Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
Pokémon: Sinnoh no Isekai
Chapter Two-hundred and thirteen: The one wherein they go to the Aether Foundation
Over at the trainer school, the heroes and their classmates were making sculptures out of art clay. They each had to sculpt their partners, which in the case of Dawn and Trip they sculpted one another. "Man, that Faba guy yesterday was creepy as hell," Trip said, "Demanding that you give him Cosmog but wording it in a way that made him come off as a ped-"
"Well luckily for us we're packing more than enough power to send any such dirty persons packing," Dawn interrupted before she paused mid-sculpting to look into her bag, where Cosmog was sound asleep. After confirming that Cosmog was safe, Dawn looked back up to Trip. "I've got a feeling that things are about to get interesting around here shortly."
Trip was about to speak up, but got cut off when he and Dawn heard Mallow cry out, "Wow, Serena! Your sculpture of Ash looks amazing!" Everyone in class turned to look and saw that Ash and Serena, who were partners thus they were sculpting one another, were working together while Serena had made a rather good sculpture of Ash, working well with the clay.
Dawn and Trip turned to look back at one another. "Heh," Dawn said, figures Serena would do well if she's working with Ash."
"I wish I got to sculpt Ash," Trip muttered.
The next day, the heroes' class were on a boat sailing right for the Aether Paradise, where people working in the Aether Foundation work. The class soon got to the Aether Paradise, although Trip got off of Cameron and Dawn landed Lincoln next to the classmates; there was not enough room on the boat as it turned out, so Trip rode his named Kyogre alongside the boat, and Dawn flew on her named Latios alongside the boat's other side. When the heroes and their classmates arrived, the whole lot of them were greeted by both Wicke and Faba.
"Hey, you guys are two of the people who came to the school to bother Dawn about Cosmog," Kenny said while pointing at Wicke and Faba. Focusing on Faba, Kenny added, "And you're the creep who kept demanding that Dawn give him her fart!" Having heard Kenny say that, all the girls in class (aside from a dry expression Dawn) inched away from Faba.
Looking annoyed with Kenny, Faba said, "You're a rather gross young man."
"And you're an old creep," Kenny retorted right away.
"It doesn't matter what you think," Faba said to Kenny, then turned to Dawn and said, "Now let me see that creature!"
Dawn turned so her bag was more away from Faba. "You make a grab for Cosmog, and I'm siccing Tobias on you."
"I say we go and see Lusamine right now," Wicke said, getting everyone to settle down and follow her and Faba to go see Lusamine. Not, of course, did Dawn ever take her suspicious gaze off of Faba, nor did she ever take her hand off of the ball that Tobias was kept in.
...
Eventually, the group reached the home that Lusamine kept at Aether Paradise, and they were met by the woman herself. However, before anyone said anything, Lillie spoke up by saying to Lusamine, "Hello, mom. How have you been?" There was a hint of dry unamusement in Lillie's tone as she addressed Lusamine, as if she weren't entirely happy with the woman.
"Oh, you're part of the class, Lillie," Lusamine spoke up, "I-" Lusamine was interrupted by a phone call, which she proceeded to take care off immediately. Much to the annoyance of Lillie. After Lusamine finished the phone call, she had the class treated to lunch. During said lunch, Lillie maintained an annoyed look on her face while Dawn, having spotted Faba spying on the class despite his best efforts to keep himself from being noticed, made sure to whip Tobias out at a moment's notice to give that fart-favoring creep a beating if the situation called for it.
During the lunch, Lusamine sat at the table with Lillie, which also saw Mallow, Lana, Dawn, and Serena sitting at said table; the boys sat at a separate table. Lillie was about to speak up, but another phone call came in, making Lusamine get up to go deal with it. Fed up with Lusamine acting like that, Lillie stood up from her seat and said, "To heck with it! I'm taking everyone on a tour of the place!" Lillie then got everyone to follow her, with no-one noticing that Dawn still kept a hand on the ball she kept her named Darkrai in, given that Dawn still saw that Faba in addition to spying on them was now following them secretly.
...
During the tour, the class saw the conservation area, and during their looking around they saw Burnet emerge from the water with a Munchlax. "Oh, I was checking the water for the conservation area Pokémon," Burnet explained. Burnet and Wicke proceed to lead the field trip as they explained the history of the Aether Foundation to the class. As the class listened to the lecture, Lusamine showed up to greet the class.
