Pokémon Radiant Sun
Welcome to 2021! Hopefully this year doesn't suck!
We're barreling into the new year with another chapter! I could get used to frequent updates. And shorter chapters. But we'll tackle that beast eventually.
Shoutout to those who reviewed since the last update, which includes Madame Rodoshe, Oragonking, SolanaLeonhart, Moosicorn, The Dragon Legend, Joey, SonicIKE, as well as a new reviewer that goes by rocklover163! Thanks for the fantastic feedback!
I've decided that in order to not keep pumping out chapters that are well over 20K, I've split them up further. There's two more chapters after this to close out this Act, because the fun train has no breaks and neither does my insanity when it comes to writing apparently. On a related note!
The theme for infiltrating the Cipher HQ is "The Long Way" from Persona 4: Golden. Beware of spoilers while searching for that song, but the extended track is what I listened to while writing those scenes.
Warning: This chapter contains scenes of a graphic nature. Death, blood, and some seriously messed up stuff. You've been warned.
Enjoy.
Chapter 117: Zero Hour
Many Years Ago...
AFPSO Endless
Ashton shut the shipping container right before he vomited onto the floor of the ship, with Damien looking just as revolted as his Trainer. Jackal looked over at the boy with concern, eyeing the cages that lined the wall of the room that they were now in with a mixture of fury and sadness.
The duo had continued their search of the AFPSO Endless, the freighter that was the source of suspected Ruby Raider activity. They had lost contact with the rest of their squad several minutes ago, but because Ashton and Jackal had found actual Ruby Raiders onboard the vessel, they decided to investigate further.
Upon reaching the third basement level of the vessel, the both of them wished that they hadn't and instead came back with not just backup, but more firepower. Because lining the walls of the massive warehouse-like room that made up the third basement level were cages.
Cages that were occupied with both Pokémon and humans.
The Pokémon were listless, weakly eyeing the two humans as they prowled through the room. Gretel quickly dispatched each of the Ruby Raiders on the floor as Jackal and Ashton examined those trapped in the cages. All of the humans peered out at them with hopeless expressions, devoid of any life in their eyes despite the fact that their hearts still beat.
A handful of the Pokémon violently lashed out upon seeing the two Trainers, snarling and desperately trying to attack them, only for the bars to hold them back. Ashton could see that something was off about them, however. Their movements were jerky and erratic and their eyes weren't quite right. It was...off in a way he couldn't understand or articulate. He'd later find out that many of the Pokémon trapped in the cages were drugged or experimented on, only to be sold overseas to the highest bidder or on the black market. Whichever seemed more lucrative.
As for the humans, some of them remained still in their cells. Many of them emaciated, ribs visible on their nude forms as scars and fresh wounds cover their bodies. It was like staring at a wall of the living dead. Some of those in the cages peered out at the two intruders, not quite able to see them. Some of them saw, but couldn't speak aloud. The rest were too weak to do either.
Ashton wasn't sure whether he wanted to free them or put them out of their misery. The teen visibly looked pale as he continued to take in the terrible sights of the room, Damien padding alongside him with a soft growl escaping between his teeth.
"This is terrible...who could have done this? And why? What's the point of it?" Jackal muttered, gripping his pistol tightly as Gretel appeared beside him, wringing her hands nervously.
"I've seen some things in my time, but this is simply twisted. Those humans...some of them look like they've been exposed to something." Gretel pointed out, swooping towards one of the cells where an old man suddenly clawed at the ghost with a feral snarl, his green eyes impossibly wide and dilated. Bright blue veins stuck out on his arms and neck, even as blood dripped down his mouth as he screamed incoherently at them.
"You're right...If I didn't know better, I'd say some of these people were drugged. And maybe the Pokémon too." Jackal muttered to himself, quickly taking several pictures to document what was going on. "These people are sadly in no state to be moved now. We'll have to come back for them."
"Let's check some of these shipping containers. They can't be any worse than this…" Ashton muttered darkly, striding over to the nearest one. He took note of the various wrapped packages that were strapped down to pallets, ready to be shipped out on a moment's notice.
Unfortunately for Ashton, he was very very wrong about the containers being the lesser of two evils. Because inside of those shipping containers?
There were bodies. Dead bodies.
Dozens upon dozens of dead bodies, human and Pokémon alike, thrown onto one another, stinking and rotting and condemned to remain there until they would be unceremoniously dumped into the ocean.
The second Ashton had forced one of them open for himself, he gagged at the smell before anything else, and then his sight had adjusted to the atrocious sight of a pile of dead bodies piled on top of one another, cast aside. Ashton only had the container open for a few moments, but he saw that some of the corpses had needle marks on their bodies and strange multi-colored veins sticking out on their arms, even though their blood had long since stopped flowing.
After voiding the contents of his stomach through his mouth, Ashton stumbled away from the shipping container he had opened, falling to his knees and shaking violently as he tried to find some way to regain control of himself. The absolute horror and revulsion that was pounding through every fiber of his being was too much to bear. And yet…
"I have to stop them. Whoever they are, they have to be stopped. All those people...All dead. All gone. And everyone in the cages. This...I can't let a single person more suffer like this." Ashton thought as he used Damien to slowly push himself up. Jackal had simply used Gretel to check the remainder of the shipping containers and found that while most of them contained more bodies, some of them contained what looked like crates of guns and packages of strange liquids and powders. Jackal nodded at the news, knowing that the Ruby Raiders had been trafficking drugs for some time, as well as weapons and other contraband.
"Alright, enough of this floor. Let's finish scouting this place and double back. We need all hands on deck to deal with this mess." Jackal said before turning to Ash, which caused his expression to fall.
Ashton managed to get to his feet once again, but the haunted look he was now giving Jackal actually scared the hardened and experienced officer. Because it was an expression he had never seen on a child before, even once as talented as Ashton Aupuni.
It was the expression of a child who had just experienced the last of his innocence be snuffed out like a candle. Seeing the absolute worst humanity could do here, in this metallic tomb of a ship, he caused the boy to hold himself differently.
While Jackal was unnerved by the sights all around him, he had experienced such horrors several times throughout his career in both the Alolan Police Force and as a member of the International Police. Ashton though? He was just a teenager with a really bad home life. He wasn't prepared for seeing horrors on this scale, no matter how angry he was at the Ruby Raiders. And now?
Jackal wasn't sure if Ashton would ever be the same.
"Let's get moving...I'm going to kill him." Ashton said in a voice that was leaden with anger and disgust as he wiped his mouth with one hand and his eyes with the other. His eyes were black as the night, and as he turned away he grabbed the sidearm that Jackal had entrusted to him with deadly purpose. Damien shivered in fear at the harsh tone in his Trainer's voice.
Someone was going to die tonight.
And Jackal and Damien both feared that it wasn't going to be whoever was responsible for the horrors they had seen tonight.
Present
Cipher Ula'Ula HQ
"Milotic, use Hydro Pump!"
"Fall back, damn it! They're-AGH!"
Aether President Lusamine smirked as two Cipher Peons were knocked down by the powerful blast of water, which also knocked out the Shadow Magmar and Shadow Piloswine that had both had. Ollie's Dodrio easily overpowered a furious Machamp and slammed it into a series of computer consoles hard enough to knock it out while Ollie himself quickly disarmed and took out the Cipher Peon who commanded the Pokémon.
Dawson watched all of this with amusement. Considering how all of these idiots had betrayed Borlath, he didn't feel bad at all for leading them to their ends. They were lucky he didn't kill them all himself.
It had been decided that several members of those who had been present at Malie Library would stay there and provide support from there by delving into the Forbidden Archive of the Malie Library, and telling those on the other team what they found. Acerola was unable to tell them all of the secrets she knew, but she was more than capable of allowing her friends to discover them for themselves.
A group of Trainers were currently assembled outside of the Library, led by Kahuna Nanu, to protect the building and ensure that Acerola and the others were safe as they searched for information. According to Acerola, that specific reason was why she was nearly killed by Roran's forces during the recent attack and why Roran had been hellbent on destroying Malie Library.
Apparently the former Kahuna knew exactly what kind of information was within the Forbidden Archives, and he wanted to erase all of it. Acerola may have been the only person alive who could access it now that her parents were dead, but that wasn't going to stop Roran from scrubbing it from the face of the Alola.
Present on the strike team was President Lusamine, Branch Chief Faba, Dawson, Aria, Hugh, Kahuna Hala, Captain Lana, Professor Kukui, Zinnia, Ollie and Anabel, a squad of APT members, and of course Sun. Though currently, they were split up into different teams, exploring the facility and bringing down every member of Cipher they encountered.
Sun himself was taking a backseat to the action. The boy had to swear to stay with Lusamine herself for the duration of the mission in order to actually be able to come along. That didn't really matter to Sun, so he accepted without preamble, though he was annoyed that the Aether President was being so protective of him.
"The room is clear." Dawson said, tapping the electrified staff that he held in his hands. It was the standard-issue weapon of the APT members, though he lacked the armor that they wore. The Cipher Admin would've used Justice to make quick work of the Cipher personnel they encountered here, but that would've blown his cover. Beside him, his Manectric grunted softly as they observed the room that they were in.
Also, it was completely unnecessary. It didn't dawn on the group until they entered the facility just how badly Roran's attack on Malie City had gone for him this time around. Because of MissingNo, most of Roran's forces were slaughtered by the mysterious force, leaving behind what amounted to a skeleton crew to keep the main base running. A skeleton crew that was nothing when compared to the might of some of the strongest Trainers Alola could bring to bear.
Dawson grinned inwardly, thankful that despite Roran's seemingly foolproof plan, random chance could always be the difference-maker in the end. The only reason any of them were here was because of things Roran couldn't have made a plan for.
There was no reason to suspect that Dawson would survive being stabbed in the back and left to die in the basement of the Aether Paradise. Roran couldn't have predicted that Malie City would be able to withstand his brutal attack, because it was supposed to be enough to cripple the city and all resistance long enough for him to complete the Ritual of the Lost God. The city was supposed to be so weakened that any chance of retaliation was impossible.
Roran also couldn't have known that Lusamine would order Guzma to capture a member of Cipher and torture the location of the Cipher Base out of him. He had no reason to suspect that Team Skull was in the back pocket of the President of the Aether Foundation, which was a secret only Faba and Lusamine knew.
On top of that, there was no way Roran could have predicted that a supernatural being of unknown origin would lay waste to over eighty-five percent of his forces, leaving maybe a hundred Cipher personnel in the building altogether at most.
Dawson was surprised when an automated voice suddenly boomed out, "WARNING! WARNING. SECURITY BREACH IN SECTOR 3, SUBSECTIONS ALPHA AND GAMMA."
"About time they noticed us. We've been here for half an hour." Kukui remarked over the com link.
