A/N: I'm not late! You're late! ... Okay, I'm late. But the next chapter is two weeks away, pinky promise! As I mentioned in my last profile update, I moved a scene from the next chapter into this one for a couple reasons. That next chapter will be the final chapter in the second arc of three for this novel. For now, please enjoy chapter 14 and thanks for putting up with my upload schedule!
12 Years before Juliana's disappearance
The wind blowing through the crater that was Area Zero sounded desperate to Geeta. Not even the weather wanted to be present in such a dangerous locale. Waterfalls and inviting greenery everywhere were a guise masking pokémon that would overwhelm all but the strongest trainers if given the chance. If one ventured further, even stronger beasts and worse lurked in the cave systems under this façade. Crystals the size of buildings supported plateaus overlooking seas of glimmering death in the form of sharp tera shards. People had no right surviving down there, but the man in front of Geeta right now was challenging that notion. "I'm telling you that I can make it work! We have all the proof you need right in front of you, so if you'll just give me a bit more time, then-"
"I have given you time, funding, and personnel. You have squandered everything that I've given you, Professor Turo. All I asked for in return was some proof that you can replicate the initial success that you have found. And what do I hear now? That you have only more problems on problems. There's been no progress in nearly two years. No, that's not right. You've only found a way to lose progress. Three research stations shut down and the best you can tell me is that you definitely didn't succeed on a fluke. What more can I provide you that would possibly help you achieve this goal, professor? Show me something like the tera orb so that I at least have hope that you're not chasing lightning in a bottle."
The two of them were standing outside of research station 4, the only remaining active relay base surrounding Area Zero's interior. Renowned Professor Turo's work was primarily done in the Zero Lab at what he considered to be the heart of Area Zero. It was there he'd built a machine to harness Tera Energy to bring two pokémon from the future and, more practically, allow pokémon outside of Area Zero to terastilize with Tera Orbs. Despite claims that he could use it to bring many more pokémon to the future, his boast remained unfounded. Geeta had promised up and down that Turo's paradise would be reality eventually to his stakeholders, that Turo's results were sound and that he had complete control of his machine. It was getting harder to convince them when nobody could actually come down to see it and Area Zero's future residents were considered too dangerous to release. More importantly, Geeta had no interest in letting outsiders into a place as important to Paldea as Area Zero. "I need to keep the tera energy controlled to keep the machine on. Without me, it could go haywire and send pokémon from all eras everywhere. We'd be completely destroying the ecosystem. This process takes time, and I need funds to survive and keep the system running for now."
"For now?" Geeta echoed crossing her arms as a couple of Salamence glided under a waterfall beneath them.
"The AI initiative has gone smoothly. Two, three pairs of my hands are worth more than twenty pairs of others. With another year, I can have the process completely stabilized. The time is coming, Geeta. That future you want-"
"The future I want is beyond this dream of yours," Geeta interrupted. "I seek a new life for the Paldea region. We've been forgotten by the greater world around us for too long."
"And this project can be that spark that brings life back to the region!" Turo insisted, slamming a hand into his fist. "I'm close now, I know it! There's more to terastilization than just harnessing tera energy. If I can control it just a bit better, we'll have the whole world flocking to us for a piece of tera energy."
Geeta knelt down, inspecting the grass. Despite expectations, it was completely natural. While the cave system was infected top to bottom with terastilized nature, the area above ground remained mostly untouched. "And that would make your paradise real? What place do pokémon from the past and future have in your world where everyone clings to these glowing rocks for their livelihood?"
Turo raised an eyebrow. "I wouldn't expect you to be asking that question. People need energy to live too. Come on, you've always been my biggest supporter, La Primera." Geeta's eyebrow jumped up involuntarily. Turo calling her that name always irked her.
"I am the region's biggest supporter. As long as you champion the region, I champion you. It's very simple, Turo."
"You were like this in school too. Always-" An explosion interrupted Turo's complaint.
Both trainers whirled around as a body came flying out through a window and at Geeta and Turo's feet. Said body belonged to Geeta's second-in-command Larry, who looked more annoyed than injured in spite of his suit being partially on fire. Geeta immediately helped Larry stand up as Turo stared at the flames licking the shattered windowsill. "Your pets are going at it," Larry informed the professor.
As soon as she was sure that her subordinate was okay, Geeta followed Turo, sprinting into the small research station. Despite their disagreements, both Turo and Geeta understood that the miraidons, as Turo had named them, weren't ready to be outside Area Zero. For one thing, they never seemed to get along and were constantly fighting. Only Turo or his uncanny AI replica were able to calm them with a method Geeta couldn't get out of the man. Said AI was currently in pieces in one corner of the lab as the two miraidons squared off with each other. They were both in combat mode, but one of them had a large gash on its leg that marked it as the underdog in this battle. Geeta's other assistant was nowhere to be seen. "Patrolling," Larry answered Geeta's unasked question. "Nobody will notice anything that happens next."
"Such a pity," Geeta agreed, releasing her gogoat as Turo ran to get between the two miraidons.
Both future pokémon roared as they charged at each other. The electronical equipment in the temporary lab was going haywire. An oxygen tank used to facilitate exploring high-tera energy density areas must have exploded to send Larry flying and light the room on fire. Though a fire was concerning, Turo trying to get himself smashed to pieces absorbed Geeta's attention. She wasn't about to let her debtor default on his loans today. Gogoat collided with Turo, understanding its purpose without needing instruction. The professor fell backwards onto the pokemon's back, stopping him from being in between the miraidons as they collided. Larry focused on using his starraptor and braviary to create a wind vacuum and put the fires out. Gogoat returned to Geeta, small vines from its back growing to keep Turo from falling off. "I have to stop them! They'll destroy everything I've worked toward!" Turo cried, struggling off of gogoat's back.
"Unacceptable," Geeta denied, stepping between Turo and the duel. "You owe me and this region too much to perish here. Let me and my friend handle it."
Turo tsked but stood down. He understood what the difference between himself and a Top Champion was, and knowing that she was willing to help was enough to placate him. More importantly, he was forced to acknowledge that only someone at Geeta's level could handle this. Turo's methods were only apparently effective when the pokémon weren't flying in a rage, which made them generally ineffective in Geeta's book. The Top Champion wanted to laugh aloud.