"Sorry about all of that business," Lusamine said, "I was just getting some new employees caught up to speed."
Looking curious, Kukui said, "New employees? Maybe they can give their feelings about being new at Aether Paradise to my class to give them some perspective." Lusamine nodded in agreement as she called in two new Aether Foundation employees. One was male and had fair skin, somewhat shaggy black hair that still looked stylish, and dark colored eyes, and the other was female with fair skin, deep dark blue eyes, and long blue hair. Both the male and female employees wore the standard Aether Foundation employee outfits.
Gesturing to the male and female employees respectively, Lusamine said, "These are Yuichi and Mai, the new employees here at Aether Paradise. They started earlier this week, but there still some stuff that they need to be caught up on."
Looking to the heroes and their classmates, the now identified Yuichi said, "I actually recognize some of you, from the news where reporters talked about how you had fought off Team Scorn."
"Yeah we... aren't all that fond of Team Scorn," Ash said, the unamused look on his face brought up by thinking about that most vile of villainous teams.
"Team Scorn will face my wrath the next time I see them," Sophocles swore under his breath.
Gesturing to the kids, Yuichi said, "I think that it's best you kids refrain from fighting them and let older, more experienced trainers deal with them. For safety reasons, obviously."
"You kids really ought to listen to Yuichi-sama here," Mai insisted, "He really is the best."
"Trust us, we have plenty of experience," Trip replied, "Not to mention-"
Trip was cut off when a phone call went off, prompting Lusamine to said, "Oh, I need to take that call." Lusamine then took a phone out and went to answer a call, drawing more of an annoyed look out of Lillie who turned around and stomped off. After Lillie left, Dawn noticed that Faba slinked away, as if to follow Lillie to wherever it was that she was heading off to.
While Lusamine was handling the call, an alarm went off suddenly, alerting everyone. "What the heck is that?" Kenny exclaimed, "Did something escape? Are we under attack?"
"Kenny, calm down!" Yuichi said, "I'm sure it's nothing too bad to worry about!"
"How is it you know my name?" Kenny demanded.
"I just told you I recognized you from the news because you and your friends confronted Team Scorn, remember?" Yuichi said, "Anyway, there's no need to-"
Yuichi was cut off when a few Aether Foundation employees ran past while screaming, "Team Scorn is in the lab where we keep documents on the Ultra Beasts! They're gonna steal a lot of vital research and information!"
Yuichi scoffed bitterly when he heard that news. "Damn it, those idiots just have the worst timing, huh?"
"I'll say!" Ash said as he proceeded to make a beeline in the direction the Aether Foundation employees were running from, "Come on, guys! We'll go kick Team Scorn's-"
"Young man, let Yuichi-sama, the other Aether Foundation employees, and I handle this one," Mai said, "We're the adults here, we can handle it!"
As Ash and some of his peers began objecting, Kukui said, "Actually... yeah, I'd rather that adults handle it than see my students risk themselves again." As such, the class had no choice but to hang back while Yuichi and Mai led some Aether Foundation employees into confronting Team Scorn. The heroes and their classmates could only hope for the best, and that Yuichi and the others would be successful.
...
The heroes were soon met back up by Lillie who was led over by two Aether Foundation employees, who explained to them they found Lillie cowering and hiding when the alarm went off. After Lillie was reunited with the class, Yuichi and Mai led the other Aether Foundation employees back over. "So how did things go for you guys?" asked Kenny when Yuichi and Mai came over.
"The members of Team Scorn, although Yuichi-sama defeated that Captain Sayaka lady, got copies of what all data and research was kept in that room before getting away," Mai said, "Now Team Scorn has copies of the info and research that the Aether Foundation has done on Ultra Beasts."
Lusamine's eyes widened in dawning horror and realization. "...Oh no. Team Scorn now has info on the Ultra Beasts?" Dawn, Kenny, and Trip could see why Lusamine would be worried about Team Scorn knowing about the Ultra Beasts; if Team Scorn was able to get a hold of even one Ultra Beast, the amount of damage that they could do would be unimaginable.
"Are... are Ultra Beasts really that bad?" Serena asked.
Gently shaking her head, Lusamine said, "Young lady, you have no idea how much even one Ultra Beast can do on its own."
Folding his arms over his chest, Kenny said, "You know, we might of had a chance of keeping Team Scorn from stealing any info if you had let some of the lads here and I confront them! Hell, with the big players that Dawn, Trip, and I have between us, we could have-"
"-Gotten yourselves seriously hurt, kids," Yuichi said, "And Team Scorn would have succeeded anyway after they ran roughshod over you."
