Route 3 was the ideal spot to take Ghetsis's call. The rumbling of the waterfall prevented anyone from overhearing their conversation, and Colress had noticed when he first scouted the Alolan islands, Route 1 and Kala'e Bay were both visible from the route's cliffs. He could observe the growth of novice trainers and their pokémon while getting information from Ghetsis simultaneously, and it could shed some light on Lillie's disappointing performance. Colress crossed the bridge that led away from Melemele Meadow and looked up to the brink of the waterfall as he did so—despite the afternoon sun, he could not spot a rainbow at any point along the water's plunge. Perhaps it was the wrong time of day, and the angle of light made the appearance of a rainbow impossible? Eventually, he reached a spot at the edge of a cliff that overlooked the bay, and he sat under a tree's shade.

After several minutes of assiduously typing up his morning notes and cataloguing the surroundings with no conclusions in sight, his phone rang. His smile deepened in relief. He answered the call. "You have become quite dutiful! I'm glad I can order you to do anything I wish!"

"And I'm glad to see you're still a nuisance," Ghetsis said. "Now, finally, you'll answer my questions…"

Colress pursed his lips. "How rude! Why should I answer when you're being so detestable right now?"

"Come now, someone had to pick up the phone when I called." Ghetsis's air of smugness mixed with fondness was almost visible to Colress.

"Your argument is sound… for that someone finds it highly entertaining to listen to your antics as you embarrass yourself further!" Colress observed what looks like patches of pink glitter sprinkled over the water of Kala'e Bay. He recognized these dashes of color as Finneon schooling under the surface and signalling to each other. The sight of this phenomenon gave him an idea of what to research in the evening, when bioluminescence would be easier to perceive.

"Then I'll forgive you for these insults, considering how bored and indolent you've become," Ghetsis said. "Now, tell me all that you observed of that version of me from the other world." His voice deepened and became hoarse as he spoke the last words.

"Oh, it was highly amusing and interesting! I followed the Champion and daughter of the Aether President at a discrete distance using an invisibility device I recently invented, only revealing myself when that version of you had one of your signature breakdowns! He was screaming about being 'perfect' after the Champion defeated him… some things are constant everywhere, it seems." Colress giggled at the memory. "However, it became rather bothersome because his little outburst was holding up my study of the castle, so I had to assist the Champion and her friend and hurry them along. You should have seen your—that is, the other Ghetsis's—face after I shouted, 'I simply despise you, Ghetsis' and sent him back to his world with my incredible invention, the Colress Machine No. 1102!"

"Good, good…" Ghetsis grumbled. "Now, how was this Ghetsis able to carry out his plan? Why did his schemes succeed where mine failed? The news stated that each leader had achieved their goals." Ghetsis's breathing became more labored, and he was rushing through his sentences. "Was that inhuman freak present in his world as well? How did he take control of the dragon of legend? What were the results of his reign? I must learn from his technique so I can hone myself to perfection and right my wrongs! I must—" He broke into a coughing fit which caused the phone to spit static.

Colress had to hold the phone at a distance to avoid the terrible noise. He felt a strange tightness in—or a weight on—his chest, which he did not understand. The wind was refreshing and the sea air was pure. There was no explanation for it! He turned around to sit with his back to the cliff and watched the waterfall beyond the bridge until the phone went silent. He pulled it close again. "...W-Well then, I see you are still devoted to those desires of yours… you certainly aren't being convincing if you mean to demonstrate that everything changes…" It was difficult to return to his playful tone considering that odd weight inside of him. "In short, the leaders who were summoned to the castle appear to have succeeded in their respective worlds because the trainers who defeated them were not present. While the words of the Ghetsis from the other world that I recorded do not prove without a doubt that this was the case for him as well, it is reasonable to assume so. And yes, he did indeed mention a 'freak without a human heart.' However, each leader who was brought into this world was transported the instant they reached their goal, and thus it is impossible to know how that Ghetsis's 'reign' is proceeding."

Ghetsis's voice fell to just above a whisper. "What? Then there is nothing I can do to prevent my being caught completely off guard, and not even a perfect plan will ensure my victory…?"

