Chapter 13: A New Path Forward
Lillie gets into her dress along with other things to prepare to raid Rose Tower and seek out the hidden Cipher Lab there. "Okay, time to form the plan. Jessie, James, and Meowth will draw attention in the main lobby while me, Lillie, N, and Serena will go to the Cipher Lab," Wes said.
"You got it, boss," the trio said as he shows a picture of Rose Tower to Liz to teleport them toward the grounds of the heavily guarded area. They appear beside a service lift which will take them to the middle of the tower while the trio split off to cause a big distraction.
The guards were standing in the lobby with the trio wearing some disguises looking like performers. "Hello everyone, we are here to give you some primetime entrainment," Jessie said with a megaphone with the crowd of people looking at the colorful-looking people there in the middle of the lobby.
"Oh okay, why are you here?" one of the guards asked.
"We are here to give a great performer. To entertain the guests before getting to their meetings," James said as they didn't notice who they are due to James' great makeup and costume work.
The two summon their Pokemon to start doing tricks and performances with the people becoming greatly amused by this. "Hey, calm down," the guards tried but ailed for a huge crowd of people were circling the trio doing some tricks.
"Gee, it's working," Meowth said.
"I hope we can cause enough of a distraction for the others to get what they need," James said.
"Keep going and draw as many eyes to us as possible," Jessie said.
The four managed to get off the service lift to be in a plain white hallway. "Gee, this reminds me about the Aether Foundation again," Lillie said as they see the guards getting moved to the lobby to check out the distraction the rocket trio are making there.
"Good, it's working. The guards and guests are going there like Moths to flames," N said.
"Yeah, we need to take the data, destroy the lab and get out of here," Serena said as they approach the hallways with caution. They see two guards coming through the hallways with Wes makes Liz use Hypnosis to make them fall asleep.
"It should be close by. When we reach the room, we need to find a hidden switch to unlock the door," Lillie said as they go off to find the room.
Elsewhere Rose and Lusamine are talking about a business deal with word from the guards getting to them. "Sir, we have some weird people performing in the lobby without a license," the guard said via intercom.
"Well seems like people are getting into the holiday spirit recently. When they are finished, remove them from the grounds," Rose said.
"Yes sir," the guard said to cut off the radio line.
"Sorry about that, people are becoming more uppity these days," Rose said.
"I know what you mean, I have a family issue I need to sort out pretty soon," Lusamine said.
"Oh, Family issue, I know those. I and my younger brother are not on good recently," Rose said.
"You have a brother?" Lusamine asked.
"Yes his name is Peony and he has a daughter who is my niece named Peonia. He always was against me due to our family's high standards for him. I was gifted and found my own company with Peony never liking being under my shadow. He prove his worth by becoming Galar's Steel Gym Leader and then becoming strong enough to be Galar Champion for a short while," Rose said.
"Did he quit?" she asked.
"Yes he did but he quit in protest after I become Chairman of the Galar Pokemon League due to my problematic actions with my company. He always had a rebellious spirit like that," Rose said.
"I see, disappearing. Family lets you down even when you need them most," Lusamine feels betrayed by her son and daughter abandoning her like they when she give him comfort and security for so many years even after losing her husband due to memory loss.
"Yes but we need to go forward," Rose said as Lusamine has dark thoughts about her daughter.
"Yes we must move on," Lusamine said as she has a sneaking feeling about something. "A trio of colorful characters," she thought as she looks down into her purse to see the glove with the Burst Heart holding an Ultra Beast inside as well as two Beast Balls.
"Something wrong?" Rose asked.
"No, I need to take a walk. We will continue this further once I get back and take care of a few things," Lusamine said as she has a hitch about something.
"Of course, take a breath," Rose said as Lusamine gets up to know for sure its Lillie and her group of thugs.
"Lillie, you are so disappointing. This is her work along with those criminal friends are her. I am so happy to finish this nonsense for good," Lusamine said as she dwells into dark thoughts to go down the lift to be within the middle floor where the hidden Cipher lab is located. She sees a bunch of sleeping guards on the floor.
Elsewhere Wes, Lillie, Serena, and N managed to get into the room which seems pretty normal. Liz is scanning the room to feel something in a section of the wall. "This is the hidden door," Liz said tapping her paw on the door to feel the air on the other side.
"We need to find the switch," Serena said as she opens a drawer in a desk to see a red button. She presses it and unlocks the hidden door to see a lift that goes to the hidden lab. "Awesome," she said.
'Good, now we can head inside without fuss," N said as something hits Serena knocking her into a wall. "Wait what is that?" he questioned for the tall slender figure goes at him with lightning speed to punch him in the chest to send him flying into the room.