"It really is for the best you allow adults to handle things here, kids," Mai remarked, drawing a frustrated growling noise out of Kenny.
A few evenings later, Gladion was in a hotel room when he fell to one knee as he struggled to stay awake. "What... what are you doing, Faba..." Gladion said as he glared at Faba who was using a Hypno to cast Hypnosis on him to make him fall asleep.
"I need to take the Type: Null back from you," Faba said, "My plans are in danger." Within short order, Gladion collapsed onto the floor, having been put to sleep by Hypno's Hypnosis attack. As Gladion laid helpless on the floor, Faba went over and serarched Gladion's person, eventually finding and removing a Premier Ball. Faba, as he held the Premier Ball, gave a sinister smirk. "...I will get the end result that I deserve," Faba said, "The end result that I desire."
...
The following morning at trainer school, the rest of the class noticed that Lillie seemed to be afraid of touching Snowy. "Yeah, apparently the rough handling from some of the Aether Foundation employees' Pokémon when they rescued Lillie from the cubby she was hiding herself in when the alarm went off due to Team Scorn invading has refreshened Lillie's fears of touching Pokémon," Lana informed the rest of the class.
Slamming a fist onto his desk, Kenny barked, "Oh for crying out loud! We were making progress! But now due to some idiots being a little too rough, Lillie's back to square one!"
As the classmates tried to comfort Lillie, they were surprised when the door leading into their classroom banged open, only to see a rather rattled looking Gladion standing there. "I need help!" Gladion barked, looking panicked.
Instantly alarmed, Ash said, "Gladion, what happened?"
"That slimy bastard Faba," Gladion said, instantly piquing the attention of the reborn trainers, "He came to me and said that my mother needed my Type: Null back. I knew something was up, especially since Faba refused to say why and only repeated that I hand Type: Null over. I told him to get lost, then he called out a Hypno to use Hypnosis on me and make me pass out. When I woke up earlier, I noticed that the ball containing Type: Null was missing. Faba must have stolen it from me while I was passed out!"
Pounding a fist into her hand, Dawn said, "Yeah, I knew that Faba couldn't be trusted. We're going to have to report this."
"Yeah, but who do we report it to?" Trip asked. At that moment, Cosmog popped out of Dawn's bag, gave a happy cry, then used Teleport to teleport everyone in the classroom away.
After everyone had vanished, Kukui walked into the classroom. "Alright class, let's take our se-" Kukui stopped short when, looking up from the clipboard he was carrying, he noticed that the classroom was empty. "...Hello?"
In the basement area of Aether Paradise, the heroes, their class, and Gladion all appeared out of thin air, a few landing on their feet but most of them landing on their butts. Cosmog then popped back into Dawn's bag and contentedly fell asleep. "...Well it looks like we're at Aether Paradise now," Gladion said, "Time to go confront that slippery bastard Faba."
"So the lot of us were suddenly zapped to a location where we have to confront a terrible enemy," Kenny said, "Reminds of of the early days of when I first became a trainer, and Dawn, Ash, and our pal Brock were zapped into a Team Galactic base."
"So long as we're stealthy, we should be fine," Kiawe remarked.
...
Over in a lab room that Faba was in, he put the Premier Ball that Type: Null was kept in into a desk drawer. After doing so, a security alarm went off, making Faba turn his attention to a monitor that showed him the heroes, their classmates, and Gladion were all in Aether Paradise. "...How in blazes did they all get here undetected until now?!" Faba said aloud but to himself.
As Faba was looking at the monitor, Yuichi and Mai came dashing into the room. "Faba, sir, we heard an alarm," Yuichi said, "What's going on?"
"Intruders, that's what," Faba replied. Spotting Lillie in the video feed, Faba pointed her out to Yuichi and Mai. "Bring her to me," Faba said, "She has info that she can't be allowed to remember! I'll use Hypno's Hypnosis to make her forget anything she's remembered. My work involving UB-01 Symbiont could be in danger!"
Hearing what Faba said piqued Yuichi's interest. "...Isn't that the code name for one of the Ultra Beasts, sir? That girl potentially has info on one of the Ultra Beasts?"
"Indeed she does!" Faba replied, "Hence why she can't be allowed to remember, and what all she might remember has to be suppressed again with Hypno's Hypnosis!" Pointing at Lillie again in the monitor screen, Faba said, "Go get her!"
