During a beautiful morning on Four Island, Tammy finished packing up her four photos, her spare clothes and the supplies she brought with her and was ready to head out the door with Pipi and her family. "Sorry about taking so long, we are all multi tasking this morning and I got lost in a daydream."
Falkner didn't mind and kept the door open. "We all got to get back home today and it isn't far away. Once you leave on the boat, we will head back to Johto. Mr. Sun and Professor Lillie are going to be proud of you."
The girl looked forward to the smiles as her Eevee jumped on her shoulder and cheered. "Vwee!"
She followed the group out to have one last look at the island and went to the port to find a familiar boy looking at the sea, she asked the group she was with. "Do you mind if I say my goodbyes to Lewis? He made the contests fun."
Janine allowed it and guided her family to the docking station. "The boat will arrive in a few minutes, finish your business with him and we will see you off!"
Tammy appreciated it and approached the calm Lewis. "Alola, I'm heading out! Thank you for giving me a challenge at the festival. It made it pretty fulfilling."
The boy was broken from his tranquility and turned around to keep himself looking cool. "Next time is going to be different. I heard you got another ribbon for participating in all those contests."
Tammy hummed and showed her Ribbon Case, with the Mountain Heart Ribbon, the Amber Ribbon, the Spring Ribbon, the Midnight Ribbon and the Prism Ribbon. "Five of them, that is four more than what Mom and Dad expected!"
Lewis looked disappointed and had a closer look. "Yeah, but would they find it awkward that you are not coming home with a complete collection?"
Tammy shrugged and answered. "Not really, especially not after they see the photos."
Lewis imagined what kind of people took this girl in and reached for his pocket. "True, those looked as awesome as the coordinator and her pokemon!"
He pulled out a ribbon case and took out the Sunset Ribbon first before Tammy responded to the compliment. "I don't want to admit it, but this is what I think about your skills."
He saw a space in between the red and yellow ribbons and placed the orange ribbon in. Looking like a matching set as he took out the Sea Lapis Ribbon. "I don't know who Pamela is, but she is pretty lucky to know you."
The girl was about to blabber as the boy placed the blue ribbon after the green and had a final vision as he took out the Twilight Ribbon, the indigo color to go with the blue and violet. "That might be why I am doing this. What do you think?"
Tammy saw the Lewis trying desperately to not blush at her and stopped him from placing the Twilight Ribbon in between the blue and violet colored ribbons. "Are you doing this because you have a crush on me?"
The boy showed his blush, tried to deny it and gave up his reasoning as he answer. "Yes and I'm trying to get over it, why did this become worse when you told me about that girl?!"
Tammy found the words to be insanity as she answered. "I don't know, but there has to be a better way to do it. You earned those ribbons and do you really want to give them to me?!"
Lewis agreed and asked. "I have earned, but I want to get this out of my system. Do you want the ribbons?"
The girl nodded. "If it can calm you down, yes I do."
The boy placed the Twilight Ribbon next to the Sea Lapis Ribbon and the Twilight Ribbon, completing the case to where eight colors complimented it. The colors of a rainbow and the prism that gives off a matching shine, Tammy and her Eevee looked at it and found it to be a beautiful collection as the boy tried to leave. "Have a safe trip Tammy! Thank you for making things fun!"
The girl stopped him and closed her ribbon case as she had her hands at her hips, she rolled her eyes and gave a smile. "This is because you are a decent person."
She closed her eyes, puckered her lips and gave the boy a kiss on the cheek, something that left him petrified as the girl backed away and opened her eyes. "Something to remember me by! Thank you, I hope we meet again!"
She walked into the station and left Lewis to clear out his emotions, he smiled in something, brushed his hair and walked back home. "I hope we meet again too."
At the port.
Tammy petted her Eevee as she saw a boat coming by and finished explaining what happened. "If I didn't do it, he would stress himself out worrying if he did the right thing! He is smart enough to over it with on his own, but anxiety is a killer if he think he messed up the landing!"
Falkner found it insane thinking as Janine agreed with the girl. "His heart had to be broken sooner or later and you did it gently. Now you have a full collection of ribbons to show off?"
