Ash and Pikachu III: Journeys

by Ivy the Snivy

Ash, Pikachu and Ashachu are back! In this third instalment, the bonds between our heroes begin to break down. Will Hunter ever be able to forgive Ashachu for what he did with Blade? Worse, how does Hunter really feel about Geyser. Poor Ashachu has conflict of his own. Does he love Hunter or Blade. They'll have to figure it out soon. Because an old enemy is preparing to strike!

132. The Tel Tale Spy

Chapter 131 – The Tel tale spy

"First things first…Have any of you heard of the Marco Cosmos," Inteleon asked, when Ash, Cameron, Jimmy, and their Pokémon had gathered in the lounge room again.

Ash, Pikachu, Charizard and the Pokémon gave him and Sobble blank stares in response. But Jimmy nodded and Cameron scratched his head and replied "Yeah, I've heard my dad mention it a few times."

"It's the biggest company in the Galar region isn't it," added Jimmy. "Energy, Constructions, Insurance, Banking, airlines, rail. You name it, they probably own a significant part of it."

"That's understating it," said Inteleon. "The Marco Cosmos basically is the Galar. It is a conglomerate of fourteen companies. Fourteen companies that control all the vital and most influential industries. Energy, banking, and construction as you say. But also, most of the media. Marco Cosmos Media, Marco Cosmos Television and Marco Net. Despite the companies size it is still a family-owned business. Owned by the Rose family who founded one hundred years ago. They built the first mines in the Galar region. The current chairman is…Well Chairman Rose. As far as anyone knows, he doesn't have a first name. Not one he goes by publicly. The Marco Cosmos is so big and powerful that it even has its representatives inside the Parliament of Galar. Not mere lobbyists. Actual members of parliament selected by the chairman who represent the company. It's a major government contractor, especially in defense, services and infrastructure. Public Servants even refer to the Department of planning, the Department of Marco Cosmos….That's why when the company…and indeed the Chairman…become inculpated in crimes or issues of national security, any investigation has to be dealt with sensitively."

"That's why we're here," squeaked Sobble. "Tel and I are secret agents. We belong to a covert branch of the OSS. We carry out top secret missions and investigations that nobody else can. Get information that police can't get without a warrant. Break into to secure and private facilities. Kidnap and interrogate suspects, also without the knowledge of courts. We can even tor…"

"Sobble," Inteleon interrupted him sounding a little exasperated. "Remember what I told you about top secret information…Shhh."

Sobble blushed. "Errr sorry Tel…Umm forget I said that last part."

Seeing the miraculous looks on Ash and the other's faces, Inteleon added hurriedly, "Look. Basically, what my brother is saying is that we can spy on the Marco Cosmos because the Galar Police Department can't. Their investigation would be shut down or undermined before it could gather anything incriminating. And that's the extent of what you need to know about what Sobby and I do."

"Okay." It was Ash who spoke first after a moment's silence. "But what does a Galarian mega company have to do with Pallet Town. Nothing national security related ever happens here."

Inteleon rubbed his head with his paw again. "Look its a long story. Actually, it's more of a web. An elaborate web of deceptions and lies being spun by a dark Spidops. About sixty years ago, scientists started researching a potential energy crisis. In those days the main form of power generation came from coal and oil powered generators. These resources are obviously finite, so it was rumored that a peak would be reached after which a new form of energy would be needed. Over the years scientists started finding evidence that gaseous byproducts produced in the process of creating energy from coal and oil could trap solar radiation in the atmosphere, and cause significant changes to weather systems, and also on the environment. Increases or deceases in rainfall can cause flooding, or drought. Crop failure, Pokémon habitations becoming uninhabitable. Conflicts between species. There were skeptics and deniers of these predictions. Especially within the industries responsible for producing coal and oil. But most scientists accepted them. And it started being accepted that Government's would make policy changes to mitigate the effects these byproducts were having on the atmosphere."