"...Got it," Yuichi said, "Come on, Mai, we got us a girl to go collect."
Mai had a bit of a pouty look on her face as she and Yuichi ran after the heroes and their fellows.. "That girl better not try and take Yuichi-sama from me. I do not need any rivals-in-love."
...
The heroes, their classmates, and Gladion soon reached Lusamine's house at Aether Paradise, where Lusamine herself was surprised to see all of the kids, especially the two who were her actual children. "Gladion! Lillie! What are you two doing here?"
"Faba took Type: Null from me, saying that you needed it back but he refused to give any details," Gladion said.
Right away, Lusamine looked suspicious. "Curious that, given that I never said that I needed Type: Null back." Lusamine had a suspicious look on her face, one that denoted that she felt something was up. "...Kids, come with me, I know where Faba's lab is," Lusamine said as she led the heroes, their classmates, and Gladion off to go confront Faba over what he was doing.
Leading the way, Lusamine led the kids towards where Faba's lab was located, but got caught up when an Alakazam and a Hypno confronted Ash, Lillie, and Dawn. "Alright, Tobias!" Dawn said as she sent her named Darkrai out, "Let's get goin'!"
"Let's go, Pikachu!" ash said as he sent Pikachu in to confront the psychic Pokémon.
Right away, the Psychic Pokémon tried flinging Tobias away with Psychic, but all of that effort was rendered moot because Tobias, being a Darkrai who is pure dark type, is impervious to psychic assault. Tobias then blasted Alakazam with Dark Pulse while Pikachu blasted Hypno with Thunderbolt, defeating both Psychic Pokémon. Although Ash and Dawn cheer in victory, they were cut off when Lillie cried out, making them turn to see that Lillie was being taken away. This happened at around the same time that Lusamine and Gladion went off into another room off to the side.
"We need to go after Lillie!" Dawn said, leading Ash and the others off to go rescue Lillie from whoever... or whatever... it was that was kidnapping her. Dawn, as well as Kenny and Trip, all suspected that Faba was the kidnapper, so Dawn made sure to keep Tobias out to help her deal with that slimy bastard who was unhealthily obsessed with Dawn passing gas.
...
When the heroes found Lillie, to the surprise of the reborn trainers it was NOT Faba who had taken Lillie away, but rather Yuichi, Mai, and enough Aether Foundation employees to equal the heroes' present numbers one to one. Mai and one of the other Aether Foundation employees were trying to make Lillie remember what all suppressed memories she had while Yuichi and the others stood guard.
Pointing an accusing finger at Yuichi, Ash said, "You're the guy who told us to stand back and let you and the others deal with Team Scorn, only for you guys to let Team Scorn get away!"
"And what in blazes are you doing with Lillie?!" Mallow demanded.
Yuichi gave a dryly amused hmph of a laugh. "We got it from Faba that the girl has memories that could provide info on the Ultra Beasts. So of course we had to, rather than bring the girl to Faba so he could suppress her memories, get her to a secure location so we can get her to remember said memories. Getting that info could be of vital importance to the work that Admin Mage is getting up to!"
"Admin Mage?!" Lana exclaimed, "Isn't he the head of the Team Scorn members here in the Alola region?!"
With a smirk, Yuichi grabbed the front of his Aether Foundation uniform and pulled it away, taking everything off in one fluid motion to reveal the other outfit he wore underneath. ...That is to say, not much of a uniform, as he wore only dark blue baggy leggings that tucked into his dark blue boots. The leggings were held up with a yellow leather belt, and a Team Scorn insignia, dark blue heater shield with yellow Team Scorn 'S', was tattooed on his right pectoral. He also wore a sturdy men's silver chain necklace with a stylized cross-shaped charm.
The other present members of Aether Foundation also pulled their uniforms away, revealing they wore Team Scorn grunt uniforms underneath. Mai wore a custom Team Scorn outfit consisting of a dark blue cap with yellow fur trim along the hem, a dark blue shawl with yellow fur trim along the neck-hole and hem, a dark blue dress split at the sides to allow her legs to move more freely also the wrists of the long sleeves had yellow fur trim, dark blue stockings, dark blue shoes, and she had a Team Scorn insignia patch on the side of her hat, yellow heater shield with dark blue Team Scorn 'S'.
