A/N: I'm probably taking some liberties with Nihilego and its poison in regards to how an attack would affect a human but I'm just rolling with it for purposes of this fic (I know what effect the neurotoxin has-that'll show up later on. I'm just keeping its poison attacks seperate from that).

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Nanu couldn't believe that the creatures were back, and yet there he was, looking at the letter sent to him by Looker. If Nanu hadn't had the information from his contacts around Alola's other islands, he would have perhaps dismissed Looker's letter. But the facts were staring him in the face, as were some reports he'd heard from his fellow kahuna. Reports of unfamiliar creatures. Nanu himself had seen something unfamiliar, from a distance. The creature had gone off into a cavern before he had been able to get a good look at it, but what he had seen made Nanu unnerved. It had suspiciously looked like the creature from years ago. And it likely had been according to Looker's letter.

It was…unsettling, to get a better look at the creature, and not know that it had likely been the exact same monster that had attacked MaryAnn all those years ago.

Nanu closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Around him, Meowth were crowding around, some poking him with paws while others let out various sounds of concern. Nanu opened his eyes and gave the nearest Pokémon a few reassuring pats on the head. He might be on the floor of the station right now, but it was mostly due to shock. Nanu had hoped that he would never again have to deal with the creatures. The last time had been enough. Nanu ran a hand through his hair slowly, considering how they could have gotten to Alola in the first place. It's didn't take long to land on a likely culprit from the information he'd received.

Lusamine.

Aether Paradise's president had somehow opened up an ultra-wormhole. No one, not even Wicke or the other Aether employees, had realized just how deeply obsessed Lusamine had become over the Ultra Beasts. Or one in particular that Nanu had come to learn was called Nihilego.

Nanu frowned. The reason he knew what the creature was called was due to Sun dropping by and letting him know what he and Moon had seen in Ultra Space. Where they had found Lusamine and many Nihilego. Nanu gave his head a shake. He still couldn't believe that two 11 year olds on their island challenge had defeated Aether Paradises' Lusamine. Nanu couldn't recall if it had been Sun or Moon, as he remembered that he had challenged both kids as Ula' Ula Island's kahuna. Secretly, Nanu was relieved that Tapu Fini had finally chosen someone else to be kahuna for Poni Island. It had been getting tiresome, going between both islands, and Nanu knew that his Pokémon appreciated less battles.

MaryAnn the shiny Meowth let out a quiet mew and crawled onto Nanu's lap.

"I'm all right." Nanu assured the Meowth, as he looked down and pet the feline Pokémon's head gently. MaryAnn was still only about half the size of a normal Alolan Meowth, and Nanu wasn't sure if it had just been born that way or if the deep, painful scratches across the Pokémon's back as a baby had stunted its growth. MaryAnn didn't seem to mind, and neither did any of the other Meowth in the station. Persian, in fact, had been delighted at the dainty size, as it meant that the larger feline could carry the Meowth around as it pleased. Not that it needed to, as MaryAnn seemed to see the Persian as its surrogate parent, and hardly ever left Persian's side, or Nanu's. The smaller Meowth liked Guzma's presence as well, on those rare occasions that the punk had chosen to pay a visit to the station. After all, Guzma had been the one to save the baby Pokémon in the first place.

MaryAnn's purring started up at the attention, before it swatted a small paw at the letter in Nanu's hand. Unable to reach it, the small Meowth shakily stood on its hind legs to swat a paw at the darkinium z around Nanu's neck, and succeeded in batting it around. MaryAnn's eyes squeezed shut in pleasure at the accomplishment, and Nanu couldn't help but smile faintly at the way the small Pokémon had picked the habit up from Persian. Even now, Nanu could see Persian squeeze its eyes shut similarly and let out a growl of approval at MaryAnn, both for trying to stand up, and for succeeding in battling the darkinium z.

