-Kyle-
He's not exactly sure when he decides he's suspicious enough to start digging, but between his job as a tour guide and his "other" forms of employment—
"Kyle," Jace begins slowly, "why is there a bag of gold nuggets under the bed?"
"What bag?" He asks airily.
Drat, he thinks. He'll have to find a new hiding place. Shame since Jace never looks under the bed anymore, not after that one incident.
"Don't pretend you don't know!" Jace shouts.
A loud knock from the other side of the wall causes Jace to pause. He puts a finger to his lips and makes a shushing noise. Jace, knowing when to let sleeping Growlithe lie, asks no more questions after that.
—he manages to find some rather upsetting information. Or rather, he should say, the upsetting lack of information; what he doesn't find is far more alarming than what he does.
The UB Task Force doesn't just have a shaky background: it doesn't exist. It's true that the International Police have had a hand in their new paperwork, but from what he can tell it's done as a personal favor on someone's behalf.
He's got a sinking suspicion as to whom. There's only one person he knows of that has a vested interest in Ultra Beasts, and he is nowhere near ready to deal with that again.
"Kyle?"
The whisper startles him into opening his eyes despite knowing that only darkness greets him. He lets out an inquisitive hum and wonders what time it is.
"Think the Aether Foundation is like ours?"
He keeps his head pressed against the pillow, listening to the creaks coming from the cot next to the bed. He recalls the new evidence that points to a terrible truth.
"If you mean 'Is Lusamine still crazy?' Then, yes, I think she is," he ends up mumbling.
Let Jace live in ignorance just a little while longer. It'll all eventually come out in the end, but with any luck, he'll be able to get them both out of Alola by that time.
"I hope the kids will be alright," Jace says quietly.
He makes an affirmative noise and waits for another prompt. Sleep takes him as the silence stretches on. He ends up drowning in dreams of fear and homesickness.
The smell of hot tea brings him to consciousness. He rolls out of bed with a grunt, managing not to take the covers with him out of long-standing practice. A coffee mug gets shoved into his face, and he crawls to a chair.
"From Chansey," Jace hands him a soft boiled egg as the pokemon coos in the background, "don't stay out too late, okay? I want to go get dinner to celebrate being done with my paper!"
Waking up gets harder every day, but there's a constant reminder on why it's worth it. He manages a sleepy smile even as he starts mentally rearranging his plans. That Aether employee better be thankful; they're safe from him for now.
The days pass on, and he can practically feel the invisible timer above their heads. He's not sure what's going to happen exactly, but he begins training his pokemon in earnest.
He's been slacking lately to run around with Alola's black market dealers. No idea why Jace hasn't caught on to that one; the kids' new dragon pokemon had to come from somewhere.
(He's not proud to buy from pokemon poachers, but he values Artemis and Apollo's lives over pesky morals.)
Preparation for the coming storm takes most of his focus, and he forgets about Matine's estimated hatching date. It's almost fate that it happens during the morning while Jace and he are having breakfast down at the beach.
The glow takes him by surprise, and he squats to get a better view of the egg resting on the beach towel.
"It's hatching!" Jace squeals, accidentally knocking him over.
He grumbles as any attempts to rub the sand off end up in futility. He shoves Jace back in revenge. Ignoring the angry shout, he focuses on the egg with anticipation. He's forced to turn away once the glowing reaches an unbearable intensity.
A happy clicking sound lets him know it's safe to look. He feels the edge of his lips curl as a wide-eyed Mantine looks back and forth between Jace and him.
"Oh thank goodness it really is a Mantine," Jace mumbles. "The world couldn't handle you with a baby pokemon again."
"Don't be so dramatic," he says, patting the curious pokemon. "I only ever used your Happiny for emergencies."
"You made grown men cry," Jace tells him flatly. "How many sob stories about a young girl and her Happiny did you make up again?"
He smirks and rubs the pokemon's antennae. The Mantine lets out a happy rumble, and he sets his eyes on something further down the beach.
"You and me, Mantine," he coos, "we're going to get top place on that ranking board."
"Oh, not this again," Jace sighs.
"I will not let a guy surfing in a kimono beat me again," he swears. "I refuse!"
Jace, eyes rolling, reaches out to trail a finger over one of Mantine's fins. The pokemon lets out pleased noises, and he grins at the happy scene before him. This was definitely one of his better impulses.
Jace leaves soon after to get ready for a shift at the Pokemon Center, and he spends the rest of the morning playing with Mantine on the beach to get the pokemon used to the world around it.
When the sun hangs high, he places the newly-hatched pokemon in its ball and gets started on riskier activities. First things first: contacting the UB Task Force to see if any of the creatures are in the area.
"There are no signs of activity at this moment. Keep on standby until then," is the reply he's given.
He hangs up the motel's phone with a sigh of relief. There's something else he wants to do today and chasing Ultra Beasts is not it. No, what he wants to do is far more dangerous.
"You ready?" he whispers to Noctowl.
The pokemon's beak clicks softly as talons dig into his arm. Stroking Noctowl, he glances around the cover of the tree.
"Hypnosis," he commands quietly.
The pokemon takes flight, silently approaching the lone Aether Foundation employee taking soil samples. The man doesn't notice the attack until it's too late.
Noctowl meets the employee's eyes, and a second later, it's a mindless body that stares back. It's a sharp reminder as to why psychic pokemon are so widely feared.
"Good job," he praises, dragging the man into the bushes. "It'll last all day, right?"
Noctowl lets out an indignant hoot, and he grins, waving a hand in apology. He knows better of course. Noctowl's never let him down, but that doesn't mean he doesn't like ruffling some feathers.
Because he wants the hypnosis to persist without weakening, he's forced to do the stripping instead of using a suggestion. He obtains the clothes, a digital device, an ID number, and a name.
"Well, Mr. Devan," he tells the unconscious body neatly hidden away, "today was your unlucky day."
No one will come looking for the man anytime soon either. The rest of Aether Foundation's Melemele soil team is being distracted by some hired help as a precaution. It's most likely unnecessary as this guy has been working without a partner for a while now.
"So, any idea on how to do this?" He gestures to the sampling kit on the ground.
Noctowl, who keeps an eye out in the tree above him, gives him an unimpressed look.
"Yeah, that's what I thought," he says cheerfully.
He examines the materials with a hum and fingers Snorlax's pokeball. Can't be responsible for something if it's been crushed by a wild pokemon, he figures.
"So great, having pokemon by my side," he sings under his breath.
With a smirk and an adjustment of his new hat, he leaves for the Aether Foundation's boat, smashed sampling kit in hand.