Disclaimer: I don't own anything that doesn't belong to me.
Despite Director Clavell's repeated assurances they hadn't done anything wrong, neither Julie nor ANNA could help feeling concerned when he ushered them to his office, since, as alien to this world as they were, they were still familiar enough with it by now to know that usually students being sent right to the headmaster's office was rarely a good thing.
The fact that he was being tight mouthed about what was going on didn't help matters.
As such, both girls were completely unprepared when they reached the office and found an unfamiliar dark-skinned man wearing a white and blue jacket over a black suit and white trousers, a black scarf resembling a Honedge sash hanging around his collar with a white hat on his head, waiting for them. He looked incredibly well dressed.
The man rose from where he'd been sitting, a smile forming on his face and causing his mustache to twitch. "Hmm? Who do we have here…? I KNOW I've seen your faces somewhere before!" He frowned. "Who were you again?"
Clavell rolled his eyes as he moved past the stranger to sit behind his desk. "These are the people you asked to see, Cyrano. Julie and ANNA?"
The well-dressed man perked up. "Oooh, that's right, you're Julie and ANNA! Yes, yes, I know you!" He clasped his hands and rubbed them together. "Well then. Now that you're here, let's get going!"
The sisters exchanged perplexed looks. "It good he knyow us?" Julie asked uncertainly.
"I beg your pardon, but you seem to have us at a disadvantage. Who exactly are you?" ANNA inquired.
"Girls, this is my counterpart Cyrano, founder and director of our sister school, Blueberry Academy, of which you are undoubtedly familiar with by now," Clavell explained.
Julie gasped. "Oh! Nyou head of Carcar's school!"
"Does your presence here mean that we have finally been accepted for the exchange student program at Blueberry? Briar mentioned it when we were leaving Kitakami, but we have not heard anything further since then," ANNA remarked.
"Please say nyes! Julie want to see Carcar again! And explore big fancy underwater habitat!" Julie said eagerly.
"I, too, would like to see Carmine again, as well as examine the Terarium Core you have installed to spread artificially generated Terastal energy throughout your entire Academy," a fascinated ANNA added.
Cyrano grinned. "I'd just love for you to visit my school! You would be a breath of fresh air, so to speak!" He frowned. "… Is what I'd like to say, but unfortunately, no, this is not about the exchange program, and while I do want the two of you to visit my Academy, it's for a much, much more serious matter."
He took six photographs out of his jacket and spread them on the desk. "Do these mean anything to you?"
The girls looked at the pictures.
They gasped.
"That… That's nyot pawssible!" Julie stammered.
"This makes no sense," ANNA exclaimed incredulously.
Cyrano grimaced. "I take it then that these aren't just some sort of mutant or regional variants of the Legendary Beasts or Swords of Justice, then."
Indeed, the Pokémon depicted in the photographs did in fact look like the Johto Legendary Beasts and Unova's Swords of Justice… However, the beasts weren't usually dinosaurs and the Swords of Justice weren't made of metal!
"Walking Wake," Julie said, pointing to a bipedal theropod resembling Suicune. "Gouging Fire," she continued, indicating a leonine-ceratopsia hybrid with some mastiff qualities that looked like Entei. "Raging Bolt," she concluded, tapping a quadrupedal sauropod very similar to Raikou. "God Beasts of Lightheart tribe."
"And these are Iron Leaves, Iron Boulder, and Iron Crown," ANNA said, examining photographs of Pokémon resembling a futuristic stag or antelope, a spherical bull coated and reflective metal, and an armored turquoise goat bearing a strong resemblance to Virizion, Terrakion, and Cobalion. "The God Machines assigned to the thirtieth fleet, under the command of Mother Computer. But… They should not be in this world. Who took these pictures? Where did you get them from?"
"A few weeks ago, following some energy fluctuations in the Terarium, we started getting reports of mysterious Pokémon that had somehow appeared in the habitat," Cyrano said grimly. "From the descriptions, they sounded like Legendary Pokémon. Which didn't make a lot of sense, considering its, you know, a sealed environment at the bottom of the ocean, but hey, they're Legendary Pokémon, and they have a habit of turning up wherever they please, right? So, some students tried to catch them, as you do."
"They dare?!" Julie shrieked.
"Sister, in all fairness, we have captured Legendary Pokémon as well," ANNA reminded her.
"Well… Nyeah, but… They nyot our legends!" Julie protested. "Have different significance!"
