Far away from the southerly land of Roria, a emergency gathering had been assembled in the Bagoon, the flying headquarters of the Pokémon Association.

The Pokémon Association has summoned the greatest minds and trainers of the various regions of the world to discuss the first stirrings of a insidious plot encroaching ever closer to the free peoples of the world.

The Bagoon hovered over the Sundering Seas, just west of Sinnoh. The ship of the sky was supported by a gigantic balloon with exotic lighter-than-air gases entrapped inside. Aft engines blazed gouts of flame, allowing the hovering frigate to accelerate to speeds that, if a tensor field did not hold the ship together, would have crushed most passengers. Lofts and expansive decks allowed for the world elites to discuss commerce, politics, policies and stratagems, and execute them from the comfort of a five-star room.

Samuel Oak, aging, although still hale and hearty, sat down in a swivel chair at the far end of a incredibly long glass table, one meant for utmost secrecy and the debate of world-changing decisions. Looker, a famed officer of the International Police, entered along with Blake, one of the legendary Pokedex Holders of Unova.

Wicke, a diminutive woman in horn-rimmed glasses, took a seat next to a suntanned Professor Kukui, wearing a cheap, hastily bought suit. Two of the famed Pokedex Holders of the Hoenn region, Ruby and Sapphire, had also answered the summons, along with Red, who looked rather out of place in the dreary room.

Sycamore had arrived, bringing Platinum, the heir to House Berlitz, and Steven, Champion of Hoenn, along with him. Birch entered the council room soon after, taking a seat next to his daughter.

The Chairman, a short, swarthy man with a slathering of brown, curly hair, saw, although not everyone who had been summoned had arrived, that the meeting could at least begin with relatively equal regional representation.

"Well," The Chairman began, adjusting his wiry spectacles. "I am grieved that more of the Pokedex holders were not able to arrive in time, but we are hard beset for time. Now, we shall go over the introductory greetings-"

"Come on, man!" Kukui interrupted, slamming his fist on the glass. "We're on crisis mode here! Let's just skip the formalities and get to the talking, huh?"

Some murmurs of agreement echoed around the room.

"Very well, I suppose." The Chairman said, wiping a few beads of sweat off his forehead. "I am loath to violate protocol, but some things cannot wait. Yes, let's start with you, Aether President Wicke. I believe there was a disturbance that was linked to Team Eclipse in your supply chains?"

"Yes," Wicke replied, setting her gloved hands upon the table. "A single shipment of micro-fuel channels was hijacked only two days ago. The intended function of these devices would be to reroute waste heat into a sort of endlessly osculating cycle of explosions, so, basically, a near-infinite fuel supply in small amounts, and a extended run for larger devices. We don't have any other evidence than some grainy camera footage. Take a look..."

Wicke held out a holo-image for the group to see. In it, a few uniformed men were commanding their Pokémon to load a shipping canister into a larger transport vessel, before exiting the frame.

"The men in the image, although faint, match typical descriptions of uniforms issued by Team Eclipse. I asked their public representative, a man named Emrett, about this incident, and he told me that it could not have possibly been Team Eclipse that was seen, since they would not have any use for the items that were stolen, and that it could very well have been Team Rocket grunts in Eclipse uniforms doing the dirty work. I personally cannot believe Emrett, but we have no other evidence to suggest that Team Eclipse is commiting grand theft, other than that our abandoned technology developed under Lusamine has been disappearing from storage facilities at an alarming rate."

Blake addressed the council, emotionless. "If I could add to that, Team Eclipse movements in Unova have been completely peaceful, with no signs of illegal activity. I would say that they are merely a populist group. Several candidates with views sympathetic to Team Eclipse have been elected to various legislatures, and the movement is gaining traction. Also, a few representatives of Team Eclipse have approached N to convince him to join their cause, without much success. Other than a single copy of the blueprints for the Kyurem Cannon disappearing, I cannot say that any suspicious has occurred, and especially not anything that warrants investigation."

Sycamore interjected. "I am convinced otherwise. Scrapped Team Flare tech, including life force absorbers have been also disappearing. One day they are there, the next they aren't, or sometimes a Psychic-type Pokémon will find out that the blueprints have been scanned. Some Devon Corp. property has also been stolen, but that is a rather common occurrence. The most worrying thing that I know of is that Lysandre, yes, that Lysandre, has also been approached by several representatives of Team Eclipse to convince him to join their cause. Not much he could do about it, being in prison anyway. It seems rather odd that they would care about him, and I suspect a ulterior motive."

Raising his hands, Birch spoke up. "Things aren't terrible in Hoenn, but I would say that some odd happenings have been going around. Ever since the incident with Grand Metor Delta over a year ago, Team Eclipse demonstrations and rallies have been increasing, mostly related to the Pokémon Association's handling of the Ultra Beast incident a year back. After Kyogre and Groudon moved to Roria, some members of Team Eclipse have been to several classified libraries, the ones only accessible to Rorian citizens, mind you, to research ancient texts about the fabled Pokémon Hoopa. It was recently thought to be a Logarian myth, until-"

"-until it appeared back when th' meteor was gonna destroy th' planet, an' summoned Kyogre and Groudon!" Finished Sapphire.

