COLUMN #40

"Someday, the whole world will know the name of Professor Sada.

My colleague Turo has already received a lot of recognition, including awards and even a feature in Paldea's most prestigious science journal. I'm not jealous, of course. Envy is an ugly emotion. It just makes me anticipate even more when my efforts into perfecting this invention of mine, the Tera Orb, will earn me the same accolades.

But I sound vain. It's not all about awards and fame. That is just the bonus that comes with my true prize: the knowledge that taking this wondrous energy that allows Pokémon to evolve into their true potential, or as close to it as they can hope in the present day, and mass-producing it so it can be in the hands of every Trainer.

Every single Trainer, using the natural energy our own planet gave us instead of relying on all these new inventions, gadgets, and little toys that keep being made to 'boost' a Pokémon's strength. Yeah, it's a boost all right. In the same way I pretend this cup of coffee on my desk is designed to 'boost' my efficiency levels for a full day instead of just being an artificial shot of adrenaline.

Speaking of Turo, he recently allowed me to borrow a very interesting volume from his collection... the Violet Book. Published by an old explorer named Heath, who founded the first expedition into the Great Crater. Supposedly, the things he claims in this book have all been discredited, and indeed certain pages are blanked out and illegible.

But still, I feel strangely drawn to the tales that he weaves. Crystals at the heart of the crater, filled with the rawest form of energy. Unique plants with the power to heal every known ailment or injury. Strange monsters in the core of the area. And this description, the most censored page of all, a most unusual Pokémon... The greatest scientific discoveries in this world were often the most challenged ones...

Turo may insist that this book is full of fables and fabrications, but something about it makes me even more excited to see our upcoming pitch come to fruition next month. Strange as it may seem, this tome almost feels a calling... A calling to my true destiny."

Women's Science Monthly
THE JUNE ISSUE

"Greetings. I am Professor Sada."

The three students and their chaperone all stood in front of the scientist with gaping mouths. To say there in complete shock over the sudden appearance of Professor Sada, a person they didn't even know was still in Paldea this whole time, in the deepest trenches of Area Zero no less, was an understatement.

It was Juliana who wanted to say something first but couldn't find the words to.

And sure enough, it was Arven who started inching closer, his lip quivering.

"M-m-m… Mom!?" Arven was so shellshocked that he found himself falling to his knees. "It's— it's really you?"

Professor Sada, draping one hand into her pocket, looked in Arven's direction and smiled pleasantly.

Juliana choked on her words. "You've… you've been here? The whole time?"

"Indeed," Sada said with a calm nod of her head. Her various bone-and-tooth trinkets could be heard jingling around as her body moved. "These depths of Area Zero, where the deepest secrets of the Paldea region lie, has been the home base of the great Professor Sada for the past two years!"

Juliana's head tilted in confusion. "…Two years?"

Briar was ecstatic, cupping her hands together excitedly as she approached the legendary Professor.

"I am so thrilled to finally meet you in the flesh, Professor Sada! My name's Briar—and, and I used to read every one of your columns for the Explorer's Journal and Occulture! Gosh, I never expected this to happen in a million years! I hope we aren't intruding on anything important!"

She held her hand out for Sada to shake. Sada… just looked down and stared at it with a blank face.

"Umm…" Briar cleared her throat. "My—my ancestor was Heath, actually. The first person to write about Area Zero, and—it was his work that—"

"Heath?" Sada's eyes lit up. "Of course I know of Heath! The Violet Book became one of my favorite books while I was studying on Terastal energy. I was introduced to it by my colleague Turo, and was utterly enraptured by Heath's findings on the secrets buried in Area Zero."

She smiled fondly in reminiscence. "Heath was a very brilliant explorer. You must be immensely proud of your lineage." She turned to the students. "And what are your names?"

Juliana stepped up with a humbled expression.

"M-my name's Juliana, ma'am! I'm—I'm Arven's friend."

Carmine hmphed. "Well my name's Carmine. Her best friend." Smirking, she pointed behind her and asked, "So all that junk we saw back there is yours then?"

"Carmine!" Briar gasped. "Show some respect to an adult for once, will you? If there's anyone who deserves that from you, it's a respected genius in her field like Professor Sada!"

"Hey, I think it's awesome!" Carmine defended herself. "Power to the women and all that!"

Sada chuckled. "Your enthusiasm is marvelous!" Then she turned to her own son. "And you? What is your name?"

Arven shook his head, still fighting those feelings of disbelief that his own mother was standing in front of him.

"Mom… do you—really not recognize me? It's me. I'm… I'm Arven."

"Arven? … Oh!"

Professor Sada's face lit up in surprise.

Then it became a grin as she excitedly replied, "What an intriguing coincidence! My son is also named Arven."

Arven grumbled in frustration. "…Seriously!?"

"Yes!" Sada obliviously nodded. "He's a very sweet little boy. He should be close to three years old by this point, I think." She began to rock back and forth. "I feel a warm resonance imagining the little adventures he must be having right now."

Arven threw his head down.

Carmine leaned in close to Juliana and whispered, "Is she like… time-displaced or something?"

"I—I don't know," a worried Juliana whispered back.

"Mom, I'm—I'm not a little kid anymore! Your Arven's all grown up. You've been down here for way longer than just two years! How do you not realize that?"

"Hmmm. Has time passed that I'm not aware enough?" Sada scratched her head curiously. "I never did keep a good sense of time… especially for as long as I've been down here. The passage of time almost seems like an afterthought in a place like this."

"But you see me standing right here…" Arven fretted. "What's gotten into you…?"

"Uhhhh, hey, I know awkward family reunions are happening here, but—can I interrupt?" Carmine poked in. She heard another huff from Briar and quickly turned to her.

"Look, I'm sorry teach, but there's more important things going on than worrying about respect right now!" Carmine turned to Sada now with an imploring face. "Ummm, ma'am?" She cleared her throat. "Professor… Sada, ma'am?"

The Professor's gaze now drifted over to her as she continued.

