In order to discern the truth about Kasumi's wellbeing, Ash and his friends travelled to Poni Island, where they hoped Tapu Fini's mist would show them the truth. Takeba was the one steering the boat and pulled up to the dock, honking the horn as soon as they hit the dock. "And we've arrived at Poni Island! Thank you for travelling with Vermillion!" Takeba exclaimed with a wink.

Elizabeth stepped out, letting out a heavy exhale. "I know we're in a hurry, but you didn't have to go that fast…"

"I found it exhilarating!" Lana's eyes sparkled. "I didn't know a boat could go that fast! Can you drive that fast on the way back!?"

"You are…insane." Elizabeth pointed at Lana. There was just no other word she could think of.

Marcus glanced around the area, realizing pretty fast that Poni Island was unlike the others he'd been too so far. "Wow, this place is just wilderness, huh?"

"Mostly!" Rotom chimed. "Poni Island is very expansive. Deeper in the Island is Vast Poni Canyon and the Temple of the Sunne."

"…." Moon crossed her arms, rocking her head back and forth. "Temple of the Sunne? I thought it was Temple of the Moone…" And then she remembered that this Alola was different in another aspect. "Oh, I get it."

"So what's our first order of business here?" Grace asked. "Do we just search out this Tapu Fini? Granted we've only seen Tapu Koko a handful of times, is it that easy?"

"It should be!" Ash said with a grin. "First we have to find this Island's Kahuna, Hapu!"

"People live on this island?" Takeba found that hard to believe. But then she saw a Pokémon Center and shrugged her shoulders. "Wow…I guess someone has to."

"Right?" Lovrina placed her hands on her hips. "It's so barren here…"

"It has its own lovely ambiance, though." Rui was taking in the scenery. It reminded her so much of Orre.

"Come on, we should be able to find here around here!" Lillie said with a nod.

"We'll split up, We can cover more ground that way." Mallow said. "And once we do find her, we can gather at the Pokémon Center!"

"I almost feel bad. I want to keep Nurse Joy company." Grace sighed. "But it's okay. Marcus, we'll search over there." Grace pointed and started to drag him off. She needed to find out about Kasumi's wellbeing as soon as possible.

"Ack…! See you guys later…!" Marcus waved as his friend pulled him along.

"We should get looking too." Kiawe told the others, and then glanced at Moon. "…What are you going to do?"

"I think I'll…wait for everyone at the Pokémon Center, if that's okay." Moon rubbed her arm. "I'll just hang out with Pikachu and Kommo-o until you find Hapu."

"If you're sure…" Sophocles frowned.

"Very well." Scott simply nodded. It was best to give Moon the space she wanted until she felt like she could be a part of the group…if that day ever came.

"We'll be back soon." Lillie told Moon.

"Mhm…" Moon gave a slow nod and started towards the Pokémon Center.

Lana's lips curved down. "Poor Moon. I wish we could help her."

"It must be tough wanting to be alone, but not…" Rui let out a sigh. "We'll just have to make this search fast, then."

.

.

Grace had a map of the surrounding area on her phone. She was leading the way, although she wasn't exactly sure where to look. "Hrn…"

"Wandering around lost won't help us find Hapu faster." Marcus said.

"I know that." Grace huffed. "I just wish this place wasn't so vacant! I haven't seen a single person here!"

"Excuse me…"

"It's not so bad if you wanna go exploring. This has a different feel to it than Akala or Melemele. We haven't dropped by Ula'ula yet, though." Marcus shrugged. "Still, at the very least, it shouldn't be too difficult to discern who the Kahuna is since there's a handful of people here."

"Pardon me…"

Grace nodded. "True. I wonder what this Hapu person is like. Since she's a Kahuna, she must be as strong and wise as Olivia and Hala. Makes me wonder what Ula'ula's Kahuna is like too…"

"Seriously…?"

"Did you say something?" Grace asked.

"No…" Marcus shook his head.

"I'm down here!"

Grace and Marcus blinked. When they looked, they saw a short girl that barely went up to their waists standing right behind them. "…What the…?"