In any other region she'd probably be considered an elite four member at best, and that was only if a significant number of people ended up sick on tryouts day. But she had the exact type of strength that was necessary to deal with a problem like this. Gogoat charged forward, squaring off with the uninjured miraidon. This miraidon tried to bat this overgrown fly away, but the smaller target darted underneath its opponent, slapping it with vines on the way for good measure. Sufficiently annoyed, the uninjured miraidon focused on gogoat for the moment. Its previous foe sought to take advantage of this opportunity, but Geeta wasn't going to allow that. She stood where Turo had been trying to stand a moment ago, glowering at the weaker beast. The miraidon roared, but Geeta remained steadfast, walking toward it without hesitation.
Miraidon looked into her eyes. They were cold, expectant. The beast knew that it could tear this human apart without a second thought, injury or no injury. But Geeta knew that it wouldn't do that, rather that she wouldn't allow it to do that. Rage was a temporary emotion that couldn't beat out the feeling of expectation that Geeta had placed on this pokémon from the moment they met. Both of them had crucial roles to play in the furthering of this region's future. If it was to become a place that both of them could thrive, neither of them could afford to perish in this lab. As Geeta continued to approach, miraidon roared again, now somewhat uncertain. There was no posturing going on here. Despite her physical disadvantage, Geeta was telling this cornered beast in no uncertain terms who was stronger by offering a smolive branch. At the same time, she allowed no hostility to enter her posture. Miraidon gave one more piddling roar before switching out of combat mode, letting its feet touch the ground as the fires in the lab finally died out without a source of oxygen. Geeta's hair fluttered behind her as she reached out and placed a hand on Miraidon's head. The pokémon blinked, understanding her intentions and accepting them. Turo could control these pokémon, yes, but they would listen to Geeta.
One threat was down. Gogoat crumpled to the ground as it was flung into a wall. There was approximately half a second before the stronger miraidon would be on her. Geeta did nothing. She kept her hand on the other miraidon's head. It needed to know that things were going to be alright. The attacking miraidon raised a clawed hand to bat Geeta away, but its strike was parried by a wall of wind. Larry's entire team was preventing miraidon from getting any closer. Geeta turned her iron gaze to the other miraidon. A wall of wings, beaks, and wind met every attempt that miraidon made to get through. With her hand still on its brother, Geeta looked down on the other miraidon, telling it tacitly that it wasn't worth her direct attention.
Geeta didn't flinch as the pokémon brawled, keeping her attention entirely focused on the increasingly frustrated miraidon. "Are you scared?" she asked her injured companion, electricity crackling in their faces them as the enraged miraidon fought to force its way past its foes. "You don't have to be scared. We're going to be fine."
As Larry's pokémon continued to fall, a large tanker suddenly fell on miraidon. Jagged stones jutted out from where the tanker had been, dislodging it and sending it flying into miraidon. Only when she was sure that the pokémon wasn't moving did Geeta walk over to the fallen body of AI Turo and withdraw the master balls from its pocket, returning both miraidons to their homes. Larry took inventory of his team's status while Geeta noted the condition of the fallen robot. It must have let its guard down somehow or failed to recognize the danger in having both pokémon out at the same time. As smart as Professor Turo indeed. Geeta turned her attention to the new woman standing by at the door's entrance. "You were late."
"And you were acting foolishly again." The woman had returned her partner before Geeta could so much as look in her direction.
Geeta didn't justify her actions, instead turning her focus to Larry. "What's the team's status?"
"They won't be fighting or airlifting us out anytime soon. That pokémon is beyond anything anyone could handle. Your gogoat will live."
Geeta gave her companion a pat on the head before returning it. Everyone except for the lab and a robot had come out okay. That was good. What wasn't good was Professor Turo's reaction to this outcome. "Do you have any idea how much this is going to set me back?! Stupid AI. I know I programmed it better than that. What did you three do to it?"
Geeta raised an eyebrow. "What did I do? Elaborate."
"I know you did something. The AI wouldn't make this kind of mistake. I would never make this kind of mistake. Larry was in the lab too. What did you do?!"
"I did nothing. One of the miraidons was out when the other broke out of its ball."
"Bullshit. Nothing can just break out of a master ball. You just want to have an excuse to shut down my work, don't you?"
Geeta resisted pinching the bridge of her nose. This man didn't need to know what sort of a headache he actually was. A bit of ego stroking was necessary. "Let's assume you're right for a moment. I don't have any means of effectively controlling these beasts without their balls. They don't listen to me, they listen to you, Turo. I'd be incurring massive risk to myself and my partners by letting them brawl. What's more, you have no value to me if everything you do suddenly goes up in smoke. I am not motivated to cause an incident here and you know that. Calm down and think things through rationally."
Turo scoffed, not believing Geeta's white lies. "I've been thinking things through rationally for a long time down here, you know. I talked it over with myself for days on end, trying to figure out why we couldn't pierce that last barrier and access raw tera energy. Why were we being blockaded at the most crucial junction? I only figured out recently that it was you. Every time you visit, some incident like this happens. Things get out of control, and we get another setback. Every time, I lose men, money, and time to you whenever you or your cronies visit. This time, I lost one of the only sets of hands that I can rely on. If this gets back to the stakeholders, they'll get rid of funding entirely. You just want to be done with this, don't you?"
"If we wanted that, we wouldn't be wandering down here every month to check on your sorry ass, would we?" The woman spoke up, ready to lay into Turo until Geeta raised a hand for quiet.
"As she says, we care. Your work is unmistakably revolutionary, Professor, and we all respect it. The fact of the matter, however, is that time is not on our side. The region is impacted negatively overall by the tera phenomenon. Tourists treat it like a radioactive hazard to be avoided when visiting. These tera orbs of yours haven't convinced anyone that this power is controllable since they're unusable outside Area Zero, and until we can show them these future pokémon without them tearing the world apart, we have nothing to convince the public that your work is legitimate. Tell me, when's the last time you submitted a paper to a journal?"
"The last time you gave me the funding to do so. The region doesn't matter alone, Top Champion. I have an obligation to humanity as a whole to see this work through. I'm not going to let you get in my way any longer." He stepped forward to retrieve his pokémon from Geeta, only for the Top Champion to hold them back.
"I give second chances all the time. You're on your twelfth chance, professor. Perhaps it's time to take a step back and consider this all from a different angle."
"Release," Professor Turo ordered instead.
The master balls in Geeta's hands opened, releasing both pokémon in response to Turo's command. The two pokémon glared at each other, but they looked to Turo for a command first. "The AI said the same code word," Larry announced, still processing the technology that he was being confronted with for the first time.
"Then I think we have our answer as to what really happened," Geeta decided, already thinking about the best method of escape.
"If the top champion disappears, they'll have no choice but to send resources toward the only man with any decent chance of finding her," Turo explained, as Geeta tried and failed to recall the miraidons to their master balls. Some sort of locking system was preventing them from functioning. "It's for the good of the entire region, so it's an acceptable outcome for you, right?"
