And now, at the center, it’s Skull friends!

Gladion, in a move all protagonists should take note of, just puts his head down and runs past instead of going through all that nonsense about eyes meeting.

Hau: Whoa! There’s, like, an uku billion Team Skull thugs in this place!

So?

Hau: So the foundation really was working together with Team Skull?

I’m not sure. Guzma is all “I’m gonna win by any means necessary!” last I saw him, so this could as well be a recent development.

Hau: This is, like, way too mind-blowing to think about right now.

No, I’m up for it.

I’m not sure how much of a threat I was meant to take the Skull kids before this, but as I said, in the last section their pokemon were about as strong as the wild ones. Then again, after four islands of everyone rolling their eyes at the kids there’s someone telling me if I go into their stronghold he promises to return my body to my mom – but then again, I get in and the first thing I encounter are people cowering behind a barricade followed by a pair complaining they can’t maintain the pokecenter and then healing my pokemon for less than a bag of chips. Plus I just fought a whole bunch of Aether grunts who were stronger than those kids. You can’t have them doing a better job of defending their area than the Skull kids at Po Town and then expect me to be all “oh no, this area’s defending by Skull!!1!”

Plus, there really hasn’t been much connection before now. It’s easy to see HOW Aether could’ve used them. Aether’s mission of pokemon rescue means people probably don’t spend a lot of time looking for stolen pokemon there, and they could be bankrolling a lot of Skull activities or even swooping in occasionally to “save” the pokemon Skull stole. The Skull people we see could make references to all their stronger trainers being busy with their mystery allies, wink-wink. But there’s been no real sign of that. Aether has been doing their thing, Skull has been bopping around randomly. Maybe Aether had a standing bounty on Nebby that Skull’s been trying to nab because they’re generally opportunistic, but that’s not really the same thing. It’d also have been good for the Aether guys offering payment for seeing pokemon could show up from the start (instead of us hitting a whole bunch of plain NPCs asking the exact same thing) and be more obviously shady about, including wanting a trade instead of just pokedex info, and maybe Skull kids could say something about how they need to find a particular pokemon that hints they’ve been hired the same way we were.

And regardless of if Skull has been working with them all along or just allied right now…who cares? We just got confirmation they’re evil in their own right. This is pretty much murder and jaywalking – their leader abuses her kids, the scientists torture pokemon and freeze them for eternity…and they’re allied with some dumb kids doing petty crime!!! Any alliance is clearly the very least of their sins, but them being obviously chummy would’ve been a great hint they were secretly evil earlier, and much better than making the woman in charge obviously crazy evil right after we’ve been introduced to them as good guys. (Which is really weird – usually, a good organization that’s secretly evil gets introduced as good early on.)

Relatedly, I can’t shake the feeling something is really wrong with the pacing here. Usually we face the enemy team several times over the course of the game. Here, we’ve been running around occasionally encountering Skull in battle and occasionally meeting Aether NPCs, then suddenly Team Skull’s stronghold followed by invading Aether’s stronghold followed by running into Team Skull in the center. Combined with the way the trials are a main focus and get a lot of lovingly made areas, then people just hand me crystals while suddenly both enemy teams come into prominence, it’s like there were two plot teams working on this game and they said one group gets the first half and the other the second.

Anyway. Rotom asks if I think Lillie is with Lusamine, adding that it’s totally what Wicke said, right? This had damn well better end with Wicke trying to trap us.

Two of the Skull kids in the front are napping, also. I just…really don’t get the pacing. The whole fight in was way more tense. Having to fight through Po Town and then suddenly Aether with their actual money and organization made sense as escalation, but after trouncing the adults it’s back to unmotivated babies as the capstone?

For that matter, I go redo my team, shifting off those who’ve hit L35 again. Also, I forgot about sleepy koala pokemon and grab that one. Did you know you can pet it by rubbing its tree chuck? Weird.

Then I return. Bonnibel, unlike Gladion, refuses to just run through. I do like the tradition of walking through a narrow area hitting trainer after trainer – not sure if it’s objectively good design, but definitely quite nostalgic.

