Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Life. The great miracle... and  the great mystery.

"Since the beginning, humans and Pokémon alike have searched for its meaning. Many strange and wondrous legends evolved from the pursuit of life's mysteries. But none is more wondrous and awe-inspiring than the tale of the greatest battle of all: the battle...for the  world ."

The XYZ Ruins
KALOS REGION

Groundbreaking.

Unprecedented.

Historic.

Those words, and a great number of others, described Professor Augustine Sycamore's thoughts on the discovery of the ancient temple with the stone statue of the maiden Aila, or the XYZ Ruins, as he heard the workers throw around. Sure, he was never particularly fascinated with history, but ever since the Team Flare crisis and the timely intervention of the Order Pokémon Zygarde, he knew he'd found a new niche of scientific research. Thus, when Sycamore heard about the discovery of the XYZ Ruins, and its connection to the famed tale of Aila, Sycamore knew he had to come there to see it for himself. After all, the tale was one of very few existing records left proving Zygarde's existence, along with the other Legendary Pokémon Xerneas and Yveltal.

"Can you please show me the rest of the ruins?"

"Yeah, sure! I'll introduce you to the research team!"

"Thanks very much. I'm so glad I came here!"

At the moment, the Pokémon Professor was following his companions, the reporter Alexa and her trusty Helioptile, out of the cavern containing Aila's statue. Once the two got out, they were greeted with the now-familiar sights and sounds of construction workers excavating the ruins, as well as historians examining them in full detail. Sycamore followed Alexa to the center of the ruins, where he saw a group of men.

"Dr. Bouchard!" Alexa called, prompting the men to turn around and see her and Sycamore approaching.

"Ah, Alexa!" replied one of the men happily. He stepped forward and animatedly shook her hand, and Sycamore took this opportunity to examine him in fuller detail.

Bouchard was a surprisingly young man for a researcher, and he certainly did not look like one, what with all the jungle-style clothing he was wearing. The only thing that betrayed his youth was his so-called "bad arm", an atrophied left arm that dangled uselessly by his side, perpetually wrapped in bandages.

"Thank you so much for coming!" Bouchard continued. "If there's anyone I would like reporting on this newest and most historic discovery, it's you."

"Ohhh, you flatter me, Doctor, you really do," replied Alexa. She then gestured to Sycamore. "Professor, this is Dr. Regan Bouchard, the historian in charge of this expedition. He has already explored every nook and cranny of these ruins, so if there's anyone who will be showing you around, it'll be him. Dr. Bouchard, this is Professor Augustine Sycamore, but I'm sure you already knew that?"

"I-Indeed I do." Bouchard took Sycamore's hand and shook it with such a joyous, juvenile excitement that reminded the Professor of a certain raven-haired Trainer with a Pikachu. "Ohhhh, wow. It's such an honor to finally meet you in person, Professor. Your research on the phenomenon of Mega Evolution is so awe-inspiring to me, like..." He was at a momentary loss for words, and his eyelid twitched animatedly. "You have no idea!"

"Th-Thank you," Sycamore replied, a little overwhelmed by Bouchard's giddiness over this entire prospect.

"And I'm sure you'll have something just as fascinating to learn from these ruins, am I right?"

"Y-Yes." Sycamore, still overwhelmed, released Bouchard's hand, cleared his throat, and straightened out the collar of his shirt. "Th-The cavern containing the statue of Aila, the Stone-Eyed Maiden, will provide me with much information on the Legendary Pokémon Zygarde."

"Zygarde?" a voice asked. Sycamore and Bouchard looked at the speaker, a sharp-eyed, middle-aged man with a balding head of white hair and a pointed goatee. "You mean those green Pokémon that nearly destroyed Lumiose City?"

Sycamore blinked in surprise. "Yes...wh-while under the influence of Team Flare, I might add..."

"Uh, that's Alastair, Dr. Bouchard's assistant," Alexa quickly clarified.

"Oh. Uh, yes, nice to meet you..." After briefly thinking about how Bouchard and Alastair should switch roles, given their respective ages, Sycamore glanced towards the cavern from which he and Alexa came. "Zygarde's involvement in these recent events has left me interested in the natural cycle of life and destruction. If we could learn more about this cycle, and the awesome but dangerous powers that drive it, then we could perhaps find an answer behind the secret of Mega Evolution. And possibly, we could be closer to understanding the world of Pokémon than ever before."

"Sounds truly fascinating..." replied Bouchard.

"Indeed." Sycamore looked back at Bouchard. "So, what's the excavation plan?"

"There will be none," another voice suddenly said, cutting Bouchard off.

Everyone looked across their shoulder and saw another group of people approaching them, drawing the curious eyes of the workers as they went. They were all well-dressed and formal, with no expressions of excitement or intrigue from any of them. The man in the lead, a particularly sharply-dressed man with well-groomed black hair (with a tuft of white hair) and gray eyes, stopped a couple of feet away from Sycamore's group. The others followed suit split-seconds later, with such disciplined professionalism that would remind one of a boot camp.

"Um, I beg your pardon?" Bouchard asked in surprise.

"Oh, you heard me correctly, Doctor," replied the man in the lead of the group. "As the official owner of this site, I hereby give you all two hours to vacate the premises with all of your equipment, and repair any damages you might've made to the site. Should you fail to follow these instructions, I will have any and all offenders arrested for trespassing."

The workers began murmuring to each other in puzzlement. However, Bouchard and Alastair were left utterly bewildered, and so were Sycamore and Alexa.

"Since when did you become owner of this area?!" exclaimed Sycamore.

"As of approximately...twelve hours ago, if this watch is not mistaken," the man coldly replied, having checked his watch for clarification.

"Really?" Alexa spat. "I don't see your name anywhere on these ruins."