Hapu and her Mudsdale were carrying some Poni Radishes. Hapu placed her hands on her hips, staring at the two unfamiliar faces. "I heard you were looking for me? I'm Hapu, the Kahuna of Poni Island! Can I do something for you two?"

Marcus and Grace looked at each other for a second. "You're the Kahuna!? How!? You're like…barely up to my waist in height!" Marcus exclaimed. That was a bad move since mentioning Hapu's height was the wrong button to press. Before Marcus knew it, he had been kicked by Mudsdale and was sent flying away in a comical manner. "GAAAAAAAAAH!"

Sweat drop. Grace cleared her throat as Marcus landed somewhere. "Forgive my friend. He has no tact; his significant other is robbing him of what few brain cells he had left. What he meant to say is that our friend Ash gave no description of you prior to our arrival, so we didn't know who we were looking for."

"You know Ash?" Hapu's attention was immediately grabbed. Grace was already far more pleasant to talk to than Marcus!

.

.

A few minutes and a chance encounter later, everyone gathered at Poni Island's Pokémon Center. Moon was sitting off alone, playing with her Pikachu and Kommo-o. The others were informing Hapu of the situation in Alola concerning Cipher. "So that's what's going on in Alola? I had no idea. And your new friend…" She took a glance at Moon, who gave a meek wave. It was clear Moon would rather spare herself the embarrassment of an introduction.

"We figured that as one of the big shots in Alola, you should at least know what's going on." Lovrina said. "But given your reaction, I suppose that means you haven't noticed any suspicious activity on Poni Island…"

Hapu shook her head. "Nope. I would've noticed if something was amiss."

"Considering how big and empty this place is…" Marcus trailed off.

"Then it appears as though we can cross Poni Island off the list." Sophocles was keeping track with a special device he created. "This means we will have to thoroughly explore Melemele, Akala, and Ula'Ula if we want to find where Cipher is hiding."

"I don't think you need a special device for that." Scott said. "But you are correct nevertheless. 3 islands instead of 4 will save us time, which is of the essence."

"If you all are in such a rush, why aren't you gone yet?" Hapu asked. "If Cipher is as serious as you claim it to be…."

"That's because we need your help with something!" Ash said. "We were hoping you could ask Tapu Fini to bring out that mist from before. We really need it."

This caught Hapu off guard. "A-Are you sure?" Last time that happened, she was worried her friends would be trapped in that mist.

"Please." Grace said. "I need to know if a friend of mine is truly gone or not. It's important."

It was hard to deny that request. "Very well." Hapu said, starting to leave the Pokémon Center. "I will go ask Tapu Fini. It would be best for you all to wait outside for the mist."

As Hapu left, Mallow went over to Grace. "Hey. Listen…in case you don't get the result you're looking for, I'll be here. I went through something similar with my mother in that same mind, well, it's an emotional experience."

Grace offered a slight smile. "Thank you, Mallow. It means a lot." Grace wasn't sure if she was ready for the truth, but she had to face it.

"Be careful when you go out there." Nurse Joy said. "There have been some Team Skull members on the Island."

"Noted." Marcus said. "Thanks, Nurse Joy!"

.

.

Ash, Marcus, Grace, Elizabeth, Scott, Takeba, Rui, and Lovrina all stood outside the Pokémon Center, near the small forested area near Hapu's House. They were told to wait there by the Kahuna. "I hope this works." Elizabeth said.

"Me too. I hope Kasumi doesn't show up." Takeba was nervously playing with her hair. "Because that would mean she's alive! And the way I feel about that doesn't compare to how Grace feels. Or Marcus."

"If she's alive, then we'll look for her after this is over!" Ash promised. "I'm sure she'll be happy to see us again."

"I feel a little bad for making the others sit out." Grace sighed. "But I'd rather them not see me turn into a bawling mess if we do end up seeing her…" Even though she could rely on Mallow…

"They understand." Ash reassured Grace.

