The Eon Academy [S.S. Wishmaker Side-Story]

[[Desolate Divine]]

Spiritwater Episode 8: Progress

Spoiler:

Jon shook his head in annoyance as the smoke dispersed, and all traces of the attacking force had disappeared. Whilst they had taken their unconscious, they had left their dead behind, figuring the League stood little chance of getting information out of a corpse. As Jon considered this observation however, he began to realise something. There were dead witches left behind from the battle with Dylan, and Jon had noticed the corpses there before, however hadn’t comprehended the cause of their death, in the heat of the battle.

”Jon…”

Jon heard Latios’ voice in his mind, and felt his own vision replaced with Latios. From where Latios floated in the air above them, Jon could see the emotions of everyone Latios saw, including himself. People were scared, and angry, but one person was emanating an emotion stronger than anyone else there. Dylan. Panic.

Jon looked over at Dylan who was staring at the corpses of three witches that were killed by Metagross. One seemed to have his neck broken from a hard hit, Jon presumed by a flying bit of sheet metal. Another had a caved in skull, with blood seeping from the wound, and the third had an inch wide gash from her neck, down and across her torso.

“Dylan…” Jon said, as he walked over towards his student. He was pale, and unresponsive. “Dylan!”

Finally, he made eye contact with Jon, but said nothing.

“Dylan, you did the right thing…” Jon said, intentionally standing on the other side of Dylan to the corpses, and turning him to face him.

“They had families, or friends… Someone who cared about them…” Dylan said quietly. “Someone who has lost someone they care about today. Darkrai put the others to sleep, and maybe they’ll change their ways. But I didn’t give these three the chance… How is that right?”

Jon went to reply, however over Dylan’s shoulder, saw something that concerned him. Someone walking towards Rayquaza. Jon had left the Pokemon as is, not knowing if it could even be captured, and had been keeping an eye out for this.

“We’ll talk about it in a minute,” Jon said, nodding over Dylan’s shoulder, before walking past and quickly jogging towards Rayquaza.

“Don’t,” Jon called out. “I’m going to capture it to take it to a Pokemon Centre, but it’s dangerous. I’ve trained Legendary Pokemon before, and am taking responsibility for it…”

The woman, who looked to be in her mid twenties turned around to face Jon, and gave him a menacing grin.

“How did you know they were going to do this?!”

Jon looked over his shoulder to see Dylan walking towards them, a fury evident in his eye, as he bore down on them. “And why did you wait until it was nearly too late to tell me? People died here! Really, we needed more time to empty the building before all of this!”

“What’s going on?” Jon asked, looking between the pair. “Dylan, who is this…”

“Brianna Levine…” Dylan muttered. “I was looking into her and she approached me. Told me she isn’t with them, and that she left the curse at Memorial Hill so we would know Agatha is doing the same thing to spy on us. Then she warned me about this…”

“And how did you know?” Jon asked Brianna, staring her down. “If you aren’t with them, how did you know when they were going to attack?”

“I have my methods, which I will keep to myself for now…” Brianna said to Jon, rolling her eyes slightly. She wasn’t a stranger to men like Jon, and didn’t care for his demeanour. “Whilst I don’t empathise with Agatha, and think the geriatric had should have had the decency to drop dead decades ago, I don’t particularly want to jump into bed with the League like you have…”

“In that case, then we have ways of getting information,” Jon growled, before stepping towards her. “People died here because you waited too long to let us know…”

“And less died because I warned Dylan, who was able to provide assistance,” Brianna sneered, before raising a hand, and contorting the fingers on it, as a white streak of light twisted around them. “And I have ways of making sure I keep my secrets…”

Jon stopped dead in his tracks, understanding the threat Brianna was making. Brianna grinned at the effect of her demonstration, which in reality, was nothing more than a light illusion.

"I am not your enemy, Mr. Drake. I'm not your friend either, but the last thing I want is Agatha to do as she pleases, uncontested, so you're lucky that I might feel generous enough to offer my own services and intel, only when I feel like it," Brianna explained. "Make an enemy of me, and you will be fighting a war on two fronts. Or simply stay out of my way, and I will throw you some scraps when I think you deserve it..."

Brianna looked over at the petrified Rayquaza, before speaking again...

"And as a sign of good will to that statement..." Brianna said, before clenching her first, as the white light grew and brightened, and she launched it towards Rayquaza, who instantly began to move, and roar.

"Where is the desecrator?!" Rayqauza was shouting through the roar. Realising that Rayquaza still thought it was in battle, Jon lobbed a standard Pokeball at it, almost thankful for the fact it was weakened by the battle with Giratina. There wasn't a better time. If anyone asked Jon why he captured it, he would have both the reason of possessing another Legendary Pokemon, as well as the desire to get it healed by a Pokemon Center to fall back on, and enough time had passed that him capturing it wouldn't be indicative of the deceit he, Steven and Cassandra had partaken in nearly four years earlier.

Jon was silent. Whilst he was thankful for Rayquaza recovering, he also didn't trust completely that Brianna hadn't done another hybrid curse, turning Rayquaza into a glorified camera. He would have Cassandra give it a look over when things had died down. Dylan was the first to speak up.

"How come you didn't need to use some sort of incantation?" Dylan asked, curious, having not seen that before.

"Sound is just air pulsing at certain frequencies. If an incantation were necessary, couldn't a spell be accidentally triggered? Why doesn't a recording of the incantation trigger it?" Brianna asked, almost mockingly. "The only thing really needed is a focused thought, however that presents a risk as thoughts are hard to control. If I told you not to think about that girl who was with you at Memorial Hill, your first thought is to think about her. The words act as means of focus. You can tell that to your friends... If you think it can help them."

"In terms of making sure this doesn't end with such a cheap shot again..." Brianna said, gesturing to where Rayquaza had laid before, petrified by Agatha's magic. "Tell your friends to open their Zeketh tomes to pages 216 and 384. On 384, change the paper from a red hourglass to two red overlapping hand prints. They might find something helpful there..."

Brianna turned to leave, as Jon spoke up.

"What do you stand to gain here?" Jon asked. "If you were here for reasons that weren't selfish, you would have told Dylan about the attack earlier, and not let these people die. So you obviously have something to gain from all of this..."

"Right now, does it matter?" Brianna asked, not even turning around. "At the end of the day, the only reason more people didn't die is because I warned Dylan, and Agatha got what she wanted. If I had said nothing, and Agatha had wanted to do more, it would have been much worse. My motives don't matter because without me, you're powerless. You can either accept the help I want to offer without asking questions, and stand a fighting chance, or you can refuse it, because you don't know what I stand to gain, and get wiped out when Agatha decides keeping you all alive is more trouble than it's worth."

Brianna left, as Jon felt a presence in his head.

"Should I tail her?" Latios asked.

"Don't. As much as I hate it, she has a point, and she seems to know more than she lets on about everything," Jon replied with his thoughts. "I really don't trust her, but right now we have bigger problems, and if leaving her alone helps us solve them, we will cross that bridge when the time arises..."

Jon looked over at Dylan, who looked defeated by the circumstances around them. Jon didn’t blame him. Despite Jon not appearing to be too out of his depth, this was the most difficult situation he had ever found himself in. The Diamond Ladies investigation had proven to be child’s-play compared to this. He couldn’t help but think that this was the reason why he didn’t want Abbee and Dylan coming, however…

"Brianna was half right with what she said. More people didn't die, not because she warned you, but because you took action. You did something difficult, and now more people will be able to go home again than otherwise," Jon explained. "I agree, life is sacred, and we don't have the right to decide who gets to live and who gets to die. But if someone thinks they have that right, and the only way to stop them harming others is to end their life, that is completely on them. Not you. That is the result of their decision..."

Dylan remained silent, as he turned to look back at the corpses with Jon quickly stopping him.

"Abbee was in there, and had no clue when it was safe to try and escape. She got out because Cassandra cleared a path, and Cassandra cleared a path because you got their attention and covered her back," Jon said. "If nothing else, you did what was needed to get Abbee out safely..."

Whilst Dylan understood what Jon was saying it didn't alleviate his conscience. Trying to change the subject, he spoke up.

"What now?" Dylan asked

"I'm not 100% sure yet, but if what Brianna told us is actually helpful, I think we need to go on the offensive," Jon explained. "Find where these rats are hidden, and burn it to the ground. And tonight, I’ll get Steven and Cynthia to get together whoever is trustworthy, and we’ll come up with our next steps."

"You want me to see if I can figure out where that is?"

"No," Jon said quickly. "You were right to look into Brianna, and it has left us with more questions. If nothing else, we need to figure out what playing into her hands means for us long term, whether or not she is a threat or a stuck up pain in the a**... Do you have any leads?"

"I have some bills she used to buy supplies," Dylan explained. "If they're legit, then I might be able to trace their path back to an account. It's a long shot, but if we can even just trace her movements the last few days it might reveal something, even if this doesn't give us the details we hope."

"Then follow that through but keep the fact you are investigating her a secret," Jon explained. "She is right, we wouldn't have done as well as we did today without her warning, and assuming there isn't anything nefarious hidden in what she did to Rayquaza, I can't deny she is helping us, so we don't want to antagonise her. But we won't be stupid about it either."

Dylan nodded in understanding. Brianna had just made every decision they needed to make all the more difficult. It was obvious she wasn’t to be trifled with, but at the same time, they couldn’t risk playing into her hands, and facilitating something worse, just to stop Agatha.

