Foreword:

Aloha, and welcome to my story.

My idea for Fury and Confusion was born about five days after Pokemon Sun and Moon was released, and I remember the exact moment it came to me. Lillie, easily the most compelling character in the Pokemon game franchise, carried around this little bundle of stardust and sunshine for nearly the whole game. Instead of keeping him, she handed him off to the main character right before the climax of the story.

I didn't even want Nebby!

Upon playing the game through to its conclusion, I was struck by a startling sense of lacking. Lillie needed to be more than she was. So, I booted up my computer and got to work. As you read, you'll find that I deviate quite heavily from the default pokemon world. A few of the changes, so you know what you're getting into:

- Many of the younger characters, Lillie included, are aged up a few years (she's about 14 at the start). Our protagonists are put in darker, more mature situations, ones that eleven-year-olds would not be able to handle.

- The world is much less idealistic and more of a mirror of the real world. This does not mean there are not fantastical elements, but you will find that where they exist, they will have a rational explanation.

- Pokemon intelligence and their relationship to humanity are quite different from the in-game or anime world.

- While the broad strokes of Alolan geography remain the same (same islands, routes and game locations in similar places) much of the region is tweaked to line up with the real world. Part of my depiction of Alola is informed by me having lived in Hawaii for most of my life.

- Certain characters have met and interacted with each other prior to the events of this story in ways that did not occur in the games, and in ways that have great significance to the overall plot of the story. In addition to that, and a more minor note, hair colors for all characters are changed to the closest real-world approximation, with the exception of a few who are explicitly using hair dye.

- I went into this intending to mess around with Lillie's character. Don't expect her to come out the same way she went in.

This story has gone through several revisions to maintain consistency, the most major of which completely reworked the story structure and first 60k words of the story. If you're a reader from prior to that rewrite (started February 2017 and ended June 2017), check the note at the end of Chapter 16.

I sincerely hope that you enjoy this story.

-lebensmude

Part I: A Runaway

Lillie

Lillie stared at the rocks below, the rapids pulsing over them in strong, regular bursts. The spearow, frightened by Nebby's outburst, had long since fled into the cover of the trees. She knelt on a rocky outcropping, unable to tear her eyes away.

Her arms trembled, barely able to support her weight. In the ravine below, she saw nothing. Downstream she saw nothing. The water rushed around a bend further away. There were no bodies, just the flowing river kicking up against the sheer cliff face as it rushed along wet, mossy rocks.

She stood. How high up am I? Forty feet? Sixty? What if they hit a rock? Lillie backed away. The forest around her was silent, but somehow she could still hear Nebby screaming. A long, shrill sound that had suddenly stopped several moments before, clipped short by a tiny, distant splash.

The falling girl had been so calm. All the way down to the bottom, she had been calm.

Lillie shook her head. She needed to find help. She had to get the Kahuna.

Feet pounding beneath her, she sprinted back towards town. The pathway was soon deemed irrelevant as she found herself crashing through bushes and bounding over boulders. Brushing aside some fronds of a plant she couldn't care enough to recognize, the ground opened up beneath her. She let out a surprised yelp at the sudden, short drop.

Her feet slipped when they made contact with the wet grass of the hill and down she went. End over end over end she rolled, her arms held in front of her head. Weeds whipped at her face, the dew of the grass sticking dirt and twigs to her bare arms.

Soon the chaos stopped and she lifted herself, shaking. Lillie walked forward slowly, but her knees gave way at the foot of the small hill. Her hat was gone – when she lost it she couldn't say. Her arms were covered in scratches and bruises that somehow didn't sting. She stared at the entrance of Iki Town and began to cry.

It wasn't long before the professor found her. Feet pounding in the dust of the road, he ran over. One arm was around her shoulders and his calm voice was in her ear almost immediately. She clung to him as if on instinct, her grip leaving long creases in his coat.

"…happened?" Lillie looked up at him, catching only the end of his question. She couldn't respond. He asked again, "What happened?"

The first impulse was to cry again, but then she saw the girl's face as she slipped beneath the water. Calm, yes, but there was also confusion, uncertainty, shock. Lillie began to say everything at once, the words tumbling from her mouth messily, contorted.

"The girl. She fell into the water," She forced it out, then swallowed. Pain in the back of her throat from the crying. She struggled to speak further. "The bridge gave out. There were spearow that were harassing him. And Nebby… They both fell into the water!"