I gotta keep the boss from getting his hands dirty, so I’m gonna wreck you myself! Really, you think that of Guzma?

Upon victory, he babbles about how it’s his pokemon who lost, not him, then goes on to say, The boss is not gonna be happy about this… I wish he would punish my Pokemon instead of me! Well of course he does. If he just punished your pokemon, you wouldn’t be getting punished, but if he punishes you and then you punish your pokemon for that, then everyone’s getting abused instead of just most of everyone. Much better.

Next one: This is for the sponsor who supports Team Skull! What’s the point of this now? Having them babbling about a mysterious sponsor early in the game as opposed to the very center of that sponsor’s base would’ve actually meant something. He goes on to say, I’ll do anything if you pay me for it! Like, let’s see… Wanna see me get hit with Hyper Beam? Which is completely in line with how pathetic others have been, but…

I honestly can’t tell what’s going on with Skull. I mean, they’re objectively pushovers (and these guys have both had one single pokemon that’s lower level than ones I’ve found here) but the game is also so easy so I’m not sure if they’re meant to be seen as easy in-game, but then the dialogue is also so pathetic, but, and I just can’t get over this, we’ve at the center of the enemy’s base, having beaten the regular enemies, and this is the final challenge.

Pretty strong, ain’t you? Then go right ahead. I’m no numskull. I don’t fight battles I can’t win! So the game is subverting the idea of the apparent enemy team being really much of an enemy, but them being the enemy was the gameplay, so without that we don’t get much of a game.

Cutscene time!

Gladion: Ngh! So I’m still not strong enough.

Sorry to say but god Gladion yeah, you do kind of suck if you lost.

All those days that I struggled alone and lonely…it was all for nothing? Is that it?

…apparently? Look, I’ve beat this guy like twice. I mean, I’m assuming – well, desperately hoping – that his team’s just been randomly buffed again, and maybe he’s even added the bunch of pokemon he needs for a full team, but I just fought him – really, really just, it was the previous area – and he wasn’t that difficult. So this isn’t like “oh no Gladion’s been defeated how will I win?!” it’s “holy shit Gladion I thought you were competent what happened?!”

Anyway, Guzma is obviously just thrilled to have crushed the spirit of a small child, as we all should be. Bonnibel, though, sets her sights on crushing the spirits of ALL who don’t bow down to her, and happily trots up to save the say.

Guzma: The hated boss who beats you down and beats you down and never lets up… Yeah. Big bad Guzma is here! I did that spoiled little brat a favor and crushed him. Yeah, that was me.

He is just so proud of himself. “That was me! In case you thought it was somebody else. Definitely me! I am stronger than a tiny child!!!”

Guzma: Y’know, I kinda liked you, kid. Leaving home like that and wanting to get stronger and stronger. You had some real guts. Going so far as coming over to Team Skull. And rejecting your own mother?! That was impressive. He laughs heartily. And now it’s your turn! You little misfits keep getting up in my grill, like a cloud of smoke that I can’t brush away. It’s time I put out your fire at the source!

Alright, let’s see what Gladion lost to.

Four fucking pokemon. Dammit, Gladion.

Admittedly, I only make a dent in them before going down myself, but I have L30-L34 pokemon, plus a L24 koala. Let’s try with a collection of L35s.

Oricorio, togedemaru, salazzle, mareanie, toucannon, persian.

Oricorio leads, getting off teeter dance before being destroyed with razor shell. I follow with Mareanie and toxic spikes, while Golisopod uses swords’ dance. I try to swap in Toucannon, only for Golisopod to shake off the confusion without it ever working and knock her out. Togedemaru, then – and discharge happens to paralyze. Time for zingzapping. This crit-hits, nearly taking out Golisopod – and beginning the toxic spikes’ effect.