"Of course not. Do not take me for a fool. But you see, the satellite responsible for discovering these so-called XYZ Ruins in the first place is owned by my employer, the Ace Agency."

"The Ace Agency?" asked Bouchard incredulously. "Y-You mean that multimedia company that absorbed Kodai Industries some years back after that Crown City scandal? The one that now has control over all of entertainment media? The Ace Agency?!"

"Yes, sir. The Ace Agency." The man pulled out a card and gave it to the historian. "The name's Bernard West. I represent the agency, as you can tell."

"Now what the hell does the Ace Agency hope to gain from purchasing a newly-discovered site of ancient history?" Alexa asked angrily. "And without letting anyone learn anything from it?"

"You see, the Agency has put in a...big investment in real estate, and I'm in charge of that department." Bernard looked around, his eyes examining the ruins with the same smug smirk, which indicated his blatantly fake interest. "It's always been the Agency's Presidents' dream to build a nice luxury resort, as a nice little gift for our Agency's clients. They were hoping to build it here, since the plan was to theme it after ancient Kalosian history. After seeing those satellite images, I figured this place would fit the bill-"

"A resort?!" Alexa's eyes were as wide as Poké Balls. "You've gotta be kidding me!"

Bernard glared at Alexa. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"Damn right I have a problem with that!"

Bernard smirked. "You know, my dear Alexa, Lumiose Press is covered under the Agency's Kalos division. And I have the Presidents on speed-dial. All I have to do is take out my cellphone and-"

"Are you threatening to fire me?" Alexa scoffed mockingly. "Now that I know I'm practically working for you, I quit!"

Bernard lowered his hand. "Well, actually..." he replied, his gray eye glinting lecherously, "I was hoping I could keep you on. Reporting aside, I'm sure you have other assets that I'd find quite admirable."

His pupils briefly flitted to her chest, an act that did not go unnoticed to anyone. Helioptile furiously growled at Bernard, its body generating small volts of electricity in warning. As for Sycamore, he pursed his lips and took a step forward.

"These ruins are a piece of ancient history," he said in warning, "ancient history that mankind has yet to tap into. I don't care how you plan on designing your so-called resort; I'm sure that whatever you do will damage something to the point where the knowledge it contains is no longer salvageable. Everything here is a precious window, one that we could look into to deepen our understanding of the past!"

"Not to mention the possible dangers the construction could pose to any Pokémon living here or nearby!" added Alexa.

"No, everything here is a commodity," replied Bernard. "And we have every intent to renovate this desolate piece of land into a profitable resort." He then gave the two a nasty sneer. "As for the wild, uncivilized Pokémon, all I have for them is one word: move." The business representative pointed an index finger at the researchers, plus the journalist. "And move you shall, Professor, Alexa, Doctor, unless any of you wish to get your asses thrown into jail!"

Sycamore's eyes narrowed into slits. "You...You can't do this."

"I can, and I will. As the people who legally found this place, the Agency is invoking its right of ownership over it. And as long as the Presidents and I have a say in it, there's nothing that your precious scientific community, or your Poké-crazy environmentalists, can do. Sorry, Professor, but you will have to take your precious research elsewhere."

"How in Arceus's name am I going to take my research elsewhere if I can't even take anything out of here?"

Before Bernard could give a snappy retort, the whole ruins were abruptly bathed in a brilliant bluish light. Shielding most of their eyes, Sycamore and Alexa looked towards the cavern where Aila's statue was, and realized the light was coming from inside it. It grew brighter and brighter, threatening to envelop the entire ruins site...

Team Rocket HQ
KANTO REGION

– Two years later –

Giovanni stood by the large window in his personal office, his lips curled into a satisfied smile. He was looking down upon a training ground full of people clad in all-black skintight uniforms, his ever-faithful grunts, as they trained a multitude of Pokémon species to their limit.

A male grunt was forcing a Graveler to carry a series of objects that got heavier as it went along. A female grunt barked at and whipped a pack of Houndoom as they dragged her across the grounds on a sled, which also carried several crates. A pair of grunts were punishing an exhausted and overexerted Steelix by strapping it to an enormous heat-press device. A few veteran grunts were observing the proceedings from the ground level, making sure to step in with their jaded and feral Pokémon whenever a captive got out of hand.

These were just a few out of the many examples of horrendous cruelty the grunts inflicted upon the Pokémon the grunts had in their custody. And yet, not a single grunt shed a tear or a bead of sweat at their actions, with some even relishing in the horror these Pokémon felt and were continuing to feel from their unspeakable torture.

But despite the complete callousness, and lack of care and compassion the grunts showed to them, none of the Pokémon were spurned into standing up for themselves and their brethren. In fact, the harsh, inhumane training methods showed some results. The more the Pokémon were pushed to their limit, unreasonably so, the more efficiency they demonstrated as the hours went by. Of course, some Pokémon showed less promise than others, if any, and the lack of results was only rewarded with more cruelty and sadism from the grunts.

In spite of the mixed to positive results that he was seeing before him, Giovanni continued to smile with pride. He had no concern about the individual results, only the progress of the group as a whole. As long as many of the Pokémon entered these training grounds as a wad of putty and left as a sculpture of stainless steel, it was all worth it. So what if there was a loose cog in the well-oiled machine? All loose cogs were to be removed and replaced with working ones, as it should be if one expected continuing efficiency.

Just then, Giovanni's musings were interrupted by something slowly nuzzling against his leg, followed by a soft purr. He looked down and saw a Persian slinking across his legs, rubbing its side against them and continuing to purr expectantly. He smiled and patted the Classy Cat Pokémon on the top of its ruby-adorned head, all the while remembering how it had once endured that same training regiment so many years ago, back when it was a mere Meowth with little power to its name, and how it had performed exceptionally once it developed the motivation. Now, it was one of the powerhouses of his team, his second-most reliable Pokémon.