Nanu absently held MaryAnn against his chest, because he knew that it could only remain on its hind legs with help. Nanu had been correct when assuming that the damage was great enough that MaryAnn wouldn't ever participate in Pokémon battles. MaryAnn could get around fine on all fours, but it clearly pained the little feline to try and stand up, even if the other Meowth in the station tried to help it up. Nanu was just relieved that MaryAnn didn't seem to put out about not being able to stand upright, and it likely came from the idea that Persian walked around on all fours.

Nanu closed his eyes. He was stalling. He didn't want to think about what the letter he held meant. The red eyed officer presumed that he would be asked about helping track down the creatures, as he had ten years ago. Nanu doubted that he was just being asked for advice, as Looker had insinuated in the letter. Frankly, Nanu had no desire to have anything to do with the International Police after what had happened the last time he had worked for them, before leaving it altogether to come live in Alola.

But there was other news that held Nanu's attention, even before the letter had been delivered to him. It was the fact that Guzma had disbanded Team Skull. Nanu had yet to find out why. It wasn't that he really cared, but he hadn't seen the young man much over the past year and a half. And when he had seen Guzma, it was only for brief instances, as the younger punk seemed distracted in some way. If anything, Nanu wanted to get into contact with Guzma, even for a little while, to see how the younger man was dong. After all, Team Skull had given Guzma something to do, and Nanu was a little concerned what Guzma was going to do with himself now that he didn't have that to distract him. And anything the punk might choose to do from now on might be impacted because of the fact that he had been leading Team Skull. There were still people around Alola that feared Guzma, and while that might stroke Guzma's ego, it wouldn't do him any good now that Team Skull no longer existed as a group.

Nanu let out a soft sigh and considered Looker's note, before he set it aside. Apart from figuring out where Guzma had gotten to, it wasn't like Nanu had anything better to do now that Team Skull was no longer something he had to worry over. Not that he had actually bothered to do much about them. Nanu felt that he may as well go do something useful, since after Team Skull has disbanded, he had taken to staying in the station alone with his Meowth. Something he did do but not quite as often as he did now. Despite the late hour, Nanu figured it would be good to get the initial talk with Looker over with. The red eyed officer would prefer to learn just how bad the situation was, and then decide how involved in the matter he wanted to become.

Persian let out a sudden growl, before it rose and trotted over to the front door of the station.

"What is it?" Nanu asked his Persian as he stood up, holding MaryAnn against his chest.

Persian reared up and opened the door with a few scrabbles of its paws, clearly thinking that its trainer was taking too long. Once the door was open, Persian seemed to startle before it let out a low, confused growl.

Nanu frowned, before he turned his attention to what his Pokémon was staring at. The sight Nanu saw made him feel as if he had been punched roughly in the gut, because out there, in the rain and standing very close to the entrance of the station was a Golisopod.

At first Nanu had thought it was a person, until bug Polemon got closer. It was an injured Golisopod, as Nanu could make out where lacerations had cut through the hard shell of the Pokémon, one of its larger arms twitching close to its body where another very nasty-looking injury was bleeding through the armored shell. The wounds almost looked like they were…poisoned. Nanu brought MaryAnn back into the station and closed the door before the smaller feline could follow, drawing out a quiet mewl of protest.

Nanu and Persian moved closer to Golisopod, which held still as it seemed to sense that both human and Pokémon wanted to look at its injuries. It did let out a low whirl of worry, as if it were preoccupied with something. Golisopod shied away from Nanu's touch, before it let out a series of distressed clicks and made motions with its uninjured limbs.

It was then that Nanu realized the Golisopod was alone, no trainer in sight.

"Where's Guzma?" Nanu asked the injured Pokémon. There was no doubt in his mind that this particular Golisopod was Guzma's.

Golisopod sunk to the ground with a wince, and made some hissing and clicks, motioning with its limbs again.

The Persian meowed back and forth to it, and in cases like these, Nanu would have given anything to be able to understand what they were saying to one another.

Honchkrow suddenly popped out of its pokeball and flapped its wings as it let out a loud screech, beak hooking and tugging Nanu's collar.