A L40 pinsir follows. I decide to switch back to Mareanie. The pinsir uses brick break, now not so effective. Mareanie is nearly eliminated by its next move, but the magic of overpowered affection means he withstands it and venoshocks, almost taking it out – then survives again to venoshock once more. I leave him out again the L40 masquerain that follows, but he’s taken out with air cutter before he can do anything. Salazzle? …also one-shot by air cutter. Back to Togedemaru. Masquerain gets him about half down with bug buzz, Togedemaru gets Masquerain more than half down with zing zap, then is fainted. Persian? Gets a free move with fake out, but then faints. Ah, so close!

I swap Persian out – clearly, I need pokemon who can take a hit, like Mudsdale.

I decide to lead with Togedemaru this time, as evidently he’s fast enough to hit Golisopod first. Zing zap takes out nearly half of Golisopod’s HP, razor shell knocks out Togedemaru, iron barbs push Golisopod into the yellow and he pops out as well. Guzma follows with L40 ariados. Let’s try Salazzle again. She gets sucker punched because I don’t take advantage of her ability to toxic the poison spider, but flame burst takes off a good two-thirds of Ariados’ HP. Then she gets sucker punched again and faints. I send out Oricorio, who teeter dances his way to not being sucker punched, then I try air cutter. Ariados tries sucker punching yet again, but only punches itself in the face, then Oricorio takes off the last sliver with air cutter. Guzma goes with Golisopod and I decide to keep up the teeter dancing, which results in Oricorio getting a razor shell to the face and fainting. I send out Toucannon and order drill peck, which takes Golisopod out. Masquerain follows. I try beak blast, but apparently air slash doesn’t involve contact, so the masquerain doesn’t get burned. Toucannon survives, though, so I finish it off with another drill peck. Then I switch to Mareanie, who uses toxic on Pinsir but gets taken into the yellow by a single x-scissor. I go with heavy slam. Mudsdale weathers the first x-scissor, and then stamina means weathering the second. I am victorious, with two pokemon unfainted on my team!

Hey, what’s up with you? How come I can’t smash you?! he says on the battle screen, still holding it together for the couple seconds before we go back to the overworld, but then, Guzma! What is wrong with you?!

We cut to Bonnibel and her blank yet smug smile as she stands serenely watching this.

Guzma: Tch. Looks like I got no choice. Go on…go through.

THIS is a man who understands the nature of losing a pokemon battle, and the implied violence the victor has at their fingers.

Of course, my team is nearly dead, so going on through will have to wait.

Also who can turn down a chance to talk to NPCs when you’re not forced??? Gladion, anything to say?

Gladion: Please…help Lillie…and save Cosmog!

Y’know, I’m going to go heal up. You could do the same and then you could help Lillie too!

I’ll be right behind you…

Or we could go together? Seriously, I’ve got to go heal like right now. It’s not like I’d be waiting for you. In fact, I’m going to go talk to Guzma, so you could in fact be waiting on me.

Guzma: If I want to beat you down… I’ve gotta get at least as strong as you! I can’t believe you beat me down like that!

My trick is having a full team, Guzma. Try it sometime. Please.

Right, back to that one Aether employee who’s presumably wearing headphones and not checking her email for convenient healing, and also I’m steadfastly refusing to learn anything from that last battle so let’s swap out Toucannon and Mudsdale, who leveled up, for Primarina and Golisopod, also L35.

Alright, in I go!

…there’s bars over the doors and the stairs. Who the hell builds their house like this? Just let me explore dammit.

I find Lillie standing in front of her mom.

Lusamine: Ah, Bonnibel. It’s been a while since last we saw you…

Lillie: Wha–?! I can’t tell if she’s shocked I made it here or shocked anyone bothered. Y…you came? Ah right, it’s always the more depressing option with you. Oh Lillie. You actually came to help me, Bonnibel? Thank you… Thank you!

Lusamine: Hmm. So you know one another? She’s probably kicking herself for missing out on the chance to do what Wicke did with Gladion and subtly undermine anything Lillie might do or say to ensure we take their side. A gifted young Trainer like Bonnibel… And she bothers with someone like you? How disappointing. Hm. or not – I guess she doesn’t realize what it means I’m here, and is still in “children are stupid dumbs who should do what I tell them” mode, rather than realizing she needs to get gaslighting quick.