"It-It is an alternate reality, Ghetsis… although I suppose you could reasonably conclude such a thing..." Colress was not certain why he was stammering. He corrected it and continued with confidence and energy. "...And I'm glad! How terrible it would be to see someone I detest so deeply triumph!"

Ghetsis stifled another cough. "...You can say whatever you want, but it's obvious that you don't hate me. How did you manage to convince Alola's Champion and her friend that you did?"

"How rude of you to doubt my pure and true feelings!" Colress stood up and stretched his back. The shadow of the tree he was resting under had grown long, and the sunny spots were tinged with gold.

"How rude of you to constantly tell me, 'how rude.'" Ghetsis said, amused. "There is nothing true about you, Colress."

Colress theatrically stood with one arm akimbo and puffed out his cheeks, a show he knew Ghetsis could not see yet could not resist putting on! "How r-unkind of you to say so! But if you must know how I did it, I simply positioned them behind me so that only my target could see my expression, of course!" The tightness in his chest mysteriously vanished, which he made note of. "Oh, and you only doubt the truth of me, and not my purity? Tell me, what do you see as pure about me?"

Ghetsis laughed quietly. "Myah-ha-ha… why, you are purely immature!"

Colress made a high-pitched sound and barely resisted the urge to tell his rival how rude he was! "So let me ask you! Do you still have pressing questions for me, or do you simply desire to be abhorable?" Something that stood out from the grey slate of the cliffs caught his eye—near the brink of the waterfall was its usual rainbow. The water droplets must have finally been properly illuminated.

"Of course," Ghetsis said. "I would ask you the same, but it doesn't matter. You'll invent scores of them for me to answer, if only because you'll yearn for my voice."

"Oh, please… I would dive into the rushing waterfall that lies in front of me in order to escape it!" Colress felt his smile reach his nose and eyes. He walked toward the rainbow—paradoxically, it appeared to become richer in color the closer he came and did not vanish. Above the rainbow and the brink of the waterfall, he could see the top of a fluffy, white bank of clouds floating against that bluest sky. "In fact, I must be off! Until night falls, I'll be preparing the proper equipment for research into something very interesting that may inform my plan to travel to other worlds!"

"My word, is the great Colress so desperate for research material that he has to leave this plane of reality entirely?" Ghetsis said. In a slightly weightier tone, he added, "You've barely scratched the surface of possibilities here, Colress. Don't go running off to the next world when you're barely accustomed to living in this one."

Colress stopped in the middle of the bridge. "Stop. Don't patronize me. Alola is full of life! Life that is very, very interesting! Why, it's highly unfortunate for you that you can't see it for yourself!" He used his free arm to gesture to the vista that lay before him. "And of course I know there are many questions left unanswered regarding this world—in fact, one of those questions is what I will be studying tonight." It was odd—the teasing note in his voice had disappeared. He willed it back. "But-But I am getting ahead of myself… call me back later today, and I'll lord my knowledge over you as much as you'd like!"

"Go on then, I'm very curious," Ghetsis said, singsong. He hung up.

Colress kept his head down, a rarity for him. His mouth twitched. He barely registered the young trainers and pokémon bustling around him in the grass and on the very path he walked. Ghetsis was so frustrating! Yet at the same time, it did make him quite fun—he was never dull or tiresome, and that night, Colress would prove to him the extent of his mastery over this world's phenomena. How amusing it would be to hear his embarrassed voice! Colress looked back up at the thought, excited for what was to come.

The waves gently rolled in on the rocky shore of Route 7. Colress stood facing a small, dark island, carefully monitoring red glimmers of light that occasionally flickered in the sea and sorting them from the more common pink lights of Finneon. Farther out, there was an occasional burst of light that alternated between each color of the rainbow. Colress was also watching the silhouette of his Beheeyem, who he had sent out, who was levitating just high enough above the water to avoid being drowned by the larger waves as they approached the shore. The radiating heat of Wela Volcano was at Coless's back, but with his temperature-controlled console on, he could only feel its touch on his ears and hair. Although the waning moon was slowly rising, stars were faintly visible in the indigo sky, making it an ideal night to conduct such a study!

And like clockwork, his phone rang and he answered it. "I've been waiting for you! After I thought about how to rub the proof of my scientific achievement in your face, I realized something. It's possible you've seen a photo of me on the news, and if so, you may have noticed my specially-designed Achromatic Wearable Console!"