"I know." Nanu told his Pokémon, freeing himself from Honchkrow's sharp beak. Nanu got Persian into its Pokeball before turning to Honchkrow. "Let's go." As Nanu shielded his eyes from the rain, he let Honchkrow take him who knows where. Nanu was far more concerned over the fact that the Golisopod had abandoned its trainer in the first place, and could only wonder what the hell Guzma had gotten himself in to. The only reason Nanu could think of for Golisopod to leave its trainer would be to find help. Which was apparently Nanu. That Golisopod believed Nanu would help its trainer was interesting. Not that Nanu wouldn't. The older officer just hadn't expected that he'd have been the first choice, since he hadn't really seen Guzma all that much during the past year and a half.

Nanu held tight to Honchkrow as the bird Pokémon flew a little faster, crowing something that sounded like alarm the closer it got to wherever it was flying. Nanu soon recognized where they were headed.

The Lake of the Moone.

But why in the world would Guzma be there? It was nothing but ruins.

Nanu had his answer the moment his Honchkrow landed on the ground near the altar. As soon as Nanu realized what he was seeing, he immediately decided that it was something he never wished to see ever again in his life.

Guzma was there all right, and he was struggling with several strange jellyfish-like creatures that were attempting to wrap his limbs with tentacles while some of them tried to flop over Guzma's head. Guzma was swatting and batting them away as best he could, clearly cursing in some way as the creatures merely drifted back to try and grab a hold of him.

Were these Ultra Beasts?

Nanu hadn't even realized that he had begun to run, panic seizing him, and fast. It was too much of an echo of the past, even if these creatures had no visible teeth. It was too much. The closer Nanu got, the faster he tried to push himself to get to Guzma. Apparently the creatures could sense Nanu in some way, because a few closest to Guzma appeared to become agitated over how quick Nanu was moving toward them. The realization that one of the creatures was preparing to attack in some way made Nanu call out a warning.

"Run!"

Guzma didn't seem to hear Nanu, as he appeared to be frozen in place when one of the creatures actually wrapped a limb around his arm.

"Krokorok." Nanu said, hastily letting out his Pokémon. "Use Rock Throw."

The attack knocked back a few of the creatures drifting toward Guzma from behind, but it didn't stop the one that was closing in, limbs thrashing.

Nanu knew that his Pokémon wouldn't get to the attacking creature fast enough, but he could. Nanu didn't even think about the consequences as he hit Guzma hard, shoving the younger man out of the way of the creature before it could land the strike. Nanu wasn't so lucky, as he took a sharp hit to his right side, finding out too late that the creature's tentacles had a poisonous touch. The creature's poison went straight through Nanu's clothes, leaving behind a long laceration and more worryingly, a burning pain from the site of the wound.

Krokorok let out an angry cry and kicked up the ground to send another rock throw at the creature that had attacked its trainer. More falling rocks appeared to be the cue for the creatures to leave the area. One moment, there were many floating about, the next, they were all gone, as if they had never been there in the first place.

The moment the creatures were gone was the moment Guzma snapped back into the present.

"Thought I told you to run." Nanu wheezed at Guzma, swaying a little as his hand hovered over his injured right side. He ought to look at the wound. The burning sensation was getting worse.

Guzma stared at Nanu for a moment, as if not seeing him, or comprehending that he was there. Then, the ex-leader of Team Skull's eyes widened, and he sucked in a sharp breath. "Shit. Did one of those Nihilego get you?"

Nanu couldn't help but let out a rasp of a chuckle over the concern in Guzma's voice. They hadn't seen one another face to face very often over the past year and a half. Before he could think to actually say anything, Nanu ended up collapsing to the ground beneath him, the creature's, Nihilego's, poison much more potent than Nanu had expected.

"Hey, old man? What the hell?" Intermixed with Guzma's words was a worried meow from Persian and a low grumble from Krokorok.

Nanu faded in and out of consciousness, aware of Guzma's presence as the younger man crouched down next to him. Nanu wasn't able to take in whatever else Guzma was saying, though the punk sounded almost…afraid. Panicked. Nanu felt the sensation of someone picking him up, but apart from that, all Nanu could focus on was the fact that Nihilego's poison was taking him down quick. Nanu had a brief, morbid moment where he thought it would be a fitting end to a wretch like him. To have a different creature be the cause of his death, when Nanu had hunted down another kind of creature a decade ago. Nanu closed his eyes, his vision swimming and his breathing labored, shaking and feeling feverish already. The poison was potent. He wanted to tell Guzma something about that but what was it? He couldn't think clearly.

