Poor precious Moon, given a mission too big for her to reach. An amateur bound to mess up, and given the circumstances he stumbled upon Sun felt it was up to him to fill in the dumbfounded silence with some needed action. He smirks as he snaps his fingers. The silent two now shifting their focus to see him beckoning the Pokemon towards him. "You two wait here. Rotom, come with me to scan the area," he demands before walking away from them. The rookie and the President could wait.
Rotom unwillingly follows along, the annoyed look on his face not going unnoticed by Moon. She clenches her jaw as she watches Sun disappear into the route. Moon kicks a small pebble on the ground with a small groan. "Shit…" Moon murmurs under her breath as soon as she thinks he's out of hearing range. The blonde had no verbal reaction, but Type: Null sensed his trainer's unease and let out a low growl in the direction of the stranger.
"Moon, what the fuck is going on?" Gladion says in a stressed, but hushed tone. "Who the hell is he?!"
"My supervisor," Moon mumbles without a moment's hesitation.
Gladion's eyebrows furrow.
"I swear in Arceus' name what kind of vague answer is tha–"
"You're not the only one with questions here, President," Moon spits out, his face indicating no surprise, but his lips form a tight line. It was true. They both had questions to ask and answers to give, but as soon as the sentence left her lips she regretted it.
Her facial expression grows sullen, unsure if she should apologize. He shifts his gaze away from her and towards the newcomer and Rotom. He doesn't utter a word, his face unreadable as always.
So much for changed dynamic.
A heavy silence falls between the two, giving Moon the time to really absorb what happened.
She was angry.
She was led around like a stray Mareep in search for the right clues for weeks. And it took weeks of nothing for everything to turn into a shitshow at the very moment something finally happened.
A moment she wasn't prepared for.
This is exactly what Rotom advised against with her hasty judgement.
She was worried.
The egotistically, money fanatic, never serious top agent of the International Police finally showed up and she knew from the start he was out to destroy her.
Looker vouched for a her, a newbie, to take a mission as big as this, but the condition was to have someone with years of experience ready at any second to take over or to have her back. Sun, however, wasn't one to be casted into the shadows; he wanted to be the Agent with this mission under his belt and his belt only.
Moon basically handed it over to him.
And last, but not least, she felt betrayed.
Her mind stops.
Did she really have a right to feel betrayed?
Gladion owed her nothing.
It was her job to determine where he stood. It was her own fault for messing up. She looks over at him and feels her stomach flip with uncertainty, but before she could determine why Rotom rushes back and forces himself into her view.
"Agent. Agent. Agent! Are youzzz okay, Agent? You left in a such a rush, you could've been killed. Zzzt," his voice was laced with concern, something Moon never thought she would see or hear out of the Pokemon. She stares at Rotom with wide eyes for a second, before realizing he wouldn't understand her silence for anything else other than anger.
"Sorry I messed up, Rotom," she whispers only to have a gasp pull her attention away.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Sun walks towards them his claps ceasing as he reaches Moon and Gladion. He brings a hand to his heart, seemingly touched.
"I never thought I would see the day a Rotomdex would worry over his partner."
Rotom rolls his eyes, an action Moon wanted to copy.
"But you, Moon! You do have a heart somewhere hidden in that cold, calculating exterior of yours," he wipes an imaginary tear away. Moon holds back the urge to smack him, not wanting to add assault to her list of 'reasons why she's fired.' Sun reaches over to touch her shoulder.
"Will you ever be that kind to me?"
That's it. "Fuck off" Moon mutters as she slaps his hand away.
He gives her that annoying grin once more. "Ah, there you are," he says as he glances over at Gladion. He was just watching everything unfold. "Has she been treating you this poorly too?"
Moon clicks her tongue, knowing very well he was trying to provoke her.
"Anyways you two, the area is clear. And I don't get paid enough to care so I'm not going ask why you two were at each other's throats." He continues to disregard Moon, "besides I'm sure Moonie over here will fill everyone in on the details once we all get back to her place."