At that moment, Giovanni overheard a single beep of an alarm. Prying his gaze away from Persian, the executive glanced at his desktop intercom, which was urgently flashing a small, bright-red light.

Giovanni pressed the button underneath the blinking light. "Yes, Matori?"

"Your guests have arrived, Giovanni sir," the voice of his secretary replied from the other end. "They're waiting in Conference Room B."

Giovanni's smile subtly became more pronounced. "Excellent. Keep them...entertained for the moment. I will collect the Executives and be there in about..." He checked his golden wristwatch. "Five minutes."

"Understood, sir."

Giovanni promptly lifted his finger from the button, thus ending the call. As he watched the blinking red light quickly fade away into oblivion, his lips began to grow from a simple sneer of satisfaction into a wide grin of malevolent enthusiasm. Then, the well-dressed businessman composed himself, softly clearing his throat and straightening out his blood-red tie. Once he was sure he looked presentable, he walked out of the office, his Persian loyally following by his side. As the two were about to depart, a thick sheet of metal automatically began to envelop the window, slowly shrouding the office, as well as its owner, into darkness.

As the darkness began to consume him, Giovanni's smile had reached its completion. After so long, his ultimate plan had finally been set into motion.

The burlap sack lifted away from Saturn's face like a veil, exposing him to a blast of fresh, bright light. The former Team Galactic Commander winced, feeling as if his eyes were being subjected to some sort of heat press. Then, as soon as his eyesight adjusted to the amount of light in the room, the blue-haired man looked down at his wrists, which were being restrained by steel shackles in the armrests of his chair. He tried to move, but he found that his shins were restrained by similar shackles as well.

Next, he looked around and noticed he was seated by a rectangular table of polished, mahogany-brown wood. The room keeping him captive looked no different from any other conference room he had been inside in the past, having not much inside besides the high-tech projector, the occasional potted plant, and the heavily-tinted window at the other end.

But what struck him the most about his bizarre predicament was the fact that he wasn't the only captive. Seated by the table with him were four other people.

Two of them wore official prison jumpsuits just like he did, but of different colors. The one wearing green was a man with pale skin, red eyes, and grayish-green hair. The one wearing orange was a rotund man with skin even paler than the first man, along with a balding head sporting fire-red hair at the sides and the middle of the scalp, and orange eyes.

The other two were a man and a woman wearing stylized uniforms, which, to Saturn, brought back memories of his own Team Galactic uniform. The man was so large and muscular that he needed a larger chair with more shackles compared to the others; he also had highly tanned skin, dark-brown hair, and clear-blue eyes; plus, he wore a navy-blue wet-suit that seemed to have been too big for him, for the entire upper half had been torn off, leaving him in improvised leggings and gloves. As for the woman, she had orchid-pink hair and lifeless pink eyes; and she wore a horned, hooded waistcoat; a red turtleneck dress; and gloves, all in varying shades of red.

Even though Saturn didn't know any of these people, one thing was for sure: none of them asked to be here.

"What in Arceus's name is this?!" he asked in an angry snarl.

"Wh...Where am I...?" slurred the large, muscular man, having apparently regained consciousness. He tried to move, but his shackles prevented him from doing so. "Wha-What the hell are these?! L-Lemme go!" With that, he began struggling, his fervor becoming intense and aggressive. "Lemme go NOW!"

"Struggling like that will not be of any use, Matt," the orchid-haired woman commented in a droning, robotic voice. "You must stop and think rationally. But of course, you're incapable of any rational thought."

The woman's tone didn't change, even by a single beat, but Saturn could tell she meant to insult her apparent comrade, and Matt did as well, for his eyes had become wide and feral.

"THE HELL DIDJA SAY TO ME, BITCH?!"

"Fu fu fu," the woman droned in response, her face still slack.

"Everyone, cease your quarreling!" cried the rotund, orange-haired man. "I understand the five of us are in an unknown predicament, but the dire nature of our current circumstances clearly indicates that we must-!"

"CAN IT, NERD!" Matt spat, startling the speaker. "I'VE GOT NO TIME FOR YOUR MUMBO-JUMBO! WHAT I DO HAVE TIME FOR, THOUGH, IS GETTING OUTTA THIS ARCEUS-DAMN CHAIR AND KICKING SOME ARCEUS-DAMN ASS!"

"The lady is right," Saturn replied. He spoke calmly, even though Matt's loud outbursts were agitating the headache that was beginning to creep into his head. "If each of us are to escape from our bonds with our lives, then we five must work as a collective group to assess the situation, determine the most favorable outcome based on the variables we have, and act out our individual roles to ensure said outcome comes to fruition." He scanned the entire table. "Teamwork is the key if we are to survive."

The orange-haired man beamed at Saturn, while the woman slowly inched her gaze towards him, the subtle glint in her eyes indicating her acknowledgment of, and agreement with the former Commander. However, the green-haired man did not respond, his expression ambiguous as his eyes surveyed each of his fellow captives. As for Matt, Saturn's words only served to enrage him even further, but before he could make an outburst-

"Yes..." a voice hissed. "Teamwork."

Another man suddenly stepped out of the shadows shrouding a corner of the room, causing all five captives to straighten up in their chairs with alert. The man had neatly-combed brown hair, dark eyes, and a malefic grin; and he was wearing a black suit with a tie as red as blood. Flanking him was a Persian, the ruby on its forehead glinting from the light. A soft yet ominous purr filled the air around it, causing Saturn's skin to crawl.

"Teamwork is the key..." the man repeated dramatically, "if we are to survive. Truly, those are words to live by...and die by." He scanned the entire oblong table, ignoring the aggressive and distrustful looks that he got from his five captives. "Greetings, gentlemen, ma'am. My name is Giovanni, and I am the leader of the organization known as Team Rocket."

