You will find the playlist for this chapter in the comments, I recommend reading this chapter while listening to it.
CH. 13: THE MEETING PART 2
Saturday 2 October, Morning/ Sunny
Ochimizu
"Please lend us your power, help us solve this serious crisis!" implored Rose on his knees.
The vision of a billionaire kneeling in front of you to ask your help was so surreal and shocking that it shock both you, Gloria, Hop, and his secretary.
"Mr. Pendragon, p-please get up!" you exhort him astonished.
Hop and Gloria stunned could mutter a word.
"Mr. Pendragon what are you doing? Please get off the ground!" Oleana scolded the president.
The only one who remained impassive was Aion who looked at everything without letting out much expression as usual.
Rose still on his knees asked for your help once again.
"Please, without your power we can't even hope to change the situation!" he repeated in a worried tone.
"This... this is why we are here!" declares Gloria after snapping out from her initial shock state.
"Exactly, the reason we came this far was to get a big picture of the situation and end this problem." you added.
"And if it's for saving Gloria's mother and others' life we will ally with you." you said.
"I can't thank you, guys, enough, the Macro Cosmos and I are indebted to you." the chairman said showing his gratitude.
Rose gets up off the ground and sits back in her chair.
You started asking him questions about the possible cause of the deaths.
"We have studied the effects of this "disease", we know that the cause is mostly psychological, the subject begins to stop talking and interacting with people, at first just physically, the victim will still keep contact with others via multimedia devices, such as phones and PCs, eventually though, it will also come to a point in with the victim presence will begin to get scarce through that way of communication too, and the victim total isolation begins." narrated Rose.
"Medical inspections on the victims' skin reported vitamin D deficiency, suggesting that the victims lived avoiding sunlight,"
"We calculated that the victim took his own life two or three months after showing the first symptoms, the researchers of the Macro Cosmos gave to this disease its own name, Alienation Disorder."
"Alienation Disorder..." Hop reverbed in a dreary tone.
"We know that if we want to find a solution we have to focus our research in the Darkest Den, and this is where you guys come in." the president said in a more hopeful tone.
"We do not know what caused the disturbance, and unfortunately of all the research we have conducted, and that it is in our possession, no document has given us even the slightest hint on the condition."
"So you don't have a clue yourself..." you say with an expression of discomfort.
"No, it's not quite like that..." Aion said out of nowhere.
"What do you mean?" you ask him.
"See, as I already told you, we had more than one laboratory built in the Darkest Den, four to be exact." revealed the president.
"The four structures were named; Sword, Shield, Armor, and Crown, and were built to study respectively; the Shadows, the nature of the Darkest Den, possible effects of the Darkest Den on living beings and finally the weather and its relationship to the ' collective unconscious.' "
"We were able to evacuate and bring with us most of the documents of the Sword, the Shield, and Crown structures, but we have not been able to do much more with the Armor structure." Rose said.
"Due to the worsening of the ferocity of the Shadows, the personnel responsible for the Armor had been evacuated without taking the various studies and documents with them." explained briefly Oleana.
"This means that the studies conducted in the Armor facility are still available?!" Gloria said.
"That's what we think at least, and our hope is to find anything that can explain or give us a source of origin for the Alienating Disorder." Rose proclaimed.
"Actually, that's what Aion was doing, up until now, finding the Armor Lab." revealed Rose.
"So far it has only achieved poor results." Aion added.
"I see... well, we will go to the Darkest Den and find that facility." Hop said, with both your and Gloria's consent.
"So we decided on the Research Team's first mission." you say with a hint of enthusiasm.
"Yes, as confirmed we are the only ones who can do something, we cannot afford mistakes." Hop added.
"... Aion." you turn to the alien.
"You still intend to lead us into the Darkest Den." you ask, despite your reluctance and that of others.
"I don't know? Are you going to trust me again?" the alien asked dryly.
"To tell you the truth I don't know... but we have an even more important mission as a priority, so we're ready to put our problems aside." you answered promptly, Hop and Gloria confirmed your words by nodding their heads.
"I see..." Aion said.
"If I can intervene for a second, Aion has reported the dispute that broke out between you, if I can afford to be the devil's advocate, I myself asked him to keep his involvement with the Macro Cosmos a secret, I firstly wanted to confirm you guys with my eyes, with that said if someone has to be blamed that will be me, I assure you that Aion is trustworthy and honest. " Rose assured you.
"Come to think of it, he has the reason, he is an alien after all..." Hop said putting his arms behind his head.
"Well anyway, welcome back to the Aion team." you hold out your hand to the silver-haired boy.