"You're insane," the woman muttered to herself. It was no accident both miraidons were so belligerent. "What makes you think this will ever get you closer to the paradise you're looking for?"
"A king doesn't answer questions. They use the information provided to them to rule with grace. You showed me the potential of Area Zero and tera energy, Geeta, but you can't wield it nearly as effectively as I will. I cannot rule while a competitor seeks to hold this region in her own unworthy clutches, while they seek to tear down the progress that will bring about our future utopia." Turo ranted, waving a hand in Geeta's direction.
The aggressive miraidon immediately wheeled on Geeta, but the weaker one hesitated. Geeta maintained eye contact with it. Her entire team plus her companions couldn't take on one miraidon in a fair fight, let alone two. That left one option. "A king does the right thing even if they'll be hated for it," Geeta corrected. "You are no more worthy to harness the power sleeping in this region's center than I am. That is why we must learn to live with it, and why you have wasted too much of our time on your side projects instead of our primary objective. This region will burn if it doesn't adapt to the gaping hole in the center of it. You've shown us that yourself, haven't you?"
"All the more reason to learn to harness tera energy for my work sooner rather than later. I've seen what happened to the previous civilization here, Geeta. Nothing like a good crisis to make sure that people are sufficiently motivated, right?" He flashed her an infuriating grin.
Larry took a step forward, but Geeta waved him off. She couldn't rely on Larry for matters concerning her birthright. Turo was referring to the kingdom that had fallen after following the very path Turo was outlining for himself. He couldn't harness tera energy properly yet, but once he did, there would be nothing stopping the region's past from catching to and swallowing its future. Geeta could already see the signs, but she couldn't do anything without proof. That proof was now threatening to kill her. It would be a shame to lose Turo's progress, but the man wasn't giving her a choice but to try again later. "I couldn't agree more. It goes for people and pokémon, in fact. So let me ask you, miraidon. Is this the man you feel like you should be serving? The kind who would attack his own in order to win battles? Is that everything the future should amount to? The strongest win?"
The weakest miraidon in the world hesitated. Only when its counterpart lunged did it act. As the stronger miraidon moved to bite down on Geeta, it was stopped by the other miraidon biting down on its tail. After being swung around once, it was thrown at Professor Turo. Turo dove, but the miraidon still collided with him and nearly crushed him as it struggled to get back on its feet. Turo coughed as the weaker miraidon moved to square off with its counterpart once more. "So that's how it is, huh? Nobody can see anything beyond what's right in front of them these days. No matter. I won't lose my dream to weak-minded fools like you!"
"Likewise," Geeta agreed as the two legendary pokémon met in combat once more.
Twelve years ago, Geeta had a legendary pokémon in the palm of her hand for her fight. It hadn't been enough against an injured copy of itself, and what Geeta currently had wouldn't be enough now. She needed something stronger, faster, and smarter. She could hear mixtures of Turo and Colress admonishing her for blowing past everyone, insisting with her dauntless pursuit that she had to be the one to handle this as the reason the problem occurred in the first place. They were wrong. The potential of the pokémon in her hand had to come from her, not what the genetics of her team decided. Geeta clutched several pokéballs in her hand. At some point or another the rest of this miraidon's pursuers had fallen off. That was to be expected. Strong as they were, Geeta did not select gym leaders on physical merits alone, or at all in some cases. It would be unwise to rely on those who followed her only because it happened to serve their needs of the time, even Larry. They carried unique traits within them that made their shining star exemplars for her region necessary, not optional. Strength was the creation of choice, and for that sort of power, Geeta could only rely on herself. The lights flickered as Geeta stared down the miraidon callously. This one recognized her, but it wasn't cowed by her gaze. There would be nobody to get between the two of them this time. With a flick of her wrist, Geeta released gogoat, espathra, and glimmora. The halls wouldn't sustain any further additions to this battle for now.
"I trained for this day, miraidon," Geeta explained to miraidon as it realized that this battle was unavoidable. The top champion had finally chased it into a cornered hall that it couldn't escape from. "Come."
The miraidon hurtled forward, intending to blow past Geeta to continue its flight. "Reflect. Bulk up. Dazzling gleam." Geeta commanded, sweeping a hand forward.
A wall of light appeared in front of miraidon as it charged slowing it down long enough for glimmora to fire a dazzling gleam in its face. Legendary pokémon obeyed the same rules of type advantages and disadvantages of any other pokémon. The miraidon came to a halt, shaking its head as the fairy attack stunned it out of its charge. Meanwhile, gogoat began using bulk ups one after another, preparing to serve Geeta's purpose when the time came. But the miraidon was no fool. It roared, releasing an overheat attack that swept through the halls, weakening even the metal that kept the tunnels together. Geeta took advantage of this. "Earth Power! Dazzling gleam! Hold it back!"
The wave of heat crashed into jagged rocks as miraidon was forced back again by another dazzling gleam courtesy of Espathra. Though glimmora's attack slowed the spread of the flames, it didn't stop it, and both Geeta and gogoat were pushed back by the wave of fire. Geeta's pokémon spared her no attention to ensure her health. They'd been trained to ignore their trainer's condition unless told otherwise. Gogoat was damaged, but still standing, continuing to use bulk up to increase its offensive and defensive stats. A wall of molten rock now existed between the battling parties. Glimmora and espathra hadn't come out of the scrape unscathed either. If miraidon let loose another attack like that, there was no way Geeta could keep up. Fortunately, overheat couldn't be used effectively in succession. "More dazzling gleams! Keep forcing it back!"
Bright light shot out of Geeta's leads and toward the legendary pokémon. Its form was obscured by the flames, but Geeta could tell that her attacks were landing. The pokémon cried out in pain for the first time as it jumped back to the wall to get away from the assault. For an instant, Geeta wondered if she'd overprepared. Then Miraidon started glowing. A mirror coat formed around it, and the same beams of light that had just struck it were shot right back at their original target. Glimmora and espathra howled in pain as they were dealt twice the damage they'd just dished out. Geeta tsked as her two strongest team members fell with a single direct strike. She returned them as gogoat stepped up. In order to do that much damage, miraidon had to be seriously injured, hopefully. There was no doubt in Geeta's mind now that she could do this so long as she was willing to risk her entire team. With its foes laying off, miraidon charged forward. "Fool! Play Rough!"