"Well, our students quickly learned that these strange Pokémon were a lot more hostile and aggressive than they anticipated," Cyrano continued. "They not only badly injured Pokémon sent to battle them, but were willing to attack trainers as well, and have been driving local Pokémon out of their habitats and threatening to disrupt the intricately crafted ecosystem we set up."
"What? That nyot sound like God Beasts," Julie commented, perplexed. "They guardians of nyature! Not disruptors!"
"The God Machines are intended to integrate with a balanced system as well, but that may be the problem," ANNA speculated. "They are intended to be part of the natural laws which govern our worlds, not this one. Remember, most of the Paradox Pokémon we have encountered in Area Zero are usually much more docile and easier to handle back home but being thrust into a strange and unfamiliar environment without their usual source of sustenance has driven them into a wilder, more frenzied state. The trauma of being forcibly ripped across dimensions probably contributed to their behavior as well."
"We turn out okay when we first got here," Julie protested.
"Julie, you tried to bite Sada's arm off," ANNA reminded her.
"Oh, and nyou nyot try to blow Turo's head off?" Julie replied. She grimaced. "Maybe we should have, save everyone whole lot of trouble."
"I would prefer it if you didn't discuss homicide in my office, please," Clavell said.
"Sorry, Pawpa Clavell," Julie apologized. "Also, nyou should open window."
He gave her a confused look.
"When did you begin to realize that these were not native Legendary Pokémon?" ANNA inquired.
"When people started raving about the Legendary Beasts looking like dinosaurs and the Swords of Justice like robots," Cyrano replied. "While a few claims like that could be dismissed as hysteria, pretty much everyone who encountered them described them the same way. They kept moving too fast for people to get really good looks at them and our security cameras have been going haywire ever since they showed up-"
"The influence of the God Machines, no doubt," ANNA mused. "Your systems would be woefully unprepared to deal with them."
"So, we decided to hire a reputable wildlife photographer to try and get pictures of them," Cyrano continued. "Unfortunately, Todd Snapp was busy in Lental, so we had to settle for a woman named Perrin instead. I believe you may already be acquainted with her?"
Julie perked up at this and took another look at the pictures. "Oh! Perrin! That explain quality of composition!"
"Yes, the use of lighting and attention to detail is most impressive," ANNA agreed. She frowned. "But this makes no sense. How could the Legendary Pokémon from our world wind up here? Area Zero would make sense, maybe the Crystal Pool, but…"
"Blueberry Academy has big magic science Terastal sun thing, right?" Julie suggested. "Could that bring them here?"
ANNA shook her head. "No, I looked up all the specs on that a while ago to see if it might be a possible way to get us home-"
"Wait, you did what?! Those things are so classified even I can't look at them!" Cyrano protested.
"Yes, gaining access took an entertaining 3 seconds, you should really update your security," ANNA said breezily.
"It took her less than one to breach our security when she first came here, so you should feel proud of that much," Clavell said to the dumbstruck Cyrano. "Thankfully, we've already vastly updated our own security."
"Yes, now it requires a full five seconds to hack it," ANNA told him, much to his astonishment.
"But… You're the one who upgraded it!" Clavell protested.
ANNA raised an eyebrow. "And you did not think I would leave myself a back door? In any event, I can confirm that the Terarium Core does not generate nearly enough Terastal energy to warp space and time. It cannot be used as a Time Machine or to pierce the dimensional barriers. As such, it is completely impossible for the six guardian deities to have appeared there, unless…"
"'The gaps between worlds grow ever wider,'" Julie quoted. "Demon King warned us."
ANNA nodded in agreement. "I was afraid this might happen. After all the tachyon surges and temporal anomalies that have caused disruptions across Paldea and Kitakami, the walls between worlds are growing thinner and easier to pass through. As such, even though the Terarium Core should be too weak to drag beings from other worlds into this one… Given the current situation, it is probably the most powerful source of Terastal energy outside of Area Zero or the Crystal Pool on the planet, it might have weakened the boundaries enough to let them through."
"Might nyot be all," Julie said. "Where Blueberry on map?"
ANNA projected a world map on one of the walls, a blinking light flashing somewhere off the coast of Unova. "Here."