"My brother… my little brother Kieran. He got separated from us, and I'm really worried about where he went! You haven't—you haven't seen him, have you?"

"Kieran, you say?" Sada's finger now touched her chin.

"Yes! He's… he's a teenager, but he looks like a small boy! About her height!" She gestured to Juliana. "White uniform, red tank top. And he's got purple hair that's all tied back like an edgelord!"

"Hmmm…"

Professor Sada closed her eyes and perked her head up wistfully.

To their confusion, the explorers started to feel the crystals softly rumbling all around them… and then a small noise, almost like a familiar chirp, that reverberated through the crystals itself.

Then she opened her eyes and faced them once more.

"My friend senses a boy past this point that matches your description."

"Your… friend?" Arven tilted his head.

"The boy ran past this area and was seen in the area ahead, in the place I refer to as the Sanctum."

"The Sanctum?" said Juliana.

Carmine stepped forth again with a worried expression. "Is he okay? Is he safe!?"

The crystals vibrated around them again, and Sada lifted her head up once more and closed her eyes as if she was listening to those tones.

"…He is unharmed, physically. But my friend senses that your Kieran appears… emotionally distraught."

Carmine growled softly. "He's going to be a lot more than just 'distraught' when I get my hands on him…"

"You should regroup with him if you're concerned about his safety. The Pokémon in the Sanctum are like nothing you've ever laid eyes on before. They are not uniformly hostile, however… if they feel their territory or their kin is being threated, they will become aggressive."

Briar was curious, and digging out her notepad to write on. "If you don't mind me asking, ma'am…! You keep referring to a sanctum?"

Sada nodded and stepped aside, gesturing to the cavern ahead of them.

"Come and see for yourself, travelers. You will find no other sight in Paldea like it, on that I can assure you!"

"Hey!" Arven shouted out. He approached Sada furiously. "Why aren't you listening!? I'm your freaking SON! Don't you get it!? Just… acknowledge me already! Where have you BEEN this whole time!? Why'd you leave us!?"

He tried to grab a hold of his mom's arm, but was shocked to find that his hand… phased right through her.

To his confusion and horror, Professor Sada began to fizzle and change colors… almost like a static image. She gazed at her own hands, noticing this change but looking strangely unsurprised.

"Hmmm… The connection between us is weakening, I think. My friend must have used up all its power."

The Professor seemed to accept whatever was happening as she became more and more translucent and static-y.

"It was lovely to meet you travelers. Perhaps this is just the beginning of our paths crossing…"

"Huh!? Mom, wait!" Arven cried, panicking. "What's happening? Where are you going? I—I still have so many questions!"

But the Professor's whole body started fading away. Twinkling swirls surrounded her figure as she dissipated into thin air right in front of them!

The crystals, which had been glowing subtly the whole time Sada was present, slowly de-illuminated and became still again.

Everyone was stunned silent, unsure of what they had just witnessed.

"What was that!?" asked an astonished Carmine. "She just… up and disappeared!"

"You're right!" said an equally surprised Briar. "It was like some sort of hologram or something!"

"Was that even really… her, then?" Juliana wondered, as she mournfully looked at Arven. His back was turned to her, and his head slumped. "She really seemed to think Arven was still… a baby."

"You don't think… she was serious about time working differently down here!?" Carmine gasped. "Cause like, Amarys and I watched a movie about that once! This group of people went into a strange temple that turned out to be an alien ship full of Elgyem. They were only there for like an hour, but when they walked back out 30 years had passed outside! What if we leave this Area Zero place and everyone we know is OLD?!"

Arven sighed, still befuddled. "I don't—I don't think that's what's going on here."

"Hmmm…" said Briar. "Well, whatever all that was about, you heard the Professor. We only have one way forward! We're going to have to discover this sanctum for ourselves!"

Despite trying to sound cautious, Briar couldn't help but unleash a squee of delight as she grabbed her materials and rushed forward.

"Ugh! Well try not to be too excited!" Carmine shook her head. "I just want to find Kiki and get out of this crazy place!"

Then she ran down the cavern too, leaving Juliana and Arven on their lonesome. Juliana looked at Arven, concerned that he hadn't moved.

"Arven…?" She placed her hand on his shoulder. "You alright…?"

He chuckled, and turned back to give his best smile.

"Yeah, yeah I'm alright little buddy. Just…" He took a deep breath and adopted a grave expression. "I think it's happening again…"

"What do you mean?"

"…Let's just go."

Arven was now juggling a lot of confusion about the sunder encounter with his long-thought-disappeared mom: why she had been down here in the deepest recesses of Area Zero for so long, why she had turned her back on her family, and what happened to her right at the end of their conversation.

But he had to put these concerns aside for now as he and Juliana joined up with Carmine and Briar, having come to a truly astonishing sight at the end of the long tunnel, which opened into a huge, bristling cavernous area at the heart of the Area Zero underdepths.

The ground descended into a long path heading downward like a huge spiral. Crystals covered much of the walls and the floor, including peculiar clusters of them in the upper walls and the ceiling, and the air twinkled down here much like it did in the outer valleys above.

Surrounding this rocky spiral were cliffs and plateaus all various elevations above, in front of, and below the group of travelers.

And on these crags were… Pokémon!

"Look!" Carmine pointed.

Not just more Carbink, either. Strange Pokémon that looked familiar to ones they'd been before, but with a more bizarre and monstrous appearance.

"Those look like… Amoonguss!" Arven observed.

On one of the cliffs above them, a group of Pokémon resembling the mushroom species Amoonguss frolicked in small grassy patches. Their distinct Poké Ball-like caps had spikes on their tops and what looked like green moss flowing down. They spoke with each other in low, foreign growls not unlike the strange "Jigglypuff" and "Magneton" they had encountered already.

"And down there!" spotted Juliana. "I think I see that walking Magneton you were talking about."

"Sandy Shocks! YES!" Briar hastily flipped back to the issue of Occulture she had opened earlier. "It's a dead ringer for the illustration in this magazine!"

