Infiltrating Aether Paradise, Operation Save Lillie part 1
She jumps off of Charizard's back and offered it a Poké bean before it flew off into the starry skies. A Yungoos ran up to her, nuzzling itself on her legs. Bethany blinked, looking up to see Acerola standing before her. They walked up the steps to the Aether House and went inside.
"We're home! We brought Yungoos with us, too!" Acerola announces.
Yungoos runs off to where Hau was being pressured by the children… what. Bethany simply stared at them blankly and realized that there was no sign of Lillie anywhere.
"Wha... what's going on in here?!" Acerola exclaims.
Hau turned to look at Bethany; he didn't wear his usual cheeky smile. Yup, something is definitely not right.
"Bethany..." his frown deepened. "I'm sorry! I...I can't even make myself smile right now..."
Acerola stomped her foot, causing Hau to flinch. "But why? What happened?" Hau couldn't find the right words to even begin with.
Bethany stepped forward. "Please. Tell us what happened," she asks calmly but Hau didn't seem relaxed at all.
The young boy turned around. "Miss Lillie..."
The young girl, too, followed suit. "She's gone!"
-x-
It's been an hour after their explanation of the situation that happened. Bethany has been dozing off in between their explanation and she could hardly keep herself standing. Who could blame her? She's been running around to various places today, and she hardly got any sleep the night before.
Just when things died down, when suddenly Gladion shows up, looking distressed. "Did I hear right? It was Lillie who took Cosmog?!"
"Wha... were you eavesdropping us?" Bethany looked fixedly at him.
"Geh! You know who Lillie is?!" Hau questioned Gladion in shock.
Gladion placed his hand over his right eye, the corners of his mouth curled down and his eye brows followed suit. "I still couldn't protect them...?"
"Then what was the point of me even leaving home in the first place?!" The look in his eyes expressed the remorse of his past actions.
"I can't stand this... this useless feeling... I'll blow it away with everything I've got!" In the midst of his frustration, he challenged Bethany to a battle.
She hesitantly agreed as they headed outside and the battle began; he was simply no match for her. Gladion was able to defeat her Tsareena before his entire Team was completely wiped out.
Gladion exhales and appeared to have physically relaxed after blowing off some steam during the battle. "That was wrong of me... I shouldn't have dragged you into a meaningless battle like that..."
Bethany shook her head. "Don't worry about it."
"But I told you both! I told you that Cosmog would bring disaster to all of Alola!" he exclaimed. "I have to get it back from them!"
He then approached her. "We'll have to leave from the ferry terminal." Gladion pointed his index finger at her. "You're coming with me whether you like it or not, so the only question is, are you ready to come now or not?" he asks and patiently waited for her answer, to which she responded with a curt nod.
Bethany calls her Charizard Pager (which was the fastest way) as they headed straight towards Malie City. He guides her towards the docks, approaching a boat that had a Team Skull color scheme with the skull insignia on the side. Gladion makes his way towards his boat but Bethany stops him before he could get in.
"Shouldn't we wait for Hau?"
He glances over his shoulder and sighs. "Yeah, I guess so... He's a pretty interesting kid. I'll give you that."
"Besides his undying love for malasadas..." Bethany murmurs under her breath and was stunned to hear a chuckle coming from Gladion. Did he actually hear that? That's embarrassing.
"Growing up in the great kahuna's shadow and still trying to stand up to Hala as an equal? Not just that, but trying to become even better than Hala, too? ...I couldn't do it." Gladion says, shaking his head slightly.
"It wouldn't hurt to try, you know?" She laughs softly and noticed Gladions gaze move on what's next to her.
What was he looking at? Bethany turns her head to the left and there stood Nanu. Seeing him standing there made her flinch and he glanced at her, amusement clearly written on his crimson eyes.
"Officer Nanu?" Gladion was taken aback, clearly he was not expecting him to be here of all places.
"If only Team Skull could've just kept themselves and their troublemaking to Po Town..." He says, sounding irritated but still his voice remained unchanged. "Why'd they have to make all this fuss, huh?"
Nanu turns to face her. "You there, girl. I'm an island kahuna, you know. Battle against me."
Wait, an island k-kahuna?!
"It'll be a good experience for you if you're really hoping to master the island challenge." She hums in agreement, making him raise a brow. "Don't take it too seriously, now."
The battle was an interesting experience; Nanu was a dark type user. She had the typing advantage by sending out her Brionne, Tsareena, and Mimikyu. It was tough, but enjoyable nonetheless.
After winning against the kahuna the most bizarre thing happened. Nanu smirked, it was shocking considering that he never smiles often.
"Well, shoot... Of course, I already knew you had the heart and the strength to storm Team Skull's stronghold, but I didn't know you were this good." He complimented and noticed the blush gracing her cheeks, and then offered to heal up her team.
"Here. This is yours." he handed her a Darkinium Z. "If you want to use the Dark-type Z-power, you've gotta do it like this." then proceeds to show her the move to use the Z-crystal.
"There. Congratulations or whatever." Nanu said bluntly, turning away from them. "You've officially finished your Ula'ula trials."