Lillie: I don’t need your approval, Mother! Or your permission! I will save Cosmog!

Lusamine: My… You do say such incomprehensible things. Calling me mother? I don’t have any children! Certainly not any wretched children who would run off and reject my love! So tell me how you’ll save that Pokemon. What can you do, Lillie? You failed to convince me to listen to you. You don’t even have the strength of a Trainer.

Lady, she’s got the strength of a destined-chosen-one trainer standing right behind her. She’s good.

Lusamine: The only thing that you’ve ever done on your own is steal someone else’s research material!

Excuse me? Seriously, I’ve already got a legendary doggy. She doesn’t need to be a trainer herself to bring power to bear here.

Which, admittedly, is actually kind of a weak point of the plot here. Lillie and Gladion trying to survive without a chosen one superpower blundering into this and smashing the problems apart is a much more engaging story.

Lusamine: You’re not beautiful enough for my world…but fine. Since you’re here anyway, you can watch me summon my sweet beast. And then…you can leave.

Lillie: I’m not being foolish or selfish… I am asking you to listen, Mother! Do not sacrifice Cosmog for that beast’s sake! If you open the Ultra Wormhole, Cosmog will… Cosmog will die!

Lusamine: You’re right…it probably will die. Because I’m going to force it to use its power whether it wants to or not! She goes through a hologram mirror into a secret elevator? Maybe if you really had been a daughter to me, I would have listened to you… Too bad. Okay no, teleporter. Not sure how teleporting away is going to help her evil plan. I guess she presumably took Nebby already? But it doesn’t appear to be in the labs… Also, if you’re going to have a special secret teleporter, maybe make it so it turns off afterward.

Lillie: Bonnibel… I really am happy that you came after me… but…but…I have to be selfish again…I have to ask you one more time… Please… Help me! Help Nebby! We have to save Nebby!

Sure! Into the mysteriously still active teleporter I go.

And Lillie follows right after! Still no sign of Gladion, though. How long does it take to heal your pokemon? Get moving.

Lillie: Wh-what is this place…?

Lusamine turns to us. Hurry. This way.

Nobody tells Bonnibel what to do! I go back through the teleporter, then out to the front to ask Gladion what’s taking so long. He’s still standing right there and just asks me to help Lillie again. What, are your legs broken? Go heal your pokemon already!

Okay, back in. I approach, and there’s these blocks of ice with pokemon frozen in them! I can make out a slowpoke.

Lusamine: What do you think? It’s my private collection. My precious babies… They will all be preserved for eternity here.

Huh, so that’s suggesting the type full/null critters were actually still highly valued.

Okay, we see there’s also a pikachu and a fuzzy slipper friend.

Lusamine: But my poor beast… What confusion, what rage it must feel, arriving in this strange world? It would not be right to confine its feelings in such a small case as these ones… It will need to express itself. I think I will let it express all its fury upon the Alola region as it will!

I feel this needed another editing pass.

Okay, so she’s a collector/hoarder, and she only cares about pokemon in a narcissistic possessive way, and we’re seeing the capstone of that is encasing pokemon in ice pillars when she loves them most…but the thing she loves even more than that she won’t preserve forever but will let rampage around, getting hurt and dirty and maybe taken away from her? It’s like the writer felt there wasn’t enough reason to stop this unless she also threatened to wreck the setting and kill humans.

Oh hey, Hau’s wandered in. You’d better have dragged Gladion here, Hau.

Hau: Whoa! Bonnibel!

Hey, he did bring Gladion. Good job, Hau. You have justified your existence here, even if you still don’t seem to know where you are or anything that’s happening.

Hau: Whoa-ho! And Lillie! Man, I’m so glad to see you’re OK!

So is Hau admitting that things have gotten dire enough that pokemon are no longer sufficient danger sponges?