Professor Kukui stood quickly. He shook Lillie, urging her to come with him. After a moment she did, tears welling in her eyes again. She followed him back into town, their pace hurried. Lillie could feel the numbness in her cheeks, the cool mountain air chilling her skin.

"Luna!" Kahuna Hala's voice bellowed out across the river's mouth. Elsewhere, other calls from the villagers disturbed the quiet night. Lillie shivered, clutching Professor Kukui's jacket close around her shoulders. She had stopped sobbing hours before. Now she sat on a rock, staring out at the ocean rhythmically pulling itself along the beach.

The town had been quick to organize search parties, especially at the behest of Professor Kukui and Kahuna Hala. The coast guard had been called to search the ocean in case Luna had been swept out to sea. Professor Kukui was further up the river like most of the other volunteers, patrolling the river's edge. There were easily over seventy people looking for any sign of the missing girl.

They'd found nothing.

"Luna!" She felt more than heard the Kahuna shouting the words. Fists clenched, he stared out into the river. Lillie hoped he would see something. Anything.

Kahuna Hala organized the search over ten hours earlier. Though the big man made Lillie take breaks in her search every few hours, her feet ached and blistered. For the first half of the search, she'd been active in helping the other volunteers. Even when she was forced to sit down she found herself scanning her surroundings, hoping, praying. Now, after night had fallen and the calls of nocturnal pokemon picked up their nightly routine, Lillie could no longer bring herself to raise a shout.

Kahuna Hala spun about as a man ran up to him. Lillie heard his words but didn't register them.

"I'll check Kala`e Bay later in the night," the Kahuna growled in reply, his voice hoarse from shouting, "that, or get one of the other experienced trainers. It's too dangerous to send someone down there without a pokemon or a gun."

Lillie glanced over as the man nodded swiftly and took off, his feet kicking up sand in his wake as he made his way back to the road. Police cars lined up by the fences, the shadows of several people grouped up nearby.

The volunteers were being swapped out. Fresh faces and bodies to replace the weary. Hopeful chatter mixed with the worried mumbles. Lillie listened to it all quietly, but she knew what they were all thinking. This long after someone disappeared into the water meant only one thing. There had been no news. No progress.

There was nothing.

Nothing for hours became nothing for days.

Lillie curled up on the couch, shifting position yet again. The cushions were hard and flat now. Sunset light drifted through shuttered windows, painting the loft in orange. She curled up on her makeshift bed in soft gray pajamas, Her white dress lay discarded on the floor in a pile. Burnet had labored to clean the dirt and grass stains out of the white silk without tearing the fragile material. It had taken hours, but Lillie still couldn't bring herself to get out of bed and get dressed.

Nobody ever managed to find her hat.

Occasionally Professor Kukui or Burnet would gently call from below and she would ignore them. Food was brought to her and she'd nibble on it and leave it alone. Every day had begun to feel the same: Burnet would leave for her job in the city in the morning and Professor Kukui would hang around the house making phone calls or writing on his laptop. It was the same routine they had even before Luna disappeared, as if nothing had changed for them at all.

The only difference was that she heard them whispering below sometimes.

Such a tragedy. I really feel for Luna's mother.

They'd just moved out here too.

There are volunteers still searching but…

At some point she had stopped crying. She occupied her time instead staring at the wall, outlining and memorizing the grooves in the wood. Occasionally she'd get up and pace around, the wood floor creaking against her bare feet. Sometimes she'd grab the Master Ball from her bag and turn it over in her hands, tapping it to hear its hollow ring. If Nebby ever got out of hand, Lillie had resolved to capture him. She'd never followed through on that promise, no matter how many times he'd escaped her bag or ran about without heeding her commands. If she had caught him, perhaps none of this would have happened.

Sometimes she would hear Nebby's screaming in her ear. Sometimes she'd see Luna's calm, impassive face as she disappeared beneath the water. There had been hints of red in the water, or had she imagined it?

As each day passed, there were less quiet conversations, and Lillie got up to move about more and more. The images remained in her mind, vivid and bright.

"It's been nearly two weeks," Burnet implored – perhaps a bit too loudly; Lillie could hear the professor move to shush his wife. She started again, not quite quiet enough, "What are we supposed to do about her?"

To his credit, Lillie couldn't hear Professor Kukui's response. Evidently it wasn't what his wife wanted to hear.

"It can't go on forever," she replied. "She's been here nearly four months and we still don't even know where she's from. Even if she is upset over Luna, we have to…"

Lillie stood, the couch rattling from underneath her, her silk white dress ruffling as she straightened it over her body. Their conversation died out immediately. Her feet shuffling against the floor was like thunder in a still night. Grabbing her bag and descending the ladder was the easy part, but her throat clenched up as she brushed past her two guardians. The Master Ball rolled about inside her bag.

