Chapter 28: Importing Respite

The afternoon that the ship had docked and for the most part, everyone on board had left the ship and were relieved to finally be at their destination safely, except for one person. On the bridge of the ship, Lan was in a video call with Looker and Anabell explaining the encounter to them. "... and that is the summary of what happened yesterday." Lan finished as he waited for the two to say something.

"Thank you for your report Lan. First let me say extend my apologies that I couldn't spare any agents on such quick notice. I know there probably wasn't much we could have done in this case, but it still makes me upset that we couldn't do anything." Anabell told Lan.

"Don't worry about it too much, we handled it pretty well all things considered." Lan said.

"Still, it's good to keep this in mind. Also, regarding the matter of what you think Neo Cypher is after, we're pretty sure that is the case. The info we've been able to comb through suggests that Melody is definitely their target, but we haven't been able to piece together why yet." Looker commented.

"Hibiki seems to have a theory that Melody might be one of the keys to purifying the hearts of Shadow Pokemon. It would make sense why they would want her so badly, but that also raises some questions as to if they intend to take her alive given they attempted to blow up my ship." Lan said.

"That would make sense given that we don't have access to the Shadow Purification System. Any method to Purify Shadow Pokemon would be something they want to squash given their past experience, doubly so if one of them was one of the original members." Anabell responded. There was a silence that hung over the group before Lan sighed and thought about something that had been in the back of his mind.

"Ok, so given that this was a thing that happened, there's a question that I want to ask you two. What were you two thinking, making Hibiki and Echo agents basically almost immediately? I get it, we're low on staff, but was it necessary?" Lan questioned. Looker and Anabell were silent on the other end of the call as they thought of what to say.

"Well… would you be surprised if we told you that Symphia suggested us as much? Of course it's not the only reason, but it is probably the major reason that made us consider it." Looker questioned.

"No, no I would not be. God that woman, I eternally respect her, but she always walked to the beat of her own drum. " Lan responded, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"You're entirely right and we were against it, but she seemed so adamant about it. She knew her grandkids would follow in her footsteps, wanting to become agents like her, but I also wondered if she knew that she was in too deep." Anabell said.

"Knowing her, I wouldn't put it past her if she realized what she was getting into, but didn't want others to get involved initially." Lan said, putting a hand to his chin.

"That would be like her. So, I imagine that they're going to challenge your gym tomorrow?" Anabell asked.

"They should be planning on that, yes. When is the Profesor planning on arriving again?" Lan responded.

"Tomorrow afternoon, hopefully nothing happens on the way, but knowing Neo Cypher it's always good to be prepared." Looker said.

"Ok, I'll let them know that. Anything else you want me to pass along?" Lan questioned.

"Just let them know to be careful. If their last attack is anything to go by, Neo Cypher is stepping up their game." Anabell said.

"Roger, I'll report to you two when they leave town." Lan told the two. Looker and Anabell both nodded before they logged off of the meeting, leaving Lan alone on the bridge. Lan immediately sighed and stretched as he mulled over some things in his mind, looking out at Export Harbor. "Sorry for wrapping your grandkids in all of this Symphia. I know you probably saw this coming, but that still doesn't make me feel better about it." Lan thought to himself. He then turned off the computer he was using before leaving the bridge to take some time to relax.

At a nearby Pokemon Center, Allegro and Sigma were both chilling as they waited for their Pokemon to be taken care of. "Man, that was a trip." Sigma said as stretched.

"I'll say, I didn't expect it to be as hectic as it was, even if most of that was Neo Cypher's fault." Allegro responded.

"Ugh, I can't believe that they went that far." Sigma commented in a disgusted tone.

"Not exactly fond of seeing your old 'employer' go to such lengths?" Allegro asked.

"Not in the slightest. I know that Neo Cypher isn't innocent by any means and I was still disgusted by my time there, but it's where I spent the past four years of my life and it just feels a little wrong to see them do that." SIgma told Allegro, leaning against the wall.

"That I can totally understand. Spending four years of your life doing something that you think will make the world a better place, only to find out that said organization is actually bad can be a thing to come to terms with." Allegro said.