"Thank you, like the first time, I reiterate my complete assistance."
Despite the misunderstandings, you put aside your diatribes to make a common front.
Your mind gets filled with the mental image of an orange card for an instant.
The Spirit
THE TRAINER ARCANA. RANK 03
"All is well what ends well I would say." the president said with satisfaction.
Puzzling
"Ah! Yes, before I leave you, unfortunately, I have another appointment elsewhere, as I was saying before leaving you I wanted to introduce you to an affiliate of mine." Rose said motioning for his secretary to call the supposed affiliate.
"An affiliate?" you repeat.
"Yes, your guys have the same age and like you, he goes to Twin King High."
"Seriously? What's his name? Is he in our class?" Hop asked in an attempt to sate his growing curiosity.
Before Rose could answer Hop's questions, a boy entered right at that moment.
The boy had platinum blonde curly hair and amethyst purple eyes. He wore a peculiar long magenta and purple coat and wore a gold wristwatch.
He had a superb look on his face, as soon as he entered without even looking at you the boy approached Rose, and after that he greeted him.
"Good morning Mr. Pendragon."
"Good morning Beet, how are you?" the president asked politely.
"I'm fine thank you, Good morning to you too Mrs. Laksmi." the boy turned to the secretary.
"Good morning Beet, slept well?" Oleana asked in a warm tone that contrasted her cold expression.
"Yes, I did." replied the boy.
"Guys, this is Beet, my adopted son." Rose revealed.
"...Hello there, my name is Beet, Beet Travis Tezcatlipoca, pleased to meet you." he introduces himself calmly.
"Hello, I'm Victor Sandmann." you say.
"And I am Gloria please to make your acquaintance."
"Hi, my name is Hop."
Aion remained silent without saying anything.
"Er, he instead i-" seeing that the alien did not introduce himself, you were about to do it in his stead.
"You don't need to introduce me to him Victor." said Aion.
You and the alien exchange glances.
"Aion and I already know each other." said Beet.
"What?" Gloria said puzzled.
"You see, leaving Aion aside, the first human we could testify of possessing a Pokesoul isn't you guys..." Rose broke in into the subject.
"Don't tell me that..." you whisper.
"The first human to have manifested a Pokesoul was Beet." declared the president.
"What? Are you serious?" Hop said rather surprised.
"It's all true, I have seen with it my own eyes, the strength released by dreams and ambitions..." confirmed Aion.
"So this guy has a Pokesoul too..." Gloria pondered.
"..." you and the others watched Beet indiscreetly.
"Mr. Pendragon, it's time to go!" Oleana's voice turned your attention away from Beet to bring it back to the tycoon.
"Right, guys unfortunately I have to go, however, don't feel in a hurry to leave the place, on the contrary, I suggest you use this situation to get to know each other better, as from today he too will be part of your team." Rose hastily said.
"Wait a minute, what?" Beet said incredulously, opening his eyes wide.
"Unfortunately, time is running out for me Beet, and I will be busy in the days to come so... we'll talk about it another day, alright? In the meantime continue to live your student lives, goodbye then." after saying that Rose and Oleana left, living you alone in the room with the new boy.
An uncomfortable silence fell in the room, and even before you and the others have a chance to break the ice with Beet, he picks up and heads for the door.
"Where are you going?" you ask Beet baffled.
"I'm going away, I have nothing to do here." the boy said in an annoyed voice.
"Wait! Didn't you hear Mr. Ros-"
"Yes I heard him, I'm pretty sure you don't have any plans to visit the Darkest Den today, do you?" Beet hushed Hop.
"Wha-?" Hop said ready to burst.
"Hey! List-"
"Forget about it, Hop." Aion said to the golden-eyed boy with his impassive demeanor.
"Beet has always behaved like this, trying to warm up to him is useless, because he won't do what he is told." Aion said.
"You don't say?" you stated glaring Beet with your eyes.
Beet noticing your glance, he sends you back a glare too.
"Don't get me wrong Aion, if it's the president who's asking me, there's nothing to object to... but that doesn't mean I have to get all buddy-buddy with you guys." Beet expresses his emotions.
"Having said that, I salute you, plan your next visit to the Darkest Den and let me know the day before leaving, next week I'm not available, but the week after shouldn't be a no deal, bye" after saying that Beet left the scene.
"Who does he think he is ?!" you thought enraged.
Later.
Noon/Cloudy
Suspicion
After leaving the Macro Cosmos offices, you decided to stop at a Solga - Leon in the area for lunch.