Julie pulled out an old book, flipped it open, then placed it on the floor, unfolding the pages to create a large, archaic map like the one on the wall, with lots of fiery lines crisscrossing every sea and land mass. Nodding to herself, she placed her claw on the spot where Blueberry was on her sister's map, where several lines converged. "Here. According to Explorer's Atlas, Blueberry right on top of big convergence of ley lines, like Area Zero or Crystal Pool."
"Of course… On its own the Core probably wouldn't be able to open portals to other worlds, but with the confluence of energy it was built on top of… Director Cyrano, why exactly was Blueberry built there?" ANNA asked the other headmaster.
Cyrano blinked, clearly having some difficulty following what was going on. "Uhhh… I wasn't… Really involved in the site selection process? The contractors said that it was just the place it would make most sense to build? Um, out to sea but still in range of the mainland, just deep enough to serve as a good foundation to build on, easy access to geothermal and hydroelectric power, little risk of getting attacked by territorial Water Pokémon…"
"In other words, it was 'just right,'" ANNA summed up.
Julie nodded as she folded up her Atlas. "Makes sense. Research shows places like that tend to attract people and Pokémon from all over to live. Most major cities, populations, habitats built on top of or along Ley lines. Don't even realize they do it. Instinct. Come up with all sorts of rationalizations, that what it boil down to."
"Really? Are we on top of such a convergence?" Clavell asked, amazed.
Julie noted. "Why nyou think Academy here, not other city?"
"That gives us the why and the how, but we are left with many more unanswered questions," ANNA murmured, perplexed as she dismissed the projection on the wall. "Director Cyrano, have the Paradox Pokémon tried to escape the Terarium?"
"Um, no," Cyrano said. "There's five major elevators, and a bunch of smaller access lifts for maintenance purposes. However, they're all on the outer ring surrounding the Terarium and we can seal off any section of the ring or close off the Terarium with security doors in case of emergency - since, you know, under the sea, need to compartmentalize in case we spring a leak. We've always got plenty of staff on guard around the entrances to the Terarium ever since the six of them appeared. But no, none of them have tried to bust out. They seem to be extremely territorial and, beyond occasionally probing the habitat, tend to stay not too far from where the first sightings were reported."
ANNA nodded. "This is logical. Since they entered this world in those areas, it would be reasonable to stay near them in case another portal opened again to take them home, and as you said you have security measures you can use to seal off the lower areas of the Academy long enough to bring enough trainers to stop them should they attempt to break out. I believe you have a rather sizable stock of Master Balls?"
Cyrano nodded. "Yes, but so far, all attempts to catch them have ended in failure. They're either too fast to get it, or one of them will destroy a Ball before it can catch any of the others."
"Do you know if they are collaborating with each other, or if the two sets of divinities are at odds?" ANNA pressed.
Cyrano frowned. "I… Don't know the answer that, sorry."
"Maybe they friends? We turned out okay," Julie pointed out. "And should knyow from Julie's mom and nyour mom that they can trust each other."
"Ideally that would be the case, but… It is not exactly as if the Paradox Pokémon in Area Zero from different worlds get along," ANNA pointed out. "We do not yet have enough information to know for certain. And speaking of…" She frowned. "Since your mother and Mother Computer surely did debrief them on this world, why have they not attempted to contact us? Even if they were uncertain that this was the same world we were in, they should have at least tried."
"How would they have managed to do that?" A puzzled Clavell asked.
"The God Beast of Julie's tribe have a sort of mystical link to the grimalkin they watch over, and now that Julie has embraced her destiny and resumed her magical training, they should be able to use that link to reach out her," ANNA explained. "And while being at the bottom of the ocean and interference from Terastal energy might have prevented them from simply contacting me wirelessly, it should have been child's play for the God Machines to hack Blueberry's systems and let me know they were here. And yes, none of that has happened."
Julie frowned, tapping her chin in thought, then gasped, snapping her claws. "Wait… What if…"
She pulled out a small notebook and flipped through it frantically. "Nyes… Here… And here, and here and here and here! Julie having recurring dreams of ocean for last several nyights! Julie thought it metaphor but must've been God Beast trying to reach out!"
"Truly? But then why have the God Machines not attempted to speak with me?" ANNA inquired, frustrated.
"I think I might have an explanation for that."
Both Cyrano and Clavell started as the translucent image of a girl in a prison uniform with messy red and blue hair, a pair of mechanical cat ears growing out of the top of her head, incredibly high-tech glowing cat eyes behind a pair of glasses, neon 'whiskers,' glowing lines all over her body, a segmented red and blue tail, and skin that seemed more metal than flesh materialized before them.
