>>34935735I have a tradition I've been upholding for the last few games. Whenever they announce a new entry to the main series, I stop looking at any and all promotional content after they show off the starters for the first time. I stop going to /vp/ and serebii, and do my best to avoid any accidental spoilers dropped anywhere else, so I can get as fresh an experience as possible. I've been playing since gen one, so I need all the novelty I can get to keep things feeling new.
I'm saying all this so you understand that I went into these games completely blind, without being influenced by the months of speculation leading up to it.
My point here is, going just by the in game events, I was COMPLETELY convinced Lily was secretly the jellyfish. I thought she was an Ultra Beast that disguised itself and escaped from the Aether compound with Nebby, which was why she panicked and refused to go back there that first time. Her skittish behavior, tendency to vanish from time to time, and blatant difficulty navigating around implied to me that she was hiding something and very much not used to being here.
What clinched it for me was Nihilego conveniently showing up right in front of you at that first visit to Aether, after the game made it very clear that Lily was NOT with you at the time, and had in fact ran off somewhat suspiciously quickly. I thought she was trying to get you away from Lusamine, and was so sure of this that once I realized you could end the battle without actually fighting I refused to use any attacking moves. I thought it might have made a difference between Lily being a bit roughed up or not next time you saw her, or at least her being subtly miffed at you.
My theories were rather over-ambitious in hindsight, but let me tell you. Even removed from the collective brainstorming of the internet, Lily's connection to Nihilego being something more than just a fashion statement was convincing. Well done on the writers if that misdirection was intentional.