Gogoat met miraidon in the air. Miraidon hadn't intended to attack gogoat at all, but espathra's reflect was preventing it from getting too far away from the pokemon's reach. There was nowhere to run. A cloud of smoke formed from gogoat's attack. Though Geeta couldn't see clearly through the smoke, she could tell by the cries she was hearing that miraidon wasn't enjoying the buffed fairy type attack. When the dust settled, miraidon was flung backwards and into a wall, severely weakened. The time spent building power had been worth it. "Then we're just about done here. Gogoat, finish it!" Gogoat charged forward to bring down the legendary pokémon for good.
But miraidon wasn't quite done yet. It struggled to its feet as doom encroached on it, letting out a defiant cry before another overheat was expelled from its body. This one wasn't nearly as strong as the first one, but gogoat was still a grass type running headlong into one of the strongest known fire type attacks. The pokemon's momentum was stopped dead and it was flung backwards, teetering on its feet before collapsing, flames licking the hedge on its back. Geeta cursed and withdrew another pokéball. She'd have to finish this with another team member. Gogoat was recalled before miraidon could finish the job and was replaced by Avalugg. At first glance this might have seemed like a terrible choice, but Geeta had been left with no options. "Take it," She ordered, silently hoping that this was actually the right decision.
Miraidon became engulfed in a dragon's fire as it summoned its strength for an outrage attack. The reflective barrier from espathra slowed miraidon down, but it didn't come close to stopping it as the dragon crashed into avalugg. The ice type cried out, but it remained firmly rooted to the ground where it had been standing. "Avalanche. Don't let it get up!" Geeta ordered.
Before miraidon's frenzy could end, several large chunks of ice formed above the duo. The ice chunks came hurtling into the two of them, dealing massive damage to both parties and completely immobilizing them. It was a cruel tactic to employ on her own pokémon, but between the ice, weakened miraidon, and the reflect barrier, there was no way miraidon should be able to continue. It was tempting to employ an earthquake for good measure, but Geeta held back. She didn't have any desire to be buried here along with the pokémon from her past. The show of joining her for this excursion had been an act all along. That was acceptable, so long as Arven held up his end of the bargain.
Recalling Avalugg, Geeta turned away, allowing herself to breathe again. It was taking most of her willpower not to collapse to her knees and thank Arceus she'd survived with minor burns. She'd been hoping for a distraction, but this was a bit much. There'd be a lot to explain and a lot of people to make sure were unharmed before she could make another move if she stayed here. There was also the manner of Arven's "assistance", as Larry had phrased it. She needed to do something about Turo's offspring, but Faller didn't give her any time to consider her next move. The detective was sprinting toward her, several agents in tow. "You're late again," Geeta advised, straightening up and indicating the mess behind her. "You'll want to find something to contain that beast."
"The mess that you brought into this building?" Faller challenged, glaring at the top champion and doing his best not to double over at the same time. "The mess that mysteriously disappeared from all of our sights and happened to be brought down by you when nobody was looking?"
"Yes, that's the one. Are you going to do your job for once?"
Faller scoffed as a few gym leaders started to come into view behind him. "I am. You're under arrest, Geeta. I've been far too lenient with you for too long. This ends now."
"Does it? What a shame. I was hoping you would remain a spineless little wurmple for just a bit longer," Geeta sighed, allowing some of the malice she'd been saving for this moment leak out. "But you're evolving, congratulations. Pray tell, what makes you think anything you could claim happened here was my fault? That miraidon doesn't belong to me."
"Your words betray your guilt. If I bring a weapon into a crowded area and someone else uses it, I'm still partially responsible," Faller countered, hands in his pocket, likely to prepare a pokémon. "Last chance to do this peacefully."
Geeta took in the room. Seven agents, with more likely on the way and a few gym leaders seconds behind them. The hallway was linear with a pile of ice and burning rubble behind her. If she wanted to get past these men, she'd probably have to be more violent than she was willing to, and she only had two battlers left. They weren't Paldeans, but they were alive, and that meant something. "The League will fall apart if I'm not there. What chance you have to save everybody will vanish completely without strong leadership."
"No need to worry about that," Ms. Tyme interrupted, finally arriving around a corner with several other gym leaders behind her. "The region has us. We'll take care of things where you failed to, La Primera."
Geeta raised an eyebrow. She had known of Ms. Tyme's disdain for the League and more specifically her, but this was a brazen claim. "Is that so? I'd lost faith in your ability to take care of yourself, let alone the region, former gym leader Ms. Tyme. Is the word of that AI enough to truly change your mind?"
"It's plenty," Ms. Tyme sneered. "We have more than that too."
There was no going back. Geeta wouldn't be able to lead the region so long as this phenomenon continued. She'd always known that, but time was supposed to be on her side before Juliana. It was honestly bittersweet. She loved being the top champion, encouraging the youth of the region to grow and prosper under her guidance both in academics and battling. But her happiness had to be balanced with a long trail of concessions, and now it was time for Geeta to pay off her debts. "And so do I. I've kept a lot from you all, yes. Because the truth would have gotten all of us killed. Ask Juliana. How long did she sit on the poison that AI spread before she pulled the pin on the grenade that is Area Zero? How many lives is she putting at risk so she can play hero, so she can prove me wrong?"
"We're concerned about you right now, not her. There's more than enough in this hallway alone to warrant detaining you," Faller warned.
The gym leaders weren't as united as the police. Some like Brassius were clearly antagonistic, but others like Grusha were unsure. Her most direct supporters weren't there to help sway the indecisive ones. That was fine. Geeta felt in her pocket not for a pokéball, but for a small device with a single button on it that had seen far more frequent use of late. She pressed it, and a silent blink nobody could see went off. She need only wait now. "If that's how you really feel, then it would seem I have no choice but to clear my name myself," Geeta announced. "Listen well! This region doesn't have long. Either make your way into Area Zero or make your way out of the region! There's no place left for those who would stay behind." If Geeta had a regret, it was letting the police keep the region's populace mostly trapped here. She should have fought harder to save more lives. There was always more she could have done.
Handcuffs were withdrawn from Faller's pocket. Ms. Tyme jabbed a finger toward Geeta aggressively. "We won't do that, fool. The AI said-"
"Turo is lying to you. There's no salvation in this treasure hunt. It's just a ploy purported by obsolete software to keep the dream of its master alive."
Faller stalked forward as pokéballs started appearing in the hands of his followers. "If you truly believed that, then why haven't you done anything about it?"
Geeta shook her head. "I've been preparing for this since before I became Top Champion, Agent Faller. It's only fair that I see my life's work through to the end myself."
"You'll have to wait it out in custody then," Faller decided, reaching for Geeta's arm in spite of knowing what Geeta could do.
