Disclaimer: I don't own the characters and story elements of the Pokémon franchise. Nintendo, Game Freak and the Pokémon Company own everything and all credit is given to them. I'm only borrowing them for entertainment purposes only.
Chapter 7: Team Trident vs. Team Skull
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Umi Robinson's POV
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"You're saying that I have to go to Alola and take on this Aether Foundation?" I asked my mother, the former second in command and admin of the defeated Team Aqua, in surprise of her order to me. "But Mom, Cynthia and her friends can handle this Aether Foundation."
"And I'm sure that they can," my mother said to me with a smile. "But right now, Cynthia's oldest friend, Shelby, feels that Cynthia might become used by this Aether Foundation and their leader."
I brushed my royal blue hair to the side as I listened to my mother giving me instructions. I really didn't like that I was leaving my mother's side, but she is my mother plus one of the three founders of Team Trident. The orders I was given were not orders that I liked. My preference was to stay at my mother's side since she really was the only one who raised me while we were back at Team Aqua.
"You don't have to worry about going alone," my mother assured me. "I've asked Vera to send her star pupil, Uma, and have asked Cleopatra to deploy with you. The three of you and your Pokémon will go meet with Lieutenant Commander Yuffie Makoto on Melemele Island."
"Is my brother coming with us too?" I asked my mother, Shelly Robinson, in reference to my older shiny male Manaphy brother, Tidal.
"Your brother will stay here," Mom answered me as she shook her head. "For now, I need him to help me out here while you're in the field."
I drooped my shoulders as I was feeling very uncomfortable and not liking my orders even more despite the fact that Tidal and I had very good relationship with each other. But Mom stood from her chair and gently set her right hand on my head as she finished, "I know you don't like these orders, but don't worry. This job is just a simple recon job. All you four will be doing is gauging the strength of this Aether Foundation and their members should we become entangled in a conflict with them."
"Does Aunt Rhea think we may have to fight these Aether Foundation guys?" I asked my mother nervously.
"We're hoping that it won't come down to that… my precious little girl," Mom answered me with a smile her face as she stroked my hair, much to my enjoyment. "But it would be better to just be prepared then for us to be caught flat footed and have to play catchup."
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'Are we really going into Alola by ourselves?' my shiny male Piplup asked me after I had told my Pokémon of our assignment. 'I had heard that the daughter of the Princess of Hoenn was there in Alola with her friends. So to be honest, I don't see why WE have to go to Alola.'
"I know how you feel guys," I said to my Pokémon as I sighed, "but Mom gave me these orders and Aunt Rhea approved them. But we're not going to Alola alone."
'I'm up for getting out of headquarters every now and then,' my shiny male Dream World Palpitoad said happily.
'It'll be homecoming for Vulpix and me,' my shiny female Poppilo said with a smile on her face as she and my shiny female Ice/Fairy-type Fox Pokémon had a smile on her face as well.
'Hooray! Homecoming!' exclaimed my shiny Alola Vulpix as she hopped up and down happily.
'Well who else is coming with us?' asked my shiny female Corsala.
"Mom asked Uma, Cleopatra to come with us and we'll be meeting Lt. Commander Yuffie on Melemele Island," I answered my Pokémon.
'Why not ask Lady Sheba to come with us?' my Poppilo asked me curiously.
"HELLO UMI!" a certain person I knew as a very annoying person shouted at the top of her lungs as she entered the room I was in before I headed out to the pool with my Pokémon.
I let out a frustrating sigh as I knew her personally. She had long baby blue hair braided into a Ponyta tail and a milk chocolate tan complexion and wore a neck high dark blue and silver one piece athletic swimsuit. She was a Second Generation hybrid like myself, but both of her parents are First Generation hybrids and only my mother, Shelly, is a hybrid. But enough about that annoying Crista. She came towards me as if we were old friends… which we weren't. Unfortunately for me, Crista snuck from behind me and placed her hands where I didn't want her to place them and I let out a startling cry that got my own Pokémon to jump. Unfortunately for Crista, those hands of hers didn't stay there for long as I tossed her hard into a set of lockers.
"Touch me like that again and you'll be sleeping with the Sharpedos," I snarled at Crista as I walked away with my Pokémon so I could at least enjoy a nice swim before deploying out into the field.
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"She started it when she placed her hands on my breasts like a grabby pervert!" I exclaimed to my mother and Aunt Rhea after I was brought before them once Crista reported me to Mom.
"I was just saying hello like the friend I've been and she got hostile with me," Crista countered back as she remained calm.
"We're not friends, you pest," I shot back to Crista angrily. "Your definition of friendship is acting like you're the big sister of every other second generation hybrid. Plus you've gotten a bit perverted too."
"Calm down Umi," Aunt Rhea said to me as I still showed hostility towards Crista. "You are right that Crista does think of herself as the 'older sister' of the Second Generation hybrids, even though she's not older than most of them. But your response of throwing Crista into a set of lockers and threatening to make her sleep with the Sharpedos was most definitely uncalled for."
"But what was I supposed to do Aunt Rhea?" I asked my aunt in protest. "Let her keep being a grabby pervert?"
