After Anabel knows where Red is, she decides to pay him a visit.
It didn't take a lot of time for Anabel to reach the room of Red as it was just a floor below. However, the nurse was hesitant in telling her where Red currently rested, since the champion of Kanto requested if it was possible for his stay to remain a secret, but knowing he was talking with an officer, and one from the International Police no less, there wasn't much to do but abide by her request.
Now, Anabel stood in front of the door, then walked to the side to see what Red was doing through the glass, and saw him eating bread and drinking from a cup while he looked at his phone. It was the first time she saw him in person, a charming man with long strands of dark hair and crimson colored eyes, his skin a little tanned by the sun, yet she noted that his left arm and some parts of his body were bandaged, wounds definitely caused by the Ultra Beast.
"Miss Anabel," the nurse said and her focus redirects towards him. "I'll let him know that a visit is coming."
Anabel just nodded and waited outside, but only for a short moment, as the man let the door open for her. The officer walked in casually, and those red eyes instantly lay upon her, eyes that shine by the faint rays of sunlight entering through the other window. They were unique and eccentric, a wonder to see.
"You may be asking yourself who I am and why I am here," her hands gather behind her back and walks closer to the patient, who had a perplexed look and his right hand placed the cup over a small table. "I am Anabel, from the International Police and a member of the investigation of Ultra Beasts in the region." Thankfully, there was a chair here as well, which she used to sit down on since she was still tired from the previous encounter "I am pleased to meet you, champion Red."
His face showed confusion and fear the moment she mentioned the International police, making her wonder if he believed having committed a crime, but when she mentioned the Ultra Beasts, it changed into a perplexed expression, unaware completely what those were. His lips curled into a soft smile as she finished talking.
"So, I am not going to prison, right?" He chuckles and scratches the back of his head. "I share the same feeling, Anabel, nice to meet you too."
"Not at all," she smiles softly. "I have come here because I was told you were attacked by an Ultra Beast. Is that correct?"
"I don't know what… an Ultra Beast is." His face becomes grim, remembering that terrible day and looks down to see his arm. "But it must be the Pokemon I met the other day."
"I strayed on the beach because I wanted to reach a place with less people, to explore and take photographs of the local wild Pokemon and natural wonders." He groans softly. "Continuing with my path, I stumbled upon a rockery, and curious to see what was beyond, I decided to climb." He pauses briefly. "What I found there was a… weird Pokemon. It had long and thin legs, hair that resembled a shell, two antennae and was white with golden trims." Another pause. "Pikachu and I looked at it with awe, and when I looked for my camera, I almost tripped over and then I saw it wasn't there. A few seconds later, as I blinked again, I was flying in the sky."
Anabel was attentive to his story, and his description completely fit with Pheromosa.
"That what an Ultra Beast is," she noticed the door was still open, and with a small psykinetic push, Anabel pushes the door and gets closed. "And a dangerous one I must say."
"Are you a psychic? That is great!" He couldn't contain himself by mentioning that. "Apparently I have this tendency to encounter more psychics."
"Really?" Her brows raise in curiosity.
"Yep, I have met two before: Sabrina from Kanto and Caitlin from Unova."
"Ah, yes, I heard from them before, quite talented and powerful they are." Hearing those names makes her remember about them, of how they were prominent strong psychic users.
"Indeed…" he pauses shortly. "and after the attack of the Ultra Beast, I landed on the ground, and sadly, also over a small rock, a rock that caused one of my ribs to break." Anabel winces at the mention of the accident, and it didn't help him raise his shirt to show more bandages around his chest. "Good thing Chansey and Blissey can do wonders."
"I can relate." Her features relax and laughs very softly. "I also had my stays in hospitals before. And continuing to the main topic, there is a lot to explain, and what you will hear must not be told to anybody." He nods in silence. "So, about these Ultra Beasts, the one you encountered is called Pheromosa, or UB-Beauty, and perhaps is the least odd looking of them, the other ones we have sighted on are a lot more weirder."
"So, they aren't Pokemon?" His head tilts to the right. "Considering you keep calling them Ultra Beasts."
"There was some debate at first between my institution and scientists, but it was agreed that they aren't, as they aren't native to this world."
"Deoxys isn't either, but the scientists I know classified it as one."
Her eyes expand slightly with surprise. "Do you know the existence of Deoxys? Oh my, you champions are surrounded with a lot of intrigue and tales of heroism."
"It takes more than battling to become a champion, I just learned that through experience and the hard way." He laughed softly, but it was an uncomfortable laughter, that event not so pleasant to remember. "But yes, I met that years ago, and I tried to catch it with a Pokeball. The first time I succeeded but Deoxys broke free, then all other attempts were useless as it broke them with its psychic powers." Red rubs his eyes. "I guess you already tried capturing them with Pokeballs."