He glanced around and noticed he was getting blank or confused looks again. Including from his own brother. Inteleon wondered for a moment whether anyone had understood a word he had said.

Only for Lucario to bark, "We've heard this before." He looked at Cameron. "Remember!"

"What from dad," Cameron replied. "You know full well I never listen…"

But Lucario shook his head and interrupted. "No, not from your father. Lysander told us that. Right before he tried to use the Ultimate Weapon. Only he said the cause of the crisis was too many living things on the planet."

"And Ariana said the same thing we she kidnapped me in Mossdeep City," Ashachu added.

Inteleon's eyes darted from side to side for a moment. "I don't know anything about that. The important thing to remember is that main change in government policy that scientists were pushing for was to shift electricity generation from coal to other sources. Wind, Solar, Geothermal. Your governments invested in projects like the solar plant in Sunnyshore City, or the Valley Wind-works in Sinnoh. And when the Parliament of Galar moved to do the same thing, the Marco Cosmos was there to assist. Chairman Rose constructed an energy plant beneath Hammerlocke City. Now nobody outside the Marco Cosmos knows how this plant works. It's supposed to absorb Dynamax energy from the wild area, but how it does this is a guarded trade secret. Not even government regulators know."

"And you're trying to find that out," interjected Cameron.

"No. That's not our role. Trade secrets aren't our concern. At least not when they don't endanger the public or national security. The energy plant is just one fibre of the web. You recall I said that there were skeptics about the scientist's theories. Most of them are quickly dismissed as quacks or peddlers of misinformation. Dangerous to society. But three years a journalist from your country. I think he was at the Castelia Times. Noticed something odd. He wrote an article about the death of a prominent skeptic. I can't remember the skeptic's name. He was a low-grade academic at Puzzle university. He died in a plane crash. A fault with the engine which government inquiry put down to cost saving measures by the airline. It caused something of a scandal. Nothing to do with the theory. Or at least, that was what we thought originally. But a low-level analyst at OSS flagged that the article alleged as potentially suspicious. It suggested that the dead skeptic had been about to publish a credible paper calling the theory into question. Now the article was never actually published. The Times retraced the story after fact checkers reviewed the skeptics work and concluded that his paper would have been wrong. Oh, and in case you're wondering. OSS has spy malware installed in the computer systems of every major newspaper. Our masters like to know what's circulating in the public before it goes out. Now, these types of co-incidences arise all the time in the world of espionage. And it may not have gone further, but for two stranger co-incidences that followed. The first was, the journalist who wrote the article also died a suspicious death. He was stabbed by a Team Rocket grunt a week later in a botched robbery. The second co-incidence was that we found evidence that the skeptics university and personal computers had been affected by malware. Some data had been corrupted and some files deleted. None of which could be recovered."

"So, we thought that the data disproving the theory had been altered so no one would know, and that the skeptic was killed to prevent the truth coming out," pipped up Sobble. "Well…at least that's what the shouty guy with the silver hat said."

"Careful Sobby," said Inteleon. "We still can't verify that for a fact. But the suspicious deaths didn't stop there."

"Yeah, the shouty guy said that lots of reputable academics who were skeptics had been killed before they could reveal the truth."

"Sobble."

Sobble recoiled at the tone of his brother's voice. "Sorry!"

Inteleon sighed. "I can't tell you everything that the OSS investigation uncovered. Most of it was just random things that were only meaningful to the shouty guy and conspiracy theorists. Our master's didn't take any of it seriously until a few months ago. This part is public knowledge. A PhD student and researcher from the Aether Foundation named Lyte travelled to Wyndon. And while he was there, Lyte met a government official from Paldea. Lyte told the government official that the Aether Foundation had been conducting experiments on Pokémon in order to create a weapon that could be used against Ultra Beasts, and that this had been secretly financed by your government. That information got reported to OSS and your International Police by the Paldean government. This meeting one of the allegations in the Rotom Dex dossier that private detective Tim Goodman prepared on behalf of your Ninja Party. And that led to the Heather Dunbar investigation. And because the dossier had allegations involving Galar and could potentially lead to a political scandal in your country, OSS had to get involved. After all, the Marco Cosmos is the largest private sector benefactor of the Aether Foundation. We needed to know if there was any connection between the company and high level government corruption. Of course, at that stage, the object of inquiry was the Aether Foundation, not Marco Cosmos. Sobby and I were initially assigned to follow a rouge Darkrai that had its genetic structure modified by science. He's the one you all saw last night his name is…"

