At the Aether Foundation, several Aether Foundation employees are waiting at the entrance. They knew that Gladion had stolen one of their boats, and they're waiting for him to return.
"Gladion must pay for thieving the boat," one of the Aether Foundation employees said. A second one added "We'll combine our force and destroy him for his crime"
"Alright," a third Aether Foundation Employee replied.
When the large boat arrived, the major clash began. The objective was clear, keep the Aether Foundation Employees and ICAVAC busy. And it was here that it was revealed just how many trainers and Pokémon there were to face.
This, however, was OK. Soon, the Alola Trainer Force was in the main building of the Aether Foundation.
(A/N: If you want me to cover the battles between ICAVAC/Aether Foundation and the Alola Force, let me know).
Meanwhile, Gladion was racing the boat up to Lusamine's Mansion, guided to the Special Entrance by Shadora.
"Over here, the special entrance is in there," Shadora said, pointing to a narrow entrance, to which Gladion nodded and guided the boat to the harbour.
When they arrived, they found Guzma waiting for them.
"Guzma, why are you here?" Elio asked as they disembarked, to which Guzma replied "I've still got something I can't let go, things ain't nobody gonna mess with! And guess what? One of those things I can let slide has been messed with!"
"Alright. Good, we could do with some backup" Elio said. Gladion nodded, then turned to Shadora and said "Well, lead the way"
"Alright. By the way, I'm Shadora, a General of Team Future, helping the people here sneak into Lusamine's Mansion while the rest of the strong trainers in Alola are helping hold back the Aether Foundation and this new group calling themselves ICAVAC, to allow us to sneak in" Shadora said, and Guzma replied "I thought I saw you around. I'm Guzma, former leader of the now-disbanded Team Skull"
"Nice to meet you Guzma. Now let's get going!" Shadora said. The seven of them headed up the secret pathway.
As it turned out, the Secret Pathway wasn't quite as secret as they thought it was.
After going up three floors, they discover their path blocked by an ICAVAC member.
"You can only battle me if you have an Incineroar on your team. While you can go past me, two other members are waiting for you, and the door to the Mansion through this entrance is locked until you defeat all three of us" the ICAVAC member said.
"Dangit, that's going to slow us down a lot," Shadora said.
"I'm Hau, and I have an Inceineroar. It'll be me you'll battle" Hau said, taking steps forward.
"Alright," ICAVAC said, and he threw a card down between them.
"What the?" Hau asked, to which Shadora replied "Hau, be careful, we're in a Life Score battle. This battle style is dangerous, and you can be badly hurt, or worse if you lose"
"Alright, I'll be careful, don't worry," Hau said, though he was now concerned. Shadora then turned to face the others and said "Let Hau distract this one, we had better get upstairs. The sooner we get to that portal, the better". Everyone nods and heads around towards the stairs to the next floor as both trainer's Incineroar's clashed.
On the fourth floor, they find another ICAVAC member waiting for them, this time showing off a Primarina.
"Same as before. You'll have to defeat me to get one of the three cards to access the mansion, and you can only battle me if you have a Primarina on your team" the ICAVAC member said. Elio nodded, then said "You lot go on, I'll handle this guy. I have a Primarina of my own after all" and he took out a Poké Ball, and threw it. A Primarina also materialised out of it.
"Alright, good luck Elio," Gladion said. Shadora then added "This one's a Life Score battle as well, so be careful"
"I will" Elio replied as the remainder skirted the battlefield and went up to the fifth floor.
Sure enough, on the fifth floor, a third ICAVAC trainer was there, and, just with the others, he had Decidueye.
"You've heard this speech twice before but, I'll basically repeat it. The door to the mansion is on the floor above. It's locked. You have to defeat me and my comrades and obtain our Starter Cards, to open the door. As with the other two, you can only challenge me if you have a Decidueye on your team. And, judging by the other two, one of you has a Decidueye on your team"
"That would be me," Professor Kukui said, and he called in his Decidueye.
"We'll be waiting next to the door Professor. Good Luck and be careful" Shadora said. Professor Kukui nodded, and, as the remainder of the force ascended the stairs to the sixth floor, the Decidueye from both trainers clashed.
Sure enough, when they arrive on the sixth floor, there was a large door blocking their path.
"Alright, as we suspected, our path ahead is blocked, and there are three cards, hopefully, Hau, Elio and Professor Kukui will win their battles, and obtain the necessary cards," Shadora said, to which Gladion replied "Alright, I can't wait to smack some ICAVAC skulls"
Meanwhile, at the ICAVAC VS Hau battle.
Hau had the upper hand over the ICAVAC member, up 4-2. His Incineroar had defeated the ICAVAC member's Incineroar.
"So, it seems that Weather does damage a trainer's Life Score at the end of every turn, and not just their Pokémon," Hau said as he was buffeted by the Hail for another turn, though there was only one turn of Hail left.
At about the same time, the second ICAVAC member was being flattened by Champion Elio. Currently, he was winning 5-1. The current final battle is between Tsareena and Eelektross.
"Tsareena, use Power Whip," Elio said, and Tsareena's Leg glowed Green, and it was swung with full force at Eelektross.
"Eelektross, brace yourself with Coil, the strike with Crunch," the ICAVAC member said. Tsareena's Power Whip leg smashed into Eelektross and did the majority of its health in damage, despite the Coil boost. Eelektross's fang the glowed with negative energy, and it crunched on Tsareena's leg, doing a decent amount of damage and briefly causing Tsareena to lose her balance and fall over.
