Five weeks had passed since Alya had been taken away. Ordan had realized that if Cipher had her, their best bet would not be to try to find her, but to prepare for a fight. And from what Lorno had told him, it wouldn't be easy. He had given all his admins permission to do whatever they thought was best to prepare for a fight against Cipher. Rolli had decided to improve his team as much as possible. Ordan had placed trained spies around in every town, city and attraction he could find, as well as in the larger companies. He had also ordered out workers to capture the strongest pokémon they could find in Nenta. Satza and Uness had cooperated on a building right outside the main Sonos headquarters. What they would use it for, he didn't know, but imost likely, they had just found out that both needed a building and decided to cooperate to raise efficiency. Ordan didn't want to interrogate them, and let them go on in peace. If they wanted to tell him, they would. Three weeks ago, Uness had managed to snag a Shadow pokémon by using a Master Ball - an incredibly rare item that took years to make. Ordan didn't know which pokémon that was, but he suspected it might have something to do with the building.
Then one day, both Satza and Uness came to talk to him. Uness appeared to be very uneasy, a rare trait for him. Satza, whose emotions were generally strong, was on the verge of crying. Ordan let them in. "Hey, what is it, Uness?" he asked. "I, uh... I need to talk to you. I have some valuable information for you." Ordan nodded to Satza to signalize that he had seen her, but he believed it would be best for them all to hear out Uness first. "Sit down, Uness. So, what is it?" "You remember the Shadow Psyduck I snagged a few weeks ago, right?" So it was a Psyduck. Ordan nodded. "Well, I have been researching its Shadow properties since then. I found out a lot of interesting stuff." "Like what?" "There is something else I need to tell you first. I discovered that the new Shadow pokémon have had their general traits strengthened. For Psyduck, this meant not only an increase in Strength, but stronger psychic powers. After running some tests, I managed to plug into its conscience for a moment. It noticed, and managed to shut me out after a few seconds, but it had picked up a very interesting signal." Uness had a CD player in his hands, and put it on the table. He started the sound.
There was a man talking. But the sound was apparently jumping back and forth in the conversation, since only a few words at a time fit together. "...add a little Shadow to... ...can't learn anything new... ...Shadow pokémon, Shadow humans... ...one more thing... do it." The last two words were said with another, deeper voice. Ordan was quiet for a moment. Then he opened his mouth. "Shadow humans?" he asked. "It seems like it, sir. And the last part we heard actually goes on for a while, showing that it's etched deeper into Psyduck's memory than the rest. There were also a few mental images, apparently from the same moment. The first is of a man in a white coat, presumably a Cipher scientist. The second one is definitely a Cipher peon. The third has the same peon and a Marill. The last one in a Marill very close up. And if you listen to that part of the CD, you can hear the cry of a Marill, though very faintly. You can also hear a person, a female, wince. I analyzed the voice, and, you probably know this now, but it was Alya."
Ordan had known from the moment he saw Uness' expression that this was about Alya. Uness was one of the few persons in Orre that Ordan would trust his life to. He knew Uness very well. Looking at Uness, he knew that there might be something they could do. He tried to say something, but Uness was faster than him. "I had the process for making Shadow pokémon stored on my computer, from last time Cipher was active. Using this data, I could see how the Shadow process had changed, and by studying Psyduck, I found several flaws in it." Ordan looked at him. Whenever he thought Uness was as smart as a human being could be, he managed to prove himself even smarter. He nodded. "Go on, please." "First of all, the Shadow wears off over time. For pokémon, this time is so long that you'll never see a noticeable effect, especially since the life of a Shadow pokémon is significantly shorter than for normal pokémon, but when the same process is used on people, the Shadow is very limited, and will wear off after a short time. The fact that the Shadow process is specialized for pokémon cuts this time further. The result is that to keep their Shadow, humans have to be... re-Shadowed every day. If they're not, they will regain consciousness." "So, if we get Alya back, she'll turn normal by herself?" "That is what I hope. The problem is that the Shadow process has been cut down to a single step... a Shadow pokémon can now add a Shadow to another pokémon, or a human being, just as efficiently as a machine." "So, bottom line is, get her out fast?" "Yes." "Is that all?" "Not quite, but the rest can wait until after you've talked to Satza."
Ordan turned to Satza. He knew from experience that her crying had nothing to do with her news, but rather with what she had just learned about Alya. The initial shock had apparently died down while Uness was talking, and she seemed calm and stable. "So, Satza, You have something to talk to me about?" "I do. You know about the building I and Uness have been cooperating on for the last few weks, right? Well, it's up now. Uness has built a huge basement, I guess it's for electric things and stuff, but I've built a training school on the ground floor. I wish to take in as many students with pokémon as I can, and train them to prepare for a Cipher attack." Ordan thought about this for a while. "Normally, I wouldn't trust people I don't know with helping us, but since our enemy is of this magnitude, this is actually a rather good idea. Just make sure they know they're not permanently hired." Satza seemed relieved. "Of course, sir." Ordan then turned back to Uness. He knew that whatever Uness was going to tell him, it would be worth his time.
"Now, Uness, I believe you have something interesting to talk about?" He looked at him, with a slightly surprised expression. He got over it, and told him what it was. "Sir, I've built an upgraded version of the purification chambers." Ordan looked at him, now it was he who was surprised. "An upgraded version?" "Yes, sir. I call it the Shadow Complex. It's the electric things and stuff I use the huge basement for." Ordan smiled slightly at Uness' attempt at a joke, and got ready to leave the office. "I want to see this. Now, Uness." he said, and left.