"Shadow." Ash finished the sentence for him darkly. "Yeah, we know."

"He started meeting regularly with Lyte. The Aether scientists who was a source for a lot of the information in the first place. So, we started keeping tabs him too…."

[Pokémon]

Flygon's den…

"Awww….How much longer," Hunter all but cried, as he fought back tears.

His body was objecting painfully to hanging by his paws for this long. His fur was matted with sweat and the pain in his shoulders and arms had spread through his whole body. His dick was still dripping but was starting to soften, not having had attention in goodness knows how long at this point. The position was making it difficult to breathe…not suffocating but drawing breath was noticeably harder…And pulling himself by his arms to get some relief was increasingly hard.

"You know for someone who prides himself on being a strong fighting type…You were the first to break," Hirosaki teased, causing Flygon and Sniveon to giggle, and Growlithe to cox his head in concern.

"Yeahs, okay you broke me," Hunter barked furiously. "Good for you. Now let me down. This is the fucking distortion world!"

To be fair to poor Hunter, it wasn't although the others were far from their breaking points to. Dragonite had his eyes shut and kept whimpering or breathing heavily, Geyser was focusing on his breathing so as to better endure the situation though the strain was clearly showing in his face and Blade…Well, he had gone oddly quite for someone who had, up to recently, been delighting in Hunter's anguish. Like Hunter, their bodies were slick with sweat and the stale scent of musk hung in the air. The body heat from the eight Pokémon all gathered in close proximity and under stress had made the cave hot and sticky.

An inferno of rut and heat…

Flygon folded his arms and looked happily around at his defeated (and one voluntary) captives. Although he enjoyed the sights, scents, and tastes of other males suffering, vulnerable and on display, he had long since learned to identify, with precision, when the line between dominating a submissive Pokémon and abusing another was being approached. He patted Hirosaki on the back and instructed, "alright let them down." When Hirosaki turned his head and raised his brows he added, "they've suffered enough."

Hirosaki blinked and his eyes lost their shade of blue. The aura around Hunter, Blade, Geyser and Dragonite's forepaws disappeared, and the four Pokémon dropped to the cave floor. They all crumpled in a heap and slowly picked themselves up.

"Ugh…Thank Arceus," Hunter cried as he stretched his arms and cricked his back. He stood up then, realizing that he wasn't so steady on his feet, so sat back down on the ground.

"Hehehe…What's wrong Hunty," Blade teased. Unlike Hunter the Sneasel was on his feet, cricking his neck and swinging his arms and shoulders from side to side to relieve the aches. Although his bravado had returned, he was too pretty glad to be released from that position.

Hunter glared at him.

"Yeah, being hung like that's nasty," said Dragonite. The dragon type had been the first to his feet and was stretching his wings and rolling his shoulder. "Your luck that was only a short session. Last time Flygon did that to me, he left me in that position for hours. Unit I passed out."

Flygon chuckled and patted his shoulder. "Well. You were being particularly obnoxious that day. It wasn't unearned."

"Well, it felt like an eternity to me," grumbled Hunter.

"The-he…That's the trouble with trained Pokémon," Blade said smugly, winking at the Riolu. "Can't handle a bit of pain! Don't have any potions or Pokémon Centre's in the wild."

"You weren't so cocky a moment ago," Hunter muttered his eyes narrowing to slits.

"Five-minute break," announced Flygon. "Anybody need to go outside for a drink?"