Tammy showed them the ribbons that caused Pipi's eyes to sparkle, the Coordinator sighed and answered. "Yeah, I'll have to tell Mom and Dad what happened."
Her frown became a smile as she closed the case and gave a respectful bow. "Thank you for letting me stay over with you. I appreciated the company."
The family gave a small bow back as the young ninja waved her goodbye. "Thank you for coming, I had fun hanging out with you. Tell Meruta we wish him well!"
Tammy promised her that she will and was ready to show her ticket to a sailor guarding the doorway. "I will, I have a lot of things to do when I get back home. Take care everyone!"
The family waved her goodbye and gave the girl little regret, leaving a friend is always hard, she showed the sailor the ticket and was let on the ferry. She was given keys to a cabin and went to a familiar, well kept room. She locked the door, let her Eevee off her shoulder and let out her Pikachu Belle. "Phew! What a week. Neo, Nica, we got work to do when we get home. We need to set up all these prizes we got, visit Aether Paradise to see if we can get a Porygon to have evolve into a Porygon-Z, check up on those Meltan... and then focus on having things settled down for a trip even longer and more rewarding than this one!"
She laid on the bed and took out her Rotom Dex to give an order. "Dex, would you call the home phone! Mom and Dad need to know I am coming back to them!"
The Dex buzzed in obedience as the Eevee and Pikachu leaped on the girl and tried to relax her. "ZZZZure thing, you have accomplizzzhed a lot mizz Tammy!" Beep boop!
On Alola, at a house that wit stood a mighty storm.
A Kartana sliced apart a severed tree branch for Lillie to place into a trash bag, they looked on at a blown over backyard that was free of clutter in pride as an Audino and shiny Comfey walked out of the house to let the woman known of something. The Kartana skittered in relief as Lillie gave her instructions before going in with her pokemon. "Thank you for your help, go inside before the wind picks up, I'll follow and tend to Daphne and Leon."
She went to the master bed room and heard a faint crying, her babies knew their mother was busy but couldn't help themselves. Lillie took a deep breath, spent half an hour changing and cleaning them and ended her morning by having them latch onto her breasts and watching them smile. Ring ring!
The busy mother went back to the living room and watched her Audino answer the video phone for her, she heard a familiar voice shouting. "Alola Medic, is Mom and Dad busy at the moment?"
The Audino turned around to find his trainer and winked towards screen. "Aud!" He stepped aside and let Lillie have a look, finding Tammy laying exhausted with her Pikachu and Eevee, the matriarch found it to be a different location as she heard her adopted daughter announce. "I'm heading back home and I got a lot of things to show you!"
She showed her ribbon case and revealed an assortment of gorgeous ribbons that left Lillie speechless. "Goodness, you were working for those!"
Tammy closed her left eye in doubt and pointed to the orange, blue and indigo ribbons. "If you were not watching, these three ribbons were given to me by a boy that was being a rival to me and won them. Is it wrong for me to accept these kind of gifts?"
Lillie was astonished as her babies fed away. "Why did he do it?"
The girl sighed and looked embarrassed to answer, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath and confessed. "He was trying to let go of a crush he had on me and being cool about it. Boys are weird!"
Lillie agreed with her and chimed a tune. "They are and you seen Elio. At least you have a complete set. Sorry if I looked busy, a hurricane passed by last night and I just finished cleaning up the mess in the backyard."
Tammy jolted astonished. "A hurri... what was the damage? Are you all alright?"
Lillie let the girl know the danger had past and explained what happened. "Our house wasn't too damaged save for what was blown over, but it took Elio and I all day to clean everything up. He cleaned the front yard, the roof and removed the boards,that didn't even begin the fact that he was called to work an hour ago while helping in the house. Me and Shockums managed to get the power back on and bring the house back to normal."
The girl smiled greatly impressed and was worried about one more thing. "But this would mean that Dad is going to be late for work and will have to deal with that. Sheesh this is a mess!"
Lillie agreed with her and felt a sweat trickling down her neck. "It wasn't an emergency, but he is helping keep the peace in Prehistoric Park while they make repairs from the hurricane. We will get ready for your arrival, you must have a lot to tell us about."
