses you back, and together, you leave the inn.

The Gym had a purple roof, which is to be expected from a Poison Gym. You send out Metang:
"You'll do the thing for me, right, buddy?"
It nods and floats in circles around you.
Lillie smiles and sends out her Sandshrew:
"It's your time to shine, Sandshrew!"
It makes a cute sound. You say, taking a deep breath.
"I'll do the Gym first this time."
She gives you one last kiss:
"As you wish, Y/n! Good luck!"
You give her a warm smile and walk inside.

"Hello?"
The Gym was empty, and filled with pillars. You turn around to see Janine standing behind one, and she is smiling:
"Welcome, trainer! I'm Janine, and you are?"
"Y/n, nice to meet you. Let's have our battle, shall we?"
She laughs and disappears behind her pillar. Suddenly she's standing in front of you, ready to battle:
"Let's get on with it! Weezing, I choose you!"
You choose Metang, soaring by your side, and the battle begins.

Metang easily took out the Weezing, then she chose Ariados:
"Ariados, String Shot!"
Metang got trapped in the webs:
"Confusion, Metang!"
Ariados managed to survive:
"Finish it with Night Shade!"
Metang fainted, and you chose Rockruff as your next Pokémon:
"C'mon, Rockruff, show them what you're capable of! Rock Throw!"
Ariados went down, and her last Pokémon was Venomoth:
"We're not going down that easily! Toxic!"
Rockruff sighed, but kept battling:
"Rock Throw again!"
The stones hit Venomoth hard, so Janine decided to play it differently:
"Double Team!"

She kept using Double Team, and Rockruff was getting tired. You decided to use your last trick:
"This is all we've got, Rockruff!"
You did your ritual dance, and Rockruff was ready to use the powerful move:
"Continental Crush!"
Rockruff made a giant boulder, and Venomoth wasn't able to escape. It got smacked, and it fainted. You run over to Rockruff and give it a long hug:
"Good job! You were amazing! Your first used Z-move too!"
It barks happily, and Janine walks over:
"That was a lovely battle! What move did you use, you know, the big rock?"
You show her your Z-ring:
"It's called Z-moves. They are very powerful, it's something of Alola's specialities."
She jumps from one leg onto another:
"I want to learn it too! You're stronger than my dad!"
You laugh:
"I don't know about that, Koga is a legend!"
She nods, and you shake hands:
"It felt good to battle you, trainer. Here's your badge."
You put the Soul badge in a box, smiling. Janine looks a bit sad, but says:
"Farewell."
You walk away, but turn around:
"One thing: we could use your help with Team Rocket. You're a strong Gym Leader, and we could use those toxic Poison-types. I could also teach you how to use Z-moves in the meantime!" You say, laughing.
She nods:
"I will help you if you teach me how to use them."
You put your right hand on your heart:
"I promise."
She does the same:
"Then I promise to help you and yours against the common enemy, Team Rocket."
You flash your white teeth and open your arms:
"Welcome to the team, Janine."
She cheers and jumps into your arms. After a short hug, you release her. She picks up all the Pokéballs she possesses:
"Where do I start?"
"Travel to Celadon, Cerulean's Gym Leader, Misty, is there, and she will give you your instructions."
She nods:
"I'm off then!"
You stop her:
"Hoho, not too fast! There's another trainer who wants to battle you! My girlfriend, Lillie."
She smiles:
"Of course! Let her in!" She shouts to one of the Gym trainers. Soon, Lillie was inside. You give her a kiss, quickly show her the badge and wish her good luck. Then you head outside.

"First things first. Garchomp!"
Sitting at a nearby small lake, you summon Garchomp. Garchomp roars and looks you in the eyes. You search through your bag and pull out the book about Team Rocket you were reading a while ago. You put it on the ground and give Garchomp a sign:
"Dracarys."
Garchomp spits a large flame, and the book was nothing more than dust. You pick up the TM Swords Dance next and walk towards him:
"Here you go, lad. I don't know why I ever taught you Flamethrower."
Garchomp nodded and learned Swords Dance.

