"Hey, Moon. Are you paying attention?" Lana was waving a hand in front of Moon's face. It looked like she had zoned out.
Moon blinked a few times. "Huh? Oh, uhm…yes?" She snapped back to reality but it was clear she was lost on what the current topic was. The group had been taken by Lovrina and Rui to a hotel room, where the two members of the International Police planned to inform them of the current situation with Chiper…since Liz had failed to.
Lovrina pointed at Moon. "So…this is the one from an entirely different world, yeah? That's like, so, out of this world. Hope this kid hasn't been a bad influence or anything on you." She pointed at Ash.
"I haven't done anything!" Ash said.
"You're reckless." Rui retorted. Which was a true statement and not one Ash could deny. Everyone else was nodding in agreement.
"Well, in his defense…" Elizabeth pointed at Moon. "She's been reckless since she got here. I don't think he's at fault for that one."
"Please stop pointing at me…" Moon already felt out of place and they were just making a bigger deal about it.
"Right, moving on." Lovrina clapped her hands together. This was just the cue for Rui to turn on the projector that displayed the current state of Chiper to their knowledge. "As I'm sure you all are aware, the organization Chiper is yet again attempting to make another stand. We had them all firmly behind bars until a few weeks ago, where the rogue man Miror B decided it would be fun to break the scientist, Ein out of prison."
"We've been told this much." Kiawe said. "We encountered a Shadow Pokémon a while ago."
"It attacked Moon and I…" Lillie rubbed her arm. To think that getting attacked by Rainbow Rocket and a Shadow Pokémon were two completely separate incidents they just happened to be a part of.
"And it has been purified." Lovrina had said Drapion's pokeball in her hand. "Unfortunately we were unable to discern their current location with this one. At the very least we have the means to combat their Shadow Pokémon, but it's not enough if we can't stop them entirely. Even worse…if they attempt to dive back into Shadow Trainers, it could be extremely bad."
"Shadow Trainers…?" Mallow tilted her head. "I think we've heard about that?"
Rui lifted her index finger up. "Shadow Trainers were Cipher's prototype at using humans as weapons."
"Oh right…they did that to your friend, didn't they…?" Mallow turned to Marcus and Grace, who nodded.
"Ah, so you've heard." Lovrina twirled a strand of pink hair around her finger. "So, like, Shadow Trainer are a very bad concept. With just one person they were able to do a considerable amount of damage to Kalos. To put it simply, it's a dangerous experiment…and I'm the one who created it."
"W-What?" Sophocles was shocked to hear that. A member of the Police being responsible for this?
"Hey, hold on!" Lovrina held a hand up. "It's not something I'm proud of now. That is why I'm making amends to fix the things I've brought into the world. So I'm asking for your cooperation because they are threatening your region and we need all the help we need to stop them."
"You already know that we're going to help." Takeba gave a wink.
"Yes. We cannot allow Cipher to do as they please a second time." Scott crossed his arms.
"And we're in too!" Ash could easily speak for his friends too. There was no way they would allow anyone to have their way with Alola. "Right guys!"
"Yeah!" Everyone but Moon said.
"…." Moon rubbed her arm. It wasn't her place to say anything since this Alola wasn't hers. Did she even have the right to try and protect it after failing her own?
Lillie glanced over at Moon, frowning. "Moon…"
"Your assistance is greatly appreciated!" Rui clasped her hands together, the Plusle on her shoulder doing the same. "With a force this big, we can't lose to Cipher!"
"We'll give it our all!" Lana said with a determined grin.
"So how bad was the prison break?" Elizabeth asked. "I know it's loosely my fault for not finding them as fast as I could…"
"Pretty bad." Lovrina pointed to the screen. It displayed the profiles of Venus, Goriggan, Dakim, Nascour, and Ardos. "They managed to escape with nearly every Admin, barring Snattle, poor guy. Still, these trainers are dangerous individuals."
"Ugh, Venus." Elizabeth nearly gagged. "I was hoping I'd never have to see her ugly mug again."
"You're telling me!" Takeba subconsciously pulled at her own hair. "She was so rough with me. Not to mention…"
Grace just had a smile. "No, this is fine. She and I have some unfinished business, so I can work with this." That smile of hers was not a happy one and it was concerning.
"That one guy looks pretty big…" Kiawe pointed at Dakim.
