"You'll never get away with this!"
It had been a long night at Aether Paradise.
Lusamine tossed a look over her shoulder, at the blond, struggling girl she refused to acknowledge as her own flesh and bone. Lillie just set her jaw and glared back, as hatefully as she could manage. She was being pushed along by Miki and Inaba, the latter of which had Type: Zero snapping at her heels, of course. That evil creature never seemed to leave his side. At least this time, Lillie had managed to have Plumeria spared of his wrath… When Inaba had returned to her bedroom that morning, as she and Dr. Wicke held out (rapidly waning) hope that Interpol might arrive at the island before her mother was ready to carry out the rest of her wicked plan, Lillie had willingly gone with him. Despite the devastating reality that Interpol would not save them, she had snapped at Plumeria to stand down when the Skull admin had staggered to her feet, shakily demanding they leave Lillie alone—and Plumeria had listened. Whether it was because her spirit was finally fractured due to Type: Zero slashing the previous evening or because she was so stunned to hear Lillie speak to her so harshly, Plumeria had stood down. Lillie had been grateful.
"Oh, dear pet," Lusamine crooned as she cruelly licked her glossy, red lips, chartreuse eyes glittering dangerously as she looked over Lillie like a morsel of prey, "I already have."
At the highest point of Aether Paradise, in Lusamine's private office with various stands of cryogenically frozen pokémon ominously holding vigil around the perimeter, Lillie was forced to her knees by Inaba and his snarling Type: Zero. His visor permanently glowed blue at the top in a thin line as he rounded around the front of her, Miki at his side. Dr. Faba and Dr. Wicke, both looking eerily equally as broken despite how different Lillie knew they were, followed Lusamine as she stood behind the two suited parents. Tossing her arms out wide, Lusamine beamed broadly and proclaimed, "Today, history is made!" With a saunter toward Dr. Faba and a ruthless laugh, she wrapped her arms around him in a hug from behind that seemed anything but comforting. "And oh, Dr. Faba… It's all because of you…~" Yet, then, she gave a small frown. "Where is Guzma?"
"Still in his room," Dr. Wicke spoke up brokenly.
"Go get him," Lusamine irritably snapped. "It's like I work with idiots…" Practically purring, as if to forget her momentary stress, she stroked Dr. Faba's chin, her tone changing up again. "Oh, Saubi, where is that little beasty of mine that will finally give me access to my Nihilego and my new realm~?"
Lillie's eyes stretched wide as she recognized a box in Dr. Faba's arms. He gestured to it with a stiff nod, and then uneasily untangled himself from Lusamine's clinging grasp, as if escaping stabbing, painful brambles than a woman's touch, and he strode with a slight limp toward the center of the room. He half-dropped the computerized, gleaming box to the pristine floor, and covered his face with his elbow as he coughed into the bend of his arm. "I'll need some time to power it up," Dr. Faba huskily announced in all but a deadpan. The box on the floor looked like it was made of exposed motherboard, with various electronics visible all over its exterior.
"Fine, just start it," Lusamine nearly whimpered, sounding more like a frustrated toddler than the frightening mistress she normally was all of a sudden. Her words earned an obedient nod from Dr. Faba, and he pressed a single, silver button on the center of the side of the box. The box Lillie knew held Nebby, the button she knew would seal all of their fates, and possibly Alola's as well. Within minutes, Dr. Wicke returned to the office with Guzma in tow; he spewed a barrage of profanities at her and demanded to know where Plumeria was, but with nothing more than a withering glare from Lusamine and her proclamation that soon, all of reality would be hers to explore, Guzma fell silent. Lillie watched in utter dismay as he even dropped to his knees.
She almost didn't believe it when alarms started to blare. The red, familiar lights flashed, and a high-pitched screeching echoed across the white chamber, making the icy, pokémon prisons surrounding the edge of the room shiver and quake. Lillie started to breathe rapidly as she recognized the alarm. It was the same cadence, the same one, as the one when Mohn's accident had occurred, and as when the alarm had sounded when she had escaped with Cosmog. What a horribly panic-inducing sound… Yet, she felt a flare of hope as well. Had Interpol arrived at last? She dared to feel the ghost of a smile pull at the corners of her lips.