Just then, they were interrupted by a sharp thud and a rumble from somewhere nearby.

"Now what was THAT?" Carmine wondered.

Arven ran a little ahead and peered ahead with his hand over his eyes. Then he gasped.

"HEY! J-Juliana! Come look over here!"

Juliana ran up alongside him, and her eyes grew wide at what she found.

"Does that look familiar to you?"

A little ways ahead of them was a ginormous pillar of pure Terastal crystal. And constantly charging into it… was a large Donphan-like Pokémon.

It sported red markings on its side, red scales going down its long trunk, red patches of spiked fur on its appendages, sharp yellow eyes, a jagged mouth…

And enormous tusks.

"Arven! That's—that's it!" She shook Arven's shoulder. "THAT's the Titan we fought in the Asado Desert! I KNEW it looked different from all those Iron Treads we found in Area Zero before! It must've come from all the way down here this whole time!"

"Yeah, yeah! I know little buddy! But, keep your voice down so it doesn't—Uh-oh."

But it was too late. Great Tusk had perked up at the noises it heard on the path above, and let out a mighty growly roar.

"DONNNNNN!"

The overexcited elephant charged into a ball and stared rushing towards them.

"Get ready for a fight, Juliana!" Arven gulped. "We may have fought a much bigger one of these before, but that doesn't mean we should underestimate it!"

"R-right!"

Meanwhile, separated from the rest of the group, Kieran ran along an upper passageway he had found. Facing a panic attack during his and Carmine's encounter with Sandy Shocks, his immediate impulse, for whatever reason, was to run away and hide.

But in these underdepths of Area Zero, this just meant running through a bunch of natural crystallite corridors until he found himself out of breath, both lost and confused.

Kieran grasped at his sweating head in distress, as he often found himself doing back home.

"What's wrong with me…?" he yelled out, dismayed. "Why am I being like this!? I'm supposed to be in control…! Strong and not needin' to worry! But I'm all scared again and being a coward! I could've taken down that weird Magneton no problem, right? SO WHY?!"

His grasping hands turned into scratching ones over his drawn-up purple roots, as he became more and more irritated.

"Ever since we started this stupid field trip, everything's just been going wrong, wrong, wrong!" With a loud huff, he fretted, "I don't even know if this dumb Legendary Pokémon will still be worth it after all this!"

By pure habit, he reached into his jacket, looking for his good luck charm to calm him down… but his hand drew an empty pocket.

"My good luck charm…" He whined. "It's 'cause I didn't bring it with me, isn't it?"

Juliana held her Tera Orb up in the air. Much to her surprise, it gathered a lot of Terastal energy from the surrounding area, so much so that she flinched more than usual before tossing it over Meowscarada.

TERA-PA-GOOOOO-GOOOOOOO…!

The distinctive cry of Terastallization seemed to come at a louder and more drawn-out octave in this cave.

But Meowscarada still transformed into Flying Tera Type like normal, and used a Tera-charged Aerial Ace on Juliana's orders to land the final blow on the aggressive Donphan-like Pokémon, causing it to feel faint.

"Donnnnn… faaaannnn."

Juliana wiped her forehead in relief as the burly Pokémon retreated.

"Thank goodness… Another hit from that thing and I would've lost both Iron Bundle and Meowscarada!"

Meowscarada cried weakly, having been on the ropes before Terastallization came in clutch.

"Yeah, my Pokémon took a real huge hit too…" said Arven. "The Pokémon here are tough. We should be a lot more careful about avoiding encounters when we can!"

"Agreed."

Just as Carmine and Briar regrouped with them, they heard a cry echoing through the sanctum.

TERA-PA-GOOS!

It was a much softer echo, like it was being projected in the crystals itself.

One of the big clusters of crystals that was gathered on the upper walls of the cavern began to shine really bright.

Then it split open. And a huge bug Pokémon that looked like a Volcarona burst out of it like a cocoon and began skittering along the ground below it.

"Uhhhh… what?" Carmine tilted her head.

"Did that Pokémon just… come out of a crystal?" Juliana pointed.

Arven scratched his head. "Are those things supposed to be like eggs?"

"What is WITH these monsters!? Are they even Pokémon?" said Carmine. "You said those robot-looking Pokémon upstairs are supposed to be from the future. But all these ones don't look like killer cyborgs from tomorrow. Just… killers!"

"The origins of them are unclear… but I think I've found a stunning connection!" Briar answered. "I've been reading Professor Sada's columns in these Occulture magazines, and there are even more entries about all these Pokémon we've seen! That big Donphan thing you just fought…? It's an issue here, she called it Great Tusk!"

She set her bag down and grabbed more issues of Occulture she'd wiped from Professor Sada's desk.

"And look, look! She has an entry in this one talking about that Amoonguss thing! It's called… Brute Bonnet!" Briar gazed at them all with an almost manic look in her eyes. "Do you know the implications of what this means!?"

"Uhhh…"

"Many of these illustrations were drawn by Sada herself, but some of them come from the Violet Book! The monsters that Heath said he discovered in the deep trenches of Area Zero… I think they're right here! THESE are the Pokémon he saw on his expedition!"

"Okay… well that answers one question, I guess," Arven admitted. "But it still leaves a pretty huge one. Where did Pokémon like these even come from in the first place?"

"Now that question, I'm prepared to answer!"

The voice of Professor Sada rung out all through the caverns. Everyone looked around, curious to see where this eccentric scientist was appearing now.

"Mom!?" Arven stood up and looked around. "Is that you… again?" He became anxious. "Are you… actually real this time?"

TERA-PA-GOOOS!

That noise happened again, and they could hear Sada's voice coming in. But from where?

"Hmm-hmm-hmm!"

Then, weirdly, Sada's grinning face appeared… inside the crystals themselves.

"We meet again, curious travelers!"

Every crystal near the quartet projected the woman's face like a multi-television display.

It certainly didn't put Arven at ease.

"I guess not…"

"And I see now that you've encountered the curious creatures that thrive in this hidden underground paradise."

"We sure have!" Juliana noted awkwardly.