After Ash said that, a pink mist slowly started to roll in. "Yo…here it comes." Marcus said. Things got really tense as the mist quickly enveloped the surrounding area, covering a decent area of Poni Island as a whole. "Anyone else feeling like it's hard to breathe…?"

"That's called anxiety." Lovrina pointed out.

"Someone's coming." Scott pointed ahead. There was a silhouette slowly approaching the group. "…"

"I'm not ready for this!" Takeba yelped and buried her face into Marcus's jacket.

"Hey, I'm not either…!" Marcus grunted.

The silhouette walked closer and closer, their identity slowly being revealed as they stepped into the light. Rui's eyes widened as she was the first person to recognize who it was. Two pokeballs opened on their own from her pockets, revealing Umbreon and Esepeon, who hurried over to the person that appeared before them. "…No way…"

"Oh you gotta be kidding me…" Elizabeth groaned.

It was Wes, the man who aided in Cipher's initial defeat in Orre, and Cipher's former Grand Master. "…Well, this isn't how I was expecting to spend my day. Sup?"

.

.

Back at the Pokémon Center, the others could see the mist beginning to roll in. "The mist is here…" Kiawe mumbled. "I hope they'll get the result they're looking for."

"I don't have any data, so I can't even begin to make an estimate." Rotom said, multiple question marks appearing on its screen.

Moon was looking out the window when she noticed something. Without missing a beat she returned Pikachu and Kommo-o, making her way outside. "Is that…"

"Huh? Moon, where are you going?" Lana noticed that Moon was just going off on her own and decided to follow.

"Wait, Moon! Don't go out there, it's hard to see!" Lillie ended up following Lana. Soon enough, the Alola kids simply began following after Moon, curious as to what had her leave in such a hurry. "Oh, Moon….

"She can be a bit of a handful when she wants to be…" Mallow said with a sweat drop. They followed Moon for a while until she finally stopped at the dock. Standing at the edge before her was an older man, but his face was a bit obscured by the mist.

"Hey, who's that…?" Sophocles asked. He didn't get an answer since no one knew.

"Dad…?" Moon mumbled. That single word caused everyone's eyes to widen.

"Oh, Moon, is that you? I hardly recognized you! You've grown so much!" Moon's father responded with a grin. "You look just like your mother."

"I…" Moon glanced away. She wasn't sure how to handle this.

"Where is your mother? You seem to be a long way away from home." Her father asked with innocent curiosity. It had been such a long time.

"…That's because I'm not home." Moon sighed. "Mom and I moved to Alola since Kanto was full of bad memories of your accident. A lot of things happened and I thought I was getting somewhere, but it turns out I was just as helpless as I was when I was a child. So here I am, far off from home in a place where I don't exist."

"We all fail sometimes, sweet heart." Moon's father took a few steps closer, but still, no one could see his face. "People fail and that's okay. What's important is how you respond to the failure. Because sooner or later, you will hit success. It's just like I always used to say."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I am a failure!" Moon suddenly shouted. She had no idea that the others had followed her, so she was screaming out her feelings. "I couldn't protect what I cared about. I may be your daughter, but I'm not like you! I can't save people, I can't protect Pokémon. That's why my home is in danger and there's nothing I can do to save it! Sometimes you can't afford to fail, and that's just been me over and over again!" By this point, the tears were falling. Moon was not a person who cried very often, but her situation was just too much to take.

"…." Moon's words caused Lillie and the others to frown.

"Moon." Her father crouched down, frowning. "Is that how you really feel? Because I know you don't believe that."

Moon turned her head away. "Maybe everything I've done is just my attempt at making up for your accident…since that was my…

"Don't you dare say that. You were young and had no control over what happened!"

"…." Moon's gaze then went down. "And even if I could do something, it wouldn't good enough." She wiped her eyes, forcing a smile. "I'm sorry, Dad. I didn't think our reunion would go this poorly, but it's my fault. I can't…face you right now. I'm not a person you could look in the eye and be proud of." Before any response could be given, Moon turned and ran off, running past the others in the process, now fully aware that they were watching. "Sorry you had to see that…" She muttered as she ran past them.