"Achromatic Wearable Console…? That's what makes you look even more like an automaton than you did before, I take it?" Ghetsis asked.

"Yes!" Colress exclaimed, pleased as a Purrloin. "I'll tell you a secret—I installed cameras in its gloves. Tell me, do you have access to a PC? I could email you proof of my worldliness. My achievement would become evident to you immediately!"

"Email me…?" Ghetsis trailed off.

Colress noticed a red flicker below the waves, in the crevice of a craggy black rock. Colress waved to his Beheeyem, who turned around hesitantly, its neon, visor-like eyes standing out against the darkness. Its fingers were flashing, and though they glowed red, green, and yellow, it was cycling between colors so quickly, the light appeared pure white.

Ghetsis was taking a rather long time to answer, so it was only fair for Colress to prod him into action. "Your mental faculties… do they need to be sharpened? You must truly need to learn of my study!"

"...Must you be such a pest? I have simply been thinking of how to prevent this conversation from being overheard—it's a difficult task, considering your constant shouting," Ghetsis said. "Now, to answer your question, I am speaking to you from a PC at this very moment. This asylum has a small library, which rarely sees use. Calling from a PC grants more privacy than calling by phone, you see. Very well, you may email me 'proof' of your 'worldliness.' I'll enjoy refuting your delusions."

Colress giggled. "Then allow me to inform you of the subject of my research!" He called out to Beheeyem, "Beheeyem, dive below the waves and remove it, please!"

Beheeyem put its arms to its sides and shot itself into the ocean. An underwater clash between red and green ensued—the lights swirled around each other like an Illumise and a Volbeat during a mating dance. After a few seconds, Beheeyem emerged with a splash. It looked quite waterlogged as it lifted a Staryu out of the water using its psychic powers.

Colress signaled to Beheeyem, indicating that it should bring the pokémon close. After it complied, Colress took out a metal tag—a miniature radiation meter. With great force and assisted by Beheeyem, who smelled of salt, he implanted it into the hard golden area that surrounded Staryu's ruby core. He could not simply attach the device to an arm—the pokémon could regenerate its arms and the meter could be lost. After the procedure was complete, Colress took a photo using his console and emailed Ghetsis the image. He used the most obnoxiously bright, rainbow-colored, geometric stationary as the backdrop. He reserved only the best treatment for his longtime rival! Colress nodded to Beheeyem, who promptly threw Staryu back.

Ghetsis made a rough-sounding, indignant noise, reacting to the stationary, no doubt! "Well now, what do we have here? More of your playing with pokémon because you're too afraid to look inward? Why, even the water in this picture is shallow."

"Shallow?! Excuse me, but this experiment may allow me to reach even greater heights as both a scientist and trainer!" Colress stood up even taller than usual. "Not only does it center on Staryu and Starmie, pokémon I have always longed to train, it involves recording and decoding the mysterious radio signals the pokémon send into outer space!"

"Could it be this experiment was inspired by the fact that I'm your star…?" Colress could imagine the smirk that accompanied Ghetsis's words.

"I see you have forgotten that you are merely my prior star test subject, Ghetsis…" Colress let out a curt little sigh. "That aside, imagine the potential outcomes of this study of mine! Not only will this grant more insight into the thoughts of pokémon—and these are pokémon far more intelligent than that Rotom-Dex, which never should have been connected to a dedicated speech device—it may allow me to better understand the behaviors of extraterrestrial pokémon! Pokémon from other worlds!" Colress reached for the stars. "Oh, they must be fascinating! Incredibly fascinating! Ah, and I may even learn from Staryu and Starmie how to achieve interdimensional and space travel without the assistance of anyone else—what freedom! There could be endless possibilities! I'm more psyched than I've ever been!"

"Colress...?"

"The boundaries and tedium of this world are quite a pain. I don't want to be bound to it any longer. I've already exhausted all available methods of bringing out the full potential of pokémon, and Ultra Beasts are disappointingly familiar. But now I can see with my own eyes the doors to different worlds entirely!" Colress was shouting, his voice echoing against the volcanic rock flows. "I will surpass human understanding! All the untapped knowledge the universe—no, the multiverse—has to offer, I will possess and control—I see so many paths I've never known opening up just for me, and—"

A loud tapping came from the phone. Ghetsis was hitting something made of a hard material, likely the PC's shell. "Colress, where are you?" He asked, soft but firm. "Where are you standing right now?"