"What are they, m-mom?" Arven asked. He was starting to feel weird about calling her that.

"Prepare yourselves, for the answer may stun you into disbelief!" Sada's voice echoed in the crystals. "They are paradoxes, the very monsters described by Heath that shouldn't exist in this domain. But not just any Paradoxes… these mysterious Pokémon are all from the distant past!"

"Whaaaaat!?" everyone reacted in surprise.

Sada's image chuckled. "I told you it would be shocking."

"So there are Pokémon in Area Zero that are from both future AND past relatives of present-day Pokémon!?" Briar was practically scribbling in her notes now. "I must take all the photos that I can of these creatures! To know that Heath was right along about them being ancestors… THIS IS THE DISCOVERY OF A CENTURY!"

"Ugh… every answer we get just raises more questions!" Arven said in frustration. "The Paradox Pokémon from the future were brought by Dad's time machine. So how can the ones down there—" Then he gasped. "Wait. Mom. You—you didn't build a time machine TOO, did you!?"

"A time machine!? HA-HA-HA!" Sada cackled loudly. "What a ridiculous notion! A time machine… That's the kind of science fiction nonsense that my dear friend Turo, bless his heart, would often espouse about! Your vibe reminds me a great deal of him, young man."

"You don't say," Carmine snarked.

"Now… It is true that these Pokémon originally lived in the range of tens of thousands to even millions of years ago. Indeed, many of them appear to be pre-evolved ancestors to Pokémon we are familiar of in the here and now. Many times has happened in this world, these Pokémon used to live in harmony on our planet… only to face mass extinction events."

She put a finger to her chin as she regaled their origins.

"The last major one came in the form of a meteor… One which wiped out many species of Pokémon. Except in one small corner of the world… that which would come to be known as Paldea. There, dwelled a Pokémon with immense power in its center. This Pokémon, Heath would so name as… Terapagos."

As if on cue, the crystals all lit up in a pulsing wave, as that cry sounded again.

"Using its power of generating crystals from energy, Terapagos created a huge shield around itself and all of its prehistoric friends… and saved them all from certain death, by encasing them all within its crystals for thousands of years."

"Wow…!" Juliana marveled.

"Incredible, isn't it? It was by Terapagos's power they were put in statis. And it is by Terapagos's power they are resurrected once more…!"

"That's amazing!" Briar was almost running out of room on her notepad with everything she'd just jotted down. "I'm getting so much wonderful intel here! If you could stay here and talk to us for even longer so I could learn more Professor, I'd be forever in your debt!"

But as she said that, Sada looked around and noticed her image beginning to break up again.

"Oh dear…"

"What's happening to you!?" Arven demanded to know.

In each crystal's image, Sada gazed at her hands. "Much as Terapagos is keeping these Pokémon alive, it also appears to be what's making it easier for us to communicate. And now its power is fading again…"

This time, she seemed to look at everyone from inside the crystals, with an almost mournful look.

"Until we meet again, travelers…"

"Not again…"

Arven looked more disappointed than sad this time as the image of his mother again vanished. The crystals that were lit up with her twinkling smile became dim and dormant once more.

"What's up with that chick?" Carmine wondered. "Why do you think she keeps appearing and disappearing like that?"

"I don't know…" Juliana hesitantly turned to Arven, knowing that he was in a jumble of emotions. "Arven… any ideas?"

He gulped. "I—I don't know… I'm starting to think that she's—"

"HEEEY!" Carmine suddenly shouted.

Up on a ledge high above them, coming out of a cavern, she'd suddenly spotted her little brother wandering around aimlessly.

"KIKI!"

"Huh?"

Kieran paused, stepped up to the ledge, and looked down.

"Oh! … There you guys are!"

"How the hell did you get up there!?" Carmine shouted, seething with her fists.

"Never mind that for now…!" Briar called.

"Yeah! We're just glad you're safe!" Juliana called up.

"You guys wouldn't believe what I've been seeing around here!" Kieran shouted to them. "There's like… even more really crazy Pokémon that look like cool monsters!"

"We know!" Carmine yelled. She pointed to Arven. "Guess what? This doofus's crazy mom is down here too! But she keeps popping in and out like some kind of sci-fi ghost!"

"Really? That's so cool!"

"Will you please come down here?"

"U-ummm…!" Kieran began to fidget a lot. "I-I really want to, but I… I can't!"

"What do you mean you CAN'T!? It's not even that high of a jump!"

"Yeah, but I—I'm scared!" Kieran's whole body trembled like a leaf, as he grasped his head some more. "I'm all sorts of scared right now, and I don't know why!"

"All the more reason why you should jump down here so your big, strong sister can keep you safe!"

Kieran gulped loudly. For a second, he began to step forward. But then he retracted.

"N-n… NO!"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN NO!?"

"It's—its cause of you! Being around you guys, it's… it's making me feel all weak and helpless! Like I always was back home! It feels so wrong but…" He shook his head in a tizzy. "I feel like I was much better at handlin' this stuff when I was alone!"

"That doesn't make any SENSE!" Carmine was practically screeching at this point. "Get down here right NOW so I can knock some sense into you, pipsqueak!"

"I'm sorry, sis! I really am…" Kieran breathed heavily. "But—but I gotta face my fears! And the only way to do that… is by finding that Legendary Pokémon!"

And much to Carmine's fury, he disappeared back into the cavern.

"Kiki! KIKI! YOU ARE GOING TO BE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU! DO YOU HEAR ME!? COME BAAAAAACK!"

But it was fruitless. He was gone.

"GRRRR… Damn it, damn it, DAMMIT!" Carmine sprinted up to the ledge they were on and furiously kicked a nearby rock off into the abyss with great force.

"Carmine, language!" Briar scolded.

"Language!? My brother's all on his own, being reckless and getting into trouble, and you're seriously getting on my case for my language!?"