"Perhaps they're preoccupied." Faba muttered as Dawson frowned thoughtfully, walking over to one of the larger consoles that hadn't been smashed in the battle within the room, tapping away at the keyboard after swiping his Admin keycard. His eyes widened in surprise before he looked to the others, a frown on his face.
"It's interesting that you say that, because someone is actively scrambling all of the communication systems. Aside from that automated loudspeaker, there's no way for Cipher to communicate with each other." Dawson remarked, grinning slightly as he considered that fact. "No wonder this has been so easy."
"How can you tell?" Faba asked, surprised as he walked over to the console and verified that something was indeed sifting through the systems even as they speak, blocking the nearly twenty attempts at communication that were happening right now. "Someone is doing this right now, as we speak. Cipher was been caught completely unaware by us. Even their security cameras are malfunctioning, but only because someone is wreaking havoc on their systems."
"Do we know anyone who can hack a computer system like this? And by that, I mean hack into a computer system completely hidden away behind security that'd make Faba blush." Lusamine remarked, causing Faba to huff and do that in embarrassment.
"Colress, maybe. But he's with the others back at the Library. If he could hack into Cipher's base systems, he would have done it months ago." Aria spoke up, shaking her head. Sun thought about that was well, though his eyes widened as he did think of someone.
"Could it have been my father?" Sun asked, causing Lusamine to look at the boy.
"It's possible. The Pokémon League never did confirm his death. Considering how the Cipher HQ was destroyed, I'd be amazed if he was still focusing on bringing down Roran remotely." Lusamine remarked, frowning after a moment. "We should-"
"GET 'EM!"
Lusamine and the other whirled around as three Cipher Peons burst into the room, aiming their guns at them with their Pokémon already out and ready to attack. Surprisingly, Sun was the first to react, pointing at the men with a command already at his lips.
"Oliver, use Protect Charge!" Sun cried out as the owl swooped past him, throwing apart his wings to create a barrier that blocked the incoming rush of bullets that shot towards them. The men shouted in surprise as Oliver knocked them to the ground with his combination attack, flying into the air as the shield vanished. Dawson ordered his Manectric to fire off a Thunderbolt, striking the trio of men and the Muk, Rapidash, and Corsola they had. Lusamine had her Milotic fire off an Ice Beam, quickly freezing the trio of Peons and allowing them to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Good job, kid." Dawson said with a grin, clapping the boy on the shoulder as Lusamine quickly had the unconscious bodies of the Cipher Peons disposed of via Teleport, via Faba's Hypno. Aria tapped the com link she had around her, that each of them were wearing.
"Aether Star, how're things coming along?" Aria asked over her com as the team descended further into the depths of the facility, the blade on her Snag Machine ready to do some damage if need be. She was pleasantly surprised that despite the efforts of whoever was messing around in the systems of the Cipher HQ, that wasn't stopping the Aether Teams from communicating with their friends elsewhere.
Meanwhile…
Malie Library
"Yeah, yeah...We had to grab some stuff first. I'm opening the seal soon." Acerola remarked dryly, her smile surprisingly grim as she led the group over to the back shelves of Malie Library. Two Trial Guides were standing guard at the end of the row of books, their backs to the Captain and their Pokémon positioned in front of them. Police surrounded the building outside, led by Looker and Nanu. Several other Trainers had been roped into protecting the building, such as Hapu, Sophocles and Molayne. Colress and several others were working on evacuations efforts, though given the nature of the disaster coming their way, there was little they could do except begin evacuating people to Aether Paradise.
Acerola gently pulled a book off of the shelf and set it down on the ground. She then tapped the back of the wall, causing a secret panel to open, revealing a smooth obsidian blade that looked ancient. Acerola grabbed the blade and gently cut her finger, wiping the bleeding digit against the back of the bookshelf that had a strange symbol faintly etched into the back of it. The rune glowed a bright purple color before vanishing.
There was a great groan within the Library as the bookshelf suddenly retracted inwards before slowly moving to the side, revealing a simple stone door. Acerola placed her finger on the door for a moment, and then her entire hand before muttering something in what sounded like Alolan. The door's symbol glowed and the door then retracted upwards, and before them was a tunnel that went downwards into the dark.
"Miss Opal, if you'd lead the way? I have to seal the room behind us." Acerola said as the Galar Gym Leader nodded, curiosity in her old eyes.
"Runic magic? That's pretty rare stuff. You only find runes like that in old ruins, like in the Ruins of Alph or Geosenge." Opal remarked, smirking slightly. "Magnolia would love to have access to this. Oh well. More for me!"
"Didn't realize magic was an actual thing." Noah remarked, causing Opal to chuckle.
"You'd be surprised what's real and what's not, child. Just because our culture and lives revolve around Pokémon doesn't mean that other forces aren't at work in our amazing little world. And Pokémon themselves can affect our world in strange ways." Opal said with a knowing smirk, glancing back at the youngsters behind her as she slowly made her way down into the darkness.
"But what is all of this, Miss Opal?" Marnie asked. Within their group was Opal, Acerola, Mallow, Miss Wicke, Noah, and Vivian as well as Marnie and Gloria.
Apparently Opal had brought the last two along so that they could 'have a bit of fun' but even the ancient Gym Leader couldn't have guessed that they'd be exploring an old legend like the Forbidden Archive. She regarded the two confused girls for a moment, wondering whether or not she should explain, but she decided that them being totally in the dark wasn't very fun.
"Well, I admit I don't know nearly as much as Captain Acerola, but the legend goes something like this. Long long ago, the ancient kings of Alola, or chiefs I suppose, created a special area where they could horde their knowledge in case of disaster. The Malie Library was the beginning of this, but as a result, warring Alolans would occasionally destroy the Library as a way of striking back at the royalty of Ula'ula. In truth, the Malie Library has actually been rebuilt several times since its creation centuries ago." Opal explained, as they continued to walk down the dark stairway that descended into the darkness.
"So, one of the ancient Kings decided to create a special chamber beneath the library, sealed with magics that are no longer available to us, and can only be opened by those with the royal blood. Acerola, as you may or may not be aware, is the last known direct descendant of the first king of Ula'ula Island." Opal continued as Acerola herself walked past them, muttering an 'excuse me' as she did so. The girl also clapped her hands, causing ghostly purple light to flicker into life along the steps, illuminating their way.
"Yep. My parents died shortly after having me, and my relatives were all killed during the Malie City attack years ago, before I was born." Acerola said with a sad smile on her face, shaking her head. "That's why it falls to me to be the guardian of the Forbidden Archive, as well as my role as the Captain of the Ghost-type Trial. This chamber is a treasure trove of knowledge, containing secrets that had been hidden away and suppressed for years. Not even the Alolan Regional Council can get in here, and thankfully never will. Though that didn't stop them from suppressing the knowledge that used to be commonplace over the centuries. The Council is nearly as old as the Archive."
"That's a relief. Those snakes would abuse that power the first chance they got." Wicke remarked, though she flinched after a moment. "Though, given that Roran killed every single one of those that were in the city last night, well, those that he didn't cripple...I don't see that happening even if they caught wind of you being able to access this place.
"It's also a good thing that entering the Forbidden Archive prevents you from giving up the secret of how to get inside of it. Also, if word ever gets out about this and I find out someone managed to get around that, my Totem Pokémon will kill you." Acerola said in a serious tone, glancing back at them with a chilling smile. Before bursting into giggles, ruining the tense moment.
"They can't just steal some of your blood and get inside?" Marnie asked, causing Opal to chuckle.
"Clever girl. But no, runic magic like this is special and that won't work. In fact, I have reason to suspect that there was more than one reason for the knowledge to be hidden away like this. Isn't that right, Captain?" Opal asked Acerola, who grimaced.
"In the ancient days of Alola, there weren't just internal threats from warring chiefs. There were also….invaders...from another world. Fantastical monsters with otherworldly powers and incredible strength that could destroy entire settlements in their fury." Acerola explained, looking at Lillie with a meaningful expression. "Before the days of the Tapu, these monsters would devastate Alola and slaughter innocents with ease."
"The Ultra Beasts." Lillie whispered in realization, shivering in horror. Opal nodded, looking back at the girl with a smile.
"Indeed. The Kings could do little against the power of these mighty creatures from beyond our world, and so they created strongholds to protect those who were unable to fight. Some speculate that the ruins of the Tapu were those very strongholds." Opal continued as the stairs finally ended and the tunnel led them to an ancient stone door. Acerola placed a hand against it and whispered something, causing more runes to glow on the door and for it to swing open with a groan.
The tunnel that they were standing in suddenly became filled with torchlight that burned into existence from sconces on the wall of the next room that the group walked into with awed expressions. The chamber that they now stood in was enormous, filled with what seemed like thousands of books lining the walls on shelves made of bright red wood. An ancient wooden table sat in the middle of the room, with each of the chairs surrounding it decorated with gold handrests and plush leather seats, jewels adorning them. At the head of the table was what looked like a throne of sorts, complete with the head of a gleaming golden lion-like Pokémon that radiated power and authority. As Acerola closed the door to the room, each and every one of them felt...something wash over them, though none of them could explain what it was.
"Welcome to the Forbidden Archive. You guys are the first non-royals to step foot inside of this room in over four hundred years." Acerola said with a faint smile as she walked over to the table and set down the large radio device that was allowing them to even talk to each of the teams. It was a device Colress had cooked up that allowed for fast and reliable radio communication through environments that normally blocked the signal. It was blocky and a little ugly, but it did its job.
"Aether Leader, Aether Alpha, Aether Bravo, and Aether Charlie! We are set up and sealed in. We'll be searching for specific books here, but I can direct you. Remember, you find the information that I can't explain." Acerola said as she walked over to the nearest shelf and pulled off a bright green book with a bent spine and handed it to Lillie.
"You might want to check out page 23." Acerola said quietly, offering an apologetic smile to her friend before going back to the table to sit down. Lillie stared down at the book and quickly flipped to the page in question, and the girl gasped in surprise.
The page was filled with lines of text in Alolan, most of which Lillie couldn't understand because it was in an older dialect, much like what Acerola had been speaking to open the secret entrance to the Forbidden Archive. But there was something on the page that she understood right away with no problems.
The image of a Cosmog floating on the page, smiling up at her.
"Acerola...What have you been hiding from me?" Lillie whispered to the girl as she looked up at her friend. The Captain could only look away in shame before she went to another book shelf, plucking two ancient books from the walls and moving to other shelves and grabbing more books.
"I'm sorry. I wanted to help you so badly, Lillie. But I swore an oath not to reveal the location of this library or the secrets within unless the very fate of Alola hung in the balance. With Roran's scheme so close to completion, I can not only share the location of this place to those I trust, but also share the information within. You're free to search these shelves for whatever information you need. Because after this mess is over, I won't be able to let you back in." Acerola said as she pointed to a shelf to the left of where Vivian was standing. "Try looking at the books with the red faded covers. I believe you'll find some useful information there."