Mercifully, Nanu passed out soon after, and didn't have to think about anything at all.

-x-x-x-

Guzma had been transfixed when those damn jellyfish abominations had attacked him out of the blue. He had been on his way to visit Nanu, figuring that the cop was due to have some entertainment in his life. Entertainment meaning a Pokémon battle, because Guzma had been ready for one. He wanted to beat someone down, and figured that Nanu would at least consider a Pokémon battle with him.

Nihilego appearing out of nowhere to converge on him had been a shock, and he'd barely managed to dodge out of the way.

Guzma hadn't thought the Nihilego would follow him all the way to the Lake of the Moone, but he had guessed wrong. He didn't know where Golisopod had gotten to, and was concerned that the Nihilego had taken his Pokémon down somewhere to poison it to death, or to take it over and…

Persian let out a cornered growl from nearby, while Krokorok pokes his side, and the sound and touch snapped Guzma back into the present.

Shit.

Right.

He, as well as Nanu's Pokémon, were now headed away from the Lake of the Moone and were currently in the cave that led to the meadow. Guzma was carefully carrying Nanu, not liking at all how feverish and shaky the older man was. He wasn't all that heavy to Guzma, so that wasn't the problem right now. What was the problem was the poisonous cut that the Nihilego had given to Nanu's side. Guzma had all but ripped both jacket and shirt off of Nanu with Persian's help, lest the poison touch anywhere else and cause more damage. The uneven breathing was worrying, and Nanu was far too hot to the touch.

"Dammit." Guzma set Nanu down on the ground, resting him against a pillar in the long cave that led to and from the altar. The poison seemed to be spreading and it looked to be melting the skin along the wound now. Guzma checked Nanu over and after frowning at the z crystal shining around Nanu's neck, Guzma had a thought. He let his Ariados out. "Hey, use string shot and see if it sucks up the poison."

Ariados shifted back and forth on its legs, head tilting to and fro as if trying to pick how best to go about its trainer's request. Then, it turned and shot out sticky web with precision.

"Hey, I said string shot. Not sticky web." Guzma griped, though he kept a hand on Nanu's bare shoulder to make sure the older man didn't fall over.

Ariados let out several clicks, before it turned and pulled at the webbing it had placed, and carefully pulled the strands back.

Guzma could see the web melting, and he couldn't help but stare in awe, not realizing how strong the poison had been. "Shit, I guess I should be grateful that your poison isn't as bad as that Ninhilgeo's."

"Did you say Nihilego?" A taut voice asked. There was an intake of breath. "Is that Nanu?"

"Who's askin'?" Guzma stood abruptly, blocking Nanu from the man that had appeared in the gloom of the cave.

Persian remained near Nanu but Krokorok joined Guzma to look the newcomer over suspiciously.

Guzma frowned at the other man. He was wearing a suit and a brown trench coat over it. Brown hair was swept to one side. The man's gray eyes conveyed concern.

"My name, you may call me Looker. I sent a letter to Nanu, requesting to speak with him. He didn't turn up, so I decided to go to him." Looker's expression became serious as he stepped around Guzma and Krokorok to watch Ariados carefully remove webbing from the wound. "Was he..?"

"Attacked by a Nihilego, yeah." Guzma responded, still a little suspicious.

"He needs an antidote. That creature's poison can be fatal to humans. It isn't anything like the creature's neurotoxins." Looker jogged back the way he had come, voice rising. "Chief! Anabel! Do you have that antidote in hand? We need it right now!"

Guzma settled on the ground next to Nanu, and in time to catch the older man as he sagged to the side. "Shit. Shit." Guzma held Nanu carefully as Ariados finished pulling the webbing off of Nanu's wound. Guzma craned his neck, and decided that the wound looked a little better without as much poison eating away at the flesh. "Do it again." Guzma urged his Pokémon.

