Who I Am - Lightning99
Chapter 65:
The Malie Garden Aftermath
"Did this guy build the police station so far away just to spite us?" Jessie asked from a half-folded-over, arms-dangling trudge, marking her tenth complaint in the last hour. Fiftieth if you counted every annoyed grunt.
While her complaining was annoying, James couldn't exactly disagree with her point. In one day, they had walked through a rocky mountain range and passed a patch of ocean and a desert. As the evening dawned, they were walking along a normal route.
"I swear the island wasn't this big from the boat," Jessie continued, panting the words out. "Did it grow just to spite us, too?"
"It's not a straight shot through the island," Meowth said. "All the paths here go around, so it takes a bit longer. Add in all those hills and mountains, and we're in for a long walk."
"Says the one not even walking," Jessie snapped, nudging Meowth from atop Wobbuffet's head. "Why are we even going here, anyway? We were doing just fine for ourselves on Akala."
"Ah!" James exclaimed, jogging forwards.
"What kind of answer is that?" Jessie asked.
"No, we're here. That's the police station just ahead," James said, pointing towards the building in question.
When they finally arrived, they stood back and stared at it for a full minute.
"Yikes," Jessie said.
"It's umm… Not as well kept as the Akala police station, is it?" James asked.
"That's like comparing a Delphox to a Garbodor," Meowth said.
Meowth's comparison was close, but James would have used a Tangrowth instead, given how grass and moss climbed the lower reaches of the walls. The white and blue paint was chipped, the star emblem above the door was more than slightly crooked, and the only surviving notice on the signboard outside clung on by a rusty pin and a sliver of paper.
When James opened the door, it creaked more than some floorboards of the haunted mansions they had visited. At least the desks, walls, and the floor inside were in good shape, if not strewn with wads upon wads of papers, books upon books with cracked spines and pages that would make any book enthusiast break down.
"Oh, hell no!" James heard Mewoth practically shout as soon as he stepped inside. Sure enough, he was looking at what James had been suspecting: the several purple-skinned, smug-faced Alolan Meowth staring at him and only him.
"Hm?" a gruff, tired voice muttered. The hunched body of a man rose from a settee in the back of the station. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his baggy trousers, trapping the edges of his black police shirt between his elbows. He stared at the trio with a gaunt face and eyes the colour of a Gengar's but without any mischief. He just looked bored.
"Hello, sir," James said, stepping forwards.
"Ya need something, kid?" the man asked. Instead of stepping forward to meet James, he leaned against the nearest counter with a posture that matched the boredom in his eyes.
"Officer Jenny has sent the three of us here to work on a case involving Team Skull. She told us to find a man named Nanu and that he would give us instructions. Might that be you, sir?"
The man grunted. "She didn't tell me anything about this."
"She said she emailed the station," Jessie added.
The man leaned back to look at the monitor beside him. "Huh. So, she did."
"You didn't even look?!" Jessie asked. James patted her shoulder, stepping in front of her.
"Look, I don't need ya. Sorry you came all this way, but you can go back. You don't need to do nothin' about Team Skull. They're fine as is."
"I disagree, sir," James countered. "While there are good points to their organisation, they are outweighed by the bad. I want to change that, to give these young people a chance."
Nanu folded his arms. "That so?"
"Yes, sir."
Nanu's eyes fell to his sandalled feet. He tapped one on the ground, then raised his head. There was something else in his bored eyes now. It was faint, so faint in fact that it might have been James' imagination.
"You gonna leave any time soon?" Nanu asked.
"We just walked an entire day to get here! We're not turning around now!" Jessie snapped.
"Why didn't'cha hitch a Ride Pokémon?" Nanu asked. When none of them could muster a response, he chuckled humourlessly. "I see how it is."
Nanu pushed himself from against the counter, slouching around to his computer.
"Right, then," Nanu said. "Seein' as you ain't gonna leave me alone, I got a job for you."