"Lillie…" Professor Kukui called. Burnet looked away.

For the first time in a long time, Lillie threw open the front door and walked outside, every movement she made bristling with emotion she couldn't begin to put words to. She'd barely made it halfway down the driveway when the professor caught up to her. A familiar hand was laid over her shoulder, but Lillie shoved it off herself quickly.

"Lillie, where are you going?" There was concern in his voice. The thought lessened the tightness of her throat and she blinked back a sudden overflow tears. Lillie didn't look up at him.

"I'm being a burden. I was supposed to have gone by now, wasn't I?"

"Nonsense. Am I supposed to turn a young girl out on the streets? Burnet is just stressed. We've been giving statements nearly every day. There's talk of legal action against the Kahuna and Iki Town," a long pause filled with an emotion Lillie couldn't place, "but that has nothing to do with you."

"But it was my fault!" Lillie shouted. "She might be dead because of me."

Professor Kukui was silent. He reached for her again and Lillie grimaced, walking away from him.

"I just need to be alone for a while," Lillie finally said.

"Of course." She could see him nod at the edges of her visions. He didn't go back into his house.

Lillie trudged through the wet of the forest north of town. Rain fell in sheets, running along the asphalt of the thin road. Greenery poked through the black wherever it could. Her feet slipped against the grass occasionally when she walked. The rain washed tears from her eyes as her shoulders bobbed in the dark.

The imprint of the professor's arm around her shoulder evoked an older memory.

Lillie was staring up at the petrified visage of a long-dead pokemon, her mother's arm around her. It was another beautiful treasure, one of her mother's personal collection. It stood behind protective glass, illuminated with bright white lights that cast long, dark shadows.

A long-dead arbok was digging its head into grass that no longer existed. Its fangs were somewhat extended, stabbing dull points that prodded the air. The pokemon had decayed many thousands of years prior, the only evidence of its existence being its own plaster cast etched out of layers of old ash.

"Imagine, Lillie," her mother stated excitedly, "the arbok was just digging its head into the underbrush, looking for food like it always had, and completely unaware its death was mere seconds away. Then, all of a sudden," she mimicked an explosion with her hands, "bam! The nearby volcano explodes in a massive plinian eruption. The snake bristles at the sound – see how its spine arcs here – but mere moments later the pyroclastic flow hits, encasing the poor creature in ash and debris. But its death was not for nothing, no. It's captured here just for us."

Lillie had looked up at her mother then and saw the wide smile on her beautiful face, the same smile she always had when she showed Lillie her collection, her teeth bared much like the arbok.

A car passed, kicking up water over her legs. The cold spray pulled her from her memories and she stopped, turning her attention to her legs. Lillie smiled ruefully – the car's passing had made much of a difference as drenched as she was from the rain. She turned her attention ahead of her, where a lonely signpost stood just barely visible under the light of a streetlamp.

Kala`e Bay.

"Caution! Predatory pokemon ahead." Lillie read the warning again, remembering Kahuna Hala's brief conversation.

Had they checked for Luna there yet, or had it been forgotten in the chaos of that night? Lillie wiped rain from her eyes and turned down the dirt road. Not much further a large chain link fence rose, blocking off further access. Beyond it the forest grew thick and dark. There were no more street lights here.

The rain was slowly letting up, letting early moonlight through the break in the clouds. Lillie ran her hands down the fence as she walked along. After a couple of miles of hiking to get here from the Professor's house, her legs were sore and aching, but there was little point stopping now.

Bright moonlight shone down from clear skies by the time she reached the familiar gap in the fence. Lillie paused. The cliffs weren't too far off now. Beyond the foliage she could see the lights of Iki Town peppering the coast across the bay. Houses blinked in the dark, growing less dense as her gaze continued up the mountain.

Professor Kukui took her along this route when she first showed up in town. He'd been carefree, unrestrained as he ushered her through, smiling all the while.

"Oh, it's only just a little bit dangerous," he had grinned at her. "Don't worry, I'll protect you."

He wasn't here this time.

She hesitated.

"Mother was right about me," Lillie said to the darkness. She gritted her teeth and gripped her fists tight.

She slipped through the gap.

