"{Moone, no!}" Type:Null cried out to his unconscious friend as her weight fell from its back. Her golden scythe-wings were disintegrated, and her violet eyes closed. Golden skin formed up her head to the outer corners of her closed eyes and down her neck to the symbol on her collarbone, looking just like Lunala's head. The golden skin was a sharp change on her head, neck, and her feet, which had crawled up to her knees.

Type:Null looked at the unconscious hybrids and turned to the smirking man with pure, untainted wrath in its eyes. Its furious growls echoed under its mask as it stepped protectively in front of Moone. It stalked towards the man in the lab coat, with the silver crest on its head aimed toward the man's head. Faba looked warily at the sharp crest and slowly backed away.

"What do you think you're doing to me, you pathetic creature?" he demanded as he was driven out of the infirmary. "Do you take me, the last line of defense of the Aether Foundation, for a fool?!" His back hit a solid wall, making him realize that he was backed into a corner and held there by the Type:Null. And it was just his luck that Master Gladion had confiscated his pokemon. "I have never been so insulted by a pokemon in all my life! Much less a pokemon from our own labs!"

"What's going on down here?!" Gladion's voice demanded as he, Silvally, Lillie, and the employees ran to the infirmary. "We heard roaring and shrieking from around here." Type:Null turned to the blonde siblings and pointed into the infirmary with its head crest. Lillie looked inside, eyes widening in horror at the fallen hybrids that were currently being placed back into their beds by some medics.

"Moone! Sunne! Black! Ruby!" she cried. "What happened to them, Faba?! Did you do that to them?!"

"I've merely drained their energy in hopes of returning them to the lab, where they belong," the man explained matter-of-factly. "See, each of them has a microchip device under their skin - which I had placed while my project was still around - that drains their energy at the push of a button. Of course, said devices do pinch some of their nerves in the process, but only enough to cause a headache. Now, I have a lot of research to rediscover, so leave me to my work."

"Not an option, Faba," Gladion growled, lime green eyes ablaze. "Good work, Type:Null, keeping him in one place. For doing this, I will personally extend his time without his pokemon, as well as confine him to his office. Faba, if you cause anymore problems to the test subjects on behalf of your lost research, I will make sure to lower your rank. Now hand over what you used to activate the devices."

Faba looked mortified at the threat from the blonde boy. "Fine; take the remote that activates the devices. But I won't tell you how to find or remove the devices," he sneered as he gave Gladion the remote before storming away.

"{Good riddance,}" Silvally growled in disgust at the Branch Chief. "{I'm glad I never liked that guy to begin with.}"

"{And don't come back, crazyclaws!}" Type:Null shouted in Faba's direction.

"Come on, you two," Gladion ordered. "Let's go see what happened to the hybrids." Type:Null and Silvally followed Gladion and the other friendly humans into the infirmary.

"They have apparently experienced a staggering loss of energy," a masked medic reported, "along with minor trauma to their nervous systems. This trauma has caused the pokemon DNA within each of them to become more active, thus changing them more. Such a shame; Subjects 001, 004, and 007 were getting very close to a full recovery. However, we have all noticed strange scars on each of the test subjects. The strange part is that they are all identical and in the exact same place: the back of their necks."

"That must have been where Faba had those micro-devices placed," Lillie concurred.

"Check the test subjects for any microchip devices beneath or around those scars," Gladion commanded. "If there are any devices, be sure to remove them; as safely and as soon as possible."

"Of course, Master Gladion," the medic bowed before leaving to tell the other medics. "Now, may you leave us to our work?" Gladion nodded and led the group out into the hall.

"I'll go tell Wicke about this," Lillie advised. "She said it herself that she had grown fond of the test subjects, especially Moone. Maybe, since she holds the same position as Faba, she'll be able to keep him under control."

"Good idea," Gladion approved before his sister ran off. "Muria, Keji, return to your usual posts until I call you up again. Silvally and I will be up in the Conservation Area. Type:Null, you stay here. Seeing as the hall ends here, you can stay in the back corner out of anybody's way while you wait for the green light to come back. When that happens, tell Lillie and Wicke, since they're on this floor." The masked pokemon nodded and laid down in the back corner where the hall ended, out of the way. The employees obediently went back to their usual daily duties while Gladion and his partner went to the elevator to head up.


Wicke was working in her office, perfecting the Beast Balls that Luna and Sol needed. The two of them were traveling through the whole region, catching disoriented wild Ultra Beasts that were running amok all over Alola. She was so deeply concentrated in her work that it was quite a shock when Lillie came running in.

"Oh my! What brings you here, Miss Lillie?" the woman inquired to the blonde girl.

"Wicke, something terrible has happened to the test subjects," Lillie panted, catching her breath. "It seems that Faba inserted micro-devices under their skin to drain their energy while the LER project was around. He attempted returning them to the lab by hurting all nine of them. The worst part is that Sunne and Moone had already woken up; now they're unconscious again, as well as Black and Ruby."

"Oh dear! Those poor children!" Wicke cried out in anguish. "I didn't think Faba would learn his lesson when your brother confiscated his pokemon and pokeballs, but I never thought he could stoop this low."

"Neither did we," Lillie admitted. "The medics in the infirmary are trying to remove the devices at the moment. My brother probably already has a plan for when they allow us back in."

"I hope they do allow us back in soon," Wicke fretted. "None of them deserved to feel this kind of agony. After all, they all were only around six years old when they were brought here. At this point, I doubt they have any decent memories of who they once were."

"Six years old?!" the blonde gasped. "That's simply horrifying! I can't believe Faba would kidnap children for the sake of his practically unnecessary research! Does that man have no emotions?!"

"I've been working with him long enough to say yes," the dark-haired woman confessed. "Faba only cares about his work and his pride. He detests children and believes Psychic-Type pokemon to be superior over all other types. And more than anything, he wishes to be leading the Aether Foundation while your mother is out of commission, instead of your brother."

"I suppose I should only expect that. But, even so, the medic said that Emerald, Diamond, and White would've woken up had the devices not interfered with their recovery. Moone's Type:Null is already worried sick about her and -"

"Moone has a Type:Null?" Wicke interrupted.

Lillie stopped herself and sighed. "I suppose I ought to explain about last night. You see, it seems Moone first came to Aether Paradise the same time a Type:Null was created in another lab. The Type: Null caught her scent and picked it up while she was in the infirmary yesterday. Once Moone was awake, seeing the bond already forged between the two, Gladion allowed Moone to keep the Type:Null and travel Alola. Moone agreed, on the condition that she'll do so after all the test subjects were awake and sent to their appropriate regions. Early this morning, Sunne woke up as well. They were introduced to Black and Ruby before the four of them went back to the infirmary to watch over their friends. I believe that was around when Faba activated the devices, because we heard a shriek and three roars of pain from down here. By the time we got there, Type:Null had Faba against a wall, with the four awake hybrids unconscious."

The older woman's golden eyes glittered with tears. "Barely awake for twenty-four hours only to be knocked to the floor again. I'm sure your brother's intending to punish Faba for that."

"He's already extended Faba's time without pokemon, taken the remote that activates the devices, and confined him to his office," Lillie recalled. "Gladion also ordered the medics to remove any and all micro-devices from the hybrids' bodies. Do you think that would be enough?"

Wicke placed her hand on the girl's shoulder. "With all my heart, Miss Lillie, I hope it is."