James stood a little straighter. Finally, it was time to tackle the Team Skull issue properly.
"I got an annoying email an hour ago 'bout some attack in Malie Gardens. I've been asked to take a look. You go in my place tomorrow mornin'. Report back if you find anything."
"What?!" Jessie shouted, stomping forwards. James tried – mostly failed – to hold her back. "You just want us to do your work because you're too lazy?!"
Nanu's brows rose for the first time. "That the way to talk to your superior officer on your first day?"
"We'll set out first thing in the morning," James said, tugging Jessie and Meowth out of the station.
As soon as the door closed, Jessie exploded. James had no doubts that Nanu could still hear every one of her complaints, probably until they reached the nearest Poké-Center for the evening. Add in Meowth's remarks about the large number of Alolan Meowth present, and James wished he could chop his ears off for the evening. Thankfully, Jessie collapsed into unconsciousness quite soon after they settled down, allowing James the sleep he knew he needed for their first job the following morning. That was at least one benefit to their long walk.
That benefit lasted into the morning, too. Jessie was unusually relaxed when James awoke, finding her reclined at a table outside with a glass in hand. He determined that she must have had an exceptional night's sleep. She didn't even complain when Nanu was difficult with them when they requested the use of some Ride Pokémon to get back to Malie City.
The fact that their flight to Malie City on some Ride Charizard took about ten minutes rather than the full day did annoy her. They flew towards and over a mountain, and then they were in Malie City. Even James had to admit walking the entire way had been utterly foolish.
Having seen Malie Gardens overhead whilst descending, they found it easily. Despite Nanu having told them nearly nothing, James saw small, fist-like craters in the ground, some singed and torn up grass, and determined that there had been a rather heated Pokémon battle. Having determined as such, he asked Jessie and Meowth to split up, talk to the people around them and report back any information that they learned.
"You say they were large, red, and muscled? Could you tell what species of Pokémon they were?" James asked the targets of his inquiry, flipping open a notebook.
"They looked cool!"
The man shook his head, patting his child's shoulders. "Nah, never seen 'em before. They were strong, though. Stronger'n most Pokémon, I reckon."
"I see. Thank you. Is there anything else you can tell me about the incident?"
"I dunno. All I know is some kid in a hat fought 'em to a standstill, and they fled. He might know more about it. Seemed like it, anyway."
"A kid in a hat?" James asked. He needed to ask for the job, of course, but he asked his next question for another reason: he had a very good idea of who that might be. "Could you describe him to me?"
"Sure. Like I said, he wore a hat, a blue t-shirt and black shorts. Messy dark hair. He was around a bunch of people, too. All looked pretty unique."
"Unique?"
"Well, one girl had this big white sunhat, and another didn't wear a shirt and looked like he had fire on his head. Kukui was there, too. Oh, and the kid had a Pikachu."
James chuckled. "Thank you for your time, sir."
After letting the father and son duo go, James asked around a little more, but all he received was much the same: two large red Pokémon attacked just after the fireworks, and then a kid with a Pikachu fought them off. When he reconvened with Jessie and Meowth, they said, respectively,
"That kid can't stay out of trouble, can he?"
"The twerp's involved again."
All James could do was laugh.
After asking around, Meowth suggested they take one final walk around the area to see if they could find anything that might contribute as evidence. So, they split up again, Jessie going right, Meowth going straight, and James going left. He wandered across a bridge, peering into the water for anything; he shuffled through the grass, pushing aside the long blades, and he analysed a few clumps of scattered earth but came up empty. He headed back towards the entrance, notebook closed and pocketed as the sun signified it was about nine o'clock. Had they woken up so early? Had Jessie?
On his way back, James tried to piece together everything they had heard, trying to figure out what had happened. They could always ask Ash, but that would mean finding him first.
James was awoken from his thoughts when he saw a peculiar pair standing in front of the exit. One was tall and well-built, while the other was petite and standing on her tiptoes, looking at a device in the former's hands. They were both wearing strange blue and white jumpsuits. When he saw Jessie waving frantically at him from the other side of the entrance, pointing to a nearby tree, he frowned and ducked behind it, listening.