Fortunately for Faller, Geeta had better things to do at the moment. "I'll have words with your organization for how you've handled this situation when it's all over," Geeta warned him, batting the man's hand away and walking backwards toward the debris.
Several pokéballs exploded open in front of her, a fitting fireworks display to send her off as she resigned from her position as top champion. A cacophony of cries and human screams fell on deaf ears even before Geeta was teleported away. The underground of the Paldea League building was designed to be immune to teleportation in or out unless Geeta remotely turned the field keeping psychic pokémon out off. Fresh air greeted the Geeta as she appeared some ways away from the Paldea League building. She could still see it from the hilly area that Tulip had chosen, just enough to see that it was still in utter chaos. "I trust there were no fatalities?" Geeta asked, stroking the head of the gardevoir that had teleported her.
"As if I'd pull your sorry hide out before anyone else who actually needed help," Tulip derided, checking her nails. "I'm more surprised you invoked the summons."
"I'm surprised they haven't accepted them yet," Geeta countered, indicating that they were alone. "Where's Larry?"
"Oh, he accepted it immediately. I just wanted to make him sweat a little. Bring them." With a wave of her hand, gardevoirs eyes flashed and three people appeared before Geeta.
One was Larry, still as disheveled yet put together as Geeta remembered him. The others were merely expressing polite confusion over the nature of their summons. Geeta addressed Larry first. "Did he take the bait?"
"We should only have to wait a moment or two," Larry responded affirmatively.
Geeta nodded pleasantly. Nothing like Larry for a crisis. She turned her attention to the other two members of the elite four. Rika was staring at the League building and the evident chaos going on underground. "Damn, that's nasty. Do I still have a job?"
"In a way," Geeta half-admitted. "But that's hardly important now. It's time."
"I was told that the students would be brought out of harm's way first," Hassel, the final man summoned protested. "The academy is still full of students."
"If we do our jobs correctly and what remains of the League does not act foolishly, then they will be safe," Geeta reassured him. "They are fools, not barbarians. The future of the region is the most important asset of our cabal, after all."
"Just so long as you haven't forgotten," Hassel muttered, donning a pair of gloves from his pockets.
The black gloves were adorned with a silver compass on one hand. Larry and Rika had already put on their gloves. Tulip frowned as the three of them looked to her expectantly. "Why couldn't you have found someone besides the brat to do this? Then I could have actually quit this stupid gig," Tulip complained, pulling out a single black glove and putting it on.
"It was your idea to have the strongest trainer in the region besides a sitting gym leader or League employee take your place when I asked you to procure a stand-in," Geeta responded simply. "If you didn't believe in our cause, then you should have spoken up a while ago."
"I feel I've been vocal enough," Tulip responded evenly, though she put her gloved hand out to meet that of the other three elite four members.
Geeta smiled approvingly, holding out her glove with a golden compass emblazoned on it over the outstretched hands of her subordinates to allow them to break up. "Everyone, I've called you here because the League has outlived its usefulness in this crisis. We've obtained a path into Area Zero to shut down what that monster Turo created twelve years ago and return Paldea to its rightful owners. This is our final mission as members of the elite four and as top champion. I expect the best from all of you. In turn, you will receive my best."
"Yes, La Primera," All four voices responded in unison with varying degrees of enthusiasm.
Satisfied, Geeta turned her attention back to the building. "How long until we can pull them out?"
"Give it a few minutes. They're running into problems," Tulip waved off, focusing her attention on the building as Larry filled Hassel and Rika in on what was happening. "If they're lucky, they might still make it out with something useful to us."
"You're talking like you can see what's going on. I'm the one waiting on a call," Larry reminded the psychic-type gym leader.
"And I'm the one telling you to hush and let the real trainers handle this," Tulip responded. "Now be patient. It's about time something entertaining happened in there."
"Get the hell away from me!" Penny protested, yanking her arm away from Arven. "You're the reason everything is going wrong, aren't you?!"
Arven hadn't expected to be rejected so fiercely by Penny of all people. Even her aggressive side was passive aggressive at best. "Don't make this difficult! I just need you to open your damn computer for a minute!"
"Then take it!" Penny cried, shoving her backpack into Arven's arms. "Everything's in there, so leave me alone, would you?!"
Arven glanced in the backpack. There were indeed what looked like the parts of a computer in there, but he had no hope of making any sense of it. "How about we back up to the part where this is Arven's fault?" Nemona announced, stepping between her two friends. "And how did you get in here, Arven?"
"Through the front door. In case you hadn't noticed, there's a monster on the loose," Arven half-joked, shoving the backpack back into Penny's hands. "I can't do anything with this. You need to unlock the computer in the lab."
A quick look at Nemona's pokémon should have prevented Arven from making that earlier comment. All of them were at least slightly singed, having been a little too close and personal to his partner. Arven spared a side glance at Nemona as Penny put her backpack on. The trainer didn't believe he was saying. She was right, but it still hurt. "I see you've been living up to your responsibilities," Arven commented idly.
"Why did she have your miraidon?" Nemona questioned, an order to attack hovering on the tip of her tongue.
"If she didn't, then someone would have died by now," Arven replied evenly. "Geeta would have done something more drastic if I didn't give her a simpler option. Let's walk and talk. How's the treasure hunt going?"
As Arven went to grab Penny's arm again, Nemona slapped his hand away. Penny shrank back behind the female trainer, her pokémon bristling at her side. It was twelve versus Arven, and the chef didn't like his odds even if he did manage to get his pokémon out and start a proper battle somehow. Time was short, but spending some of it was going to be necessary if he wanted to move past this point without using force. "Alright, fine. I let miraidon come down here so it could run wild for a bit and cause some confusion. I needed to get into the building to get access to the AI. Happy?"
"For what reason?"
Arven couldn't answer that. "It's my old man's creation, isn't it? If anyone should have a right to see where its head is at, it should be me. I want to know how it convinced Juliana to abandon us."
Penny scoffed, growing bold as the numbers appeared to be on her side. "That's not a good enough reason to attack the League directly. I would have gotten that information from the stupid thing if it had it. Either way, they won't let you act on your own after kicking out at their base directly. They'll hunt you down and-"
"Sounds like you put a lot of thought into what the League does to deserters," Arven noted. "Let me take a stab at why: you were trying to get out too, weren't you?"
Nemona wasted a second looking to Penny to see if she was telling the truth. If they were alone, Arven could have made a move, but Nemona's pokémon were watching him carefully. Arven focused on using psychology as his main weapon. "Yeah, why else would you have all that garbage hardware on you? You're as interested in working with the League as I am."