"Thank you...We'll talk later. Once we've found out more information about Roran and saved Hau." Lillie said as she began scanning through the shelves while Miss Wicke walked over to join the girl.
"So I know you had to swear oaths not to reveal this place, but you mentioned earlier that you were threatened into keeping totally quiet about this. Who threatened you?" Noah asked Acerola, who grimaced in response.
"I never found out who, considering he disguised his voice with a modification device of some kind." Acerola admitted, sighing as she closed her eyes. "It happened a few years ago, once I was officially named Captain of the Ghost Trial. A man appeared at the Aether House and showed me the location of the Forbidden Archive. Showed me how to get in there. He explained to me how everything worked, placed a few books in the shelves, and then told me that if I ever told anyone about the Forbidden Archive or moved the books he had hidden there that he'd kill Uncle Nanu and paint the library with his blood."
"That's pretty horrible." Gloria remarked, wincing at the description. "I don't think anyone can blame you from hiding that information."
"I'm pretty sure it was Roran who did it. When he wore that metal mask, it disguised his voice, and he's the only other person besides my parents who would have known about the Forbidden Archive. I was supposed to find out about it for myself when I turned 18, but…they died before they ever got the chance." Acerola trailed off sadly, causing Mallow to rest a hand on her shoulder comfortingly.
Noah nodded and said, "Alright. Vivs, let's start combing through the books she's already set aside."
Meanwhile, Marnie and Gloria exchanged a brief look, unsure of what exactly they were supposed to do. Opal shuffled in between them, casually grabbing their heads and knocking them together with a smirk on her lips.
"Come now, girls. We're not being paid to stand here and gawk. These shelves contain secrets that we may never have access to again." Opal said with a knowing smirk, gently grabbing a dusty tome off of the table as the two girls rubbed their heads. Morpeko simply snickered the entire time, earning a dull look from Marnie before the girl rolled her eyes and passed her a Poké Bean.
"I always enjoy readin'...Come on, Gloria. Let's give 'em a hand." Marnie said as Morpeko nibbled on the Poké Bean from her shoulder. Gloria considered that for a moment before cracking a grin.
"~Having fun isn't hard if you've got a library card!~" Gloria said merrily as she skipped over to a shelf, ignoring the somber expression of Vivian as Noah, Mallow, Opal and Acerola continued to pour over the ancient books lying on the table. As for the violinist, she continued to stare into space, thinking about what was coming next, and the friend that she had lost.
Meanwhile...
Ula'ula Cipher HQ
"Alright...Let's make these asshats bleed. Goliath, First Impressions!"
"Contact! Get them! Kill them!"
"Wait a second...OH SHIT IT'S GUZMA!"
The trio of Cipher Peons were initially surprised when they noticed Team Skull entering through the front entrance. It wasn't many of them, just five in total, but what surprised them was the fact that the moment the intruders caught sight of them the Cipher members were attacked with a brutality that was reserved for Roran. The Peon's gunfire did nothing to stop the furious Golisopod as it rushed at them with First Impressions, knocking out their Shadow Persian with ease before dispatching each of them with its formidable claws.
Goliath stood tall amongst the bodies, some his opponents bleeding heavily from the powerful attacks, and looked back at its Trainer. Guzma brushed past his Partner, running a hand over its arm as he passed it, but the man's mind was too busy thinking to do much else.
As infamous as the man himself was, it was rare that Guzma ever felt true rage. Yes, he got angry pretty often and was annoyed a lot of the time, but true fury? That was rare. The last time he had really gotten this coldly furious was when Amber Fontaine had repeatedly insulted him and he tapped into that strange power.
But now...Roran had done something unforgivable. He had betrayed Guzma and Team Skull, both of whom considered the Fossil Man a business associate at worst and a friend at best. Guzma had found out from President Lusamine that the former Kahuna had been pretending to be the Fossil Man all this time, and that Bone Unit 71 were with the man at the time of the call Sun had made to Demi, who frantically called Guzma for help several minutes after that.
Guzma himself had quickly gone to Dream Park to get answers, only to find an empty campsite and a dying bonfire with Tim's charred corpse waiting for him.
"I'm going to kill you. I've never killed someone before, but damn it I'll be saving that honor for you, you son of a bitch." Guzma thought furiously as the Bone Brothers and Plumeria walked behind the furious man, simply there as unneeded backup as the Boss of Team Skull made quick work of what remained of Roran's forces.
"Gotta say, for a group that nearly crushed Malie City, these guys can barely hold us off. Something's up." One of the Bone Brothers remarked with a surprised laugh.
"Apparently some weird thing slaughtered most of Roran's personnel, and there's currently multiple groups prowling through this place at once. I can't imagine someone, even as cunning as Rubinara, could have planned contingencies for all of this." Plumeria replied, glancing down at her Salazzle as it crawled alongside her, sniffing the air for danger. It then shuddered as a cold voice spoke from the intercom system nearby.
"Enjoying yourselves, intruders?" The voice of Roran Rubinara spoke, his voice dripping with annoyance. "You idiots weren't content to just let yourselves in, but the riff-raff as well." Roran remarked as Guzma glared at the nearest speaker. "No matter. Descend further and further...I'll tear each and every one of you apart, if you even survive for that long."
"You don't fuck with my kids...And once I've saved them, I'm gonna rip your head off." Guzma breathed as he stomped down the hallways, Goliath keeping pace with his furious Trainer. The Bone Brothers followed loyally, smirking beneath their bandannas at the thought of getting into a good fight tonight.
Plumeria wore a worried frown the entire time, hoping that they weren't too late to save Bone Unit 71. Because if so, nothing would stop Guzma from hunting down every last member of Cipher in Alola-
"-and make them pay." Ashton thought as he and Damien made their way through the AFPSO Endless, Ashton's grip tight on the handgun that Jackal had given him. The man in question was quietly taking down certain Ruby Raiders, but Ashton could barely think as he thought about what he had seen.
He knew that the crimes of the Ruby Raiders had been great. Drug trafficking, human trafficking, Pokémon poaching, murder, theft, arson, the works. But seeing the fruits of that labor onboard this ship was beyond anything he could have imagined. The images of the dead staring up at him inside of that shipping container flashed across his mind. The moans and rattling of the humans and Pokémon trapped in the cages echoed in his ears. It was as if someone had flipped a switch in the boy's head.
Now...Now he only wanted to hurt the man responsible for all of this.
But he would get more than he could have ever bargained for.
The two Trainers quickly made their way deeper into the depths of the ship, bypassing various members of the Ruby Raiders. Jackal knew that dealing with all of them was something that even a Trainer of his caliber couldn't manage, and so he decided a stealthier option was necessary, eventually changing his strategy to simply avoiding the Ruby Raiders and taking them out as necessary.
And so it was with that Ashton descended deeper and deeper into the depths of the ship, with an increasingly distressed Damien padding alongside him. Finally, the duo came to a large door with bloodstains covering it. A "DO NOT DISTURB" sign was stuck to the door with duct tape, which Ashton ignored completely, opening the door as quietly as he could.
Ashton emerged on a metal catwalk, and the moment he entered the room he heard the sound of several fans whirring on at once, creating enough noise to mask the sound of him and Damien walking on the catwalk as they entered the room. The teen recoiled slightly, even as Damien suddenly scowled in anger, at the thick smell of blood in the air. The fact that even with fans blowing in the room couldn't deal with the smell was an ominous sign. Ashton began making his way across the upper part of the room, with Damien alert for any sign of danger.
As the duo made their way along the catwalk, Ashton noticed several unmoving Ruby Raiders lying on the ground in various parts of the room, with a pool of blood underneath each of them. Some were even missing their limbs, or in one instance, their head. Ashton fought the urge to vomit again and pushed himself forward…
And then froze, at the sound of a very familiar voice.
"You're a stubborn bastard, aren't you?"
Ashton smiled for the first time that day in triumph. It was Tommy! His best friend who had been captured by the Ruby Raiders during the attack on Malie City. Ashton still didn't understand why his friend had been kidnapped instead of killed like all of the others, but he wasn't complaining. As Ashton continued to walk towards the sound of his friend's voice, he froze again in surprise when a second voice spoke up.
"I have to be, Tommy. You don't realize what's at stake here. I need your help. Please..." Came the tired and strained reply, which was also a voice that Ashton recognized. But for some reason it filled him with dread. Especially as he moved far enough along the catwalk to be able to peer down below into the room proper, catching sight of a strange scene playing out before him.
Roran Rubinara stood at the head of a long metal table, with Tommy sitting down in a chair at the other end, chained to the floor and scowling at the other man. Thankfully, Tommy didn't look the least bit hurt, though he was understandably very annoyed.
Roran wore bright ruby red clothing, an outfit Ashton recognized from his battle against the leader of the Ruby Raiders, torn and covered in dark red splotches. A bloodstained sword hung from his hip while an Ariados looked up at him from the floor with concern.
Ashton barely processed any of this, because he was trying to think through the horror and shock that had made his mind shut down. Because it meant several things to Ashton, and he was struggling to understand three key points.
Roran Rubinara was the leader of the Ruby Raiders.
Roran Rubinara was the source of Alola's suffering all these years.
Roran Rubinara was nothing but a traitor. Not just to Alola, but to all of them.
Ashton felt a wave of nausea roll through him as his vision swam, causing him to have to hold onto the railing for support. He felt his entire body shake as he struggled against the tidal wave of emotions hitting him right now. Shock. Anger. Sorrow. And other emotions Ashton couldn't even comprehend.
And then the monster began to speak.
"Tommy...Time is of the essence. I really can't remain sensible forever." Roran said tersely, the Kahuna throwing back his hood and properly showing his face. Tommy's scowl of anger deepened as he struggled fruitlessly in the chair that he was chained to.
"You don't have to be sensible forever! You're a goddamn psycho who murders people for profit and for his sick, twisted experiments! You've got hundreds of people lying dead in shipping containers and dozens in cages! Fuck you and fuck your offers!" Tommy snarled at Roran, who looked at the man with a bored expression.
"Those people are that way because of the serums I've been testing on them. My serums are a project I've been working on for a while, and I needed test subjects. They're supposed to be used on both humans and Pokémon to boost their strength. I'd like to think once Alola builds up a proper military, it'll be a good way to get an edge over any of our adversaries. But it's taken a while to get past the testing stage and into the trial period." Roran said with a sigh, though he simply seemed bored with proceedings. "I've yet to use the serum myself, but I wouldn't be surprised if the completed version were working with now could allow you to bust out of those chains."
