Nebby had long stopped trying to summon his teleportation ability; the gaseous being was slumped in a corner of Lillie's bag, barely paying attention to his surroundings. Snowy felt a similar hopelessness; she'd never really been a battler, and knew that if Hau's entire team had been effortlessly dismantled by Type: Full, she wouldn't have a chance against it either. But she wished she could have at least done something.
So she took it upon herself to peek out the top of the bag, watching carefully as the familiar hallways of Aether Paradise passed by. Thankfully, neither Plumeria nor her Grunts had made to take anything inside Lillie's bag; Snowy's heart might have stopped if she'd been forcibly taken away from Lillie. Speaking of Lillie, Snowy's Trainer was walking in step with the trio of Team Skull members surrounding her, staring rigidly ahead of her.
They were nearing a closed door with an Aether Foundation employee standing on either side; one nodded to Plumeria and opened the door for her, revealing a massive room on the other side. This room was not one Snowy recognized; she'd never been this deep in Aether Paradise before. The walls of the room were, of course, blindingly white, but unlike the rest of the facility, the walls of this room appeared to be made up of gigantic white panels laid atop a dark green wall. Looking around, Snowy's eyes widened as she beheld several Pokemon in what looked to be glass boxes scattered around the room; it took a moment for Snowy to realize that they were frozen in gigantic cubes of ice, bordered on top and bottom by thick metal bands layered with electronics. On the far side of the room, to Lillie and Snowy's right, lay a strange-looking console covered in holographic displays, and beside the console was a dark-colored diamond-shaped prism with blue-glowing markings across its surface. Standing in front of the console were Lusamine and the Ultra Recon Squad; all three figures turned to look as Plumeria, Lillie, and the two Grunts entered the room.
"Ah, good." Lusamine's tone was smug. "Return Type: Full and leave us."
Plumeria, with a small but visible amount of irritation, reached down to her belt and withdrew a strange-looking Pokeball from her side. It was blue with lighter blue lines overlaid in a grid pattern across it and four golden fin-like protrusions, one on each side. She stepped over to Lusamine, dropped the ball into her waiting hands, and signaled for the two Grunts to follow her as she departed the room.
"Mother." Surprisingly, Lillie was the first to speak, her voice echoing into the silence of the large room the instant the door closed behind the departing Team Skull members.
Lusamine sighed. "Do you know how worried I've been?" she asked. "Running off like that, without any form of warning, stealing a highly volatile experiment-"
"Nebby's not an experiment," Lillie retorted. "He's a living being, and he doesn't deserve what you were doing to him."
"I don't think you quite understand the scale of what we're dealing with," the female member of the Ultra Recon Squad - Zossie, Snowy recalled her name was - said. "You nearly ruined months of work, and for what? Sentimentality?"
"You were torturing him!" Lillie protested.
"Enough," Lusamine ordered, holding out a hand to silence the Ultra Recon Squad member. "Lillie. Give me Cosmog, now."
Lillie clutched the bag tighter. Snowy ducked in fright. Cosmog made no move to escape, his face devoid of hope.
"Now," Lusamine insisted.
"I don't want him to be hurt," said Lillie.
"It's the only way," the male member of the Ultra Recon Squad asked. Snowy remembered he was called Dulse.
"Why?" Lillie demanded. "Why is it the only way? Can't you just fight Necrozma in-"
She stopped, but the name had already been said, a name that Snowy knew Lillie shouldn't know. All three of the adults narrowed their eyes. "Where did you hear that name?" Zossie asked menacingly.
Lillie struggled for a few seconds to come up with an alternate way before sagging. "Nebby told me."
"Impossible," said Dulse. "Data has shown that Cosmog has no memories of its former life."
Snowy's ears perked up, and even Cosmog twitched. That was something Snowy's eavesdropping sessions had not picked up on.
"No, Snowy's been…sneaking in…and telling Nebby afterwards," Lillie admitted.
"You," Lusamine practically snarled, "have been spying on us?"
Lillie nodded sheepishly.
"What have you overheard?" Dulse asked. "What do you know about Necrozma?"
"I know that it's trying to come here," said Lillie. "I know you're planning to bring an army to fight it before it can come. The Type: Fulls, Team Skull, the Ultra Recon Squad…you're thinking that they'll have enough firepower to destroy Necrozma before it can…do whatever it's planning to do. But I don't understand why we can't just let it come and fight it here. You don't have to hurt Nebby, and you'll be able to get help…from other regions, or the Tapus-"
"No," said Zossie. "Lillie, was it?" She looked to Dulse. "I think it's time we tell her."
Dulse hesitated a bit before nodding slowly. Lusamine stepped back, allowing Zossie to speak.
"You know we're not from this…this world, correct?" Zossie asked. Lillie nodded. "Well, the truth is, we're not even from this reality. Time is…like a path branching infinitely, every possible path leading to an alternate timeline. But we exist outside of that path. In a place where it can't go. We have our own infinite path. Our own reality. If that makes any sense."