"Rapid Spin yourself free," Elio said. Tsareena spun around rapidly and quickly threw Eelektross off.
"Now end this, Power Whip" Elio said, while the ICAVAC member said "Now Eelektross, strike again with Crunch" and Tsareena's Leg glowed green once again, and it smashed into Eelektross, and Eelektross managed to latch onto Tsareena's leg, though the hit from the Power Whip was enough to KO Eelektross.
"Ugh, I lost. But somehow, I held onto a small amount of my Life Score" the ICAVAC member said. He was badly injured by the damage from the battle, while Elio only had a handful of scratches on him.
"Well done Tsareena," Elio said as he withdrew Tsareena.
"Here's my Water Card, one of the cards to allow you to open the door," the ICAVAC member said, giving him the card. Elio nodded, took the card, then said "Now you get medical attention"
"I will," the ICAVAC member said, and Elio headed upstairs.
The third ICAVAC member wasn't having a better time against Professor Kukui. the Professor was up 4-1, and it was Alolan Ninetales VS Dusknoir.
"Alolan Ninetales, use Moonblast" Professor Kukui said, and Alolan Ninetales converted light from the moon into a Pink ball of energy. Then, a pink beam of energy was shot from the orb towards Dusknoir. It hit and did a considerable amount of damage.
"Burn! Dusknoir use Will-O-Wisp" the ICAVAC member said. Dusknoir quickly recovered and fired balls of fire at Alolan Ninetales.
"Deflect it, Substitute" Professor Kukui said, and a Doll-like figure was placed in front of her, stopping the Burn.
"Grr. Break the Substitute Dusknoir, use Shadow Punch" the ICAVAC member said. Dusknoir's fist was cloaked in Spectral energy and was fired at Alolan Ninetales, the Substitute barely held on.
"Nice. Now then, another Moonblast" Professor Kukui said. Once again, Alolan Ninetales converted light from the moon into a Pink ball of energy. Then, a pink beam of energy was shot from the orb towards Dusknoir. It hit and did a considerable amount of damage.
"Dusknoir, bust that Substitute with Shadow Punch," the ICAVAC member said. Once again, Dusknoir's fist was cloaked in Spectral energy and was fired at Alolan Ninetales. This time, the Substitute was broken.
"Another Substitute" Professor Kukui said, and Alolan Ninetales placed a doll-like figure in front of it, and this meant that ICAVAC member's command "Dusknoir, use Pain Split" was blocked.
"Now strike with Moonblast," Professor Kukui said, and Alolan Ninetales converted light from the moon into a Pink ball of energy. Then, a pink beam of energy was shot from the orb towards Dusknoir. It hit, and Dusknoir only just withstood the blast.
"Shadow Punch," ICAVAC member said, and Dusknoir's fist was cloaked in Spectral energy and fired at Alolan Ninetales, the Substitute just held.
"End this, Alolan Ninetales, use Moonblast," Professor Kukui said, and Alolan Ninetales converted light from the moon into a Pink ball of energy. Then, a pink beam of energy was shot from the orb towards Dusknoir. It hit, and Dusknoir went down this time, and the ICAVAC member collapsed.
"Take it," he said, showing off the Grass Card, which Professor Kukui took.
Finally, after a closer battle, Hau won 2-0 and obtained the Fire Card. Soon, the three of them arrive at the sixth floor, scratched but not badly hurt. Well, except for Hau, who did seem to be banged up quite badly.
"Are you OK Hau?" Elio asked, to which Hau replied "Sort, but OK. I have some news about the other dimension that I want to share with anyone who's going in"
"OK, let's hear it," Elio said. Hau nodded, then said "Well, it turns out that, in the other realm, the Life Score function is constant. And if your Life Score hits zero, you die, and so do all of your Pokémon without a Totem of Undying"
"Alright, thanks for telling us," Gladion said. Then, each of Elio, Hau and Professor Kukui insert their hard-won cards into the card slots, and the door opened to admit them.
"Let's go," Elio said, and the group headed into the Mansion.
At about the same time, Although the fight continues between the Aolan Forces, ICAVAC, Mind-Controlled Villagers, and the Aether Foundation Employees, Steve has managed to get his way to the entrance of Lusamine's Mansion, where he finds another Iron Golem blocking his path.
"Right. Let's go with Steve's Iron Golem!" Steve said, calling his Iron Golem to his side. The two Iron Golem's roared at each other, and charged in, slamming their arms into each other, and sending them repeatedly flying. As it turns out, both the Iron Golem he's fighting, and his Iron Golem was somewhat similar, although the combined healing from Regeneration and the reduction of damage taken from attacks meant that the Iron Golem Steve used won out over the other Iron Golem.
The victory allowed Steve to proceed into the castle and as a result, he met up with Elio and the others.
"Hey Steve. Now we have to storm the mansion and find a way to get to the top" Elio said. Steve nodded, then said "I think I know how to help you with that. Follow me" and with that, the group headed for what seemed like a locked door, but when Steve placed a card into it, it opened and revealed a healing room.
"OK, we'll rest up here for a bit, get your strength back. Then we'll reclaim the mansion" Steve said, and everybody nodded in agreement and were guided by the nurses to healing chambers to rest and recover, for both them and their Pokémon.