"What's that?" Lusamine shrilly demanded, twisting her lips into a furious snarl.
Dr. Faba swallowed hard. "Intruders, based on the style of strobing lights," he answered.
"Why are you standing here? Go deal with it, then come straight back!" Lusamine barked, taking a threatening, looming step toward him.
Dr. Faba raised his wrist to his face, where Lillie realized he had some sort of watch there. He tapped on the device and said, "Security detail one, come in. What's going on?"
"Trespasser at the main dock! Some kid with an Incineroar! Need assistance!" A scratchy voice crackled back through the watch.
"I'll be right down," Dr. Faba curtly replied, sweeping past Lillie and out of the room quickly, as if scurrying away.
Yet, Lillie found herself beaming as a scarce hope flickered in her chest. Her breathing picked up and she gleefully called, "Elio!"
"Who?" Lusamine growled, coming to stand beside her.
Whirling to glare at her, Lillie jumped to her feet and pulled her lips back into a snarl. If she were right, and Elio was there… perhaps Interpol was still on their way and would be there shortly. Even if they didn't, she was still sure they had a fighting chance then; she knew how painfully stubborn Elio could be. "Someone who's far more human than you," Lillie spat back at her mother—literally.
Closing her eyes at the shot of saliva, Lusamine's lips pressed to a thin line as she wiped the spit away from her cheek. "Children," she muttered with a frighteningly quiet power, "should really do as they're told."
Narrowing her eyes darkly, Lillie raised her chin in the most rebellious display she could manage. "Then make me!"
She heard Type: Zero bark and his claws scrabble at the ground as Lusamine lunged at her, wrapping her hands around Lillie's throat. "That can be arranged," her mother cackled with deranged glee. "Trust me, that can be arranged!"
"Macho, keep it up!" Elio exclaimed, looking around wildly at the Aether Foundation employees. None of them looked invested in the fight, their various, untrained pokémon falling easily under Macho's powerful Darkest Lariats, Flare Blitzes, and Thrashes. Macho, heaving for breath and twitching slightly under the strain of battle, was obviously exhausted… but he and Elio were not done. Not by a longshot. With another cruel, all-out Thrash attack on an unsuspecting Alolan Persian, they finished the final pokémon of the last guard, and Elio stamped a stinging, painful foot against the deck. Panting wildly for his own breath, Elio demanded, "Where is Lillie?!"
His feet were still searing with pain and he looked battered. In fact, he had been battered; riding Grimsley's Sharpedo out to Aether Paradise had been an experience from hell, to say the least. He had been beaten by the waves of the sea and had nearly believed he would drown along the way. He was soaked to the bone with saltwater, had been whipped by the windshear over the waves, making his clothes dry and flaky in the parts that had been exposed from the water for too long, and his desperate mood made him a loose cannon, to say the least. Glaring down at the frightened Aether Foundation employees with a spite he had never quite regarded anyone with before, Elio frustratedly snapped, "Now! Where is she? I'm not going to stand here and look at your stupid faces all day!"
In his anger, he had forgotten Lillie's old warning—that most at Aether were not to blame for Lusamine's madness. But just as the employees were about to scatter and leave him further frustrated for answers on Aether Paradise's main docks, the group of six or so split, and a haggard Dr. Faba stepped forward. He swallowed hard and locked deadpanned blue eyes onto Elio. "You," was all he said, then he shook his head.
Macho, still huffing for breath, struggled to stand upright in front of Elio. He hissed furiously at Dr. Faba. Despite his exhaustion, it seemed the Incineroar was willing to fight as long as Elio desired him to. "Get out of my way," Elio darkly warned the scientist. A cruel smirk played at his lips as he did. "You know I have no qualms hurting you."
"I know," Dr. Faba flatly drawled. He crossed his arms and heaved a shuddery sigh. "So, I'm not going to fight you."
Pulling back in surprise, Elio faltered. "Wh… what?" Regaining his composure, he swiftly shook his head, and hardened his tone again. "Don't play games with me. Where's Lillie?"
"Downstairs," Dr. Faba explained, shrugging. He flicked a keycard at him then. The card skidded across the damp dock, landing just in front of Macho's powerful hind paws. "That will get you down there. Go."