Lillie nodded, though Snowy's head was already spinning. She could see that Cosmog was actually listening, in sharp contrast with his behavior for the past half-hour.
"Your reality is very different from ours," said Zossie. "Your reality is populated by hundred if not thousands of varieties of Pokemon, utilized by Trainers to battle each other for sport, and is overseen by dozens of different godlike beings known as Legendaries. In our reality, we have no such Pokemon. Instead, we have the Ultra Beasts. Monstrous predators who seek to cause as much chaos and destruction as possible. To fight them, we utilize Naganadels, friendly Ultra Beasts who we breed and raise as Poipoles, and who evolve into Naganadels after about a year of training. It is a constant struggle for survival. In our reality, we had but one conventional 'Legendary', as you would call it. This Legendary was known as Necrozma, the Blinding One. It was he who gave our reality its light, and his power was vast enough to hold back many of the Ultra Beasts. He was the only reason that our ancestors were able to survive and thrive amidst the onslaught.
"But our ancestors began to succumb to the primal instinct of greed. For all his power, Necrozma was incapable of being everywhere at once. As such, our ancestors were often forced to hold off attacks with their Naganadels while they waited for Necrozma to arrive and defeat the incursions. Such attacks inflicted casualties, and so our ancestors began to wonder why they had to wait for Necrozma to come. Why, they asked, could they not control Necrozma? Make him come when they wanted him to, and thereby remove all need for actual combat? So they began to construct the Megalo Tower, a prison capable of holding Necrozma. When it was complete, they waited for another incursion, allowed Necrozma to arrive and destroy the attacking Ultra Beasts, then surprised and bound Necrozma and contained him in the Megalo Tower.
"Through a difficult and highly painful process, they managed to extract two other beings from Necrozma's body; the process appeared to render him dormant. One was Lunala, the embodiment of moonlight; the other was Solgaleo, the embodiment of sunlight. With Lunala and Solgaleo at their command, our ancestors began to fend off Ultra Beast attacks without need for any struggle, for the two were far stronger than any Ultra Beast that existed. For a hundred years our reality prospered, even as we took our ancestors' place. But what neither we nor our ancestors did not realize was that Necrozma had been faking dormancy. In actuality, he had simply regressed to a weaker form, a form that was still as strong as Solgaleo or Lunala. Overcome with agony, filled with rage at the beings whom he had protected for countless years only for them to turn on him, Necrozma waited, biding his time, all the while telepathically calling for aid. We learned later that he is an immensely strong Psychic, so strong that his mind is able to reach across dimensional boundaries. And a hundred years after his imprisonment, Necrozma…made contact with someone."
"Who?" Lillie asked.
"We do not know," said Zossie. "We do know that it came from somewhere in this reality, though we are certain it was not this exact timeline. We know it was an immensely powerful being in its own right. And we know it was a creature that was fleeing something else powerful, and that it was propelled at least partially by desperation. Whatever it was, whatever its true motives, it made a deal with Necrozma, and with its aid Necrozma broke free of his bonds. He shattered the Megalo Tower, killing his guards in the process. His goal, we realized, was to reabsorb Solgaleo and Lunala into itself; only then could Necrozma regain his full strength. You see, Necrozma is fueled by light; without Solgaleo and Lunala, that light is constantly draining away, causing Necrozma immeasurable pain. By the time he broke free from its prison, the pain had rendered him berserk. The creature who aided Necrozma let him know where Solgaleo and Lunala were, and Necrozma came down upon the two broken parts of himself not even five minutes after his escape.
"Lunala and Solgaleo were intelligent beings in their own right. They didn't want to be reabsorbed; it would effectively kill them, and over the past hundred years the two of them had developed a…strong bond. So they fought, and together they managed to overwhelm Necrozma. But just as Necrozma was falling, the creature who had freed him arrived. We could not see it clearly; all we saw was a near-featureless void, as black as a starless night sky, filled with a presence that seemed all-consuming. What we do know for certain is that the creature's attack distracted Solgaleo and Lunala, and in the confusion Necrozma managed to grab hold of and reabsorb Lunala. Solgaleo escaped with us as Necrozma fed, but his wounds and his anguish were too great, and he died a few hours later. But from his body arose a new creature. We assumed it was some sort of child at first, but we later determined it was in fact a reincarnation of some sort, for it held the same energy as Solgaleo. We…we called this creature Cosmog."
Snowy looked back at Cosmog, alarmed. The nebula-like being was staring at Snowy, eyes wide. "that…that can't be."