You return Garchomp and send out Riolu next, sitting down:
"Midos, I have to ask... back in the forest, you knew the way to Erika... how?"
Suddenly, you experience a weird feeling, as if there is someone talking to you, but there isn't.
Y/n...
You can see Riolu looking at you.
"Is that you talking, Midos?"
It nods:
You... no... ready.
"I'm not ready to properly talk with you?"
Need... training, every day. Or... evolve.
You nod:
"Alright, let's get started then! ... So...um... what do I need to do?"
Riolu sits down in a meditating position in front of you, under the tree, and closes its eyes. You do the same, and it seemed to last an eternity. Suddenly you feel arms around you:
"Y/n! I won!"
You open your eyes and break the trance:
"Hi, Lillie! I knew you were going to crush it! Well done!" You say, kissing her. Riolu opens its eyes again and barks. Lillie looks around:
"What were you doing?"
You shrug:
"Aura training... I think." You say, smiling sheepishly. She laughs and picks up Pokéball:
"Oh, before I forget, have a look at this, and take a bow!"
She sends out a Wartortle, and you bow down:
"Fantastic Pokémon! I'm really happy for you!"
She returns Wartortle and grabs her bag:
"Five Gyms done, three to go!"
"Unfortunately, we have to fly to Saffron. I would have liked a walk, but it'd be too slow."
You summon Charizard, let Lillie hop on and start the flight to Saffron City.

The big buildings of Saffron City appeared in sight, but Lillie pointed at something else, repeatedly tapping you on your shoulder:
"Y/n! Red is there, and he's in trouble!"
You land, and Lillie jumps off, releasing Vulpix:
"Ice Shard!"
Four Team Rocket grunts were fighting Red, but they got hit in the back by Lillie's Vulpix. You choose Riolu:
"Force Palm."
It nods and gives an Arbok a punch. Suddenly, a grunt summons an Alakazam:
"Psychic on that Riolu!"
When you see Alakazam holding its spoons high, you dash to Riolu and put your arms around it, like you did with Nebby on the bridge.
Suddenly, your head feels like it's going to burst, and your mind is being manipulated. You try to resist, and think of Lillie.
Lillie...
Suddenly, you get pulled out of the Psychic, as an Ice Beam hits the Alakazam. Next to you stands Lillie, pulling you up, and next to Lillie stands a white Ninetales. You smile and stand up, trying to put everything together. Suddenly, a Lucario roars and shoots an Aura Sphere at a Machoke, making it faint. The Lucario nods at you and extends its paw, and you give it a high five.
It feels good to finally being able to talk, Y/n. Thank you for saving me, although it wasn't necessary.
"Midos, is that you?"
Red appears behind you:
"Um, Y/n, who are you talking to? We've caught the grunts."
You smile:
"I thought I heard something, nevermind. Yes, the grunts."
You walk towards the grunts, who look very frightened. They try to talk their way out of it, but you interrupt them without a doubt:
"Don't beg for mercy. I'm not even going to interrogate you, you're going straight to prison." You tell them as you grab your phone and call the Saffron police department.

After you delivered the grunts to the Saffron police officer, who was eating donuts and very fat, you went to the city's outskirts.
You sit down next to Lillie under a giant tree, covering you from the rain, which was dropping down from the skies. Her eyes look excited:
"What about staying here in a tent?"
You give her a kiss, tasting her tongue as often as possible:
"That'd be romantic, a good idea."

