11. Love and Despair

Chapter 10: Rota's Deal

Mark and Lillie are heading towards the Kanto Region, the gem they need to find, the Fighting Gem, is located in Rota Kingdom. As they are flying with the teleport, Lillie is looking at Mark, he seems to enjoy the destruction just like Minami, not only that, all the things he did, they are serious and not a joke in her eyes.

But she can't blame him, as she remembers how she and Ash find Mark and brings him back. They head to the Hoenn Region as they decide to stay a night at the FS Resort. According to his dead mother, Ash has a sibling that is working here.

FS Resort has a good reputation among the tourists, but what Ash and Lillie saw there proved to be opposite, as they can see how the owners of the resort bullied him. Mark had tried so hard to clean the table, but the female owner of the resort spilled the milk on the table on purpose and then yelled at him for not cleaning the table. Not only that, the male owner also pulled some strings while he was performing to the crowd, such as wetting the floor to make him slip, or creating smoke that annoys the crowd.

But still, Ash and Lillie decided to observed some more to see if Mark can handle all the humiliation and the bully he got, but it went too far as he was thrown into a coffin and was sent to sea. Ash quickly jumps into the sea and swims to save him before it is too late. Seeing how Mark passed out and wet, Ash is very angry and he uses Judgement on the resort, causing the resort to get destroyed and some of the tourists are dead for sure. As for the owners, after the resort is gone, Ash and Lillie confront them and they aren't regretting everything they did. In the end, he calls upon Yveltal to give them an Oblivion Wing and he breaks them into pieces with the Focus Blast.

Of course the police arrived at the place after the explosion, but without the evidence, they can't arrest Ash and Lillie, so they help them escort Mark to the hospital for treatment.

Lillie is happy that Mark is saved, but ever since that day, he rarely smiles and he always putting a frown face, and he has a hard time trusting people because of that memory. But she is also happy that he has been taking good care of her and the fact that he has feelings for her, it is also the reason why he can smile when the two of them are alone.

Not to mention, Lillie is also concerned about Serena. It was after she and her family leave to find her father, she gets a call from Mallow and the others, they asked her to come to the Kanto Region because Ash is there. She went there and suddenly Professor Oak and the others threatened her to help them kill Ash's mother. She, of course, didn't want to do anything because Ash is like a family for her as well, but the fact that they could kill her mother makes her scared.

She can't forget the fact that they all laugh as they use the knife to kill Delia, and how Delia gives them a betrayed look...she can't stand it as she quickly runs away. It is a good thing that she has her family's phone number so they can send a helicopter to get her out of the Kanto Region. But the murder of Delia Ketchum, it has haunted her mind and she feels very sorry for Ash. After a few days, Ash did come to her house, but he didn't blame her for his mother's death, and he asks her to join him as he wanted to destroy the world. At first Lillie didn't agree to what Ash is thinking, but the fact that her mother killed herself in order for Lillie and Gladion to be safe, she is full of rage and eventually she agrees to help Ash out.

During the time when they are finding his siblings, Lillie also heard a lot about Serena from Ash, she knows that she has no chance to win Ash's heart, but she wants to help him out as a friend.

"Hey, Lillie." Mark says as Lillie breaks out of the thinking. "Are you okay? We are about to land."

Lillie says, "Oh, I am fine, you don't need to worry about it." Lillie says as they all land at Mt. Moon. Just as they are walking towards the Rota Kingdom, Mark takes a breath and says, "Lillie, can I be honest with you?"