Zossie, having not heard Cosmog, continued to speak. "We knew Necrozma and his mysterious ally would come for Cosmog soon enough. We also knew that Solgaleo was the only creature we knew who could defeat Necrozma. But with Lunala absorbed and Solgaleo dead, the Ultra Beasts began to assault our reality again. And somehow, Necrozma's ally made a deal with them. Turned them to it and Necrozma's side. We realized at that point that our reality was no longer safe. Working swiftly, we used long-forgotten technology to construct a dimensional gateway. Necrozma and his allies assaulted us before we could finish it, and though the rest of our people and their Naganadel allies sacrificed their lives to fend them off, we simply could not generate enough power to activate the gateway. But just as we accepted our destruction, Cosmog suddenly glowed with energy, and in the next moment we…were here."
"So why hasn't he found us yet?" Lillie asked.
"Actually, he has," Dulse interjected. "Without any way of knowing which part of this reality - which 'path', so to speak - we had jumped into, we had time to prepare. But Nihilego - that strange creature that assaulted Aether Paradise a few days ago - was an Ultra Beast. And it escaped, which means Necrozma now knows exactly where we are. So we had to arrange for your swift retrieval."
"But that still doesn't answer my question," said Lillie. "Why can't we just let Necrozma come here?"
"Because Necrozma continually drains light from whatever reality he's in in order to survive," said Zossie. "If he comes here, the damage he'd do to your world would be catastrophic. Not to mention the material damage his allies would cause. We reasoned that if we could take a small group back into our reality, sneak up to Necrozma, and attack him before he can summon his allies, we can destroy him."
"The problem is the technology we need for trans-dimensional travel," said Dulse. "Our lesser technology - such as the device that protects Aether Paradise from Necrozma's Psychic view, a device whose failure unfortunately let Necrozma in - are able to be powered conventionally. But in order to open a dimensional gateway - an Ultra Wormhole, by our parlance - we have discerned that there is no conventional power source that can reproduce the effect. Therefore, Cosmog is necessary for the gateway to be used."
"Additionally," said Zossie, "we managed to reproduce aspects of the technology that we used to create Solgaleo and Lunala in the first place. This," she indicated the diamond-shaped prism, "is capable of drawing out Cosmog's latent energy, allowing us to drain it and use it to generate Ultra Wormholes. Sadly, the technology is…quite painful. We cannot avoid that."
Lillie shook her head. "There has to be another way."
"Lillie, I have had enough of this foolishness," said Lusamine. "Would you rather Cosmog be hurt, or countless others be hurt in his place? This is not up for debate. Hand over Cosmog now."
LIllie swallowed. "Mother, please," she tried. "Please just listen to me for once."
Lusamine shook her head. "Take the bag," she ordered. The Ultra Recon Squad stepped forwards, and Snowy quickly ducked back into the bag as it was forcibly removed from Lillie's shoulder.
Snowy r\glanced back at Nebby, who seemed unconscious to the shifting of the bag as the Ultra Recon Squad carried it over to Lusamine. "this doesn't make any sense," he was whispering to himself, gazed fixed on the inside of the bag. "if i'm some kind of broken-off piece of a legendary, then why can't i remember any of it? what…what is even happening anymore? i don't understand…"
Nebby made no move to resist as Dulse reached into the bag and plucked him out with both hands. Snowy stared after him helplessly, but dared not poke her head out of the bag, lest she be grabbed as well.
"Mother-"
"Enough." Lusamine cut Lillie off. She withdrew a communications device from her pocket and raised it to her mouth. "You two. Get in here now."
The two Aether Paradise guards stepped through the room's door. "Watch her and make sure she doesn't try anything," Lusamine ordered, then turned away.
Snowy poked one eye out of the bag, scanning the room. Lillie was standing where she was, not looking at the two guards watching her closely. Snowy couldn't see Nebby, but the two members of the Ultra Recon Squad were clustered around the diamond prism-shaped device, which was now glowing much brighter. Lusamine was watching the Squad with a keen eye, impatience glittering in her gaze.
A Team Skull Grunt dashed into the room. "Lusamine! Guzma and the rest of our Grunts have arrived, as you instructed."
"Is Gladion with them?" Lusamine asked.
"Nope," said the Team Skull. "Guzma says he hasn't seen him since this morning."
Lusamine sighed. "A shame. In that case, we will have to forget regaining the stolen Type: Null."
"Is that wise?" asked Zossie.
"We still have 001, 002, and 003," said Lusamine, "plus your Naganadels, and mine and Guzma's teams to support. Five Legendary-level fighters or six, it makes no difference."
Zossie and Dulse nodded warily. "In that case, let us proceed," said Dulse. "Estimated time to portal opening: one hour."
Medicham glanced around warily, not liking the small dark space that she and Marcus were standing in. Marcus had requested that she be out of her Luxury Ball for this; the small room, more of a supply closet than anything, was the only room on the ferry that had any semblance of privacy.