You bought yourself a huge tent in a shop, and now you're sitting inside it with Lillie and Red. Red looks around:
"This is a great tent! I think I could sleep in this!"
Lillie laughs, blushing:
"I'm afraid you'll have to search another one, Red."
He nods, laughing:
"I suppose so. So, you've now got an Alolan Ninetales. It looked amazing! I've never seen it before."
Lillie nods and sends out her Ninetales, stroking its fur:
"It's so cute. Y/n gave it to me as a Vulpix..." She says, staring into your eyes:
"You told Hau that I caught it, didn't you?"
You nod, thinking back at the good old moments with Hau:
"I did. I miss Hau..."
Lillie nods and gives you a long hug. Red smiles and leaves the tent:
"I'll leave you two. See you tomorrow."
You sit there for a while, in Lillie's arms, hugging her back. You stand up and head outside, back to the tree, taking Lillie with you. You take a deep breath and holding Lillie's hands, you say:
"I've burned the Team Rocket book."
She smiles:
"Why?"
Looking into her green eyes again, you answer:
"I've been living in fear, thinking about you getting hurt by Team Rocket, without enjoying the journey. Having nothing personal to worry about was what made our journey through Alola so special. You made my journey through Alola so special. Reaching the destination is not the purpose of a journey, it's the journey itself. I realise that now."
She kisses you softly and nods:
"I... I feel the same about my mother. I keep thinking that she's in danger, although she isn't... but this journey, our journey... it is about us. Not about Team Rocket, not about my mum, not about Red, just about us."
That reminded you of something:
"Oh, Lil, I just remembered something. What you said just now was very true, but we promised Lusamine we would often call her. So perhaps now is a good time to worry a little bit about your mother...?"
She smiles:
"Yes, you're right." She says, grabbing her white phone. Soon, she was calling her mother:
"Hello, mum! I'm doing great, cheers! Y/n's doing great too, yes. The presents were great, thank you! My necklace is lovely. How did you get the Mega stone? Oh, nice! So, how are things going there?"
A long silence followed, because Lusamine was talking for a while. Lillie finally answers:
"Seems like you and James are doing great! So, um... what is he like?... Yes, I can tell you like him quite a lot!... Would you like to talk with Y/n too? Oh... okay. Good night, mum! Love you! Kisses!"
She turns around and sighs:
"Typically mum. She didn't need to talk to you, she said."
You smile:
"Well, this journey isn't about your mother, as you said, so it's fine. I just wanted to thank her for Rockruff, that's all. Anything happened?"
She shrugs:
"Nothing really interesting. She and James are getting along very well."
You nod:
"Yeah, I figured that out. No offense, but I hope they don't fall in love. Loving is a bloodsport, and I wouldn't want something like that to happen to Lusamine. She deserves better."
She smiles:
"Is our love a bloodsport too?"
You hold her close:
"Oh no, our love is special, Lillie. You're special, and I treasure our love each and every day. I should have declared my love earlier though. If only that damned Blue didn't keep interrupting me all the time."
She kisses you on your forehead and rests her head on your chest:
"I know, he can be annoying, but I like him as he is."
You stroke her blonde hair:
"And I love you as you are."

Laying with Lillie, you kiss her goodnight:
"Night night, Lillie. Love you."
"I love you too, Y/n. Night night."
You close the zip, just as a giant blue flying Pokémon soars over, but you are too tired to admire it. You lay down, kiss Lillie a few more times and fall asleep.

Chapter 27 is done! This took a while to write, because I didn't have a lot of time this week. School is getting important again. With that said though, the first chapter of Ascension (the collab story with TheLoneWanderer17) is coming closer and closer, sorry for the long wait. I can't promise to upload a new chapter of My Shining Sun every week, but I'll try to upload as often as possible.
Also, a really, really big thank you to all of you for the 10k reads! I never imagined to have that many reads, but hey, here we are! Thank you so much, you're the best.

Question of the week:
"Who's your favourite Gym Leader (Trail Captains are allowed too)?"

Mine is Jasmine. She clearly cares a lot about Pokémon. She's also very kind, and cute too, but she can be strong and hard as steel. That's the kind of people I like XD!

Anyway, I hope you have an awesome day and week, and I'll see you in the next chapter!
~Golf