"Wh-What?!" Colress froze. The deep blue sky and sea seemed to be melting together. "I-I… I'm in—I'm standing on—on the sandy sh-shore of Route 7..." he stammered.

"Then you can still make good use of your senses," Ghetsis said. "Next time, speak more quietly. I don't want to be discovered due to your manic yelling."

Colress want about to protest when he felt his ankles grow cold and wet. He took a few steps back—he had wandered into the surf without having noticed! "I-I am not manic… I'm enthusiastic…"

"That is a convenient lie, and we both know it. But I understand your embarrassment… it must be too hard for you accept that I don't want you get hurt for no reason. In fact, I probably stopped you right before you threw your phone into the sea."

Colress noticed that his Beheeyem was staring at him, undoubtedly amused, and he glared back at it. How rude his pokémon had been as of late—perhaps he needed to use a firmer hand. "Don't sound so pleased, Ghetsis… you've forgotten which one of us walks free and which one has been committed!" Colress pulled up the bottom of his Achromatic Wearable Console, which was mostly dry. It had been a near disaster—his console was electronic, and if saltwater had seeped into its components… the potential crisis had been averted, thanks to Ghetsis.

"Shut up." Ghetsis's voice devolved into a growl. "You'll end up in an asylum of your making one of these days."

Colress prepared a retort when he noticed a figure in his peripheral vision. He turned slowly, and there was Moon in front of him! She was looking to the waves. She noticed Beheeyem, and then came Colress's way. "Ah…" Colress said to Ghetsis, "Excuse me for leaving you hanging, but the Champion herself has made an appearance. I look forward to continuing our good-natured discussion tomorrow!" Colress hung up before Moon could hear Ghetsis's voice come through the speaker.

"Hello, Colress! You look happy." Moon looked up at Colress. Apparently, she still wore her blue sunglasses at night. Interesting. "Who was that?"

Colress realized that his expression was not as neutral as it should have been, so he took a deep breath and tried to smile shallowly and calmly. "Oh, I was speaking to an old friend." He considered whether or not it was advisable to describe his research to Moon, and decided that she should know of the subject, but not the methods. "...I am currently looking into the radio signals that Staryu and Starmie send into space. It could allow me to better understand how to bring out the full potential of extraterrestrial pokémon!"

Moon sat down on the sand and leaned against the tall volcanic rock face, which was pleasantly warm due to geologic activity. She looked from the flashing cores under the sea to the faint stars, which were being drowned out by the moon. "Do you think they get lonely?"

"Excuse me?"

"They're communicating with friends that are far away, up in space," said Moon. "Are they sad?" Her sunglasses reflected the moonlight, making her expression even more inscrutable than usual.

Colress was silent, but his smile still stayed on. His hand was resting on his console, but there was nothing to type.

"Wait… that's why you're trying to figure out what they're saying, in the first place! So we can understand how they feel."

"Exactly."

Moon pushed herself off the ground and brushed the sand off her clothes. "I'm looking for Staryu and Starmie too, actually. I want to find a Shiny one to give Lillie as a present! She's great at understanding how her pokémon feel."

Colress closed his eyes. Somehow, even though his eyelids completely obscured its light, he could feel the cool energy from the moon beaming down on him. "Yes, I noticed her remarkable empathy during our battle." He paused. "Oh, did you know that Shiny pokémon, though rare, have no more potential than regularly-colored pokémon? In fact, their unique coloration often causes them to be more visible to predators. In the wild, their performance is often inadequate for their survival."

"That's too bad, Colress… thanks for letting me know," said Moon. "They really need to be loved!" Her smile grew even wider. "I'll let you know if I find a Shiny one! Bye!" She rushed off into the waves and called upon a Lapras with her Ride Pager. She leaped onto its back and they rode off together toward the island, leaving a wake of gentle whitewater.