"Who does he think he is *yum* " said Gloria as she chewed with anger one of the Solgaham she'd ordered.
"Did you see how he acted? Thinking that he is a star or something, what a prick!" you say as you furiously gulped down fries.
While you and Gloria were still complaining about Beet's attitude, Hop was inquiring about the boy from Aion.
"Say Aion, has that Beet always behaved so arrogantly?" Hop asked.
"More or less," Aion replies.
"I don't know much about him either, we rarely talked to each other as we explored the Darkest Den." said the alien.
"What Pokesoul type does that guy own?" you join into the conversation too.
"It is a Hydros-type Pokesoul, so it allows it to manipulate liquid water and its other two states." Aion says, bringing Shadow Veronica back to your mind.
"His Pokesoul name is Blastoise, and well he kinda looks like a tortoise." revealed Aion.
"Blastoise huh? Given his element, do you think it's as devastating as Shadow Veronica?" you speculate.
"Wait, what about his awakening?!" Gloria asked.
"Hop and I had to collide with intimate parts of our minds before we could get our Pokesouls, what about Beet?" Gloria specified her question.
"Nothing like that apparently, as far as I know, his awakening must have been similar to Victor's." Aion said.
"That means, Beet is more like you in that regard." Hop said to you.
"Hey, do you think he too can use more than one Pokesoul like Victor?" Hop asked.
"If that were the case, it would explain his arrogant attitude." Gloria added with a comical expression.
"I don't know, so far he and I have only taken two trips to the Darkest Den."
"Only two? Why so few?" you ask.
"Simple, one day on our excursion Beet end up with a broken leg, and he had to go to the hospital, that's also the reason why he was missing from school." explained Aion.
"Huh? How did it happen? I thought that physical damage turned into psychological damage." Hop said rather puzzled.
"I know, it seemed strange to me too, but I didn't give it much thought, to be honest." Aion confessed.
"However-"
* Ring * * Ring *
At that moment the phone of someone between you started ringing, it was Hop's smartphone, so the boy takes the phone out of his pocket to find out who was calling him.
After seeing the person's name, Hop becomes numb for a moment, but then instantly reconnects and answers his cell phone.
"Hello... Yes, I'm fine and you." after starting with these words, all you get quiet to allow your friend to make the call.
"..."
"Yes, no, no problem, thanks for asking me ..."
"..."
"Um? Yeah ... by the way ... I wanted to talk to you about it." said Hop apologetically.
"..."
"Yes, we have already solved it, so you don't have to worry about it anymore, thanks anyway for the effort."
"..."
"This evening? B-but are you sure..."
"..."
"If you say so... okay then, yes, yes... see you tonight then." Hop finally ended the call.
"Let me guess, Leon?" guessed Gloria.
"Yeah... apparently it looks like he managed to carve out some time off from his training, so he wanted to meet me this evening." explained the boy hastily.
"And you are... you are going to go?" slowly ask Gloria.
"Sure, I contacted him first after all!" the boy said.
"I understand... hey can I come too? I haven't seen Leon in a long time." Gloria said.
"Can I come too?" you asked him as well.
"... Sure if you feel like it..." Hop said in an indifferent tone.
"Well... since Hop has something already planned today, how about continuing the plan for the next excursion tomorrow?" you suggested.
"Yes, good idea." Gloria said.
"Do as you please..." is the answer you got from Aion instead.
"Great, then what do we do now?"
Evening/ Clear
Crossover
After spending the afternoon in Shootfield at the amusement park, your group headed to Northern Wyndon to meet up with the soccer champion, Leon Mercury.
Hop seemed quite nervous about the near meeting, Gloria seemed quite tensed too.
Northern Wyndon was the political borough of the city of Wyndon, there was the famous Wyndon Palace, where the Galarian parliament was located, your destination was Ludester Square a few distances from the Wyndon Palace, there you will meet with Leon.
The appointment was set for 7:30 in the evening, but instead of arriving early, you arrived 40 minutes late, and the thing that made it all the more absurd was the fact that Hop and Gloria themselves wanted it to be so.
"I don't understand you guys..." you say with a confused face as you make your way to Ludester Square after getting off the SkyBus.
"Why are we just heading there now? Why didn't we head there before?"
"...We have our reasons." Hop simply said calmly.
"You will understand shortly the reason behind our choice." Gloria added.
You and Aion exchange perplexed and lost looks between you.