"I'll see you back at HQ," Jon said, before firing up the bike, and putting on his helmet. Dylan nodded as he began trying to figure out next steps. He still had a few hours before the meeting and wanted more than a potential dead lead with these bank notes.

“Helmet,” Jon said loudly. “Call Titan.”

The phone began to dial, the sound audible through the speakers in Jon’s helmet. Finally, a familiar voice appeared on the other end of the line.

”Yes,” said Steven, having earnt his call sign from being in possession of Registeel, the Titan of Steel.

”Eon Squad is going on the offensive. We can’t keep letting them get the drop on us,”[/i] Jon explained. ”Every time they attack we can normally fight them off, and get the upper hand until they decide to run. So I want to bring the fight to them…”

”Are you asking my permission?” Steven asked as Jon chuckled.

“I’m asking for your support,” Jon explained. “You oversee the offensive side of this operation. I want Eon Squad to be the vanguard. The pointed end of the stick. But to do that, we need intel, and we need people who despite the s**t they have seen, are willing to go head to head with these f**kers…”

”So what’s your plan?”

“9pm this evening, at Eon Squad HQ. Invite whoever you think will work well being part of the assault,” Jon explained. “Despite the s**tshow, we learned a lot today. We consolidate our intel, and actually make steps towards bringing the fight to them…”

”Agreed,” Steven answered. ”See you at nine…”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

Glimmer left the motel, scowling at the sheer waste of time that she had just realised she had suffered through. The Shaymin in human form had spent the entire day following up a lead on a potential Shadowcraft witch. She had been spotted with a cloak, a tome, and a belt with pouches attached to it. The current equivalent of being seen walking down Main Street with an assault rifle.

Glimmer’s irritation however was that the cloak seemed to be a different material altogether, whilst the tome was actually an old book that had been coffee stained just to make sure it looked old enough. Effectively, the sighting was a group of teenagers who wanted to stir trouble by pretending to be with the witches attacking civilians, and being too young and stupid to consider the fact that League Operatives were cleared to respond to threats with force.

After giving the girl an earful, before using her own Shadowcraft to make the cloak bright pink, and effectively destroy the costume, Glimmer had left, storming out of the motel where she had been hiding, before feeling her league-issued phone vibrate in her pocket. She quickly withdrew it, and saw the callsign Titan on the screen.

“Everything alright?” Glimmer asked, not used to getting calls from Steven himself.

“There’s been an incident,” Steven explained. “Section B was attacked…”

“Was Luneth…”

“No, she was there an hour or two earlier, but was at the Pokemon Centre when the attack happened. She mentioned to Triad that she would be going there after her Silvally was treated, and our records show the Silvally’s Pokeball did get scanned by the healing machines at the Pokemon Centre,” Steven explained. “However, Luneth isn’t answering calls. And whilst it was out of range of the attack itself, the Pokemon Centre was still close to Section B…”

Glimmer wasn’t sure how to feel. All evidence seemed to indicate that Luneth was not near the site of the attack, however the unanswered calls concerned Glimmer. Additionally, she felt increasingly frustrated that whilst she was chasing a dead lead, in the form of a teenager who thought it would be hilarious to pretend to be one of the witches attacking people, Agatha had attacked what was effectively home base, and put the one minor victory the League had, the ability to treat people who were attacked, out of commission.

“I have an idea,” Glimmer said. “Leave it with me, and I’ll make sure she is okay…”

Steven remained awkwardly silent before speaking.

“Just remember, the two of you may be a pair, but on this mission, we need you to act independently,” Steven explained. “Try and make sure she is okay, but if you don’t end up finding her, don’t let that put us down two operatives instead of one. Remember, we wouldn’t have recruited her if we didn’t think she could look after herself, and same goes for you…”

“So what exactly?” Glimmer asked, and Steven answered.

“We have a meeting at nine this evening. I’ll send you the coordinates. You have until then to find her. Otherwise, she has to look after herself,” Steven explained. “If you don’t find her, the League will look into it, but I can’t be letting you look for her at the expense of all else for as long as it takes…”

Glimmer scowled at the order. She knew it was logical, and the right way forward, and didn’t envy Steven having to give it. But at the same time, Steven’s logic was what caused them to be acting separately in the first place, and now there has been an attack not too far from Luneth, and she was unaccounted for.

“I have an idea,” Glimmer repeated. “If that doesn’t fall through, we can plan next steps tonight…”

Glimmer ended the call before Steven could debate with her. She opened up the Pokemon League app on her phone which was logged in to Luneth’s account. This had been intentional, in case there was anything that Glimmer needed that required League Credentials, such as booking a room in a Pokemon Centre.

In the app’s recent activity, it listed a check in to a Pokemon Centre twenty minutes prior, which Glimmer deduced was when Circuit was healed. Her next destination in mind, Glimmer hailed one of the few taxis that was driving through the streets of Heahea, and took it to the Pokemon Centre, reading updates that Steven had forwarded her about the attack on the way. She looked in disbelief at the shaky photo of Giratina attacking the hospital, before the next photo showed a Rayquaza fighting off Giratina.

When Glimmer finally arrived, she didn’t enter the Pokemon Centre. Instead, she stood by the door, pretending to be someone walking out. To her left, she could see Main Street stretching downhill, and by the coast, about a hundred metres away, the wreckage of the Hospital, which she imagined being torn up by Giratina.

She was pulled from her thoughts by an unfamiliar voice. A Pokemon crying out, however, they seemed to know her.

“Hey! Glimmer!” said the voice, though muffled, as if said with a mouth full of food. “Up here!”

The Pokemon was squawking, which confused Glimmer, as she looked up to the source of it, and saw a Toucannon, sitting on the edge of the building next to the Pokemon Centre, overlooking the alley next to it. In its beak however, was something familiar. Luneth’s bag.

“I knew it…” Glimmer said, before calling out. “Flan, come down!”

The Toucannon spread its wings, before launching off the building and gliding down to where Glimmer waited. As its feet touched the ground, its body began to liquify, before changing colour, until the Toucannon was gone, and in its place was a Ditto.

“Where’s Luneth?” Glimmer asked.

“She turned herself into a Vulpix, and went that way…”

Flan gestured with a sludge-like appendage, towards the hospital, confirming Glimmer’s suspicions. She sighed. Finding a single Alolan Vulpix back home was not a difficult task. But finding a single Alolan Vulpix in Alola…

“She said she’d come back?” Glimmer asked, knowing the answer, as Flan nodded, though Glimmer knew the answer.

Glimmer quickly opened Luneth’s bag, removing a notebook and a pen, before tearing out a page.

“Where exactly did Luneth change?” Glimmer asked of Flan.

“Just next to the dumpster…”

Glimmer nodded, and was thankful it seemed empty. The last thing she wanted to do was leave a message and have it be mistaken as rubbish when the dumpster got emptied.

Quickly, Glimmer scribbled a sketch of a Gracidea Flower, leaving it wedged under the wheel of the dumpster, where the wind wouldn’t catch it. After that she withdrew Flan’s Pokeball, before activating it, returning the Ditto, and putting it in the bag.

Whilst Glimmer taking Luneth’s bag would potentially make things more difficult, it posed less risk to Luneth’s belongings as well as her other Pokemon. Glimmer didn’t know when Luneth would be back, and how long Flan would have been waiting. This way, her Pokemon were safe. Luneth would just need to travel a little further to return to normal.

Glimmer looked at her watch. It was getting late, and the coordinates she was given for the meeting were going to take a while to get to on foot, presuming Steven wouldn’t want to have her directing a taxi there.

“Guess we’ll see what happens next…” Glimmer said, to nobody in particular, before departing.

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

”I think we’re safe here…” Violet said, before adjusting her analysis. “For now, at least…”

The four women all panted as they looked around the lobby of the Tide Song Hotel, having exerted themselves more than they were used to in the trip from the chaos of the attack on the Heahea City Hospital. They had slipped through the open double doors into the largely empty lobby, though getting odd glances from the few bystanders who were also present. Abbee didn’t blame them. Four women, two dressed completely in scrubs and one who looked more flower than human, all bursting in from the street in a mad panic was far from a usual sight. As they caught their breath, nobody noticed the Alolan Vulpix sneaking in, before taking cover behind the furniture in the lobby.

The group gathered around the empty furniture outside of a Jirachibucks Cafe in the lobby, that had been closed since the opening ceremony attack. Too many workers were either getting attacked, or refusing to leave their homes at the risk of being attacked, forcing the cafe to close.

“How did you go Violet?” Cassandra asked, not having had the chance to ask since regrouping with Violet as they escaped the hospital for the second time.

“I recovered some of the reagents from Section B, as well as our books, so we have everything we need to restore her…” Violet explained, before her tone darkened. “But there’s something else…”

Cassandra sighed, before nodding, steeling herself for what was to come next.

“I know,” she replied. “Something we need to do…”

Both of them looked at Jarena, and Abbee looked between the trio, somewhat confused. Jarena seemed to click as to what Cassandra and Violet were getting towards.

“Oh damn… I think I know what you two are saying…” Jarena replied with a grimace. Whilst this wasn’t her first removal of this variety, it was her first on this side of the spell. “You only slowed this curse down, which means you have to let it do it’s thing before you get rid of it, right?”