"Huh, you sound like you know what you're talking about." Sigma commented.

"Well, when you've been a part of the IPP for as long as I have, 12 years if you're curious, you've blended into your fair share of evil organizations and can understand what the people that follow them are like." Allegro elaborated, a small smile on his face. Sigma was going to say something when the two heard their names being called by Nurse Joy. They both walked over and grabbed their Pokeball before exiting the center.

"You want to continue this somewhere more comfortable?" Sigma asked. Allegro was about to retort when he heard his stomach grumble, making Sigma chuckle a bit.

"If you don't mind eating, I would suggest a cafe." Allegro said, rubbing the back of his head. Sigma simply nodded and the two walked over to a cafe, sitting down after ordering food to eat.

"Anyway, back to the conversation we were having earlier. I'm curious about what organizations you've infiltrated and the kinds of people you've met." Sigma inquired.

"Piqued your interest, have I? Well, it's mostly the ones you would expect like Team Rocket in Kanto, Team Aqua in Hoenn, and Team Flare in Kalos, though there are a few odd ones that I've visited. Overall for the people I've met in those teams, it's a mix of people not knowing what they signed up for, a few I helped leave when I could, and those who did agree with the end goal of the leader." Allegro elaborated.

"Yeah that is… a lot of experience if you've been all over the world. I can only imagine the people you've encountered and how strong they were in their beliefs as well as the people you helped get out of those places." Sigam said.

"Yep, I take it that you're curious because of your own situation?" Allegro questioned.

"Right on the money. Truth be told, and don't tell this to the others, I'm still really unsure of what I want to do after all this is over. Like yes, I am going to help take down Neo Cypher, especially after they tried to bomb a cruise ship, but I just feel so lost." Sigma said, a bit of fear in his voice.

"If it's worth anything, I could put in a good word for you at the IPP. We're always looking for new agents to cover the world." Allegro said, putting a hand on Sigma's shoulder. Sigma nodded as the two sat in silence for a moment, unsure of where to take the conversation before Sigma spoke up

"All right I'm curious, you mentioned a few odd organizations that you joined?" Sigma asked. Allegro sighed as he thought about what was going to say, only being interrupted when they got their food.

"Ok I need to preface this with the fact that not every team is bad, we just send agents to look after them just in case. While I could say some of the weirder ones, the one I'm telling you about is probably the most tame of the bunch." Allegro told Sigma.

"Oh boy, this sounds like it's going to be a treat." Sigma said as he started to eat.

"This team was one stationed in the Lyriody region, a region to the northwest of Unova. It's relatively remote focused on music and actually is kind of peaceful, but there is a group of troublemakers there with their own… unique brand of following. They call themselves Team Requiem from what I remember." Allegro started.

"Judging by the name alone, I'm going to guess they want to take over the region with music or something like that." Sigma said.

"No, they follow the whims of and worship a dead guy." Allegro told Sigma. Sigma nearly choked on his food when he heard that, but he managed to recover as Allegro laughed at the event.

"What do you mean they worship a dead guy?" Sigma asked, his voice a tad cracked.

"So, the team is more of a small religion or cult. The members seem to really think that their lives would be better if they follow this Specter, though I don't remember their name off the top of my head." Allegro explained.

"Ok, I thought you meant like an actual spirit." Sigma said. SIgma proceeded to take a sip of his drink and looked over at Allegro who was just glancing to his left and right, making Sigma realize what he had just said. "Somehow I'm not surprised that I guessed that right given what I've been through recently." Sigma said, a bit of surprise in his voice.

"Yeah you imagine how surprised I was to learn that they were actually following a ghost. I have no clue what they are planning, but it honestly didn't seem like they were doing anything big crime wise. I think the biggest thing that they did while I was there was disrupt a big concert that was happening in the region and from what I've heard, they're basically still up to the same tricks." Allegro continued.

"It's good to know that not every "bad" team out there is trying to take over the world or steal pokemon. I take it the reason you're keeping tabs on them is because of that spirit?" Sigma said.

"Entirely because of the spirit, mainly so we know if anything big happens as we don't trust that in the slightest." Allegro said. Sigma simply nodded as the two continued to eat their food and thought about what they just talked about.