Lusamine: Ah. Sweet Hau. So you came, too? Hmph. And Gladion. Must you be so untidy?

Shush, it’s his aesthetic and it’s adorable.

Gladion: Will you listen to me at least?

Gladion I don’t know why you think this is a valid option. Lillie was trying, but it was obviously because she’s run out of other options so hey, nothing lost by futilely trying to talk things out. You have, or at least damn well have better healed up, pokemon. It’s time to solve this the way we solve everything, with violence.

Gladion: You mustn’t open the Ultra Wormhole. You cannot let the beasts run wild!

But why does she want that in the first place?!

Lusamine is listening, at least in so much as she’s so offended she pulls out the spikybox dialogue: The daughter who stole my Cosmog from me and the son who took my Type: Null! All I ever did was give you two all the love I had, and all you did was betray me! You have no right to ask for my attention now!

Hau then butts into the conversation to be confused. Shut up, Hau, your role in this begins and ends at dragging Gladion here. He then looks at Lillie and Lusamine and finally registers that they look identical. I mean like seriously, did she pick a guy by how much he looked like her? Was cloning involved?

Lusamine replies to Hau’s assertation they’re family with, Perhaps once we were… Sweet Hau. But those wretches beside you left me. Getting the sense Hau may have an ice pillar home in his future too. But it doesn’t matter now. None of that matters now! I was able to open the Ultra Wormhole using just the gases we’d extracted from Cosmog when it was in Aether Paradise, wasn’t I? But now I have Cosmog itself inside this crate here… As one does with pokemon. If I use its entire body, how many Ultra Wormholes will I be able to open? How many sweet beasts will come to me then?

Lillie: Please… Stop… If Nebby isn’t– If you make it use up too much of its power…you don’t understand what will happen!

She totally does though.

Lillie: Like when we ran away from the Paradise…it couldn’t even move for ages after that… If you use too much of its power, it will die!

Possibly Lillie is confused because her mom rarely listened to her, so she’s thinking maybe if she keeps saying it, eventually her mom will be listening one of those times.

Lusamine, instead, holds the black crate with ominous teal glow up for everyone to see. Watch… I will open the Ultra Wormhole for you… Come to me, my sweet beast!

And so she does. We cut about to see the sky all over the islands is overtaken with thick clouds, and that other wormholes are opening to spit out other creatures.

Also, to get back to my discussion of descriptive words, the wormholes themselves look like, well, exactly how everyone always depicts wormholes, circular with wire frame delineating the bends, but they also have a whole bunch of what look like cracks radiating out from the mouth. Not sure if that’s just supposed to be like electricity/raw energy coming out, though.

Lusamine: You see! Which is a point in favor of Lillie thinking repeating her statements might have some effect, it sure doesn’t look like Lusamine was listening as she seems to believe everyone was debating with her about if murdering Nebby would open wormholes or not. All over Alola! Also, unclear how that was a positive effect. Nebby then makes some noise, indicating it’s not yet dead. Lusamine spikyboxes at this too: Ugh… Must you be so noisy, even inside there? What an annoying Pokemon. The only thing I need from you is your power! But I will admit… it looks like that power has served me well. There should be plenty of beautiful beasts appearing all around Alola as we speak! Look! On Akala and Poni… Even on Melemele Island! Ho ho ho ho! Yes, your master plan of…them being accessible to anybody else to catch before you sure worked?

All the children react with horror except, of course, Bonnibel, because dittochild gives no fucks.

Then we see Hala meeting up with one of the beasts, and a tapu jumping in to fight, and game, like Bonnibel, I have no fucks for Hala. All I care is that he doesn’t killsteal here.

Back to Lusamine: Hee hee! My sweet beast.

And then Guzma runs in. Madam Prez… the experiment was a success, huh? Looks like it’s time to catch this wicked Ultra Beast to beat down those annoying upstarts!

Lusamine: You’re right… Guzma. Quiet those children for me. I don’t want to hear from them again.