Colress was left to continue searching for new lights. He had to take in his surroundings with fresh eyes, and as he did so, he realized that the juxtaposition of the moon, stars, and bioluminescence was admittedly beautiful. Perhaps Ghetsis was correct—there were many loose ends left to deal with in this world in which he had always resided.

Colress woke up early the next morning and after making the necessary preparations, flew to the dilapidated Thrifty Megamart. Travelling there bright and early meant that he would be fully-prepared for Ghetsis's call—but that was merely a bonus! The main reason was that it made encountering Trial Captain Acerola or Kahuna Nanu highly improbable—Colress had observed Alola's strongest trainers and discovered that those two rarely set out before late afternoon. While he had completed Acerola's trial, and quite easily at that, which meant he had her permission to capture pokémon in the area, a member of the Elite Four or an officer of the law taking notice of his unique research methods could prove troublesome. Colress had, while invisible, overheard conversations that suggested Nanu even had connections to the incompetent INTERPOL who once targeted the Seven Sages.

It would have been a hassle for the guard at the trial gate to spot him and offhandedly mention to Acerola or Nanu that he was inside, so instead of approaching the Thrifty Megamart from the front, he approached from the side. Murkow squawked and fled, shedding dark feathers, as Colress walked by. He reached a chain link fence. While his Colress Machine No. 1102 could be used to transport him to another dimension where the fence did not exist, allowing him to switch different realities and pass through it, that was far too risky an endeavor, and he wanted to remain firmly in this world until he has experienced all its potential. Instead, he sent out Magnezone and sat down on it. As it lifted him over the fence, its magnets spun wildly and its eyes bulged. Fortunately, stressing a Magnezone only increases its electrostatic potential! Once he rode it to the door, he withdrew it and planted his feet on the ground and entered the shadows, carefully avoiding the edges of the building's shattered windows.

After a soul-crushing thirty minutes of hunting for his target pokémon and discarding the ghost-types that hounded him, Colress perked up at the sound of his phone ringing and answered the call with glee. This happiness stemmed from his boredom—it was not that he had been waiting for Ghetsis! Why, those thirty minutes had felt like hours, and anything that could cut into the tedious search was a relief. He and Ghetsis soon fell into their usual back-and-forth.

"So you want to train a Klefki? Have you embraced your short attention span and realized you can make it jingle its keys in front of your face to keep you entertained?" asked Ghetsis.

"I wouldn't be so detestable if I were in your place! After all, I could make Klefki set Spikes under your feet!" Colress grinned. Somehow, despite the cracked floor that was littered with trash and the torn posters barely clinging to the walls, the atmosphere did not seem so gloomy. "But the ghost-type pokémon that reside here are highly immature…" he went on to describe how hordes of Shuppet continually descended from the building's eaves, blocking his view, and how all the ghost-types gave his body chills despite his temperature-controlled coat. "And to clinch their childishness, they've caused the display on my console to read, 'get out, you monster' in capital letters!" Colress pouted as he attempted to bat one of the many Shuppet away, which failed as his arm simply went through it. "Were either of your Cofagrigus this prone to misbehaving?"

"No, they were both obedient, you monster… and Shuppet feed off of malice. Perhaps they sense your inner evil," Ghetsis said affectionately. "Once you spur Yamask into being rid of all the pathetic sorrow that holds it back, it becomes a slavish enforcer dedicated only to retribution and sealing away the enemy… it's a shame that my pokémon were taken away… Cofagrigus was an especially useful tool," Ghetsis's voice sounded wistful—almost melodic, as if he was recounting some epic. "No matter."

"Certainly not. They must be attracted to your voice, as you are the monster here!" Colress refrained from mentioning that the Shuppet had begun to swarm before Ghetsis called—he could not pass up the opportunity for an insult! Colress sent out his Alolan Muk and ordered it to use Snarl on the Shuppet. The deep yell caused the pokémon to scatter like scraps of paper caught in a gale. "I see…" said Colress. "I believe that for a trainer such as yourself, who already lost his entire team once before, it will be easy to capture and train another specimen!"

Ghetsis coughed.

A silver flash in the distance that quickly disappeared behind an old conveyor belt caught Colress's eye. He moved to track it. "Oh, you mentioned a Yamask carrying sorrow? Then you can no longer deny the existence of pokémon's emotions and thoughts!"