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"I can't believe Mom and Aunt Rhea are allowing that pest and grabby pervert to come with us to Alola," I said in disgust to Uma and my Pokémon. "She doesn't need to add to my stress and migraines."
"Oh, there's no need to worry about Crista," Uma, Lady Vera's star pupil and second generation Ho-Oh hybrid, said to me cheerfully. "Besides, her perverted attitude might come in handy for us. Plus a lot of us use her as a shield when we go out in the field."
Uma is a close friend of mine along with my cousin and shiny Zapdos hybrid Electra, Lugia hybrid Kimberly, shiny Articuno hybrid named Jewel and shiny Moltres hybrid Fio. Uma is just as tall as I am. She's got a milk chocolate skin complexion and aside from her lab coat and glasses that she needs to see with, she wore a custom made dark and royal blue dive suit that showed off some of her cleavage.
"Look, I won't argue that Crista comes in handy at times," I began to Uma, "but she really needs to tone down the perverted streak she's got right now."
"Well, you've got an attachment issue with your mother," Uma said as she reminded me of my own quark. "At any rate, I've got some of my Pokémon ready to go when we head to Alola. How about you?"
"I'm good to go," I answered Uma as I showed her the various Pokéballs holding the Pokémon that I had with me. "Though I wish my brother, Tidal, could come with us."
"He's staying here I take it then?" Uma asked me as she checked her lab coat which held all of her Pokéballs.
"Mom said that she needs him to stay and help her out while I'm out in the field," I answered Uma as I readied my Pokéballs before Uma chucked a lab coat at me. "Uh… Uma, what's with me needing this lab coat?"
"Simple, you're my research assistant," Uma said with a cheeky grin. "Aside from backing you up, Lady Vera has asked me to do some research work in Alola. She told me to have a research assistant with me.
"So that means I'm your pick for being your research assistant," I assumed as Uma slipped the lab coat over my skintight, neck high, backless ocean blue one piece swimsuit. "Why not have Hyperion as your research assistant?"
"Would you have your boyfriend or mom be your field assistant?" Uma asked me in retort to my question.
"I don't have a boyfriend," I muttered as I didn't like that Uma rubbed in the fact that I didn't have a boyfriend.
However, before my friend and I could continue talking and switch back to talking about our mission, Uma felt a black and dark blue tail blade wrapping around her ankle and its shiny male Seviper owner coming up and surprising both of us with a surprise attack.
'S-s-s-s-surpris-s-se attack!' the shiny male Poison-type Fang Snake shouted as he burst out of his hiding place underneath Uma's workstation.
"Waa!" Uma cried out in complete surprise as she was completely surprised and scared.
As I went to help Uma get free from the tight grip of the very familiar shiny male Seviper, someone had snuck up behind me and held a kunai knife to my throat. The person behind me holding the kunai to my throat was a first generation shiny Seviper hybrid and the older sister of the shiny male Seviper and one of the thirteen squad leaders of the Protean Infiltration Squads. She had semi-braided poison green hair and swim goggles on her forehead, dark blue eyes and wore a skintight one piece swimsuit that were three different shades of blue with a Friend Ball set on a necklace around her neck.
"You might be the Ruby Mermaid's daughter, but you really need to be more alert," the shiny female Seviper hybrid said to me as she let go of me and set the kunai back in an ankle pack on her right ankle. "Considering we're going up against the Aether Foundation, we're really gonna have to be on our toes and be stealthy too."
"Cleo, we're just going to Alola to gauge the Aether Foundation's strength," I said to Cleopatra, the person who snuck up behind me and Uma with her shiny Seviper brother. "I seriously doubt that the job is gonna require us to be stealthy."
'You never know if we s-s-shall need to us-s-s-se s-s-stealth,' Cleopatra's shiny Seviper brother said as he let go of Uma and was unaware that a shiny male Raikou was right behind him and was absolutely furious with him.
'It's a shame your stealth didn't prepare you for me,' the shiny male Raikou, Hyperion, said with an angry telepathic tone before using his Wild Charge attack on Cleopatra's Seviper brother.
'Gah!' cried out Cleopatra's Seviper brother as he certainly didn't expect Hyperion to react the way he did and knock him out.
"Okay, now that we're together, let's go over the mission that Mom and Aunt Rhea has given us," I said to my teammates. "So let's hurry up and leave headquarters before Crista comes back. I'd like for this job to be pervert-free."
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"You realize that you're gonna be in so much trouble with your mother for leaving Crista behind at headquarters," Uma informed me as we embarked on the plane to the Alola region.
"Add on the fact that you lied to her, saying that she was being assigned elsewhere," chimed in Cleopatra as she sat down in the seat behind me.
"Mom can punish me after we get back from Alola," I said plainly as I really didn't want Crista anywhere near me.
"You do realize she's half Arcanine hybrid, right?" Uma asked me as she sat down next to me. "She did inherit her mother's tracking ability and her powerful sense of smell."
"You really think I care?" I retorted as my answer to Uma as the plane lifted off to the sky towards the Alola region. "As long as I don't have to deal with Crista, I don't mind getting punished by Mom."
