After returning the the Allaince Headquarters in Wyndon, Solana was summoned to Rose Tower for another meeting to discuss the intel she had collected. What the group didn't know however is that Solana was broken the very first day she stepped into Alola, her mind now programmed to act just like she did before leaving.
Exiting the elevator, Solana already found the heads of the other regions, Giovanni and Looker waiting for her, assembled in their chairs.
"Ah, Solana!" Lance said eagerly. "You couldn't believe how happy I was when Looker told us of your return! I take it your recon mission was a success then?"
"Yes, Lance, and I am ready to show you all the intel I have collected." Solana said, brandishing a small folder. "I've taken photos of the islands. Take a look."
Placing the folder of photos on the table, having Looker pass them down to his allies, they began to deeply examine the photos for any hidden details. What they were ignorant of however was that the photos Solana took were photoshopped by Sonia's professional skills with a computer editor, the changes even seemingly going untouched by the detective in the room.
"As you can see in these photos, the defense of Alola is not as great as we initially presumed. Your earlier raid into Alola destroyed their power grids, correct Looker?" Solana asked the man, her slave programming allowing her to feign the true nature of the island well.
"That is correct. Our interpol's special PEMP weapon targeted each islands power grid simultaneously." Looker responded, looking at a photo of the Akala island's power station. "It was several weeks since we hit that though. You'd think they would have had at least one operational by now."
"I looked into, for I thought it was strange too. It appears that Ash Ketchum is clearly not all that intelligent or versed in the way of leadership skills. The new 'King' of Alola is pathetically unexperienced." Solana said, her brain cursing at herself for having to belittle her amazing Master's abilities like that.
Still, her brain took solace in the fact that Ash's programming permitted her to degrade him, so long as it ensured in her Godly King's success in the war to come.
"He may be a fool when it comes to that, but with the capture of Malva, Ash secured several blueprints to building weapons that could cause us trouble." Solana said, walking over to Wikstrom's chair, pointing at a massive cannon on the Mele Mele beachfront.
"That cannon there utilizes Pokeball technology in a way that when the cannon fires, the attacks known to the Pokémon inside the Pokeball fitted to the cannon are shot out of it." Solana began instructing, smoothly beginning to lead into another lie. "They have constructed some of these, but I only ever saw one or two per island. The angle on the cannons doesn't look good either. I doubt it could hit something any higher than forty five degrees."
"Ah, these seem familiar." Wikstrom pointed out. "As a deal we made for her to be released from prison early, Malva was required to give us any and all of her original blueprints and schematics she developed while working for Team Flare. I guess that sly vixen made copies. Damn!"
"No, this is good!" Steven Stone added. "If you provide me those blueprints, I could perhaps see to those cannons being equipped to our warships. For a cannon with a bad angle of fire is like that, then it might make up for it in its range. The angle would be perfect for our ships to fire on the Regions from a distance."
"Something about this bothers me though." Wikstrom noted. "I played in part in securing Malva's deal. When she forfeited her designs, I actually had a chance to look them over. I remember the original design being possible to turn nearly all the way up into the sky. Why would they construct such and inferior design?"
"I'm not sure, sir." Solana added, calmly trying to manipulate the situation to ensure the lie stuck. "If I had to guess, it could have been from a lack of resources. I wasn't able to truly ascertain the reason to that, lest I blow my cover and get caught."
"Oh forgive me!" Wikstrom added. "I do not blame you of that. For you to retrieve this alone is a blessing to this Alliance."
"It's fine." Solana said, smiling internally for being assured her cover was still secured. "There's something else I wanted to bring to attention. Look here."
Solana went over to Caitlin's side of the table, pointing at a harbor on Ula Ula Island.
"From what I saw, the one closely troublesome threat we'd face is this here harbor. Unfortunately I couldn't get more images for it, because my hiding spot was nearly compromised, but at this harbor, a staging ground for a few warships concerned me." Solana lied, knowing full well that Ash had already moved these ships to Mele Mele's docks after being told of the Alliance's plan of attack.
"So what your saying is that we should avoid approaching Alola from the West?" Alain asked her.
"Correct." Solana nodded, steering the group in her direction. "With that said, your plan was to approach them from the East anyways, since Kanto's Fuchsia City is the closest port that can beeline it directly south-eastward to Alola."
"That is correct." Lance said, reaffirming his stance. "Once we receive the warships made in Hoenn, we will then turn Fuchsia City into our staging ground. Provided if you all are still fine with those conditions."
"I'm fine with it." Caitlin said. "If by some chance Ash catches wind of our plans for your home to be the source of his downfall, at least your Region will be the one to be attacked, not mine."
"Caitlin!" Looker shouted at the woman, her callous comment shocking the room. "How could you seriously say that so boldly in front of your own ally?! Have you no self restraint?!"
"Look, my Region has had continuous weather trouble up until five years ago because that smug bastard next to you turned the Forces of Nature into his personal tools. If that piece of shit Champion had any balls at all, he would have wiped out that pathetic organization years ago."