Tammy tried to keep herself under control and was ready to disconnect. "I got a lot to show off and I got a lot to do. I'll tell you what they are when I get back. Have a good day Mom!"
Lillie wished the girl a good day back. "I look forward to hearing it from you. Try not to get bored!"
Tammy hoped she wouldn't and disconnected, leaving a mother that felt like her heart was slowly breaking. "She is growing up each and everyday."
Burp!
She looked down at Daphne, who finished her fill was reaching for her mother's hair. Lillie smiled in pride as Leon finished and gave a whimper, Lillie patted him on the back and whispered. "You and Daphne are growing greatly and soon you will be able to do a lot of things on your own."
Her son looked unnerved from something took a deep breath to keep something in and opened his mouth to let loose a louder burp. Lillie went to the couch to think of more affectionate words for her children as the shiny Comfey floated behind her and helped undo her pony tail, letting her hair fall down and her tied locks of hair to dangle down. "Thank you Comfey. Daphne, Leon, your big sister is coming back. Are you excited?"
The babies gave a gummy smile and played with their mothers hair, answering the question in an infants innocence. Lillie felt warm in the soul and let her mind wander. Knowing a young bird is returning to the nest.
In a park on Akala Island.
Elio let a dragon type Silvally talk to a blue Tyrunt into staying put outside of a damaged pen and overlooked his Genesect herding a flock of Archens back into a repaired aviary as Olivia summarized the chaos. "Most of the roads and buildings all over the island took the worse of this storm and it took a great effort to have these pokemon grow accustomed to using poke balls for shelter. Thank you for coming to assist in restoring order."
Elio didn't find it a problem as the Genesect dashed out of the large cage, shifted from jet mode and closed the cage for an assistant to finish locking. "Not a problem, a tropical storm comes when it pleases and there isn't much we can do about it once it is coming. It does seem that the pokemon here have managed."
The large, metal pen was finished being repaired as a worker waved to the Kahuna. "Miss Olivia, everything is ready for Titan."
Olivia listened and lowered herself to the fascinated Tyrunt's level. "Okay, its time to settle down for the day. You and the others have had a long night!" The royal heir gave a cheerful bark and growled goodbye to Kalden, who growled his own and wished him for a good day.
The Genesect approached Elio and asked his trainer. "So boss, what else do we have to do around here?"
The man summarized the situation and looked disappointed in himself. "Because I came to work late, everyone at work is doing their part all over Alola. This was all they had left and once this is done, we got a large amount of pokemon heading to the deck since the stations can't handle every pokemon that had an accident from this storm. It is going to be crammed and we are going to be more busy there for the next couple days. Wait a minute!"
He looked around at the park and felt an idea shine. "If it gets too crowded, we might be causing more harm than good in helping these pokemon. Especially since some of the pokemon are going to have to get use to living with so many others and toughing it out... pokemon that might have problems with that. I think I know a pokemon that is going to get scared of being overcrowded we don't do something."
Kalden tapped his claws in knowing which one as a Pikachu came running out of an aquarium and cheered good news as a Rotom Dex followed him to translate. "Pika!" "BZZT! Boss, I think Domha is thinking about making another building. BZZT!"
The Dex showed a schematic for an enclosure that can create low temperatures, Elio was about to agree with what he saw and voiced a problem. "I know a pokemon that might be happy to know of this, but she would just end up being alone if I go through with it. We got to get back to base once Olivia says we can leave and we can use that time to ask." He let the Pikachu jump on his shoulder and watched the Kahuna petting and kissing the Tyrunt goodbye, she left the pokemon be and exit the pen to thank the man. "That should be the last of them. Thank you for lending a hand Elio!"
The man appreciated it and called the Genesect and his Silvally back as the Rotom Dex went into his bag. "Not a problem ma'am. Anything else you or Domha need?"
Olivia shook her head and let out an Aerodactyl for a ride. "I need to get to Heahea and meet up with Mallow, Lana and Kiawe for an update. What of you?"