Further surprised, Elio flicked his gaze between the keycard and the beaten, tired scientist ahead of him. He didn't know what to call the expression on Dr. Faba's face, but he knew something had changed in him between then and their last confrontation. This wasn't the same, insufferable man Elio had (rightfully) decked between the eyes. Or so he believed. In a split second, Elio became acutely aware of just what a dangerous situation he was in, and how far off the deep end he had fallen—he must have, to be on a one-man mission through Aether Paradise like this! It was like he was looking at the white walls and floors as if he had never seen them before. Nearly hyperventilating and dazed as he thought about it, Elio felt his eyes sting, and he gasped for breath as he said, "R-right… Thank… thank you, Dr. Faba." He wanted to believe the scientist. He wanted to so badly… All so he could just get Lillie and get out of there. And so, believe him he did. Shakily, Elio staggered toward Macho and the keycard, and he practically fell to his knees as he snatched up the card.
He was so close to getting Lillie back. He would get Lillie back; he would show Selene and the others… and everything would go back to normal… Or at least, as normal as it could without his parents… Truthfully, he didn't want to be mad at Selene, he wanted her pushing him away to have just been a mistake…
But Macho put a hand on Elio's shoulder, and flexed his claws. His gaze was locked firmly onto Dr. Faba, a growl pulling at his dark muzzle. Shaking away his hold gently, Elio held up the card to his pokémon. "He gave me the card. Look at him… Surely, he can't be lying at this point?" Giving Dr. Faba another once-over, still getting the sense that Dr. Faba was at the end of his rope, Elio shook his head. Much like him, Dr. Faba had nothing left to lose. What use would lying have had for him?
"Go, before I change my mind," Dr. Faba rasped.
"Right," Elio clumsily called back. He nodded to Macho and urged the pokémon to follow him as he headed through the yawning corridor, into the main inner deck, and to the elevator that would take him lower into Aether Paradise's depths. He was so close to having Lillie back…
So close to putting everything back to the way it was. That was what he had to do. Waving away his cloudy thoughts with a flick of his head, he was more determined than ever.
And yet, he had no idea that just behind him, Dr. Faba was quietly calling into his watch for someone to come grant him clearance back upstairs, and for them to cut his keycard off within the next five minutes. It wasn't until Elio was downstairs, and he attempted to open one of the laboratories in the basement to try to find where they were holding Lillie, that he realized he had been duped. The keycard suddenly wouldn't open anymore doors and the glaring lights and emergency sirens died. Frantically, Elio tried to slide Dr. Faba's keycard to open the same door again and again—and each time, the little light on the door would simply light up a bright red, indicative of his denied access.
In tired, panicky dismay, he had bolted back for the elevator, only to find the elevator itself had risen back to the upper decks of Aether Paradise—and when he tried to use the keycard to recall it by sliding it in a receptacle along the elevator shaft, it, too, glowed a denying red.
Slamming fists against the elevator's sleek, metal poles that made up its shaft, Elio howled his frustration and ultimately, just pressed his forehead against the beams, slumping to his knees. He had never felt such a primal, deep sense of defeat as it dawned on him what Dr. Faba had done. He shivered all over, feeling sticky and hot with dried saltwater and sweat, and he was overcome with a crashing wave of exhaustion—and then, despair. He had wanted so badly to believe the lapse in his anger, to truly believe that Dr. Faba was different now… The scientist had looked so defeated, looked so tired… He had looked how Elio felt, deep down.
Elio tried to swallow and found his mouth too dry to do so. His head swam with tiredness and he realized then, with a terrible, sweeping feeling of guilt, that he was not thinking straight. His all-encompassing exhaustion and ailing state of mind had drawn him right into the jaws of a fatal mistake. "I had this one shot," he weakly mumbled to Macho, his last and only companion, "and I blew it."
The Incineroar sat down beside him and leaned his head against Elio's shoulder. Undoubtedly, he was exhausted as well. Elio knew he had been pushing him hard over the last night and some… Weakly, Elio threaded his fingers in the pokémon's matted, unkempt fur.