"And you left me stuck with them!" Penny protested, ignoring the look Nemona was giving her.
"You did that to yourself when you sided with them over Juliana and us," Arven countered, his voice becoming hard. "Nemona and I didn't have a choice, but you had no reason to get involved and screw over both sides. I'm only here to get what I need to go after Juliana. You can't access the core of the server without me anyways, right? Why else would you create that biometric sensor in the first place?"
Penny pursed her lips, looking away. Arven knew he was right. Penny could have left before this if she had any desire to do so. He'd seen what Team Star before the events of the past month could organize if they wanted to. Penny was here because she chose to be, which meant Arven had a case for her needing him. If she didn't then she wouldn't have panicked at his sudden arrival. "I'm not going to help you right after you just attacked the strongest people in the region," Nemona denied. "You don't know what letting a beast like that run wild is going to do. People could be killed!"
"Everyone will be killed if we don't act and it's going to be Juliana's fault," Arven countered. "And they won't. That beast is my partner. I just told it to run everyone around. More importantly, Juliana won't listen to reason anymore, so she needs to listen to us. Penny, if you're really still her friend, then you'll come help me. Then you can do whatever you want. I'll make sure you get out safe."
"Penny doesn't need to get out safe! She's safer here than anywhere you could take her!"
"You promise?" Penny asked tepidly, looking to Arven and shocking Nemona.
It took most of Arven's willpower to stay focused. He wasn't looking at an innocent here. If not for Penny's interference, Juliana wouldn't have mustered the manpower necessary to break into Area Zero and throw the key away behind her. Arven and the others wouldn't have been stopped from catching up to Juliana before it was too late. Sure, he'd helped Juliana out too, but that was before he understood what she was actually doing. Arven nodded, more to himself than Penny. He had no real desire to do Penny a favor, but if it sped up the process of him reaching his goal, he'd have to make the sacrifice. "I can at least get you away from the League. After that it's up to you."
Penny glanced back at the alarms blaring behind them. "Fine. If you cross me though-"
"Yes yes, painful death, I get it. Nemona, either come on or get out of our way. You have a student body to lead, don't you?"
Nemona didn't appreciate being treated like an afterthought. She jabbed a finger into Arven's chest, the boy failing to react with anything other than mild annoyance. "Listen here. I don't know if you recall, but Juliana turned her back on us. She's not going to suddenly listen to reason even if we track her down to Area Zero. Geeta has a plan, and as long as we do our best and follow her, then we-" The intercom blared to life to cut Nemona off.
"Attention employees. The wild legendary pokémon has been subdued. Top Champion Geeta has been identified as the source of the disturbance. If you see her, call for backup and apprehend her immediately. Larry and Tulip are also working with the Top Champion. I repeat-" The message began to repeat its contents, continuing on a loop that eventually cut itself off after three replays.
Arven sighed. He was nearly out of time. Without miraidon on distraction duty, the League would have a lot more questions if they thought to stop him. "I told you to help lead the people, to make sure that there was someone who could be followed to safety. Does that mean turning your back on the person you think is in the right?" Arven asked.
He was actually extremely grateful for the announcement from who he'd identified as Ms. Tyme. It was surreal to hear a teacher's voice over the intercom somewhere other than school, but he was more concerned about the message's content. The moment was lost on Nemona as well. "Geeta? That can't be right. Geeta wouldn't-"
"If you come with me now, I can show you that this isn't Geeta's fault," Arven suggested, interrupting once again to try and speed things up.
The trainer instead whirled on Arven. "Of course not, it's your fault! They think Geeta did it because you convinced her to bring your stupid future lizard into the League with her! If I bring you in, that'll clear everything up."
"It won't explain why she didn't come back," Arven countered. "Think about it. Geeta was just announced as a traitor on broadcast. It was also announced that miraidon was defeated. Geeta is the only one who could have done that this quickly. The others must have found miraidon, which means Geeta has fled. Wasting time trying to bring me in isn't going to bring Geeta back."
"You don't know that. This is all speculation on your part. For all we know Geeta is still trying to prove her innocence."
"Since when did you become her number 1 fan?" Penny questioned, scoffing as she moved from standing behind Nemona to standing near Arven. "Can't you find someone less insane to look up to?"
Nemona was tempted to reprimand Penny, but Arven held her attention instead. "I can't stop you from bringing me in, but I'd appreciate it if you let me get what I came here for first." A lie to give Nemona confidence that she was in control.
"There will be time for that after-"
"No there won't. Geeta's not in charge now. Even when she was in charge, she'd probably just as soon as gotten rid of me as helped me. Now they'll get rid of all of us. Ms. Tyme doesn't need someone challenging her authority."
Nemona tilted her head. "What does-"
"There's no time to explain this! We need to go before-"
Shouts came from the direction Nemona had come from. Arven tsked. He was out of time to convince the girls. He'd have to trust that they would hear him out for another minute or two. Startlingly, Penny was thinking along the same lines. "I'm done with them. No more friends are going down today. Come on!" Penny insisted, taking the lead and sprinting back the way she had come.
Arven followed without protest, startled to find that Nemona trailed shortly behind him. "I don't agree with you. But I want the truth too," Nemona explained without Arven asking her to. "So don't expect to walk out of here in one piece."
"Noted," Arven responded as he focused his attention on following Penny.
The young hacker was surprisingly spry, likely because of the adrenaline freedom's promise granted. Arven was glad she was leading, especially because he hadn't thought to recall the way back to the lab. Being in the middle of a bunch of pokémon also made it much easier for him to hide his presence. If anyone happened to be looking on one of the few working cameras, a glance would only show two League trainers following orders. Within a few minutes, the group had reached the lab again. Nemona stayed near the door while Penny and Arven made their way to the computer on the other side of the room. Penny input her password and made way for Arven to provide his biological signature. Without hesitation, Arven scanned himself into the computer. "Put your pokémon away. The tera energy for this is going to bother them," Arven instructed as he waited for the computer to acknowledge him.
Penny complied immediately, understanding what her PC was capable of. Nemona did the opposite, simply moving to casually block the door with her team while she waited for Arven to finish his task. The chef shrugged. It was worth a shot.
"Biometric scan complete. Hello, Arven."
"Put everything that only the professor had access to on two USBs," Arven ordered immediately.
"That would involve a potential breach of classified-"
"I don't care, do it!" Arven interrupted, casting glances toward the door. "Dad's gone, so your primary user should be me now. I have to fix what my father did!"
"As you wish," The AI spoke emotionlessly. Turo's personality was usually discarded when the owner was talking to it.