Ariados turned with a hiss and a click and repeated the process. It was partway through pulling the webbing off when Looker returned with a small vial and crouched down.

"We need him to drink this, now, before the poison gets spread too far into his system." Looker popped open the top of the vial, but it soon became clear that Nanu couldn't be roused enough to get him to drink the antidote himself.

"Give it here." Guzma said impatiently, and took the antidote when Looker handed it to him.

"Make sure he drinks most of it, or it won't do any good." Looker cautioned.

Guzma tried a few different ways to get Nanu to drink the antidote, but when that didn't work, Guzma decided he didn't give a fuck that he had an audience. There was one surefire way he knew he could transfer the liquid, and it would give him an excuse to kiss the cop in the process for being a damn idiot. Guzma carefully used his left hand to tip Nanu's head back. Without preamble, Guzma downed the antidote, pried open Nanu's jaw with his other hand, and transferred the antidote from his mouth to Nanu's. Guzma felt amusement wash over him at the sound of Looker's surprised gasp, but Guzma was more concerned with Nanu drinking the damn antidote. Once satisfied that most of the liquid had gone down Nanu's throat, Guzma snuck in bit of an actual kiss before drawing away and checking on Ariados' progress with the web.

"Do it again." Guzma repeated to his Pokémon, as he jabbed a finger at Looker. "You have any medical supplies on you or do we gotta get to the police station for those? It's closer than the Pokémon Center."

"Those supplies I do not have." Looker said, recovering from his surprise. "Let's go. I already sent Anabel ahead to the station. She should be bringing more antidotes."

Guzma had Ariados leave some webbing over the wound, and picked Nanu up once more. The cop was still shaking, but he seemed to be doing a little bit better, considering the poison wasn't eating away at him anymore. Or didn't seem to be. Guzma didn't even notice the rain once he and Looker reached route 17. All Guzma was concerned with was the fact that Nanu was a little too limp in his arms, and that the darkinium z against his chest was too bright for a z crystal. When Guzma reached the station and got inside, the darkinium z was back to its normal dark color, which made Guzma wonder if he'd imagined the bright light that had emitted from it in the cavern.

-x-x-x-

Nanu was honestly surprised to wake up after the poisonous attack that had taken him down and out. Nanu could have sworn that he had heard voices apart from Guzma's but couldn't be entirely certain. His whole body ached, exhausted and beaten down from the poison that had gotten into his system. Nanu had trouble trying to figure out what part of him didn't hurt. Nanu became a little more aware the longer he was awake, and realized with a jolt that he was back in the station outside of Po Town.

"You're awake, 000." A voice commented from nearby. "You're lucky to be alive after being poisoned by UB 01 Symbiont."

"I don't feel up for a chat right now, Looker." Nanu promptly closed his eyes, the idea of speaking when he felt like shit undesirable. "Leave me be."

"Could I at least ask how you managed to be poisoned in the first place? According to reports, the Nihilego do not move very quickly."

Nanu opened his eyes and sent a tired glare in the general direction of the other man.

"Can't I be at least a little concerned for your health?" Looker asked, hands in the air in a placating gesture even as his expression remained serious. "I just don't ever recall seeing you injured like this when we worked together."

Nanu considered Looker quietly, trying to figure out how much he wanted to tell the other man. Nanu knew that he wouldn't breathe a word about suspecting that Guzma was a Faller. The younger man had enough to deal with, especially after being harassed by the Nihilego. Not to mention Guzma was probably floundering over what to do with himself now that he was no longer running Team Skull as the leader. Nanu considered Lusamine's actions, and had an uneasy feeling that Guzma had been the one to go through an Ultra Wormhole with her. It would explain why so many Ultra Beasts had descended on Guzma at the Lake of the Moone.

"Nanu?"

The whole situation was already a mess, and even though Nanu hadn't really wanted to get involved, he now knew that he would. And Nanu was certain that Looker knew it as well, despite the other man not knowing about what had happened to Guzma.