Froakie calls began to split the night with their distinctive two-note calls. The occasional spinarak chirped alongside them. Alongside them, she heard the drip-dripping of rain water slipping from moist jungle leaves. These sounds together formed a music of the night that Lillie fixated on, her legs laboring through the now-muddy path the professor had shown her months before.

Lillie knew Burnet would be furious. The silk dress she'd spent so long trying to clean was once against stained with mud. A new, long tear ran along her torso where she'd gotten the fabric caught on a wayward branch, her skin showing through where her ribcage met her stomach.

Mother would be mad too. Lillie paused, her hand running along the tear, feeling the long scrape in her skin. She kept moving.

Eventually the dirt made way to gravel, then to sand. There was the crashing of small waves in her ears and the briny odor of the ocean in her nose. From here on the beach she could still see the light-speckled outline of Ko`olau Range stretching into the sky.

Lillie kicked off her slippers, feeling the sand against her bare toes. Salt water rolled over her feet, the ocean vast and dark before her.

For a long time she paced along Kala`e Bay, glancing occasionally at the rocks and cliffs further down the beach. It was there the bagon made their nests. The creatures were notorious for throwing themselves off the cliffs and dashing themselves on the rocks below. Those that did not die would climb back up the cliff face, readying themselves for more jumps.

Out here on the beach should be safe, or so Professor Kukui had told her.

The lull of the ocean waves washing over her feet called the river rapids back into her mind. With it the image of Luna as she slipped beneath the water, the sound of Nebby screaming as he was washed away. Wind kicked her dress up around her and goosebumps ran down her bare, wet legs.

Perhaps Luna had drowned right there. Perhaps the last two weeks of search parties calling in the dark and coast guard helicopters thrumming overhead were for nothing. Perhaps Luna still clung to life in some forgotten corner of the island or even, god forbid, out in the middle of the ocean.

It was my fault.

It was foolish to come out here. What could she even do that dozens of search and rescue teams could not? Luna was out there somewhere, but Lillie could do nothing to help her.

It still felt odd to use her name. Lillie only learned it from the rescue efforts. She had never actually introduced herself to the girl. She'd just cried and begged for help, too afraid to head out onto the bridge herself to help Nebby. If only…

If I had gone out onto the bridge, I would be the one missing.

A low growl behind her shook the thoughts from her mind. Lillie spun, startled, just as the dark shaped lunged. Teeth clamped down on the upper end of her leg, fangs digging into the flesh of her left thigh. Lillie screeched, an eruption of pain in her leg, falling backwards into the shallow water. Her other leg instinctively lashed out, kicking the side of the dark creature. She swung her bag at the thing to no effect. It thrashed, tearing at her skin, and she screamed again.

It was smallish, maybe two feet long. With her free hand she grabbed it by the neck and pulled, forcing it off of her. It protested powerfully against her grip and she tossed it as hard as she could back into the water.

Heat against her skin as blood poured from her leg. She scrambled to her feet as the thing splashed in the water behind her, squealing. She stood and her left leg immediately gave way. She fell to the sand. Lillie touched the wound and her hand came away warm. Her dress was torn high up her thigh and great holes pulsed where the fangs had dug in.

She fought off a wave of lightheadedness and crawled further up the beach, her breaths coming out hard, squeaking and gasping as she struggled to move faster. She glanced behind her. The thing was already on its feet again, growling and gnashing. It lunged.

Her right foot caught it in the mouth and she immediately started kicking. Panic fueled her attacks, the scent of blood in her nose. Her head grew heavy as the tightness in stomach began to spread, her mind clouding. She felt her bag pressing against her as she threw the thing off her again.

She felt the Master Ball rolling about in her bag.

The creature charged for the third time, bloody fangs glistening in the dark. Its bulbous head shone in the moonlight. Lillie swung her fist, Master Ball clenched in hand, punching the creature square in the side of its neck.

The Master Ball clicked open, a red haze covering the creature, and the thing disappeared.

Lillie struggled to breath, each breath coming in sharp gasps as her heart slammed into the inside of her rib cage. Her ears were full of the sound of blood pumping. She got to her feet and realized she couldn't stand, instead falling backwards. The air was rank with iron. Lillie looked down at the blood covering her arms and legs.

Her head spinning, she lay her head on the sand, wondering why it felt softer than any bed she'd ever slept on.

She saw Nebby out on the bridge, the spearow harassing him from the air. She saw Luna running up to her, a concerned look on her face. Despite her preoccupation over Nebby, Lillie couldn't help but be taken aback by how pretty Luna was.

Movement around her now, a flash of light and some sound.

It was all noise and pain.