Within a moment, Arven had two USBs with the requested information. "What's on it?" Penny asked.
"The truth. It was in the shrines, but nobody noticed until the teraite started destroying everything. Nobody except my old man, that is. That old civilization that was here before modern Paldea? It was centered in Area Zero."
"Then the crater event happened, whole civilization destroyed, etcetera. I went to school too," Nemona snarked, making her way over to inspect Arven's prize.
"But it still exists," Arven continued without pause, pocketing the USBs before Nemona could get a good look. "That city is still around. And the tera phenomenon, everything we've seen up to this point has been caused by what's inside that city. Juliana went down there to get rid of it. I need to stop her."
Nemona tilted her head. "Wait, if you stop her, then what's going to happen to the region?"
"If we do nothing, the region will be destroyed. Am I wrong?"
"You are correct," The AI supplemented. "The professor did not want this information to be disclosed, Arven."
"My dad doesn't get a vote anymore. I'm taking care of this."
He'd pushed his luck a bit too far. Nemona blocked the exit, her pokémon flanking her. "No. That's far enough. No more vague answers. You hand over that USB now and come quietly, Arven."
"Hey, wait! He still needs to help me-" Penny tried to protest but was cut off by a wave of Arven's hand.
"Relax, I got this. You wanna battle that badly, Nemona? Fine. I'll show you exactly why you and I are right where we need to be. I'll deal with the problems, and you deal with the people. It's a recipe so simple that you could follow it."
Nemona had an excellent battle record against Arven. The chef was no pushover, but Nemona was literally on a different level. Arven's battle style was focused on overwhelming the opponent with numbers and tactics that were traditionally frowned upon in a normal battle. Taking down titan pokémon meant playing by their rules, not society's. He was used to working with larger teams and treated all of his pokémon like they were valuable assets that were worthy of his care rather than tools. Without that advantage, he would be stuck floundering around until Nemona finished him off. Even knowing all that, Nemona felt uneasy. There was something off from Arven now compared to Arven even a few weeks ago. He made no move to select a pokémon from his bag, nor did he appear concerned that Nemona's team still surrounded her. Penny's team had been recalled on Arven's order. Despite Penny giving Arven the option to even the odds, he'd chosen to put himself at a greater disadvantage. Instead, he stepped forward, holding out a hand. "Stand back," He warned Penny.
"What's wrong with you? Goodra!" Nemona ordered one of her pokémon forward.
"You're gonna wreck the lab…" Penny groused as she moved to stand behind Arven.
Arven and Nemona glared at each other around Goodra. "What's wrong? Having second thoughts?" Nemona taunted. "Say, what's our record again? 9 to 1? 10 to 1?"
"Zero to zero," Arven corrected, keeping his hand level at Goodra. "You fought my team many times, but you've never fought me."
Nemona raised an eyebrow, not understanding. "What, like a fist fight? Have you lost your mind?"
"Probably. But I know enough to deal with one trainer. I only need to be strong enough in this moment for you, so that's what I'll do."
The other two humans in the room finally noticed the faint glow coming from Arven's extended arm. Tera energy was gathering around it from the nearby equipment, crystallizing the very arm itself. It wasn't too far off from what had been described as happening to anyone who wandered into the quarantine zone, but Nemona and Penny recognized it as something else entirely. "Looks like the paradise protection protocol…" Penny muttered to herself. "But that's impossible. What did you do?"
"I claimed my inheritance," Arven responded before making a finger gun with his hand and firing a beam of energy at goodra.
The beam was too fast to dodge even if Goodra had been prepared for it. Instantly the pokémon convulsed, terastilization forced upon it from the point where Arven had made contact. "Goodra!" Nemona called out, but the pokémon was too busy fighting the spreading crystallization to respond.
After a few seconds, Goodra's vacuous body had been encased entirely in crystal. Nemona tried to get close, but another shot from Arven kept her at bay. "Don't touch it," Arven ordered. "You won't walk it off if you make contact." Tiny crystals formed and shattered for a few seconds at the point on the ground Arven had hit, disappearing when they failed to meet organic material.
The crystallization around goodra began to fracture, signs of life appearing as goodra fought valiantly against terastilization. Finally, the large tera crystal shattered, and goodra had terastilized into the dragon type. Arven clutched his arm, wincing as goodra roared in fury. "How did… no, never mind. Goodra, are you okay?" Nemona tried to approach again while Arven recovered.
"Fool! Get back!" Arven ordered just as goodra took a swing at Nemona with its tail.
Only lycanroc's instant reaction spared Nemona from being snapped in two. The swipe smashed the central computer in the lab and caused the lights to flicker in addition to knocking out lycanroc in a single swing. Goodra roared in rage again, eyes blindly sweeping the room for more threats to attack. Arven tsked as the crystalline form his arm had taken began to fracture and break apart. His arm remained after this process, but thin lines of what looked like tera crystals or tera energy running down the arm remained, signs that he hadn't quite shaken off the new look. "You should take it down if you value its life," Arven advised, using his good arm to pen a quick text on a phone. "Otherwise it'll tear your team apart."
"What's wrong, goodra?! It's me!" Nemona's pleas went unheard by Goodra, who proceeded to take another swing at the first thing that it could distinctly hear.
"Arven! What did you do?" Penny accused, seizing his good arm. "You're gonna kill her!"
"I already told you. I forced goodra into a rage by terastilizing it by force. Worked better than I thought it would, too. It's Nemona, she'll figure it out."
"But how? T-that stuff with your arm-"
Arven nodded back to the AI. "You don't know? I thought you and the scientist down here were focused entirely on this stuff. You're the one who kept throwing mercenaries into the quarantine zones, aren't you?"
Realization dawned on Penny's face. Nemona gave up talking to goodra and settled for beating it in battle. She found time to glare at Arven as he watched their bout without emotion. "Don't give me that look. I'm not dumb enough to fight you fairly. Shouldn't you have learned your lesson on that front by now? If you want to be helpful, or even know the truth, you'll do your job and keep the others out of this. I won't aim for your pokémon next time. Penny, on me." Arven placed a hand on Penny's shoulder. It was cold.
"Arven, wait!" Nemona yelled, sensing what was about to happen before it did.
A notification went off on the phone Arven had touched, and the two disappeared, leaving Nemona alone with Goodra and no way to follow them. The trainer cursed to herself. They'd slipped through her fingers again. Everyone she'd cared about was leaving. Being strong had been as useful as knowing the best thing to order at the treasure eatery. It was impressive exactly one time and generally useless otherwise. That strength was even being used against her. Nemona sighed. This wasn't over. She would chase those two down if it killed her. If she had to move the whole region to do so, so be it. Oddly confident, Nemona brought her remaining four pokémon to her side with a wave of her hand. "Goodra, you need to calm down. We have a job to do."