"Team Rocket?" Matt snarled, his eyes widening with incredulity. "You mean those backwater, trouble-making thugs from Kanto?! You are the one keeping me, Matt of Team Aqua, captive?! HA! Then that means escaping should be a piece of-"

"I wouldn't underestimate the name Team Rocket," Saturn warned, his voice low while he kept his eyes transfixed on the Team Rocket leader. "My organization has had...shall we say, dealings with his. The agents I dealt with may have been a ragtag group of nincompoops, but they played an...instrumental role in my organization's defeat."

Giovanni smirked and bowed his head. "I humbly thank you for the acknowledgment. In fact, the two agents you just so endearingly called 'nincompoops', Saturn, are responsible for the unceremonious defeats of all your organizations."

Saturn observed the others at the table shifting uncomfortably in their seats...that is, with the exception of Matt.

"TAUROS-SHIT!" he roared. "TEAM AQUA SUBMITS TO NO ONE! ESPECIALLY NOT TO A BUNCH OF BACKWATER THUGS WHO DON'T KNOW THEIR PLACE IN THE WORLD! I'LL SHOW YOU!"

He prepared to break free from his bonds, but all of a sudden, a wave of electricity swept through his massive, muscular body, electrocuting him.

"A-A-A-A-A-G-G-G-G-G-H-H-H-H-H!"

Saturn and the others watched in horror as the bright-blue electricity crackled and sputtered for a quick moment before it stopped flowing. Matt's body immediately went limp, a groan and the occasional twitch indicating he was still alive. At that moment, four more people, three men and a woman, stepped out from the shadowy corners of the room.

One of the men had a dashing, confident demeanor that almost exuded flamboyance. He wore grayish-white gloves and boots with single scarlet stripes at the tops. He also wore a black flat cap and a similarly black uniform with small yellow stripes at the tops of the collar and pants, along with a stylized 'R' logo over his heart. The shirt was slightly unzipped at the collar, which showed off a conservative portion of his upper chest, including his collarbones. His teal hair shone like it had been applied with a designer shampoo, but his teal eyes gleamed with some sort of hunger that chilled Saturn to the very bone. In fact, he was carrying a remote with a single red button, which Saturn assumed was the device responsible for Matt's electrocution.

The second man had a mischievous-looking expression that seemed to relish with delight in the confusion of Saturn and the other captives. Like the first man, he wore grayish-white gloves and boots with single scarlet stripes at the tops, as well as a black uniform with a stylized 'R' logo at the dead-center and small yellow stripes running down the torso. Lanky and thin, unlike the teal-haired man, he walked with a soft lumber, his arms dangling uselessly. However, his expression showed anything but a lack of vigor, and his purple eyes observed the captives while he ran a hand across his purple hair to straight it out.

The lone female of the quartet had her head slightly lifted and her chin jutting outward somewhat, making her appear as if she was looking down condescendingly upon the captives. She wore a white, long-sleeved dress that reached her shins but was cut to expose her healthy legs; it boasted a black, stylized 'R' logo over her heart like it was a badge or coat of arms. She also wore equally white boots and what looked like a black bodysuit underneath. Finally, she wore long, gold, triangular earrings that contrasted with her blood-red hair and eyes. Her eyes shone with an unquenchable ambition, an ambition that Saturn remembered all too well.

Finally, the last of the newcomers, much older than the others, regarded the captives with devious brown eyes, peering at them behind a pair of small, circular, wine-red glasses. His black lab-coat swished around like a curtain in the breeze. Saturn quickly sat upright, astounded at the sight of this arrival, for he thought he had seen the last of him years ago.

"Charon?" he thought.

Charon gave him a crafty stare, his eyes twinkling with triumph. He and the three other arrivals occupied a corner of the conference room, bringing the chances of a successful escape on the part of the captives down to zero.

"Please, gentlemen, ma'am," Giovanni said, once all four of his compatriots had stepped out into the light, "I understand that none of you were taken to Team Rocket's humble domain on your own terms. However, let it be known that despite your current circumstances, I have a proposition for all five of you that I think you'll find...preferable when you compare it to the inhumane conditions of your former prisons, or the embarrassments brought from being underground grassroots movements."

The rotund, orange-haired man immediately straightened himself up in his chair. "I'm listening..." he said, barely able to contain his enthusiasm.

Indeed, Giovanni sensed the anticipation coming from this captive. With that, he scanned all four men and the woman in his custody.

"Matt, leader of the new Team Aqua..." he began.

Matt groaned as he recovered from his electrocution-induced stupor. He no longer resisted verbally or physically, having been evidently humbled by the punishment.

"Courtney, leader of the new Team Magma..."

The orchid-haired woman blinked idly, her body barely budging a centimeter.

"Saturn, former Commander of Team Galactic..."

Saturn blinked slowly and narrowed his eyes with suspicion.

"Ghetsis, leader of Team Plasma..."

The pale, green-haired man pursed his lips.

"And Xerosic, former head scientist of Team Flare..."

The rotund, orange-haired man stared on at Giovanni, rapt with attention.

With his Persian remaining in a patient, seated position, Giovanni began circling around the oblong table, slowly, passing Xerosic first. "Each of you are or were the highest-ranking living officers of your organizations. With the sole exception of Ghetsis, the founders and leaders of your organizations, the ones who spearheaded your causes, are either reformed-"

Matt gritted his teeth, while a certain light in Courtney's eyes faded.

"-Or dead."

Xerosic looked down at his lap somberly, while Saturn looked at the mahogany-brown wood in front of him, spacing out. He could barely register the shadow of Giovanni slowly passing over him, looming above him.