The flight to Alola was very long, but as long as Crista wasn't there, I didn't mind the long 13 hour plane ride to Melemele Island. At least we got lunch and dinner before landing at Hau'oli City. As the three of us disembarked from the plane, Uma had to go retrieve her field gear for the research work that her mentor had assigned to her. As for me, I braced for the worst as I knew that mother was going to yell at me for leaving Crista behind back at headquarters and lying to her about it. I had to call my mom and let her know that we had arrived in the Alola region safe and sound… um… minus Crista. After letting out an exasperated sigh, I headed towards the nearest video to call Mom and Aunt Rhea to let them know my team and I had arrived at Hau'oli City. I picked up the phone and dialed the number to Aunt Rhea's office as I let out another sigh. The video link to Aunt Rhea's office came on as I controlled myself and that I needed to be professional.
"Hi Mom… Aunt Rhea," I said to the two closest people in my life… next to Uma and brother, Tidal. "We made it to the Alola region without any problems."
"That's a great relief to hear," Mom said to me with a smile on her face. "Is Crista with you too?"
"No Mom, I left that grabby pervert behind," I answered my mother as I wasn't going to lie to my mother like I did to that pest before leaving. "I told you that I didn't want her coming with us. Leaving her behind and lying to her was the only way to get it through her head that I didn't want her on my team here."
"I see," Mom replied calmly as her smile faded away to stern, stoic look of rebuke. "So you disobeyed our instructions to take Crista with you."
"Punish me when I back," I said to my mother with venom in my tone. "I stand by my decision to leave her behind. I think she would've been more of a hindrance to the mission rather being an asset."
I looked at my mother and aunt with a scowl on my face as I wasn't going to back down from my stance on that annoying pest. It was then that Aunt Rhea stood up from her desk and then strode forward away from it. The scowl I had on my face remained as I looked at my mother and aunt, expecting them to pronounce a punishment for me or for them to use a magic spell on me as my direct punishment from them for disobeying their order to bring Crista with me. However, Aunt Rhea gave Mom a slight nod of approval and then both of them then looked to me as they gave me a slight nod of approval and left me feeling baffled as to why they gave me a slight nod of approval before cutting our link.
"Uh… what the Houndour just happened?" I asked myself aloud as Uma walked by.
"Come on Umi, we got work to do," Uma said to me as she slapped me upside my head and brought me back to reality. "And I want to start my research here in the city."
"Come on Uma," I whined to my Ho-Oh hybrid best friend, "not the city! You know how much I hate the city! Can't we go someplace other than the stupid city?"
Unfortunately my comment caught the attention of the local residents and they weren't happy to hear me say that I hated the city and thought that I said their city was stupid. The looks on their faces told Uma and I that they weren't going to let us be in Hau'oli City. Some of them had Pokéballs in their hands ready to send their Pokémon out to either face us in battle or to force us out of Hau'oli City. It was then that Uma fixed her glasses calmly and addressed the crowd.
"I apologize for my idiot research assistant," Uma said to the crowd.
"What the?!" I asked Uma as my fangs came to bear and a few veins were popping on my forehead. "I'm not an… OW!"
"She just has no respect for people who live in the city since she was raised in the sea," Uma continued after she slapped me on my mouth to shut me up. "Please… don't worry about my assistant. She won't be in any way offensive to you people anymore."
Fortunately for me, the people put their Pokéballs away as they then walked away and bought Uma's explanation. It wasn't going to be an easy time since I had to be an idiot and open my mouth in sharing my opinion about city life. The truth is that I really hate the city. I absolutely loathe the city and everything about it. For me, I prefer the sea and small seaside villages where everything is simple and peaceful. Once Uma began her research on the Alola Pokémon, she had me go fetch food to eat and various supplies that she needed while she was conducting her research work. Sadly, some of those people who didn't take too kindly to my idiocy were some of the people that I had to buy food and Uma's supplies from. Many of them made sure that food was spilled on me or thrown in my face. When I tried to ask them to make some fresh food to replace what was spilled or made contact with my face, they threatened to call the police on me if I didn't take what I bought and left the store.
"Please tell me your research is done," I pleaded with my best friend
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"Please tell me that the research in the city is done," I pleaded with Uma as I was tired of having food spilled on my lab coat and my face smelling like sweet sugary frosting, honey and pretty much having my face become a bullseye for Bug-type Pokémon who happen to have a sweet tooth at the that time. "Some of the people here are vicious beasts."
"Well, you did offend those people when you said you thought the city was stupid," Uma countered back calmly. "Maybe you could've said your comment under your breath or just think it."
'She is right, Umi,' my male Piplup told me as he dusted the dirt off his lab coat. 'You've gotta learn to keep that mouth of yours shut.'
'I think those humans were definitely beastly with Umi,' my Vulpix said to me as she recounted having a malasda splattered all over her shiny coat. 'They were certainly beastly and could've not used food to take their frustration out us.'
"To answer your pleas, yes," Uma said to me, "my research in this city is done."
"I want no part of your research when we go to the next city," I said firmly as I had my phone out and was writing negative Yelp reviews about horrible places and people there.
"I'm afraid, you're not gonna have much of a choice when we go to the next city on the next island," Uma said to me. "You're my research assistant. Plus… you'll have to buck up… my chummy chum."