Abbee’s eyes widened hearing this, and she looked at Cassandra, who confirmed it with a nod, and then a sigh.

“Yeah, there’s no stopping it until the hex completes,” Cassandra confirmed. “Once it finishes, we can start trying to dispel it, but if we try before then, it will just keep trying, and fighting against us. It will be an uphill battle…”

“Just like a fire that will keep burning until it runs out of fuel…” Violet said, irritably.

“That’s honestly a pretty accurate way of putting it…” Cassandra noted, before turning to Jarena. “You might just want to close your eyes and let us tell you when to open them again.”

Jarena stood, struggling for a moment to get her balance on the stems that were now her legs, moving away from anything that might get caught in the mess, before closing her eyes, and looking down.

“If this doesn’t work out, just… you know what? Plant me somewhere nice and cozy…” Jarena began, before shifting her tone, and sounding a bit less serious about it, on the off chance that they couldn’t restore her. She didn’t want what could be the last conversation between the three of them to be too depressing. She grinned. “Somewhere with heaps of sunshine. And in that case, it’s been awesome hanging out with the two of you. We had some good times…”

“Jarena…” Cassandra whispered sympathetically. Violet on the other hand didn’t say anything to Jarena. All that was in her mind was how difficult this was going to be with just her and Cassandra. They had no way of knowing which hex Jarena had been struck from which meant they were resorting to a Nox Purge, something that usually they performed with three people, and even then, it wasn’t a simple spell. There was every possibility that they may not be able to restore Jarena. But she did want to show her that they were optimistic.

“Abbee, go find something to cover her,” Violet said to the younger woman, who seemed like the odd one out, given her lack of history with Triad. Abbee nodded, before looking around and spotting a laundry cart. The basket that made up the bottom half was full of dirty laundry, however there were clean, white sheets and towels sitting folded on top. Noting that despite being the shortest of Triad, Jarena was still nearly half a foot taller than Abbee, and a towel was not going to cover much. Instead, Abbee grabbed one of the large queen-size sheets, unfolding it until it was only folded in half, and wrapping it around Jarena, saying nothing. She barely knew Jarena, and didn’t want to intrude on Triad’s potential goodbye.

“Ready?”

Cassandra asked the question, though her voice was barely audible. Whilst she knew she had to remove the suppressing effect her and Violet had placed, she also knew that if she did, and her and Violet couldn’t remove the hex, then she was effectively dooming Jarena to life as a plant.

Jarena nodded silently, as Cassandra took in a deep breath, and muttered a few quick words. Cassandra, Violet and Abbee stood silently, as the curse, seeming to make up for lost time, took effect again, transforming Jarena even quicker than it had been doing earlier. Within less than a minute, Jarena had been replaced with a near six foot tall flowering plant, with flowers larger and more vibrant than anything naturally occurring. It was impossible to tell she had once been human.

Violet began laying out the necessary reagents for the Nox Purge, as Cassandra confirmed the curse had completed its effect and disappeared.

“We’ve never done this with just the two of us…” Cassandra said quietly. Violet looked over at Abbee.

“Go see if you can convince reception to find some clothes for her,” Violet said, and Abbee, having no problem being told to be elsewhere during this nodded. “If they have a lost and found, something for us as well. We stand out too much in scrubs…”

Once Abbee had left, Violet looked to Cassandra, her expression determined, and successfully hiding the doubt she felt.

“You know how to do this,” Violet said, her tone leaving no room for discussion. “Just focus on doing it, and forget about the possibility of not…”

Cassandra nodded, trying her hardest to force the anxiety out of her, before Violet began the incantation, and Cassandra joined in.

Violet felt the Star Piece in her hand begin to heat up, and allowed it to burn and be consumed as fuel for the process. They only had one shot, and any attempts to cheat the spell with another would overload it and potentially kill all of them.

The duo both felt lightheaded and dizzy as a surge of energy was pulled from them, however they both forced themselves to remain focused, as what once was Jarena began to glow. Abbee returned with a tee emblazoned with the ’Alola!’ greeting, and a pair of sweatpants, which the receptionist had assured her had been cleaned before being put in Lost and Found. She watched in awe as Jarena’s body, starting from the head, and slowly moving down, began to revert. Cassandra and Violet kept their eyes shut, forcing their concentration on the spell. Abbee quickly turned away, making sure no onlookers were paying too much attention, and shooting one group a glare, causing them to pretend to be looking elsewhere.

It got to the point where Jarena was able to grab the sheets that Abbee had wrapped around her, and hold them in place, and after a few seconds longer, the spell completed, as Cassandra and Violet both collapsed.

“Holy crap, you guys did it…” Jarena said in disbelief, before realising just how much of a toll the spell took on her friends. “Are you guys alright?!”

Both of them were on the floor wheezing for air, having been completely drained of energy from the spell, which had it taken any longer, would have caused both of them to pass out. After a minute or trying to recover, Cassandra and Violet both sat up, able to breath normally, but still woozy.

“That’s why we stick together…” Cassandra said, finally able to speak again.

When she was sure her friends were okay, Jarena took the clothes Abbee had acquired, before going into the bathroom to get changed into more than a bedsheet. After five minutes, Abbee felt her phone begin to buzz, and realised it was Jon. She stepped off to the side, answering.

“Are you guys okay?” Abbee asked.

”We’re fine, just a little shaken up, but neither of us are injured…” Jon answered. ”They took off not long after you guys left. Same as the opening ceremony. Smoke appeared everywhere, and after a minute disappeared just as quickly, with all but their dead gone…”

Abbee breathed a sigh of relief that both were okay, as Jon asked a question.

”How’re your three?” Jon asked, referring to Triad as the three operatives Abbee had been tasked with protecting.

“Sonia has been restored, but it nearly knocked Naomi and Sasha out to do it,” Abbee explained. “They’re recovering now, but doing better than they were five minutes ago…”

”That’s good,” Jon said. ”Listen, after the fight, the big guy and I were approached by your target…”

Not wanting to risk using Dylan’s name on a call that, despite they being assured was secure, could potentially be listened in to, Jon had been vague, as well as with his reference to Brianna Levine.

”She had approached him before the attack, and warned him, but only with just enough time for him to give support, not stop it completely…” Jon explained. ”She made it abundantly clear she isn’t on their side, but isn’t on ours either, and only helps us when it aligns with her own goals…”

“She considers a practically too late warning to be help?”

”Turns out she left what she did back at Memorial Hill to tip us off that they are doing that, and then when she arrived, she undid the curse that they left on my cranky friend…” Jon explained, before pausing. ”And there’s something else…”

“What’s that?”

”She told us to tell our friends to look at pages 216 and 384 in their Zeketh tomes, and something about switching an hourglass hour for overlapping, red, handprints?” Jon explained. ”When they feel up for it, can you ask them to check it out?”

“Will do,” Abbee answered. “Anything else?”

”One more thing. Meeting tonight at HQ, the bosses are bringing people, and I want our squad and Triad there. We gotta start hitting back. 9pm…”

Abbee acknowledged the order, before ending the call, and making her way towards Violet and Cassandra, who sat on a bench against the wall, recovering their strength.

“That Jon?” Cassandra asked, and Abbee nodded.

“He and Dylan are okay. The attacking force fled not long after we left,” Abbee explained. “But he wants me to let you know that there is a meeting tonight at nine at HQ. Steven and Cynthia are bringing some people to it, and he wants you three there. I think it will be to plan going on the offensive…”

Cassandra nodded in agreement, thinking it was well past time they did. Jarena arrived as Abbee continued.

“There was something else. I’ll explain later because I’ll forget the details if I don’t share it now…” Abbee explained. “But Jon got tipped off that pages 216 and 384 of your Zeketh tome will be helpful, and something about switching out the red hourglass for overlapping handprints…”

Violet looked at Abbee in surprise, before grabbing the aforementioned tome from her bag and beginning to flick through to the pages Abbee listed.

“Dylan was approached by this Brianna Levine before the attack, and she warned him, but intentionally waited long enough that all he could do was provide support. Not evacuate the building or anything,” Abbee explained. “Then she approached Dylan and Jon after the battle…”

Cassandra’s eyes widened hearing this.

“Who is she then?” Cassandra asked. “Why would one of them warn us? Do they want to risk their own getting captured?”

“She says she isn’t with them…” Abbee explained. “She says, and Jon believes her, that she isn’t on either side. She doesn’t want to see Agatha get what she wants, but doesn’t want us being wiped out either. She has her own reasons for being here…”

“I’d believe that she doesn’t want to see us wiped out…” Violet muttered, as she finished reading page 216. “This is good stuff…”

“What is it?” Jarena asked, looking over Violet’s shoulder.

“Expavescimus Charm…” Violet answered. “Looks like it redirects spells at the attacker…”

“If only I knew that an hour ago…” Jarena joked and Cassandra chuckled in agreement.

“It would definitely help. Another instance of we really don’t know all that is in here…” Cassandra retorted as Violet flipped to page 384.

“And this one is a Luxum Patibatur curse…” Violet explained. “It will cause the victim to haemorrhage energy. Effectively putting them in the position we were in after we did the Nox Purge. Needs human blood, ginger and paint thinners…”

Violet seemed confused about something, as Cassandra considered how beneficial both these spells would be. The first would be good for protection, however the second required three reagents, two of which were liquid and hard to carry around, or divide efficiently to do numerous spells. Whilst draining their opponents of energy would be very beneficial, the cost made a simple blinding hex like she used on the witch that she turned into a Delcatty would be cheaper in terms of reagents and easier to produce. Before Cassandra could raise this point however, Jarena asked a question.