"Thank you," Elio brokenly said, beginning to tear up. "Thank you for not giving up on me, Macho…"
Wrapping a hefty paw around Elio, Macho rested his chin on his trainer's shoulder. He had a resigned, knowing look on his face, and Elio felt a small pang of further guilt. He knew that Macho had not agreed with him throughout it all, and yet, the pokémon had followed at his side loyally, nonetheless, turning his back even on his friends from near-infancy, Popper and Bowtie. Elio trembled as he put in the effort to hug the Incineroar tightly, pulling him taut against his chest. He didn't know why Macho had gone along with his harsh demands, especially lately, but he wanted his final friend to know how much he appreciated it.
Especially because he didn't know if he would ever be in the state of mind again to let the Incineroar know that within just a few short hours, because he knew if he couldn't find a way out of the dead-end Dr. Faba had cleverly sent him to, there was a high probability Lillie would not survive the day. His parents would remain gone and Selene would carry on without him. Just like that, his life would stay shattered forever—his mind with it. Or at least, that was what his drained, defeated mind led him to believe…
Macho gave his trainer a reassuring purr, and he swore the Incineroar patted his back.
Lillie had gasped for breath when her mother finally released the vice-grip she had on her throat. Sucking in fast breaths and clawing at her own neck, as if she couldn't believe the grasp was gone, Lillie collapsed to her rear as Dr. Faba reappeared within Lusamine's private office and the warning sirens quit screaming. He was escorted by Dr. Wicke. Dismayed, Lillie spluttered and shook her head, "No… No, no, there's no way you stopped him that easily!"
"He's locked in the basement, he won't bother us anymore," Dr. Faba had deadpanned to Lusamine, utterly ignoring Lillie. "I had to give him my card. Dr. Wicke brought me back up."
Giving Lillie an apologetic look, Dr. Wicke then quickly looked away.
"Good," Lusamine sighed contentedly. "Now, can we get back to the task at hand?"
Dr. Faba curtly nodded and leaned over Nebby's glinting, computerized box. He pressed another button, and a tiny, blue light formed over the top of the box. It slowly gained size and it soon became clear to Lillie that it was going to get a lot larger than that—albeit at a steady, steady pace. But then, she noticed the box shaking and shivering as the hole increased in size, and she swore she heard yelping from within its confines.
"Stop it!" Lillie begged, desperation lacing her voice as her eyes bulged in fear. "You're hurting him!" Elio, did he really stop you that easily…? There's no way… She thought of how much of a force of chaos he had seemed whenever the situation truly called for it. Part of her had almost believed he could handle anything that would come his way, even if he always found the more difficult, bone-headed way through… Privately, she felt a rush of shame. As much as she looked up to him, he was simply one person. What had she expected?
And just like that, Aether's alarms began blaring again.
"Now what?" Lusamine stomped a foot. "This is ridiculous!"
"I'll handle it—"
"No," Lusamine cut Dr. Faba off by snatching his arm and digging her lengthy nails into it, hard enough for him to wince in pain. "Send Zero after it!"
"Lusamine, we need Zero here in case something goes wrong," Dr. Faba tried to reason with her, shaking his head in disbelief. "This portal that's going to open, it's dangerous, and so are the Beasts—"
"Did I ask?" Lusamine growled as she jerked his arm forward, drawing Dr. Faba's face close to hers, so that their noses practically touched at the end. She leaned domineeringly over him, and, in the end, he caved, nodding vigorously to her.
"Right, President," he mumbled. With a quick glance to Inaba, all he had to say was, "Go. Solve that problem."
With a dip of his chin, Inaba led the scrabbling, excited Type: Zero out of the room, and Lillie glowered at Lusamine and Dr. Faba. "Throw all you want at him," Lillie spat, "you won't stop him."
"You have so much confidence in a dead man," Lusamine retorted. "Or whoever that is that's intruding. Whoever they are, they're dead."
We'll see, Lillie thought mutinously.
Yet, it was not Elio that had set off the second alarm. Spilled across the decks of Aether Paradise was the teams of Selene, Hau, Gladion, Nanu, and Acerola, and Makua, driving the Skull boat, circled in the water just past the Aether Paradise docks. At the head of the group on the land, Selene desperately looked around in a bit of confusion as the alarms blared, and she found nobody rushing to greet them. She thought she saw scrapes and skids in the gray and white, pristine docks, indicating pokémon battles had taken place there, but there was no sign of her brother as she had hoped there would be.