"Let's just hurry and get out of here," I said to Uma with a blank stare. "I just wanna leave and…"
"Alright all you suckas!" a black bandana wearing thug shouted to those who were in the area, including Uma and I. "Team Skull is here to collect all of y'all's payment! Anyone who don't comply is gonna feel the bone wrath of all us Skull bruthas and sistas, yo!"
"Looks like trouble has come," I said as I helped Uma finish packing up her gear. "I say we get out of here before they spot us."
"What about those people that Skull thugs are terrorizing?" Uma asked me as the Skull thugs were trying to collect their "fee."
"Leave them," I answered coldly as Uma and Cleopatra looked to me as to what we were going to do. "I'm sure they can handle themselves against Team Skull. Besides, our orders were to gauge the strength of the Aether Foundation's members should we have to face them."
'You s-s-sure that's-s-s-s the bes-s-s-st decis-s-s-sion for us-s-s-s?' Cleopatra's shiny Seviper brother asked me with concern.
"An eye for an eye," I said as I remained cold and cruel with my decision to leave the people of Hau'oli City to their fate. "Now let's get out of here."
My compatriots let out a sigh and gave me a slight nod as they grabbed their gear and we slipped past the Skull grunts and headed out to Uma's next destination to continue the research she was assigned. None of them said anything as I didn't want to speak about the subject of the people of Hau'oli City again. However my cold cruel attitude wouldn't last long as I rolled my eyes and snarled aloud, "Stupid guilty conscious. I hate having this guilty conscious. It's gonna nag at me until I do something."
"Uh… Umi?" Cleopatra asked me dumbfounded as she and her brother were confused by my change in direction.
I said nothing as I turned back to Hau'oli City to go deal with those Skull thugs that were plaguing those ungrateful people. As much as I didn't want to help them out, I knew that my mother wouldn't be happy that I left innocent people to suffer at the hands of bullies and abusers. With that thought in mind, I headed back to Hau'oli City after getting a slight nod from my Pokémon and my mother's Tyranitar that had been assigned to my team, despite my protests that I didn't need a bodyguard. Well… it was either my mom's Tyranitar or the Bisharp hybrid, Brianna, who had been my bodyguard for a few years since I was ten. Making our way back, we saw that a few trainers were indeed holding their own against the Team Skull thugs until their Pokémon were attacked from behind and defeated. The defeated trainers were then being forced on the ground and being beaten within an inch of their lives in order to force them to hand over their Pokémon. However, before the bloodied and bruised trainers could comply, I stepped in and got the attention of the thugs.
"Yo… someone like a sucka like you should make themselves wiser and give us the goods," the beastly and brutish monster said to me as I didn't flinch or ever show emotion against them. "Give up the goods and ya ain't gonna feel our bone wrath. Ya feelin' me?"
"I won't give in to beastly monsters like you," I answered the Skull thug with acid in my tone. "You'll return what you've stolen… or you will feel my wrath."
"Ya ain't scarin anyone, yo," another Skull thug replied as she hefted a Pokéball of her own Pokéball. "Time to put ya in ya place, yo!
I still said nothing as the Skull thug threw her first Pokéball up and said, "Let's go Golbat. Take suck this sucka dry of all of her Pokémon, yo!"
"Alright Croconaw, you're on," I countered as I threw a Dream Ball containing my chosen Pokémon to send out into battle.
'Ready… to… go… UMI!' my energetic shiny male Big Jaw Pokémon shouted at the top of lungs happily as he danced joyfully.
"Golbat, use your Wing Attack on that Croconaw," the female Skull Grunt ordered her Bat Pokémon.'
"Counter back with your Ancient Power," I said to my Croconaw calmly.
'Yay! I… LOVE… USING MY… ANCIENT POWER!' my Croconaw shouted gleefully before he created a silver afterimage of himself and then launched it at the Poison/Flying-type Bat Pokémon.
'MOMMA!' the terrified Golbat shouted as my Croconaw's Ancient Power was a lot stronger than he thought it would be. 'WAAAH!'
"What the heck just happened?" the female Skull grunt demanded of me as her Golbat was knocked out in one fell swoop. "There's no way that should've happened!"
"Sorry… guess I should've mentioned that my Croconaw has the Sheer Force ability instead of Torrent," I said to the female Skull grunt.
"Wha? That's not possible," the female Skull grunt shot at me.
'Oh… it's… POSSIBLE!' my happy go-lucky Big Jaw Pokémon exclaimed happily as he danced one of his celebratory dances. 'My ability is in fact… SHEER FORCE! And I love playing 'MOMMA'! It's my favorite game.'
"You and your stupid Pokémon just got lucky," the female Skull grunt snarled at me as she sent out her next Pokémon against me. "Go Grimer!"
The Sludge Pokémon that came out against me was certainly wasn't like the Grimers that I'd seen in the other regions. This Sludge Pokémon was green with a yellow lower lip and some crystals within its body. I could sense that there was something different with this Grimer, but I was going to have to switch out my Pokémon. And swapped my Croconaw out, I did as I recalled him to his Dream Ball. The next Pokéball I threw out was a Lure Ball and out came one of my favorite Pokémon to call on as I had a sneaking suspicion and her Dream World ability would be most effective for countering it.
"Alright Marshtomp, you're on now," I said calmly as called on my next Pokémon to deal with this unusual Grimer.