"…." Lillie held her hands together, watching Moon return to the Pokémon Center.

.

.

"Wes!" Rui went to throw her arms around him, but she ended up stumbling right through him. "O-Oh…"

"Yeaaaah…" Wes rubbed the back of his head. "Not exactly sure what you were expecting there."

"Why is he here!?" Elizabeth groaned.

"Well, I did die." Wes shrugged. "Granted, the seat where I am isn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be."

"That doesn't mean you're forgiven for what you've done!" Grace shouted.

"I know." Wes said. His response caught everyone off guard, since they were expecting a snarky response that he usually gave when they were in Kalos. "I was pretty messed up during all that nonsense. Ein really did get the last laugh on me when that tube of Shadow Power exploded on me in the lab."

"Because you pushed me out of the way." Rui remembered that moment all too well. "If I wasn't so blind, I could've seen it sooner and helped you."

"It's all right." Wes waved a hand. "Things are probably better this way. I was a lost cause. More importantly, I'm…sorry for what happened with Kasumi. I put her through a lot."

"Far too much." Marcus glared. "The least you could do is an apology. She went through hell and back trying to keep herself sane and in the end she…"

"Must be around somewhere." Scott pointed out. "I hate to burst this bittersweet reunion of yours. Rui, but we didn't come here to see Wes."

"I know." Rui nodded.

"But Kasumi should've shown up." Lovrina then pointed at Wes. "Okay Bos—er, Wes. Listen. After you kicked the bucket, Ein attempted to take over where you left off. It failed but Kasumi put herself on her the line for it, but she managed to open her heart in the process! Now in the present, Ein's trying to do it again and has the means to do so. Do you see what I'm saying here?"

"Well, I feel a little bad you guys have to clean up my mess…" Wes shrugged. His attitude now was completely different from what he displayed.

"To be fair, this isn't exactly your mess." Takeba pointed out. "Miror B is the root of this. But it's important because they're absolutely going to try and corrupt another person like they did Kasumi. So tell us, is there a way to stop a Shadow Trainer! We couldn't save Kasumi, but…!"

"There are no more Time Flutes." Wes shook his head. "But if Kasumi was able to open her heart as Lovrina said, there is a chance it can be stopped before it begins. But that's not exactly something I took into account at the time. But I'm sure you guys will be fine."

"Hearing you say words of encouragement makes my stomach churn." Elizabeth spat.

"Oh, don't worry…" Wes replied with his usual sarcastic smile. "I don't regret any of the things I said about you."

"YOU!" Elizabeth was about to choke him, but Wes had the advantage since he was just part of the mist. "Damn you!"

Speaking of the mist, it started to clear. "Ah…guess my time's up." Wes said. He then took a look at Ash, giving a nod. "As long as you've got that kid with you, you'll be all right. Sorry for all the trouble. And watch over Rui for me, will you?"

"As long as you've learned." Ash said as Wes started to disappear along with the mist. "We'll take good care of Rui! We promise."

"Thanks. Good luck." Wes winked towards Rui before the mist completely faded.

"Bye, Wes…" Rui placed her hand on her chest, smiling as Wes started to vanish. Even as his form lingered, he wasn't able to speak anymore.

"So you've chosen to forgive him?" Scott asked.

"It's not easy after all he's done…a lot of people got hurt, but it looks like he was sorry." Ash responded and Pikachu nodded.

"We didn't see Kasumi, though." Takeba smiled. "So that means she's still alive!"

"That's one step closer to finding her." Grace let out a huge sigh of relief. "I wasn't sure I could take it otherwise. Now I know for certain…"

Hapu arrived on her Mudsdale, looking over everyone. "So I take it that it went well?"

"Yeah. Thank you, Hapu." Grace nodded. "Thank you so much."

"Ugh, that mist was somethin' else…" That voice belonged to Plumeria. She and K wandered out of a few bushes, highly annoyed at what just happened.

"Honestly! Couldn't see a dang thing." K rubbed her head. That's when they both noticed Ash and company nearby. "Ack, seriously!?"