“What about that part about the hourglass?” Jarena asked, and Violet looked to Abbee.

“What did Jon say exactly?” Violet asked.

“Replace the hourglass with two overlapping handprints,” Abbee said, forcing herself to sound confident, even though she had the slightest doubts about her memory.

“I thought so,” Violet said, before looking to the others. “The hourglass is a reference to the time delay modification spell that we were talking about. You draw an hourglass shape with red ink on some paper, burn it, and include the ashes in whatever spell you want to modify…”

“And Brianna has told us to replace that with two overlapping handprints?” Jarena asked, as Violet nodded, trying to piece it together. Cassandra’s eyes widened as she realised what this was.

“It’s how she made the hybrid curse…” Cassandra said. “At Memorial Hill. It’s an adaptation of a modification spell. We use the modification on the first curse, and then add the second…”

Cassandra began to think about the two spells that Brianna had referenced. Expavescimus Charm and Luxum Patibatur Curse.

“So the two spells on those pages, when mixed, would redirect any attack back at the attacker, and at the same time, drain them of their energy…” Cassandra explained, as Jarena whistled.

“That’s next level stuff…” Jarena replied. “Someone’s done their homework…”

“Not even that…” Violet answered in disbelief. “These tomes are just records of spells that have been shared. But it seems like this Brianna Levine has somewhat of an understanding of how to create specific spells…”

“And apparently she left the curse she did to tip us off that Agatha is doing the same…” Cassandra muttered. “Which means that Agatha likely has that same understanding…”

“We’re going to need to get those reagents ready. Most of them should be easy if we make a point of it…” Violet explained, as the others nodded. Whilst all of the reagents were easy, they would not all be in one place. The Expavescimus Charm needed dust from a broken mirror and feathers from an unevolved flying-type Pokemon. Whilst the Luxum Patibatur Curse would require human blood, paint thinners and ginger.

“The mirror and paint thinners will be easy to get from a hardware store,” Cassandra explained. “The ginger we can get from a supermarket, and there are plenty of Wingul feathers on the beach. Human blood might be a little tricky. I don’t think either of us are in the position to donate any to the cause right now…”

As they considered this, Abbee had a thought.

“Also, Cass,” Abbee said. “If you run into Victini again, can you let him know I really want to talk to him? He wanted to go with you guys and I told him he could. I figured he did because he left after you guys and didn’t come back, but I realised from your message that he wasn’t with you. I am guessing that you told him no, and he decided to try and watch over you like some sort of guardian angel without you knowing…”

Cassandra sighed, not having considered that Victini had followed them from Mossdeep. However, now that she thought about it, she knew her former partner usually would do whatever he set his mind to.

“I’m not mad or anything,” Abbee said, making sure that was clear. “I just wish he had been honest with me…”

“It’s complicated…” Cassandra sighed. “He just wants to keep everyone happy, and you know how ugly things got four years ago. He wanted to help us with starting over, and nothing we tried could make amends…”

”Not yet at least! But, in light of everything…”

The telepathic voice was Victini's, causing the four present to look around.

”Honestly, I think now is the perfect time to stop this whole dead charade. It’s a lot nicer with the three of you around…”

“Victini…” Cassandra said. “You know we can’t do that. We tried to help after last time, and nobody wanted it. Now, we reappear with everything that’s going on, and we will be the first ones they blame. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if people who still believe we faked it are speculating this online. We want to help people here, and if they know it’s us, they will reject it…”

Finally, Victini revealed himself, proving that he was much closer than they had realised, emerging from behind a large pot plant. He grinned, happy to see his friends again without the impending doom of a witchcraft attack looming over them.

“That was four years ago…” Victini said, now verbally, with all four trainers present being able to understand. “You’ve spent the last week treating everyone and their mum on this island. I don’t think somebody who would have been a statue if not for you would still think badly of you…”

“I don’t know…” Cassandra replied. Whilst she had to admit Victini made a good argument, she still remembered the rejection the three of them suffered four years ago. Violet’s Pokemon being stolen.

“At least try, and go Pokemon again if it fails…” Victini answered. “But be brave! Be you!”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

It had been a long half hour for Jimmy. Having teleported from the Eastern edge of Heahea City to Wishmaker HQ, the only way he could teleport back from Wishmaker HQ to Heahea City without using Jirachi’s innate wish abilities, and by extension, tiring the already tired Pokemon more, was by teleporting to the exact place he had teleported from. He had flown on Salamence’s back, and when he first began to see witches attacking civilians from the sky, he ordered Salamence to descend. As Salamence got close, he shifted form into a Pikachu, before readying a Volt Tackle, and launching off Salamence’s back into the closest witch.

From there, it was chaos, as Jimmy shifted between forms, commanding his Salamence, Grovyle, Sylveon and Pikachu from both forms, as they attempted to fight off attackers. It took twenty minutes before the smoke he recognised from the opening ceremony appeared, and the attacking force disappeared before it dispersed.

Since then, Jimmy’s focus had been on helping those who had been attacked. He began searching the streets, looking for those who were afflicted, and figuring out which ones were in the worst shape, determining whether he’d send them to one of the doctors clinics in Heahea, since the hospital was now a ruined wreck, contact the League and get them to send medical support, or, if worse came to worst, simply have Jirachi heal them with a wish, though tried to avoid resorting to that. Jirachi was on its way back to full energy, and if it didn’t exert itself too much, should be at full strength by the following morning.

Thankfully, Jimmy had arrived quickly enough, and was on the border of the attack zone enough that not many people had been hit. Those who had, were only struck with temporary curses, like dizzying curses, which would wear off, and Jimmy had instructed them to find somewhere to sit down.

As he looked however, he noticed something on the other side of the street. Two figures. The front was a man Jimmy didn’t know personally, riding on a Rapidash, however behind him, was someone Jimmy recognised, also seeming to be riding something, which was obstructed by the parked car on the opposite side of the road.

“Avery!” Jimmy called out, waving his arms. “Are you okay?”

Abital heard Jimmy call out his partner’s name, and looked over to see him. Jimmy quickly checked there was no traffic, before crossing the road, as Avery and Abital stepped out from behind the car.

“Okay is pretty subjective…” Avery said, letting off a weak laugh, as Jimmy rounded the car, and saw that Avery wasn’t riding a Pokemon like Abital was. Instead, Avery’s lower half had been replaced with that of an equine Pokemon.

“Holy sh-” Jimmy began, before looking between Avery’s top and bottom halves. “Are you in pain?”

Avery stumbled forward slightly, still not completely used to walking with four legs, as they answered.

“I was dizzy and nauseated when it first hit, but that was temporary,” Avery explained. “Now it’s just getting used to this…”

Jimmy thought it over quickly. Whilst he could have Jirachi restore Avery, that would be draining for the wishmaker, and without a solid connection to the stars, both on Akala island where the clouds blocked some of the connection, and in Wishmaker HQ, the restoration time for Jirachi after healing Avery would be another day.

Abital looked between Avery and Jimmy, who seemed to know each other, as Avery noticed, and began belated introductions.

“Jimmy, this is my husband Abital. Abital, this is Jimmy Kendo, from the S.S. Wishmaker…” Avery said, before signing seven letters to Abital, knowing that the sign for the word itself would be obvious. ”C U D D L E S.”

Having heard the story, but not remembering all the names, the reference to Jimmy’s nickname as a Pachirisu jogged Abital’s memory of the story his partner had told him. Abital signed a greeting, before nodding at Jimmy.

“He says hello,” Avery explained, as Jimmy nodded, before continuing his assessment.

“The League has people who can help you,” Jimmy said to Avery. “If you’re not in any pain right now, I might leave it to them. Jirachi is resting from the work it has done this week, and these clouds are making it take longer for it to recover after using its power. I don’t want to risk exhausting it, and there being another, worse attack…”

Avery nodded in understanding, putting two and two together to realise Jimmy was working with the League. They remembered the previous few days, when they were desperate to have a contact in the League to get treatment for Abital. Now it seemed like they were finally making progress.

“We were heading for the Tide Song Hotel,” Avery explained. “Why don’t you come with us, and you can make contact there, where we aren’t out in the open…”

Jimmy nodded, understanding Avery’s concern. Even if the attacking force had left in the midst of the smoke, they had done the same thing at the opening ceremony, only to reappear before too long in smaller groups and cause more trouble. Even with the protection offered by the stone he wore, he didn’t like remaining in one place too long out in the open.

“Let’s head there, and I’ll see if I can get you some help…”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

Luneth had watched from behind the armchair that sat on the edge of the lobby of the Tide Song Hotel as Violet and Cassandra restored Jarena, whilst the new girl that she didn’t recognise did things such as getting sheets to cover Jarena, as well as clothes for her to wear, Luneth guessing she had no Shadowcraft capabilities.

She watched in horror, as both Violet and Cassandra collapsed under the strain, however breathed a sigh of relief, as they both managed to sit up, albeit just exhausted. Then, the new girl took a phone call, before talking to the trio, as they began looking in the tomes they held, though Luneth couldn’t hear what was being said.