Gladion's emotionless face suddenly sparks up.
"What do you mean we?"
Sun looks at him curiously. "We as in–wait. O-Oh. OH," he turns to gawk at Moon.
"You haven't told him yet, huh Rookie?"
Moon swallows the lump in her throat. Gladion looks at Moon, "tell me what, Moon?"
Sun chortles.
"This'll be fun, we'll talk in private. Come along you two."
Sun presses the ride pager and a Charizard soon appears. He jumps on, but when he looks back down to see the other two in the same spot a whine escapes his lips instead.
"Come ooooonnnn."
"I'm not going anywhere until someone explains what exactly is going on here," Gladion says steadily. Type: Null now coming to his defense as a low rumbling growl escapes its mouth.
"Fine!" Sun groans as he jumps off the Pokemon. "I'll let you in on our little secret then, Prez."
"You see, Gladion" Sun begins as he approaches the blonde. "Alola has been going through a lot of circumstances. Circumstances bigger than you, bigger than me, bigger than Moon. Circumstances that have led to a lot of trainers and Pokemon being injured."
"Agent Sun, this isn't the time or place. Bzzt," Rotom cries out, but it falls on deaf ears.
The idiot was going to blurt everything out.
And Moon didn't like that one bit.
"To deal with big circumstances you need big organizations. Big organizations need people. People like me and Moon."
He gives Gladion one final smirk.
"Moon and I are both—"
"Gladion," Moon says sternly, interrupting Sun. Gladion's green eyes shift to her clear gray ones. If she was going to lose her job to Sun. She would at least finish everything off on her terms and that meant following the protocol Sun never did.
"You have to come," a deep breath in. "This is an order from the International Police."
The International Police was something you only really heard about in stories. A mysterious force who worked in the shadows trying to capture villains who wreck havoc on regions and innocent trainers. No one really knew much about them, and those who did were probably sworn to secrecy.
It wouldn't be a surprise if he didn't believe them.
They were trained to deal with civilians who didn't.
But what he did was surprising. He muttered a quick "fine" and recalled Type: Null. He brushed past Moon and followed Sun. Moon wanted to say more. She wanted to explain, to understand, to apologize,but the words got caught in her throat.
She still didn't really know where he stood.
When they arrive they get off their Charizards and approach the front porch. She takes out her key and hesitates. With a quick look over at Sun (who was still salty about her stealing away the reveal), she asks a question that didn't even need answering.
"Anabel and Looker are here aren't they?"
He scoffs as she unlocks the door to reveal that her assumptions were right.
Looker and Anabel quickly snap their heads to the entrance. Looker gives everyone an empathetic smile, but Anabel quickly loses her calm exterior and slams her hand down.
"All of you seated. NOW."
Moon holds back a sigh. This was going to be a long night.
"So let me get all of this straight," Anabel pauses. "First of all you, Agent Moon, run off after an argument with Rotom."
Moon opens her mouth to explain that it wasn't an argument, but realizes that would only fuel Anabel more. She nods her head silently.
"Then you and the President of Aether end up being attacked by Ultra Beasts, leading to you getting attacked because you had no way to reach headquarters or Rotom! YOU AREN'T ACCOMPANIED BY A POKEMON, AGENT. YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER THAN THIS!"
Her voice may have been angry, but the concern was evident.
"You messed up, Rookie," Sun says snarkily. Anabel quickly throws daggers at him.
"Agent Sun do you have something you want to add?"
He quickly closes his mouth.
"Good, because don't think you're off the hook for not being at the attack site on time, Agent. The command was sent out as soon as Moon left the premises. And you're the reason her cover was blown to a civilian!"
He backs down and slumps in his seat. He may have been higher up than Moon, but no one messes with Anabel when she was angry. She takes another breath in, moving her hand vaguely towards Looker. She said her part, now it was his turn.