"Exactly," Birch continued. "Team Eclipse may have plans for it after its existence was confirmed. Although, they seemed to have stopped investigating it, and there are a wealth of single-copy texts that could be of interest to Team Eclipse regarding Hoopa, and yet, no evidence exists that any member of the organization ever read them, or anyone in the last ten years, for a matter of fact. And also..."

Steven broke in, his voice layered with concern. "Absol has been spotted, mostly around Hisuian ruins, and by the coasts. Reports of it going out of its habitat to other regions are widespread. Never in recorded history has such a event happened, or to such a extent. We don't know what is coming, but it is approaching fast, and it concerns the entire world. Ms. Berlitz, may we have a description on Team Eclipse movements in Sinnoh?"

"Of course," Platinum replied. "There have been a rampant succession of thefts of old Team Galactic equipment, weaponry, and Team Eclipse members are being spotted with increasing frequency, including around the Spear Pillar and various Hisuian ruins of interest. And that isn't all. My father said that a few representatives of Team Eclipse approached him with in the interest of receiving a sizable donation, in exchange for their support. I am glad to say that my father declined, bless him, but I am seeing the start of a trend. Team Eclipse apparently wants funds, and they want them now. We don't know how many wealthy people are compromised, but I would say quite a few of them. And also, some strange things have befallen those who have declined Team Eclipse's offer...here, see these..."

Platinum showed the council a leaf of papers, some detailing autopsies or insurance withdrawals, others hospital reports. "For example, Mr. Backlot of Sinnoh, the poor man, suffered a violent mugging. Mr. Stone, your father, Steven, had a nasty fall. Two incidents are just a happenstance, but there are far more than two. I have fifteen reports of injuries, deaths, and other misfortunes of people who have not donated funds to Team Eclipse. Some are mundane, like a car crash, but others are more sinister. For example, Zillion of Undella Town has fallen into a state of insanity, muttering that the 'wizard' came and 'hurt' him. There are two other instances of this 'wizard' tormenting people. And there is one even stranger incident..."

"Draco of Undella Town was found unconscious in a forest, without his Pokémon, and both of his hands were broken. He is recovering physically, but whenever someone asks him about who hurt him, he has a fit, and says that it was the 'black shapes,' and 'the demons.' Also, he says that a wizard was with the black shapes. I would just think that whoever attacked him used a Psychic-type Pokémon to change his memory of the event, but he passed the usual tests for psychic tampering, and the unusual ones as well. Either there is something here that we missed, or he actually saw a Pokémon or 'wizard' with the ability to create traumatizing illusions. The name Blaise comes to mind, but he always used fire. There were no burn marks in the immediate or distant vicinity. If you want, you can go on and have a look for yourself. That is all I have to say."

Ruby snorted derisively. "I mean, even if Team Eclipse is responsible for beating up a bunch of old rich guys-"

"And mentally scarring children, in case you forgot!" Wicke said, shocked at Ruby's callousness.

"Whatever." Ruby said, unmoved. "Listen, I've fought Kyogre and Groudon, helped stop a madmen in a suit of armor, and saved the world from a meteor. I have had enough of trouble, and I am going to do whatever to crush as fast as possible. Still, we can't ignore the merits of these dudes! They clearly have fashion sense. Just look at their uniforms!"

"The color scheme is perfect, at least in the regard of matching the insignia, and the designs perfectly capture a terminator of day and night, a essentially part of an eclipse! The non-gender issued uniforms can still be customized, allowing for even more opportunity in coloration and shape! This should improve morale, and the optional headwear seen on some grunts gives a perfect statement on their variety, and the equal-opportunity nature of Team Eclipse! The entire outfit is beautiful, and the prominent sigil allows for-"

Oh, spare us!" Oak said. "We are supposed to be talking like responsible adults, not fawning over the apparel of the people we may need to fight! Sit back and be silent if you can't say anything helpful!"

Ruby was quiet for the rest of the meeting.

"Well," The Chairman began. "Bill couldn't make it to this gathering in person, but he faxed me a message that I will now read..."

The Chairman read the letter. "I have some bad news. The Pokémon Storage system has been hijacked by a 'ghost system.' It is one of the most advanced pieces of malware that I have ever seen, and it essentially allows the Pokémon transfers of the people who control the ghost system to pass undetected. Cheren and Crystal have been working on fixing it, with no luck so far. I will resume communications once I have found a new development in the tech work. P.S: I would advise against communicating digitally, or sending sensitive Pokémon through the storage system. Whoever is controlling the ghost system has unfettered access to the transference logs."

"Great." Red said. "Just great, absolutely amazing news! Guess we can't even use the storage system! Hey, I has anything important happened in Roria? It is the region in which Team Eclipse is most active, so there has to be some suspicious activity in that area!"