You finally arrived at Ludester square, in the middle of the plaza stood a great fountain, it was the Auriga Fountain built as and surrounded by classical architecture, in the middle of the fountain there was the statue of a warrior on a chariot pulled by two horses
According to Hop, you were supposed to meet his brother right in front
at the fountain, you expected the soccer star to have already arrived and that he was waiting impatiently for you, instead Leon wasn't there.
"It looks like he's not here, are you sure he's not gone away?" you ask the Postwick duo worriedly.
Right at that moment, you hear a person's yelling.
"HOP! GLORIA!" although you had an idea of who it might be, you turn around with the others to see who it was.
A tall man was running towards you, he was dressed in a black and gold sports suit, he wore a woolen hat on his head and shade glasses.
After joining you the man crouches down to take a breath,
"Sorry * pant * for the delay..." he said out of breath.
"Don't worry, we haven't been waiting for that long." Hop reassured him.
"Is that so, hey Gloria! How are you? I see you've brought some friends with you!" the man said after catching his breath, rather quickly.
"Yo, Leon! I'm fine thanks, and you?" the girl said waving to him.
"Great thanks." answered the "disguise man".
"To the others, I'm Leon Mercury, 22 years, nice to meet you!" Leon introduces himself.
"G-good evening, I-I'm Victor eh-um my pleasure, Mr. Leon." you say nervously.
"My name is Aion, pleased to meet you." Aion answered.
"Come on don't be so formal, just call me Leon, Hop's friends are also my friends." the young champion said smiling.
"I wanted to apologize again for my big delay." Leon said apologetically.
"Don't worry, with all the times this has happened by now, everyone in Postwick is immunized against your delays." Gloria laughed jokingly.
"You make it sound as it's a recurring thing..." you say with a worried expression.
"Indeed it is!" Gloria said laughing.
"Excuse me?!" you say dazed.
"You see... Leon, unlike Hop, has a poor sense of orientation." revealed Gloria.
"..."
"Plus it seems that by now, no matter how hard I tried to hide my identity, someone ends up eventually discovering me, and like a ripple effect, the people around me also discovered my identity and everyone ends up coming to me to ask me for an autograph or photo. " Leon said.
"This, added to my poor sense of direction, they make me always end up delaying." Leon said a little embarrassed.
"Is to be expected after all..." Hop added.
"So if I'm not wrong you guys are going to the same school as Hop and Gloria right?" asked Leon
"Y-yes." you replied.
"Good, hope you all having a good time together." Leon smiled.
Troubled
"Anyway, how can we help you?" Hop asked his brother in a slightly dry tone.
"Hop?! What's with that tone?" his brother asked him, making it clear that Hop's tone of voice had hurt him a bit.
"I asked you to meet me because I wanted to know how you were doing." Leon complained.
"..." Hop remained silent.
"Hop-"
"Hey, isn't that Leon Mercury?!" a passer-by whispered to his friend.
"Really? Where?!"
"Shit!" Leon exclaimed as a dozen people became interested in your group.
"Ehm... how about moving to a more isolated place?" he asked nervously, a request that you accepted without making too much fuss.
"There won't be any need." the younger brother answered coldly.
"What do you mean?!" Leon asked.
"Dinner will be served soon at the dorm, plus we have a 9 o'clock curfew..." Hop lied.
"Hop..." Gloria whispers sadly.
"Oh, I understand..." Leon said in a rather pained voice.
"Well, we can always meet again next week... if you like." Leon said.
"Sure... but now we have to go, goodbye." after saying that Hop began to move away from the fountain.
"Hop! Hey, wait! Leon, it was a pleasure to see you again, as you said maybe let's meet another time again for good!" having said that, the girl began to chase Hop.
"I think we have to go too..." you turn to Aion.
"Leon we-" as you were about to say goodbye to the champion, you are interrupted by Leon himself.
"Wait, I'd like to ask you something..."
"Unfortunately, as you have seen between me and Hop lately, there is not that much harmony." said Leon.
"It hasn't always been like this... some of the reasons why the situation has changed between us are clear to me, but still..." Leon lowers his demoralized gaze.
"Tell me, Victor, couldn't you help me? Hop is someone who trusts you, so surely you also know more or less the reasons for this attitude of his."
"..." at the mention of this, the suppressed feelings of Hop come to your mind, and how once you went to the Darkest Den they came to life.
"Sure... but first I have to talk to Hop about it."
"I'd be genuinely grateful to you, maybe let's meet as I suggested earlier and talk more calmly next time." Leon smiled sadly.
You can feel Leon's trust in you, you sense a tie of friendship binding you and Leon ...
The Spirit
I am thou ... And thou art I ...
Thou has formed a brand new bond ...