"Carmine, please," Juliana pleaded. "I know you're angry, and I know he's being really difficult, but you need to keep a level head so that we can—"

"Don't even give me any of that right now!" Carmine interrupted her. "What am I supposed to do when my Kiki's willingly putting himself into danger like this!? He's being completely irrational! You know what!?" She pounded her fists together. "Forget about my grandparents killing me! I'm about ready to kill HIM!"

Juliana, Arven, and Briar all gasped and began to step away from her with petrified faces.

"What?" She looked at them, confused. "Geez guys, lighten up, would ya? It was just a joke—"

"Carmine!" Juliana pointed with a shaking finger. "B-behind you!"

"Huh?"

Carmine turned around to the open ledge… to find a Misdreavus's face staring her right in the eyes.

"AAGH!"

A giant Misdreavus's face!

"MUUUUUUMAAAAA!" the uniquely gigantic ghoul bellowed out.

"That must be another Paradox!" said Arven. "It's like a Misdreavus! But—way huger!"

"And scarier!" Juliana agreed.

On top of being much larger than a normal Misdreavus, this bluish-green Paradox had very long hair-like appendages that spread out into pink feathers. Its eyes were red as crimson, as were the spikes running down its head like a mohawk.

"And a million times more… GLAMOROUS!" Carmine gushed with her hands close to her face.

"Huh!?" they both reacted.

"You have got to be the prettiest thing I've ever seen!" she marveled, slapping her hand down. "Those beautiful eyes… That pearly necklace… And this hair…!"

She began stroking one of Flutter Mane's long appendages, much to the beastie's confusion.

"Muu?"

"These locks are to die for! And I looove these feathers!" With a flattering smile, Carmine said, "Is this all-natural? Oh, you have got to tell me your beauty secrets!"

"Maaa… muma!" Flutter Mane cooed affectionately with a pleased grin.

"Wait… is she actually taming it?" an amazed Juliana asked.

"I didn't know your friend was also a ghost whisperer!" Arven joked.

"Hmmm!" Carmine did a dramatic hair flip. "It's because us girlies are both divas of rich natural beauty, and we understand each other like two peas in a—"

But Flutter Mane drew a wily grin on its face, and bellowed again, so loud it almost made Carmine's hairband fly off.

"MUUUUUUUUUMAAA!"

"Huh. You even yell almost as loud as I can…" Carmine snarked. "Ugh, now my hair's a mess… Fine. If you want to challenge me to a diva-off, I'll put on a performance that'll dazzle you into infinity!"

Carmine, with a fierce smile on her face, called out her Overqwil.

"QWIIIIIIIIIL." Carmine used to think her pufferfish Pokémon had a deep bellow, but she realized now that it was nothing compared to these creatures.

"Ooh! Ooh!" Briar suddenly piped up. "This will be the perfect opportunity! Carmine, Terastallize your Pokémon against that Paradox!"

"Huh? Not that I'm against that idea, but… why?"

"I've got an exciting theory I want to test out!" Briar clapped her hands together. "Please indulge me on this!"

"Uhh, alright," Carmine said as she prepared her Tera Orb.

"Garrrr…!"

A Stellar Terastallized Garchomp broke from its rainbow-colored transformation and fell to its knees. Seeing that Kieran's Dragonite was still approaching, the Land Shark Pokémon decided to cut its losses and scampered away.

"Yeah, that's right, you'd better run!"

Kieran recalled his Dragonite with a cocky expression… that instantly deflated.

"Ugh. I sound just like my sis… Kinda lame comin' out of my mouth…" He lightly pounded his forehead. "I'm kicking so much butt against these Pokémon, but I'm still feelin' all unsure of myself… What am I missing?"

Kieran looked down at the trove of sparkling trinkets that lay in this shrouded crystalline hideaway before him.

"Hmm, at least I found these! Wowwww! There's so many Tera Shards here!" He knelt down and started sifting through all the shards on the ground. "I wonder if some of these are those special Shards! Then I could make my Pokémon Terastallize into every type just like these Pokémon!"

"Grrrrrr…"

"H-huh?" Kieran jolted. "Who—who's there? Is that… you again, Garchomp? Back for more pain?"

"Graaaooooo…"

A low, booming growl came from a shadowy grotto overlooking this hidden cave.

Kieran gulped. "That… that didn't sound like a Garchomp…"

Loud footsteps began to draw close, and Kieran realized that something huge was slowly approaching him.

"I—I'm not scared o' you!" he declared, trying to sound all brave. "S-show yourself!"

"…Agias…"

"Huh?"

That was a very familiar sounding cry, and as the beast drew closer, Kieran began to make out familiar claws, and an even more familiar pair of yellow eyes.

"Wait, that's just like—"

He gasped.

"Miraidon! That—that Arven guy! He said there might be another Miraidon running around down here somewhere!" He smiled bigly to himself. "No way! This could be my chance! I could catch myself another Miraidon, and have one just like Juliana's! But much better!"

He stood up and confidently challenged the approaching beast, holding out a Poké Ball.

"Come on out, Miraidon! I'm not afraid of you!"

"Graaoo?"

The monster in the shadows seemed to stop and looked like it might be tilting its head in confusion.

"AGIAS!"

Then it stepped out fully, towering over Kieran, who upon seeing the beast coming out of the shadows, suddenly became frightened and backed up.

"Ahh-!? Huh!? Wh—Who are YOU!?" He lost his balance and fell on his butt. But he still, with a shaking arm, held up his Poké Ball. "I—I mean it! No matter what you are, I'm plenty strong! I can take you on and make you my own! F-FIGHT ME!"

Overqwil charged up a lot of power from its Tera Jewel in the shape of a giant purple skull and crossbones, and channeled that energy into belting Flutter Mane with a flurry of toxic jabs that utterly overwhelmed the giant ghoul.

At the end, it was left incredibly dizzy and disoriented, the threat it represented gone.

"YES! You did it, Carmine!" Juliana cheered.

"Now quick!" Arven ushered. "Let's make our escape before it comes to!"

"Pffft! Like I'd miss out on such a perfect specimen? AS IF!"

"Huh?"

