That beginning of Lillie being unable to touch Snowy was a bit sad since she's the Pokemon she raised ever since she was an egg and now she just can't touch her because her phobia returned.
I was not expecting that straight after the intro, we would see Gladion chewing out Ash for (unintentionally) letting Nebby teleport Lillie to where he and Null were last episode which caused her fear to come back. Seeing the look on both of their faces during this; Gladion's understandable rage and Ash's downcasted look really nailed how serious that scene was. Ash did promise to not tell Lillie where he was and to look after her in Gladion's stead and he failed in both of those in a single episode straight after he made that promise to Gladion. I feel sorry for both of them during that. I feel sorry for Gladion to have to see his little sister face an obstacle she was already on her way to overcoming and I feel sorry for Ash for having been unable to do anything from preventing that accident.
Faba waiting for Gladion in that motel was quite creepy, but well-planned for most of the part. I wasn't expecting for both of Gladion's Pokemon to go down that easy. Although after his defeat, I was expecting Faba to take Gladion and hide him somewhere to make sure he doesn't say anything to others, especially Lusamine, which he eventually later in the episode after he woke up. Bad move on Faba for not doing that. The class cheering for Lillie to cheer up was real nice. Also, Mallow saying the phrase "GanbaLillie"... I see you writers... I see you...
It was also nice of Kukui and Burnet (them together again, whoop!) trying their best to help cheer her up. I do have to agree though, adding a comedic scene to what could have been an emotional moment between Lillie and Shiron was unnecessary. But it happened so, I'll let it slide now. That bit where Ash ran when school was over to look for Lillie caught my interest. I'm still gonna need subs to clarify what they said but I think Ash volunteered to walk with Lillie home, likely to help cheer her up too and to make amends for the mistake he (unintentionally) caused. During Ash and Lillie's walk together, I think I could roughly translate that Lillie told Ash that she found out about Ash having talked with her brother in secret already, which probably explains Ash's reaction when Lillie mentioned Gladion and the fact that Ash said the words "ore to Glazio", which we all means "Me and Gladion" if we're gonna be literal. But then again this is just my own take on what I could roughly translate from them, so if anybody's gonna take what I just said, please don't take it seriously since I could may as well be wrong.
It was really touching to see Lillie remember the fond memories she had with her brother and mother during the scenes where Nebby had her and Ash teleport through the places she's been to in the past. Also, I think the reason TR left Faba and quit was because he was ordering them to capture Lillie to she can erase her memories of the past and considering how Jessie, James and Meowth, while having trouble past themselves, don't ever want to forget what made them who they are now, and were against the plan and were reasonably enraged by it, hence why they quit. Gladion going to Lusamine and telling her about what Faba's been up to and later while they were scavenging through his office to find Type: Null was cool. Especially the moment where Gladion tells his mom upfront that her being neglectful of them and choosing her work over them is the reason the Lillie had to go through the kind of stuff she went through regarding her fear of Pokemon. Hearing Lusamine's sincere apology over that made me sympathize her, more than her game counterpart at that.
As for the confrontation between Ash and Lillie against Faba, I have to give props to Faba on his plan. Subduing not only Pikachu, Nebby and Shiron, but also Ash. Not only that, he made sure Ash wasn't spared any punishment too, seeing how he also sent him flying with the others and even holding him down. Hearing Lillie's concern for Ash and the Pokemon, as well as Ash's own frustration for being held down when a friend of his needs his help nailed the situation for me. Seeing Silvally finally break free from the mask was awesome and that roar though...
So it turns out that Faba really was trying to open an Ultra Wormhole beneath the Aether Foundation to summon the Ultra Beasts, but for what reason though (TRR perhaps? Necrozma? URS? All three?). So Lillie got lost in that area when she was little and a Nihilego tried to abduct her as was depicted 2 episodes ago. I'm glad that Lillie finally realizes that Silvally wasn't trying to attack her, but rather save her from the one that was trying to actually attack her. And she finally got over her fear and thanked Silvally and apologized for blaming it to be the cause. Amazing! All in all this episodes was just really amazing! One of my greater episodes in Sun and Moon thus far. Though I still need to wait for the subs to come out to actually judge it for real later.
Also, just a couple of questions: Does Gladion live in that motel that he visited and what move did Silvally use to knock both Hypno and Alakazam?