"It is as we predicted," the man said, his voice almost robotic. "They sought the strongest source of Ultra Energy the moment they came to attention. See here. At the time of the attack, the Ultra Energy reading was strongest in the gardens."
"That is why they didn't go after the Pres or the girl," the girl said, leaning away. "As we predicted."
"Indeed. Now that she believes her efforts were successful, she will go to greater lengths to achieve her goal. This trial has been an overwhelming success. It will not be long until all the needed parameters have been met. There is the matter that Captain Phyco brought to our attention a short while ago, but that should not be a problem."
"Do we really need to do that, though? I dunno if I'm ok with it."
"Steel yourself, Zossie. We have a mission to complete," the man said. He stowed the device away in his pocket. He started walking into the gardens. "Come. We must gather some more data before the morning is done."
The girl skipped to catch up with the man. When they were far enough away, James ducked out of hiding. He met up with Jessie and Meowth at the gate, watching the pair walk away.
"What was that about?" Meowth asked.
"I don't know," James said, "but good call, Jessie. They know something about this attack."
"Should we follow them? Knock 'em about a bit to get answers?" Jessie asked.
James started at her, turned on his heel, and started walking out of the gardens.
"Wha – James! I was kidding! Where are you going?!"
"Let's wait for them outside. We will follow them, but we aren't going to knock some sense into them," James said.
They posted themselves outside the gardens, utilising all the stealth skills they had mastered while stalking Ash. Those skills proved effective as, when the pair left the gardens, they did not see the trio following them, ducking behind buildings and trees where necessary. They did glance over their shoulders once, but Jessie grabbed a nearby magazine, James picked up a hat from a stall and looked at his reflection in a window, and Meowth started licking the back of his paw. It was a flawless diversion.
They followed the pair towards the docks, where a group of people stood near what looked like a houseboat. But then the pair turned, taking a small path off to the side, so they ignored the group and followed. At the end of the path stood a smaller dock where a plain white boat donning the mark of the Aether Foundation logo bobbed in the water. They climbed on and sailed away, leaving the trio to stand at the docks, watching it go.
"Where are they going, do you think?" Jessie asked.
"They could be going anywhere," James said.
"Think about it, ya dolts. Have you ever seen a boat like that around any of the docks before? They're goin' to that Aether Paradise. They gotta be," Meowth said.
"I see… That makes sense," James said.
"Should we get our Ride Pokémon? Follow 'em some more?" Jessie asked
"No," James said. "We can look into that later. First, we should learn more about the attack. To do that, we should find Ash."
"Don't worry, Ash, I know what to do," Lillie heard Dawn say beside her as she pulled back from a hug with Lana.
"Don't stay away too long, ok?" Lillie said.
Lana nodded, wielding a slight smirk. "Because you'll miss me?"
"Of course," Lillie said.
Dawn and Lana swapped places then, and Lillie readily accepted Dawn's hug. But Dawn didn't let go, even when the appropriate length of a hug passed them.
"Believe in yourself, ok?" Dawn whispered in her ear.
Despite already knowing, Lillie leaned back and asked, "What do you mean?"
Dawn flicked her eyes and her head towards Ash. "You know what I mean."
"I-I thought so…"
"I'm not going to nag you about it. Just don't let anything other than your wants stop you, ok? Not Serena, and not anything else."
Lillie nodded into Dawn's shoulder, but she couldn't help her eyes wandering toward Mallow, who was now squeezing Lana so tight she might pop.
Dawn pulled back, holding Lillie's shoulders in hers. "I know we haven't known each other long, but I'll miss you while I'm away."
"Me too," Lillie said. "Thank you for all of the help you have given me so far."
"Not at all," Dawn said, and she stepped back toward the ocean, whereon bobbed a quaint-looking houseboat.