"Is this some kind of joke to you?" the female Skull grunt asked me in a mocking tone. "Whatever… Grimer use Self-destruct!"
'Uh… okay,' the weird looking Grimer said nervously before trying to use his Self-destruct attack. 'I can't use my Self-destruct attack!'
"Then try using your Explosion attack then!" roared the female Skull grunt… only to see that it too failed. "Why aren't your Self-destruct or Explosion attacks working?"
I had stuck my pinky finger in my left ear and used it gently like a cotton tip people stuck in their ears to remove earwax until the Skull grunt looked to me for an explanation of what was going on. My response to her was to roll my eyes at her and then have my shiny female Mud Fish Pokémon use her Mud Bomb attack in retaliation. She complied and fired off a hard-packed mud ball at the Poison-type Sludge Pokémon. Though we didn't quite hear a loud panicking 'MOMMA' from the opposing Pokémon, it was satisfying to see it fall to my Marshtomp.
"Oh by the way, my Marshtomp has the ability Damp instead of Torrent," I informed the Skull grunt as she was still confused as to why her Grimer's Self-destruct and Explosion attacks had failed to go off. "With the Damp ability, your Pokémon's Self-destruct and Explosion attacks can't go off while she's out in the field of battle."
"You're just making that up," snarled the Skull grunt as she was still being a sore loser from me defeating her first two Pokémon without so much as sneeze.
'Yeesh, she is being such a sore loser,' my shiny female Mud Fish Pokémon said to me as she shook her head.
"I guess she can't comprehend the concept of the Dream World," Uma said as she was watching the battle along with Cleopatra.
"That and she's being a sore loser," Cleopatra added to Uma's commentary.
"You're going down… you… you… you CHEATER!" the female Skull grunt shouted at me as she was starting to get frustrated with the fact that I was defeating her with my more powerful Pokémon. "That's it, no more playing around with you! Go Salandit!"
"Excellent work Marshtomp," I said as I recalled my Marshtomp to her Lure Ball then produced the Dream Ball that held my close friend and sibling before tossing it out. "Go Popplio!"
"What a joke," the female Skull grunt said as she rolled her eyes. "Salandit, use Poison Gas!"
"Dodge and use Aqua Jet," I countered back as I crossed my arms across my chest.
My Popplio sister gave me a nod and dodged the Poison-type attack by rolling to the left and launched herself at the third and unfamiliar Pokémon to me. Popplio had such precision with her Aqua Jet. The black and purple crocodile-like Pokémon took a big hit from my Popplio sister's Water-type attack. It certainly took a lot of damage from the Aqua Jet attack and it seemed as if it was weak against Water-type attacks. I then decided to press that advantage against the unfamiliar Pokémon as then said, "Follow it up with your Disarming Voice."
'Oh yay!' my Popplio sister exclaimed happily. 'It's my favorite attack! Come and get it!'
'Wah! It's a Water-type attack!' the Pokémon called Salandit cried out in pain.
"Now what's going on?!" the female Skull grunt demanded of me. "Disarming Voice is a Fairy-type attack! It's not a Water-type attack."
"Huh… guess I forgot to mention that my Popplio has the Liquid Voice ability instead of Torrent," I replied to my opponent in a sarcastic tone as I rolled my eyes before my dear Popplio sister was bathed in a soft white light. "And now she's evolving into Brionne."
"No, no, no, no, no, NO!" the defeated Skull grunt shouted as she fell to her knees. "I can't return back to the boss like this!"
"Well, too bad for you," I replied coldly with ice in my tone. "Get out of my sight… now."
"No way!" snarled the female Skull Grunt as she then charged at me hoping to get in close for a fist fight.
I let out a huff of frustration as I didn't want any more to do with the person that was charging at me. After I rolled my eyes, I snapped my fingers after silently chanting a spell I usually used only as a prank. The effect of the spell… it brought humiliation to the one who tried to come at me for a fist fight that most likely would've ended with her life cut short. She let out a startling cry of embarrassment and then ran screaming that she would get her revenge on me next time we met. Once she was gone, I turned my attention to the remaining problem at hand. Cleopatra and Uma were all too happy to help in dealing with the problem in Hau'oli City too as they helped in battling the Skull grunts and drive them out of town empty-handed. With the threat from Team Skull eliminated, the people of the city looked at me and compatriots, especially those who acted like beasts. They were completely stunned that I would come back to help them after I had insulted them in saying that I thought city life was stupid. I glared at the people who stood there and then I said to them as I turned my back to them, "Be thankful that you won't have to deal with those monsters who tried to steal what is precious to you. Be thankful that I came back, though I didn't want to since you were beastly to me." The people of the town were speechless as I said no more to them and then left without hesitation. Once I left with my team, things went back to normal for the people of Hau'oli City.
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"You did well in battling today," Uma said to me as we had stopped at a laundromat on the outskirts of Hau'oli City.
"I only did it because I didn't want to have a guilty conscious in leaving those people to lose what they treasure the most," I replied stoically and coldly.
"Yeah, we know you're a 'Momma's little girl'," Cleopatra said to me with a grin on her face as she smiled clapped me on my back.