Curious, she made her way closer, still staying out of sight, and arrived just in time for the comment about Victini. The new girl had mentioned giving Victini permission to go with Cassandra, but realised Victini wasn’t with her. She quickly realised that this new girl must be Victini’s trainer now, given Cassandra had disappeared four years ago. That was when Victini had decided to reveal himself, and try to convince the former Diamond Ladies to go public.

From where she stood, Abbee felt her heart sink with each passing minute since Victini had revealed himself, as he only spoke to Cassandra, and didn’t even seem to acknowledge that she was there. To anybody watching who only saw this exchange, they’d be justified in thinking that Abbee was a complete stranger, and not Victini’s partner, having endured fights against rampaging Legendary Pokemon, battled against poachers, and growing together the last three years. Her relief that the Pokemon was alright was quickly overshadowed by something else.

It wasn’t jealousy. She understood Victini had a long history with Cassandra, and had given her blessing when she found out he wanted to go with her, especially considering how dangerous the mission was and that she’d only have a few weeks to find new Pokemon. The feeling was fear. That she had been with Victini for just as long as Cassandra had been, and now that Cassandra was around, she may as well have not even been there. Fear that she only meant something to him when the person he actually wanted to be there couldn’t be around, and now that Cassandra was here, she was just a blurred afterthought.

All of their attention was taken by the sight of something large entering the lobby. Somebody who had been struck by a curse which had turned their bottom half into what appeared to be that of a Keldo.

“Is that Avery?” Jarena asked, shocked at what she was seeing, as she recognised the man she treated earlier that day walking in with them. The biggest doubt that the person in front of her was Avery was the fact that she recognised them from that afternoon, but at that time, hadn’t recognised them. Her suspicions were confirmed when she recognised the third person to enter, watching behind them to make sure the trio weren’t being followed.

“Jimmy?” Cassandra called out, although not surprised that he was present, having seen him earlier that day.

Abbee watched as Victini walked over towards the newcomers, and felt her stomach sink further. Whilst everyone’s attention was by the door, she looked behind her to where the bathrooms were, and quickly but silently walked towards them, only noticed by the Alolan Vulpix who remained hidden behind a large pot plant, having seen the hiding spot work so well for Victini earlier. Despite not being telepathic, Luneth could see Abbee’s reactions to Victini, and having heard what she had said about the Pokemon, felt sympathy towards her. She knew that if Glimmer had a former trainer, and seemed to forget that she was even there in the presence of this person, she’d likely feel the same.

Abbee entered the bathroom, and after quickly confirming the cubicles were empty, made her way to the sink, in front of the mirror, and turning on the tap, as she felt tears start to flow down her face.

The thing that scared her most wasn't if Victini wanted to stay with Cassandra after this. She was aware when she gave her blessing just how likely that was. It was the nagging thought that this encounter had proven so far, that when that happened, Victini would go, and forget about her...

She started to cry as she hunched over the sink…

Realising that now was her best chance to reveal herself to the former S.S. Wishmaker group, featuring Abital, Luneth wandered over towards them. She didn’t have access to her phone, reagents or Pokeballs in this form, and whilst she could go find them by the Pokemon Centre, she knew she was safer in a group like this, and if she could communicate with one of them, they may be able to arrange for an operative to get her belongings.

Violet was the first to recognise her, and got Cassandra’s attention.

“Cass, that Vulpix was in the hospital when I was getting the reagents…” Violet said, her first instinct being that the Vulpix was a tail. She readied a Pokeball.

“Wait, no!” Luneth cried out, and Victini interrupted.

“She’s a friend,” Victini interjected. “Don’t you remember Jirachi’s playtime? Luneth?”

It took Cassandra and Violet a moment to remember, however Jarena remembered something else.

“Luneth, as in the Luneth who brought that guy to Section B today?” Jarena asked, and the Vulpix cried out in the affirmative. Jarena looked at Cassandra and Violet, putting the pieces together. “Luneth uses Shadowcraft as well. She asked us as we left the S.S. Wishmaker about it, remember?”

Cassandra recalled Steven mentioning another Shadowcraft user had tipped off the League about Agatha within days of their arrival in Mossdeep, and realised just how all the pieces fit together.

Once introductions were out of the way, Jimmy spoke.

“I found Avery like this down the road,” Jimmy explained. “Jirachi could heal them, but has been doing a lot of wish granting this last week, and the clouds are making it take longer for it to recover its strength. If we can avoid it, I would rather keep Jirachi at full strength in case of an emergency. Do you think you three could heal Avery?”

Cassandra grimaced at the request.

“Normally, yes, but the spell needed is a Nox Purge, since it looks like the curse was incomplete, which we normally do with the three of us,” Cassandra explained, looking to Avery. “But in the attack, Jarena got hit, and Violet and I had to do it without her to stop her from spending the rest of her natural life as a flower and…”

“It almost knocked us both out…” Violet interjected. “Honestly, even if Jarena and Luneth were to help us, I don’t think we have it in us to do another, and if we crap out half-way through, we risk harming Luneth and Jarena, with the spell pulling from them instead if it can’t get energy from us…”

Avery felt a pit in their stomach at the explanation, and looked between the Diamond Ladies, and Jimmy.

“In that case, I’ll have Jirachi help Avery,” Jimmy began, but Avery shook their head.

“Jirachi might be needed for more than fixing My Little Keldeo here…” Avery explained, before looking to Cassandra. “If I were to say I could survive being half Keldeo for a little while while you guys recover, when do you think you could remove the curse?”

Cassandra thought it over. In hindsight, had she eaten more recently, and had more than four hours of sleep a night for the good part of the last week, she may have handled the earlier Nox Purge a little better, as would have Violet. However, with no Section B to get back to, and the meeting tonight…

“If we have a decent meal and a good night's rest, which is more than we’ve had in a while…” Cassandra explained. “Tomorrow morning?”

Avery considered this, before looking to Abital.

“Think you can handle being married to a centaur until then?” Avery asked.

“It’s not ideal, but it seems like that’s the best option…” Abital signed. Avery nodded in agreement, before turning to Cassandra.

“Tomorrow morning then,” Avery answered. Cassandra nodded, before seeming to notice something. Or rather, not notice something.

“Has anybody seen Abbee?”

Jimmy, Avery and Abital looked at Cassandra confused, not sure of who Abbee was, however Violet and Jarena looked around, realising that she wasn’t there. Luneth looked at the ground, not enjoying being in the middle of this discussion.

“She’s in the bathroom…” Luneth said quietly. “She doesn’t seem okay…”

Victini went to ask Luneth what she was talking about, however noticed the Vulpix seemed to be struggling to make eye contact with him. It was then he realised.

“I’ve messed up…” Victini sighed. “I got a bit carried away seeing you guys, and having our little spontaneous Wishmaker Family Reunion here. I kind of forgot she was here…”

Cassandra couldn’t help but sigh. She had told Victini in Mossdeep many weeks earlier that he was Abbee’s Pokemon and to stay with her, and he had ignored that order. Now, Abbee was upset, and as much as she loved her former partner, she knew this was his mess to clean up. She gave Victini a look, telling him that he owed Abbee an explanation.

“I’ll go talk to her…”

In the bathroom, Abbee attempted to dry her eyes, and compose herself before she attempted to head back into the lobby. Technically she was assigned to be helping Triad, and she was hardly any help now. She still felt the pain in her chest, however figured that focusing on the task at hand would distract her from it. But before she knew it she found herself teary again.

"I've upset you, haven't I...?" said Victini's voice in her head.

She wiped her eyes before chuckling to herself.

"Why ask?" She replied with her thoughts. "If you're poking around in my head to ask this, you already know the answer..."

Abbee was mostly joking with that statement, not being cruel or snide. That sense of humour was what caused her and Victini to click as well as they did over the last few years. She heard a slight chuckle in her thoughts.

You know I'd just poke around anyone's head anyway...Victini answered. "Can we talk?"

"Sure, but I'd just about die of embarrassment if anybody saw me like this..."

"Then I take it you don't have an audience in there?" Victini asked.

"It's empty. You can come in..."

A few moments later, Abbee heard the door creak, as light footsteps made their way towards her. She was still hunched over the sink, looking down, and on the ground in her line of vision, walked Victini, who looked up at her somberly.

"I'm sorry..." Victini said verbally, which Abbee had only been able to understand in recent weeks.

"What for?" she asked, jokingly. She was struggling to piece together her emotions to some logical explanation, and figured if she wasn't certain about what was going on in her head, how could he be, and therefore what is he apologising for?

“For not coming back to you when Cassandra told me I couldn’t come with her. For not being honest with you, and being the reason you got stuck in the hospital when it got attacked…” Victini answered. “And for getting so caught up in seeing the others, that I kind of forgot you were there…”

“Kind of?” Abbee asked jokingly. Victini grinned weakly.

“Explicitly…” Victini corrected, and Abbee grinned despite herself, though still teary.

"I'm not mad, and I'm not jealous. I'm just..." Abbee began, before struggling to articulate exactly how she felt, before groaning to herself in frustration at this verbal block she faced.

"You know what happened in the weeks before I met you right?" Abbee asked, knowing Victini knew the answer. He nodded solemnly.