"Hehe." Giovanni chuckled under his breath. "What great cohesion this wonderful Alliance has. I can see the success of this little adventure of ours going well."
"Caitlin, you weren't the only one who's suffered at the hands of organized crime." Alain mentioned. "I was with Steven Stone ten years ago in Hoenn. Due to use waking the Legendary Pokemon Rayquaza, we also woke the two Super Ancient Pokémon it protected us from as well. Ever since the battle those three had, the weather of Hoenn had been on the fritz until just two years ago."
"What the hell's your point?" Caitlin asked the younger Champion.
"I'm saying there's no point in making a measuring contest from this. My Region of Kalos suffered massive devastation from the attack Lysandre and Team Flare launched years ago." Alain added. "Our very existence of life nearly vanished when Team Galactic planned to wipe out all life in our universe to make their own. What I'm saying is that we've all suffered at the hands of organized villainy."
"And to stop a newly formed criminal organization, we have to take sides with one that has caused the whole world problems for over ten years?" Caitlin asked sarcastically, the room going silent.
Everyone in the room, barring Giovanni, who simply chuckled the words off, remained silent for a while. She was right. They knew letting Giovanni go free with a pardon for his crimes would only repeat the cycle anew, but they had no choice, a point Looker was about to make.
"Look, I know we all despise the idea of having to work with this man, but need I remind you of two things. He has the manpower and airships we need to launch an airborne offensive on Alola." Looker pointed out. "With the loss of all but one of our airships and several trained pilots to use the one we have left, we need the airborne backup."
"And what's the second reason?" Lucian asked the man.
"I have not really told you in full why we are really doing this." Looker began hesitating to speak. "But we are also in a position of a threat. When Giovanni approached us to make this deal, he said he also has apparently tapped into the power of the Life Stone."
The eyes of the room widened in panic, Solana most of all. With the info she had now, she desperately needed to make contact with her Master as soon as possible.
"With that in mind, he has agreed not to use its power, should we hold our end of the deal and present him with a full pardon of all his crimes." Looker continued.
"What the fuck, Looker?!" Caitlin jumped from her seat in rage. "I didn't join this Alliance so I can just share your baggage! I'm out of here!"
Caitlin began to leave for the elevator, with Looker following behind, begging for her to stay and hear him out, when suddenly, the doors opened, a familiar figure emerging stopping Caitlin from her departure.
"Riley!" Looker shouted, his words filling with his own frustration. "Where the hell have you been? You went off the radar for over a week!"
"Oh, I've been..." Riley paused, finding the words to describe his excursion. "I was taking care of some 'loose ends'."
"Well, you have some perfect fucking timing, pal!" Looker said, his anger boiling. "This Alliance is about to fall apart before it even came together, all because you thought it'd be prudent to take this deal with Giovanni!"
"Well, I can see I'm unwanted here." Giovanni calmly said, getting up from his own chair. "Bicker all you want, I'll be making my own preparations for the coming war. Call me when you've reached a settlement."
Shoving the group of three out of his way, Giovanni exited the building, the doors to the elevator shutting behind him.
"If you could just sit down, Caitlin, Looker hasn't gone over the full plan just yet, I'm sure." Riley said, beckoning the woman back to her seat.
Begrudgingly taking her spot again at the table, Caitlin looked at the Aura Guardian intently.
"So what is this big plan of yours, Guardian?" She asked.
"We know that Giovanni's true goal is to get the other two Stones of Power Ash has in his possession. He only agreed to this Alliance of ours so we could be his cannon fodder he'd throw at Ash to weaken him." Riley began to say. "That's why my plan will involve me standing back. I will let Giovanni use your people as fodder. When he believes himself to be on the cusp of victory, I shall swoop down and take both villains out, securing all three Stones of Power for myself."
"Giovanni said he has control of this Life Stone though. How could you possibly best him if that is in his possession?" Lucian asked the man.
"Simple, I call his bluff." Riley plainly put. "Only people with a strong Aura and the knowledge to manipulate it can fully utilize the Stones. In my detour before this meeting, I made several stops around the world as well, gathering intel."
"And? What did you find?" Looker asked him.
"Up in the northern mountains of Kanto is Giovanni's headquarters. I managed to infiltrate it unseen and came across blueprints to a weapon that was developed for the sole purpose in attempting the harness the Stone." Riley explained. "He may not be able to use its power now, but he will soon. And that's why, come the battle, I will wait for my time to strike. All I need is for you people to take the brunt of the attack from Ash's forces."
"Riley, you are asking us all to send our subordinates all to retrieve what in the end is just simply stolen property. What do any of us make out of this?" Looker asked the man for his answer.
"With my actions, together as allied nations, we shall be able to crush two evil factions, once and for all. Peace will return to the world and those enslaved shall be set free from their bindings." Riley replied.
"It would be advantageous to remove two black marks in our world's history." Lance began to say. "Perhaps our newfound Alliance's victory could secure better nation relations with each other."