"Either way, there is little hope to be had of your goals and ambitions succeeding on their own nowadays. The Pokémon Leagues of your home regions, the Pokémon Rangers, the G-Men, the International Police, the local police departments, they all know your strategies and tactics like the back of their hands. Your defeats have left you incapacitated in terms of manpower and economics. The ideas that your organizations have worked so hard to spread have now joined the annals of the world's laughingstocks."

"Striving for a beautiful, pure world is not something that should be derided and mocked!" Xerosic protested angrily.

"Precisely," Giovanni replied calmly, just as he began to pass Ghetsis. "Ideals like those shouldn't be trifled with. They're nothing more than simple truths, an undeniable reality that the world has willingly blinded itself to so it can proceed with its ridiculous future. A bright, prosperous future of freedom and coexistence." He scoffed. "But intelligent people such as ourselves know better. This world no longer has any room for either freedom or coexistence. And that is exactly why we at Team Rocket have decided to bring you five here."

By that point, Giovanni had walked away from Ghetsis's proximity and was approaching Matt. "The goals and methods of Teams Aqua, Magma, Galactic, Plasma, and Flare may differ from those of Team Rocket, but recently, I have recognized a single commonality: the will to enact forcible, large-scale change for the benefit of the planet, no matter the cost."

With that, Giovanni patted Matt's shoulder as he passed by. "Team Aqua, you wish to protect Pokémon from the dangers of humanity and its progress by expanding the world's oceans."

He approached Courtney, who was grimacing bitterly at the description. "Team Magma, you are at odds with Team Aqua because you wish to do the exact opposite: expand the world's landmasses to ensure the unobstructed continuation of humanity's progress."

Giovanni returned to the front of the conference room, where he patted his Persian's head thrice as a reward for waiting patiently. Then, he glanced at Saturn. "Team Galactic, you wish to rewrite all of reality so as to remove all emotion and end all conflict."

Then, he focused on Ghetsis. "Team Plasma, you wish to separate humans and Pokémon in order to rule all of Unova."

Ghetsis's lips became even more pursed with ambiguity, confirming Giovanni's point. But the executive ignored it and set his sights on Xerosic.

"And Team Flare," Giovanni said, "you wish to destroy the natural world so it could start anew, with your members as the forerunners of the new human civilization."

"Yes, yes, that's correct," Xerosic replied giddily. "Corruption, selfishness, and greed are the tenets of this world, but we at Team Flare intend to eradicate them, burn them away to the very core, and usher in a new era of true prosperity that respects both nature and mankind! Yes, yes, that is correct..."

Giovanni smiled sympathetically. "But you can no longer accomplish that on your own."

Upon hearing this, Xerosic gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. "It's so unfair... My leader, the visionary Lysandre... He anticipated there being a resistance to change, t-to true change, but he thought Team Flare could endure it...and now..." His fists were quaking at this point. "Now..."

Giovanni smiled and approached Xerosic. As he did, Saturn could feel the ominous aura being exuded from his so-called benefactor. It was hypnotic and overwhelming, an ingredient provoking a hunger for power, much like an aphrodisiac.

But unlike Saturn, Xerosic never seemed to notice its presence. Instead, he calmed down once Giovanni placed a hand of consolation upon his shoulder.

"You are in pain, Xerosic," the executive said. "Pain and grief from the loss of your leader." He blinked. "Loss... It is truly an unbearable pain to endure. Especially when it concerns the ideals you cherished and held dear." Then, he scanned the other captives in the room. "I know what it's like to lose as well. Loss can be overwhelming, debilitating. You could feel it eating away at your soul.

"But loss is not an excuse to submit to those who defeated you and declared your ideals to be without meaning. Instead, it is merely the next step of your journey towards salvation. It evaluates your commitment towards your ideals, reaffirms your concerns for the state of the world, hardens your resolve into iron. After all, without the pain of loss, of invalidation, you cannot claim to know the meaning of victory."

"My apologies for the interruption," Courtney droned, "but what does this pep talk about loss and victory have to do with your organization kidnapping us and bringing us here?"

Giovanni's smile grew wide. "Oh, my dear Courtney, it has everything to do with this meeting. Our organizations have all felt the pain of loss. And yet, why is it that none of us have submitted to the expectations of the powers-that-be...? After all, you all have been listening to me from the moment I opened my mouth, with minimal resistance and maximal open-mindedness. That tells me you and your organizations are ready and willing to take the next step.

"None of you just have the resources to take the initiative. And since Team Rocket is the only one with such resources, it is only fair that we did the humanitarian thing and provide our fellow brethren with the assistance they need. Hence what I first said about teamwork. Archer, please, if you would do the honors?"

The redheaded woman nodded, her head bobbing almost eagerly. Then, she raised a remote of her own and pressed the single green button on it. Saturn and the others watched as a large, black screen lowered itself behind Giovanni and his Persian, whereupon the projector self-activated and proudly displayed the image of a stylized S-shaped logo, along with the following typewritten caption underneath.

"The Syndicate?" read Matt.

"The Syndicate," Giovanni replied with a wide sneer. "An alliance between the six most dangerous organizations in recent memory: Team Rocket of Kanto and Johto, Teams Aqua and Magma of Hoenn, Team Galactic of Sinnoh, Team Plasma of Unova, and Team Flare of Kalos! Our new organization will boast a diverse pool of resources provided by each and every one of us, including..."

Archer began pressing the button repeatedly at his boss's cue, initiating a slideshow.

"Technology!"

The screen displayed concept artwork of futuristic weapons, devices, and vehicles.

"Manpower!"

The next image was artwork of a massive army that occupied the space of a small valley.

"Firepower!"

The next images were photos of Team Rocket Grunts brutally training Pokémon of various species.