Nobody answered him, though Geyser shook his head, getting gingerly to his paws, and stretching so that his head and chest fell low to the floor with his forearms stretched out, and his rump raised in the air and tailed hiked up.

"Hehe…I wouldn't stay in that position too long around here," Flygon teased. He wound his way around Geyser and gave him a slap on the backside with the end of his tail.

It caused the surprised Samurott to jump in the air and return to an upright position.

Flygon trialed a claw up his spin as he continued to wind his way around Geyser. "Good thinking Geyser. I was thinking about having Hirosaki freeze you in that position."

"Errr..,Yeah." Geyser's eyes widened and blushed. His tail twitched, moving up and down, and his dick jumped.

"Hehehe….Big, strong and complete naïve and clueless," Flygon chuckled as he came face to face with Geyser. He raked his claws over Geyser's flank, up his neck and along his muzzle. His talons dragged through the Samurott's blue fur, making his skin tingle all over. "A bit of a world away from the assertive, dominant, and uncompromising mon who made Ashachu worship his paws while simultaneously getting him so horny that until he begged for sweet release." When Geyser's eyes widened further, Flygon licked him on the nose and added, "Oh don't worry everybody knows about that." He gripped Geyser's cheeks, right below his eyes, with both claws. "Can't keep those rumors from spreading around here."

"Hey, that is my boyfriend you know," Hunter protested. He had intended to sound assertive, but his voice was too high and squeaky and made everyone around him laugh. Of course he wasn't serious. They had all agreed to this after all, and it wasn't that long ago that he'd been moaning like a bitch as his uncle fondled his cock. Nevertheless, with nothing else happening and the attention on Geyser, he couldn't help but feel a little jealous.

Geyser meanwhile had found himself speechless, unable to form any words in his throat to respond to Flygon's action. He just grunted and blushed. And that was when Flygon did something he wasn't expecting. He shifted to Geyser's side, pressed both fore claws into his flank, and pushed him. Not hard…but enough to cause him to lose balance and topple over onto his side.

"Whoa…"

Next thing Geyser knew, he had been rolled on his back, as Flygon clambered on top of him. The Mystic Pokémon straddles his hips, his legs wrapped around the Samurott and his claws pressing down on his chest to keep him in place. Their gaze met for a moment, and Geyser looked into his eyes, until Flygon took advantage of his maw, pressing their muzzles together and forced his tongue into Geyser's mouth.

"Oh, come on," cried Hunter, as shooting calls from the other Pokémon filled the cave.

For Geyser, it was as though his brain had been switched off, and he had reverted to his base instinct to mate. He wanted Flygon; his tongue wrapped around his own and pulling it into the Mystic Pokémon's maw. The feel of his scales against his belly. Those sharp, nimble yet soft claws groping and caressing his pecs. The heat on his skin and the subtle dragon musk filling his nose…It was intoxicating. Every other thought…including of Hunter and the other Pokémon watching them…was driven from his lust filled otter mind.

"Nghgnnn…"

He wrapped his forearms around Flygon's back and pulled him closer. Crushing the nimble dragon type into him. Despite Flygon's obvious strength and power his body felt so delicate under Geyser's muscular arms. A sudden jolt of pleasure shot through Geyser's body as Flygon started to grind their cocks together. A series of deep moans rose from the back of his throat. Though muffled by the kiss it was still pretty audible to everyone else around….not that Geyser cared or even was really aware of at this point. The heat and friction between them grew and their dicks grew wet and slippery with pre. Geyser thrust upwards, as he pulled Flygon closer. Their tongues wrestled in their mouths. Neither were going to last long.

"What the hell!"

Hunter raised his paw to touch the side of his face. A mix of feelings rushing through his mind. Even though he and Geyser hadn't been officially mates for very long…And hadn't even had the chance to properly mate yet, he still felt pangs of annoyance and jealously. Combined with annoyance. His own erection stood to attention again as he watched.