Arven and Penny appeared on a familiar hill surrounded by the five strongest trainers in the region. "Took you long enough," Larry complained, the only person present sitting.
"Someone decided to send me down a path that had the largest inconvenience possible," Arven countered. "You could have at least warned me that Nemona was running around down there."
"And yet you prevailed, I presume?" Geeta asked.
Arven shrugged, pulling one USB out and tossing it to Geeta. "I did my part. You hold up your end of the bargain."
"You're free from any obligations in our book," Rika informed him. "But I doubt that you have any intention of letting this go now."
"What choice do I have? My dad and you all made me into a monster. I can't let him do the same thing to the rest of the region. The least I can do is fix his mistake."
"So much trouble just to produce a suitable native Paldean…" Geeta mused, placing a hand to her chin as she pocketed the USB with the other hand. "But I could feel it. You mastered the ability, did you not?"
Arven flexed his bad hand and winced. "Mastered is a strong word. I can use it. That's all that matters, isn't it?"
"We will see. Let's meet again in Area Zero, Arven. Juliana's life depends on it."
"And most of the region," Tulip added helpfully. "Don't forget them."
"I'm surprised you're trusting me to just give you what I said I would," Arven admitted as he searched his pack for a pokéball. "You could have prevented a lot of hassle by taking action sooner."
"If I had it my way, action would never have been needed," Geeta corrected. "Your friend saw to that."
"What's going on?! You said that you were helping me get out!" Penny objected, finally recognizing what was happening. "Since when are you friends with Geeta."
"I did help you. You're out, congrats," Arven congratulated sarcastically. "Feel free to go wherever you want. La Primera and I aren't friends. But I needed to know how to use this power and she needed my biometric information. It was a fair trade. I saved her boyfriend's butt, so she's the one who owes me one. Speaking of that, I don't suppose you salvaged my pokémon?" Larry didn't react to the moniker, but he did rub the spot on his arm where the poison had first infiltrated his body idly. Arven got the impression he wasn't close to 100%, which was unfortunate given what was about to be demanded of him.
Geeta sighed. "Perhaps with some warning, I could have. But that was not possible. How were you planning your egress from the League if Tulip hadn't helped you out?"
Arven shook his head. "You would have done that anyway to get your hands on that USB. How about this: make it up to me by giving me a lift to the Academy. I have a few things to pick up before I make my way into Area Zero."
"I'm not a taxi," Tulip complained.
"We needed to go there anyways," Hassel pointed out. "If we're making the trip, I need to set up lesson plans to be used in my absence. Better yet, evacuation routes."
"Always comes back to business in the end," Larry muttered, not looking to any of the people on the hill and instead gazing out at the League Building. "Let's go if we're going to reconvene elsewhere. They won't restrict their search to the interior forever."
Arven returned his attention to Penny. "So that's how it is. What are you going to do?"
"What are you going to do?" Penny shot right back. "Colress and I spent the better part of a month getting information from that AI. It never said anything about alternate entrances to Area Zero!"
The chef had to stop himself from sighing rudely. "Like I said, biometric info. My old man was paranoid. No amount of poking around would have led you to the right answer."
"Then why did you leave me behind?! You left Nemona behind so she could lead the students, to help them feel safe. Why did you abandon me?"
Arven shook his head. "I didn't abandon anybody. You both chose to stay and abandon Juliana. If I hadn't learned about what my dad did to me and this region, I wouldn't be here. I have friends in this region worth protecting. You clearly can't say the same." The chef turned to face Geeta, leaving a conflicted Penny behind. "I'm going to go into Area Zero and fix the mistake my dad made. If there's time, I'll prevent Juliana from throwing her life away. You can owe me one for that. I don't expect you to come with me, so don't. Go run away with your boyfriend or whatever."
Penny grit her teeth. Arven's words were having the opposite intended effect. Geeta's bemused smile was Arven's first indication that something was wrong. As he turned back to Penny, he received a slap in the face. "I have no intention of following you anywhere. And I'm sick of working for the League. Geeta, you're out here, so you're working against the league now, right?"
Geeta tilted her head, her expression becoming neutral instantly as Arven rubbed his face. "I am the League. Right now, the people on this hill are the only remaining active members of the Paldea League."
Penny shrugged. "That's good enough. Take me with you. I have a duty to fulfill while I'm here."
Geeta allowed a faint smile to play at her lips. This wasn't the development Arven wanted. Giving Geeta any leeway when Arven didn't have a favor to hold over her was dangerous. "If that is what you want, I won't stop you. But this will not be a mission we all expect to return from."
"You're on the side of the region, right?" Penny asked for clarification to Geeta's nod. "Good. That's fine. I don't care about that, but if you're going down to Area Zero, then I am too. My friends are down there."
Arven was impressed and annoyed at how quickly Penny's spine had grown. He was also disappointed that Penny still considered Juliana and the others her friends. It would make explaining what happened to Atticus all the more difficult if they made it back alive. She should leave the region with Ortega while she has the chance. The power to make that happen was in Arven's hands; he could stop her. But doing that would make him no better than the monster he was fighting. In the end, Arven let the deal be struck, Geeta and Penny shaking hands amicably right in front of Arven. "In that case, I'll figure it out on my own," Arven decided, stepping away before his emotions betrayed him. "You still owe me a favor, Geeta. Until I call for it, have fun everyone, I've got a partner to retrieve. Let's do this again sometime." He walked off in the direction of the Paldea League building, nobody moving to stop him.
Geeta allowed him to leave, folding her arms and shaking her head at Larry's attempt to rise. They didn't need to rein him in just yet. "What was that power he was using back there?" Penny asked as soon as Arven was out of earshot. "Is it really okay to let him go back? How are we going to stop the region from collapsing? Is everything Turo's fault? Are Juliana and the others going to be okay? I can't help you if you're going to-"
Penny's barrage of questions was interrupted by Geeta raising her hand. "I will answer your queries in due time, which we have very little of, Penny. Rest assured that we seek the same outcome. Your friends and this region will live. That is the reason the Paldea League was created, and that is the reason why I was born." The entire elite four nodded or acknowledged Geeta's proclamation in some way, though the sentiment was lost on the former leader of Team Star. Sweeping her hand out regardless, Geeta motioned toward Uva Academy. "Now, come, Penny. You will witness and learn what it actually takes to save a region."