Faced with the girl's questioning, Haru fell silent—like Iono with a toothbrush jammed in her mouth.
What can I say?
What could he possibly do? Tell Iono it was all a misunderstanding?
That it was just a series of coincidences that led him to have… not-so-platonic encounters with so many strange women?
Or maybe stand righteous before Lillie when she woke up and declare:
"Damn it, it was all Lana's fault! Had nothing to do with me!"
Sure, Lillie might be easier to talk to. But what about Iono? Or Lusamine, who hadn't even woken up yet—that was bound to be another can of worms.
And then there was Lana, still an unresolved mess.
Was he supposed to keep juggling this delicate mess of relationships with a pile of lies?
Or should he just stop running and say it loud and proud:
"I like Lillie. And everyone else too."
When he thought about Lillie and Lusamine, Haru felt a sharp pang of guilt.
At least before coming to Alola, he liked to think he had a fairly decent moral compass.
"Before I answer anything… what I really want to know is, how did you even get here?"
"Do you have any idea how dangerous this place is, Iono?"
If they'd met somewhere in Alola, Haru might've been surprised—but not worried.
But this was a place where even time and space lost meaning. Without the protection of Ultra Beasts or the twin gods of the sun and moon, you could get lost here without even encountering a wild Pokémon.
Haru really didn't like them doing such reckless things.
"Lillie brought her here. Her goal from the start was to 'save you,' too."
"She just didn't expect to end up as your toy along the way. But looking at her now, it seems like she doesn't really mind anymore."
The voice answering Haru wasn't Iono's—it came from a little further off.
Haru and Iono both turned to look, finding a short-haired, aqua-blue girl rising beside Necrozma.
It was Lana—the real Lana.
After tanking that 13,000+ power move from Nebby, she'd been forcibly separated from Necrozma.
Now she was just a normal human, with none of Necrozma's power left.
"You? But weren't you unconscious just now? How—?"
"No. Necrozma and Solgaleo lost the ability to fight. What's that got to do with me, Lana?"
She shook her head, stepping over the black crystal beneath her feet, clearly not concerned about her "beloved disciple's" wellbeing.
"I passed out just to let Lillie believe she'd won."
"If I hadn't gone completely down, Lillie wouldn't have let it go. So I let her have her moment."
"What's that supposed to mean? You planning to keep fighting?!"
Iono's face darkened. She immediately moved in front of Haru to shield him.
Wait—what? She was supposed to fight Lana now?! Was this for real?!
Sure, Ultra Necrozma had been knocked out, but—
The way Lana was acting, all calm and nonchalant—this screamed second phase boss fight.
The kind where the hero party burns everything to take down the monster, only for the real boss to show up clapping and smirking.
It was a classic trope—seen in Dark Souls, Elden Ring, and, yes, even in certain infamous works by the artist Asanagi.
Iono felt she had zero chance of beating this second-phase nightmare.
"Of course not. You think I have the strength to keep going right now?"
"If I wanted to win, my only chance would be to drain him dry until he collapsed. But after all the stuff we pulled… you're probably tapped out, aren't you?"
As she spoke, Lana raised her index finger to her lips and flicked her pink tongue suggestively.
"Y-you shameless woman! Not only did you steal someone's man right in front of them, but you even livestreamed the whole thing to Lillie!"
"Do you have no sense of decency whatsoever?!"
Hearing something that absurd, Iono finally lost it.
"Funny, that's exactly what I want to ask you. What is this 'livestream' you're talking about, anyway?"
"I never streamed anything. Everything I did was for revenge. If I had the choice, I wouldn't have done anything to hurt Lillie."
She was telling the truth. Even during her so-called "revenge," Lana had been plagued with guilt.
Specifically… guilt directed toward Lillie.
But loss brings gain. Lillie had lost something, yes, but she'd also gained something—like the twisted, complicated affection Lana now harbored for her.
And Haru, listening to all this back-and-forth, was growing increasingly confused.
"'Livestream'… what does that mean?"
That term had come up earlier when Lillie was talking, too, but he hadn't really understood what they were getting at.
Judging from the girls' conversation now… did they mean that everything he'd done with "Lana"—all those… scenes—was broadcast live to Lillie?
Dear Arceus... was he about to become the Pokémon universe's answer to a scandalous celebrity tape leak?
No way, right?
Lana couldn't possibly have that much of a grudge against Lillie, could she?
And Lillie… after seeing all that, she still treated him with such kindness and gentleness? How was that even possible?
No no no—it couldn't be. He must've misunderstood something. Maybe their wording was just ambiguous.
But Iono's next words shattered that last bit of hope.
"It's exactly what you're thinking. Everything you did with her on that tower was streamed live to Lillie."
"She knows way more than you think she does."
"…"
Dear Arceus.
Is it too late to go beg Celebi for help? No? Then I'm heading straight to Sinnoh, joining Team Galactic, and forcing Dialga to send me back in time.
If what Iono said was true, then whatever he did with Lana almost didn't even matter anymore.
The bigger issue was that he'd used Lana like an auto-mode thrusting tool… and then turned around and did unmentionable things with Lusamine.
If Lillie saw those…
A chill ran down Haru's spine. He didn't even want to imagine how Lillie might react once she woke up.
But right at that moment, something felt off.
From what Lana had just said, she wasn't the one who arranged the livestream. Her goal had only ever been "revenge."
At this point, there was no reason for her to lie, so chances were—she was telling the truth.
Which meant… who did set up the stream?
Haru looked around at everyone nearby.
He didn't stop on any of the girls.
Instead, his eyes locked firmly on the figure hiding behind Flutter Mane—
Mew.
"Mew. It was you, wasn't it?!"
***************************
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