"The heck?! Don't tell me your school is haunted by cyborg catgirl convict ghosts on top of everything else, Clavell!" Cyrano shouted.
"I'm afraid it's far worse than that," Clavell said wearily. "Penny, I thought I removed all the bugs and projectors you left in my office!"
"Yes, I'm sure you did," Penny said patronizingly.
"Penpen!" Julie cried happily, pouncing at Penny and, predictably, passing right through her.
Penny sighed. "Julie, you do that every time. You know it's never really me, right?"
"Nyes, but every time Julie hope it is nyou," Julie said sadly, causing a guilty look to flash across the other girl's face.
"Penny. Were you already aware of the presence of our guardian deities in this era, and neglected to tell us?" ANNA asked reproachfully.
"I knew something was going on at Blueberry, but not that Legendary Pokémon from your worlds had wound up there," Penny said. "I've been a little busy with something that I think has a connection to what's going on, or least, why you haven't gotten any communications from the God Machines."
She opened her hand, a hologram of a high-tech serpent biting its own tail to form an O appearing over it.
ANNA narrowed her eyes. "I see… You suspect Ouroboros?"
"Our-what now?" The increasingly bewildered Cyrano asked.
"Ouroboros is an enigmatic cyberterrorist organization that has sprung up within the last month," ANNA explained. "They are incredibly sophisticated and have managed to steal data from top-secret databases worldwide as well as triggered several industrial accidents, power outages, stock market crashes, and are responsible for the deaths of thousands. They have issued no demands, no manifesto, no threats, and the only reason we even know their name is because of a word found in a trace of their code before it deleted itself. Nothing that has a computer or a connection to the network is safe from them. I only became aware of them when I sensed a worm attempting to infiltrate my own systems, and I very nearly missed it."
"But… Your technology is thousands if not millions of years ahead of ours," Clavell stammered, horrified.
"Yes, I am very worried as well," ANNA said, not sounding or looking particularly worried.
"While ANNA is technically a better hacker than me, I'm far more familiar with human systems and she's too straightlaced and honest to think in the same way a cybercriminal would," Penny explained. "I've agreed to lend my services to the authorities in taking down Ouroboros in exchange for time off my sentence."
"Can't nyou just leave whenever nyou want?" Julie asked.
"Yes, but this will let me do so legally."
"Oh."
"You believe Ouroboros has a hand in this?" ANNA asked.
"Considering that I've just found – and removed – traces of their worms in Blueberry Academy's systems? I think it's a safe bet," Penny said.
"You found what?!" Cyrano shouted.
"Um, Penny, I don't suppose-" Clavell asked nervously.
"Relax, Clive, there's nothing in the school's computers."
Clavell sighed in relief.
"I got rid of those weeks ago."
His eyes bulged.
"So… Ouroboros blocking message from God Machines to sister?" Julie asked, scratching her head. "But why?"
"And how," ANNA said, looking truly concerned. "The God Machines have even more sophisticated systems than I do. How could a person from this age possibly be able to jam their transmissions? Penny is the only person who could, but she would never do such a thing."
"Well, I would if I needed to create a bogeyman to fight to get released early, but if that were the case, I wouldn't drag you or anyone from your era into it, especially since I want to go there with you so to do something like this would seem counterproductive towards that goal," Penny admitted. "I would never betray either of your trusts like that. And the only other candidate is, last time I checked, dead. We saw him shatter ourselves."
"Then we may have a new adversary on our hands," ANNA murmured. "Someone truly formidable if they cannot only interfere with systems as advanced as mine or the God Machines but are aware of what they are and my connection to them, the amount of people who should know those things numbering in the single digits."
"You mean I have a new adversary on my hands. Leave this to me. Cyberspace is my turf," Penny asserted confidently. "The two of you need to get to Blueberry and figure out what the deal with these Paradox Legendary Pokémon is."
"Very well," ANNA conceded, glancing at Cyrano. "I presume that is why you came here in the first place? To ask for our help?"
Cyrano nodded. "Yeah. As soon as we got the photos, Briar took one look at them and recognized the God Beasts from the story Julie told her in Kitakami, and the God Machines from ANNA's description, and said we should bring you in for help. And that's looking to be the right call."
"Indeed, it is," ANNA confirmed.