Lana soon joined her, and they stepped back onto the polished wood. The boat revved to life, slowly turned in the water and sailed away. Lillie joined in with the rest of her friends – excluding Clemont and Sophocles, who had said goodbye earlier and were working on a project – as they shouted and waved until the boat was a tiny dot in the distance. Only then did they huddle up to return to the Poké-Centre. It took a bit longer for Mallow to finally join them. She just kept looking out at sea. When she eventually approached, Lillie thought she saw a flicker of something in her expression that was unlike the smile she wore. It was gone as soon as they started towards the Poké-Center
When they stepped through the Poké-Centre doors, Lillie immediately saw Serena and her friends sitting at one of the front tables, watching the door expectantly. Lillie half expected them to all jump to their feet, but for now, only Serena did.
"Ash," Serena called out, sounding somewhat unsure of herself.
"S-Sorry, Serena. I've gotta go take a call from Brock," Ash said, and he hurried up the stairs. Everybody looked after him in silence.
"Sorry, Serena," Mallow said, approaching her. "He's got a lot on his mind lately."
"Oh, that's… ok."
Mallow shook her head.
"Well, hey, until he wants to talk, why don't we do some cooking? I've seen a few of your cooking videos, and I have a few tips and recipes I'd like you to try!" Mallow said far more enthusiastically than Lillie would have expected. She led Serena to the kitchen, babbling and rambling, giving her no room to object. That was now two reasons Ash had to thank Mallow.
Lillie watched them go, then looked at the stairs where Ash had gone. She frowned and headed to her room. The stares on her back weren't lost on her at all.
When she stepped inside, Ash was rummaging around in his bag, Greninja standing expectantly against a nearby desk. Lillie wanted to raise the issue of Serena, but when Ash made no effort to comment on it, she sat down, watching him as he chatted to Greninja, watching him as they awaited Brock's call.
"You were awesome, Greninja," Ash said.
Greninja, who was leaning against the desk in the corner of the room, gave a cool reply, and Ash nodded along. He could see Lillie sitting in her bed, watching him, and he wondered what it must be like for her, listening to him talk to Greninja like this without understanding any of it.
"I'm gonna leave what you're doing in Alola for later," he continued. "I just want to know one thing. How are you? What have you been up to? How is Kalos doing?"
Ash very quickly realised those questions were, in fact, more than one thing. But, given how enthusiastically Greninja replied, he didn't care. Ash adjusted his position sat on the edge of his bed – held back a wince – and listened.
Greninja explained that he was doing fine, that he was more confident in his abilities and stronger than ever. He talked about his and Zygarde's mission and how they had practically removed all traces of the Kalos Crisis from the region. All he was doing now, hence his lack of conflict over leaving, was scouting the region for anomalies. It was no exaggeration to say that Ash was thoroughly proud of him.
Greninja returned the question, and Ash, much to his own surprise, felt completely comfortable telling Greninja that he was doing well at the moment. After that, they continued sharing stories for the next hour or so – long enough for it to start raining. Rain was rare in Alola, but when it started piddling against the windows late into the morning, it didn't stop. That was how it usually went.
Shortly after Greninja finished his explanation, Ash let Shelgon out of his Pokéball, taking the time to compliment and congratulate him on his evolution. He also added his Alolan team to the mix, who complimented Shelgon. Ash saw how Lillie didn't flinch away at his Pokémon being so close.
After that, Lillie started reading, and Ash continued chatting to his Pokémon, passing the time until Brock was to call. When he finally did, Ash left his Pokémon to talk amongst themselves – a group now a little bigger with some of his older Pokémon – and answered.
The first thing Ash did was ensure that Brock was ok, that he hadn't suffered a concussion or anything. When Brock asked the same, they chuckled and immediately started discussing yesterday's events. He turned the call onto speaker mode when Lillie requested to join.
"You do think they were Ultra Beasts, then?" Brock asked.