The group of seven Trainers had managed to reach the ferry to Aether Paradise. Gladion had told them that the Aether Paradise ferry was automated, utilizing a preset route. Though the ferry had been shut off, Gladion had managed to get it up and running with a little bit of hacking, aided by Elio's Rotom. Now they were sailing towards Aether Paradise with an ETA of about fifteen minutes; in the meantime, Hau and Elio were healing the Pokemon that needed it, including Kriesh, utilizing the ferry's expansive array of medicines, and the rest of the group were preparing their own teams for the upcoming battle, an atmosphere of mingled anticipation and dread omnipresent across the ferry.
But Marcus had an appointment to keep. And so he had come here, to this isolated room, Pokedex in hand. Medicham watched closely as he pressed a button, and the screen flared as two familiar people became visible on it.
"Hi, Marcus!" Sarah cried. James waved behind her, both of them smiling broadly.
"Hi, Mom," said Marcus. "Hi, Dad. Hard to believe it's only been a week."
"Maybe for you," said Sarah. "For us it couldn't come fast enough! You must have been busy in the past week!"
"Yeah," said Marcus, before proceeding to launch into an abbreviated explanation of his journey to Kanto-Johto and then to Alola, his captures of Liepard and Pangoro, and his recruitment of Theo, Connie, and Serena. He took great pleasure in relaying his meetings with Blue, Karen, and Grimsley, clearly trying not to dip into outright bragging; Medicham didn't think he was doing too good of a job at that, as he was unable to keep a small amount of excitement out of his voice.
"Wow, you have been busy," James observed. "Remember, the Gym Leader test is still three months away. It's good that you want to knock this stuff out early, but sometimes it's better to pace yourself."
"I know, Dad, but I just wanted to get it out of the way," said Marcus. "If something goes wrong, I'd rather have more time to deal with it."
James raised his hands. "I'm not saying it's not a bad thing!" he defended.
"Where in Alola are you now?" Sarah asked.
"On a ferry just off Ula'ula Island," said Marcus. He paused, and Medicham glanced at him. "Just tell them," she urged telepathically.
"I know," Marcus responded. "It's hard." But at last he said, "My friends and I have run into some trouble."
"What kind of trouble?" Sarah asked.
"A gang of ruffians is causing trouble around Alola," said Marcus. "They call themselves 'Team Skull'. No, they're not like Team Flare," he added hastily as both Sarah and James's eyes widened. "They're just a bunch of bullies. But they've kidnapped a friend of one of my friends, and that friend asked if I could help out."
"And you said yes?" James asked.
"What was I supposed to do, say no?" Marcus retorted.
Sarah let out a small sigh. "No…look, we're always going to worry about you," she said. "But you're growing stronger every day. You're training to become a Gym Leader! And…to be quite honest, I'm hoping you give those Team Skull bullies what they deserve."
"That's the plan," said Marcus. "Anyway…we'll be arriving at the Team Skull stronghold soon. I should probably go."
"All right," said James. "Good luck. And please stay safe."
"And thank you for telling us," said Sarah. "Love you."
"I love you too." Marcus shut off the call and heaved a sigh of his own.
"Leaving out Type: Full and Aether Paradise?"
Marcus turned to face Medicham. "I really don't think that matters too much," he said, not bothering with a telepathic response. "Medicham…there's a difference between lying and telling a more comfortable truth."
"Leaving out information is the same as lying," Medicham insisted.
"No, it's not," said Marcus.
"Why not?" Medicham asked.
"Look at it this way," said Marcus. "I told them about capturing Pangoro. I never mentioned Drapion's injuries that happened as a result of that capture. Is that lying?"
Medicham paused. "I…I guess it's not really-"
"So is not telling them that Team Skull has a really powerful Pokemon lying?"
Medicham sighed. "You know…once, before I met you…" Deep in the back of her mind, the irony that she was lying to her Trainer nettled her, but she forced that thought downwards and continued to speak. "Before I met you, I knew someone. Someone else who asked to train me. To help me grow stronger. I accepted, but I learned only a week later that he was…affiliated with…a group of Pokemon who I knew as enemies. I'd never asked him about his affiliations, and he'd never told me. But he knew those Pokemon were my enemies."
"So why was this being helping you?" Marcus asked.
Medicham paused again. "To…to manipulate me," she said at last. "To try and drive me towards an objective that my enemies secretly desired."
"Then that's lying," said Marcus. "This being deliberately omitted the truth to manipulate you into accomplishing their own goals. I'm not trying to manipulate my parents. I'm just…sparing them a small amount of worry."
Medicham said nothing. Marcus stepped closer. "Look, I know that…sometimes…I don't know what I'm doing," he said. "But I'm asking you, not just as your Trainer, but as your friend, to trust me on this one, okay?"
"If you say so," Medicham said.
Marcus nodded. "Let's get out of this closet."