And as his paw subconsciously slipped downwards, Hirosaki put a claw on his shoulder and said gleefully in his ear, "I see that, Hunter. No cuming…Don't make me restrain you."

Hunter pulled his paw back disappointed. He had no desire to be crucified like that again.

Sniveon sidled up to him and patted him on the back. "You know, if you were a Leafeon. I could make a clever pun right now." She licked him on the cheek.

Hunter just rolled his eyes. He glanced sideways to see Blade covering his maw with both claws to contain his laugher. His dick was sticking out as prominently as Hunter…And he wasn't making any effort to hide it.

"You think this is bad," chuckled Dragonite. "First time Flygon challenged me to a battle he beat my ass then tied me up and spanked by butt in front of all the other dragon types I'd beaten in battle. Ass on fire, rock hard cock, tears in my eyes…"

"Wish I'd been there to see that," said Hirosaki.

"Likewise," Blade added.

"Still, I wouldn't get too jealous yet," added Dragonite. "Knowing Flygon, poor Geyser isn't going to get to cum."

"Hehe. Got that right," added Hirosaki.

Geyser, still wrapped up in Flygon, didn't comprehend a word they said…

[Pokémon]

"Lyte met with a boy from the Blueberry Academy in Unova," Tel continued. "I can't give you too many details about this, because it involves classified information. The boy was researching energy and the environment at the Blueberry Academy, along with the effects of climatic disruptions on Pokémon. He become an advocate for major policy change infrastructure reform and even gave a speech the United Nations. However, the OSS found evidence that he had been paid quite a substantial amount of money in a number of different cryptocurrencies… Just like the conspirators at the P2 laboratory and Pokémon Comprehensive had. And we had a pretty good idea of where those payment had come from."

"The Aether foundation," said Ash. His mouth had gone very dry.

"This makes no sense," mumbled Cameron, though Tel didn't hear him.

Tel nodded. "We can't prove it, but we strongly suspect so. So OSS kept the boy under surveillance as well. We tried to access his mobile phone records, but that didn't revealed anything. Not until we realized that he using a burner phone to make secret calls. Once we we were able to access that it was identified that he had a meeting arranged in the Terrarium below the school. And so the agency sent us to spy on the meeting. And who should he meet with but…"

"The Aether foundation." It was Cameron who suggested it this time.

"Not exactly," said Tel.

"It was these humans in weird suits," Sobby interjected. "The ultra…Ultra…Ugh what were their names Tel."

Tel sighed and rolled his eyes. "Honestly Sobby, sometimes I wonder if you actually try to pay attention."

Sobby glowered at him. "Hey, I was more worried about Shadow, remember."

Tel shook his head. "Honestly Sobby. Anyway…They're called the Ultra Recon Squad. Now this is the part where it gets pretty cray cray, but try to keep an open mind. The Ultra Recon Squad are visitors from another dimension."

He paused, expecting to be met with shock and disbelief from the Pokémon and humans gathered. Perhaps told he was the one who was cray cray, or else someone to storm off and refuse to listen to his tale. Nobody looked particularly shocked at all.

"Yeah, we've met Ultra Recon Squad," said Ash.

Tel raised his brows. "Wow…I wasn't expecting that. Virtually nobody knows about the Ultra Recon Squad. Contact with travelers from other dimensions is highly classified. Only the highest ranking…"

"They took us prisoner," Ash interrupted him. "Before you get any ideas about us stealing government secrets or whatever. And we know the Ultra Recon Squad is working for the Aether Foundation. And we know who they are!"

Tel's eyes opened wide. "What…Really." He exchanged glanced with Sobby.

"So you did have information all along," squeaked Sobby, looking at Charizard. "Wow, your pretty strong to resist Tel's interrogation techniques. I'd thought we'd broken you for sure."

"I can tell you who is going to be broken, if you keep talking like that runt," growled Charizard, gnashing his teeth.

"Ahh." Sobby jumped, and hid behind Tel.