"I just wanna get this lab coated cleaned and get out of here before the mob comes," I said in reference to the beastly people who were heartless.
"Just be glad most of the research I'll be doing will be out and away from the city," Uma said to me as she got my lab coat out of the dryer and threw it at me. "I may just have Cleopatra help me in the city if you can't keep your anti-city views in check."
"I'll be just fine with you having Cleopatra being your assistant in the city," I said without hesitation as I slipped the now clean lab coat back on over my swimsuit.
"Wait, hold on who died and made you the queen of this mission?" Cleopatra asked me as she didn't like that I had just assigned her to work with Uma in the city.
"Uh… my mom and Aunt Rhea did," I answered stoically. "I just don't wanna make the same mistake I made in Hau'oli City."
"Shh…," Cleopatra told me and Uma as motioned for us to be quiet.
"Huh?" Uma asked Cleopatra in a dumbfounded tone before the shiny Seviper hybrid placed her hands on mine and Uma's mouths.
"I said 'Shh'," Cleopatra chided me and Uma as she closed her eyes and then Uma and I noticed that her shiny Seviper brother was missing from her side.
Before Uma and I could ask Cleopatra where her brother was, we could hear a scream for help coming from the forest ahead of us. I was surprised to see that Cleopatra's brother came back and had captured someone and they were dressed in all white and were being dragged over to us. The person in white at first looked afraid and then said to us, "If you're trying to get info on how to deactivate the jamming signal at the Aether Paradise, you'll never get it from me."
"We really don't care about what you think we want," Cleopatra informed the person dressed in white.
'Jus-s-s-st who are you?' Cleopatra's shiny Seviper brother asked the person in her white outfit.
"Please tell us who you are," Uma requested of the person calmly as the Seviper let the person go.
"I… I… work f-for the Aether Foundation," she stammered nervously as Cleopatra's shiny Seviper brother glared at her.
"And what does the Aether Foundation want from us?" I asked the white clad girl.
"I'm not saying anything… anything to… to foreigners who are threatening… threatening Alola," the white clad girl answered us trying to act brave and assume that we were threatening Alola.
"We're just researchers doing some research on the local Pokémon here," Uma said calmly to the white clad girl. "We've never seen Pokémon like these before. Let alone the forms of certain Pokémon from various regions too."
The white clad girl said nothing, but hurried off before we could get any more information out of her. Cleopatra's Seviper brother wanted to chase after the unknown girl so we could get more information out of her, but I shook my head signaling that we didn't need to pursue her any further. Had we pursued her and gotten more information out of her, then it was sure to be noted by the Aether Foundation, should they be a threat to us AND the Alola region. At the moment, we had to try and find any more people who were of the Aether Foundation and observe them in battle against this Team Skull that we encountered in Hau'oli City or provoke them into battling us. Personally, I didn't like the idea of provoking this Aether Foundation into battling us, but I usually obeyed Aunt Rhea and Mother's instructions. However, Mother and Aunt Rhea didn't say that we couldn't observe the Aether Foundation battling against those Team Skull beasts.
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3rd person POV
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"So you're saying that another group has come to Alola?" Lusamine asked her scout, who had just been interrogated by the three members of Team Trident.
"Yes ma'am," answered the scout as she was still dusting herself off after the encounter. "They said that they're researching the Pokémon of Alola and the 'regional variants' of Pokémon from different regions. Whatever the heck that means."
"Do you believe they're researchers?" Lusamine asked her scout.
Lusamine's scout shrugged hers shoulders as she answered, "I dunno. They don't exactly look like they're researchers to me. Their outfits don't exactly scream 'I'm a researcher' to me."
"And what exactly is a researcher supposed to look like?" Lusamine asked her scout as she looked to her with a glare on her face.
"I dunno," answered the scout as she shrugged her shoulders and rolled her eyes, "I guess older, dressed a bit more professional than what they were wearing. I mean, come on! Who the heck wears a swimsuit or a dive suit that shows off your cleavage under a lab coat? That doesn't 'scream professional' researcher to me."
"I've worn swimsuits and dive suits when I did research work," Wicke, the lead researcher for the Aether Foundation answered the scout on the large video screen.
"W-Well… that… that's different," stammered the scout.
"At any rate, we need to keep a close eye on them too," Lusamine said calmly as she brought focus back to the subject at hand.
"No way, no how am I getting anywhere near those outsiders," the scout said as she shook her head violently.
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Umi Robinson's POV
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"You see me sucka?" the female Skull grunt I humiliated back in Hau'oli City asked me we left Hau'oli City three days ago. "I'm back to get my revenge on ya and collect ya overdue fees, ya feelin' me?"
"I see you didn't learn from when I humiliated you earlier," I replied in a calm yet emotionless tone. "And no… I'm not 'feelin' ya' at all.
"Croconaw, you're on for another round of 'Momma!'," I said as tossed up the Dream Ball of my overly energetic shiny male Big Jaw Pokémon.
'YAY!' Croconaw shouted happily and energetically as he danced. 'I LOVE THAT… I GET TO PLAY… ANOTHER ROUND OF… 'MOMMA'!'
"Whatever yo!" snapped Skull grunt as she tossed her Pokéball and out came the different colored Grimer from this region in Alola… or so I thought it was the same Grimer. "Go Muk! Time for some payback, yo!"