"That's…" Tommy trailed off, stopping in his efforts to break out of the chair he was in. "Impressive, admittedly. But for so many people to die...to hell with the greater good, it's not worth throwing aside people like they mean nothing!"
"In the grand scheme of things, none of us really matter. I myself am just a greater cog in the machine here, Tommy." Roran said with a crooked smile, crossing his arms, wincing in pain as his injured hand throbbed with pain.
"Damn that Jackal...I'll make him pay for that." Roran thought as he grit his teeth in anger before sighing and shaking his head. "Tommy, as awful as my own methods are, they solely benefit Alola in the end. Can you admit that Alola as a whole has benefited from my changes since I became Kahuna?"
"You became Kahuna when I was a kid, Roran…" Tommy remarked dryly, though he thought about the villain's question. "But, Alola's definitely been going from strength to strength since you started building up tourism here. Our economy is the strongest it's been, at least according to my stockbroker. You're one of the sole reasons Alola is so prosperous right now, I'll admit."
"And our public relations have never been stronger. We have an official alliance with Kalos and the former Champion of Kalos and her husband are strongly considering building a home here." Roran added, smiling a little now. "But as much as I've been able to change things, I've hit several snags. Mainly...m-mainly…" Roran's body seized up as he felt a sharp pain in his head and his heart suddenly began to beat rapidly.
"Uh...Your eyes are-" Tommy said with a confused frown as Roran suddenly staggered back, gritting his teeth as he slammed his hands down on the table. Roran's orange eyes were now glowing softly, much to the Kahuna's horror.
"No...No, no...H-h-have to resist the curse. Have to be strong. Can't give in the urges again!" Roran snarled as he suddenly yanked out a knife and stumbled over to the other end of the table, where a thickly taped package sat alongside several syringes and a small basket of golden berries that glistened softly in the light overhead. Roran stabbed the package, causing fine white powder to spill out of the paper.
"Dude...is that cocaine? What the hell?" Tommy asked as Roran suddenly grabbed a handful of the drug and threw it into his face, causing him to scream louder in pain. "You're crazy...literally crazy. What is getting jacked up on coke gonna do for you?"
Roran screamed for several seconds, his bloodshot eyes slowly stopping their orange glow after several seconds, causing Roran to relax slightly as he twitched and shuddered under the effects of the drug he had tossed into his system. Roran snatched a golden berry out of the nearby and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing it as his entire body slowly relaxed. After a few moments, Roran began to wipe his mouth and nose off with a towel that had been on the table.
"Staving off...the effects of the Curse of Abundance. The drugs confuse everything. I can't face myself...the monster I really am. It's too much." Roran admitted with a shaky breath, collapsing into a chair as he looked at Tommy with a pleading expression. "Taking a bunch of drugs can stave it off, but I can't fight it forever."
"Sounds like there's a lot to the Tapu we don't understand. Who'd have thought that they could curse people like this?" Tommy remarked, sounding genuinely surprised. Roran snatched a leather-bound book off of the table and showed it to Tommy. It had a depiction of four strange creatures soaring towards a golden lion that seemed to glow brightly on the cover.
"Your head would spin if you knew what kind of things that have been suppressed in our world, Tommy. Knowledge and history forever consigned to the void simply because it was dangerous in the wrong hands. Our very Tapu were created with human sacrifices. Hell, there's a ritual that allows you to wish for whatever your heart desires at the cost of your own life." Roran explained, causing Tommy's eyes to widen. "It does require you to capture all four of the Tapu and bend them to your will, and the ritual definitely kills you, but it can reorder reality itself to grant you a wish."
"That's...extraordinary. No wonder it got suppressed." Tommy muttered to himself, causing Roran to shrug. "And what's worse is that a murdering psycho like you has access to all of this information."
"Let's not mince words. I'm an absolute bastard of a human being. I've killed thousands, and I'm not going to lose sleep over it. But at the end of the day, Alola has benefited from my actions, and we're on the brink of changing the region forever. I just need a little more support, and I can finally overcome the hurdle of the Alolan Regional Council. Or rather, those not in my pocket already. I need your help, Tommy. I need your backing. Your family's company is an old one, with political pull. It could be the final nail in the coffin to further opposition as I really start changing things in Alola." Roran cracked a grin then, a soft laugh escaping his lips. "Completely retooling the Island Challenge to make it more accepting and safe to Alolans, establishing a Pokémon League at long last, and cementing our place in the world as a powerful region where people from all walks of life are welcome to bask in the Alolan sun. Revolutionizing trade and industry, building off of the blocks I've already put into place. We could even bring the Tapu closer to us, in time, with how much we could make these islands flourish!"
"I'm sensing a 'but' in there somewhere...What's the catch?" Tommy said with a scowl, causing Roran's expression of excitement to fade, replaced by resignation.
"Unfortunately, I'm on a time table now. The Curse of Abundance is wreaking havoc on my mind and body. I've researched the curses heavily in the past two weeks, thanks to my sway over the current guardian over the...place where such information is hidden." Roran said evasively, knowing that he couldn't divulge anything about the Forbidden Archive. Roran gestured to the mutilated body of a Ruby Raider nearby, who had been eviscerated by the Kahuna. "That's what happens when I give in to the Curse of Abundance. I become an unhinged monster that loves eating human flesh and blood. It's horrible."
"Then maybe you should do us all a favor and drink a gallon of bleach?" Tommy remarked sarcastically, shaking his head.
"You don't seem to understand. I can't control what I do as of right now in that state. When I battled Ashton while under the effects of the Curse of Abundance earlier, I was barely even aware of my own actions. And that hasn't changed in the days after the fact...Worst part is that I actually get the sense of enjoyment from eating the flesh of my fellow men. The blood tastes...wonderful." Roran shivered, causing Tommy to glare at him.
"Any other creepy factoids about cannibalism you want to share with me?" Tommy asked, causing the Kahuna to actually think about that for a few moments.
"There's different tastes in blood, depending on diet, general health and age. The younger the person is, the better tasting the blood and flesh is to me. I shudder to think what that says about me." Roran remarked, sighing as he leaned back in his chair. "And it's why I was desperate enough to kidnap you and beg for your support. I can't do this alone, and with the way things are now, I won't be of sound mind much longer."
"I don't want anything to do with you, Roran. Not after what you pulled in Malie. You're lucky that I'm chained up right now, or I'd kick your sorry ass and strangle you with the arm you bastards didn't cut off."
"What does an arm mean, when it comes to the fate of Alola?" Roran asked, his voice hard as he leaned back in his chair. "Alola needs unity, Tommy. It needed a villain that could bring everyone together."
"You bring up a lot of good points, don't get me wrong. And honestly, I'd probably side with you if it wasn't for one teensy, tiny little fact that you keep brushing aside…" Tommy leaned forward, a determined glare meeting Roran's eyes. "You're an unrepentant murderer who manipulates everyone around him into getting what he wants. You've terrorized this region for years and taken advantage of its people. And you have the balls to ask me to help you? After what your little henchmen did to my arm? And my family!? You killed my parents! Yeah, you can go to hell."
Roran frowned, shaking his head as he stood up. As he opened his mouth to speak, his entire began seized up again, a soft glow returning to his eyes.
"Oh no...It's beginning again…" Roran whispered, fear in his eyes as he clamped his hands down onto his head. Tommy's expression of anger turned to one of concern as the madman began to violently shake, screaming out-
-in pain as the Cipher Peon and his Shadow Pelipper slumped against the ground, with Alastor grinning in amusement at defeating another foe. Sun felt uneasy about the Geodude being on his team, but considering that he was obeying Sun's commands and was taking to battle quite well, Sun suppressed his nervousness. It was easy, since Roran began speaking again after a few minutes of silence.
"What fun...How does it take so much effort just to kill you people…?" Roran's voice hissed over the intercoms, his voice dripping with loathing and irritation. Sun looked up, his attention diverted as Alastor threw a Thunder Shock at a Shadow Wartortle and knocked it out. Oliver glared at the nearest intercom, wild anger burning in his gaze.
"That depends. Why are you such a creepy asshole?" Dawson remarked in answer, stepping past the bodies of the fallen Cipher Peons as Alastor chuckled with amusement at their prone forms. Faba continued to play clean-up, quickly teleporting them back to where they could be detained by the International and regular Police.
"You still seem to be operating under the delusion that you can actually stop me. Even if random chance has been my worst enemy as of late, I won't be having any more interference Not at the apex of my dream. Soon the boy will be consumed by the ritual and I will ascend. And then nothing in these islands will be able stop me from burning everything to the ground and Alola beginning again." Roran said with a harsh breath, which reminded Sun that the man had been badly hurt during his battle with MissingNo. The group heard a pained groan over the intercom as Lusamine gestured for them to move down the hall.
"WARNING! WARNING! BASE SECURITY SYSTEM COMPROMISED! ALL LEVEL THREE TECHNICIANS REPORT TO CENTRAL CONTROL ROOM!"
"Looks like someone's having fun with their systems." Ollie remarked, sounding amused. "We'll have to look into that after we capture Roran. Or kill him."
"We've received orders to do what we have to. If we deem killing Roran is the safe option, we're authorized to do it." Anabel responded over the com link.
"I'd love to see you try. We all know how well that battle went last time. And there's no MissingNo to save you this time!" Roran laughed painfully, causing Lusamine to smirk. "And even if you defy the odds...I'll slip away. And then come back. Nothing. Will. Change!"
"I wouldn't count on that. Whether it's as Roran Rubinara or as the Fossil Man, we'll still be taking you down." Lusamine said lightly as they entered another room, this time one that was deserted. Silence reigned for several moments, though a distant boom echoed throughout the facility.
"You...y-you…" came the whispered reply from Roran, who sounded completely taken aback, surprised that the woman had called him by his other name. His secret name. His other self that had protected him from the effects of the Curse of Abundance all these years.
"That's right. We know. You pretended to be this insane man in the middle of the woods. Acted like a weirdo who no one could take seriously." Sun accused the Cipher Admin, who seemed too shocked for words. "And all the while, you were spying on me. Ready to act the second you needed to. You didn't act like my friend, but you were just helpful enough to me and my friends for no one to suspect you. That's why I never even thought that someone as weird as you was this secret bad guy."
"Who would ever think that the Fossil Man was actually a murderer in disguise? He's too busy getting high in the woods and spouting nonsense according to everyone I've asked about you." Ollie said with pride in his voice towards Sun. "I have to say, it was pretty smart to use that guise of insanity to conceal the fact that you really are an insane monster. Especially since you helped Sun out of a few jams here and there. Pretended to be helpful while spying on him the entire time...Must've been really amusing for you, huh?"
"You're not as clever as you think you are, Roran. Your forces are dropping like flies and you have nowhere left to hide, now that we know your secret." Lusamine said, a chilling smile on her face that made Sun look at the woman in surprise. For someone so kind and motherly, Lusamine could a little terrifying.