"Hey Allegro? Thanks for humoring me with the conversation." Sigma said, a bit of a grateful tone in his voice.

"No problem, I can tell that you're a bit lost at the moment and I'm more than happy to help guide you. Just make sure to keep an eye on Hibiki and Echo, I really don't want anything bad to happen to those two." Allegro responded. Sigma simply nodded as the two finished eating and continued to hang out for the rest of the day.

With Echo and Cherry…

Echo was typing away at her laptop as Cherry was doing the same, both going over details and data about what had happened over the last few days. "God, this escalated very quickly and Neo Cypher was very bold about that last plan of theirs." Echo said, still a bit in shock over the past few days.

"You can definitely say that again. Attempting to blow up a ship is a hell of a backup plan from capturing someone." Cherry told Echo.

"It makes me wonder if they're actually attempting to capture Melody alive or not." Echo commented.

"I do want to continue that line of thinking, but real quick, where are Melody and Hibiki?" Cherry asked. Echo pointed to the window in response, making Cherry turn to see Hibiki leaning on a nearby rooftop talking with Melody. "...I'm somehow not even surprised about that." Cherry said with a sigh.

"The fact that she does it regularly is amazing to me." Echo said.

"Yeah, anyway, you had a theory to talk with me about?" Cherry questioned.

"Right. Well, the theory that I have is what I said earlier, I don't think that the Neo Cypher is actually trying to keep Melody alive. I believe that they would like to capture her alive because of course they would, but I honestly think they would prefer her dead." Echo told Cherry.

"Is it mainly the bombs that made you come up with that theory? THat seems a bit odd for such a jump, but I can see why you would think that." Cherry said.

"You might be right, but it just seems weird to me. Yeah they could just easily have bombed the ship to make a threat, but having interacted with Sly, I really think they had another plan in place before she went a little crazy." Echo told Cherry. Cherry was silent as she tossed the idea around in her mind for a bit.

"When you put it like that, I can kind of see where you're coming from. If you don't mind humoring me for a bit, what do you exactly think their plan was?" Cherry questioned.

"That is relatively simple, from what the other passengers told me when I talked to a few of them, the grunts all came into their rooms specifically looking for Hibiki. They were told to stay in their cabins or else they would get hurt and just left in their rooms. If they were planning to use the bombs the whole time, wouldn't they just activate them once they started, keep the other passengers corralled, and demand that Hibiki hand over Melody?" Echo theorized. Cherry let that idea sink in for a moment before tilting her head a bit.

"Yeah that does seem a bit weird. That also brings up the question of what their plan was, but that can be found out from the grunts we caught." Cherry said.

"True, but this makes me think about something that I've had on my mind for a while and it's probably something you can guess." Echo told Cherry with a sigh.

"What exactly are they doing at Neo Cypher, right?" Cherry responded. Echo responded with an affirmative nod before sighing and leaning back in her chair.

"The goal of Neo Cypher is very obvious: create an army of Shadow Pokemon and take over the world. What has me confused is how they were able to create so many Shadow Pokemon and distribute them in a short time. I get that they've been capturing a lot of Pokemon from all over, but they were defeated and disbanded 15 years ago yet have reformed fairly fast with a pretty sizable army of grunts." Echo rambled.

"Yeah I get where you're coming from. If they reformed immediately, it would take a few years to gather people to their cause and then even longer to capture Pokemon. I can also tell you that if they are still using the same methods, it should take a good month to produce a batch of about 6 Shadow Pokemon and that's if it goes well. Of course not all Pokemon are the same and some are harder to break in than others, so the time of conversion ends up being about two to three months. Normally that would make sense, but that isn't what happened." Cherry said.

"Exactly, what you just described is what a normal organization would do. From what I can tell and from what Sigma has told us, they only reappeared about 7 years ago. For Neo Cypher to have gotten a relatively big army, at least big enough to be confident enough to take over the region where the IPP Headquarters is located, and a good amount of shadow Pokemon for that army in 7 years using the methods we know is a bit much to believe." Echo told Cherry.