"Underworld contacts!"

The next slide was a stock image of a man passing money to another man in a dark alleyway while receiving a suitcase.

"And finally, troves of geographical and mythological research!"

To the complete shock of Saturn and the other captives, the next images were official police photos of their own research notes on certain Legendary Pokémon, believed to have been long lost.

"Where the hell did you get those?!" Matt snapped, outraged.

"Team Rocket has contacts lying patiently in wait everywhere," Giovanni replied cryptically. "And with your own contacts at our disposal, we will be unstoppable together! Even the best living Pokémon Trainers in the world will pale before our might!"

Courtney and Xerosic pondered over Giovanni's words, while Saturn and Matt looked doubtful, and Ghetsis's expression remained neutral and ambiguous. Sensing the mixed reactions that he was getting from his captives, Giovanni returned to the front of the conference room.

"Remember Saturn's words, gentlemen, ma'am," he said while holding out his arms in a dramatic pose. "Teamwork is the key if we are to survive. Indeed it is, and Team Rocket is gladly and willingly giving you all the avenue your organizations and your ideals desperately need."

He then lowered his arms. "Now then, I understand that our respective visions for the future may...differ in key aspects. But, rest assured, should you all choose to accept our proposal, then negotiations on the balkanization of our power will begin immediately after. But..." His smile faded away. "Should you choose not to accept, it is understandable. People only become ready for the next step at their own pace. We'll just bring you back to where we found you, either underground and starving for more recruits and resources-"

He glanced at Matt and Courtney.

"Or lounging around in prison cells, awaiting your next opportunity while the clock-hands turn."

He focused on Saturn, Ghetsis, and Xerosic. Then, his lips broke into another smile.

"So, what is it going to be, gentlemen, ma'am?! An alliance with my organization and another shot at finally seeing your ideals realized?! Or a return to your dull and dreary existences?!"

"I'm in."

Everyone turned their heads towards the speaker. To their surprise, it was not Xerosic, who had shown the most interest and enthusiasm, nor was it Courtney, whose flat and robotic demeanor didn't betray the fact that she was anticipating a big break for her organization.

Instead, it was Ghetsis.

"When do we start?" the green-haired man asked, his body leaning forward slightly with apparent expectancy.

Giovanni's sneer became even more pronounced. "As soon as everyone affirms their agreement."

"I'm in as well!" Xerosic cried excitedly. "The world is becoming less beautiful by the day, and I cannot bear to sit by the sidelines and watch as Lysandre's dream crumbles into dust! So I speak for the rest of Team Flare when I say I'm in!"

"Excellent. You've made the correct choice, Xerosic. So, that's two down, and three to go." He scanned Matt and Saturn. "What say you, gentlemen?" Then, his eyes fixed themselves upon Courtney. "Courtney, ma'am?"

Courtney sat upright, her head perking up in alert.

"The Syndicate fights for the progress of this world," the executive continued, "but it can't function without the ambition and drive of Team Magma. What do you think of my generous proposal?"

Courtney pondered the executive's words for a few more moments. Then, she replied, in a voice of conviction that barely shone through her emotionless affect, "I'm in."

"Wonderful. And-"

"What's in it for Team Aqua?" a voice suddenly piped up.

Giovanni looked at Matt. "I beg your pardon?"

"What's in it for Team Aqua?" the Team Aqua leader asked, his voice more forceful and deadly. "You claim to be fighting for the progress of this world, but how will this progress affect the Pokémon?"

"My dear Matt, the world cannot function without a robust ecosystem. Without that, how can it expect to make progress? I understand your organization and Courtney's are at everlasting odds with one another over a difference of views, even at your heyday. But rest assured, an important aspect of the Syndicate's master plan involves striking a balance between the progress of humanity and the protection of Pokémon."

Matt's ambivalence seemed to fade somewhat, but it wasn't totally gone. This prompted Giovanni to continue speaking.

"Matt, I know you're opposed to the expansion of humanity's capabilities, but you just cannot sacrifice pragmatic realism on the altar of virtuous idealism. And your organization most certainly cannot proceed as it is now. I know the fall of the old Team Aqua has brought a stigma upon your beliefs, and that in turn has hampered recruitment. You do not have the manpower you need to enact another operation at Monsu Island, one that will be done correctly this time. No, you need us. You need the Syndicate...that is, unless you're not as committed to your beliefs as I thought you were?"

"What the hell are ya talking about?!" Matt cried. His body had become so tense, his dark muscles rippling, that the teal-haired man twitched, wondering if he should electrically subjugate the Team Aqua leader again. "Team Aqua is my LIFE! I'd NEVER be half-assed about its beliefs!"

"Oh, I don't know about that, Matt," Courtney replied, the mocking tone obvious despite her flat tone. "Team Magma has three times as many recruits as Team Aqua-"

"THAT'S FUCKING TAUROS-SHIT AND YOU KNOW IT, ROBOT LADY!"

The teal-haired man snickered at Matt's outburst.

"Really...?" Courtney lifted her head slightly, faux-confusion filling her face. "Then how come the ten men I dispatched to the old office in Sootopolis reported seeing only two of yours there?"

"MY MEN HAD MORE TRAINING THAN YOURS EVER WILL! AND WHY THE HELL WOULD I SEND A GAZILLION MEN TO GET ONE SINGLE FUCKING FILE?!"

"Because there were over a hundred cabinets to search from, that's why."

"YA THINK TEAM AQUA'S RECRUITING SUCKS ASS, ROBOT BITCH?! HUH?! COME ON, LET'S DO A HEADCOUNT! BRING IN YER MEN AND I'LL BRING MINE IN! WE'LL TAKE EACH OTHER'S FUCKING ATTENDANCE-!"