It took several moments for Roran to respond. And when he did he sounded genuinely shaken. Scared. "I don't...N-no. No! All that preparation...All that effort. I can't make another personality like that one, in so little time. Everything's falling apart. No. No, I planned it all so well. Damn it…why...Why...WHY!? DAMN IT! DAMN ALL OF YOU!"
"You really are insane, aren't you?" Dawson idly commented, grinning with amusement as he listened to the merciless Cipher Admin have a breakdown over the intercom. The man let out a shout of pain, which made Sun jump in surprise. But when Roran spoke, his voice was calm and low.
"The best place to hide is insanity...The Fossil Man identity protected me from what Tapu Bulu did to my mind. When I didn't need to be Roran, I could be him. And without it...No fallback plan. No persona to hide behind, because everyone will know who I am behind the mask. Damn you all...You'll pay for this with your lives!" Roran hissed, loathing dripping in every word. Sun was genuinely surprised by how much this was getting to him. He knew the implications behind Roran creating a false personality for himself, but it dawned on Sun how much the former Kahuna relied on it.
Due to the info dump that Sun had to deal with earlier from Acerola, Kahuna Hala managed to summarize events in a way that made everything click for Sun on their way to Blush Mountain.
It was explained to him that as a result of Roran's mind being torn apart by the Curse of Abundance, he eventually created an alternate personality based on the most eccentric parts of his own. Roran's love of the past, his reliance on the very drugs he had trafficked in during his final days as the leader of the Ruby Raiders to contain the Curse of Abundance, and his love of mind-games with the people around him.
And thus, the Fossil Man was born.
A stranger who showed up out of nowhere nearly 20 years ago, but had the funding and resources to have a significant amount of pull when it came to the revolutionary Fossil-revival business, as well as helping with various archeological projects across Alola. Hiding behind the mask of an eccentric weirdo, no one would ever suspect he was the cunning murderer who had once set Malie City ablaze.
Ironically, Sun himself had only begun putting the pieces together when Dawson had made that final comment about Sun not knowing who Roran could be pretending to be. But the clues had all lined up once he truly thought about the connection between them.
Roran's team was comprised almost entirely of ancient and or Fossil Pokémon. Claydol, Cloyster, Shadow Archeops, Shadow Cofagrigus, Shadow Rampardos, and Umbral Heatran. It was a very consistent theme, and it was weird until Sun realized it belonged to someone who could appreciate their history or had a fondness for Fossils.
The fact Roran used some sort of serum while in battle to bolster his strength, much like how the Fossil Man used drugs regularly.
Also, Sun realized that the Fossil Man was around often enough and interacted with Sun enough to be able to spy on him with no issues. His strange friendliness was also a warning sign, now that Sun thought about it.
The Fossil Man's great singing voice and the fact that Roran was a renowned performer for various shows and plays before his fall from grace. The strange lanturn the Fossil Man had shown off during the Festival of Celestial Lights, which Sun now realized was the same one that Roran had used to control Heatran's powers as his own. Thankfully, MissingNo had destroyed the artifact, so it was no longer a threat.
Sun also remembered the Fossil Man describing to him the effect of the Ho'ōla Berry, a golden berry that had gone extinct in recent years. A berry that the Fossil Man had admitted to Sun, Hau and Kukui that he had been re-growing. A berry that had healing properties and could cleanse the body of something as bad as a drug overdose, according to the strange man. Sun was now pretty sure that the Ho'ōla Berry was what Roran had been using during the battle in Malie City to recover from the drugs he continually injected into his body to quickly counteract the effects.
Between the drugs and the berries, Sun realized, Roran could overcome the limitations of using Radiance and could effectively use it for as long as he had access to both. Sun had explained all of this to the group at Malie Library as soon as he finished warning Demi of the Fossil Man's true identity, and so a battle plan was devised and the strike team began their mission.
"I assume it's you idiots that have hacked into our security system ,and are what's causing so many delays with the ritual, too…" Roran muttered darkly, gasping after a moment before breathing deeply into the mic. "Fuck...Gotta stay focused. So close...so c-close…"
"Take a guess." Sun said with a smug smirk, knowing that it would infuriate the man further. "Just know that when we finally find you and beat you, me and Hau are both going to take turns kicking you while you're down. Once again, an Aupuni's gonna kick your sorry butt to the curb."
"ALL PERSONNEL! KILL THEM ALL! I DON'T CARE WHAT IT TAKES!" Roran screamed furiously before a loud boom cut the mic off. The alarms continued to blare throughout the base, but Lusamine's chuckling could be heard above it all.
"He's falling apart. Now that he knows he can't hide behind the Fossil Man mask anymore and that his ultimate fallback plan is dust, he's finally starting to lose it. Plus, as much of a genius Roran can be when it comes to making plans, he couldn't have planned for the string of bad luck and coincidences that have messed with his scheme." Lusamine noted, smiling with amusement as her Milotic cooed softly beside her.
"He's barely got enough people here to man the facility. We organized a big team to fight our way through, but this has been relatively simple." Faba agreed, stroking his goatee.
"It just goes to show how badly Roran's forces were hit by MissingNo...I regret ever being so suspicious of it." Ollie said with a sigh, shaking his head. "I honestly wish I could apologize to it."
"Oh, it was definitely suspicious. But it was also willing to sacrifice itself for us, simply because Vivian asked it to. Looking back, I should've been a bit kind to it." Aria responded, frowning as they continued towards an elevator. Sun thought much of the same. That despite his few interactions with MissingNo that weren't very positive, the creature had sacrificed everything to save them from their fates and give them a chance at a happier life, at the cost of its own.
"It forgives you." Vivian whispered into the coms, her voice barely audible.
"Vivian…" Aria muttered sadly, knowing how badly her friend was taking the loss of MissingNo. It had called Vivian a friend in its final moments. Someone who could carry on with its memory in her heart.
It was then that Vivian spoke up again, her voice a little stronger. "MissingNo knew that it'd be incredibly difficult for it to ever come back, if it's possible at all. But it took that risk when it reversed time. For me. And for all of you."
"...Why?" Sun asked the violinist, who remained silent for several moments on the other end of the line.
Malie Library
The Forbidden Archive
Vivian wiped away her tears, even though new ones appeared mere moments later. Noah silently walked over to her, wrapping his arms comfortingly around his girlfriend's shoulders and resting his head on top of hers. Vivian reached up and grabbed Noah's hands, looking down as more tears fell into her lap.
"Ever since it was born, eons ago in another reality...It's been hurting. Forcing itself to be alive when it shouldn't be. Knowing the truth behind what really happens within all of our stories, and having to deal with the burden of that knowledge all this time. Knowing that none of our actions really matter. That some unseen puppet master is controlling our lives, marching us to our fates...It's painful. It was hurting...So much." Vivian cried, shaking her head a little as she broke down into sobs.
"It went from reality to reality, story to story, searching for a place to belong. A place that wasn't going to be frozen in place forevermore. Or destroyed...Until eventually it found our world...And eventually me." Vivian whispered, shutting her eyes as Noah stroked her head comfortingly.
"I was playing my violin in Pinwheel Forest. It enjoyed my music and sensed...that I'd play an important role in the Cipher mess happening in Unova...And it kept me company. It said I was someone who understood the intricacies of the multiverse." Vivian continued to speak, her words clear despite the downpour of tears. The others in the room could only watch as the violinist openly mourned her friend, especially given its sacrifice.
"Even when I messed up and ran away after Borlath t-turned on us, MissingNo never blamed me for it. It said...Sometimes things happen beyond our control. Not everyone can be the hero in the story. And it told me that everything would be okay." Vivian cried as Noah moved to her side, hugging her tightly as Vivian continued to speak, crushing sorrow in her heart and the tears streaming down her face.
"It even followed me to Alola...It had no reason to help us, but it did. When I asked it to turn back time, it knew that doing that would...w-would cause it to go away. The strain of going against Palkia and Dialga's influence was too much for it to handle while keeping itself tethered in our plane of existence. It even gave me a way out...pleaded with me not to ask it to fix things. Not for itself, but because it knew that...t-hat...I would have to sacrifice something by the end of this." Vivian whispered, shaking slightly as Noah gave her a concerned look.
"Sacrifice?" Noah asked. In response, Vivian let out a wail of despair and broke down even further, causing him to abandon his inquiry and continue to comfort his girlfriend.
"It's okay, dear...Let it all out. Tell us more about it." Opal said softly, much to the surprise of Marnie and Gloria. They were so used to the mischievous old woman that enjoyed messing with people that seeing genuine kindness out of her was bewildering.
However, as interested as the others were in hearing more about the mysterious force that was MissingNo and comforting the mourning violinist, Vivian was now a weeping wreck and wasn't in any state to continue talking about it.
"Um...Guys? I think I found something." Mallow pulled out a dark book from off of one of the shelves, eyeing it warily. Mallow walked over to the table and set down the worn black book onto the table.
"What is it?" Wicke asked.
"I skimmed through it a bit. Looks like a certain psychotic nutcase left a diary behind." Mallow said as she flipped through a few pages and pointed to a passage within the book, written in a neat flowing script. "And I've gotta say, what I've read so far is some really disturbing stuff."
"Roran left a journal behind?" Opal asked, surprised and curious.
"It's old. The last recorded date was sometime nearly 20 years ago, discussing the plans to attack Malie City in an attempt to scare people." Mallow explained, looking to a pensive Acerola.
"He might have stashed it when I visited this place before. I mentioned earlier how I'm pretty sure the person who threatened Nanu in return for my silence was Roran." Acerola explained as she walked over to the book in question, flipping through a few dozen pages to somewhere near the beginning. She then began to read aloud.
Today was a pleasant day. Mohn, Lusa and Ash joined me at the beach for a bit of time off. I'll admit I needed it. As important as perfecting my serums is, experimenting on captives gets to be really depressing after a while. Their screams of agony get grating. Especially with the children. But improving these drugs in vital to the security of Alola. So I guess I'll have to keep killing.
Ashton was feeling better today. I find myself growing attached to the boy, which surprises me. As completely sociopathic as I am, I'm surprised that I'm able to become fond of anything. But Ashton is a child with untold latent talent, wishing to be released. And I think I'm going to be the one that helps him realize his true potential.
But for now, thanks to that bastard Ano, he's on his own. Perhaps right now, he needs a mentor of sorts to help him on his way. Ashton is going to be important someday to the future of Alola. I believe that in my heart of hearts. So I will do everything I can to cultivate that. As a Kahuna, I can sculpt him however I choose.
Does that make me a terrible person? Probably. But Alola's future is on the line, and I will do whatever I can to ensure its future is bright.
"Well, that's pretty creepy." Marnie remarked, tilting her head slightly as Gloria nodded in agreement.