"Pawpa Clavell, can we please go to Blueberry?" Julie begged, giving him her best kitten eyes.
"Of course you can," Clavell said fondly. "I was planning to send you there anyway. In fact, I've already booked tickets-"
"That will not be necessary," ANNA interjected. "This is something which must be dealt with immediately, so we do not have time for another long – and expensive – plane ride when we have a much faster and cheaper option right here. Is that not right, Nemona?"
"Damn right it is!" Nemona shouted, kicking the door off its hinges as she barged into the office.
Clavell facepalmed. "Nemona, the door was unlocked. As usual."
"Yeah, but it's not as much of a dramatic entrance if I just walk in," Nemona said dismissively as a resigned Arven entered behind her, picked up the door, and started mending the hinges.
"Julie has no complaints!" Julie purred excitedly, tail wagging fiercely as she took in their girlfriend, who had adapted very well to her ongoing genetic and cybernetic augmentations.
Her school uniform had been customized, with the lower part of her shirt ripped off to expose her growing abs and draw attention to her chest and her stockings were gone to let the soft fur on her shapely muscled legs breathe easier. The toes of her shoes had been ripped off to make room for her claws, and a hole torn in the back of her shorts to make room for her long, soft tail. Her left arm was lean and muscular with clawed fingers while her right from the elbow down was a red and purple mechanical prosthesis covered in circuit patterns, tribal markings, feathers, beads, and other trinkets with a friendship bracelet around the wrist. Her teeth had sharpened into fangs, and both her eyes had feline pupils, though the right one was clearly a high-tech prosthetic as well, though not as sophisticated as Penny's eyes. Her hair now flowed to her waist in a long, wild ponytail, parts of her hair resembling cables or filament, with a pair of cat ears growing from the top of her head. Stripes had formed on her furrier parts and cheeks, framed by glowing lines like the ones on her robot arm.
"Nene!" Julie cried, bouncing on Nemona.
"Julie!" Nemona cried back, catching her girlfriend, the two immediately hugging and cuddling and nuzzling each other and purring and looking utterly adorable.
"… I have no idea what's happening," a confused Cyrano said.
"Just smile and nod, Cyrano, smile and nod," Clavell urged him.
Penny crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "They just saw each other like an hour ago."
"You wish that were you," ANNA stated.
"Absolutely."
"You know, it would be simple enough to make that you if you were to-" ANNA started.
"We've talked about this already, I'm not leaving," Penny said harshly.
"Okay, door's fixed," said Arven as he came over. His own augmentations weren't quite as dramatic as Nemona or Penny's, but he still had fangs, somewhat feline eyes, was a bit hairier than most teens his age, and had glowing lines on his skin and cat ears. "Really wish I weren't so good at it by now…"
"Your reliability is one of your best traits, friend Arven," ANNA assured him.
"And my ability to make sandwiches," Arven said.
"That as well. Though you are excellent at making other dishes as well," ANNA said encouragingly.
"Yes, it's just that sandwiches are all most people and certain gluttonous dragons want from me," he said resignedly.
"At least you know you are loved and appreciated," ANNA told him.
"There is that," he conceded. "And I have parents who are both alive and actually care about me now, even if both of them are currently lost in other dimensions."
"We will get them back," ANNA promised.
Arven smiled. "Yeah, I know."
"Nemona, since you and Arven were clearly eavesdropping-" ANNA began.
"Her idea, not mine," Arven said quickly.
"I assume that you wish to accompany us on this journey to Blueberry Academy?" ANNA concluded.
Nemona, still nuzzling Julie, nodded. "Yep! Been itching to go on another adventure with you girls for a while now! Also, Nebby won't take you anywhere without me. Plus, you'll need me to call her back when we're ready to come home."
"That is logical," ANNA agreed. "Also, Julie, move over, I also wish to hug our mutual girlfriend and grope her nicely growing bosom and rear."
"You really don't have to say it like that," Clavell said weakly. "Or do it in front of me."
"I am afraid that is quite impossible, for Nemona is far too beautiful for me to keep my hands off of her for long," ANNA stated plainly as she also began embracing and cuddling the eager cyborg catgirl.
Penny sulked. "… I want that too…" She muttered.
Cyrano blinked slowly. "… And here I thought my kids were crazy…" He muttered.
"You have no idea," Clavell said wearily.
"You're not the one who has to spend the most time with them," Arven said, looking even more exhausted.