Despite their best efforts, they had failed to find him in the vicinity around Po Town. He had left phone calls go unanswered and when they had come across a friend of Nanu's, named Grimsley, he had reluctantly admitted to giving Elio access to his Sharpedo. "The kid was gonna kill himself trying to get there," Grimsley hotly defended himself when Selene had demanded to know why he had done that. "I did what I thought I had to do to save his life. Look," Grimsley had sighed, "you can't control people like that. You can just give 'em the best tools possible to succeed."
She had hoped he would be at Aether Paradise already… and yet, he was nowhere to be seen.
"Selene, we can't freeze up now," Gladion called to her. His green eyes were narrowed in suspicion as he scrutinized their eerily lifeless environment. "With that alarm going off, they've gotta be organizing something."
"But what?" Hau asked, pressing to the forefront of the group. His power was also no secret now to the rest of the group. His hands crackled with golden electricity as he clenched his fists at his sides, his Primarina following on his heels. Turning to look back at the others in confusion, Hau asked, "What would they be organizing?"
Just as he spoke, Selene barely managed to yelp in time, "Hau, look out!" before Hau rolled out of the way of something barreling at them. He moved just in time for them to watch Type: Zero lunge at Popper. The two pokémon rolled in a tangle of claws, legs, and snarls; Bowtie, at Selene's side, crowed loudly and shot shadows across the white floor at them both, breaking the fight up long enough for everyone to catch their breath.
Type: Zero landed on all fours a few feet away, clicking its long, frightening claws against the hard floor. It shook its head and Selene could see the blade on the top of its head gleaming red. She froze when she realized it wasn't because the blade was heated. Something red was crusted on the blade… and something told her the metal hadn't exactly rusted between then and the last time she had seen that monster.
Popper, flustered, defensively raised his tail and slapped it against the deck, and warbled a warning cry after the Type: Zero. From within the depths of Aether Paradise, the suited man Selene had seen handling the beast in the past came into view, the catchpole clutched in his right, armored arm. His visor glinted blue at the top as he grunted, "You are all trespassing on Aether Foundation private property. You are to leave at once."
Selene couldn't shake the sensation she knew him… But she didn't let that stop her. "Funny time for you to start caring about the law!" she shot at him. You've all kidnapped Lillie, for fuck's sake!
To her left and right, the rest of the group formed a wall with her. Hau, Gladion, Acerola, Nanu—they stood strong with her. Bowtie stood just in front of her alongside Popper, Nanu's Liepard, and Acerola's Sandygast. "Where's Lillie?" Selene demanded, glaring down their opponent.
The armored man said nothing. He held out his catchpole and aimed it in Type: Zero's direction. The pokémon's eyes glowed a slight yellow, and Selene thought she heard the sound of shifting electronics in the pokémon. The blade on its head then began to glow an ominous golden, and when it threateningly lowered its front to the ground to warningly growl at them, Selene saw electrical sparks flash over its bladed head.
"It's going to use Electric-type attacks, I think!" Hau exclaimed, sounding thrilled. "Haha, Popper and I have got this!" With that, he jumped forward, motioning for Popper to follow him. Tauntingly raising his hands and gesturing with a 'come here' motion at the Type: Zero, he cockily said, "Come on, come get me, then!"
"He's got this, we need to get to Lusamine!" Nanu called above the commotion as Type: Zero took the bait and shot a blast of lightning in Hau's direction. He took the attack without so much as a flinch, beaming proudly throughout it at all. It earned him a grunt and start of surprise from the armored man ahead of them.
"Your Type: Zero doesn't bother us!" Selene exclaimed, starting to walk toward the armored man. Summoning a bit of courage as her heart hummed in her chest, she tapped into the only example she had for what to do in such a situation. She tapped into what she was sure Elio would have done. Steeling her voice, she said, "Get out of my way!"
