Who needs a girlfriend when you have Pokémon?

Who are you, beautiful lady?!

Before me stood a young woman with red hair, wearing a blue and white long dress, a sun hat, and a crossbody bag.

After an initial moment of surprise, Luo Wei recognized the other person from their face.

"Lillie? What's going on...?"

"Haha, I made a few minor 'changes,' but the situation is a bit complicated..."

That's right, the red-haired girl in front of me is Lillie. However, she seems to be wearing a wig and has also changed her contact lenses. Although her face is still the same, after changing her outfit, I didn't recognize her at first glance.

She's being so careful in all this, it seems she's finally figured things out. She must have been so carefree before, running off on her own like that. It's clear that living alone really does toughen you up. This naive young lady has come to understand the "wickedness of the world" so quickly.

Although Luo Wei felt that this was probably because there were really a lot of good people in the Pokémon world, which allowed her to still have the cost of learning and making mistakes. If it were a different world, she would have been used as experience points to farm long ago.

"It really is Lillie..."

Rowe recognized Lillie and immediately felt it was quite a coincidence. He hadn't expected that after parting ways in Kanaz City, he would run into her in Violet City.

“Hmm, what a coincidence…” Lillie seemed to be hesitant to speak, and Rowe didn’t think much of it and immediately asked.

"Then, shall we take a stroll around Violet City together? Or is there something inconvenient for Lillie?"

“No…” Lillie shook her head, “No, this is just right, oh, right…”

Lillie then added seriously, "To avoid trouble, my name is now Alice~"

"..." Luo Wei looked the girl up and down. If you don't count the wig, she could be considered a young lady with long, straight blonde hair. Plus, with that blue and white dress, the pseudonym Alice was just right.

"I see, so you didn't want your identity to be revealed, which is why you used a pseudonym. You've really become much smarter!"

"Hmm..." Lillie blushed, clearly thinking about how she had been running around outside with her real name and limited-edition clothes, and hadn't been caught by her mother immediately. She was really lucky.

If she had made even one wrong move, her own mother would have dragged her back eighteen times over.

Now she's wearing a wig, has changed her contact lenses, is using a pseudonym, and has even changed her entire outfit. Although acquaintances will still recognize her immediately upon closer inspection, it has to be said that she has made considerable progress compared to the previous Lillie.

"Lowe, do you already know who I am?"

"Well, you didn't use a fake name when we first met. If you were interested, you could easily find out who you are, right? You're quite famous, and you're so beautiful. It's impossible to forget someone after just one look at their photo, is it?"

“…Awoo”

The merciless criticism instantly made Lillie, who had already realized how stupid her previous behavior was, so ashamed and angry that she wanted to find a hole in the ground to hide in.

Just as Rowe said, the little princess of the Ether Foundation is famous enough in itself. She also operates under her real name, so it would be difficult for her not to be exposed. It's lucky that the first person she met was Rowe. If she had met anyone else... there would have been no need for her to act out the rest of the story.

It was thanks to Rowe's reminder that Lillie was able to understand things a little better and became more cautious afterward.

Seeing Lillie's embarrassed expression, Rowe didn't say anything more. "Well, I know Lillie must have her reasons, so I won't say anything more. Just let me know if you need any help~"

"Thank you, Rowe is such a good person~"

"Cough cough..."

This sudden "friend card" almost caught Luo Wei off guard, while Masked Cat couldn't help but cover her mouth and chuckle. Luo Wei gave her an annoyed look.

"What are you laughing at now! We'll see when we're grooming you later! Cough cough..."

Of course, he could only make a few sarcastic remarks; Luo Wei couldn't really do anything to Masked Cat. After realizing that his power had completely surpassed Luo Wei's, the big cat's sense of boundaries had become weaker and weaker recently, and several times it was practically face to face with him.

...Well, I don't dislike Rowe either.

"Alright, let's talk as we walk, about what happened after that..."

"Hmm~"

In order to find something to talk about and avoid making the atmosphere too awkward, Luo Wei briefly explained his actions after separating from Lillie.

While you're in the thick of it, it might not seem like much, but when it's spoken from a third-person perspective, it leaves Lillie completely stunned.

"Wow, amazing! You've actually been through so much!"

"Uh, is it that amazing?"

"Just getting two badges and the beginner-level Grand Contest Ribbon is already quite impressive. Even so, he fought alongside the Gym Leaders against villains and even got to know the Champion. That's pretty amazing, isn't it!"

"..." Luo Wei thought for two seconds, then replied in a very serious tone, "After what you said, I suddenly feel like I'm actually pretty amazing~"

"..."

Seeing Rowe proudly raising his chin, Lillie paused for a moment, then couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"I thought Luo Wei was a very reliable person, but it turns out he also has this 'naive' side~"

"..."

No, this has nothing to do with nature. It's just that he experienced a lot of major events in the game, and Luo Wei himself was just following the script step by step.

He had no idea how many summer and winter vacations he had spent day and night experiencing these events, which had long since become a conditioned reflex. Looking back, it did seem somewhat similar to Lillie from before.

Lillie is used to being a pampered young lady for over ten years, so she doesn't see anything wrong with wearing a limited-edition outfit.

When you treat luxury goods as everyday items and get used to them, you really don't realize that what you take for granted might be extraordinary in the eyes of other ordinary people.

As for Luo Wei, he was so used to the game that he didn't even realize that the events he had experienced during this period were already extremely outrageous, even by the standards of the Pokémon world.

If he were two years younger, he would be reminiscent of that legendary figure who, while conquering gyms, also managed to save the world along the way...

...The current champion of the Quartz League, Crimson!