"Yes, and we have failed at that too, but there is a good reason why." Her fingers intertwined over her lap. "The Ultra Beasts are different as they do not come from space or another celestial body, but from another dimension. Their genetic code is completely incompatible with our Pokeballs."
That was indeed quite the surprise for Red, trying to fathom what the officer told him and provoking more questions than answers. "And why are they coming to our world?"
"That is something I cannot answer," Anabel sighs and closes her eyes briefly. "not because I don't want to, but because we do not know. We captured two of them through sheer force, yet any experiment we make, it doesn't bear any results., almost as if they don't have a mind or purpose of their own."
"Was one of them a Pheromosa, or another kind of beast?" He takes the opportunity to drink more of the cup, to refresh his throat.
"Other kinds of Ultra Beast. We call these Nihilego and they have a similarity to a Tentacruel or Jellicent, only in shape however. They have a tendency of trying to possess others and apply a severe neurotoxin."
That made Red shiver with fear, something he wished to never encounter.
"I see," He says, expressing his fears with a soft voice and eyes narrowing. "Everything you have mentioned to me… it seems quite important and confidential. While I am glad to know what attacked me, are you sure it is safe for me to know?"
"Aren't you interested to know more? I thought you would, considering you already had an experience with Deoxys." Anabel says as one hand begins to support her head.
"A terrible experience that I…" His voice becomes rough but stops halfway and surprises the officer. His right hand rubs his eyelids before he continues, this time with a gentle voice. "Either way, I know messing with things that come from space is a great danger, Deoxys taught me that long ago." Red breathes and exhales from his mouth.
Anabel wondered if she pushed him over the edge, and appealing to their natural thirst for knowledge and adventure, as Nanu called it, was a complete failure. Perhaps another approach would be better, she says to herself.
"I am sorry, Red, it wasn't my intention." Anabel looks down briefly "I am telling you this, because the directors of the Interpol are seeking help from Elite Trainers, since this is a menace never seen before, and more hands are always more helpful." She raises her sight, looking directly at his eyes. "The point is, I am asking if you want to join us, only for this mission:"
"So, another time my help is needed." He muttered, turning around to see outside and think, seeing the bright sunlight bathing the leaves of a tree and seeing a few Pokemon resting above branches and trunk. "I… I will have to think about it. I came here to rest and later on I promised to join a competition."
He pauses once again, his thoughts divided about the subject. One side was his heroic part, knowing the consequences of standing aside and letting malevolent organizations do as they pleased. On the other hand, this time there wasn't an organization behind this incident, but something never experienced before, and the trauma caused by the past and current incident made him hesitant to join.
However, there's something that caught his attention, and that was the mention of other renown trainers.
"And who else is joining this?" His hands gather over his legs, turning around to see Anabel once again.
"Two elite members from Unova and the current World Champion. I assume you know that they will also compete in the same tournament, do you?"
"Yeah I do. I talked to the World Champion when we were invited to Alola." He says, knowing well that Cynthia, Caitlin and Grimsley have been confirmed to participate, with the former talking to him asking if he got invited as well. Besides that, Red also wanted to visit Alola to know more of the isles, relax before the tournament began, and meet Cynthia and Caitlin. However, this incident has put a halt to his plans, but he let them know that he suffered a lesser accident with a Pokemon and to not worry about him. "So are they already in the team or recruiting them?"
"The latter." Anabel crosses her legs. "It was a spontaneous idea from a friend, and we decided to give it a go, but if you don't want to join, that's understandable." The officer takes a small notebook and pen, which she used to type her number and give it to him, which Red stared at it curiously before looking at her again. "It seems you are indecisive right now, so… if you don't want to tell me now, you can call me later."
The woman flashed a smile at him and stood from her chair, placing it against the wall and began walking towards the door. This surprised Red, who sits straight and tilts his head. "Wait, that's all?"
"What do you mean?" She turns around and raises an eyebrow in confusion.
"I thought you were going to explain to me more about the mission and the Ultra Beasts."
"Currently I have many things to do and I cannot tell confidential information to someone who isn't on the team… yet." His eyes narrow and she smirks at him, making Red wonder if it was to mock him or trusting he already decided to join. "If you haven't decided yet, call me to tell me your choice, Red, Also, I hope you get a quick recovery, clinics and hospitals are super boring."
Saying this, Anabel left the room and he groaned loudly, turning the television on but only to make noise, as he threw himself over the bed to think and eyes lost on the ceiling, with many thoughts flocking in his mind.
Red couldn't deny two things: the curiosity to know what threat these Ultra Beasts represented to the world and if they were misunderstood. Pheromosa, while weird, had similar features with other Pokemon, and perhaps all other attempts to capture it were just failed attempts. On the other hand, years ago he thought the same about Deoxys, and learned that sometimes, it was better to remain distrustful of the unknown, to fear it and avoid it.
His eyes look at his right hand, turning his hand around a few times and letting out a whimper, not of pain but of annoyance, annoyed at himself for being so indecisive.