Tel glared at Charizard. "Threaten my brother again and you'll regret it pal."

Charizard raised his claws and flapped. "Oh yeah. Try me. Try fighting me when my backs not turned."

"Charizard," cried Ash, getting up from the couch and holding out his hands to clam him. "Cool it."

Ashachu patted him on the flank. "Rai, Raichu Rai."

"Yeah Charizard, don't get too hot for your flames," Zacian scolded him.

There was a tense moment, before Charizard folded his arms, lowered his head and snorted indignity, looking away from Tel.

Tel took a deep breath.

"Tell us what happened with the Ultra Recon squad and this boy, and we'll tell you what we know about them," Ash said quickly, in a hope to diffuse the tension.

Tel sighed. "Well they killed him. It wasn't pretty. They had Shadow with them, and a Charmander named Pyre. Who is also a suspected Aether experiment. And they murdered. One of the squad members. Her name is Misty. Accused him of leaking information to Lyte and not being careful enough. The boy talked about his work on the energy crisis, and it sounded as though he were having doubts about some of the facts. We were detected after that and had to flee."

"So what were you doing in the forest yesterday," growled Charizard. "You said something about another boy being killed."

Tel nodded. "His names Guzma"

"The boss of Team Skull," said Ash.

"We know him too," added Cameron.

"OSS believed he might also have connections to the Aether Foundation. It's one of the lines of enquiry being investigated by Heather Dunbar. He was in a youth detention facility awaiting trial for crimes in a Alola. Two weeks ago he was bailed, and then disappeared. A warrant was issued for his arrest but there was no trace of him until he placed a call from a phone box in Viridian City to a Galar police hotline and offered to give us information. OSS set up a rendezvous here in Pallet Town. We thought it would be somewhere quite and out of the way. But Guzma never showed up. We searched the area and found your little friend here." Tel gestured to Charichu. "Munching on Guzma's corpse. What were we supposed to think. We assumed you both had something to do with it."

Charizard looked down at Charichu and said, "That was what you were doing."

Charichu looked up at him, perplexed. "Char?"

"And that's where the story ends," said Inteleon. "So…What is it that you know about the Ultra Recon Squad."

"Well, for a start, we know that they're definitely in league with Lusamine and the Aether Foundation," Cameron replied.

"And I've got a pretty good idea of what Guzma's been doing for them too," added Ash.

[Pokémon]

Flygon timed everything perfectly…

All the times he had played around with Flygon and other males, he knew when a guy was about to cum. He and Hirosaki had it planned. Just as Geyser was nearing his climax…one paw off the summit…Flygon gestured to Hirosaki with his tail.

Geyser, who had been hugging Flygon into him tighter and tighter, felt something strong pull suddenly as hit arms. Not forcefully, but too powerful for him to fight against.

"Huh…What's going on?"

Before his sex crazed mind could comprehend what has happening to his body, he had been restrained once again. His forearms were stretched above his head, while his hind legs were spread out. He could still move his body; enough wriggle, squirm and thrash, but could not move his arms or legs from their new position. It felt as though his ankles and wrists were bound to the floor but invisible cuffs. He stared up wide eyed at Flygon, as the Mystic Pokémon broke the kiss, and pulled himself off of Geyser. The poor needy Samurott was left humping the air, as his cock throbbed. A desperate whine escaped his maw.

"Whaa….Hey, why'd you stop."

Flygon smirked at him. "Oh come on cutie. Did you really think that was about getting you off." He gave Geyser a lick on the nose.

"Awww no fair," Geyser whined, his voice filled with desperation. "Come on, make me cum…Please!"

The other Pokémon watching broke out into cries and whoots. It made Geyser very aware of his massive hard on, which in his current position stood proudly on display for all to see, and his fur damp with his and Flygon's pre. His face burned the color of Sniveon's fur.

"Hehe listening to you whine Geyser… Such a slut," cried Blade. "What happened to the big dominant Samurott who had Ashachu worshipping his paws huh."

