Blowing Bubbles

Chapter 31: Ambush!

I found myself in a white room, without any of my pokemon with me. There was nothing else in the room but me, and there was no visible floor, ceiling or walls. I felt like I was underwater, but I also felt like I was floating. I was unable to move; I couldn't even blink. It's happening again, I thought.

It's a dream.

Why do I always have this dream?

I'm always stuck in this white abyss.

I hate this dream.

Just then, I saw that same image as the one I saw when I had the dream for the first time; the one that was blurry and colourful. This time, however, it said something different.
"Millie..." it called quietly. "Millie...come to us..." Suddenly, the room turned black, and I saw another image appear next to the first one. I couldn't make out a shape, but it was mostly purple, with a bit of yellow on the top of it. "We...NEED YOU!!!"

I shot my eyes open and found myself in another white room. I looked around and found out I was leaning against a wall, while Lillie, Gladion, Nebby and Null were watching me. "Millie...thank Arceus you're okay..." Lillie muttered. This isn't Hokulani observatory... I thought. This is...Aether Paradise! I then checked my fanny pack to see if my pokemon were with me. Bubble...Spike...Sparky...Racky...Gabe. Cool.
"Millie." I jumped up to hear a familiar voice. Lusamine! I realized. I looked and saw her, along with three other people; two men and one woman. I realized right away that one of the men was from Team Skull. "This is Guzma, Faba and Wicke," Lusamine explained. "Guzma is Team Skulls boss." I never would have guessed, I thought sarcastically. He's wearing a gold frickin' locket with the Team Skull logo on it.
"So you knocked me out and brought me here just to meet some people?" I retorted. "No," Lusamine replied, "I brought you here for something else. I received a call from your poor old mother, by the way." "What?!" I gasped as I widened my eyes in shock. "Mmhm," Lusamine continued. "She told me you've been missing for over two months now. She's angry at you for not only catching a pokemon when you weren't allowed to, but for leaving without you telling her. However, she's more scared for your safety than angry." I couldn't believe it. I was on my island challenge for so long that I had almost forgotten about Mom?

Almost half a minute passed, and Lusamine finally spoke again. "I hate children like that," she spat scornfully. "Children who don't listen to adults. Children who run away from their parents thinking they can do whatever the hell they want." She looked at not only me, but at Gladion and Lillie as well, when she spoke the last sentence. "Millie, you should be ashamed of yourself." This time, it was Faba who spoke. "Miss Lusamine is right. You should go back home. You should listen to her, so-" "Faba, don't forget that we need her," Lusamine interrupted. "What do you need her for?!" Gladion shouted in protest. Lusamine glared at him, but he didn't lose his confidence.
"Gladion. Only speak when you're spoken to," Lusamine retorted in a harsh, hateful tone. I guess Wicke, Faba and Guzma knew that things were probably going to get ugly, so they left quickly. As soon as they were gone, Lusamines calm expression changed to fury.
"Now GIVE ME THAT COSMOG, LILLIE!" With that, Lusamine snatched Nebby out of Lillies arms. "Pew!"
The three of us froze as we watched Lusamine stuff Nebby into a tiny box made of glass and metal, with what looked like a key ring on one of the corners. I wanted to save Nebby, but I was too afraid to even send a pokemon out. Even brave Gladion was shaking in fear.
"Mother!" Lillie shouted as tears began streaming down from her eyes. "Stop! You're hurting Nebby!" "I don't care!" Lusamine retorted. "Cosmog was originally mine, along with Type: Null! You ugly children stole them from me and ran away!" Just then, an ultra wormhole opened. Nebby must be really frightened, I thought. As I remembered when Racky spooked it when I went to Aether Paradise for the first time, I figured out that Nebby could only open an ultra wormhole when it was feeling scared.
Suddenly, Lusamine grabbed me and picked me up by my waist, so that it looked like she was giving me the heimlich maneuver. "What the-put me down!" I protested angrily as I flailed and kicked around, trying to free myself.
"Millie, this is the reason we needed you," Lusamine stated, "now GET IN THE WORMHOLE!" With that, she began to throw me into the ultra wormhole, but my instincts kicked in.
I opened my mouth and, with as much strength as I could gather, chomped her arm hard. Lusamine yelped and instantly let go of me, flinging me away with the arm I bit. I slammed into a wall, then looked up at the woman angrily.
"What are you, a pokemon?" Lusamine protested as I saw the bleeding bite mark on her arm.
"You selfish piece of trash," I spat as I angrily began to walk up to her. "You have no right to touch me. Now let Nebby go!" "I'd love to, but I need it so I can kill something," Lusamine replied. Did she mean she was going to kill Nebby? "No!" I shouted in fear as I started to run instead of walk. Before Lusamine could do anything, I grabbed the box Nebby was stuffed into and slammed it onto the ground, smashing it open and freeing Nebby.
"Millie...what have you done?!" Lusamine shouted in fear. She then saw that the ultra wormhole was beginning to close, so she leapt into it before it could disappear, surprising me. "Mother!" Lillie and Gladion cried as the wormhole closed.
I turned and looked at them. "Wait, you guys are brother and sister?" I asked. "Yes," Gladion replied. "It's irrelevant right now, though. Nebby must be hurt!" The three of us ran up to Nebby, who now looked different and smaller. It didn't look like a cute little ball of gas anymore; it was a translucent blue orb, with little stars and a small, dark gray core with what looked like closed eyes inside. The blue orb also had a weird golden star structure that held it. What have I done...
I placed my hand on Nebby; it felt warm for some reason. "Dammit..." I muttered as I began to cry, tears dripping onto Nebbys seemingly lifeless body. I wanted to scream in anger, but right now I had to control my emotions. "Lillie...this was my fault. I-I'm really sorry..." I hung my head in frustration as I continued to speak. "I tried as hard as I could...but in the end, I couldn't save Nebby..." "It wasn't your fault," Gladion reassured.
Just then, I felt a hand go on my shoulder. "Millie, Lillie, Gladion...in order to get Nebby back to normal, all three of you are going to have to get stronger," The voice was soft and quiet. I turned around and saw Wicke as I wiped my tears away. "Would you like me to take you three back to Ula'ula island? Millie, you probably have some trials to finish." "I just have one, and then I have to fight the kahuna..." I sniffed, wiping away my last tears as I turned around and saw Lillie putting Nebby back in her bag. "Although, it is sunset..." Wicke mumbled. "Would you three like to spend the night here?" "Okay," I agreed.

That night, Wicke showed us the rooms we were sleeping in; they each had beds that looked extremely comfortable. "If you need anything, I'll be in the conservation area," Wicke reminded. When she left, I put my pajamas on, brushed my teeth, then turned the light off and curled up in bed. The mattress was made of memory foam, so it was nice, soft and comfortable. Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep.