Chapter 5

Freya barely managed her win against Lana but did well against Mallow and Kiawe. She was heading to the Grand Hano Resort with Hau. Lillie said she was going to stay with Professor Burnet for a while. Freya could tell she was out of it but decided not to press further. She didn't want to be a nuisance to her friend. The resort stood in front of them. Freya stared at the invitation from Faba.

"I wonder what's going to happen? It was nice of them to invite us though", Hau said as he looked on the verge of jumping from excitement.

Her team looked unsure though. It was like they were picking up on bad vibes. Freya patted their heads; which made them seem to calm down a little. When you headed inside, there was Faba waiting.

"Excellent! You two made it. Let me tell you how grateful I am that you came to our rescue. Team Skull has become quite the nuisance as of lately. I came to take you to Aether Paradise", Faba adjusted his big green goggle glasses.

"What is Aether Paradise?", Freya titled her head. This was the first time she heard about it.

"Aether Paradise is an artificially made island right right in the center of this region. Our president takes in abandoned and mistreated Pokémon. Which you will see soon", the goggled eyed branch executive said as he grinned.

It took only 20 minutes to reach Aether. The boat ride made Freya queasy a little. On the other hand, Hau seemed to enjoy the boat ride. They were greeted by a woman with short brunette hair and donning a pink/white outfit. She seemed to have a kind look to her. Like the motherly type. It reminded Freya of her mother at home. She wondered how her mother was doing.

"Welcome! You must be Freya and Hau. I'm Wicke. The president told me to show you around.", the woman smiled and bowed her head. She lead the two around and took them to a bontical garden. It looked peaceful with Aether employees and Pokémon enjoying themselves. Even there were Corsola. Freya saw her Mareanie look at the Corsola with gleaming eyes. She gave her Pokémon a scolding look and that was all it took for Mareanie to lower its head. Freya looked up from her Pokémon to see a woman whose blond hair reached her thighs. She reminded Freya of Lillie and Gladion.

"Welcome. I am Lusamine. That means you two must be Freya and Hau.", Lusamine smiled showing perfect pearly whites.

"It's nice to meet you. I expected you to be older. I mean you look elegant so..", Hau looked nervously at Lusamine.

"Ohoho! Thank you for the compliment! You two must be amazed with this place. I raise every Pokémon like they're my own children. I want shower them all with my love. Even Pokémon from every region", Lusamine held out her arms like she could hug every creature here in her sight.

"I'm impressed. You kind of remind me of Lillie. She wears white clothes like you do.", Hau said.

"Oh. Thank you", Lusamine smiled.

Freya could see a slight twitch in Lusamine's eye. She thought it was odd but decided not say anything. This woman probably had enough stress to deal with. Looking after all these poor Pokémon must be hard. She was glad they found someplace to go that provided them safety.

All of a sudden, the sky seemed to shift and weird creature came out of this portal. Freya remembered seeing the same portal before. The creature had a glass like look and swayed like a little girl would. Even Hau and Lusamine looked shocked.

The creature disappeared as soon as Mareanie took it down with Water Pulse. Freya never seen a creature like that before. She thought only the Tapus were the only deities in Alola. It made her excited yet shocked at the same time.

"That poor thing...", Lusamine said looking at the sky where the creature came from. Little did Hau and Freya know, Lusamine hid a grin.

~~~Lusamine's Pov~~~

She was this close! That brat, Freya, battled it and made it disappear. Her perfect world she dreamed about... It reminded her of that disgusting child Gladion who took her test experiment and fled. And Lillie! She took the only she was close to opening the portal to her perfect and beautiful world.

"They ruined everything! I was close and those children turned their backs against me and became disgusting. They were once beautiful children who listened to my every word and they abandoned me!", Lusamine ranted as soon as Freya and Hau left for Ula' Ula island.

She bounded off to the research lab to vent. There was no way she was letting the employees off the hook for opening the portal without her knowing.