"You guys are part of Team Scorn!" Trip exclaimed, "No wonder you were insistent on us letting you handle it when the lab was invaded a few days ago! You wanted to make sure your fellows would be able to get away!"
"Yo Mai, let one of the guys take over for you!" Yuichi called out, "I need you to back me up!"
"Coming, Yuichi-sama!" Mai replied, sounding like a girl in love following the word of the object of her love, as she ran right over to join Yuichi.
When Mai had joined him, Yuichi turned to look at the heroes. "Well now, it looks like we have to buy some time to give the men time to get info from that girl over there." Tossing up two Poké Balls, Yuichi said, "Go, Weavile and Glalie!"
"Go, Lumineon and Gorebyss!" Mai said, sending out her Pokémon to back up Yuichi's Pokémon.
"Ready for this, Pikachu?" Ash asked as he sent Pikachu in to combat Mai's water Pokémon, with Trip backing him up by sending in Fourze. As for Dawn and Kenny, they sent out Chi-Chi and Hovernyan to confront Yuichi's ice Pokémon. "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt on Lumineon!" Ash called out.
"Fourze, use Thunder Punch on Gorebyss!" Trip ordered.
"Hovernyan, use Power-Up Punch on Glalie!" Kenny commanded.
"Chi-Chi, use Brick Break on Weavile!" Dawn called out.
Gesturing forward, Yuichi said, "Weavile, use Night Slash on Mewostic! Glalie, use Ice Shard on Infernape!"
"Lumineon, use Water Pulse on Pikachu!" Mai ordered, "Gorebyss, use Water Pulse on Electivire!"
The melee between the Pokémon all kicked off as multiple tag battles went on. Glalie, due to using a priority move, was able to land a hit on Chi-Chi, but the named Infernape wasn't too bothered by it. As such, Chi-Chi went on to strike Weavile with Brick Break, hitting it hard and knocking it out before it could hit Hovernyan. As for the named Meowstic himself, he struck Glalie in the eye with Power-Up Punch, making it flinch back as Hovernyan glowed with power, showing that his attack had gone up by one stage.
As for the battle against the water types, Ash's Pikachu blasted away Lumineon's Water Pulse with Thunderbolt, although Fourze's Thunder Punch plowed through Gorebyss's Water Pulse and went on to slug Gorebyss really hard in the face, knocking it out. With Yuichi and Mai both down a Pokémon, the next round saw Pikachu and Electivire gang up on Lumineon, and Meowstic and Infernape gang up on Glalie. Within short order, Yuichi and Mai were defeated by the combined efforts of Dawn, Trip, Kenny, and Ash.
Growling with annoyance over having been defeated, Yuichi called out, "Have you gotten that girl to remember the vital info on the Ultra Beasts yet?"
"I think we're getting her close!" called out one grunt who was working with Lillie while the other grunts kept the rest of the heroes' class busy, "We just need-"
"Silvally!"
The grunt working with Lillie trying to get her to recall her memories was pushed away when a Silvally swooped in at Gladion's call, knocking the grunt away and saving Lillie. When she saw Silvally come in and save her like that, Lillie had a look of recollection on her face, indicating that she remembered quite a bit of memories due to seeing Silvally come in and save her like that. Silvally roared at the Team Scorn members, all of them grouping together with Yuichi and Mai.
At that point, Gladion and Lusamine came running into the area. "You guys!" Lusamine exclaimed when she saw Yuichi and Mai, "You're affiliated with Team Scorn?!"
"Yup, always have been," Yuichi said, "We were just doing some undercover work to get the Aether Foundations intel on the Ultra Beasts. The higher ups of Team Scorn are quite interested in that intel indeed. Oh, and by the way, you can consider this our resignation from the Aether Foundation." Yuichi and a few of the men then took out some smoke grenades and used them, conjuring up a thick, big cloud of smoke that masked their cover so that all of them could escape. When the smoke settled, the heroes saw that Team Scorn had fled.
...
"...Yes, Silvally protected me from an Ultra Beast," Lillie said when everyone got to Lusamine's house at Aether Paradise, "It was an Ultra Beast from the species designated as UB-01 Symbiont, although another name for it is Nihilego." Gently shaking her head, Lillie went on, "But the event... that Nihilego... it scared me to the point my memories of the event became muddied, made me develop my fear of touching Pokémon."
Gesturing to Lillie, Dawn said, "Speaking of, do you still have said fear of touching Pokémon?"