Medicham wasted no time in following Marcus out of the closet. The bright light dazzled her eyes as they stepped back onto the deck of the ferry. As Medicham looked around, she spotted Elio and Hau over by the bar, busily healing Hau's team and topping up Elio's as well. Gladion was standing alone at the prow of the ship, staring at the approaching form of Aether Paradise, while Connie, Serena, and Theo were sitting at a table a little ways away from everyone else, holding a muted conversation.
"Marcus!" Serena waved. "Can we talk?"
"Sure," said Marcus, stepping over with Medicham behind him. "What do you need?"
Serena gestured for him to lean in closer. "So…you visited Team Skull's main base, right?" she asked. "What can you tell us about them that we don't already know?"
Marcus frowned. "The majority of them are just like the ones we've faced," he said. "A little stronger than Team Flare Grunts, but nothing we can't handle. Elio and I steamrolled through three or four Grunt Teams without much issue. Their leader, though…his name's Guzma, and he's tough. He's not Elite Four level, but he's a very strong Bug-type trainer who's clearly been training his team for some time. Kriesh fought one of his Pokemon and lost pretty badly. It's why she's over there now." He pointed to the bar, where Kriesh could be seen amidst Hau and Elio's teams.
"She had type advantage and still lost?" Connie frowned. "That does sound tough, especially since we're all Dark-type Trainers."
"I think it'll take at least two of us to handle Guzma, then," said Theo.
"He claimed he could take me and Elio on with only three Pokemon each," said Marcus. "And from the looks of things, I'm not sure he was exaggerating."
"Then we'll have to deal with him and that Type: Full thing," said Serena. "Aside from that, it should just be Grunts and Plumeria."
"We should ask Elio what Plumeria's team is," said Marcus. "From what I've heard, he's fought her before. Or Gladion; if he was a part of Team Skull, he must've known her…wait, hang on." Marcus's fingers tapped his side. "I left my Pokedex in the closet. Medicham, could you get that for me?"
"Sure." Medicham turned and stepped back towards the supply closet. She pushed the door open, leaving it hanging slightly to let a stream of light in. She spotted the Pokedex immediately, lying on one of the shelves. Her hand reached for it.
"Finally. I thought we'd never get a chance to talk."
Medicham froze, not daring to look behind her. How is she here? How could she have gotten onto this boat?
"I am disappointed in you, Spirit," said Bringer-Of-Visions. Medicham had no idea where she was in the room, only that the Absol was somewhere behind her. "You had two tasks. Only two. To accomplish the assignment I set out for you. And to not tell anyone about us. Tell me, what part of 'anyone' did you think would not apply to Darkrai?"
Medicham couldn't even muster words. They were locked in her throat, as frozen as the rest of her body, unable to even conjure up a sentence to defend herself.
"Yes, he is our Master," Bringer-Of-Visions continued. "But you didn't know that. And yet you still told him of us. Look at me when I am talking to you."
Medicham spun as though jerked by an invisible rope. Now she could see Bringer-Of-Visions, tucked in between the half-open door and the wall, barely visible in the shadows that filled that area and that area alone. Medicham could see no one else through the door, no Trainers and no Pokemon; all were out of sight.
She was alone. Trapped. Her heart thudded louder and louder in her chest and Medicham fought to stop herself from panting in terror.
Bringer-Of-Visions' eyes glittered dangerously. "I offered to allow you to retain your memories," she said. "I chose to trust you with information that has been known by no one outside our organization for a thousand years. And the first chance you get, you deliver that information to a completely random being?"
"He…he told me he knew of the Heralds," Medicham protested haltingly. "He told me I could speak of them-"
"Practically all the Legendaries know of the Heralds," Bringer-Of-Visions growled. "That is not the problem. The problem is when someone says you are not allowed to speak of something, and another says you may speak of that thing…which one do you think is more important?"
"I…don't know-"
"Not allowed means not allowed," Bringer-Of-Visions stated. "If Darkrai had not been our Master, who knows what he might have done with that information? He might have decided that we were dangerous. Might have tried to stop us without grasping the implications, making our job that much harder. Or he might have gone the route of Betrayer-Of-Kin, attempting to head off our attempts at averting the apocalypse. Or he might even have been a servant of Giratina. Waiting to deliver the information directly to the Lord of Distortion." Bringer-Of-Visions stepped out of the shadows, eyes narrowed. "Do you really want the world to be destroyed that much?"
"No!" Medicham cried in protest.
"Then why sabotage us, Spirit?" Bringer-Of-Visions asked. "Why give such sensitive information to a being who might use it for ill? Is it because you hate us? Are you that petty? That pointlessly vindictive?"
"No," Medicham whispered, quieter.
"Or are you just a self-centered idiot, so desperate to have your way that you don't care about the consequences of your actions?"
"No…" Medicham choked the word out this time, her voice barely audible.