"I lost my Dad, completely by surprise. Mum had been gone for years, and Tyler and I weren't exactly close so Dad was all I had, and he had been ripped from me, and I had no clue that when he dropped me off at the Eon Academy that that would be the last time I would ever see him," Abbee explained. "That week I went back home for the funeral, I had never felt more alone, even with Alyssa and Tyler there. I was with Tyler, and long term, I was going to live with him, but he and I barely knew a thing about each other. We had an easier time talking to complete strangers than one-another. After the funeral, I went back to Mossdeep to finish the summer, because the people there felt more like family to me than my own brother did, and I wanted just another week or two before I had to go back to feeling alone. Then you came along, and even after we went home after summer, I didn't feel alone anymore..."

"When I gave you my blessing to go with Cassandra for this mission, I knew that there was a chance that you would want to stay with her when this is all over. And as much as I knew I would miss you if that happened, I wanted you to do what would make you happy. I even released you from your Pokeball, so that the choice would be completely yours...."

Abbee wiped her sleeve against her eyes.

"I was okay with it, because I knew that whether or not you were with me or Cassandra, the bond we had was real, and it would persevere. Even if you were on the other side of the planet, we'd always be friends. That our time together meant something," Abbee said. "Then I find out that Cassandra didn't take you on to her team, weeks after you originally left, and instead of being honest with me about it, you left me in the dark. I locked myself in a storage room, because I had no way of knowing whether it was safe to get out, and needed you then, but you weren’t there…"

Victini remained silent hearing this. Abbee wasn't trying to condemn him, but just trying to explain how she felt about this, and he understood that. It just stung a little.

"Then, after hearing me ask Cassandra to let you know I want to talk to you, you don't even let me know you are there, until Cassandra started talking about how difficult their situation was after the Wishmaker incident, and it was to convince her to come out of hiding. After that, it was more catchup, and I may as well have been a complete stranger, or not even there at all..."

"Abbee..." Victini began, however Abbee continued.

"I'm not angry, and I'm not jealous," Abbee repeated, before taking a brief second to think over her next words.

"I was okay with you teaming up with Cassandra, maybe even staying with her after all this is over, because I believed that our bond would survive that. But then, all this happens, and in a few short weeks, it looks like it is completely gone, that the last three years were nothing..." Abbee said, starting to tear up again. "And all of a sudden, I'm fifteen again, having just been orphaned and alone in the world, and terrified by it..."

Victini jumped up onto the counter, now closer to eye level with Abbee, who could now see he was teary himself.

"Why are you crying?" she asked jokingly through tears.

"Because of how dense I've been..." Victini retorted back, joking equally through his own tears, before attempting to hug her, however his short limbs made that very difficult.

"I'm sorry," Victini said. "I've been so distracted by what's going on, and wanting to help Cass out, I didn't think enough about how I was treating my best friend..."

Abbee smiled a little hearing him say that.

"Thank you. It really means a lot..." Abbee said, "And if when this is over, you want to stay with Cass..."

"Abbee, it's-"

"Just keep in touch when you can," Abbee said. "Now and forever. Let me know you're happy, safe and doing well. Let me know you still think of me amidst whatever crazy adventures you get up to. That's all I ask..."

"If..." Victini said. "I decide to stick with Cass, you have my word. Even if I have to learn to read and write, or send a messenger Pidgey..."

Abbee laughed at the thought of Victini attempting to type an email on a public computer with his little arms, before noticing her reflection in the mirror.

"Goddamn, if I don't clean myself up, people will think Alola's fate is in the hands of a pair of cry-babys..." Abbee said, as she picked Victini up, placing him on her shoulder, before trying to clean up her damp eyes.

"If anyone asks about the red eyes, we tell them we were smoking in here..." Victini said, nearly falling off Abbee's shoulder as she jolted with laughter.

"Somehow, I think people would trust a pair of cry-babies more than a pair of stoners to keep the island safe..."

Once Abbee and Victini were content that they weren't going to attract too much attention to what had gone down in the bathroom, they both left, trying to slip back into the small crowd that had gathered in the lobby...

Outside in the lobby, the crowd of people were largely sharing stories about what had happened since the S.S. Wishmaker. There was little more they could do. Cassandra and Violet were in no position to help Avery at that point, and honestly, any moment of rest before they left the perceived safety of the lobby was a moment to be grateful for.

As Abbee and Victini emerged, having both taken a few minutes to compose themselves and clean themselves up, they joined the group, most of whom were strangers to Abbee. However, as Abbee joined them, Cassandra took a step back to address Victini directly, trying to be quiet so as to not be overheard, though Abbee couldn’t help but hear it, with Victini sitting on her shoulder.

Cassandra had known from the beginning that Abbee was Victini’s trainer now. She had come to terms with it, watching the video of the pair battling against the College of the North Wind, seeing how far the Victory Star Pokemon had come. And whilst she was okay with this, knowing it was her decision to leave Victini behind when she decided to live as an Eevee in the Starglade, and felt no personal responsibility for Abbee’s hurt feelings, she also knew that Victini wanted desperately to make everyone happy, and to make amends for his own perceived failure during his time with her. It had been obvious in the short time she spent with him at the Eon Academy that he felt like he hadn’t been strong enough to help her back then, and now that he was stronger under Abbee’s training, he wanted to make up for that.

Despite the tension not being her fault, Cassandra knew there was something she could do, for Abbee’s sake, but the intention was for Victini’s sake.

“Cass, I just wanted to say something…” Victini said quietly from Abbee’s shoulder, however Cassandra knew she had to end this conversation.

“Victini, I know how much you want to be everything for everyone. But you taking leave from Abbee, and tagging along with me, or trying to watch from afar and make sure nothing happens to me… It can’t be…” Cassandra said, maintaining eye-contact, and keeping her tone firm. “I abandoned you. I know that you understood why, and don’t see it like that, but at the end of the day, you were my Pokemon, my partner, and I ended that. I made the call to stop being your trainer. And now, you’ve made a life for yourself with Abbee, and are thriving. But it’s not fair on you, and it’s really not fair on her to partner up with me again, even if it’s temporary…”

“I really don’t like choosing like this…” Victini said, frowning, though Cassandra shook her head.

“You’re not choosing Victini, and I’m not choosing either. We’ve both already chosen. I chose to leave you, and you chose to partner up with Abbee. And we both need to respect those choices. I want you to be Abbee’s partner, fully and completely from now on,” Cassandra told him. “It doesn’t mean that we avoid seeing each other. And it doesn’t mean we aren’t going to be friends. We always will be. But we won’t ever be partners like we used to be…”

Cassandra looked at Abbee, who had her back towards her, pretending to be listening to the conversation between the others, however knew Abbee could hear every word.

“You belong to her, and she belongs to you,” Cassandra said. “A bond that strong, you can’t let anything or anyone come between. Not even me…”

Victini looked away, unable to make eye contact. Whilst Cassandra knew it hurt him to hear her say this, she knew he needed to hear it. He would try to keep both of them happy, when the nature of the situation made it impossible, and would only hurt himself more to keep trying.

“Okay…” Victini said quietly, nodding softly. “Your last order, noted and accepted. I’m Abbee’s Pokemon…”

“I know I don’t need to tell you to be good to her…” Cassandra said with a smile. “Anyone can see you already have been…”

Cassandra went to join the others, and Victini turned, facing the group as he and Abbee stood at the back of it, Victini still teary.

“She’ll be okay…” Abbee said to Victini. “She is strong. Nobody could go from where they were to where they are now, without being pretty damn strong…”

“Thanks…” Victini said, attempting to dry his eyes.

“When they’re ready, let’s find something to eat before the meeting,” Abbee said. “You can have as many desserts as you like, as long as they don’t reappear when things get intense…”

Victini laughed, remembering a training battle they had with Jon, after Victini and Abbee went out for lunch, where he overate. The look on Jon's face was priceless when Victini's Death By Chocolate Sundae and Apple Cinnamon Pancakes made a reappearance on Latios' face after a sluggish V-Create…

As Victini laughed, Abbee noticed the Alolan Vulpix sitting on a couch to be closer to the conversation level with the others, and whilst she wasn’t close enough to hear it over the chatter, she could tell that the others were talking to it, and it seemed to be talking back.

“Who does the Vulpix belong to?” Abbee asked Victini quietly.

“She is a Shadowcraft user from the S.S. Wishmaker. Remember Jon mentioned Luneth back in Mossdeep after getting her file?” Victini asked, as Abbee nodded. “She isn’t as cut out for frontline stuff, but when Giratina and the witches attacked, she figured if she were smaller and less conspicuous she could get behind their lines and learn more about them…”

Acknowledging this, Abbee walked towards the couch where Luneth sat, and leaned close so she could be heard. Luneth looked at Abbee, somewhat puzzled, having never spoken to her before.

“Victini told me about you,” Abbee explained. “I’m part of Eon Squad and we are having a meeting tonight, that Triad and a few others will be coming to. Jon mightn’t be too pleased with me, but I think that given the fact Triad trust you, and your abilities with Shadowcraft, it’s worth you being there as well…”

Luneth nodded, not knowing if Abbee understood Pokemon speech, but figuring that Victini would translate, and spoke.

“Alright, I’ll be there…”

The sun was starting to lower in the sky, and Abbee, Triad and Luneth were likely travelling on foot to Eon Squad HQ, so the decision was made to carefully leave the Tide Song Hotel, get dinner, and head to the meeting. Triad said their goodbyes to Avery and Abital, as well as Jimmy, before leaving, promising Avery they’d meet them there the next morning to remove the hex.