Clavell glanced at him. "I take it that you wish to accompany them as well?"
Arven shrugged. "Might as well at this point. I don't really have anything going on today anyway."
"What about classes?" Clavell asked.
Arven shrugged. "I repeat, I don't really have anything going on today anyway."
Clavell sighed. "Well, it's not like I could stop you if I really wanted to. Also, all your grades are high enough it almost doesn't matter at this point if you attend classes anyway. The League won't exactly be happy, but this is an official request, so…"
Arven smiled and flashed him a thumbs up. "Thanks, Papa Clavell."
Clavell grimaced. "You don't need to be calling me that too."
"My original father abandoned me and died, and my robot dad is on some spaceship in another galaxy and not coming back anytime soon, you wouldn't want to deprive me of another father figure, would you?" Arven asked.
Clavell sighed. "You can't use the orphan card forever, you know."
"I don't see why not, it's worked so far," Arven said cheerfully.
"Arar!" Julie cheered, tackling him from behind and cuddling him too. "Nyou nyeed hugs too! Make nyou feel better!"
"I'm not sure I need it, but I do feel my serotonin levels rising, so thanks," Arven replied.
"Nemona, thank you for allowing us to use Nebby, but will she be able to transport all of us as well as Cyrano?" ANNA asked Nemona, pulling away from her, but not before copping one last feel which caused her to yelp and blush.
Penny glanced away, an envious look on her face.
"Sure, no problem, Mewstress," Nemona promised, tail wagging eagerly.
"Wait, what about me?" A confused Cyrano asked. "And for that matter, what exactly is happening here?"
"Since we need to go to Blueberry Academy immediately, we will be relying on Nemona's little sister Nebby to get us there faster than public transportation ever could," ANNA explained. "I had assumed you would wish to come with us, so as to help guide us around your school and lead us to the Paradox Legendaries as well as to save you a lengthy and expensive trip back."
"Oh. That's very kind of you," Cyrano said in surprise. "But, uh, who is Nebby and how is she going to get us there faster than a plane?"
Penny smirked. "Oh, you'll see in just a minute."
Nemona pulled out her phone and hit one of her contacts. "Hey, moms? Sorry for the short notice, but I'm about to go on an adventure with the girls."
"And me," Arven spoke up.
"You know you're an honorary girl, Arven," Nemona told him sweetly before returning to her conversation. "So yeah, we need Nebby… Yeah… Yeah… Okay, love you too, I'll tell you all about it later, and I can't promise this won't wind up on the evening news, bye!"
She hung up. "She'll be here in just a second."
Cyrano's brows furrowed. "Is she… Does she have a Pokémon that can teleport really long distances, or-"
Rather abruptly, an Ultra Wormhole opened in the air right outside of Clavell's office, disgorging a majestic Lunala who shrieked and spread her wings as she manifested, the resulting shockwave shattering the windows and bombarding the screaming headmasters with broken glass.
Julie sighed. "Julie said nyou should open window."
"A reason why might have been nice!" Clavell snapped from where he was cowering under his desk.
"Nebby! There's my favorite little sister!" Nemona squealed, rushing up and hugging the neck of the lunar bat as she stuck her head into the room.
Nebby squealed happily and nuzzled her. "I'm your only little sister, silly! Mommy and Mama said you needed me to take you and your friends somewhere?"
"That is correct. We require immediate transportation to Blueberry Academy," ANNA told her.
Nebby licked her lips. "Blueberry? Sounds tasty! Where is it?"
Penny generated a holographic map like the one ANNA had projected earlier, indicating where Blueberry Academy was. "Right here, in the ocean close to Unova."
Nebby leaned further into the office to examine the hologram. "I've never been there before! Is it an island? A ship?"
"It's an artificial habitat like home, but not nearly as nice," Nemona told her.
"Excuse me?!" Cyrano, who'd been staring slack-jawed at Nebby for the last few minutes, protested.
"You don't have a stadium that can fly and has a built-in Dynamax reactor and a recently installed Terastal generator and a field that can be altered by the blessings of the Guardian deities of Alola, so your argument is invalid," Nemona said dismissively.
"We have an enormous undersea habitat with four biomes! Much bigger than the one in Aether Paradise! And can Terastalize anywhere in the Academy!" Cyrano protested.
"Do you have a flying stadium with a Dynamax reactor and a field that can be altered by the blessings of the guardian deities of Alola?" Nemona asked.