With a gleam in her eyes, Carmine fished out a Dusk Ball from her bag, and tossed it at the Flutter Mane!

Arven threw his hands up in surprise. "What are you doing!?"

Wiggle. Wiggle. Wiggle.

…

Click!

With an excited gasp, Carmine picked up the caught Dusk Ball and held it up to her face, squeeing in delight.

"Awwww," said Juliana, who found her enthusiasm very adorable.

"No way!" Arven clamored. "You—you wanted to CATCH that thing!?"

"Of course I did!" Carmine whipped back. "Didn't you see it!? It was so breathtakingly gorgeous… just like me!" she boasted, running her fingers through her hair. "I knew we were kindred spirits, so I had to catch it!" She began cooing to the Ball. "Oooh, we are going to have so many fun makeovers together!"

"But… is it even right?" He scratched his head. "Catching a Paradox Pokémon from all the way down here…"

"Arven does have a point. We don't know how dangerous these Pokémon might be in the outside world—"

"Oh come on! You have TWO of those Paradox whatsits! That scary Delibird, and the screaming tail thing! Why don't you let us 'poor, Blueberry students' share in your good fortune, huh?"

"Well, what about Kieran? He doesn't have one…"

Arven leaned in close and cleared his throat. "Uhh—actually he does."

"What?"

"HA! You see?" Carmine pointed her finger at Juliana. "We're all getting our fair share."

She walked off triumphantly, making Juliana groan.

"I guess I'll have to be the one to explain all this to La Primera…"

"Oof." Arven lovingly pat his friend on the back. "I don't want to be in the room for that one."

TERA-PA-GOOOS!

"Huh?"

That cry came again, and once more they all looked up to see a cluster above an upper ledge shimmering and then breaking apart.

This time, a Brute Bonnet popped out of it.

"Moro…"

The mushroom Pokémon shook itself off, disoriented and groggy. But then the group of Brute Bonnet they had witnessed earlier all waddled up to it.

"Moro? Morobaeru!"

The Brute Bonnet looked around at its peers and began to dance happily. They responded just as happily, and quickly began play-clashing against the newcomer using their big Poké Ball-like shields.

"Awwww," said Carmine, gazing up at the sight. "I bet they were all part of one big warrior clan in the past!"

Arven started to scratch his head. "Y'know, I always thought it was like a funny coincidence that Amoonguss and Foongus both look like Poké Balls. But… if Amoonguss is actually much older than we thought, then—I wonder which actually came first. The Foongus, or the Poké Ball."

"…Or the Voltorb!" said Juliana.

Arven chuckled. "Right. Right, I guess that's also a thing."

"Well I can't answer philosophical questions like that, but what just happened brought me REALLY close to confirming my theory!" said Briar.

"And what's that?" asked Carmine.

"Both times you kids have used Terastallization to deal with a wild encounter, that noise happens. And then a Pokémon comes out of one of those crystals! I think Terapagos is what's doing all that! Which means that what Heath hypothesized was true all along…!"

"Meaning?"

"Terapagos's power… and Terastallization… I think they're one and the same! Both drawn from the same source of energy!"

"And you would be correct, my friend!" Sada's voice came ringing again.

Arven's face, which had been smirking this whole time, instantly drooped.

"Great…" he mumbled. "I almost forgot about this."

Carmine looked at him with an angrily puzzled voice. "Huh. You went from being excited to seeing your mom again to getting sick of her real quick. I don't get you at all. Why don't you be grateful for what you got?"

Arven was about to make a rebuttal to her when…

TERA-PA-GOOS!

Professor Sada's smiling face slowly became visible in the crystals around them, just like before.

"That's interesting…" Juliana said quietly.

"What?" Arven turned to her.

"Did you notice we've also been hearing that noise right before your mom shows up every time?"

"…Hmmm."

"Your observations are all very astute," Sada complimented through her multiple mirrors into the world. "In my own research, after studying Terapagos closely, I have been able to conclude without a shred of doubt that Terapagos is the very source of Terastallization itself! Its energy is channeled into these crystals and that's what's gets converted into a brilliant source of power that Pokémon utilize to build upon their strength!"

"Wow…" said Juliana.

"One of the purposes of our great Area Zero expedition was to find a way to harness Terapagos's power into a form where any Trainer could manually call upon it. My own brilliant invention… the Tera Orb!"

"What!?" Juliana reared back. "You mean… our Tera Orbs… they were invented by YOU!?"

"I thought… Dad made the Tera Orb."

"No, no, she's right!" Briar was flipping through Sada's scarlet binder from her desk. "There's a bunch of detailed notes here all about the Tera Orb's development and prototypes! We never got any of these with the rest of Turo's notes, just the Tera Orb blueprints themselves! That's… that's why we always assumed the credit for its creation went to your father!"

"The power of Terastallization, in the palm of every Trainer's hand…" Sada narrated. "This was my dream for such a long time, to bring people and Pokémon that much closer to the ultimate natural bond! And I eventually realized Terapagos itself was the key to perfecting this power!"

"Yes! YES! Of course!" Briar's hands flew around excitedly. "That makes so much sense!"

"Does it?" Carmine cocked her head. "Cause like… we can Terastallize our Pokémon all we like in Kitakami. And last I checked, nobody's ever found an ancient 'Terapagos' hidden in our lands!"

"Kitakami?" Sada seemed intrigued by this name. "In my studies, I have read tales of the western lands… where wayward crystals from the meteorite's explosion and Terapagos's hail mary may have landed, and the locals and the wild fauna being able to harness a similar power of their own."

A soft cry came from within the crystals, and Sada's face nodded with a mischievous laugh.

"My friend HAS been drawing power from these lands for our ultimate goal. Strangely, he has also been drawing power from… the Unova region of all places, it seems. But no matter where the Terastal energy comes from, it all circles back around to Terapagos again… and soon our ultimate goal will be achieved."

"Ultimate… goal?" Juliana repeated.

She felt uneasy for some reason, especially at the implication that her adventures in Kitakami and Blueberry Academy… apparently might've all contributed to whatever this woman and her "friend" seemed to be cooking up.