"I can come back later." Looker offered, unaware of Nanu's racing thoughts. "But I do need to have you take an antidote every few hours. Anabel had had one on hand, and we gave it to you. Sort of. It was lucky, because you looked…" Looker's jaw briefly tightened, as if not wanting to think about it. He continued speaking. "It's thanks to that antidote that you're even awake right now. We've found out that UB 01 has very potent poison, stronger than a Toxapex. The effect is also worse on a human than a Pokémon, to the point that it could kill a human without treatment. You'll need to keep taking antidotes for at least a week. The time between taking the antidotes will likely end up being further apart, depending on how well it works taking apart the poison in your system."

"I thought you were going to leave me in peace?" Nanu remained Looker tiredly. All Nanu wanted to do right now was scoop up a Meowth or two and sleep.

"I'm not going to leave you all alone. Someone needs to be here to make sure you keep taking antidotes." Looker said, some concern overtaking the serious expression. "I'll make sure that you have enough antidotes. I should actually get more of them for you."

Nanu wasn't feeling his best so he couldn't exactly argue against that logic. There wasn't any harm in someone around to keep an eye out to make sure he was all right. Nanu watched as Looked opened the station door and poked his head out, presumably speaking to someone from the man's quiet tone.

"I'll be back, 000." Looked had turned around to speak to Nanu. "So for now, he…" Looker indicated someone outside the station, "…will keep an eye on you." Looker exited the station, saying something quietly, which was responded to with a laugh.

Guzma entered the station, and closed the door behind him, an unreadable expression on his face as he spotted Nanu awake and sitting up in his bed.

Nanu wasn't all that surprised to see Guzma, as he figured that the younger punk had been the one to carry him. At least, Nanu thought Guzma had, since he'd felt himself being picked up before passing out. Nanu frowned at Guzma, "What did Looker say to you?"

"That you should be able to drink the antidote yourself, now that you're up." Guzma leered, though he seemed distracted. "No need for me to give it to you mouth to mouth again."

"Is that so?" Nanu raised a brow at that before he half smirked. "Too bad I wasn't awake to see Looker's face." Nanu's smile vanished when he saw the look Guzma was giving him. "What?"

"What the hell were you thinking?" Guzma snapped at Nanu. "What kind of an idiot runs toward those freaky things?"

"Why do you think?" Nanu asked quietly, not at all put off with the punk's angry display.

Guzma seemed to deflate at that, as if just remembering what Nanu had told him before. About what had happened to someone in the past when a creature had attacked them.

"You didn't move when I called out to you." Nanu pointed out.

Guzma was quiet at that, clearly not about to deny it.

"You're all right?" Nanu asked.

"Shit." Guzma groaned. "Of course I am. I didn't get hit with any poison attacks." Guzma looked over Nanu's bandaged torso. "Damn cop. Should have let it attack me instead. Probably could've dealt with the poison better than you."

"Come over here." Nanu sighed.

"Why?" Guzma asked, hunching his shoulders and looking defensive.

Nanu just looked at him with an indifferent expression. He wasn't going to repeat himself. He was simply too worn out.

Guzma let out a huff before he made it to the bed and sat down on the edge of it, eying Nanu as if expecting the other man to drop dead any second now.

Nanu reached out and managed to take hold of one of Guzma's hands.

Guzma stared down at it as if not comprehending the touch.

"I won't be kicking the bucket any time soon." Nanu said quietly.

"Good." Guzma mumbled, even as he twisted his hand within Nanu's grasp to hold the hand in return.

Nanu wasn't sure how long they sat like that in silence, but soon enough, Nanu began to doze off.

"Don't do anything like that again, old man."

"No promises." Nanu replied as he began to drift back off to sleep, a few Meowth curling up by his head.

The dreamless rest was welcome, because then, Nanu didn't have to try to explain to Guzma that going after any of the Ultra Beasts was a dangerous venture. Nanu had no intention of dragging Guzma into the situation, however, despite what the younger man might say.

Though convincing the former Team Skull leader to sit on the sidelines was going to be a bit more difficult than anticipated.