'Ready to return the favor,' the big Sludge Pokémon of different colors said to his trainer.
"You need no instructions from me Croconaw," I informed my shiny male evolved Big Jaw Pokémon with a slight nod.
'YIPEE!' shouted Croconaw as he finished dancing one of his favorite dances. 'Time… to use… my… ANCIENT POWER!'
Like with the stupid Golbat, my overly active shiny Water-type Big Jaw Pokémon used the Rock-type move that he inherited from one of his parents and directed it at the unfamiliar looking Muk. And just like the stupid Golbat, the Poison/Dark-type Sludge Pokémon cried out for his momma and screamed in complete horror as the silver afterimage slammed into him before he could use his Self-Destruct attack.
'I just love… playing… MOMMA!' shouted my hyperactive Croconaw as he was very happy at his victory.
The female Skull grunt was very angry at the fact that she was be beaten again. Plus there was the fact that she was acting more beastly at the fact that her Pokémon was again being defeated by me and my team of Pokémon. I hadn't sent my shiny male Piplup out into battle against these Team Skull beasts. But I was saving my shiny male Penguin Pokémon for when I needed him the most and the time I was facing this opposing beast was not the right time to bring him into battle. The beastly Skull grunt then sent out her Salandit against me and I countered back with my Marshtomp. That Poison/Fire-type Pokémon didn't stand a ghost of a chance against my shiny female Mud Fish Pokémon as much of her move set were Ground-type moves. With her Ground-type moves, my Marhstomp was able to effectively put down the Poison/Fire-type Toxic Lizard Pokémon. The beastly Skull grunt still couldn't accept that she was losing to me again. Instead of facing her third Pokémon, I used the same spell I used on her to humiliate her again and force her to run away, screaming in embarrassment.
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After disposing of the Skull grunt, we continued on through Melemele Island doing research for Lady Vera and keeping a watchful eye out for any Aether Foundation personnel. Fortunately for us, we didn't encounter any more people from the Aether Foundation as Uma did her research work throughout Melemele Island. Thanks to Lady Vera, we were given Z-Rings to use should we had ever acquired any of the Z-Crystals that Cynthia and her friends were slowly acquiring as they participated in the Island Trials throughout the Alola region. The problem for us was that in order for us to obtain these Z-Crystals, we would have to participate in the Island Trials and we were trying to limit our presence in the region. Once we got the research we needed and we caught a few new Pokémon from the region, we decided that it was time for us to move to the next island and maybe stay ahead of Cynthia and her friends.
'Shouldn't we take a look at the Pokémon School that Cynthia, her friends, Princess Ren and your cousin are at?' my shiny male Penguin Pokémon asked me as we back tracked to Hau'oli City. 'I mean we still haven't made contact with Lt. Commander Makoto yet. Or even Commander Shelke Dotson yet.'
I sighed as I knew that Piplup was right and we really did have to make contact with the leaders of the Ghosts in the Shell unit. I thought they were the ones who would handle our ability to go from island to island without being detected by Team Skull or the Aether Foundation. And we needed them. So we headed back to back in the direction Hau'oli City and made our way to the Pokémon School where Cynthia and her friends all went to school. After a two day walk from where Uma was doing her research, we made it to the Pokémon School and met a young lady who was dressed in an all-white outfit and held a white Vulpix in her arms. Both the young lady and her white Vulpix were nervous at the sight of us. In order to show the young lady that we weren't people to be afraid of, I called out my Alola Pokémon and my shiny male Piplup just to say hello.
'Hello there young lady,' my Piplup said to the nervous young lady and her white Vulpix.
"Uh… hi… there," the young lady replied back nervously as she was a bit tense.
'There's nothing to fear from us,' my Brionne said in a reassuring tone and with a smile on her face.
"We're just looking for… um, Shelke Dotson and Yuffie Makoto," I explained to the young lady and her white Vulpix, trying to avoid calling them "Commander" and "Lieutenant Commander."
"Are they here?" Uma asked the young lady.
"Well… they're usually gone during the morning," the young lady explained to us. "B-But they should be back right about now. Please come this way."
"What's your name, if you don't mind me asking?" I asked the young lady before Uma or Cleopatra could ask her.
"Oh… I'm Lillie," the young woman answered as she was stammering. "And this is Snowy."
'Um… hi… hi there,' the white Vulpix said as she too was stammering like her trainer.
"Maybe we can break the ice a little bit," Uma said as she went into the group's TM Case and pulled out the TM for the Ice-type move Freeze-Dry.
"Uh… what is that?" the young lady named Lillie asked Uma as she got closer to the baby Vulpix with the Freeze-Dry TM in hand. "What are you doing to Snowy?"
"Just relax," Cleopatra said to Lillie as she set her hand on Lillie's shoulder. "She's gonna use a TM to give your white Vulpix an Ice-type move and help her get a bit stronger."
Uma then set the TM on the Vulpix's head and let the TM do it's work to give the baby female Fox Pokémon a new move to add it's arsenal. The little Vulpix accepted and absorbed knowledge of the Ice-type move. After absorbing the knowledge of Freeze-Dry, the baby female Ice-type Fox Pokémon then smiled and tested the new attack… on my shiny male Piplup, who was caught quite unaware with the attack.