Guzma looks super into the idea of disposing of our bodies.

Gladion: I’ll stop the beast! My partner Null was born to be a beast killer! Hau, you take Guzma! Hau looks very unpleased with this turn of events. Bonnibel! Stop the president!!! If we don’t, Alola will be flooded with beasts!

See, this is another bit where the protagonist’s involvement doesn’t work too well in the story. Like Gladion says, he’s the one who’s supposed to fight jellyfish alien. Hau works well as the one who, having just wanted to make friends and have fun, is now fighting the guy planning to kill them all. Lillie, the non-trainer and one with the closest connection to Nebby, should just tackle Lusamine and finally strike back at her abusive mother with her own strength.

Lillie: Bonnibel! We have to get Nebby back!

But instead, that role goes to Bonnibel, which is especially awkward when we all know I’m also going to end up with all the ultrabeasts and the fact Gladion ought to be the best counter to that won’t matter. I guess we can say that Gladion knows that his mom is, presumably, the most powerful trainer in the room and is pointing Bonnibel at the priority threat, but from our point of view, she’s done nothing to indicate she’s a powerful trainer – we’ve seen her surrounded by random low-level pokemon she coos over and now she established that she freezes the pokemon she loves best, which does not sound like something that makes for a strong team, plus the very existence of Null means she felt whatever pokemon she did have weren’t up to the task of fighting the alien critters.

Lusamine: What a disappointment… To think you are all so small-minded… You’re going to startle my sweet beast! Bonnibel… It looks like I’ll need to silence you first.

Anyway, it turns out Lusamine is the only one in the game who’s got any grasp of how pokemon battling works, as she has a solid five pokemon. She leads with a clefable, L41. Nuzzle and zing zap work well, plus it keeps using buffing moves on itself and only actually gets off a single moonblast. It’s followed by a L41 bewear. I switch to Mareanie and use toxic spikes, while it uses hammer arm and screws itself over because it was faster but now it’s slower. Ultimately, it manages to knock out Mareanie with take down only for the last sliver of health to be lost to toxic. I pick Salazzle to send out and Lusamine decides now is the best time for her lilligant to make an appearance. Of course, it’s faster, so Salazzle gets paralyzed, but then it spends another turn on teeter dance and Salazzle gets off flame burst. With Lilligant down to a sliver, I spend my turn unparalyzing Salazzle, who survives a petal dance relatively well and then we watch the poison take down Lilligant. Next up, Milotic! I swap in Oricorio. Milotic wastes its turn on safeguard despite already being poisoned and not so fragile we can assume it’ll go down before safeguard wears off. Teeter dance and air cutter commence. Milotic tries and fails at hydropump, then succeeds in its second attempt. I decide to send out my primarina and am rewarded – Milotic does indeed keep using hydropump, which Primarina can tank. Right as poison finishes Milotic off…safeguard expires. Next up, Mismagius! Two not particularly effective power gems later, and Primarina is down. Salazzle? Nope, shadowball takes her down. Golisopod! Sucker punch your way to victory!

Lusamine is literally shaking with rage. How…how can you be so awful!

So yeah, she was theoretically more difficult than Guzma, but his pokemon hit a hell of a lot harder. Fast, high attack pokemon can take out your pokemon before they get a chance to do anything. Once you start doing a lot of status moves or setup moves, the playing field levels out a bit. I don’t know, maybe that was intentional since if we lost we’ve have to go through that whole cutscene again and for once we weren’t asked if we were ready, but…

Lusamine: Hmph… Then spikyboxed: All I want is my precious beast! I don’t care about any of the rest of you!

Said beast starts glitching in and out, and then the wormhole collapses into the diamond tear.

Lusamine: No! The Ultra Wormhole is disappearing… Guzma. With me. We will catch the beast using the Beast Ball that we’ve developed here.

Okay, I guess that was foreshadowed…but it’d have been foreshadowed a lot better if there was any reason to think pokeballs didn’t work on it. They even went through all the trouble of saying we couldn’t catch it when it appeared last time because of some anti-pokeball jamming device! Why not just let us try throwing pokeballs and having it not work?