Gladion, Nanu, and Acerola followed her, and repeated her warning to the armored man. His visor flickered red for a split-second, but switched so quickly back to blue, Selene wondered if she had imagined it. He held the catchpole up to them, as if aiming it at them, but when Type: Zero attempted to fire off a Thunder in their direction, Hau and Popper both attacked it—one with a shock of his own, and the other with a Disarming Voice—and forced its attention back on them.
Selene was practically touching the man when she issued her order again. "Get out of my way," she repeated, quavering slightly from the adrenaline rushing through her veins.
When the armored man raised his catchpole again, the very end of it touched Selene's chest. Her snarled, repeated warning for him to get out of her way was cut short as she was sucked into a vision… But instead of one of fear, of pain or sadness, as she was accustomed to getting glimpses to from her various friends, she found herself swept up in a warm vision. One brimming with comfort, familiarity, and love. She found herself in a cozy, homely scene—in a house she recognized. The faded, off-white walls with a flatscreen TV mounted on the far end of the living room, a cream carpet stained with years of family life, an old Persian and a Meowth wandering the room… The Persian being the mother of their current Meowth. It was why her mother was so attached to the Meowth. They had had to put the Persian to sleep before leaving Kanto due to old age. This was in her old home, back in Kanto.
And she was looking at herself, too. In fact, through the vision, she was watching herself and Elio sit on a couch, playing a video game on that flatscreen TV. The vision was from years before, she realized, back when she was in middle school and Elio was a fair bit younger. And when she looked to her left, she saw her mother seated beside her…
…And she realized then, as the vision rapidly faded and she was left gasping for breath, tears stinging at her eyes, that the suited person in front of her was her father.
"D-Dad?" she squeaked, grabbing at the catchpole with her sweaty palms. Blinking feverishly, she stammered, "I-is that really you?"
His visor flashed a vibrant blue, then red, then blue again… then stayed red. He seemed to rear away from her. "…Selene?" he asked in a cracked, dry voice.
"Dad!" Selene yelped in disbelief, rushing at him. As she wrapped her arms around him in a bone-crushing hug, he struggled to fight off the visor that had been controlling him, eventually snapping the glassy piece off his armored head with the audible shattering of glass. His face was red and blustery, and his glazed eyes made him look absolutely dazed, as if he were lost as to where he was.
"Selene, what's going on?" Nanu pressed. Not that Selene was paying any of them any mind anymore, lost in the exhilaration to have found one of her parents at last, but Nanu, Acerola, and Gladion were watching uneasily as Hau and Popper worked in tandem to keep Type: Zero busy and away from them as they had their unexpected reunion.
"It's my dad!" Selene beamed through a tearful voice, hugging him tighter and tighter. But then, she seemed to realize the reality of the situation, and she pushed him away at arm's length, fear making her voice tremble again as she asked, "B-but—why—why are you here? Is Mom here, too?" She swallowed anxiously and found herself afraid of what his answer might be to her next question. "Why… why are you helping Aether…?"
He shook his head and pleadingly said, "Selene, that's… that's a long story…" He licked his lips and looked around, seeming to gather his bearings more and more. He shook his head. "Look, we need to go, while your friend there is busy with Type: Zero. Now that I have that damn visor off me…" He took a deep breath and grabbed Selene by the shoulders. "Listen to me, we have to get upstairs, we have to snap your mother out of it, and we have to stop Lusamine! Selene, I know we can do it, okay?"
Feeling like she might faint from how rapidly her heart was beating and the tears streaking down her face, Selene just numbly nodded. "Y-yes, of course, Dad…"
He smiled warmly at her. Appreciatively. It felt almost… safe… "There's a good girl, come on, hon." He shot Hau a nervous glance. "Be careful, hey! Don't let him catch that Primarina off-guard!"
With a cocky, wild-eyed grin back, Hau snorted. "He won't!"
Nodding briskly, Dad turned to the rest of them and motioned for them to follow. "Come with me! Lusamine's practically defenseless up there without that thing! Her whole team's morale is down, they won't fight hard enough to stop us all!"
Selene didn't care what had driven him and her mother to help Aether. All she knew was that she had found her parents at last, they were helping her, and they would rescue Lillie—then they would find Elio…
…and finally, finally, everything would go back to normal.
…
(She and Elio really had to stop hoping for that so soon.)