Nanu was about to walk away but abruptly stopped. "You've got somewhere else to be, don't you? Try not to destroy the whole place. Oh... And you, boy. Gladion. Tell me... If you're really trying to get stronger as you say, then what're you depending on Team Skull for?"
He glanced over to Bethany. "And you, girl. Try not to get yourself killed."
They watched in silence as Nanu took his leave. Right as he left, Hau came running towards them. Had he been running all the way from Route 15?
"Bethany!" He huffed in exhaustion, droplets of sweat trailing down his forehead and cheeks. He was slowly catching his breath. Well, that's what he gets for not using his Charizard Pager.
"Don't you dare say a word about this being fun," Gladion warned earning a small laugh from Bethany.
The three of them hopped inside the boat and with Gladion as the navigator - - revived the engines of the boat and left the docks of Ula'ula. Now, they were heading towards Aether Paradise. The journey was uneventful and the atmosphere inside the small cabin was deathly silent. So silent, in fact, Bethany was slowly dozing off during the ride before eventually falling asleep. When they arrived at Aether Paradise's harbor, Hau shook her awake and she groggily got up from the seat and followed him out the boat.
"We made it this far without running into trouble." Gladion glanced around the place suspiciously. "But I don't like how quiet it is. You two... stay alert."
A yawn escaped her lips and this caught Gladion's attention, already looking irritated. "Sorry."
"But... Why would Lillie be here at Aether Paradise?" Hau asks staring directly at the blond.
Gladion turns his back to them and simply said. "She just will be."
"Augh! This guy!" Hau, in his frustration, pouts as his eyebrow twitched. "Fine. So what are we going to do?"
Gladion contemplates for a moment. "I guess... we take the elevator."
"You guess? And we're following this guy?! He doesn't even have a plan!" Hau calmly freaks out.
A giant sweatdrop appears on the side of her head along with her Mimikyu. "Umm... I'm sure we'll figure something out along the way."
Hau, not wanting to be left alone, decided to stick around. Bethany knew he was afraid of being left behind. Who could blame him? Infiltrating Aether Paradise is probably one of the most dangerous missions. The place is guaranteed to be filled with Aether employees in every corner. Who wouldn't be scared? She at the very least isn't too fearful of their current situation - - having dealt with this exact same scenario during her adventures back in the Unova Region.
Yet, even in her worn-out state, they made it to the elevator while battling a couple of the guards along the way. They were met with a problem and were unable to use the elevator to go to the lower floors. This left them with no other choice but to go up, and as they reached the top a familiar thin voice spoke.
"I, Faba, am the Aether Branch Chief. The only one in the world, I'm irreplaceable." he then faces them having on his usual bored expression. "And here you come back...uninvited?"
Gladion is well aware that Faba literally knows everything that goes on in the Aether Foundation - - getting information out of him was sure going to be a hassle but it's worth to try. At first, Faba, who didn't take him seriously, was in a fit of laughter after being challenged to a battle, to what he simply refers to "batting a mere child?!" before his laughter resumed. Having enough of this, Bethany stepped forward and willingly offered to battle Faba; much to Hau and Gladion's protests which she brushed aside. Fana's laughter ceased abruptly, staring at her in annoyance with her interruption, but ultimately accepted her offer.
Faba sent out his Hypno and Bethany sent out her Mimikyu which casually jumped out of her shoulder, squealing in excitement - - Faba found it frightening.
She told Mimikyu to use Shadow Ball - - three times her Mimikyu used Shadow Ball and Faba's Hypno was down. Mimikyu chirped, running over to her and received a Patterned Bean for its hard work.
A smile graced Hau's lips. "Aue, look at you, Bethany! And Faba is really strong, too!"
Bethany smiled with a tint of pink gracing on her cheeks.
"So..." Gladion trails off, eyes fixated on Faba. "As I said, Faba. You of all people know what I'm here for."
Faba's brow twitched and his lips pressed into a thin line. "Indeed..." he mustered out his words slowly.
"The world truly hasn't been kind to you, hasn't it? Look how hard it has made you." he eyed Gladion before closing his eyes. "If you're looking for Cosmog, I suppose it might be downstairs."
"Downstairs?!" Hau and Bethany exclaimed in unison.
Hau's mind then clicked in realization. "Oh yeah! Ms. Wicke did say there was another lever farther down, didn't she..." he trails off while rubbing the side on his cheek with his index finger.
"Did she...?" Bethany questioned then Hau simply shrugs with a grin. Okay, she really needs to pay attention to this kind of stuff.
"What do you do down there?!" Hau's sudden outbursts made her flinch, later he leaned over her to her ear and whispered an apology.
Faba shrugs. "Experiments to reach a world different from Alola... That's what I've been told, yes."
"We're in a bit of a hurry, Faba. A lift would be nice." Gladion urged the man.
"Why not? This is an act of kindness I can do for you thank my position as branch chief." Faba says walking over to the control panel as Gladion steps aside for him to punch in the buttons.
"Bethany. Hau. If you're ready, let's head down." he whispers, only for them to hear.
Once he was done, Faba stepped out of the elevator and turned to face them with a bored expression and watched as Gladion approached the control panel, pressing a button, sending them straight down to the basement of the facility. Unbeknownst to them, it was all going to be a waste of time. Faba had other plans for when they return from below - - a grin forming his lips.