"That's Dakim." Scott said. "The muscle of Cipher. A skilled Pokémon trainer, but be careful. Unlike the others, he will attempt to out muscle you if he's in a bad situation. He's extremely powerful in his own right."
"He threw Liz and I down a flight of stairs like nothing…" Marcus rubbed the back of his head.
"Why'd you have to remind me of that…" Elizabeth groaned.
"On top of those five, we still have Miror B, Ein, Trudly, Folly, and two of his associates to deal with it." Rui said. "Ferma and Reath. The size of their operation is still relatively small compared to Kalos, but if we allow them any more space, it could be extremely dangerous."
"So we have to really find them and take them down before they can get momentum! Ha, count me in!" Kiawe said confidently.
"The problem is…where are we going to look? They could be anywhere." Lillie did ask an important question.
"I feel like I've been all over Melemele Island…and I haven't seen a single suspicious thing." Moon chimed in quietly.
"Same, actually!" Elziabeth added. "I saw one of Miror B's people in Hau'oli, but he slipped away. After all the looking around I have done, I can conclude that they aren't on this island."
"So you have been doing something at least." Lovrina crossed her arms, now bringing up a map of Alola. "All right then. We can cross Melemele off the list in that case. So that still leaves us with Akala, Ula'ula, and Poni Island. That's a lot of ground to cover."
"But there are a lot of us!" Sophocles said. "Don't worry; we have ways to cover a lot of ground fast. "Just say the word and we're ready to!"
"He's right!" Rotom said.
"…Is that a talking Rotom?" Lovrina just now realized what she was looking at. They had introductions earlier yet she somehow missed this.
.
Just outside of the hotel, Jessie, James, and Meowth were eavesdropping outside the wall. When they spotted Lovrina and Rui earlier, they knew that they had to listen in on what these members of Interpol were up to! And now they knew. "So Cipher's coming back in full swing…" James said quietly.
"The boss was right. They're trying to steal Team Rocket's glory!" Meowth growled. Even though their mission was also to deal with Team Rainbow Rocket, they had no way of doing that right now. So they focused their attention on Cipher's return. They stood for righteous evil, not pure evil like that organization proved they were capable of.
"If they try subjugating more people and Pokémon to those evil experiments of theirs it will be trouble." Jessie still remembered what Cipher was able to do with just Kasumi. It wasn't something she thought back on fondly. "It's up to Team Rocket to put an end to this. If the Police were trounced so easily, then clearly it takes the bad guys to beat bad guys!"
"Wobbefett!" Wobbefett saluted, but as soon as it let out its loud cry, Jessie had to place her hands against its mouth to silence it.
"Ssssh!"
.
.
"So what are we waiting for?!" Dakim asked. "Let's go cause some havoc right now!"
"Yes, I need to do something," Venus was rubbing her arms to keep warm. "This chill is terribly dreadful and if I don't warm up soon I'm afraid I'll turn into an Eiscue!"
"Before we can begin, there is something you all must be aware of." Ein gestured to the screen, pulling up the results of the Alola League; more specifically, the top 8 trainers: Ash, Kiawe, Gladion, Guzma, Lana, Sophocles, Hau, and Jamesio (James). "These are the top 8 trainers within the Manalo Conference, the Alola League. They could very well pose a threat to us, and chances are that they will try to stop us in one way or another."
"And?" Dakim scoffed.
"Wait a second…" Venus narrowed her eyes before pointing at Ash. "That brat! Why is he here?!"
"Supposedly, he's the champion of the Alola League." Ein said, pushing his glasses up.
"Are you serious?!" Venus gasped. "That kid won the regional tournament and the Alola League!? Grrrr!"
"That child was a thorn in our operation." Nascour crossed his arms over his chest. "And he just so happens to be in Alola now too, is that right?"
"Moreover, his group of friends all landed within the top 16 of the tournament." Ein said. The ones who didn't make top 8 were Lillie and Mallow, but he had no issues putting up the images used from the tournament. "As we're well aware, that child interfered with our plans before. So we cannot let the same mistake happen a second time. He and his friends are the biggest threat to our operation. Also..." An image of Kukui appeared, also known as the Masked Royal. "Apparently this man, Professor Kukui, is known as the Masked Royal, one of Alola's strongest trainers. We should be weary of him, but I am currently discerning the proper way to keep him out of our way."