"Oh no, an Ultra Beast," Lillie had seen it before to see it was a tall slender feminine humanoid cockroach. "Pheromosa," she said as she remember looking up a file on it before within the Aether Foundation.
"That thing is so fast," Wes said as he draws his pistol to set them on full auto to fire a barrage of rounds but Pheromosa dodges all of them and delivers a powerful kick to knock Wes across the room.
"That thing can go running beyond 120 MPH in a heartbeat. Guys, I will handle this, you will go into the secret lab," Lille summons Magearna, Snowy, and Iron Valiant onto the field to trigger her Burst to go into her Hybrid state to confront the alien Pokemon.
"Alright Princess, be careful," Wes said as Lillie nods her head for the others to go deep within the tower's inner workings.
Lillie sends the bug flying into the hallway to be met with two Pheromosa standing in the hallways ready to pounce via orders. "Hello, daughter. It's been a while," Lusamine said as she appears to stand in between the tall alien Pokemon.
"Mother," Lillie said with a pit in her stomach forming as she has not seen my mom in several years after she left Alola for her Pokemon journey to become a strong Fairy Trainer.
"Come on dear, don't you want to give your dear mother a hug?" Lusamine asked in a mocking tone.
"No thanks, you are using Ultra Beasts now despite what happened to you?" she demanded as she remembers the horror of her mother merging with an Ultra Beast coming a big jellyfish/human hybrid.
"Yes, they are quite useful for my needs," Lusamine said as Lillie is horrified to see she looks even more unstable.
"What have you become?" she questioned.
"Me, what about you? I have seen you on the news, running around with thugs and criminals," Lusamine said as this got Lillie angry.
'They are heroes who help stop Cipher from their evil deeds to Pokemon and people alike," Lillie said.
"Oh, that is a problem. I am in a joint partnership with Cipher," Lusamine said. This even made Lillie angry and disappointed.
"You got to be kidding me. I bet they're the ones who revive you from your coma?" Lillie demanded.
"Smart girl, we have been working together for a long time. We share the same goals," Lusamine said as Lillie is starting to break down from this. Her sadness and anger twisted into a knot within her chest.
"All this time you are working with Cipher. I can't believe you," Lillie said.
"Why not, we both agree to work together because we share a common goal," Lusamine said.
'What would that be?" Lillie asked.
"To remake the world and make a new timeline where everything is better for all of us," Lusamine said as Lillie is beyond confused by this.
Elsewhere Wes, Serena, and N go into the lab to be in a server room. N goes up to the terminal to check up on the data there to see what Doctor Death is planning. "Okay, I got access. Let's see what we can find," N said as he finds a data file which is quite disturbing.
"What the hell is this?" Wes wondered.
"Project Rebirth, it's the prime directive of the Cipher group," Serena said as they are reading the text on the screen to be shocked by their ultimate plan.
"Are you fucking serious? Time God," Wes said.
"Yes, the Cipher Grandmaster has one of the original six Burst Hearts. That is where all the green fake copies came from and he wants to merge with Dialga to be a Time God. To twist the universe to his liking and make a new timeline where he will be the god of everything," N said as he is shaken by this. "Wow and I thought my stepfather was insane," N said as Team Plasma did some bad things but this was another level of insanity.
"Cipher is on a whole different level. Using one of three Pokemon who guides the entire universe," Serena said as this goes beyond what Team Flare did in her home region Kalos.
"Damn it, it goes must deeper than I ever imagine," Wes said.
"Well, for Cipher to find Dialga's dimension. We need to find the Origin Stones which are located in five Regions. Kanto, Johto, Alola, Unova and Orre. Then you need to go to Sinnoh to track down the Gateway of Time to place the Origin Stones there to unlock the gate to Dialga's dimension," N said.
"Oh boy, what about Morpheus's part in all this?" Wes asked.
"I am getting to that," N said as he moves over to another file that relates to the Mother. "Oh great, more bad news," he said.
"What did you find?" Serena asked.
"He is going to create something called the Supreme Being which will be a baseline for all lifeforms in the new world the Grandmaster wants to create something to place humans and Pokemon alike," N said.
"Morpheus was not kidding about creating something that suppresses what Arceus can make," Wes said to be truly scared by this.
"First Mother needs to absorb more biomass for her to begin the process of birthing the Supreme Being. The finish stage would be absorbing Eternatus when it's ready," N said.
"Eternatus?" Serena asked.
"It's an Alien Pokemon that crash-landed here in Galar over 20,000 years ago. It's the reason why Dynamax is even a thing in Galar," N said.
"Pretty insane stuff. That Legendary Pokemon is the battery to the born of a new form of life who will replace everyone," Serena said as N stored this into a data drive to put it in his bag.