Bringer-Of-Visions stepped even closer, her blood-red eyes peering into Medicham's. "The experiment is over," she whispered. "My Master is no longer insisting that your memories should be kept. So, Spirit, why should I not take them right now?"
Medicham swallowed, her terror reaching a fever pitch. She shook her head desperately. "No…please, I'm sorry. Please, I promise I won't do it again. I promise…"
A small jolt of Mind flared up Bringer-Of-Visions' horn, and Medicham flinched, holding up a hand reflexively, squeezing her eyes shut. Bringer-Of-Visions chuckled softly. "Luckily for you, seeing as the process induces momentary unconsciousness and you are on the cusp of a sadly necessary event in your path, I can't do it at present." She stepped back; Medicham opened her eyes warily. "The decision to storm Aether Paradise was always going to be in the hands of your Trainer, and ultimately we had to hope that this timeline was one of the 38.33% where he chose not to go."
Medicham made no more sound, just listened. She had no intention of doing anything that might possibly anger Bringer-Of-Visions.
"Your Trainer's attack on Aether Paradise has about a 59.7% chance of succeeding," said Bringer-Of-Visions. "Furthermore, in the event that it does not succeed, there is a 45.65% chance that the failure results in his death."
"From what?" Medicham dared to ask.
"Betrayer-Of-Kin is on Alola," said Bringer-Of-Visions. "And her path is converging towards Aether Paradise as well. We attempted to head her off, but she was able to escape us. And the remaining Alolan Heralds are either too wounded or too far away to intervene. Furthermore, due to the unique status of the events that are about to take place, intervention would be highly inadvisable anyway. As such, the events that will take place over the next hour must be left up to chance. Your task, then, is to protect Marcus. In the event of failure, guard him with your life if you must. I assume you can do that without any…problems."
Medicham nodded hurriedly.
"One more slip," said Bringer-Of-Visions, "and I will take your memories back. And believe me, I will know. Just ask that Espeon."
Panic seized Medicham once more. "I didn't tell her anything, I promise!"
Bringer-Of-Visions smiled menacingly. "Well, now…I do wish we'd known about that earlier. Such a shame. But anyway…I'll take my leave now. Don't forget, Spirit…one slip…"
Her laughter faded away as she stepped backwards, disappearing into the shadows. Medicham tried to stop herself from trembling, but couldn't. Was it true? Had the Heralds hunted down Red's Espeon? Erased her memory just for the possibility that Medicham might have told her something?
One slip. Medicham felt like breaking down right there. Could she even approach Kriesh? Would that count as a 'slip' in Bringer-Of-Visions' eyes?
I really am alone.
Slowly, almost robotically, Medicham reached out, grasped Marcus's Pokedex, and stepped out of the supply closet, clutching it tightly. She forced her body to stop shaking, forced her breath to slow. Any sign, any indication that something might be wrong, could lead to questions. And those questions could lead to a slip.
"There you are," said Marcus. "I was beginning to wonder…"
Medicham handed Marcus the Pokedex. "I would like to be recalled," she said stiffly.
"All right." Marcus raised Medicham's Luxury Ball and recalled her into the small sphere. Only once she was firmly encased did Medicham allow her emotions to run free, surrendering to the torrents of raw, ugly sobbing that she could not show anyone else.
She was so consumed by the emotion that she never thought to alert Marcus that Betrayer-Of-Kin was in Alola.
Kriesh's eyes narrowed as she saw Medicham exit the storage closet. It was instantly clear that something was off. She was walking stiffly, eyes locked on Marcus, the Trainer's Pokedex clutched tightly in her right hand down by her side. She might not have had Keen Eye, but even at this distance Kriesh could see Medicham's entire body shaking slightly.
Alarm bells rang in Kriesh's head. What was going on? Ever since the night after Pangoro's capture, something had just been off about Medicham. And yet she hadn't said a word about it at the hotel, hadn't even approached Kriesh later to talk. Kriesh had wondered if she'd just needed time. But she could feel that something was really wrong with Medicham, and it unnerved her to see Medicham like this.
Her mind flew back to a moment back in her old forest, with her old flock. She'd forbidden them from going into a small section of the woods, where the mud was thick and sucking and a young Spearow could easily get stuck. Two of them went anyway. She suspected others had as well - why wouldn't they? After all, a place was far more exciting and mysterious to a young Spearow if they were meant to be forbidden from going to that place. But those two had gotten stuck in the mud. And if it weren't for a passing Diggersby helping them out, they might have drowned.
The Diggersby had told her about the incident, of course, once he'd returned them home. But Kriesh had attempted to let the Spearow confess themselves. Instead, they'd tried to hide it. But she could see it in their every move; she remembered their constantly fearful faces, the tension in their bodies as they selected food, the constant rustling as they tossed and turned at night, and their incessant attempts to not look at Kriesh.