"About Roria," Looker said. "Team Eclipse is very prevalent in the north. Eastern and southern Roria have lesser influence, but who wants to deal with eastern Roria, anyway? We try to follow Eclipse rallies in the region, but we can never seem to catch them in person, and we always have to deal with the fallout of public opinion. The only thing of true interest is the fact that two archeologists may have joined Team Eclipse under questionable circumstances. Cypress called about five hours ago and filled me out on the situation."

"By the way," Kukui said. "Why isn't Cypress here? It is his region, after all! Is he too busy with his 'studies?' He is the only one who has access to some sensitive documents in Roria, and he could possibly tell us what is in them."

"First," Sycamore said. "Those documents are only legally accessible to Cypress, a native Rorian citizen and the Professor of Mitis Town! He told me that he hasn't even read the lore texts, he couldn't have any reason to lie about that! Currently, Cypress is busy negotiating with a few Terramist delegations from eastern Roria with Crystal. There is not way he could have arrived in time, anyway."

Kukui looked stricken, as if he wanted to one-up Cypress. "Fine, man. What about those archeologists?"

"One thing is for certain," Looker said. "They didn't join Team Eclipse, at least willingly. That note they found in the house? Garbage. It isn't the wife or husband's handwriting, and Cypress thinks it's a kidnapping. As always, we don't have enough evidence to make a legally valid case that the kidnappers were acting on behalf of Team Eclipse. There aren't any signs of struggle at the house, so they may have been put to sleep. Cypress told the kid, Bronze, the official narrative, but he thinks that Bronze is intelligent enough to realize the truth himself."

"Bronze?" Sapphire said. "Isn't that th' new Pokedex Holder from Roria, th' one that Cypress gave a Pokedex? I wanna meet 'im sooner or later!"

"Yes, and a exceptional young man himself." Oak said. "He never had any formal schooling, but seems to have taught himself everything he needs to know by reading a large variety of books. Friends describe him as 'intense' and 'dry.' He is apparently quite skilled at Pokémon battling, although he has never has a personal Pokémon until just recently. I have high hopes for him, along with the other Rorian Pokedex Holder, Jake Brockings."

"Also, I think I will describe my views on the doctrine and beliefs of Team Eclipse. I researched them thoroughly, and from what I can glean from rally statements, official messages to the media-"

"Don't you have any inside men in the organization?" Red interrupted. "Haven't you tried to infiltrate them?"

Oak sighed. "We have, but whenever one of ours tries to join, no matter what we try, they are always expelled from the organization. It is like Team Eclipse can sense if someone isn't loyal. As I was saying, Team Eclipse functions more like a cult than any organization we have fought in recent years. They believe that they are working toward creating a 'new world,' a Elysium of perfection and eternal bliss. They are firmly against Pokémon battling and the governance of the Pokémon Association, and a cult of personality surrounds their enigmatic leader. They believe that he is a 'Chosen One,' selected by a spirit being to be the prophet of the One True Lord, the Spirit-Force, the Giver of Freedom."

Wicke groaned. "Not another batch of anti-establishment, disaffected college kids who want to shake the norm! More pantheistic fanatics are exactly what the Association does not need!"

"Personally," Blake said. "I think this sounds like Giovanni. His disappearance is almost directly tied to Team Eclipse's public rise after Team Rocket's last scheme, at the events of the destruction of Grand Meteor Delta. He may be trying to turn over a new ideology, although it is certainly a wild change for what Giovanni may be attempting."

"And we must remember," Platinum said. "There are other forces at work here, I think. Worldwide crime had been on the rise for the last twenty years, and is only increasing. It is like...well, like something changed then. Like a dark power was somehow released. It feels as though we are facing something more sinister than previous threats, a whispered terror. I have read the legends of Logaria and Hisui. They tell of a Enemy, and I am inclined to believe that it was more than simple myth."

"More than that," Kukei said. "All these attempts at ending-the-world-as-we-know-it, or just ending the world, have all taken place in the past twenty years, more than in observed history. Something dark is descending on the world, really. You never saw the kinda chaos we see now back when Oak was a youngster, or even me. Perhaps we should examine the hidden or supernatural element to this problem, starting now. Perhaps clergy can be of more use than International Police Officers in fighting Team Eclipse."

"Will that be all?" The Chairman said. "I would like to tell you all what I believe should be the Association's strategy in dealing with this organization..."

"First, we must allow Team Eclipse to continue existing, as long as they haven't done anything explicitly illegal. We must put out the message that we care about free speech, and will allow dissenting views. Behind the scenes, we must investigate the suspicious dealings of this organization with increasing fervour, and perhaps we can nail down some real evidence to prosecute with. We will double and redouble our efforts to stop TeamEclipse from becoming a threat, if they intend to become one. That is all I have to say, although I will be sending a public statement to the media soon, and ask for a audience with the leader of Team Eclipse. Does anyone have something to add to that?"

Silence resounded through the room.

"Very well, the meeting is adjourned."

And one by one, all the members of the council exited the room to their various regions.