Elio raised a pager to call down a Charizard for his own ride. "I got to get to base and see more of this hurricanes damage. I'll see you later, tell Madison I said hi!"
The two flying pokemon flew into separate directions, going by for their own part of the day. The Charizard landed on the wet, white floor of Aether Paradise and let Elio off. "Thank you, I got it from here!"
He left the Charizard to fly off and went into the facility to find many busy employees running about. He found the elevator had descended to let down Gladion, Madison, an Emolga and an Amaura that looked relieved to be out of somewhere. "What... hey guys, what happened up at the deck?"
The pokemon ranger turned around as Gladion had a poke ball ready. "It is overcrowded, a lot of pokemon lost shelter because of this storm and some of the pokemon living up there are handling it worse than others. Some of us volunteered to look after some of these pokemon while this is sorted out."
Gladion nodded as the Amaura tapped her nose on the ball and let herself be called in. "You being late was a blessing in disguise because she would never want to leave you if you took her in. The Meltan quickly got the message across that going out right now is not an option and we can use all the help we can get up there. Think you can do it?"
Elio saluted and answered him boldly. "Will do boss, by the way, did Nate get back to Unova or did the hurricane changed plans?"
Gladion sighed and followed Madison off the elevator. "Completely, it is going to hit the next land mass in a few days and it is the only quick pathway from Alola to Unova without asking the Hoopa. Nate came by the lab to observe more of... something and is going to tell Hilda the first chance he gets. Madison and I are going to check Poni Island with Hapu and make sure nothing major happened there. We will see you later!"
Elio hoped so and went on the elevator to ascend, up at the deck, he and Stormy found a place filled with injured pokemon. They saw Heidi giving orders to the various employees as Haley was listing off what was done. "I want those Stufful calmed down ten minutes ago! Dry up the Geodudes and Rockruffs asap! I don't know how that Mantine keeps getting out, but he needs to learn to stay in the lake!"
She noticed Elio and was about to blow a whistle as Haley stopped her and had a job for him. "We have a Magmar to the north west that has a sever case of PTSD from a close encounter with a rampaging wave. Go talk to her and let her know things are going to be alright."
Elio questioned the chaos in disbelief. "Why was a Magmar in a beach in the first place? Especially during a storm?"
The Aether Employee didn't have patience and answered. "Probably out of a rite of passage or a way to brag to her kin. She was lucky we found her before she was completely swept away by the sea!"
The man took the order without complaint. "Sheesh, I'm on it boss!" He gave his superior a salute and walked off to a busy day.
At a room in a Contest Hall at the Sevii Islands.
A trio of a man, woman and Meowth cringed at an annoyed woman that was about to channel her frustration out on them. "You three tried what?! If you tried to swipe that Eevee in here of all places, it would have ruined everything."
The Meowth blabbered in questioning Lindbeck. "B...bu...but, that Eevee was what we were looking for. Why would stealing her mess things up?"
The woman answered with an authoritarian pose. "Because people get suspicious when a bunch of crooks cause trouble in an establishment and if no one working here bats an eye! What is more, I know what a girl like her can do, she would have hunted you down and find out that this was a hideout. We lost those Meltans, that Eevee is better off with that girl, we are stuck having to change up the Contest Hall for the next holiday and I'm losing my patience with this dead end job!"
James whimpered and tried to make the irritated programmer feel better about her disposition. "L..Look at the bright side, you're not working at the bottom and we at least found out this mystery!"
Lindbeck sharply glared at him and caused the man to squeal in fear. "I know, that bottom is you three and just being in charge of you isn't a real achievement! If I don't find those Meltan soon, I am done! Stuck with you three, for the rest of my life. Having that girl be our big show girl would have made this Contest Hall the biggest hit in the world. But she decided her goal in life, back on Alola where she is going to work towards her big break and show her wings."
She quelled her rage and asked. "Wait... Alola?" Jessie raised an eyebrow and asked. "That tropical region, what does that have to do with us?"