Ash caught Lillie's eye and nodded. "Yeah. I do."
"It would make sense since they came from Aether Paradise," Brock said.
"What do you mean?" Lillie asked.
"Oh, right," Ash said, clicking his fingers. "I haven't told you yet. Brock called me a few days ago. He overheard your mother talking about her goals. She and the scientists at Aether Paradise want to open Ultra Wormholes. I didn't want to tell you this because I didn't want to worry you, but she mentioned looking for a girl and Cosmog, which could only mean–"
"Nebby and Me," Lillie finished.
"Yeah," Ash said.
"I see… I suppose it does add up," Lillie said.
"How so?" Brock asked on the other line.
"The…umm… the day I left Aether Paradise," – Lillie looked Ash in the eyes, and he understood what she was referring to – "some scientists were experimenting on Nebby. If their goal is to open Ultra Wormholes, then it stands to reason that–"
"Nebby can open Ultra Wormholes," Ash said, glancing at the Pokémon who was mingling with his Lycanroc at that moment.
"Interesting," Brock said. Ash could imagine him standing straight, one hand resting his chin. "Has Nebby ever displayed any such abilities, Lillie?"
Lillie shook her head. "Not that I know of, no. The most I have seen it use is Teleport. I suppose that has some connection to space distortion, but it's not quite an Ultra Wormhole."
"No, it's not…" Brock muttered.
Ash hummed. "But it has some connection, right?"
"What are you getting at?" Brock asked.
"I probably won't understand the idea of Ultra Wormholes just as much as you could, Lillie, but maybe it's like a Pokémon move. What if Nebby needs to learn how, or it needs to evolve to learn how? We don't know how we would help it learn, but."
"No, that is a good point," Lillie said. "From what I remember, my mother was attempting to place Nebby under stress. Maybe that was how she was trying to get Nebby to open an Ultra Wormhole?"
"In which case, she was forcing it. It is an unethical method, but it suggests Nebby can do it. If it can learn it via less forceful methods, then…" Brock said. Ash joined Lillie in glancing over at Nebby.
"But how can we tell if Nebby can actually do it?" Lillie asked.
"I don't know, but maybe we don't have to figure it out," Ash said. "Lillie, you mentioned a book about Alola's myths yesterday. What if that book has something in it that we need, something we could learn?"
"It might," Lillie said.
"Alright," Brock said. Ash heard some shuffling on the other end. "Ash, Lillie, I'll leave you to check out that book. Meanwhile, I'll let Looker know another Ultra Wormhole appeared. He probably already knows, but he's leaving for Ula'Ula tomorrow, so I should let him know just in case."
"Good idea. We'll contact you soon," Ash said. "Try to figure out anything more about the Aether Foundation's plans as you can. We still need to know why they want to open Ultra Wormholes."
"Got it. Speak to you–" three quick knocks on the door cut off Brock. Ash shared a look with Lillie, then opened it.
"James!" Ash said, stepping aside to let James, Jessie, and Meowth inside. Lillie waved to them, to which James nodded, and Jessie sat on the edge of Ash's bed, one thigh resting on her other leg. "Is everything alright?"
"Did you say James? Hello. I haven't spoken to you in a while," Brock said.
"Brock! I'm sorry. We've had our hands full with Team Skull. That's why we're on Ula'Ula Island, actually."
"Is that why you're here, too?" Ash asked.
Jessie shook her head. "Nope. Our new boss, who's a–"
"Jessie."
Jessie groaned. "Anyway. Our new boss told us about an attack in the Malie Gardens yesterday. You know anything about that?"
Ash scratched his cheek, looking away. He heard Lillie giggling behind her hand. "You heard about that?"
"Can't you spend five minutes in a region without causing some big catastrophe?" Meowth asked.
"How did I cause this?" Ash asked.
"I dunno," Jessie said. "You must be a magnet for it or something."
"Well, you're here too. Maybe you're the ones attracting things like that here. Ever think of that?" Ash countered.