"Do you think we have enough info to make a good guess as to why that might be?" Cherry asked. Echo was quiet for a moment before sitting up straight in her chair and turning to Cherry.

"Being honest, we probably do. However, I would like to throw some ideas about this around with Professor Michael when we meet up with him." Echo responded.

"Fair enough, he's dealt with them before and might have some insights on what attacks we might do." Cherry commented. The two went silent as they wondered if anything else needed to be said before Echo turned her head to the open window with Cherry doing the same. They looked and saw Hibiki and Melody both laughing, having a good time as they relaxed and talked. "Good to see those two are having a good time." Cherry said with a smile.

"Yeah, though I can't help but worry for them." Echo said, a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Judging by that tone, I take it you feel more than a bit worried about your sister." Cherry observed.

"Yep, and can you blame me? The two of us have been together all our lives and having seen how she was after Grandma Symphia died, I was more than worried for our journey. Color me surprised when she told us about Melody and suddenly having a mythical Pokemon on her team. As you can imagine, I felt more than a bit worried about her and that feeling has only grown on this journey." Echo told Cherry.

"Yeah I can imagine how you feel, what with all that has happened and Neo Cypher targeting her." Cherry commented, rubbing the back of her head.

"I'm terrified that she is going to end up like Grandma. It might be a bit unfounded as their situations aren't the same, but seeing the danger that Hibiki is ending up in doesn't help me in that regard. I suppose I might be worrying a bit too much but still… I don't want to see that happen again." Echo said, shaking a bit as she spoke. Cherry sighed as she thought about what to say to Echo before walking over to the bed and sitting at the edge of it.

"Ok, I'm not the best with words or consoling, but if you don't mind listening to what I have to say, I can probably say something to reassure you." Cherry told Echo. Echo was silent before simply nodding, signaling for Cherry to continue. "Well, I really can't relate with how you feel with me not having, but I also understand at least some of what you're going through. Back when I was in Cypher, there was an incident where some of the Shadow Pokemon we were indoctrinating had escaped. The grunts, myself included, and executives there at the time were tasked with capturing them and to keep it short, it went badly. Of the people there, a few came out fine, but most were injured and… my sister was critically injured." Cherry said, hesitating on that last part.

"What?" Echo said, immediately looking at Cherry with shock on her face.

"I wasn't paying attention and one of the rampaging Pokemon, I think it was an Absol, managed to get close enough to slash me. At the last moment, Lovrina tackled me out of the way and took the attack that was meant for me. The wound was deep and she would have died if we didn't respond nearly as fast as we did. It happened so fast that I almost didn't believe it had happened at all, even to this day." Cherry continued. Echo stayed quiet, unsure of how to respond to the information she just learned.

"I asked her why she did it after the fact and she told me that she didn't want to see me die. The two of us were never really on the best of terms before, so you can imagine that this came as a surprise to me. After that, I took some time off to better understand myself and what my sister means for me before coming back to help her with her work. We grew closer after the incident, staying close to Lovrina to ensure that she was recovering and to protect her." Cherry finished. There was a moment of silence between the two before Cherry blushed and rubbed the back of her head.

"Sorry for the ramble, but like I said I'm not the best at this kind of thing. I suppose what I'm trying to say is that even if you worry about her, she's probably worrying about you too. You both love each other and want to keep each other safe, but you should also know what limits you two have and respect those while making sure nothing happens to either of you." Cherry told Echo, in a somewhat embarrassed tone.

"It's fine, I do kind of understand what you were trying to tell me. Still wild that happened to you and you ended up becoming a Pokemon Professor." Echo responded.

"Yeah, I'm still a bit surprised that I ended up with this job. Still, if it's a means of repent for what I've done in the past, I'm more than happy to keep this up for as long as possible." Cherry said. Echo sat up from the bed before sitting next to Cherry.

"Thanks for the talk Professor, I really appreciate it." Echo said.

"No problem, I am supposed to watch after you after all." Cherry responded with a smile. The two kept talking for a while before Hibiki walked back in and they all left to go eat.