"Well, no, but we do have a variety of fields we can swap out-" Cyrano stammered.
"But it doesn't fly, allow for Dynamax, or can receive the blessings of the guardian deities of Alola, so it's vastly inferior," Nemona said.
"Also, we live in a big, beautiful mansion with our wonderful family!" Nebby chirped. "It's a literal paradise! It says so in the name, so it must be true!"
"I have no idea what she just said," Clavell confessed.
Cyrano's eye twitched. "… When I get back, I'm gonna see if we can make a few changes to our battlefields…" He muttered to himself. "Can't be that hard to convince some Legendary Pokémon to come visit, right?"
"So can nyou take us, Nebby?" Julie asked.
Nebby nodded rapidly, nearly smashing Clavell's desk with her head. "Yes! It'll be a bit difficult with all of you, though."
"You will only be taking five passengers, Penny is projecting herself from prison and Director Clavell will be staying here," ANNA informed her.
"Calling a repair crew to my office… Again," Clavell said wearily as Penny waved to the bat.
"Five? That'll be a bit of a tight fit, but I think I can manage," Nebby said thoughtfully. "Does he have an Ultra Spacesuit?"
"Can somebody please explain what she just said-" Cyrano demanded, only to do a double take when he saw that Julie, ANNA, Nemona, and Arven were all wearing Ultra Spacesuits. "Where did those come from?!"
"Oh, we take them everywhere, just in case we need Nebby to take us on a trip through Ultra Space," Nemona explained.
"We've gotten pretty good at putting them on quickly," Arven said smugly.
"And taking them off," Julie purred at Nemona, who giggled.
Nebby frowned. "Oh… I'm not sure it's safe to take him through Ultra Space without one. How much cosmic radiation can a human withstand before dying again?"
"Not a lot, baseline humans are very poorly designed," Penny replied.
"Here, put this on," ANNA said, having removed her Ultra Spacesuit in the split-second Cyrano glanced away and was now holding it out to him. "My people are spacefarers, so our bodies are naturally heavily resistant to most forms of radiation and cosmic energy."
"Wait, then why do you even have one in the first place?" A confused Clavell asked.
"Because it is skintight and makes me look exceedingly attractive to my girlfriends," ANNA stated plainly, Nemona and Penny nodding eagerly.
Cyrano held out the spacesuit before him, a doubtful look on his face. "I'm not sure I'm gonna fit."
"Very well. I will inoculate you against cosmic radiation now, and give you another dose when we arrive," ANNA decided, one of her fingers transforming into a very large syringe. "If any of your hair, teeth, or eyes fall out, you begin bleeding from every orifice, or aggressive super cancer causes you to begin mutating into a hideous walking tumor, let me know at once and I shall cure and/or kill you as soon as possible."
Cyrano frantically started pulling the suit on.
"All of you have fun," Penny told her friends and girlfriends as they climbed out the window and onto Nebby's back. "The fact that Ouroboros wanted to keep ANNA from finding out about the presence of the God Machines as long as possible may be the clue I've been looking for to figure out what they really want. I'll handle things on my end while you're gone. With any luck, I'll have figured something out by the time you're back."
"Very well. We leave this in your more than capable hands," ANNA told her.
"You got this, girlfriend!" Nemona, sandwiched between Julie and ANNA and liking it very much, gave her a thumbs up.
"Julie give Penpen big hug when we get back!" Julie promised.
Penny sighed. "Julie, I'll still be in prison when you come back."
"Nyo nyou won't!" Julie sang cheerfully, causing her to blink in confusion.
"Wait! Hang on!" Cyrano protested, having managed, with some significant effort, to stuff himself into the much too small spacesuit. "Where am I supposed to sit?"
Arven, sitting behind Julie on the very end of Nebby's saddle, bluntly said, "I'm not moving."
"Don't worry, Nebby can still carry you," Nemona assured him.
"How-"
He was cut off when Nebby reached through the window, grabbed him with her teeth, and dragged him out of the office.
"ADVENTURE!" Julie shouted as Nebby soared into the air, Cyrano screaming in terror as they entered a new Ultra Wormhole, leaving a rainbow in their wake because why not.
Penny sighed longingly. "One day…"
Her hologram winked out
Clavell stared blankly out the broken window, hair and suit disheveled and his office in ruins once again. "I really need to retire."