"Please, stop," James said. "We're not here to poke fun at you, Ash. Our new boss gave us this assignment, so we want to know if there's anything you can tell us. We know you fought two large red creatures, but that is all. Is there anything else?"
Ash exchanged a look with Lillie, and then he narrowed his eyes at the trio, thinking.
"Brock?" Ash asked.
"I say tell them," Brock said. "They're in an excellent position to help us."
"I agree," Lillie added. When Ash looked at her again, capturing her eyes, he saw that she didn't mean everything. But enough. And so, Ash explained the situation to Jessie, James, and Meowth: about the Aether Foundation and their goals, the Ultra Wormholes and Ultra Beasts, and their suspicions. When he finished, James leaned back against the wall.
"It all adds up," he muttered.
"What adds up? Do you know something, too?" Brock asked.
"Sort of," Jessie said. "We saw these strange people in Malie Gardens when we were asking questions."
"They were wearin' these crazy white and blue jumpsuits. They looked ridiculous, really," Meowth said.
"Have you seen some of the outfits you used to wear?" Brock asked.
"Ok, that's fair, but–"
"White and blue jumpsuits?" Ash muttered, cutting Meowth off. "I… Did they talk kind of robotically?"
"Yeah, why?" Meowth asked.
"I think I remember seeing people like that before."
Lillie raised her hand beside him.
"I have seen them, too."
"You have? Where?" Jessie asked.
"At Aether Paradise. They were working with my mother while I was there."
"Again, that adds up. Do you know why they were there?" James asked.
"I don't, sorry. I can assume now, but I don't know for sure."
James nodded. "And you, Ash?"
"I…" Ash looked up at the ceiling, willing his mind to think back. "I think I've seen them more than once. The first time… I think it was the festival in Iki Town. Yeah, they were talking about something at the top of the steps. I can't remember what. The other time…"
"It was on Akala Island," Brock said. "Around the time of Mallow's trial. Two people matching those descriptions stopped us one day. They talked about Z-Crystals and some type of energy. I didn't remember initially, but–"
"Interesting," James said. "These two were discussing some type of energy, too. They called it Ultra Energy."
Ash sat up straighter. "They did?"
"Yeah. And they were heading toward Aether Paradise when they left," Meowth said.
The group fell silent for a moment.
"So they're working together?" Ash asked.
"That's what we need to find out," Brock said. A shuffling sound came from his side of the phone. "You don't even need to ask, James. I'm working at Aether Paradise already. I'll keep an eye out for them."
"Thank you, Brock," James said. He stood up. "We should report back to Nanu for now. Of course, we won't disclose most of what we discussed here."
"Thank you for letting us know about all of this," Lillie said. "Ash and I will look into Nebby – Cosmog."
"Sounds like a plan. Until next time," James said, and the trio left.
"I'll speak to you soon, too."
"Speak to you soon, Brock," Ash said, turning off his Pokégear. He jumped to his feet, feeling a sting across his chest. "Alright. Let's get going."
Before he could reach the door, Lillie placed a hand on his arm, stopping him.
"Don't push yourself, Ash," Lillie said. "I know you're still hurt."
Ash looked at his feet. "You saw?"
"I did."
"I'm fine. I–"
"Nope!" Lillie said, folding her arms. She frowned at him, but all Ash saw was an adorable pout. An adorable pout he realised he would never be able to resist. "We can go to the library tomorrow. You should rest for today."
Ash sighed. "Yeah, ok."
"Thank you, Ash," Lillie said, relaxing her arms. "You could even talk to Serena this afternoon."
Ash drew a breath, fast and painful.
"Yeah… maybe…"
And that's part two of the two-parter! For some reason, I felt these two should be uploaded together. I gave a reason why in the previous chapter, but here's a few more potential reasons. Maybe it's because of the separate groups coming together. Maybe it's because of what the next ones will entail. :)
I hope you enjoyed this special two-parter! Until next time!