At the same time, with Hibiki and Melody…

Hibiki was silently sitting on a nearby rooftop, with permission from the owner of the building, while Melody just sat on the edge looking at her. "So, you wanted to speak with me alone?" Melody asked Hibiki.

"Kind of, I just wanted some time alone and remembered something I wanted to ask you." Hibiki responded, a hint of exhaustion in her voice. Melody was silent as she noted the exhaustion before floating over to Hibiki.

"I take it that what you want to ask me is about something else entirely, but I can tell that you're tired and just want to talk." Melody commented.

"Well, not wrong on that part. It's just been very hectic the past few days and… I've been thinking about things." Hibiki told Melody.

"About everything that's happened?" Melody questioned.

"Yep, something that has become fairly common for me recently. However, this last attack by them has given me pause." Hibiki said as she sat up. Melody stayed silent, not really having a response, as Hibiki looked at the bird Pokemon flying about. "I honestly thought that Neo Cypher would just keep coming after me in relatively small ways, still big in retrospect, but harmless aside from hostages and the like. In a sense, what they did on the ship was basically that, but at the same time was a massive escalation… and I can't help but keep thinking about how I endangered the people around me." Hibiki explained, her voice getting quiet at the end.

"You aren't and you know that. It's me that they want, after all." Melody retorted.

"You're correct, but everytime I tell myself that, I just can't fully accept that. I just wanted a Pokemon journey I could remember, yet I took on a massive responsibility by wanting to protect you. I know that it's you that they're after, but I'll be damned if they get to you easily." Hibiki responded.

"I suppose that makes some sense to me given how long I've known you and what you do. Man, humans are weird." Melody said.

"Agreed, I've been living with them all my life and I still don't understand us fully." Hibiki said, her tone taking a tad half joking mood. Melody chuckled at that as Hibiki looked at her, a hint of tears in her eyes as she looked down at herself. "I'm just worried that everything is going to go bad and… I'm not going to have a sister anymore." Hibiki said as her voice cracked. Melody was quiet, a bit unsure about how to respond other than putting a hand on Hibiki's shoulder before remembering something.

"...Hibiki …friend …good person." Melody told Hibiki.

"Of course I am, but how go-" Hibiki started to say when she realized that the voice wasn't coming from her mind. She slowly looked at Melody, who was blushing as she massaged her throat and spoke aloud.

"... don't be sad… my friend…" Melody said awkwardly. Hibiki was silent as the sadness left her mind as she proceeded to process what she had just witnessed/heard. As Melody coughed to clear her throat, she noticed Hibiki start to go cross eyed and she swears she heard gears grinding against each other in her head. "Hibiki, are you ok?" Melody asked mentally. After she got no response, she paused for a moment before getting a small grin on her face as she floated to Hibiki's belly and blew a Raspberry into it.

"Melody! Why did you do that?!" Hibiki screeched out of surprise and laughter, breaking her train of thought.

"Because…" Melody said aloud before doing it again. Hibiki laughed at the odd feeling again, her previous worries gone, as the two laughed at the absurdity of the situation. After a minute of this, the two laid down next to each other breathing in as they calmed down.

"...You didn't have to do that to make me feel better, but I appreciate it." Hibiki said with a smile on her face.

"... You friend… all I need…" Melody told Hibiki.

"Ok, when did you learn to do that? I didn't even know that Pokemon could speak our language aside from communicating mentally via Psychic powers." Hibiki asked, still a bit surprised about the development.

"I always thought that too, but being on the ship ride over, I decided to see if I could do it. The answer turned out to be yes, but it is also very simplistic at the moment. I've also learned Pokemon aren't supposed to speak the human language as it was difficult to learn to speak the worlds that I do know and the only reason I think I'm able to try it is cause of you." Melody told Hibiki.

"I'm surprised you decided to do that, but you don't see me complaining. Learning to hear my Pokemon properly speak to me is going to be weird." Hibiki commented.

"Happy to hear you approve of this, though let's keep this a secret from the others for now. I would like to be able to talk with them, but this is something I want to get better at first and it would seem weird if you had a talking Pokemon with you. Anyway, you had a question for me?" Melody responded.

