At the top of the shrine stood a petite but imposing lady with long dark hair, wearing a scarlet velvet dress and a satin masquerade mask. Her body was covered in shimmering decorative chains and she held a sacred golden staff in her hand. With a casual glance to her left she saw several dozen grunts running towards where she was. With a disinterested sigh, she merely grabbed the three legendary orbs they were after, handing them to her trusty Ditto, satisfied when the Ditto morphed itself to fit seamlessly into the material of her dress, precious swallowed orbs included.

"Well, I think I've successfully thwarted their mission. They'll be leaving Shamouti Island as soon as they realize that they'll never find Moltres, Zapdos, Articuno since I sent Absol to inform them. And of course, they won't be able to summon Lugia once we take care of them," The lady said with a smirk.

"Such a pity, that we've one upped some of the world's worst kind of criminals," Her Zoroark said sarcastically and the lady broke into laughter. Zoroark was her oldest partner. Their personalities were almost identical, they had won wars together, they had killed together, saved the day together and they continued to do everything together. In her line of work, it was helpful to have a partner that was one of the world's most skilled illusionists.

"Hey you," The blonde haired girl, who seemed to be their leader, called. The dark lady felt Mewtwo squirm uncomfortably in the Pokéball that she had ordered him into. She remembered Mewtwo expressing his passionate hate for all the humans who wore that dreaded red 'R' on their shirts. Based off of his wolfish grin, the lady knew Zoroark had recognized them from the horrific stories they had heard as well.

"Should I distract them with an illusion mistress?" Zoroark asked loyally.

"I think I rather have a little fun. I think battling all one hundred of them will be a good warm up for the training I'll be putting you through today," The dark lady replied with a feral grin. "I'll just sit back and watch you fight," She told Zoroark. "You don't mind do you?" The lady asked the droopy eyed Slowking that stood in the middle of the shrine.

"Not at all Sister of Arceus," The Slowking replied.

"Don't you know who we are? We're going to slaughter you and your Pokémon. Or… you could simply give us the orbs," Domino shouted, driven even more furious by the lady's lack of concern for the predicament she found herself in. Surely one hundred well trained Team Rocket agents would be enough to trouble this lady since even a hundred would worry a Champion.

The dark lady cocked her head to the side, contemplating whether or not she should answer, before shrugging and waving at Zoroark to begin his onslaught. Hyper Beam after Hyper Beam struck true, knocking out the one hundred fighting highly skilled Team Rocket agents like they were nothing.

Impossible, why doesn't it need to recharge after Hyper Beam? This is unreal. Must report back to Giovanni, Domino thought right before she was knocked out by Zoroark.

The dark lady snickered, eyeing the blood and bodies that littered the beach, some dead and some knocked out. The dark lady didn't feel any sympathy. She could sense their hearts and so could Zoroark. They spared the ones who still remained partially good while the corrupt were wiped out completely.

"You should've held back a little Zoroark. That didn't even last a minute," The dark lady chastised with a little laugh.

"Sorry mistress but I needed to let out some pent up tension since you've been making me hold back for centuries," Zoroark retorted, smoothing his inky black fur with his sharp claws.

The dark lady chuckled at her partner's need for immaculate physical perfection.

"Well I guess they wanted these orbs," The lady mused. "Well then I guess I'll give them what they want. Temporarily of course… think of it as a consolation prize," She cackled prettily, levitating up three smooth rocks with her mind. "Zoroark a long term illusion please. Make these three spheres look like the orbs. Maintain it for a few days, long enough for them to think they've succeeded and feel the humiliation of being duped."

Zoroark nods and does as the lady asks with a sadistic grin of pleasure. Zoroark loved mind games even more than his mistress, and that was saying something.

The lady nodded briskly, levitating the three illusion orbs in place of where the originals belonged in the shrine.

"Well, I'll be bringing these to their new hiding place. You should make yourself scarce when the Team Rocket grunts wake up. We wouldn't want you to get caught up in the backlash of their fury. Of course, I know you can handle them but let's keep that a secret for now," The lady told Slowking with a kind smile. She had known this Slowking for centuries and just like she had asked of him, he had stayed to guard the shrine.

"Of course Sister of Arceus," Slowking said slowly.

"Oh don't call me that," The lady said.

Zoroark barked a laugh. "You have too many names! The poor thing doesn't know what to call you."

"Rin will do," The lady said wistfully.

"Of course Queen Rin," Slowking nodded emphatically.

The lady looked at him carefully, gauging to see if he needed anything else. After a few moments, when Slowking didn't even blink, the lady figured she could depart now, though she contemplated waiting until the criminals woke up again just so she could beat them down again, but she figured her little ploy with the orbs would provide a sufficient amount of torture without wasting more of her time.

You'd think that living since the beginning of time would be a cause of boredom and yet every year, I find myself even busier, the lady thought exasperatedly, calling out her faithful and deliciously brutal Hydreigon. Zoroark and the lady mounted on top of Hydreigon, who growled disappointedly when he saw the knocked out bodies and realized he had missed out on the long awaited fight he had been craving for.

"One more thing my queen," Slowking interjected politely just as Hydreigon was about to take off. "You must find the human Chosen One for he and his friends will be able to help you greatly. You will even find what you most seek."

The lady nodded in acknowledgement, familiar with Slowking and his accurate prophecies.

Slowking watched the powerful lady and her ruthless but kindhearted Pokémon companions disappear into the night sky, vaguely hearing Hydreigon's roar of triumph before they disappeared completely from his psychic radar. Usually Slowking only received visits from the Queen every century or so but this time he had a feeling he'd be seeing her sooner rather than later. Closing his eyes, Slowking recited the prophecy he had sensed a few hours prior.

"Disturb not the harmony of fire, ice or lightning, lest these titans wreak destruction upon the world in which they clash. Through the water's great guardian shall arise to quell the fighting, alone its song will fail, thus the Earth shall turn to ash. Oh, Chosen One. Into thine hands bring together all three. Their treasure combined, aura preserved, will tame the Beast of the Sea. Thus, the world must turn to Ash."