Geyser took a breath and tried to maintain his composure. "Ha… Don't pretend you all don't like what you see here." That was the best he could come up with.

Flygon giggled, and stroked his muzzle with his claw. "Hehehe… Strong but Naïve. Bet this is your first time being on display like this."

Geyser blushed again. "You could say that."

"Hehe."

He shivered as Flygon ran a slaw down the middle of his chest and stomach, and whined again when he caressed his cock.

"Such a needy boi," Blade cried out. "Come on Flygon, make him beg for it." He cheered and threw his paw in the air.

"Yeah, make him beg," echoed Sniveon.

And together they chanted, "beg, beg, beg."

Hunter felt his own dick throb at the sight of his boyfriend lying their restrained. All desperate and needy. A myriad of lewd thoughts passed through his mind, from taking Geyser like a bitch and fucking him, taking advantage of the situation and teasing Geyser himself (he did like how needed his voice sounded), or putting his boyfriend out of his misery and stroke or suck him off. Of course…Flygon was in charge and Hunter knew full well that he probably wouldn't be allowed to do any of those things. He had no idea what to say…It was hard enough resisting the urge to stroke himself off.

"Ugh." Geyser groaned and threw his head back. "You perverted Sneasel. I am so going to get you back for this."

"Hahaha. Yeah sure," Blade retorted. "That's what they all say…You, Ashachu, Monferno and Goodra! Come on, I want hear some begging."

But Flygon had other ideas…

He swung his legs over Geyser's head, then sat himself down right on top of Geyser's face. Pressing his tail hole right over Geyser's snout…

[Pokémon]

"So…The Ultra Recon Squad were in league with the Aether Foundation." Tel fold his hands tougher and lent against the back wall as Ash finished recounting the story of what had happened at the Aether Paradise. "We'd guessed that but couldn't prove it. And they were after a Pokémon called Necrozma."

"They told us that Necrozma had stolen the light from Ultra Megalopis," said Ash. "And that Necrozma would steal the light from Alola. That was a lie."

"We traveled to Ultra Megalopis," added Ashachu. "Charizard, Hunter, Blade, Geyser and I. It wasn't their world at all. It was a world they tried to invade. They're actually an alternate version of Team Flare from a parallel university."

"And Everett just punched the air," chuckled Tel. "This thing just got more complicated."

"And what exactly IS THIS," pipped up an irritable Cameron. Everybody's head turned to look at him. Lucario sat up and placed his paw on his arm.

"Cameron."

"I'm sorry but…" He glared at Tel. "You started telling up about the Marco Cosmos, an energy crisis and dead controversial scientists. Now your investigating the Aether Foundation and the Ultra Recon Squad. What in the distortion world is going on and what does it have to do with us. You said you needed our help, what for."

Tel gave him a weak smile, though he looked semi-exasperated. As though he were trying to avoid rolling his eyes or to refrain from slapping Cameron.

"At this stage we don't really know what is going on. What worries the OSS is that the Marco Cosmos may have manufactured…or at least be trying to take advantage of…an energy crisis in order to weed out competition in the energy market and link the entire Galar energy grid to their energy plant in Hammerlocke. Even if the energy crisis is not faked, nobody knows how this energy plant and there are some who fear it could of Pokémon drawn energy, similar to infinite energy which powered the ultimate weapon. The Marco Cosmos are the largest private sector financial supporter of the Aether Foundation, who's president is involved in Pokémon experimentation, inter dimensional terrorists, political corruption and possibly the murder of a child witness. We don't know what all the connections are, which is why Sobby and I have been assigned to investigate. As for you lot…We need to get into the Aether Foundation. And Ms. Cobell has made it clear she doesn't want us snooping around. The Alola Pokémon league is due to restart up in a few weeks time…We need you to re-enter as competitors and take us with you."

The three boys looked at each other uncertain, while the Pokémon gave them stony looks.