"It sounds like Roran was grooming Ashton Aupuni even before he became a Trainer." Opal remarked with clear distaste, causing everyone to look at her in surprise.
"Roran was grooming Sun's father?" Lillie whispered in horror as Wicke visibly scowled in anger, picking up the journal as everyone else in the room reacted to that revelation. Acerola sighed, shaking her head after a few moments.
"The Aupuni bloodline is a very strong one in Alola, one that goes back nearly as far back as my own. These days it's nearly nonexistent, since old Ano is insane and Borlath fled Alola. If I remember right, the Aupuni bloodline is descended from one of the daughters of a past king of Melemele Island. Not as direct as my own lineage, but still pretty royal in the end." Acerola explained as she stood up, looking around the room.
"Considering what the man is capable of, I'm not surprised he was able to sense the power of Ashton Aupuni before he even became a Pokémon Trainer." Opal remarked as she leaned back in her chair, sighing softly. "If you're skilled enough, it becomes a matter of child's play to detect the latent strength future Trainers will have. I myself utilize this insight all the time, in my quest to find a suitable successor to become the next Gym Leader of Ballonlea. It's a shame no one these days has Pink."
"...Pink?" Mallow asked, confused.
"Don't ask." Gloria muttered beside her while Marnie looked away, fighting the urge to smirk. Noah interjected, standing up while keeping a hand on Vivian's shoulder.
"I think we skipped over something here. What exactly is the Ritual of the Lost God and how are we going to stop it? All of this insight on Roran is fascinating, but how do we stop him? And what's so bad about this ritual that it'll doom us all?" Noah asked as Acerola pointed to one of the books lying on the table that hadn't been touched yet, with golden calligraphy decorating the cover.
"Didn't want to have to spoon-feed this info to you, but...start from page 57." Acerola instructed Noah, who walked over to the book, flipped through it for several moments.
"I'm surprised that this isn't in Alolan. I can actually read this." Noah said as he began to read, his eyes quickly reading over the text that the girl had pointed out. Vivian peered over his shoulder and read as well. Vivian's eyes widened in surprise while Noah's jaw dropped in shock right before the young man flipped the page.
"What...what the hell did I just read?" Noah demanded, looking to Acerola in shock. "Blood rituals and human sacrifices? And what's this about the Tapu? What...what even is this!?"
"And now that you know and just gave everyone a very abridged version of what you read, I can tell you. My oaths are particular, but now that you know the secret, I can properly explain." Acerola said, taking a deep breath before clapping her hands.
"The Ritual of the Lost God is an ancient ritual created long ago by the Kings of Alola. In particular, it was created as a way to protect Alola in times of strife and conflict. In short…" Acerola stopped for a moment, composing herself nervously. "The Ritual of the Lost God was how the Tapu came into being. Or rather, in an attempt to create something like the Tapu, the Ritual of the Lost God was created. Either way, the Tapu we know today were created as a result of this particular ritual. A ritual created for the sole purpose turning someone into a powerful creature with special abilities. One that was in tune with both the humans it would protect, the Pokémon it had joined, and nature as a whole."
"The Tapu were created...how though?" Wicke asked, almost dreading the answer. Acerola gave her a chilling smile.
"How is Roran trying to do it? Through fire and blood." Acerola responded as Noah lowered the book, staring at the Captain in horror.
"The ancient Kings of Alola sacrificed their followers in a blood ritual, and then threw themselves into a fire that each king had set alight." Noah explained to the shock of everyone else. Acerola frowned at the crude summary, while everyone else was appropriately horrified AS Noah continued. "Suddenly, Roran's mad scheme to slaughter people in Malie City and burn it to the ground using Heatran's power makes a lot more sense."
"How does that create a Tapu though?" Lillie asked, terrified by this news. Wicke placed a hand on the girl's shoulder comfortingly.
"It's not just killing people and setting a place on fire. And you have to think about it. Centuries ago, Alola wasn't unified and communication was poor between the islands. Wars and conflicts were common between them, and they may as well have been their own nations. However, Alola has one particular threat that other regions don't, and it caused the different Kings of each island to band together for protection." Acerola continued to explain, but was interrupted by Opal.
"And what was this threat, exactly?" Opal asked.
"The Ultra Beasts." Acerola responded, crossing her arms and closing her eyes. "Which just so happen to be a very real threat today. It doesn't happen often, but sometimes they appear, and cause no small amount of problems when they show up. My Uncle Nanu usually takes care of it, along with his International Police friends...Well he used to, anyway."
"But there was an Ultra Beast attack at the Aether Paradise just a few weeks ago." Wicke pointed out, with Acerola shrugging.
"They're not very frequent, but can be devastating when they do happen. Before what happened at Aether, the last Ultra Beast incident was nearly ten years ago. It was…" Acerola shivered then, shaking her head back and forth. "Not good. Uncle Nanu still regrets not being able to save her."
"What's an Ultra Beast? It was mentioned before, but I'm still clueless." Gloria asked, with Miss Wicke answering the question as she stepped forward.
"In a nutshell, an Ultra Beast is an extremely powerful creature from another dimension. It's sort of like an alien Pokémon, except completely terrifying and able to decimate anything it comes into contact with. Sun battled the one that appeared at Aether Paradise, and as gifted as his team is, they didn't come away from the fight completely unscathed." Wicke explained to the girl, her own voice tinged with unease.
"And in the old days, you better believe that things were even worse for Alolans. A single Ultra Beast could destroy an entire village with ease, killing dozens upon dozens of people before finally being brought to heel. The ancient Kings of Alola were able to draw upon the powers of the earth and sky and devised a solution...The Ritual of the Lost God. By sacrificing those who had pledged their lives in service to the Kings, and by casting themselves and their blood into the flames, the ancient Alolans would create their own guardians. Guardians that would protect the islands from harm, and rise to the challenge should the Ultra Beasts attack their homes once more." Acerola explained as she looked up towards the ceiling.
"The Tapu…" Lillie whispered, with Acerola smiling faintly at her friend.
"So, to that end, the ancient Kings of Alola decided to take charge of the situation. Declaring themselves allies with one another, each King of the four islands of Alola took the mantle of Island Guardian and sacrificed a specific amount of their followers in a ritual of fire and blood at the site of where the Ultra Beasts would emerge." Acerola continued, only to be interrupted by Miss Wicke.
"Is that because of the strange properties those areas exhibit? Like the Trial Sites and such? The radiation coming from them has always been a point of important study."
"The specifics of the ritual are...grisly to say the least, but the loss of life combined with the flames did something to the Kings. Along with that, the Kings had to directly absorb the life force of one someone with royal blood, the same as their own. As a result of whatever they were able to do, they eventually were able to discard their humanity and become Pokémon strong enough to protect Alola from the threats of the Ultra Beasts." Acerola continued, only to be interrupted yet again.
"And as you can probably guess, Hau's got a pretty long ancestry of strong Trainers that goes back to the ancient days of Alola. He and Hala both share a royal bloodline as well, and that's why Roran needs Hau. He's the final step in the ritual, and soon Roran will become just like those long lost Kings of Alola." Acerola explained, sighing softly and shuddering. "Needless to say, stopping him as soon as possible would be nice."
"Wait, wait, wait...The Tapu are actually…?" Vivian trailed off, her eyes going wide.
"The ancient Kings of centuries past. They gave up their lives as humans to achieve a greater purpose: forever protecting their kingdoms from the monsters that existed between the different dimensions. The Tapu have remained our eternal Guardians, assisting in war efforts between the islands and even when they retreated into their Ruins, would occasionally came to assist those in need." Acerola continued to explain, causing Lillie to gasp.
"Just like Tapu Koko did with Sun!" Lillie cried out, remembering that fateful day when the God of Conflict saved Sun and Nebby's life. "It even gave him a Sparkling Stone!"
"The Tapu each embody a certain element of humanity. Conflict. Life. Abundance. Hope. And Roran seeks to invoke the power of the Ritual of the Lost God in order to achieve the same fate." Acerola continued, sighing deeply after a moment. "With his attack on Malie City, he was able to spill more than enough blood to begin the ritual in earnest. Compared to the estimated body count we got from Captain Ollie, which was several thousand people dying in the attack just yesterday...things look bad. Because according to these books, the more life force that goes into the ritual, the stronger the Tapu that will be created becomes."
"So...what does this mean, Acerola?" Mallow asked the Captain, who looked at the girl with a bitter smile.
"If our team doesn't stop Roran tonight, he'll transform into a being strong enough to destroy Alola with ease, and remake it however he wants to. Heatran is clearing out all opposition tonight, paving the way for Roran to become a Tapu strong enough to ensure that Alola will never see the light of day again." Acerola said grimly as she patted the book on the table. The girl leaned forward, sighing as-
Tommy watched Roran stagger backwards, trying to fight off the Curse of Abundance as the strange power began to take hold of Roran once again. Ashton continued to observe with a mixture of shock and horror, unable to even move.
"C-c-can't...hold...BACK!" Roran bellowed, snarling like a wild animal as he clutched his head, the glow in his eyes burning brighter and brighter.
"D-dude...Calm down! Stay in control!" Tommy yelled at Roran as he staggered towards the end of the table, where the cocaine had been before, but the man accidentally knocked the package to the ground with a wild swing. Tears began to fall down his face, the pain was so great to the Kahuna as he fought against the powers of the Tapu thrust upon him.
"Calm...I'm calm...I-I-I'm c-c-c-alm…" Roran sobbed, hunching over as the light burned bright in his eyes, causing them to glow bright enough to illuminate the room. The man didn't even seem to have enough sense to do anything else but stand there, holding his head in agony. His Ariados chittered softly in distress, but Roran couldn't even hear it over the pain he was in.
Eventually Roran collapsed to his knees, sobbing as he held his head and shook violently, but not before a soft growl filled the room. To Ashton and Tommy's surprise, it was coming from the Kahuna himself, as he slowly began to pick himself up off of the floor.
"Curious...I h-have...more control." Roran hissed as he slowly brought himself into a standing position, his eyes now glowing brightly as the Kahuna exhaled deeply, trying to center himself. "It hurts. I c-can feel my mind...it's like it's ripping itself apart. Thinking...so hard…"
"Come on, Roran! Fight it! You wanna discuss shit so badly, then we can talk. But I've gotta talk to you, not that monster you keep turning into!" Tommy said bracingly to the Kahuna, who turned to him with an annoyed scowl.
"After that display…? N-no. I don't think...that we can agree on anything. But you know what? I'm...hungry." Roran said quietly, walking over to Tommy as he snatched his knife off of the table, exhaling hard as his eyes narrowed in anger. Tommy shuddered at the look in Roran's eyes. It was almost as if being sized up like prey. Roran's entire body trembled as he took halting steps towards the immobile Tommy, who felt fear slowly creep into him.