When she finally had confronted them, Kriesh got the sense that part of them was relieved to finally be able to stop lying. Part of her had been relieved as well. Watching two of her own children acting so distrustful of her hurt. Looking at Medicham now, Kriesh felt the same way. They'd fought together against Bringer-Of-Visions. Stood side-by-side as the Absol told them of the Heralds, of the end of the world. Even after what Kriesh had tried to do to Marcus, Medicham had listened to her story. And Kriesh had repaid her by listening to Medicham's story of Elle, by allowing Medicham to confide in her about her visions, about her worries.
So what was so important, so terrifying, that Medicham was trying to keep it from Kriesh?
Kriesh sighed, her mind coming back to reality as the cold spray of another Potion brushed her side.
"There we go," said Hau. "You should be all better now."
Kriesh turned her head to face Hau. The normally cheery Alolan looked remarkably dour, tight-lipped as he surveyed the table and the rest of his team. Many of them had simply been knocked unconscious by massive discharges of energy, and a quick Revive and a few minutes of rest had been all they needed to be back to fighting form. But Hau's Tauros had taken an Iron Head straight to the face which had broken his jaw, requiring several Potions before he was ready to fight, and Alolan Raichu had needed a few Burn Heals after being knocked unconscious by that Fire-type Multiattack.
It wasn't the injuries, though, that had repressed Hau's cheeriness. Kriesh could see the nervousness in everyone's bodies. Even Gladion, standing at the prow of the ship with eyes firmly locked on Aether Paradise as it grew closer and closer, was stiff and definitely worried about what the island might hold.
"You ready?"
Kriesh turned to look at Hau's Decidueye. He was nervous as well, clearly, but he was hiding it decently well, all things considered. Decidueye was clearly the leader of Hau's team; he was the strongest, and the rest followed him when he gave orders. Kriesh could see he was trying to put on a brave front for the rest of the team's benefit. She looked over to Marcus, who was chatting with his prospective Gym Trainers; she couldn't see Medicham anywhere near him. Most likely she'd been recalled, probably asked Marcus to be recalled if Kriesh had to guess.
Why can't she be more like Decidueye?
Kriesh shoved the thought away almost as soon as it came. How could she even think that about Medicham after all she'd suffered through?
Kriesh knew what it was like to be a leader. How difficult it was, having to pretend like your own trauma didn't even exist so as not to burden your flock with it. Decidueye was trying to protect his team from that trauma, just like Kriesh had with her flock and Medicham was now.
What right did she have to judge Medicham for that?
"Yeah," said Kriesh, forcing a thin smile onto her face. "I'm ready."
Betrayer-Of-Kin would not deny that after recent events, it was nice to finally get some rest. Some scanning of probabilities had told her that it was highly unlikely the Heralds would attempt to come after her again in the next week, but the finicky nature of Psychic shielding meant that the statistic was sadly unreliable. So she had encouraged Nidoking to lead them to a small, out-of-the-way cave, where they would likely be safe from prying eyes.
The cave was cold, uncomfortable, and filled with the sound of gurgling from a nearby tiny water source. Betrayer-Of-Kin had rested in worse. Though not usually with this amount of pressure weighing down her mind.
She'd known ever since their fight in the forest that Nidoking was stronger than her. Even without her probability sensing, she'd been able to tell from Nidoking's body language that he'd been holding back during that fight, not even using the full strength that he could draw upon courtesy of his Life Orb. In the valley, he'd finally revealed his true strength, and Betrayer-Of-Kin had to admit it unnerved her to an extent.
He was definitely Champion-level, that much was clear. His power was one of the two main reasons Betrayer-Of-Kin was bothering to stick with him, a decision that had proven wise in the wake of the Heralds' attack on her. The other reason was that Betrayer-Of-Kin knew sticking with him would put her in a prime position to accomplish her mission. It was strange, actually; clearly there was some form of Psychic shielding involved, for Betrayer-Of-Kin could not see how sticking with Nidoking would help her in that endeavor. But she knew it would, somehow, and even if that didn't pan out, Nidoking had definitely proven himself as a worthy partner with his actions today.
Unlike Ripper.
Betrayer-Of-Kin sighed as she glanced at the sleeping form of the Manectric. She'd known him since before Marcus even emerged onto her radar; a vicious fighter, but with surprising intelligence and cunning behind his brutish facade. Now that intelligence seemed to be diminishing, replaced by an irresistible craving for revenge against that Fearow of Marcus's.
Betrayer-Of-Kin had hoped to hone that revenge, to shape Ripper into a tool to aid her in her eventual goal to kill Marcus. But that revenge had become more of a burden. Betrayer-Of-Kin had a feeling that it had been Ripper's assault on that Pikipek that had led to the Heralds locating her.
If that were the case, then Ripper had gone from a possible tool to a liability. And in her profession, liabilities had to be discarded. Such a shame.