Not wanting to risk getting caught in the streets again, Avery spent half an hour attempting to convince the receptionist to find them a room, having to reassure her that Avery would not weigh too much for the elevator, and wouldn’t damage the flooring or bedding of the room. During this time, Jimmy received a text from Steven.

”Aladdin, there is a meeting planned for this evening, 9pm. Eon Squad are hosting, however this meeting is confidential and invite only. Everyone present has been invited by myself, Cynthia or Eon Squad as hosts, and as such, the existence of it must not be shared with anyone, even fellow operatives. Given the day's events, we will be discussing what we have learned in the last twenty four hours, and our next steps. Details regarding location will be sent securely.

We appreciate your help during this mess. Hopefully we can resolve this soon.
Titan.”

Jimmy’s callsign, Aladdin, had been chosen due to his bond with a being that can grant wishes, and Jimmy couldn't help but chuckle every time he saw it used in a serious message.

Despite resting, Jimmy knew Jirachi was tuned in to his thoughts.

”We won’t be back at HQ for a while…” Jimmy said to Jirachi. ”We have a meeting tonight, and now might be a good chance to get the ball rolling for Wishmaker HQ…”

”Affirmative Jimmy!” Jirachi responded enthusiastically. ”I’ll make sure the place is tidy before we have guests!”

”We designed the HQ to tidy itself, remember?” Jimmy asked, somewhat confused. ”We were wondering where the wet towels were going after they were used, and only found out when they went mouldy, and we could smell something in the ventilation system?”

Jirachi laughed remembering, despite the smell.

”I said I’d make sure it was tidy!” Jirachi joked. ”I never said I’d clean it myself! I’m supposed to be resting and recovering, remember?”

Jimmy chuckled to himself.

”Of course…”

Outside the Tide Song Hotel, Abbee, Victini, Triad and Luneth, walked cautiously down Main Street. Abbee took the Vanguard position, having Victini as well as her championship level Pokemon at her disposal, whilst Jarena, who of the three Shadowcraft users was the most alert, took the rear. Violet, Cassandra and Luneth walked between them, as they made sure they weren’t about to be attacked, or being followed.

After a few minutes, Luneth increased her pace, until she saw only a few feet behind Abbee.

“Hey, Victini?” Luneth called out, trying to get his attention. He turned around from where he perched on Abbee’s shoulder, and looked towards her. She nodded towards Abbee. “Can she understand us? Oh, and what’s her name?”

The last question was almost an afterthought, and Abbee couldn’t help but grin hearing this.

“You can call me Abbee,” Abbee answered, inadvertently answering Luneth’s first question.

Naturally inquisitive, this one answer provided Luneth with more questions, however knowing that Abbee’s role was to protect the four of them, and the likelihood of them being attacked was still high, she didn’t want to be a distraction, instead, saving her questions for later, staring at Abbee’s heels as she walked, trying to not see the devastation that was around her from the afternoon’s attack…

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

The sun had just set when Agatha and her followers returned to the abandoned Thrifty Megamart that was now their home, greeted by various Ghost Pokemon that acted as guards, constantly lurking just out of sight.

“We lost a few out there,” Willow reported as she stood before Agatha’s desk. “Six dead, and twelve unaccounted for…”

“Compared to how many of theirs?” Agatha asked, with a devilish grin, and not waiting for an answer. “Willow, time is on our side, not theirs. People are too terrified to come out on the streets, and their hospital is a pile of rubble under their feet now. They will be frantically trying to regroup, and figure out what to do next. Meanwhile, we are getting close to our goal before they’ve even made their first real move…”

Both witches' attention was drawn to a cry of a Pokemon, as a Gourgeist emerged through a wall, looking fondly at Agatha, who kneeled down to stroke its long pink hair.

“You don’t think Rayquaza was a move from them? I don’t think this is the end. They’re going to try again, and nobody accounted for Rayquaza in the plan for today’s attack…” Willow asked, still in shock at seeing the clash of the two Legendary Dragons.

“I never said they wouldn’t,” Agatha laughed cynically, as she stood, leaving the Gourgeist to return to playing with the other ghost Pokemon. “I’d be pretty disappointed if they didn’t. But they have had all week to make a move, but have spent all their time trying to help people. It’s a weakness…”

Agatha didn’t answer the question about Rayquaza, because this concerned her slightly too. Whilst she wanted to believe Rayquaza was wild, and happened to sniff out Giratina and want a fight, she had seen the way it battled and knew that it battled too precisely to be wild.

“Who do you think the traitors are?” Willow asked. “The ones that heard your call and decided to work against us?”

“Does it matter?” Agatha asked with a smirk. “Understand this Willow. Our power grows daily, while their's weakens. In three days, it would take the power of a god to stop us, and if they had Arceus in their corner, they would have used it by now…”

“So what’re our next steps?” Willow asked, knowing by this point that Agatha was beyond worrying about the present threat of the League.

“We continue with our plans, and keep them on the defensive…” Agatha explained. “Meanwhile, we continue our research and figure out if we can accelerate our plans…”

“Any word on that?” Willow asked. Agatha looked at the desk in front of her, for any notes that may have been left. They had left a reasonable amount of witches behind at the Megamart during the attack, to make sure their plans weren’t interrupted, and some were tasked with figuring out how they could accelerate their goals.

Agatha shook her head.

“Let’s see for ourselves…” Agatha said, a gleam in her eye. “I never grow tired of seeing it grow…”

Agatha brewed herself a cup of tea, not offering Willow one, before the pair left the office that Agatha had commandeered, and made for another office at the back of the building. Inside, a gaunt, older witch by the name of Gail had been looking over an open tome, by the name of Anexeth, which Agatha believed to be the last of its kind. Hovering above the tome however, was a dark, vortex-like anomaly, swirling around like a floating whirlpool of shadows, gaining strength and power with each passing moment.

“How are things progressing?” Willow asked, however Gail was not in the most pleasant of moods.

“I’d tell you, if I knew what things are…” Gail answered. “I presume they’re going well, but seeing as I’ve been kept in the dark as to what I’m looking at, I can’t be certain…”

Agatha took a sip of team before speaking.

“I’ll tell you, but I don’t want word of this reaching outside or there will be hell to pay. Steven and Cynthia are on this island, trying to end our insurrection, and put a stop to this…”

“But they don’t know what it is?” Willow asked, however Agatha shook her head.

“Whilst it’s still in this formative state, it can be disrupted by any idiot if they stampede in here and break something…” Agatha said, before turning to Gail. “This is the Netherlink…”

Gail looked at Agatha, feeling no closer to understanding, as Agatha sighed.

“I presume you’ve heard of the void? The plane of pure energy and knowledge that fuels our Shadowcraft?”

Gail nodded in understanding, as Agatha continued.

“Those who are strong of mind and will can peer into the void, learning more about Shadowcraft in the process. Every spell that you find in a tome was discovered by someone who peered into the void themselves. However, if one is not careful, they can be absorbed into the void, where they will be transformed into pure energy,” Agatha explained. “It’s cruel that the more hungry for knowledge a person is, the more likely they will be absorbed and destroyed by it. But imagine if one could turn the tables of this scenario, and be able to absorb the void itself. Both in terms of energy, and knowledge…”

“And this is what the Netherlink will allow us to do?” Gail asked. “Be able to absorb knowledge and energy from the void?”

“You’re thinking on too small of a scale…” Agatha explained, her grin growing. “We harness the void, most people without even realising, every time they perform Shadowcraft. Yet we don’t actually know how to intentionally harness it. We can perform spells, intending whatever effect we desire on the world around us, and the void is harnessed, but we don’t know how to directly affect the void itself…”

Gail nodded slowly, seeming to understand it, though struggling to wrap her head around it.

“We wouldn’t simply be absorbing the void for the sake of knowledge and power. We’d be absorbing the void, to be able to harness it intentionally,” Agatha explained. “That is the first function of the Netherlink. To allow us direct access to the void, without being destroyed by it…”

“What’s the second?”

“After we have gained the knowledge necessary for us to harness and affect the void itself directly, we’d allow the void to flood through the Netherlink, saturating all in this world, from the ground beneath our feet, the skies above us, and all that lives between them. This event is called the Netherclysm,” Agatha explained. “Imagine, the entire world, saturated in the void, ready for us to manipulate it to our bidding…”

“We’d be gods…” Gail said, unable to hide the sadistic glee in her eyes.

“The world and all its inhabitants would be ours to shape into whatever we see fit…” Agatha agreed. “And in three days, this will come to pass…”

Agatha stepped towards the small, swirling vortex that hovered on the desk in front of them.

“It’s so… beautiful…”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

Wanting to investigate further, Jon had spent the last hour or so riding around the streets surrounding the attack site. Whilst Giratina was easy enough to hide in a Pokeball, the group of witches who attacked wouldn't be as difficult to hide, short of teleporting to the site of the attack. Even if they didn't come as a group, or weren't in their cloaks, with enough time and intuition, one could gain an idea of their movements.

Riding around, he had a small tablet mounted to the handlebars of his bike, looking for security cameras in the nearby streets. On the tablet was a map that he would mark with the locations and rough viewing angles of the cameras he saw.