"Roran…?" Tommy asked weakly as the Kahuna flipped the blade in his grip, tightening it hard enough for his knuckles to turn white.
"Just once...Just...one...time!" Roran snarled, his eyes shining like wildfire as he slowly walked over to Tommy yanking back his head with a feral grin coming to his lips, his uninjured hand drawing back the knife held tight with deadly purpose.
"TOMMY!" Ashton screamed as Roran plunged the knife into the boys' chest. Ashton's entire body froze in absolute shock, as did Damien's, as the Kahuna furiously tore into Tommy's body with his knife and ran it down his body. Ashton gagged as his best friend's life fluids began to pour out onto the ground.
But what made this even worse was when Roran let out a shout of joy...and began to feast on Tommy's exposed insides like a rabid dog. Ashton watched as blood and guts spattered the table as Roran frantically tore apart Tommy with his knife, his eyes burning with insanity.
For his part, Tommy was screaming in agony the entire time, unable to stop the friend-turned-monster as he began slashing and biting off parts of Tommy's body, even as more and more blood poured down the table and drenched the floor. Roran let out a feral cry as he held his head in his hands, covering his face with crimson.
"Oh g-god...it tastes delicious. Why? What...w-what did Talu Bulu do to me?" Roran whispered as he looked down at Tommy, taking in the sight of the dying man as he went limp in the chair
"And yet...I don't care. Why...Why do I not care? He was my friend. And I ate him. Killed him. I want to care. I want to feel terrible about what I just did. But I don't…" Roran said weakly, wiping his bloodied hands off on his shirt. It did almost nothing to clean up the blood covering his mouth and the blood stained on his hands.
"YOU KILLED HIM! AND I'LL KILL YOU!" Ashton screamed as he suddenly snapped out of his trance and bolted down the stairs, with Damian leaping down the stairway and landing at the bottom, growling fiercely.
Roran looked at the sudden arrival of Ashton with genuine surprise, having no idea how to handle the boy in the current state he was in. He fought hard to ignore the urge to attack the boy and devour his insides like he had just done with Tommy. He wondered how he didn't notice the boy's shout for Tommy that now somehow had just registered to him.
"I'm sure you have a lot of questions Ash…" Roran began to say as his Ariados crawled up to its Trainer, hissing softly. Rightfully so, because Ashton pointed a finger at Roran, his eyes bright red with anger.
"Flamethrower!" Ashton roared as Damien released a massive torrent of flames. Roran was so surprised by this that he didn't even issue a command, though he was able to throw himself onto the ground in time to dodge the flames that exploded off of his Ariados and knocked it out.
Ashton slowly walked over to the downed form of Roran as he slowly pushed himself up, only for Ashton to suddenly run forward and kick the man in the head, knocking him down to the ground.
"Was everything a lie!? You were my friend! My teacher! Our Kahuna! Was this all some kind of...messed up game to you?" Ashton asked, his voice cracking slightly despite the anger thick in his voice as he kicked Roran again. And again. And again. Soon the boy was just furiously stomping on the man, even as tears began to fall down his face.
"You...I-I can't…" Ashton moved away from Roran even as the man gasped in pain, holding his head tightly because of the combined pain of the curse and Ashton's righteous anger. It was then that he heard a shout from the boy.
"DAMIEN! KILL!" Ashton screamed, pointing a finger at the stunned Roran. Damien looked back at his Trainer in alarm. It was the first time he had ever been given such an order. To deliberately hurt a Trainer like that...No, to kill another being in such a manner. Roran was defenseless. He...couldn't do that.
Damien winced as Ashton's fury was directed at the canine, his eyes flashing with blinding fury. The Houndoom remained still, unable to execute the command. He couldn't simply murder someone like that, even if his Partner had given him a direct order. Roran groaned as he slowly got onto all fours, looking up at Ash with glowing eyes.
"Ash...I…" Roran lowered his head, unable to articulate what he was feeling right now. Damien shook as Ashton looked at him with surprise and anger.
"What are you waiting for Damien!? Kill him! Kill-" Ashton shouted, only for a Baltoy to suddenly teleport into the room with a Runerigus, which promptly charged at them with a Bulldoze.
"Dark Pulse!" Ashton shouted, with Damien snapping out of his fear and launching the attack, striking the Runerigus and sending it tumbling backwards with a cry of pain. Roran rose to a kneeling position, eyeing Ashton warily before grinning at the boy as Ashton aimed the sidearm that Jackal had entrusted to him. Now...he simply needed to pull the trigger.
"That's right, Ash...I'm a monster. I always have been. I just wish…" Roran stopped speaking, his smile fading. "Well, wishing doesn't get you a whole lot. Now does it?"
Ashton shouted out, pulling down on the trigger just as Roran placed his hand on the top of his Baltoy's head. The two teleported out of the room and away from the ship just as Ashton's gun fire, blasting the wall instead of the Kahuna that had been there just moments before. Meanwhile, Damien attacked the Runerigus with another Dark Pulse to knock it out while Ashton just stood there, staring at the spot where Roran had vanished from, dropping his pistol on the ground and allowing the despair and anger to wash over him.
Roran had escaped. He was the leader of the Ruby Raiders. He was the mastermind behind the group that had made him and everyone else in Alola suffer for so long. Roran was behind every single atrocity on this ship, all the while pretending to be their friend and leader.
Suddenly, the nearby door was kicked in to reveal Jackal, who had his sidearm drawn as Gretel phased through the wall beside him, taking in the scene with an alarmed expression. Jackal slowly lowered his gun and walked towards Ashton and Damien, swearing softly as he noticed Tommy's mutilated corpse still bleeding onto the floor. He also noticed that there was a thick and richly decorated leather-bound book sitting on the table . But before any of that, Jackal was surprised when Ashton suddenly turned around and glared down at Damien with an extreme of abject fury.
"HE GOT AWAY! BECAUSE OF YOU!" Ashton screamed at Damien, whose ears lowered as the canine slowly began to back away, his eyes wide with fear as his Trainer advanced on him.
"When I give you an order, you do it! Lives are at stake! DO YOU UNDERSTAND!" Ashton bellowed at Damien, who couldn't understand this level of anger from Ashton. His Trainer. Consumed with anger and grief, now shouting at him in a way he never had before.
Damien had enough time to nod in response, shaking in fear from the force of Ashton's anger, before the boy turned back towards Tommy. The boy slowly walked towards his friend, his anger quickly being smothered by the overwhelming tidal wave of grief and sorrow at the circumstances that he had now found himself in. The boy fell to his knees, beginning to cry as he beheld the young man who had been a brother to him. Killed at the hands of someone they had all trusted.
Jackal pulled the weeping boy into his arms and hugged him tightly as Ashton completely broke down, burying his face into his Jackal's chest as the officer muttered soothing words into his ears. Gretel couldn't look away from the mutilated form of Tommy chained to the chair.
And Damien couldn't look away from his Trainer, who he had let down due to his cowardice. Tommy had been a friend. One of the few people that his Trainer, who had been hurt so badly by so many people, could genuinely trust. And now he was gone, lying dead in a chair at the hands of a monster that Damien had been too scared of to kill.
Damien fought the urge to howl mournfully in sorrow at the loss of a dear friend at the hands of betrayal. Instead the Houndoom promised itself that it would never go against Ashton again. Even if it went against his heart, Damien would do anything his Trainer asked of him.
Even if that meant to end the life of another.
Present
Cipher Ula'ula HQ
"What the fuck…" Aria muttered under her breath at the news. Lusamine and Faba looked likewise disturbed. Despite that, the group encountered no more resistance as they made their way through the hallway.
"Aether Bravo, report." Lusamine said as she touched the com link on her dress.
"Nothing ma'am. It's quiet. I feel like this is a trap." One of the Aether Protection Team members said over the radio. Lusamine pondered this as they approached another elevator. Dawson swiped the keycard while glancing down at the picture of the map he had acquired from the computers earlier.
Sun, for the most part, marveled at how quickly they had tore through the Cipher HQ. They encountered resistance, yes, but for the most part the Cipher Peons had been taken down with relative ease as a result of the multiple attacks happening throughout the compound at once and the skill-level of the ones doing it. Sun was probably safer within his circle of friends right now than he would've been at Malie Library with Lillie.
Sun hadn't told anyone about his decision to ask Lillie to stay with Acerola, mainly because it was a spur-of-the-moment decision and he wanted to keep his friend as safe as possible while also helping in some way. As much of a bookworm as Lillie was, she would definitely be useful. Plus, Sun hoped it would give his crush a chance to look through the secret books Acerola had been hiding from everyone. Maybe it would even give her a clue about Nebby's origins.
"I don't mind an easy infiltration." Aria remarked as she retracted the blade in her Snag Machine, with Sophie the Jolteon nodding in agreement.
"I guess that makes sense. Wes used to do this stuff all of the time on his own." Sun thought as he remembered the hero, who had been brought to the Poké Pelago to heal his mind and recover from what horrors he had been through. Sun hoped he and Mohn were doing well.
"According to this, we can take this elevator and get down to the bottom level. Which is just known as the 'Magma Basin'." Dawson said to the others, causing Ollie to hum thoughtfully.
"It'll be interesting to see how much Roran can control Heatran without the Magma Stone." Ollie said as they piled into the elevator, which was thankfully large enough to accommodate them all.
"I doubt losing such a valuable asset will set him back too far. Roran isn't bluffing when he brags about having backup plans galore. I'm hoping one of our teams can get access to those plans soon." Lusamine responded dryly, her Milotic cooing softly beside her. After a few more moments, the elevator dinged softly and slowed its descent. As the doors opened, they saw that the floor was composed of just one long and wide hallway, which had a battalion of Cipher members armed to the teeth with a small army of Pokémon.
"CUT 'EM DOWN!" one of the Cipher members shouted as a wave of gunfire erupted down the hallway. Sun called for Oliver to use Protect, and several others called out for various barriers to appear around them, taking on the incoming gunfire. Meanwhile, Ollie grabbed Anabel and sunk into his own shadow.
"This is bad!" Hugh shouted as the shields began to crack. Meanwhile, one of the Cipher members ahead that happened to wearing red and silver armor spoke, grinning at them as he held up his arm. Sun's eyes widened when he saw that it was a Mega Ring, with a Key Stone within it.
"Captain Karas, should we-" one of the Cipher Peons began to ask, only for the man in question to hold up a hand to silence the Peon. He then stepped forward, even as his men continued to fire upon the quickly weakening shields of the intruders.
"You idiots may have cut down most of our forces the other day, but you're not getting past us. Roran's just minutes away from becoming all-powerful, and we'll get everything we deserve." Captain Karas said as he called out a Medicham, which was wearing a silver glove with a gemstone inside of it.