"Okay, we need to get out of here," Serena said as N stops them.
"There is someone here," N said as they show a video feed of Nessa in a cell deep within the hidden lab.
"That is Sonia's friend and Water Gym Leader of Galar. We need to save her," Serena said.
"Right, time for a rescue mission," Wes said as they are finished with the terminal to head down towards the jail cells.
Back with Lillie being scared of what her mother is saying. "What are you saying?" Lillie asked to be scared by her mother's scary face.
"The Grandmaster gave me an offer I can't refuse. With the power of time at his command, I am going to have a new life in the new timeline he will create. My husband didn't lose his memories, my children are happy and safe and I can be a mother again. Everything would be perfect," Lusamine said with the creepy smile she can make.
"You are going to wipe out the old world and replace it with a new one," Lillie said her anger boiling within her heart.
"Yes. I will have a new daughter in the world and you will be wiped from existence when it's over," Lusamine said.
"Did you know my brother is dead and used like an experiment by the Mother," Lillie said as Lusamine laughed at this. "This isn't funny!" Lillie gets upset at her mother laughing at her son getting killed.
"So, he is still going with the project. It's pointless, the mother is unstable and will fail. There is a reason why it was abandoned but he still goes for it anyway," Lusamine said as she didn't care about her brother being used by her partners.
"Mother no. Lusamine, I am sick of covering for you. I gave you chances and you slap them away. I am done, my old family is dead because of you. You are not my mother anymore and Wes along with the others are my new family now," Lillie said feeling the emotional weight coming off her shoulders with Lusamine for good with Lusamine sporting a disturbing laugh.
"Oh, too bad but I will have no guilt killing you since my perfect Lillie is waiting for me in the new world. Burst," Lusamine uses the Burst Heart engulfing herself in light to reappear to merge with Pheromosa covered in a white exoskeleton clinging to her like a second skin, long antennas coming out of her forehead, and sharp claws out of her hands and feet. "Kill," Lusamine uses a buzzing noise to command the two Pheromosa to go in to appear like blurs.
The First Pheromosa comes in to deliver a powerful kick to knock the Alolan Ninetales into a wall. "Snowy," she said as she is flinging Psycho Cuts with the second Pheromosa and Lusamine dodging incoming energy cutters. Bouncing off the walls to tackle Lillie to knock her across the walls. Magearna fires balls of moonlight to airburst nearby the first Pheromosa to knock it onto the ground with Iron Valiant delivers a Fire Punch to score a Super Effective hit.
"What is that thing?" Lusamine wondered what this weird robotic Pokemon is. "How sad, that Magearna was a gift from your father. Using it against me is in bad taste," Lusamine said as she unleashes a wave of sounds to knock Lillie and her team backward. Iron Valiant uses her blades to stab the floor to regain her balance and fling herself at the two Ultra Beasts.
"He would be ashamed of you," Lillie uses Shadow Ball to toss orbs of ghostly energy to pepper the hallway. All three take damage with Snowy fires Ice Beams trying to freeze one of the targets.
She uses Dazzling Gleam to blast both targets to hit them pretty hard to deliver a powerful kick to knock the second Pheromosa against a wall. Snowy hits it with an ice Beam to freeze it in place. Iron Valiant empowers her blades with psychic power and starts slashing into the alien craving into its exoskeleton.
The First Pheromosa delivers a High Flying Kick to slam into Iron Valiant knocking her through a door. "Sweet Snowy, you managed to evolve her into Alolan Ninetales. Too bad she would be dead," Lusamine quickly gets close to the snow fox and pounds into her with rapid strikes. "Focus Blast," Lusamine unleashed raw power in an energy orb to strike Snowy sending her flying and taking a full explosion knocking her out.
"Shit Snowy," she returns her fox to her Heal Ball as Magearna turns into a ball to use Shift Gear to increase her speed and attack power. "She is my best friend, you are not going to take her either," Lillie said as she flies towards her mother to phase through the two Pheromosa and slash into the evil hybrid.
Lillie blasts her with psychic shoves with Lusamine digging her heels to unleash another Bug Buzz unleashing harsh sound waves to push Lillie backward. Magearna jumps into the air to use Heavy Slam trying to crush the alien Pokemon.
Despite its slender body, Pheromosa holds mighty power as it delivers a powerful punch to knock the robotic Pokemon away but uses Rollout heading for the alien Pokemon. It uses Electro Web to spit out a spiky web filled with electricity to hit the rolling ball to stop Magearna dead in her tracks.
It performs a High Jump Kick to strike the ball to launch her across the hallway to crash into a wall. "Magearna is no good against speedy bugs like them," Lillie said as she returns Magearna to her Heal Ball leaving herself and Iron Valiant who can fight them better than Snowy or Magearna.