Chapter Ninety-Four: Luo Wei: "I'm not bragging, I have connections!"

"Alright, let's put the Versailles topic aside for now..."

Luo Wei waved his hand, indicating that we should put this topic aside for now. "Lillie... um, is Alice still running away from home?"

“…Hmm,” Lillie nodded gently, instinctively gripping the strap of her bag tighter. “…But it wouldn’t be accurate to say I ran away from home; more accurately, I escaped.”

"Oh? What exactly happened? The Alliance says you had a falling out with Guild Master Lusamine. What kind of falling out made you escape?"

Lillie opened her mouth, but in the end, she didn't say anything. "I can't say anything about that right now. To be honest, I still don't quite believe what I saw back then. I have absolutely no idea what to do. I just got started because of the thought that 'I have to do something right now'..."

Even though his body was moving, he had no plan in mind at all, and he ran all the way to the Hoenn region based on that idea.

This girl is quite proactive, but she probably lacks planning skills.

"Uh, so you mean Alice hasn't figured out what to do next at all, and is just wandering around outside?"

Upon hearing this, Lillie awkwardly turned her head away. "No, that's right. Because I don't know what I can do. I just know I can't let Mom take me back. I have a reason to leave her side temporarily. As for what to do next..."

To be honest, Lillie, who had been hiding from her mother's search the whole way, probably hadn't really thought things through.

She didn't even have a solution to the problem; she was simply avoiding it.

Rowe was speechless for a moment, but she couldn't be blamed. After all, what Lillie had encountered was indeed quite outrageous, and she was powerless to do anything about it. That was all she could do for now.

Although she didn't know what she should do, she knew that if her mother found her, something terrible would happen, so all she could do now was hide and avoid being found by her mother.

"Is it related to...Ultra Beasts?"

"Eh?"

Lowell's question startled Lillie, probably because she hadn't expected Lowell to guess it so quickly.

However, even if Rowe hadn't read the script, this wasn't too hard to guess.

"...After all, that was the situation when I first met Alice, and then Alice gave me this~"

Luo Wei patted his backpack. "This thing should be some kind of ancient relic, right? Now that we've confirmed it comes from the Alola region, a little research into the local beliefs and legends will make things clearer."

After all, if you take the time to compare them, you'll find that the decorative pattern on the Sun Flute that Lillie gave to Loewy is exactly the same as the totem of the sun god worshipped in the Alola region.

The Aether Foundation is a local organization in the Alola region. Now, considering the Ultra Beasts that are popping up all over the world, it's easy to guess that there must be some kind of connection between them.

The key to all is Lillie.

"In other words, Alice saw... what kind of research President Lusamine did related to Ultra Beasts? It's probably not just the president, but the entire Aether Foundation's senior management was involved."

After saying that, Lillie stared blankly for a few seconds before exclaiming incredulously, "Wow, that's amazing! How did you guess that far?"

"..."

If you play more games and read more novels and comics, you'll find that this kind of plot development is actually a standard process. Even if you haven't read the script, you can guess it with a 60-70% success rate.

If that's the case, then Lillie's reason for feeling "powerless" is quite clear: although she is the little princess of the Aether Foundation, it's really only because she is the daughter of President Lusamine.

All her current identity and status come from the chairman. If the chairman himself is behind this scandal, then she, as his daughter, naturally has no power to rebel against her mother.

To put it bluntly, if you remove her identity as the heiress of the Ether Foundation, she's just an ordinary young woman...

...Aside from being cute, she doesn't have any other unique skills. How can we expect her to fight against the Ether Foundation?

So she chose to run away.

On the other hand, she is still not quite sure how much her mother was involved in what she saw at the time. If she goes directly to the Alliance, there is not enough evidence. Based on her own account, it will not be easy for the Alliance to take action against the Ether Foundation.

After all, the Aether Foundation is a charitable organization with a very high level of public support. It has done a lot of good deeds in helping wild Pokémon populations and enjoys a very high reputation among the general public. Without solid evidence, the other side can easily use excuses like "the kids don't know any better and are just making things up during their rebellious phase" to fool them.

Anyway, the things Lillie saw back then have definitely been cleaned up by Lusamine, so if we go looking for them now, there's absolutely no way to prove anything.

The league just dealt with the Rockets, and the impact of that has not yet subsided. In addition, various villainous organizations are causing trouble in different regions.

Although those third-rate clowns could be easily crushed by the League even if they were severely weakened.

However, dealing with sufficiently powerful organizations becomes quite tricky for the alliance.

Just like Team Aqua and Team Magma causing trouble in the Hoenn region right now, the League's main focus is still on dealing with these overt villainous organizations. Without solid evidence, they want to attack the Aether Foundation, which is a very bad timing.

"That's why I've been thinking about what I can do, but I still haven't found an answer..."

Lillie's tone was extremely dejected; it was unclear whether she was lamenting her mother's mistakes or mocking her own incompetence...

"If you ask me, it would be better to just inform the alliance. Although the alliance lacks evidence and can't directly launch an attack, at least they can be mentally prepared..."

Of course, Lowe felt that the Alliance might have already realized that the Aether Foundation was problematic, but due to the Aether Foundation's power and the lack of more concrete evidence, they were unable to take action for the time being.

But Lillie must have some "exclusive intelligence" in her possession, which will surely come in handy.

Lillie looked conflicted. Rowe knew what she was struggling with. After all, the mastermind was her own mother, and she had to personally go against her mother. She needed to mentally prepare herself, since she was only a girl in her teens and had never disobeyed any of her mother's arrangements before.

"It's alright. We're heading to Violet City anyway, so let's travel together first. If I figure things out, I can contact the Alliance anytime."