It shall become the evidence of the unselfishness of the many, overcoming the egoism of one ...
Thou shalt be blessed when forging Pokesoul of the Saver Arcana ...
THE SAVER ARCANA RANK 01
"..."
"Well, I should let you go now, be careful on the way home alright? See ya." Leon greets you.
"Until next time." you said to Leon as Aion followed you in silence, limiting himself only to waving goodbye.
You left Auriga Fountain to pursue Hop and Gloria at the closed Skybus Station.
You return to the dorm in the company of your friends.
Evening/Clear
Step
That evening in your room, the group gathered to discuss the next excursion to the Darkest Den.
"How is it that you haven't found the Armor Lab until now?" Gloria asked Aion.
"...Probably due to the fact that those Shadows appeared, and by that I mean Shadow Leon and Shadow Veronica." Aion explained.
"At the beginning, I had no idea of this, but after the last excursion, I now realized that too changed that world were those typologies of Shadows themselves."
"So we should probably prepare to fight one of those giant Shadows one more time ..." Gloria said disheartened.
"It would be good to take that into account too."
"That said, when are we going back to the Darkest Den? Tomorrow?"
"Apparently not, next week Beet is on some hospital visits." Aion said.
"Do we seriously have to go with that one ?!" you asked, looking quite annoyed.
"It would be better not to take the Darkest Den lightly, I know you don't like sympathy, but its Pokesoul can always come in handy, so yes." Aion answered.
"If you say so." you say without emotion, despite knowing that Aion was right.
"By the way, I was going to shop, does anyone wants to accompany me?" Gloria finally asked.
At night somewhere in Central Wyndon.
BEET POV
Strange School
The boy with the curled hair was talking on the phone with Oleana.
"How's the president? And how's the business with the Silph going?" Beet asked his interlocutor.
"Everything is going perfectly, thanks," Oleana answered in a tone unusually gentle and sensitive for her.
"Rose, on the other hand, is sleeping, he resisted his fatigue until now, as soon as he lay down on the bed he fell asleep." giggled the woman.
"Incredible, and to think that today morning you were still in Galar and now you are already in Saffron City, in Kanto." Beet congratulates the two executives of Macro Cosmos.
"Leaving us aside, what about you and the others? Did you get along?"
"Yes." the boy said obviously lying.
"Beeet!" Oleana reprimands the boy for lying.
"Ugh what do you want, I told you that I have..."
"Don't try to make fun of me, brat." Oleana scolded Beet calmly.
"I understand that you don't like them but the president himself asked you, didn't he?"
"..." the boy went silent.
"If you don't want to do it for yourself then at least do it for him, do it for the man whom you admire." Oleana said.
"You really know how to be a pain in the ass, you know, I get it, I'll do whatever you want." Beet said frustrated.
"Perfect, don't forget the trust the Macro Cosmos places on you."
"Sure sure." Beet replied carelessly.
"You mentioned being tired, didn't you? Let's end it here, so you can rest."
"Thank you, and goodnight." Oleana said smiling.
"Goodnight..." Beet switched off the phone, ending the call.
OLEANA POV
After finishing the phone call, Oleana, who was in her evening outfit, walked out of her five-star room, instead, she went to the luxury suite where Rose was staying and there she will spend the rest of the night, the woman wasn't fearful of being seen by others as she was walking in the hall half-naked, has she was alone in that floor.
The suite and the room both belonged to the Golden Imperial Hotel in Saffron City, a world-famous hotel where VIPs from various regions loved to stay, such as the businessman Steven Stone and Sabrina Tamashi, Pokewood actress born in the capital of Kanto.
End of Chapter 13
CONFIDANTS
0. The Trainer (Victor): Rank 3
1. The Exchanger (Hop): Rank 2
5. The Calmer (Kabu): Rank 1
7. The Conqueror (Gloria): Rank 2
12. The Empathazier (Milo): Rank 1
19. The Saver (Leon): Rank 1
Author's Note
HAPPY FIRST ANNIVERSARY EVERYONE!
Pokesona's first anniversary, I want to take this opportunity to thank you for traveling this year with me and the guys from the Research Team with their Pokesouls.
I also take this opportunity to apologize for the delay (I could not find the way like Leon XD) and to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
I promise you that Pokesona will continue next year along with parallel projects that I will bring here on this site and other social media.
I remind you that you can find the link for my playlist in the comments or simply by looking for my channel Dreamer Thief on Youtube, I also invite you to see my Deviantart and Pokesona Instagram account.
Having said that I wish you happy holidays and until we meet again farewell.