'I like the new attack,' Snowy said to us happily as she smiled proudly. 'Thanks!'
'Glad you like the new attack,' my shiny male Piplup said in an annoyed tone before using his Brick Break attack to break himself free of the ice that he was trapped in from Snowy's new Freeze-Dry attack.
'OH NO!' Snowy exclaimed in a panic as she saw my Piplup breaking himself free of her new Freeze-Dry. 'I'M SO SORRY! I DIDN'T MEAN TO DO THAT!'
"Ah… we've been expecting you," Lt. Commander Yuffie Makoto said as she and Commander Shelke Dotson came to the entrance of the Pokémon School. "Time for you three to get on the move."
"Where are Cynthia and her friends at right now?" I asked the two leaders of the Ghosts in the Shell unit.
"They're facing the Island Kahuna of Melemele Island right now," Commander Shelke answered plainly. "Shelby Summers and her brother have already defeated the Island Kahuna and now Cynthia Ketchum and Isabella Greyson are currently facing him now."
"Those two will defeat the Island Kahuna no problem," I said with a smile on my face. "With the Pokémon they've got, it'll be no more than target practice for them."
"Let's hope you're right," Shelke said to me stoically as we followed her and the Lt. Commander to their secret quarters within the school. "As for us, we will get you to the different islands undetected and out of Team Skull and the Aether Foundation's radar."
'Oh YAY! We're gonna get digitized!' my Croconaw shouted happily he started to dance one of his hyper active dances.
"It'd be a smart idea to have your Croconaw quiet down," Lt. Commander Makoto suggested to me as she made a silencing gesture. "The principal is directly above us and we still have yet to soundproof this area. So… please keep it down. We don't wish alert Principal Oak."
'Oh… sorry Lt. Commander,' Croconaw said as he stopped his dancing and looked to the Rotom hybrid.
"You're fine," Yuffie replied to my shiny male Big Jaw Pokémon. "But you also can't refer to me as 'Lieutenant Commander' here or Shelke as 'Commander.' We don't want to alert the staff here to our team's presence here in Alola either."
"We understand," I replied as we gave them a slight nod of acknowledgment to their instructions.
"Now that our instructions have been given to you," began Shelke as she brought focus back to their original plan, "it is time for us to send you to Akala Island ahead of the strike team."
Once we were ready to go, Yuffie and Shelke then opened their secret cyberspace road that lead to a terminal at Heahea City the two had step up near a research lab. After a 15 minute run on the cyber highway from the Pokémon School to an apartment near the research lab in Heahea City, we hurried to the Pokémon Center to get our Pokémon healed after we did some training on Melemele Island. Strangely enough, the three of us received one of those Z-Rings that Cynthia Ketchum and her friends received from a local Pokémon deity along with a few Z-Crystals that corresponded with the Pokémon types that we trained. Yuffie told us that if we wanted to get more Z-Crystals, then we were gonna have to backtrack to Melemele Island and register to participate in the Island Trials as they weren't going to help us acquire more of the Z-Crystals located throughout Alola.
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"So… are we gonna try and do these Island Trials in order to get more Z-Crystals?" Uma asked me as she and Cleopatra were curious as to what our next move was going to be after stepping out of the Pokémon Center.
"We're just here to do our assignment and gauge the strength of Aether Foundation's members," I answered Uma as I was certainly eager to return home and be at my mother's side once again. "Once that's done, we head home.
"That damn little Ketchum brat," snarled someone unfamiliar to us with purple hair and in an angry and hateful tone. "If that stupid Pokémon hadn't gotten in the way, I would've killed that little brat of Ketchum and that would've made come after me once he heard that I killed his precious little brat."
"On second thought, it looks like we need to keep whoever that guy is from killing Cynthia," Cleopatra said to us after we heard that purple-haired bastard mention wanting to kill the daughter of the Princess of the Sea as he walked past us. "Milady Rhea will want us to be protecting her niece."
"Think we should warn the Aura Guardian and the Samiyan Queen?" Uma asked me as she made a reference to the two strongest members of the Atlantica Islands Elite Four.
"No," I answered Uma as I was sure that Mom and Aunt Rhea didn't want to add to Count Ash and Grand Duchess May Ketchum's plate of things they had to do. "We'll handle the problem ourselves or see about setting someone up to take him out. If only there was a Sharpedo nearby that we could recruit."
'Oh boy,' Cleo's shiny male Seviper brother said as he rolled his eyes, 'you c-c-c-certainly are of Ruby Mermaid's-s-s-s-s bloodline.'
"I'll take that as a compliment," I told the shiny male Poison-type Fang Snake Pokémon with a smile on my face. "Now come my friends, we've got work to do."
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Author's note: And here's another chapter completed. I do apologize for how short the chapter is due in part to all the raiding and playing I've been doing on Pokémon GO and my job. Hopefully I can make some progress with my writing and get another chapter written. You may notice that I'll switch around to different people, but the main focus here in this fic is on Ash and May's daughter, Cynthia. Until then, Happy Halloween! Hope you keep reading and reviewing this fic and share it with your friends too.