"Only if you agree to join the Syndicate..." Courtney interrupted flatly, but with a ghost of a crafty sneer. "Because if you decline, then you...are nothing more than an enemy to the Syndicate, and then it won't matter if your organization has more men or less men than mine. After all, Team Magma now has the full support of Teams Rocket, Plasma, and Fla-"

"GIMME AN ARCEUS-DAMN PEN! WHERE THE FUCK ARE THE PAPERS I NEED TO SIGN INTO YOUR STUPID BAND?!"

Courtney leaned her head back, her face still. "That's what I thought, fu fu fu..."

Giovanni clasped his hands together with delight. "How splendid!" he exclaimed. "So that makes four yeses, and one..." He slowly turned his head towards Saturn. "Present."

Saturn looked up at Giovanni with slightly narrowed eyes. The normally vibrant energy in his sapphire-blue pupils was all but there. It had this way been ever since Team Galactic's downfall and his subsequent imprisonment. The long years he spent sitting in a cell were nothing but the most torturous and draining years of his existence, an unfitting reward for all the hard work he put into Team Galactic's mission of a new Universe. Work that demanded his blood, sweat, and tears.

But even so, even with this second chance of his organization's redemption presenting itself, the energy refused to come back. Giovanni's proposal did nothing to salvage what was left of his resolve, his commitment to the lifelong dream of his boss Cyrus. Nothing at all. Instead, he felt nothing but more emptiness...

"So, Saturn," Giovanni said, pulling the former Commander out of his reverie, "what's it going to be? The rest of your life in a small cell? Or the rest of your life basking in the glory of triumph?"

Still, Saturn didn't respond. Instead, he averted his gaze from the Team Rocket leader and absentmindedly stared at the sea of mahogany before him.

"Ohhhhhh, poor Saturn..." Charon suddenly said, his raspy and sinister voice stunning Saturn back to attention. "Always so indecisive, even when the reward is right in front of him."

With an ominous snicker, the former Team Galactic scientist walked up behind Saturn's chair and stared down at him, his eyes wide and shining behind his sunglasses. Even if he had his back on him, Saturn could still feel the cold, judgmental stare of the scientist piercing into him.

"You'll have to forgive my dear old friend, Giovanni," the scientist continued. "When the desire and motivation is gone, he becomes like this. In fact, this is exactly how my old employer found him. Broken, soulless, lost, with nowhere to go, no one to turn to. Prison has done a number on him, without a doubt..."

Charon slowly placed his wrinkly hands upon Saturn's shoulders, making sure to tap each finger upon them one-by-one. The very touch sent a horrible chill down the former Commander's spine.

"But I know that deep down, the resolve for a better Universe, one free of emotion, spirit, and human conflict, is dwelling inside the confines of his mind. Unfortunately, the very thing he swore to destroy is the very thing that's now holding him back. His feeling of weakness, of uselessness, of utter despair, is the collar wrapped around his neck, tethered by a chain that is the system. Such is the cruel irony of Arceus..."

The scientist's voice trailed off, the last syllable low and elongated, like the hiss of a hungry Arbok. The grip on Saturn's shoulders tightened somewhat, and the blue-haired man started to sweat nervously, almost dreading that Charon would suddenly grab his neck and snap it. The air of hospitality suddenly became tense.

Then, all of a sudden, Charon withdrew one of his hands and reached into his pocket, eventually producing a remote with a green button. He pressed the button, causing the shackles holding Saturn's limbs to automatically unlatch themselves.

It took a while for Saturn to process this newfound freedom. But once he did, he slowly lifted his arms from the armrests and looked at his pale palms, as if he was looking at them for the very first time. Then, he flexed his fingers and moved his legs around experimentally, almost wondering if Charon was administering a test.

"You may stand, Saturn," Charon suddenly said. Saturn looked up at him and noticed the chilling sneer on the scientist's face. "What? It's not like you've got anywhere to run to, my boy."

Saturn continued looking at his old colleague, unable to shake off the cold yet hypnotic stare he was giving him, as well as the expectant stares of his fellow captives. The only noises in the conference room were the whirring of the projector and the low, contented purr of Giovanni's Persian.

Eventually, he slowly stood from the chair, his limbs relishing in the freedom of movement. His legs wobbled a little from the sudden use after a prolonged period of inactivity, and he nearly lost his balance. But with some stern composure, the former Commander steadied himself, and once he did, Charon glanced at Giovanni.

"Show him, Boss," the elderly scientist said.

"Show him?" Matt repeated, confused. "Sh-Show him what?"

But Giovanni understood the message, for he nodded as he produced his own remote. Pressing the button on it, the dark tint shading the window at the other end of the conference room suddenly began to recede, filling said room with a fresh new burst of light. Saturn's, Matt's, Courtney's, Ghetsis's, and Xerosic's eyes followed the retreating darkness, watching with a mixture of awe and inquisition as it revealed what had been on the other side of the glass all along.

It was a massive chamber that appeared to be a cross between a manufacturing plant and a hangar. Hundreds of people and Pokémon alike, all wearing identical uniforms stamped with the 'R' logo, were working together to create a multitude of vehicles and devices. The vehicles were designed for air, land, sea, and everything in-between; while the devices were of various uses, though a uniting factor was clearly the ability to capture Pokémon with great ease. Once these workers were done creating their equipment, they would move the finished products to the right side of the chamber, the hangar side, so they could be ready for use at a moment's notice.

Saturn's eyes widened with shock at the sight, and he subconsciously walked over to the window so he could be closer to the proceedings. Upon seeing how interested the former Commander, and the other captives, were of the teamwork and cooperation on display, Giovanni smiled and held out his arms.