As he did this, he thought more about Giratina. Knowing from experience, the only way to hide a Pokemon like that would be with an unregistered Pokeball, which in and of themselves were highly illegal. If Giratina was in a Pokeball, it would have to be unregistered, otherwise the League would be aware of who it is registered to and where it had been scanned by PCs and medical equipment. Of course there was also the chance Giratina used some interdimensional travel, however he wouldn't know until he saw the security footage of Giratina appearing. If Giratina was in an unregistered Pokeball, they could potentially get some leads, but it would be tricky.

Jon felt his phone buzz, and saw a call from Alyssa on screen.

"Jon, are you okay?" she asked, trying not to sound worried as she felt. Jon knew that she didn't want him to know just how worried she got. She knew he wanted to do what he could to help in the situation, and figured that if he was too worried about his wife at home freaking out over his safety, he was more likely to slip up. That didn't stop her from worrying though.

"I'm fine. You saw the hospital?" he asked.

"Yeah, and I saw your friend getting involved," Alyssa said. "Then it just went down. Is it okay?"

"They used a cheap trick, but I think it is better now..." Jon explained. "I showed up a few minutes after my friend, and by the time I was there, Dylan had them on the ropes."

"How is he doing?" Alyssa asked worriedly, viewing Dylan as a mixture of younger brother and foster son.

"It's hard to say..." Jon sighed. "In the fighting his Metagross killed three of the witches, and he took it pretty hard. If he hadn't have intervened, a lot more people would have died. The fact he knew what was happening was because of a hunch I dismissed but he followed through. He has a good head on his shoulders, and his instincts are on point. It's just a matter of making sure he doesn't doubt himself and his own conviction..."

Alyssa sighed, sad to hear that Dylan was struggling a bit with what he had to do.

"How's Lili?" Jon asked. Amelia, he and Alyssa's three year old daughter was at home with Alyssa. Even if they didn't have kids, Jon wouldn't have wanted Alyssa here. She came on the S.S. Wishmaker, having gotten herself a media pass, and Jon wasn't in a position to stop her without giving away the job he was working, and it terrified him, thinking back to the potential danger to her. He was glad that Alyssa didn't come, and had reason to hold down the fort.

"She just woke up from her nap," Alyssa said. "I'll go get her."

A few moments later, Jon could hear Alyssa in the distance, telling Lili 'Daddy is on the phone'. After the sound of the phone being fumbled, Jon heard the familiar voice of his daughter on the other end of the line.

"Daddy?"

"Hey Lili..." Jon said, now wishing more and more that Agatha had have stayed in whatever decrepit crypt she crawled out of. "How're you doing?"

"I'm... okay..." she said, though Jon wasn't convinced. "When are you coming home?"

Hearing this pained Jon. Since Amelia was born, Jon had run the Eon Academy, meaning he was always a few minutes away from her at most, even bringing her along to some sessions he ran there. This was the longest he had been away from her.

"As soon as I can, and not a moment longer," Jon said. "I know you and Mummy are waiting for me, so I won't dawdle. I just... have some things I have to do here first..."

"What things?" Lili asked. "You're not battling, because you aren't on TV..."

Jon chuckled, realising she was too smart for her own good.

"No, I'm not battling, I'm just helping a friend out," Jon explained. "I will tell you all about it when I get home."

Thinking about what happened at the hospital today, and the people who got caught up in the battle, and wouldn't be going home again, Jon felt a wave of pain wash over him.

"I love you Lili, forever and always," Jon said. "Don't ever forget that..."

"I love you too Daddy," she replied. "Please come home soon..."

Amelia handed the phone back to Alyssa, who Jon quickly caught up on the day’s events, before arranging another time to speak, so that Alyssa would know when to expect an update, and know not to call and risk blowing his cover by doing so. As the call ended, Jon sighed, wishing he could be anywhere but here. The last thing he wanted was for Alyssa to lose her husband, and Amelia to grow up without her dad. And Jon really wanted to say thanks but no thanks when Cassandra approached him, and Steven recruited him for the mission. But he also knew that Cassandra took a chance on him and answered his call three or four years ago, and the threat she described had the potential to reach him and his family in Hoenn. He couldn't sit by and do nothing, when he stood a decent chance of helping.

Realising that he needed to get moving if he wanted to get this map fully marked before the meeting, he shelved the thoughts haunting him, replacing them with a fierce determination to resolve this conflict as soon as he could.

"Stay alive, and deal with this s**t. Then you can go home..." he thought to himself.

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

After the battle, Dylan had made his way back to the Villa that served as HQ, as there they had the computers and database access to investigate.

Pulling out the four banknotes that he had received from the pawn shop before meeting Brianna, he quickly inspected them to make sure there weren't any dead giveaways that they were counterfeit, and when he was mostly certain they were legitimate, opened up the Alola Treasury Database, access granted by his involvement with the League in the operation, which was a gargantuan list of all bank notes that were in circulation.

When governments first proposed keeping a database of all banknotes a few years ago, there was a lot of debate whether the effort was worth the reward. However with the amount of illegal weapons and unregistered Pokedex's, healing machines and Pokeballs in circulation, the debate ended up siding with creating the database which in and of itself took years to get to a viable level. All the banks had to have their ATMs modified to scan the serial numbers on the banknotes and record the accounts they were entering and leaving via into the database, and whilst incomplete, the $100 note section still had over a hundred million entries.

Doing a quick search Dylan established that the four notes were from three different accounts. Two of them from two individual accounts and the other two from a third. This third account however, Dylan soon realised, was actually withdrawn using a prepaid card from the Kalos Postal Service, as part of a $1500 withdrawal. Whilst a name had to be registered to it, little was done to verify that the person who listed their name as Steven Stone when buying this card, was actually Steven Stone, and sure enough the name associated with the card was a dead end.

"Hey Peter..." Dylan called out to the Miller. Whilst Dylan knew Miller didn't like to be interrupted, he also knew Miller understood how important the work they were doing was. There was an unspoken agreement, if it's important, to talk to him, but if it isn't let him work.

"What's going on?" Miller asked from across the room, knowing if Dylan were speaking up, it must be important.

"The Kalos postal service, is it government operated like in Hoenn, or private like in Sinnoh?" Dylan asked.

"I think it's government operated..." Peter replied, before doing a quick search. "Yeah it is..."

Dylan quickly attached the card number of the prepaid card that the bank notes had been withdrawn using to a message and sent it to Miller.

"This card has a fake name attached to it, which is a dead end, but I doubt this witch has heaps of them. It would be too difficult to manage, and raise alarm bells if noticed..." Dylan explained. "But if I got some details of other transactions it was used for..."

Whilst Dylan could contact the Kalos Postal Service with the information, it would take too long. That, and Brianna has shown she knows more than she should, so if going off the books could reduce the risk of her finding out, he would rather take it.

"And if it's government, I should be able to sidestep into the database?" Miller asked. "That's what you're thinking?"

"What I'm relying on, actually..." Dylan retorted. Miller chuckled, before speaking up.

"Give me fifteen minutes," Miller explained. "Get me a coffee and it may become ten..."

Dylan nodded, making his way to the kitchenette nearby, and preparing the coffee machine. Once he had a cup ready for him, Dylan made his way back to Miller, handing him the cup.

"I emailed you the transaction history," Miller explained, surprising Dylan at how quick he was. "If she has another card, it will be near impossible to find. I already checked for other cards under that name and there were none."

"You've already done plenty," Dylan explained. "She is cocky, and cocky people slip up eventually. This should be enough to find her..."

Dylan made his way back to the computer he was working on, opening the emails, and finding the transaction history. One stood out to him though.

Crown Harbour Hotel.

Dylan quickly googled it, figuring the hotel probably required a card as security, finding it was on Akala Island.

"S**t..." he thought to himself as he read through the page. "It's nearly $700 a night to stay here..."

Whilst his immediate response was to use the League’s authority to get the information from the hotel, he decided against it. This was the sort of place celebrities stayed at, and he wouldn't be surprised if the hotel would notify high profile guests of any inquiries about them. Whilst Miller could attempt to hack their system, it was not his expertise, and a place like this needs beyond adequate security for client confidentiality. Miller was a League tech-security worker, but given the league's close involvement with government servers, he knew how to access most of them, even if he shouldn't be able to. Dylan looked back at the transaction history, for anything he could use to find her. After a few minutes, he noticed a recurring transaction from a year earlier. A bottle shop in Kalos, always $84.47, or some multiple of it, multiple times a week.

His mind raced as he put together the pieces. This consistent sort of transaction implied it was one item being purchased. Dylan figured she had a weakness for alcohol, and based on her hotel choice, money wasn't an issue.

He opened the website for the chain, and spent the next hour scouring the website for items stocked by the bottle shop listed in the transaction, which cost $84.47. By the end of it, he had a list of five items, a white wine, a red, two types of tequila, and a single malt scotch. Reopening the tab for the hotel, Dylan quickly found the Room Service menu, and cross-referenced the drinks list to the five he found, finding they shared the white wine and the tequila.

A plan began to hatch in Dylan's head. Whilst Brianna seemed calm and collected, her transaction history implied a slight dependence on a certain type of alcohol, his bet being the white wine, as she would be extremely drunk every night to drink a whole bottle of tequila on her own between the transactions listed in the year earlier. If he could get eyes on the waiter handling drink orders for room service, and keep an eye out for the white wine being ordered, they might be able to get more information about Brianna.

"Gotcha..." Dylan said to himself, as he began fleshing out his plan...