A flash of Psychic energy disturbed Betrayer-Of-Kin from her rest. Instinct kicked in and she was up in a moment, eyes narrowed and horn wreathed in Oblivion as she eyed the Alakazam that had suddenly materialized in their cave.
The Alakazam raised one of his spoons. "It is time."
"Good." Yet again Nidoking had moved almost silently. Betrayer-Of-Kin suspected it had something to do with his sheer level of control over Earth, but didn't intend to pry.
Betrayer-Of-Kin turned to face Nidoking. "What is this about?"
"Alakazam here is our transportation," said Nidoking. "We've met and spoken on a few occasions recently."
"Was that where you were when the other Absols attacked us in the valley?" Betrayer-Of-Kin asked.
Nidoking nodded in answer. "His arrival here means it is time to progress to phase two of the plan. Wake Ripper. He might be needed."
Keeping one eye on Alakazam, Betrayer-Of-Kin stepped over to Ripper and roughly nudged him awake. She considered the possibility of looking inside Alakazam's mind, searching for an answer to what exactly they were doing, but even as she looked at him Betrayer-Of-Kin could tell he was already surrounded with the telltale glow of Miracle Eye. There would be no Dark-type immunity for Betrayer-Of-Kin.
So she turned back towards Ripper. "Up," she growled. "We must leave."
Alakazam didn't even wait for Ripper to rise. As soon as he stirred, groaning, Alakazam teleported a few feet forwards, between the other three occupants of the cave. Swiftly, he touched a spoon to each of their bodies, and in the next second all four of them had disappeared completely.
On a small wall overlooking the docks below, a red-colored Oricorio and a yellow-colored Oricorio sat, legs dangling, watching the gentle waves below. Their Trainers were standing behind them, leaning against two pillars, barely paying attention to the docks that they were supposed to be guarding.
"Hey," said the red Oricorio.
"Yeah?" the yellow Oricorio responded.
"You ever wonder why we're here?"
The yellow Oricorio put a wing to his chin. "It's one of life's great mysteries, isn't it? Why are we here? I mean, are we the product of some cosmic coincidence, or-"
"Dude, we know Arceus created us to populate the world," said the red Oricorio. "I mean why are we out here? Watching these docks?"
"Because it's our job," said the yellow Oricorio.
"No, it's really our Trainers' job," the red Oricorio pointed out. "Why aren't we just relaxing in our Pokeballs, enjoying life?"
The yellow Oricorio looked back at his Trainer, who was trying not to fall asleep. "Let's be honest. Our Trainers aren't going to be guarding anything like that. So it's our job to guard, I guess."
"I guess." The red Oricorio frowned. "Hey, you see that?"
The yellow Oricorio turned to look at where his comrade was pointing. "Huh. That's one of our boats, isn't it?"
"Yeah," said the red Oricorio. "But all our boats are supposed to be offline."
"Which means one of two things," said the yellow Oricorio. "Either the systems that run that boat have malfunctioned, or someone's hijacked it and is coming in right now to attack us."
There were a few moments of silence as both Oricorio watched the boat coming closer.
"Probably a systems failure," said the yellow Oricorio.
"I dunno," said the red Oricorio. "Best to err on the side of caution."
"You can err however you want," said the yellow Oricorio. "Who in their right minds would hijack one of our boats and launch a direct assault on Aether Paradise? It would be insane."
"Some people are insane," said the red Oricorio.
"Whatever floats your boat," the yellow Oricorio grumbled. But both Oricorios' eyes remained on the boat as it sailed gently into the docking area. The deck of the boat seemed empty, the black-tinted glass windows revealing nothing behind them. The boat's ramp slowly extended onto the concrete, creating a path from the boat to the land of Aether Paradise, but no one came across.
"See?" The yellow Oricorio turned to his red comrade. "Systems failure. Nothing more."
The red Oricorio sighed. "Maybe you're right. Still seems suspicious, though. Why don't we-"
"Now!"
The two Oricorios barely had time to see the surge of Pokemon that erupted from the boat, leaping down the ramp and from all parts of the deck, before a Porygon-Z blasted the red Oricorio into a pillar with a Hyper Beam and a Weavile slammed two Ice energy-wreathed blows into the yellow Oricorio, knocking them both senseless before they could even fight back.
Far away, sitting on a fairly plush couch, a shadowed figure watched the security camera feed they'd spent quite a lot of time and money obtaining. The figure watched, smiling slightly, as seven Trainers and a horde of Pokemon leaped from the boat, sending a pair of Oricorio flying in an instant and quickly overpowering whatever Pokemon the two nearby employees could send out before they, too, were downed.
The figure chuckled. "Well, well, well. This certainly took an interesting turn. So, Lusamine…how are you going to handle this?"
Well, I'm back. This chapter is, admittedly, mostly more setup. Hopefully the next few chapters will be worth it.