"I have no idea what you mean. I always knew that pokémon could feel and think."

Colress crouched down beside the broken-down belt. Unfortunately, there was not a trace. "Well then, pardon me for being more inclined to believe the account of the trainer who had the strength to defeat you than I am to believe your words. I distinctly remember learning that you shouted the impossibility of such a thing."

"You of all people must know there were many things that I didn't believe and simply said to manipulate others."

"Oh, please…" Colress stood back up. His Alolan Muk slinked across the floor, shoveling garbage into its gaping mouth as it moved.

"...Though when I informed the public that Poké Balls forced pokémon to do the bidding of their trainers no matter what, that was in fact the truth. Colress, can you answer a question I've always had about this process?" Ghetsis asked.

Colress looked to the side, and saw the silvery glint once again. This time, it sped into a back room that had escaped his attention until that very instant. Colress inwardly cheered—it had foolishly trapped itself! "Of course! I am the expert on such things!"

As Colress came closer to the shadowy back room, the connection grew worse and worse. "If a pokémon was unable to successfully execute its master's orders no matter how hard it tried... what would become of it?" He had to strain to hear Ghetsis's voice, which was masked by static. "Being under a trainer's control, it wouldn't ever be able to resist or make its own choices. But being defective and lacking... it also wouldn't be able to follow orders…"

Colress stopped before the door to give his answer, fearing the call would cut out entirely. "An interesting question!" He peered into the dark as he spoke. He could not see anything from the outside. "A pokémon like that would probably be extremely weak, perhaps by nature. If it even failed to be a quaint trophy, then certainly no trainer would want it, correct? That pokémon would likely be released, but would be so incompetent and feeble that it would be immediately killed. The other possibility is that its trainer would keep it, but would stow it away in a PC box, where it would be forgotten and would slowly degrade, imprisoned indefinitely until it or its trainer died. Does this adequately answer your question?" He slipped into the room. There was a Klefki, hovering close to the floor! It looked up at him with its hollow eyes.

Colress could barely hear Ghetsis's single-word reply over all the noise. "Yes."

"I'm glad to hear it!" said Colress, making sure to block the Klefki's only way out. Klefki shook as Colress held out his hand and took a photo. He sent the photo to Ghetsis, this time using a sickenly pink background with Klefki stationary—it felt like the right thing to do, though the reasoning escaped him.

Crackling came over the speaker, only allowing Colress to catch snippets of Ghetsis's sentences. "Colress, did you—the photo—before you sent it—clearly not—" The line went dead.

Colress brought up the photo on his console's screen. "Oh!" he exclaimed. It showed the giant totem Mimikyu, its aura erupting outward! As soon as Colress looked up, he saw the Mimikyu sitting on the floor—the Klefki had been an illusion, and the totem had chosen to waste Colress's time. Did it have nothing else to do? It did seem rather pathetic—after all, it was not even two-feet tall, despite its totem status. It cried loudly, and the sharp noise echoed and hurt Colress's ears.

Colress took a step back. He gestured to Alolan Muk, who was being a pest in its own right by lagging behind. "Please use Belch on the totem," said Colress.

Alolan Muk just sat there. Mimikyu used Slash and Colress darted behind his pokémon so the move just missed him. He could feel the displaced air from the attack!

"You have eaten enough garbage to use that move even if you have not eaten that berry I gave to you!" Colress snapped at his Alolan Muk. "You are an unkind pokémon."

Alolan Muk opened its mouth wide and forced itself to cough up toxic waste, which splattered over the totem. The Mimikyu let out a strangled cry as its disguise was soaked with poison, until it crumpled and lay in a wet heap on the floor. The totem vanished from sight, leaving its disguise melting in the disgusting puddle.

Colress withdrew his pokémon and left the back room, which disappeared as soon as he left—another childish ghost trick. He worried that he would never find a Klefki with so many distractions, but then noticed the Shuppet were now fleeing from him. How interesting!

Ghetsis became audible again. "I heard the most repulsive noises. What happened with that strange Mimikyu?"

"Oh, I defeated it with ease by using a super-effective move," said Colress. "A pokémon, even if it's revered as a totem, is still just a pokémon."