She unleashes a powerful surge of psychic energy to blow away the trio into another area which is a big warehouse where Iron Valiant is waiting for them. She is going on a full offensive to start kicking boxes and crates trying to distract them. She comes in with her double-blade staff to start cutting and slashing at the first Pheromosa.
She hits it with a Moonblast to catch it in a pink-colored blast doing super effective damage. Iron Valiant dispatches her staff to transform it into twin blades to engage the enemy.
Lillie is fighting both her mother and the second Pheromosa. Their swift movements make it hard to track them down and pin them with her psychic or ghost powers. "I am too fast for you dear," Lusamine said.
"As if, Psychic Terrain," Lillie conures a field of energy around the entire warehouse area feeling the power increasing her mental strength. "Expanding Force," Lillie unleashes a circular blast of energy to catch the two off guard to blow them away.
"It's true, you bonded with Nebby through the Burst Heart. I should have crushed that little ball of filth when I had the chance," Lusamine said.
"We are one now, you can't hurt her or me anymore," Lillie said as she remembered all the horrible things the Aether Foundation did with Nebby with their experiments. She lifts crates and boxes with her mind to fling them at the two enemies.
They punch and kick the flying objects out of their way. They both use High Jump Kicks as Lillie catches them in mid-air with her psychic powers. "Psycho Blast," she let out a wide surge of energy to send them flying with her powering up for her move.
Iron Valiant is evading and dodging the rapid punches and kicks from the alien cockroach. Her twin blades cut and slash through the defenses of the Ultra Beast. Iron Valiant is using a cache of energy within herself to power up her speed to be able to outspeed the bug woman for a brief moment.
She uses Close Combat to overwhelm the Ultra Beast to deliver over a hundred slashes in a blink of an eye. Pheromosa gets stunned by the viciousness of the blows leaving it vulnerable. Iron Valiant is slashing the limbs of the Ultra Beast and then driving her blades into its head to slam it into the wall. She tosses a Moonblast which destroys the body of the alien Pokemon leaving one Pheromosa left.
"What the hell? What is that Pokemon anyway," Lusamine said as she gets hit with several Psycho Cuts from both Lillie and Iron Valiant forcing her back along with her remaining Pheromosa for the battle continues.
Back with Wes and the others, they managed to find the cells with Nessa lying in a cell. "Hey, you okay?" he asked as the dark-skinned woman looks to be grateful to see them.
"Thank goodness, you managed to find me here. Rose got the jump on me and his mate Morpheus knocked me out. They were going to do experiments on me, this is so awful. The Pokemon League here has been compromised," Nessa said as Wes carries them up in his arms to prepare to get out of there.
"Lillie, we got what we came here. Time to get out of here," Wes said on the comlink with Lillie blasting Lusamine and Pheromosa away.
"I need to go, bye forever," Lillie said to teleport herself and Iron Valiant away leaving her mother standing in the destroyed warehouse.
"Oh Lillie, you are corrupted and rotten. I will remove you from this world and I will gain a perfect Lillie in the new world," Lusamine laughs at the ceiling to walk away.
Elsewhere Wes drops Nessa with Sonia in Gladwell Town for Sonia is glad to see Nessa is back unharmed. "I can't believe this. The Chairman needs to pay for this," Sonia said as Nessa nods her head.
"Yeah, I need to talk with the Gym Leaders about this. We are going to get whatever backup we can and set up an arrest for Chairman Rose and his Cipher partners," Nessa said.
"He is going to put up one hell of a fight," Sonia said.
'Yeah but this region is at stake. We can't tolerate him working with terrorists and criminals. Wes and his group are the real heroes here, we had to see it with our own two eyes," Nessa said as she moves away to get in contact with the other Gym Leaders.
Elsewhere back at the hideout, Lillie gets told by Wes about the plan they uncovered in the terminal to is scared by this. "Yep, Lusamine said something like that. Cipher is beyond crazy. They want to control the dragon of time Dialga and bend the universe to their will. Creating a new timeline for themselves," Lillie said.
"Pretty nutty right, we are going to stop them. First, we need to deal with Morpheus and his creation before moving on to other regions," Wes said.
"Right, things are getting harder but we will get through this," Lillie said feeling hopeful about their chances.
"So how are you feeling after fighting your mother?" Wes asked as Lillie hugs him to kiss him on the lips.
"Like a weight has been lifted. She is out of life forever and now you and the others are my future," Lillie said.
"Good to hear Princess, let's get to bed. Our bed," he said as Lillie feels happy to sleep next to him in bed like a real couple.
"Right, I am beaten," she said taking his hand to go over to the cabin to rest for the mission in Galar continues.