"What are you doing here?" Hapu narrowed her eyes, assuming that the members of Team Skull were up to no good as usual.

"Nothing that concerns ya." Plumeria immediately replied, brushing off the Kahuna. "C'mon, let's get outta here. That mist ruined our chances of taking those Oracorios."

"Totally…" K sighed and followed alongside Plumeria.

"Kasumi!" Grace shouted suddenly.

K froze, whipping around to face Grace instinctively. "What?" As soon as she responded, she was surprised at how instinctual that was. "What…? Why did I respond to that?"

"No way!" Elizabeth's jaw dropped. "That must be…"

"Kasumi…" K closed her eyes and her head started hurting. "Kasumi…Kasumi…Kasumi…is that…my name…?"

"That's gotta be her!" Ash shouted.

"Pika!" Pikachu gave a nod of agreement. There was no way it could mistake this scent.

"I…" K shook her head. "Kasumi…"

The sound of propeller blades cut this moment short. When everyone looked up, they saw Ein manning a helicopter with Venus hanging outside the front door. "Ah! So that's where you little brats were this whole time!"

"Venus!" Grace, Takeba, and Elizabeth all shouted at once.

"Ein!" Marcus, Scott, and Ash exclaimed.

"It's been suuuuuuch a long time since we've last seen each other! I just couldn't bear waiting another second before seeing despair written on your face!" Venus laughed. "Ohohohoho!"

"Venus…?" K looked up and her eyes widened. Almost like she was on the cusp of remembering something.

"Who the…" Plumeria looked up at the helicopter with annoyance.

"That must be Cipher!" Hapu glared at the helicopter.

"This is a formal declaration." Ein said through a speaker. "You have 48 hours to find us. Otherwise our assault on Alola will begin."

"48 hours!? Is this some sort of game to you?!" Takeba clenched a hand into a fist. "Showing yourself like this!" She was prepared to reach for a Pokeball, but Venus' voice stopped her.

"Ah ah! We didn't come here fight. Just to warn you." Under Venus' veil was her maliciously sweet smile. "We've almost completed preparations for our Shadow Pokémon Project revival. We're only telling you this to throw you a bone. You've been so hard at work looking for us, I felt a little bad. I want the satisfaction of crushing you. But you can only do that if you find us~"

"You'll regret showing yourselves to us." Lovrina snickered. "You know this is how a plan fails, right?"

"Oh, it's no fun if things go flawlessly! I want to see you struggle when you fail to stop us this time, Lovrina dear! I want to smear Alola's blue oceans red with your bodies." Venus' gaze turned much more violent. She did not take kindly to losing once, let alone twice.

"Bring it on you gaudy freak!" Marcus shouted. "Dragonite, let's do this!" Marcus called out Dragonite, who let out a mighty roar.

"….!" K's eyes widened. But she didn't have the chance to say anything since Plumeria thought it wise to leave before things ended up escalating, so she was dragged along.

"Sorry, but this is all the time we can afford to spend with you. But don't worry; we'll be keeping you very busy these next two days. No matter what you do…you'll be walking right into the palm of our hands. Oh, but don't worry, Grandmaster Wes!" Ein was speaking to the fading Wes who couldn't do anything but just glare up at Ein. The mist had all but cleared and Ein was relishing in this moment; a moment that completed his revenge against Wes since he was humiliated by him on numerous occasions. "We're taking good care of your project!It's a shame you won't get to see it at its full potential! But you were a fantastic fall man." With that, Ein's Alakazam used Teleport, causing the helicopter to vanish.

"Damn him…" Grace snarled.

"48 hours." Scott lifted his index finger up. "It's a trap. Unfortunately, we have to walk into it and seek them out."

"Hey, where'd the hot girl go?" Elizabeth was looking around for Plumeria, but she and K were long gone.

Ash grabbed the tip of his hat, glaring off into the distance. If Ein thought that Cipher was going to win, they certainly had another thing coming. "Alola's not gonna lose to you."

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Next Time: Reconnaissance.