"...Oh right." Hibiki said as she sat up and reached into her bag. After a bit of searching, she pulled out her grandmother's journal and began to flip through it.

"Your grandmother's journal?" Melody asked, raising an "eyebrow".

"Yeah, I've been infatuated with this thing ever since I got it. It has a lot of stuff like music she wrote and places she visited, but there was one entry that got my attention when I was looking through it initially." Hibiki told Melody. Melody tilted her head as Hibiki found the page and showed it to her. The page in question had a hand-drawn map of eastern Alaria with various notes on it, some notes pointing out places of interest, and a picture of an open-air cave with a stone slab in the middle depicting a Meloetta and a human with waves between them and writing in Unknown letters underneath.

"What is this?" Melody questioned, a bit intrigued by what she was seeing.

"From what grandmother wrote about, it's a cave she found when exploring Eastern Alaria. She didn't explain the specifics in the page, but she apparently was looking for this cave at the request of one of the local villages." Hibiki told Melody.

"People actually live in Eastern Alaria?" Melody asked.

"Yeah they do, though they don't have as much technology as Western Alaria. They get by living off the land as much as possible and only coming to Western Alaria when they need to trade. I've always wanted to try living there for like a week just to see what it's like." Hibiki responded. Melody nodded and grabbed the book from Hibiki's hands with her telekinesis before reading through the entry herself.

"Entry Log: The Singing Cavern

Well in all my travels, I never expected to find this structure in Eastern Alaria. I had originally come to the caves before this on a request to mine crystals and when I had completed that job, they had told me about this little cavern deep in the cave. Took a bit of time and I see why they told me about this place, it's both gorgeous and mysterious. As for the slab, seen in the attached picture, this is what interests me the most. The Unown inscription reads: "When harmony is achieved, another power will awaken and unison will be yours." Off the top of my head and given what the slab depicts, I'm positive this has to do something with Meloetta and humans, but I'm not sure what. I'll have to look into this more when I get back home when I can as it's almost time for the Pokemon League."

As Melody finished reading the entry, her mind thought back to home and the various legendes that she had been told about. "So, does it remind you of anything you've been told?" Hibiki inquired.

"There was a small tale that I was told as a kid that I still vaguely remember that sounds similar to this, but I'm not sure." Melody responded.

"Eh, I could use a story to pass the time a bit." Hibiki said with a smile. Melody sighed at that but simply returned that smile as she began to recall the story.

"Ok, now like I said I only vaguely remember this tale, more so the broad strokes, but it went something like this. There was a Meloetta who had lost her voice and she was just about to give up hope, a hope came in the form of a human trainer. Together, they explored the region and overcame various obstacles set in their path, learning more about each other as they went on. Eventually, the Meloetta managed to get her voice back and the two remained friends their whole lives. That's as much as I can remember myself, sorry I wasn't much help with this." Melody went on.

"That was more than enough, I appreciate you remembering that for me." Hibiki told Melody. Melody smiled at that comment and was going to say something when the two both heard Hibiki's stomach growl. "Oh, I guess we have been relaxing here for like an hour." Hibiki said as she rubbed the back of her head.

"Yeah we have, man where did the time go?" Melody said.

"A question that I eternally ask myself. Anyway, I am going to go with the others to grab something to eat. Do you want to keep relaxing here?" Hibiki asked as she got out Melody's Pokeball.

"I think I'm good staying out here for now. Don't worry, I'll stay hidden." Melody said.

"Ok, well just head back to the room when you can." Hibiki told Melody as she turned to leave. Melody nodded and waved goodbye as Hibiki jumped off the roof and entered the hotel. Now alone, Melody sighed as she sat on the edge of the roof and looked to the afternoon sky.

"Still, I wonder how much longer this relative calm will last. Like she said, they are willing to go to some lengths to get to me and if that means threatening lives, they will do it. I know she is doing her best to protect me, but I can't risk her life if it comes to it. I… need to think about contingencies." Melody thought to herself. Melody then began to think about things and hummed her Relic Song to help herself focus on her thoughts. "I will prove myself… I will prove myself…" Melody repeated. Eventually, Melody returned to the room after the others had left and proceeded to think in silence.