"Listen. Agent Moon, Anabel was just worried for your well-being. You were sent on our behalf and after enough years on the force we don't want to lose more good people."
Moon nods silently again.
Looker glances over to Gladion, who had been sitting quietly during Anabel's tirade. He couldn't help but to wonder if his silence was out of politeness or shock.
Maybe a little of both.
"But I'm not here to deal with you or Sun," Looker announces sternly before fully focusing on Gladion. "President, I want to make it clear. These are not the circumstances we would usually welcome someone with," Looker says, gaining the attention of the blonde.
He says nothing like expected.
"Rotom, come here," Looker beckons, the pokemon buzzing over, a confused facial expression showing up on his screen.
"Pull up the Alola Files."
"But detective. Bzzt. Those are classif—"
"I think I know what's classified or not, Rotom," Looker says with a quick jest. Rotom rolls its eyes and pulls up the request on his screen. "We've been investigating Alola and Aether with the help of Moon and intel in your very own company, President," Looker scrolls through stopping on the Aether section.
Gladion's eyes widen. Intel from inside the Aether walls...
"Yes, that is how Agent Moon gained access to information," Looker responds to Gladion's unasked question. "And based on Moon's observations as of yet, she didn't find you a threat or to be working under Lusamine…however…" Looker quickly looks at Moon. "It seems Agent Moon ha found out a new tidbit of information."
"If you think I'm working for Lusamine you're wrong, Detective," Gladion interjects.
Looker gives him a knowing smile. "That's the answer I was hoping to hear. We are going to need to hear how you are involved, however," he taps a button on Rotom causing him to start recording.
"And remember we are the police so don't bother lying," Sun murmurs against his elbow propped hand. Annabel throws him another intense glare.
Gladion's looks at all the members of the International Police, oddly lingering on Moon a second longer before he refocuses on Looker. "I just don't get it. If you had information, why did none of you know that Lusamine is my mother."
Anabel's eyebrows shoot up. Looker nods in understanding. Sun chokes on air as he reaches for a Pokeball until Moon places a stern hand on him and shakes her head no. Sun's mouth drops, obviously believing Gladion to be a threat and Moon to be a complete idiot as he leans in and whispers, "is this why you were fighting?"
She quickly shoves him away, not giving him the answer he craved.
"While we don't know how it got past our research team, it seems that Wicke wanted to protect you. We had no clue Lusamine even had children," Looker says prompting a scoff out of the blonde.
"Whether I wanted it or not, I'm legally her next to kin," Gladion announces as his arms cross against his chest. "Wicke probably wanted to remove suspicion about me." There was a bitterness in his tone that made everyone aware that not everything was paradise at Aether. "I'm also not working with Lusamine, never have, never will," Gladion addresses the Donphan in the room as he feels Sun's glare on him. "I wasn't supposed to take over so soon-I knew something was up- I didn't know what exactly - so I snuck into the secret labs with Wicke the evening before she disappeared. The experimentations, the wormholes, the Ultra Beasts. The files were all there."
"It was all there," Gladion's knuckle hits the table in front of it with a large smack. "All of it happening under our noses. And like idiots those of us not aligned never even knew," he spits in disdain as he releases his hands to runs through his hair.
"Down in the labs I found a Pokemon. Type: Null, a Pokemon engineered to hunt down Ultra Beasts. I assumed it was with these Pokemon that my mother captured the beasts and generated their power."
Looker's face grows grim. "How many of these Pokemon are out there?"
Gladion finds himself crossed armed, leaning against a nearby wall. "I managed to steal two. The third was missing."
"What have you been doing with these Pokemon these past few weeks then?" Anabel asks.
A dejected sigh escapes his lips. "I've been hunting down the beasts, but more are spawning now than ever it's almost as if-"
"Lusamine is getting stronger," Moon finishes, realization dawning on everyone that tonight was just the beginning of something much more sinister.