"Keep firing! Don't let a single one of them-" Karas tried to say before he caught sight of a flash of metal out of the corner of his eye. Karas had time to shout out before a fist from Anabel caught the Captain in the jaw, with her Espeon launching a powerful blast of Psychic to knock down the squad of Cipher Peons and disarm them. The Medicham and the handful of Pokémon tried to attack them, only a furious Aegislash cut them down with a barrage of slashes as Ollie lashed out at Karas, double-teaming the Cipher Captain with Anabel and taking him down, knocking him out with a stomp to the face that cracked his nose open.
"Easy peasy." Anabel said lightly as she high-fived Ollie, with the others dropping their badly-damaged shields. Her Espeon cooed softly beside her as the group made their way down the hallway, with some of them commenting on the well-executed takedown.
"That was so cool!" Sun called out, unable to help the wide grin on his face. Ollie laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head while Anabel blushed, though she grinned bashfully at the praise.
None of them noticed Faba casually removing the Mega Ring off Captain Kasas' arm and pocketing it with a smirk before having his Hypno teleport everyone to jail. He also snatched up the Medichamite as well off of the unconscious Pokémon, stuffing both items into his pocket before catching up with the others as they talked about the epic takedown by Ollie and Anabel.
As they approached the large door at the end of the hallway, Sun became aware of the fact that the temperature was quickly rising. Several of the others did as well, wth Lusamine commenting, "We must be reaching the inner parts of Blush Mountain. The name for this bottom section is the 'Magma Basin', after all."
"Hmm. I wonder if this place is connected to Heatran at all." Aria wondered aloud, frowning now. "Magma Basin sounds like the kind of place that a Legendary would rest when its not active."
"Very astute. I suspect that this room is where Roran is going to try and complete the Ritual of the Lost God. Perhaps originally it was where Heatran slumbered before Roran found it." Faba said with some amusement as they approached a large door with several warning signs of danger and heat advisories. Even now, the group could feel the temperature rising further still.
"WARNING. SECURITY BREEEEEEEEAAAACH! S-S-SYSTEMS COMPROMISED! SECURITY D-D-D-D-DOOR FAILURE IMMINENT!"
Faba chuckled softly, shaking his head in amusement as Dawson swiped the keycard and gestured towards the door with a bow. "Ladies first."
Lusamine rolled her eyes and walked past the door alongside Aria, with Sun following behind because Anabel stubbornly stood still while giving Dawson a deadpan stare. Though she was quickly shocked out of this state by the door suddenly closing down in front of them with a harsh thud.
"The door!" Lusamine gasped as she ran to it, pounding in the metal as several shouts and booms echoed on the other side. Lusamine then took a few steps back, regarding the door with annoyance. Meanwhile, the automated voice spoke once again.
"SECURITY BREACH! L-L-L-L-L-L-LEVEL 5! SYSTEM C-C-C-C-COMPROMISED! FACILITY LOCKD-D-D-DOWN IS NOW IN-PROGRESS! ALL SECURITY DOORS ARE-ARE-ARE-ARRREEEEEE…"
"Something is really making Cipher's network freak out." Aria noted as Sun looked around, noticing that on this side of the door it was just him, Lusamine and Aria. Lusamine placed a finger to her com link.
"Aether Leader, reporting in." Lusamine said into the com, getting a response less than a second later from a terse-sounding Faba.
"We're stuck here ma'am. Can't get past the door. Agent Quill informs me that Shadow Sneak won't let us get past it, since the door is sealed shut. Teleport won't let us get to you either, since neither myself nor Hypno has been on the other side of the door and we can't see the other side. What should we do?" the Branch Chief asked the Aether President, who put a hand to her chin thoughtfully.
"See about opening these doors. Override them somehow. We'll proceed." Lusamine said with a resigned sigh, shaking her head for a moment. "Between myself and Aria, we should be able to handle whatever awaits us at the Magma Basin. Sun, stay behind us. We're going in."
Everyone returned their Pokémon for the moment and took stock of the hallway that they were now in, which was actually a slope of sorts that descended into a room that glowed faintly red and orange. Aria made a sharp movement with her arm and her blade extended out from her Snag Machine. Lusamine and Sun followed the Snagger as she took point, and the three of them made their way down the slope and towards the Magma Basin that awaited them at the end of the hall.
And then, they heard him speak.
"I should've known...You have a knack for sticking your nose where it doesn't belong!" Roran snarled suddenly, his voice impossibly loud in the room ahead and startling the trio approaching the Magma Basin.
"Roran...Let's listen in real quick." Aria muttered as they approached the doorway, which they hid behind. However, the group didn't expect for someone to respond to the Cipher Admin's remark. And they certainly didn't expect the cold response to be from someone that made Sun's entire body freeze in shock.
"What can I say? I learned from the best, Roran." Borlath spoke in a strained voice, hatred palpable within as his deep baritone carried across the room.
"Dad...That's my Dad! He's alive!" Sun whispered to Lusamine and Aria, who both nodded in agreement. The trio continued to listen, peering into the room itself.
The Magma Basin certainly lived up to the name. Glass tubes of liquid hot magma flowed down the sides of the room, which was illuminated with bright flood lights overhead. The floor was made of black rock with chunks of metal plating embedded into the floor at regular intervals. Several metal barricades were present within the room, as well as several slots with some unknown purpose residing within the floor.
What caught their eye was the bright red runes glowing on the sides of the basin, running down to the floor and coming together in the center of the room, culminating in a brightly shining circle of orange light. Hau was lying down on the floor unconscious within the circle of light, bound and gagged once again.
Roran stood in the center of the room beside Hau, his tattered cloak still drenched in blood as a result of his battle with MissingNo. The madman was facing away from them and looking up at a large monitor that was in the room, which displayed the exhausted face of Ashton Aupuni. The Cipher Master glared down Roran with eyes crimson with hate, leaning into the camera that was active on his end.
"I'm simply correcting a mistake. You're a blight on the world, Roran. And it's time for everything to end." Ashton responded, his voice firm as he suddenly smiled at his former mentor. "In a matter of hours, all life-support within your compound will cease to function. It's over. I've completely crashed your entire network. By that time, Amber will have made it to Alola to kill you."
"How…" Roran looked genuinely confused, anger flashing in his eyes. "They dropped a fucking building on her! How in the hell did she survive? "
Ashton Aupuni grinned at the man triumphantly, ignoring his question. "You can't threaten me with Sun anymore, because at this point he'll die in Alola's destruction regardless. You're done."
"Not really. Give me a few more minutes, and I'll kill the Hala's grandson and complete the ritual. Soon enough I'll become a Tapu and not even your little pup can stand up to me." Roran replied, though he did seem annoyed that Ashton Aupuni had managed to still cause so much trouble.
Ashton wreaking havoc on his computer systems again, even after the League attack, was something he hadn't been expecting and it had slowed him down considerably. He would have completed the Ritual of the Lost God by now if it weren't for the Cipher Master's interference. Ashton seemed taken aback that he was too late to stop Roran, his smile fading as his eyes flashed black as he realized that Roran wasn't trying to screw with him. He was indeed too late to stop Roran's scheme as things stood now.
"Even with all of this, I still couldn't…" Ashton shut his eyes, lowering his gaze to the floor. "I really am nothing, in the end. I'm so sorry, Sun. I couldn't keep my promise."
"You should feel bad, Ash. You really shouldn't make promises you can't keep!" Roran laughed as Ashton growled in anger, slamming his hands on the desk he was at.
"Shit...Borlath cutting off life-support while we're in here is actually really bad for us." Aria whispered, wincing at that. Sun nodded in agreement, but to their surprise, Roran suddenly tensed and looked in their direction.
"Who's there!?" Roran suddenly shouted, whirling around. Aria smirked and stepped out, holding out the Snag Machine and firing off the blade directly at Roran. The Cipher Admin's eyes widened in surprise before he shouted, "Protect!"
Thanatos teleported into the area just in time to summon a shield to block the blade, causing it to bounce off of the shield and go spiraling off in another direction. Lusamine and Sun moved into the open as Aria advanced forward, calling out her Jolteon as Lusamine called out her Bewear.
"Sun?" Ashton whispered hoarsely, his eyes going white with fear. Roran took several moments to recover from his surprise, gritting his teeth as the Shadow Heatran beside him snarled angrily. Thanatos simply hovered beside his Trainer, prepared to attack at a moment's notice.
"Of course...You just had to shut down the security doors while these idiots are in here with me. No way in or out." Roran said through gritted teeth, clutching his mutilated shoulder. After a few moments, though, a terrible smile came to his lips.
"That being said...You three won't be escaping this room alive. And Ashton gets the pleasure of watching me tear his precious little boy to pieces!" Roran proclaimed, laughing maniacally as Thanatos hovered above him. Aria and Lusamine braced themselves for a battle, but Sun's eyes were on his father's face on the monitor…
And the betrayed tears of shock and horror that were running down the Cipher Master's face at the knowledge that his son was now at the mercy of his greatest enemy. Sun had broken his promise, and now Ashton Aupuni's worst nightmare had come true.
Now Sun was trapped in battle with a monster, and it'd take a miracle for him to make it out of this alive.
NEXT TIME: Guzma makes a new friend, and the final battle with Roran begins!
Woo boy. I've been writing like crazy these past few weeks. I really want to wrap up this act though, so I'm keeping the updates coming.
Q & A
From: Oragonking
1)Dawson and Wicke together? That would be interesting? Plus, tell me how old those two are.
Dawson is roughly 26 years old while Wicke is 30. And you know what? We'll see where this goes. I've gotten a couple people commenting how they're interested by a Dawson/Wicke ship, I guess keep an eye out for if that goes anywhere.
From: Joey
1. How old is Roran?
2. How will the raid on Aether Paradise/UB Battles/Poni Island compare to this arc? I wonder because the stakes are probably the highest right now and the next intense thing I can think of unless you have other plans is that, and it seems like Cipher is probably going to collapse by the end of this arc based on what has happened.
1. Roran is in his late fifties. He was in his early thirties during the events of the flashbacks.
2. While the events of the Cipher Arc are probably the most high-stakes part of the story, I won't let up on the intensity when it comes to Lusamine and the Aether Arc. It'll be immensely less violent and horrifying, but I don't think many people will complain about that after how the past few chapters have gone.
Thanks for sticking with me throughout 2020. Your feedback and support of the story have helped get me through one of the roughest years many of us have experienced. I'm so truly grateful for the good in 2020, though, and I hope that 2021 is a year that allows us all to rebound and recover from what's happened.
That's all for me. I've got more writing to do. In the meantime, please review, favorite and/or follow the story, and if you feel like it join my Discord for RS!
Take care and stay awesome.
Until next time, FlygonNick out!