This time, Lille with a gentle smile on her face gently shook her head. "...No, I know now that the Pokémon related to my traumatic experience meant no harm, that I was scared for nothing." To show what she meant, Lillie called out Snowy and scooped it up into her arms. "I... I can touch Pokémon again."
Lusamine let out a resigned, guilty sounding sigh. "Oh, Lillie, I am so sorry about not even being aware of the trouble you were going through. Some mother I turned out to be, huh?"
"There's still a problem we need to address," Sophocles said, "That Faba guy who's still on the loose."
A grim look appeared on Lusamine's face. "...Yes, Faba was the one who introduced to me the new employees to the Aether Foundation that turned out to be Team Scorn members in disguise. There's also how he took Gladion's Type: Null, which Gladion and I found and it broke free from its mask and became Silvally." Looking to the kids, Lusamine said, "I have no idea if Faba was aware or not of the fact he brought Team Scorn members into Aether Paradise, and if he was aware then that will make him look even worse than he's already looking right now."
Shrugging his shoulders, Kenny said, "He's already a gross creep with an unhealthy obsession with Dawn's farting. How can he look even worse than he does with that little factoid already?"
"Uhh, he has a possible connection to Team Scorn because he brought in those guys including Yuichi and Mai?" Serena pointed out. The heroes and their classmates all agreed that they had to head back to Melemele Island to discuss this further. Lusamine offered to get them all back with one of the Aether Paradise yachts, and the one they used was more than big enough to carry everyone without requiring some of them to use Pokémon to follow along the rest of the group.
When the heroes and their classmates got back to the trainer school, they explained to an understandably worried Kukui what had happened. "...So Cosmog randomly teleported all of you plus Lillie's brother to Aether Paradise," Kukui said, "Where you confronted Faba's efforts involving taking Gladion's Type: Null which evolved into Silvally, and you discovered that some Aether Foundation employees were actually Team Scorn members who infiltrated the Aether Foundation to gather intel on the Ultra Beasts that were being researched."
"Faba was the one who brought in said Aether Foundation employees who turned out to be spies from Team Scorn," Dawn added, "According to what Lusamine told us on the matter. But we have no clue if Faba himself is aware of it or not that he brought Team Scorn members into the Aether Foundation."
Kukui turned his attention to see where Lille was now interacting with the Pokémon of her classmates, including hugging Dawn's named Darkrai Tobias. Turning to look back at the others, Kukui said, "Well at least Lillie is finally fully over her aversion to touching Pokémon. And given that Cosmog had acted on a whim, I can't entirely blame you kids for being whisked away like that. Just... just try to contact me if something similar ever happens again, alright?" The heroes and their classmates all nodded in agreement, hoping that circumstances will allow them to send word for help if they ever end up in a situation like what they just finished getting through ever again. They all hoped for a break after this, but the reborn trainers felt that they were still in for a long one.
...
At the secret Team Scorn base in the Alola region, James and Zed stood before a desk that Admin Mage sat at. "Well good news, the twenty or so Pikachus you guys were able to get have just been checked and processed, so the real mission in Kanto is something of a success," Mage said.
"I got it that Boss's Assistant Ayane wants a Pikachu for herself, sir," Zed spoke up, "If I may be so bold as to make a suggestion, I would recommend giving her the biggest, burliest, beefiest Pikachu of the lot, as a strong leader needs strong looking Pok-"
"Actually, Zed," Mage spoke up, "Ayane saw all of the Pikachus and instantly settled on a small runt of the litter one. According to the report from the Pikachu capture mission, James's Captain's Assistant Jessie was the one who captured that Pikachu. That being said." Mage took pause to open a desk drawer, pull out and envelope, and hand it to James. "Captain James, this is a bonus that's being paid to your Captain's Assistant," Mage said, "Make sure she gets it."
"Yes sir," James said as he tucked the envelope away.
Looking to the two Captains, Mage went on, "Now, what is this I got in the report about setting the Cerulean City gym on fire?"
"Wait, what?!" James exclaimed, looking partly freaked.
"Ah yes," Zed said, "You see Admin Mage, while we were on the mission to capture the Pikachus, we got word that would-be heroes entered the area, on doubt to confront us and keep us from succeeding in our goals. As such, Captain James here sent me and some of the men to steal as many Pokémon from the Cerulean City gym as possible, as a diversionary tactic to keep the would-be heroes from going after the shipment of Pikachus we were able to get."
"I did send you guys to do that, yes," James said, "But how in blazes did you think sending the gym into blazes was a good idea?!"
