"No…" Zossie said. "No—let her use one more Pokemon!"
"We agreed on three each," Colress said as he withdrew Rotom, putting its Poke Ball back in the pocket of his lab coat. "What's fair is fair."
Magnolia nodded. "Well… I'd say it was a fun battle," she said with a smile. "And Fermi evolved, so that's awesome!"
"And it seems my ideals hold up," Colress said. "I am correct in working under the assumption that seeking knowledge is the most important thing in this life."
Magnolia looked at him for a moment—and then began to laugh. It was a good-natured laugh, not a mocking one, but Colress still looked offended. "What's so funny?" he asked with a scowl.
The professor shook her head. "Colress… Pokemon battles never decide who's right and wrong," she said. "If that were the case, trainers with strong Pokemon would always be right, and think of how much havoc that would wreak."
"But this battle was to decide who was right!" Colress said.
"I never said that," Magnolia said, "nor did I agree to it. That was something you decided."
Colress clenched his fists. "This was just a ploy to get out of the dungeons, wasn't it," he said.
"Of course," Magnolia said. "But I hope you'll also understand why you should let us go, and why you should stop doing what you're doing."
The researcher scanned the floor, obviously trying to piece together everything in his mind. "No…" he said, looking back up at her. "No! You're all fools! Your idiotic ethics are keeping you from so many amazing scientific breakthroughs!"
"It's not worth it," the Colress from Magnolia's world said. "Trust me."
The other Colress frowned deeply like a scolded child. "Well, there's only one way to find out," he said. "I'll do all the research I can, and then I'll see which of us is right!"
"I think you'd regret that," Magnolia said, "and I'm definitely not going to let you hurt anyone anymore." She grinned and pulled another Poke Ball out of her bag. "So thanks for giving me my Pokemon back. Go, Adrammalech!" She threw the ball and the Gyarados inside burst out with a roar.
The other Colress stiffened. "Beheeyem, Psychic!" he called.
"Crunch!" Magnolia said. Beheeyem raised its glowing hands, but Adrammalech dove at it and snatched the Psychic-type up in his jaws, flinging it aside.
"Let's go!" Magnolia said to the others as they were released from Beheeyem's telekinetic hold. "We have to rescue Solgaleo and Lunala!" They ran from the room, Adrammalech close behind, and he aimed a parting shot of water at Beheeyem and the other Colress.
"Do you remember the way back to the lab?" Dulse asked as they sprinted down the hall of the vast castle.
"Err—no," Magnolia said. "But if we keep running, we're bound to get somewhere, right?"
"Makes sense to me!" Zossie said.
"Excuse us!" Magnolia said to a couple of Team Plasma Grunts in the hall. "Could you direct us to the lab?"
In reply, they pulled out Poke Balls. "Stop, in the name of the king!" one of them said.
"Colress alerted us to your escape!" said the other. "Go, Purrloin!"
As the little purple cat Pokemon emerged from its Poke Ball, Magnola narrowed her eyes at it. "A Purrloin, seriously?" she asked. Adrammalech, who towered over them, looked equally unsure.
"In a world where no one else has Pokemon," Colress says, "enforcers wouldn't need very strong Pokemon anyway."
"True," Magnolia said. "Adrammalech, Surf!"
The Gyarados let out a gushing torrent of water from his mouth, sweeping away the Purrloin, and Magnolia and her companions ran past the stunned Grunts. "What a sad world this is," Magnolia said. "Because nobody has Pokemon, nobody gets to experience the joy of growing stronger with them."
"Makes me wanna get back to Alola even quicker," Zossie said.
"I just wonder if there's some way we can help this world," Magnolia said. "Finding Mohn and getting back to Alola safely is important, but I don't feel right about just leaving this world to suffer under Ghetsis."
"Halt!" another Grunt said as several more poured out of a doorway. They must have been told that Magnolia had a Gyarados, because they tossed Poke Balls and out came a Zebstrika and two Eelektross.
"Okay, that's trouble," Magnolia said. The only other Pokemon she had with her had been incapacitated in her battle with Colress, and she did not want to risk Adrammalech as well.
"Quick—down this way!" Dulse said, pointing to a side corridor nearby. They all made a dash for the corridor, ducking around the corner as arcs of Electric-type attacks thundered down the main hall.
"Do you think we lost 'em?" Zossie asked as they ran.
"Not for long," Magnolia said. They had to find their way back to the lab, but now the place would be crawling with Grunts with the orders to take them down. That would make things much harder—especially since she only had one Pokemon able to fight.
On the other side of the corridor, they emerged into another large hallway, lined with tall windows. Outside was a courtyard filled with lush foliage, like a bit of natural forest in the middle of the castle.
That gave Magnolia an idea. If they couldn't fight, they would have to resort to sneakier tactics. She recalled Adrammalech as boots and Pokemon feet thudded on the marble floor behind them. "Over here!" she said to her companions, leading them to a pair of doors to the courtyard. She pulled open one of the doors and they rushed inside.
Magnolia dove into some nearby bushes and pulled the others in with her. For a heart-pounding moment she held her breath, watching the doors to see if anyone would follow them.
No one came. "Do you think we're safe?" Zossie whispered.
Suddenly something bumped her from behind. She yelped and fell forward, and Dulse had to grab her to keep her from falling out of the bush.
It was a Swoobat. "Swoo?" it asked as it perched on a branch, edging toward the humans curiously.
"What is it, Swoobat?" a young male voice asked. The branches above the four parted to reveal a young man with pale green hair, wearing elaborate robes and looking down at them, equally curious. "Colress?" he asked. "What are you doing here? Who are these other people?"
"Who are you?" Zossie asked as they picked themselves up and stepped out of the bushes. "Are you with Team Plasma?"
The man blinked. "Do you not know who I am?" he asked, putting his hand on a Darmanitan who had walked up beside him. "I'm N… the King of Team Plasma."