Guzma: Yes, ma’am.

And he walks right through through the mess of kids, because apparently nobody but Bonnibel understands using pokemon to stop people. Maybe we’re meant to assume that while we were dealing with Lusamine, Hau got his ass handed to him on a platter.

Lusamine begins glitching out of existence too.

Lillie: Mother!

The wormhole opens, then she disappears, then Guzma apparently chases after her because he’s an idiot who can’t even realize he’s out of his depth and glitches out, then the wormhole closes.

Lillie: Why?! Then she heads for the crate. Nebby…are you…all right? Nebby, for once, isn’t vocal. N-Nebby…

Gladion: What is it?

Nebby is now a gemstoney thing.

Lillie: It changed forms…and it’s not moving…

Gladion considers this statement and the scene in front of him and decides that he’s already had too many emotions today so he turns and walks off. Come on. Let’s get out of here. Nothing good can happen here. And they all leave! Including Bonnibel. Dammit, Bonnibel, I wanted to poke the place. You’d better get back in that teleporter as soon as the cutscene ends and not walk off any further.

Outside is Wicke. You are all unharmed… Oh, thank goodness…

Really hope you’re still going to betray us. Please don’t be a huge disappointment, Wicke.

Gladion: Yeah, maybe. But there is still a ton we have to do…

Plus Nebby is either definitely harmed or outright dead.

Gladion: There’s the president and Guzma, who both disappeared into the Ultra Wormhole…

Oh my god Gladion now is when you think it’s time to spill your guts? shut up shut up shut up. Even if she isn’t setting us up for some evil plan (fingers crossed she is, though!) there’s still the fact she was working for SecretlyEvilCorp this whole time and at best has questionable loyalties.

Gladion: Not to mention Cosmog and why it stopped moving like that… Even if she is…like that, Lusamine is still our mother. We can’t just leave her in the beast’s world.

Well actually – I mean, the jellyfish alien was stated to be hurt by existing in our world, and the research data specifically said that pokemon-like life could survive on the other side, and we know pokemon out-durable humans in every respect. So, assuming that their world is even roughly as unsuited to us as ours appears to be to them, there’s a pretty good chance that you don’t need to worry about “leaving” her there, as there’s no person to retrieve by now.

And assuming it is survivable…why would leaving her be bad? She’s evidently obsessed with them, so she’s unhappy unless she and they are in the same world. If bringing them to our world is catastrophic, why not just let her go live in theirs?

Gladion: We might be able to reach other worlds if we had Alola’s Legendary Pokemon on our side. The people of Alola worship it, but I don’t know if it’s even real…

Hau: Of course it is! After all, the beasts are real. Not exactly how stories work, but yeah, it’s at least plausible. He then expresses surity that furthermore it’ll be easy to find.

Everything’ll be fine/You’re right

Really annoying that we get these more elaborate dialogue choices only for them to not actually let you say anything different. Well, god knows I’m not saying Hau’s right, let alone about something this dumb. I am, however, brimming with personal confidence.

Lillie: I have to thank you both… Both you, Bonnibel, and you, Hau…

You realize he did nothing, right? I mean, it does seem he maybe got Gladion to move, but nothing where you wouldn’t thank Gladion first.

Wicke then offers to let us rest in some beds she prepared.

Gladion: We’ll take you up on that.

Dammit, Gladion. Where’s your paranoia gone?

Lillie: I think…I’ll sleep here. In the bed I once shared with my mother when I was small… Just one last time…

Okay…

And now it’s the next day. Wicke’s master plan to delay the hell out of us?

Bonnibel is pondering the bed Lillie said she’d be sleeping in but now is not in.

Wicke: Bonnibel? Miss Lillie is waiting outside…if you’re ready to meet her.

I’m not, I still want to explore that other area properly.

…but you turned off the teleporter. Of course. Because why let me explore an area when you could just cutscene me.