Is that why Arven said he could hear my Pokémon's cries over at Blueberry Academy all the way in Paldea?

Even more disturbingly, she replied to Juliana by going "Fufufu. You'll all see what I mean soon enough… And so will he."

"He?" Carmine huffed. "I hate people who dance around the bush. Can't you just give us some straight answers, lady?"

"Yeah." Arven spoke with a very loud, and stern voice, and stood up to the plate. "I'd like some answers too. Because there's still one question that's been burning a hole in my mind ever since we met you."

"Which is…?" Sada asked curiously.

"Why did you leave us behind?"

Inside the crystals, Sada's expression became confused.

"I'm sorry…? I don't understand what you're referring to."

Arven growled, and spoke more angrily. "Your FAMILY! Professor Turo and your SON! What was so important about whatever you were doing down here that you had to disappear on us!?"

"…Oh. That's who you're talking about. Thank you for clarifying."

This just made Arven grumble even harder.

"To go underground like this… it was a very difficult choice to make, and not one without my share of heartache."

"I bet," he scoffed.

"I loved Turo very much. By the three-year point of our expedition, we were the only ones left on the project… and he had become a lot more than just a colleague. He—he was also a friend. And of course, the father of my child as well. I really wish things had gone better between us, but… eventually our different beliefs got in the way of our ability to work together, and we increasingly spent more days butting heads with each other than actually getting any work done."

Sada's face had appeared mostly stoic throughout their interactions. But as she spoke of her former partner, her expression began to look more… remorseful.

"Unfortunately, it built up to a point where our individual goals were no longer compatible. I wanted to harness the natural power of Terastal energy to create a perfect world where people and Pokémon could coexist peacefully as they once did in nature. But Turo, the idealistic fool… he couldn't stop obsessing over an imagined future. …He wanted to use the Terastal energy to build a time machine of all things!"

"A time machine?" Briar said in surprise. Then she gave the two Paldeans a suspicious glance. "Is… that what's in that hidden room of the Zero Lab you two won't talk about?"

"A silly notion! All this rambling about how the perfect Pokémon must exist in the future as cyborgs… And he called ME ridiculous for believing that all the stories in the Violet Book must be real!"

The image of Sada's body seemed to start bristling with anger.

"Arrogance became him. Perhaps in a way, it became us both. I was now hellbent on ensuring our years of research and development didn't all go to waste, by proving the legends were not just real, but the key to our salvation! Hmmph. But I knew Turo and I would never see eye to eye again, and I had no resources to fund a solo expedition of my own…"

"…So you hid," Juliana realized.

She nodded affirmatively. "Officially, I declared my intention to leave the Area Zero project. A shuttle came for me, and I did leave on it. … But the night before that, while Turo slept, I secretly reprogrammed the elevator to the Zero Lab… And a few days later, I snuck back into the Crater. I used my secret credentials to activate the elevator, set myself up down here with Turo and everyone else none the wiser, and since then I've continued my research in secret for over two years. No more barriers, no more human element… Just me, raw." Sada chuckled a bit. "Exactly in my element."

"That's incredible…!" Carmine raved with stars in her eyes. "You're a real bossy lady, Ms. Professor! You might be my new hero."

"Yeah, pretty incredible…" Arven simmered. "Abandoning your three-year old son to go chase mythical creatures. I was wrong about everything I used to think about dad…" He looked up at her with a snarled face. "I should've directed all my anger towards you instead."

"It's true," Sada shook her head. "I left behind my own precious gem… my beloved Arven. By going dark, I left the poor boy without a mother. Possibly even a father, if Turo's ambitions ever grew as heavy as mine, which I surmised they would."

"You have noooo idea…" he growled.

"Life is all about sacrifices, give and take… But I kept to my goals because I knew—in the end, after all this was finished… there was a sliver of a chance, perhaps he'd forgive me."

"YEAH I BET!" Arven laughed miserly.

"Once he saw what I'd given him… To all of Paldea… Then I would know, that it wasn't for naught…"

"Give WHAT!?" he barked. "What is this ultimate goal you keep talking about? What was the POINT of all this!?"

But then, Sada's image started to fade again, and Arven's face fell.

"Don't tell me…"

"I'm so sorry. I'd love to answer more of your questions, but…" Sada breathed deeply, at least in the fizzling image of her. "My friend and I must preserve our energy. We're getting so close…"

She was practically phasing in and out now, and her voice was trailing off.

"And I still… I'm still trying to reach out to…"

But she was no longer audible, and after a few seconds not visible either, as Professor Sada's whole presence seemed to flicker yet again, like a candle being blown out.

Arven stood there. With his hands in his pockets. Trying not to look like a kicked puppy.

Without a single word, Juliana walked over and hugged him tight.

He didn't smile… but inside, he appreciated her nonetheless.

Then she heard Arven chuckle.

"…What's so funny?" she asked, confused.

"Oh… nothing," he replied. "Just, uhh—" He let out another giggle. "This is helping a little bit. Thank you."

Juliana broke off the hug, relieved and also a little confused at the way Arven's face was twisted.

"Uhh, no problem."

"This has been the most astonishing breakthrough!" she heard Briar clap behind her.

Juliana turned around to face her… and also happened to notice Carmine standing next to Briar with a red face for some reason.

"To think that Professor Sada and I were like mental twins this whole time…! Both inspired by the wonderous stories of the Violet Book, determined to prove the truth behind them." She gasped dramatically. "Do you think this was my destiny all along? To come down here, find Professor Sada, and together we finish the work that Heath started!?"

"Uhhh…" Carmine looked at her funny. "Right. Well when you find her, you two can get a room or whatever. What I'm confused about is, why does it seem like that professor chick needs a Terastallization to happen in order to be 'activated'?"

"I know why."

Arven had his back turned, and his hands on his hips.

"Because that's not Mom." He turned around and shook his head. "Whatever that thing is we've been talking to… it's not her."

"What does that even mean?"