"Getting our groove stopped by a punk child like that? I can't fathom allowing that to happen!" Miror B said, speaking freely since he wasn't really involved in the previous incident. But he did remember battling Ash once. To think that kid managed to make such strides.
"Also," Ferma held up a dossier. "It goes without saying, but the Island Kahunas are also dangerous individuals. I don't think we'll want to plan any fights with them unless we have no choice."
"Speak for yourself!" Dakim laughed. "I'll take 'em all on with my bare hands!"
"Of course you would, you're just a walking muscle." Ferma scoffed. "…Sir." Remembering her rank, she quickly added that last part.
"I will not allow father's ambition to die." Ardos said, calmly walking off. As far as he was concerned, this meeting was done. "Those who stand in my way will be crushed into nothing. Even if it is my own brother."'
"Ow!" Reath suddenly waved her hand. "I think he cut me with his edge!" This caused Ferma, Venus, Trudly, and Folly to snicker.
Gorrigan then started to walk off as well. "This ain't a bad base, despite it being a bit small, but I can take care of that. Production used to be my specialty, so let's see what Shadow Pokémon we got lyin' around. I can do somethin' with 'em."
"Yes yes, leave all the hard, sweaty work to the big boys and the monkeys." Venus fanned herself. "I am going to catch up on my beauty rest, and when I awaken…I will make sure Alola bends its knee to Lady Venus!"
Miror B let out a sigh as everyone began to depart. "Ah, I love this little group of ours. They march to the beat of their own drum, yet don't disrupt the harmony of the grand performance. This is gonna be so much fun~"
.
.
"Lovrina." Grace approached Lovrina with a serious expression.
"Eh?" Lovrina tilted her head. "What'cha need? I don't have any more Cipher info yet, so…"
Grace shook her head. "No, not that…I just. It's about Kasumi. Is she…really dead?"
Ah. Lovrina let out a quiet sigh, arms crossed over her chest. "You were there with us. She…did all she could to save us."
"That's not what I was…" Grace trailed off. "You see…"
Marcus then stepped in. "She's asking if you can confirm if she's dead. When I think back on that day, I couldn't help but wonder…was there a body to be found? Because there's a girl around here in Alola that resembles Kasumi a lot and it has us thinking."
"…!" Lovrina's eyes suddenly widened. "Oh my goodness! How could I be so stupid to miss such a crucial detail!?"
"What's the matter?" Rui asked.
"Kasumi! The ship exploding! We were so caught up in what happened after that I never thought about it." Lovrina started digging through her bag. She was looking for something that wasn't there. "Ugh! It was bothering me a lot and I couldn't explain it. That ship exploded in a bright flash of light, but there was nothing left of it, right?"
"Why are you asking us? You were there!" Elizabeth said. "But…I think so. I thought it all just vaporized. Which kind of scared me since that would mean Kasumi had all that power inside her."
"Even if she did use that shadow core along with her own body…" Lovrina tapped her head. "She didn't have enough power to make something completely vanish like that. At most, the ship would've just bursts into millions of pieces, but there wasn't even a trace of it left."
"Are you saying there's a chance!?" Grace's eyes lit up with hope.
"…Well, I don't know." Lovrina admitted. "I'm not sure how she would've escaped the explosion she committed unharmed, or alive. I don't want to give you false hope, but…"
"Poni Island." Kiawe said, catching some attention. "Tapu Fini can emit a mist that allows you to see people close to your heart who are long gone from the world. If your friend is alive or dead…that's the best way to confirm it."
"But it's not…if you aren't emotionally prepared, it could be difficult to face." Mallow warned, speaking from experience with her mother.
"Seeing the dead…" Moon mumbled.
"I wonder if I could see him one last time…" Rui poked her fingers together.
"I think it's worth a shot. If we can't find that girl soon, it's best to figure out if we have hope or not." Marcus told Grace. There was a strong chance that they could be wrong about this, but they had to know for sure. "And hey, Cipher could be hiding away on Poni too."
"It is worth a shot in checking." Scott added.
"All right!" Ash held a positive smile. "Let's go to Poni Island!"
Grace gave a slow nod. "Mhm. Let's go to Poni Island."
.
.
Next Time: The Mist of Poni Island.