"Or perhaps the cycle will begin again." Leon spoke from his chair, the group looking at him.
"What, don't believe in peace, Leon?" Caitlin mocked the man.
"No, I just believe that when a power vacuum as big as this is opened, someone else will take the stage." Leon began to say, Riley's eyes going cold upon the man's statement. "Team Rocket has become as big as it is because the grunts from other big crime rings join up with them to ensure they escape police custody. With a group as big as them, we could never hope to catch and detain every single one of them."
"So what you're saying is that you believe a new organization would be formed from Team Rocket after we stop them?" Steven Stone asked the man.
"Or perhaps someone else." Leon remarked, looking Riley in the eyes.
"Say this plan of yours works out, and you obtain your stones again. What's stopping you from abusing their power yourself?" Leon asked the man, all eyes on the room trained on the Aura Guardian.
Feeling the pressure, Riley tried to find the words to put his allies to ease.
"Well, as my title should suggest, I am an Aura Guardian. It is my duty to oversee the peace of the world." Riley said, struggling to find an answer.
"And yet you've also allowed these villains across the globe to nearly destroy our world countless times over. What makes you think we can put our faith in you when even you can't protect yourself?" Alain asked the man, prodding him for an answer. "If you can't even keep track of your own possessions, allowing Team Rocket to steal them, how can you protect the world as the sole Aura Guardian?"
"Wait a minute..." Caitlin began wondering. "Looker told us how Team Rocket stole all three of your Stones of Power at one point. If that's the case, how did Ash ever manage to get his hands on the Mind Stone in the first place?"
The whole room went silent.
"Yeah, how did he get the Mind Stone, Riley?" Leon asked him. "You haven't told us yet how that story, did you?"
Riley was at this point sweating madly. In his mind, his anger was trying to calculate a way to salvage the situation, all the while fighting off the urges to kill everyone in the room.
"I...I don't know..." Riley said, forming the best excuse he could come up with. "The young man is a capable trainer, and from when I use to train him in the ways of Aura, he told me tails about how Team Rocket's shadow was always covering him. Perhaps he attacked their stronghold one day and took it for himself as a prize?"
Sending something was off about the conversation, Looker's eyes slightly lifted in suspicious. He noticed a detail that didn't match with what he knew.
"Alright everyone, let's stop grilling Riley here. What we need is a plan." Looker said. "Riley, why don't you step out of the room for now and wash up? Your face is all sweaty?"
"Oh, is it?" Riley said nervously, patting his face with his hand. "Oh yeah, I guess I am. Let me take my leave for now."
Departing from the room, with Looker seeing if the man truly left, he turned back to his allies.
"We can't trust him." Looker put plainly.
"Why's that sir?" Solana asked, maintaining her cover of ignorance.
"When he and I tried to trap Ash alone in Cerulean Cave, Riley said to me and my men how Ash stole the Stone from him directly. He never said anything about Ash taking it from Rocket." Looker began to reveal to the room. "He's got two stories to tell us, and I have to thank you guys for grilling him so hard. You broke his composure for me to see through the man."
"What do we do then?" Alain asked the man.
"If he's lying and has ulterior motives, then he's surely lying about other things." Looker added, looking to Solana. "I'm sorry to ask this of you, Solana, but I hope you could agree to my request. Please spy on Riley for me. He has secrets that I've been meaning to crack for a while now."
"Yes sir!" Solana saluted in response, more than glad to take the position of spying on her Master's greatest threat.
"You will need to be posed as a neutral party member. From now on, you will need to act as the ambassador to our esteemed allies here. That's the only way I can see you getting close to him." Looker added. "He may be up to something, but the truth of the matter is without his knowledge on the Stones, we could be in deeper trouble than we are now."
"Agreed." Lance added to the cop's statement. "Regardless of their intent, we need both Giovanni's and Riley's help. We need to stop Team Rose anyways, so maybe Riley might have at least one point right. We need to make sure to take care of loose ends and threats."
"I second that statement." Caitlin added.
"Then we have a semblance of agreement, then? Good!" Looker said. "Assembly dismissed! As of now, we must now return to our home Regions and ensure preparations for the battle go smoothly."
As the group of Elite Four and Champions left the Rose Tower, Riley stood alone in the bathroom, looking himself in the mirror as he watched his face. In his anger over being pressed so hardly in the meeting room, Riley threw a punch, shattering the mirror.
"You can't lose now! Not when you control the board!" He said to himself. "You still have your ace in the hole, don't you?"
Pulling out the Aura Gem from his back pocket, Riley smiled and chuckled maniacally, knowing full well he still could control the situation with his gem.
Meanwhile in another part of the tower, in the woman's bathroom, Solana hid away in a bathroom stall, fingering her pussy to the pleasure of fooling so many people, knowing that her success brought her Master victory.
"Soon, Master..." Solana moaned. "Soon, all of your enemies will fall to your might, and I can rejoin your side once again. Just a little more time..."