"We needed to buy time to escape," Zed explained, "So we started a fire. In our defense, we did successfully steal every last Pokémon that was at the gym, letting us net some serious income by selling to private buyers on the black market."
Arching a wry eyebrow at Zed, Mage said, "...A close friend of many of the trainers Team Scorn has dossiers on was seriously hurt in the fire, and reportedly even suffered a bit of head trauma. Under normal circumstances, such a result would have resulted in your immediate termination from your position as a Team Scorn Captain, Zed." A jolt of fear was sent coursing through Zed's person, but he calmed down when Mage went on, "However, the investigation did confirm that the injury to said person wasn't your doing, also you had no direct control over anything there. Regardless, Boss's Assistant Ayane said that your recklessness may very well inspire those powerful trainers to get even more aggressive in fighting us, so you're being told to be more careful."
Saluting the superior officer in front of him, Zed said, "Sir, yes sir."
The two Captains were dismissed, although Mage called after them, "One more thing!" The two Captains around to see Mage, who said, "James, normally I'd urge you to thank Zed for his portion of the squad broke you and your portion out of holding and got all of your Pokémon back, but considering how recklessly he carried out the diversionary mission in Cerulean City, him bailing you out will be used to partly excuse him." The two Captains then left, although Zed could be heard trying to demand a proper 'thank you' from James regardless.
Leaning back in his seat, Mage wiped a hand down his face. "...That Zed is as lucky as he is stupid." Mage perked up when there was a knock at his office door. "Who is it?" Mage called out.
"It's me, Aya," replied the voice of Aya, Mage's Admin's Assistant, "Yuichi and Mai just got here and are now able to deliver the intel that they infiltrated the Aether Foundation to get!"
Mage called for the group to enter, and in walked Aya who led in Yuichi and Mai. Yuichi walked ahead and handed a thick folder of info to Mage. "This is what all we got," Yuichi said, "Although most of it is on an Ultra Beast that was designated as UB01- Symbiont. It's also known as Nihilego."
Mage opened the file and read some of the info. "...Yeah, this is something Boss's Assistant Ayane is going to wanna be caught up to speed on," Mage said.
"There's... also how one of the friends of Sinnoh Champion Dawn Berlitz has some memories involving having encountered a Nihilego," Yuichi said, piquing Mage's interest as he listened to Yuichi.
While the two men talked, Aya and Mai hung back. Mai saw the scarring on Aya's arm that came from when she was attacked by Claire's Druddigon. "...Those scars look nasty," Mai said.
"Don't... remind me," Aya replied, sounding a bit unamused.
Mai smirked in knowing amusement. "Yuichi-sama will never be interested in a girl with nasty scars such as you."
"How many times do I have to tell you, Mai?" Aya said, "I have no such interest in Yuichi."
Mai just looked suspiciously at Aya. "...Rival-in-love."
"No I am not!" Aya exclaimed.
END, CHAPTER TWO-HUNDRED AND THIRTEEN
Author's notes;
This chapter covers the first portion of the shenanigans that introduces the Ultra Beasts to the story's setting. It also introduces Yuichi and Mai, the First Captain of Team Scorn's Scarf Sector and his Captain's Assistant respectively, as they and a few grunts infiltrate Aether Paradise disguised as Aether Foundation employees to get a hold of info on the Ultra Beasts. The heroes and their classmates are able to expose the undercover members from Team Scorn, and Lillie fully overcomes her aversion of touching Pokémon in the process. But things won't be slowing down just yet, as the heroes will have to deal with even more trouble during the events that will be in the next chapter. Until then, take care.
Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Lincoln (male Latios), Tsukune (Palkia), Tobias (Darkrai), Kirara (female Torracat), Fenrir (male Lycanroc; Midday) (being cared for) Cosmog (gender unknown)
Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Roshi (male Torterra), Hovernyan (male Meowstic), Cell Jr. (male Dartrix; shiny), Shenron (Rayquaza), Black (Giratina; Origin Forme), Zarbon (male Machamp)
Trip's Pokémon: (on hand) Myde (male Empoleon), Fourze (male Electivire), David (male Gliscor), Deelia (Dialga), Cameron (Kyogre), Suzaku (male Brionne)
Ash's Pokémon: (on hand) Pikachu (male), Greninja (male), Litten (male), Lycanroc (male; Dusk), Rowlet (male), Mimikyu (female; shiny)