Lindbeck was lost in her thoughts and opened a lap top as she let the trio know she was focusing on them. "Nothing now... think, there is a place on these islands where captured pokemon can get transferred in the blink of an eye. I know this, I would have hacked it if Celio isn't frequent on the security... that is how those Meltans disappeared! Someone took them, used a pokemon with teleport to go there... and Celio transport those Meltan to a place far away from here."
The Meowth felt the scheme forming and answered the forming question. "Did they hand them over to someone that works on Alola?"
Lindbeck nodded and saw a website that had a golden symbol. "...Yes... you three are amazing in making me think! What if that someone is with this pokemon conservation group or knows of them."
James eyes widened and asked in a near cheer. "The Aether Foundation, they have plenty of pokemon fo... that is where they took those Meltan to?"
Lindbeck pressed several buttons in a rapid speed and copied a report. The sound of printer was heard as she rapidly deleted something. "You three are quick learners but you don't think ahead. What is on that list will answer everything, my trip to Alola along with some remaining grunts have contributed biggest raid Team Rocket made in years. A raid at the Aether Foundation, if we just go back again, they will stop us in our tracks and we won't be able to get a third try."
She heard the printer finish and found several sheets to read over as Jessie saw the scheme coming. "Are...we going to go get our Meltans back?"
Lindbeck hoped so and quickly read it over. "Maybe, but since the boss has universes of this opportunity... I don't really know! Now Amaura... Toucannon-" She gave a chuckle at a confirmed piece of data. "well, well, forty nine Meltans. Someone has been busy collecting these pokemon." She took a lighter and set the paper on fire as she asked the three. "You want to do something that can really help me? It isn't much, but it is a better job than what I have been giving you."
She typed away as Meowth hid his frustration and asked. "What is it this time?" The programmer pressed a button and brought out a hologram that resembled a blue haired female contest judge. "J.U.D.G.E is a super computer program I designed to run this place, schedule everything and judge contest performances fairly. It can do this without my input, but someone has to make sure the public does not know who J.U.D.G.E really. Someone, needs to be the public face to keep the audience and contestants happy. I did too well and gave it what is close enough to free will that it will get lonely."
J.U.D.G.E looked at the trio and asked its creator. "Miss Lindbeck, are you going somewhere?"
The woman nodded tried to hold something back and answered. "I am going on a mission, you have done amazing for your first big event and surpassed my expectations. Can you... keep this place running while I am out? I promise these three will help you."
The J.U.D.G.E clapped its hands together and gave a cute, if unnatural smile. "It is more complicated than that, as you said, this facility needs people to thrive. Can these three maintain that up keep?"
Lindbeck held onto the virtual hand and promised it. "They might be dummies when it comes to Team Rockets more... advanced, goals, but they are good company. Go schedule a Valentines Day event while I finish up."
The J.U.D.G.E flickered and promised her. "I know just how to make the theme work. Even for those that are not couples!"
Pew!
Lindbeck tried to hide tears of joy and gave the trio their instructions as they realized what kind of responsibility and power they are being given. "Okay, J.U.D.G.E can sustain itself for a really long time unless someone smashes the computer to bits. If it is going under a bug, I can fix it with this laptop right here with no problems and I have so many codes for its system that by the time a hacker tries to go after it, I can do something to protect my baby. My three orders are as is. Guard the computer in the basement with your lives and use any dirty trick imaginable to keep that dirt bag away from my baby, you have the pokemon to do it and I will give you access rights to a security program that I haven't named yet. It will close off every door in this place and with this access, the security would not hurt you. Second, talk to J.U.D.G.E and help it out when it feels down, you were told the reasons. Finally J.U.D.G.E holds the keys to the facility and you are to respect it like it is your own boss. You will get some perks when I leave that will make your lives here easier. It would be like you own home to call your own... so long as you know what this is for."
The bumbling trio realized the kind of responsibility they were being given and tried to stand firm as they shouted. "We will treat this place like it is our own!"
Lindbeck looked like she appreciated them as she smiled. "Thank you, I will show you what you set yourselves up for while I go... take care of things from my own higher ups. Who knows, we might be able to get somewhere!"
The door opened as the woman lead the way, towards what treasures that await the loyal?