"Arven…" Juliana said solemnly. "Are you saying… your mom made an AI copy of herself too?"

"Honestly?" He threw his hands up. "I have no idea. In some ways, it's just like Dad's AI. But in other ways… I don't know. She's got all of my mom's thoughts, feelings, and memories. But it's not actually—her, y'know?"

Carmine nodded… and then shook her head.

"I mean, think about it! It's kind of like what you said about being time-displaced, Carmine! Her mind seems like it's locked in a specific moment of time, and she can't process any new information about the world after that moment. Like… like the fact that her son might not be a toddler anymore…"

"I guess you're right," Juliana admitted.

"It's like—You know how in a video game where you can have multiple save states in one file? And you decide to go backwards and load up an earlier save. It's the exact same save file at an earlier point in time, but it doesn't remember—and can't remember, anything you did in all the saves you made after that. Does that make sense?"

Juliana looked sheepish. "Uhhh, I don't play many video games, Arven. Sorry."

Carmine scoffed. "Yeah, we're not all nerds like you."

"Ugh," he groaned. "Penny would know what I'm talking about. Anyway, I'm just saying… I think my mom figured out how to make a 'save state' of herself using that Pokémon's power. It's like she made a time capsule of herself that actually talks back to you."

His eyes closed, and as he stood on the cliff, his expression became a lot more morose.

"But if she did all that… Made a copy of herself just like Dad did, and that's the only thing we've been seeing down here then…" A small sniffle. "That's gotta mean—I mean, she's probably…"

His head slumped.

The resulting silence was still and somber.

Juliana was thinking of something to say, to try to comfort him. But it wasn't her words that broke the silence.

TERA-PA-GOOOOS…

"Huh?" Everybody, even Arven, looked up in surprise at that sound.

High above their heads, all the way close to the ceiling, another crystal cluster began to glimmer brightly. Then it cracked. And they could just barely make out another Volcarona-like Pokémon slowly emerging from the crystal like coming out of a cocoon.

"Is that another Paradox Pokémon being revived?" Juliana observed.

"But… how?" Arven wondered. "I thought that Mom—err, that echo of Mom, said that it was Terapagos's power making them come out. It seemed like our Terastallizations were making that happen. But, nobody else has Terastallized here, have they?"

"Maybe Terapagos's power is getting even stronger that it can now revive two of those things at once?"

Carmine shrugged. "Or I mean, she also said that Thingama-gos was drawing power from people Terastallizing in other places, like back home. Maybe it has enough power now that even people activating their Tera Orbs on the ground above us is reviving Pokémon down here?"

Arven's face grew alarmed. "Well, that's not good. That means that even more ancient Pokémon are going to be revived by the minute! They might all burst out at once!"

"Is that dangerous?" asked Juliana.

"Might be! Remember how the Donphan-looking thing we just fought down here looks exactly the same as the Quaking Earth Titan? That means at least one Pokémon from these underdepths has figured out how to escape the Crater!"

"Aren't Professor Turo's locks supposed to stop these Paradoxes from escaping?" Briar inquired.

"Only the ones on the surface of Area Zero! Dad didn't know there were even MORE Paradoxes down here, so he probably didn't calculate for all of them!"

"And the whole reason his AI wanted us to stop the time machine was because even more Paradoxes coming through would cause them to rampage all over Paldea," Juliana recalled.

"Right! So if a whole bunch of Pokémon down here are all revived and free to run loose…"

Juliana's eyes widened in horror as the implications dawned on her.

"…Uh-oh."

"Yeah… This has gotten much worse than just a case of déjà vu. Juliana… I think we have to find this Terapagos thing, not just to prove some dead guy right, but… because Paldea might be in danger again."

"Our forever mission," Juliana chuckled nervously.

Much to their surprise, Carmine started clapping excitedly.

"Another world-saving mission just like in the movies!? And I actually get to be one of the heroes this time? Ha-ha! Count me in! You idiots will probably save Paldea twice as fast this time with me leading the way!"

"And the amount of publicity that would generate… I'd have every publisher in the world ringing me up up for a book deal, wanting our story to be on every bookshelf in Unova!" Briar squeed.

Arven just stared at them. "…Something is definitely wrong with you two. You're worse than Nemona." He snickered lightly, and then he paused.

"What's up?" Juliana asked.

"…I just found myself wishing Nemona was here," Arven said, nonplussed at his own thoughts. "Like that would help anything. What the hell's wrong with me?"

"Hey." Juliana pointed at him.

"What?"

"Language," she said with a smirk.

He elbowed her gently. "Quiet you," he said smiling. "Now, we gotta figure out how to get t—"

"Ulga?"

The giant bug Pokémon they saw crawling out of the cluster before seemed to be struggling, like it didn't expect to be this high up.

It tried delicately to free all its legs without losing grip of its crystal cocoon… only to slip and fall.

"Ulgaaaaaaa!"

They all gasped.

"Ulgamoth!"

The Volcarona-like Pokémon landed with a giant thud on the ledge in front of them, making them all gasp. Up close, they could now see that this one was a bit of a different color from the first Slither Wing they encountered. This one had huge yellow wings on its back, and a giant purple underbelly.

It staggered to stand on its giant feeler-like legs. Much to their surprise, this Pokémon stood upright on its hind legs like a biped, very much unlike what they expected.

"Moooth…" it groaned weakly.

-CRRRK-

"Ull?"

-CRAAAASH-

They all gasped again as the ground gave out beneath the weakened Slither Wing and they watched it tumble down the spiral.

"ULGAMOOOOOOOTH!"

"Oh no!" Arven yelled.

"We gotta save it!" Juliana declared. "We gotta—Whoa, whoaaa…"

Suddenly, the ground began to feel uneven below her own feet.

"WHOAAAA!"

Juliana barely even had a second to react, nor did anyone else, before the ground beneath her broke up too, and now she was falling!

Arven gasped sharply.

"OH MY WORD!" Briar shouted.

"JULIAAAAAAAAANAAAAA!" Carmine screeched.