"Behold, Saturn!" he proclaimed. "What you see before you is only a fraction of the dedication Team Rocket holds to this cause! Dedication that has just been bolstered fourfold by the agreement of your new comrades! Now tell me, my friend, why not make this union a six-way affair? Why not allow Team Galactic to share in the spoils of the Syndicate's inevitable triumph? Why not join us in drinking from the wineglass of victory?!"

"Just think about it, Saturn," Charon added ominously. "This is Team Galactic's second opportunity to see the realization of its dream, and I can vouch for its success. All you have to do...is accept the offer. Accept the offer, and Team Galactic can rise again."

Then, the elderly man slowly approached Saturn, who was still entranced by the plant before him, and the devices it was creating. Once he got close enough, Charon leaned in towards Saturn's ear and whispered into it.

"And Cyrus will not have died for nothing."

Upon hearing the name of his lost boss, the one who first showed him the possibility of a better, brighter future, Saturn's fists became tightly clenched, and he lowered his head with pursed lips...

"Boss, do you think Saturn's agreement was genuine?"

Giovanni looked over his shoulder. "What makes you think that, Apollo?"

His sole female lieutenant, the redheaded woman, tapped her chin thoughtfully, her gaze affixed to him as she remained seated on her leathery armchair.

"Out of all the team leaders that we've brought here," she replied, "he was the last one to accept our offer for an alliance between our organizations. And it had to take him some extra convincing."

"I'd have to agree with Apollo," the dashing teal-haired man said as he leaned forward, resting his chin upon the backs of his hands. "Everyone else jumped at the opportunity, but Saturn... Even after he agreed, he still looked reluctant. I could smell the hesitancy from the other side of the room..." He then glanced at Giovanni, his stare turning hungry. "I propose keeping an eye on him! And I personally volunteer for the duty-"

"Ah, do not be foolish, Proton," the purple-haired man interrupted with a lazy smirk. "Even if Saturn remains ambivalent about our ambitions, he is just one man. Our psychological assessments on the other Team Galactic members indicate an overall steadfast loyalty to the ideas of Cyrus. They may answer to him now, but they'll always answer to Cyrus first. The reservations of one individual, or even a select few, will not sway them."

"I agree with Petrel," a voice said.

Giovanni glanced back at the screen, which was displaying a live feed of a teal-haired man sitting in the privacy of a well-lit office. His clean-shaven, almost silken face wore a polite, hospitable expression that almost glowed in its genuineness. He wore a predominantly brown suit with the logo of a gold Poké Ball emblazoned over his heart. His teal eyes matched his hair, but as they transfixed themselves upon Giovanni and his lieutenants, the pupils seemed to pierce through them and peer judgmentally into their souls. Anyone else would've felt a nagging sense of violation, even if they had nothing whatsoever to hide.

"Besides," the teal-haired man continued, his voice radiating irrefutable confidence, "their head scientist, Charon, is aligned with us, and he holds more seniority within the Team Galactic rank structure. Everything we have on them supports this. Saturn signed over control of his organization to us the moment he accepted the Boss's offer. If he has second thoughts about our mission, then he's on his own."

"I'm still worried, Boss," Apollo interjected, her eyes narrowed with concern. "We've already seen what happens when we have one loose cog on our hands and we leave it unattended-"

"Enough, Apollo," Giovanni said coldly and tersely, without looking back at her.

The woman's eyes widened in alarm. "But Boss-"

"We have control over five different organizations and the resources they have. We are now a conglomerate. The feelings of one man matter not in the grand scheme of our operation. Even if Saturn's choice to defect poses complications to our long-term goals, we have multiple contingency plans for that."

In response, Apollo bowed her head before the executive. "Yes, Boss. I understand completely."

"Good."

Giovanni's lips curved into a smirk as he clasped his hands together under his waistline. His dark eyes trained themselves upon a set of smaller, live images that were being projected on the screen alongside the well-dressed, teal-haired man's own. They were of Matt, Courtney, Saturn, Ghetsis, and Xerosic reuniting with their respective lieutenants in the safety of other conference rooms. The quartet watched as the leaders informed their comrades of the recently-formed alliance and the benefits that said alliance would entail, followed by the lieutenants' reactions of surprise and enthusiasm.

"Rejoice, Team Rocket," he said, "for we are now one step closer to achieving our ultimate mission."

The teal-haired man smirked with self-satisfaction. As for Giovanni's other lieutenants, they joined his sides, with Apollo standing by his right and Petrel and Proton standing by his left. At that moment, the live feeds of Matt, Courtney, Saturn, Ghetsis, and Xerosic switched, one by one, to a single live feed that was recording underwater. Bubbles rose upward in a series of mostly uniform lines, the only sight decipherable to the naked eye. They were like a veil, obscuring something else from the view of Giovanni and his lieutenants. Then, the camera providing the live recording adjusted its lens, and the quartet of executives was able to see what rested beyond the veil.

A bipedal, humanoid being with feline features, crouched in an uncanny fetal position, its still body suspended in midair by an all-knowing existence of murky water, held only by the cords stretching outward from the dark oblivion that almost enshrouded it. It was mostly encased in a set of shining, terrible black armor, and whatever wasn't covered by this armor revealed grayish-purple skin that seemed to be bizarrely biomechanical in appearance. There was a sinister aura hanging over this being, but the sight of it did nothing to intimidate Giovanni or his lieutenants.

Instead, Giovanni's smirking lips parted ominously, revealing his teeth, clenched and shining.

"Operation: Rainbow Rocket is now a go."

International Police, Precinct 1-A Station
UNKNOWN LOCATION

The International Police agent known only as Looker sighed as he sat down at a table in the front row.

Normally, he was never the type of person to attend meetings of any sort on the job. His position usually required him to receive a case-file on his desk, accept the mission, learn any additional information while en route to his first designated location, complete the mission with as few incidents as possible, and repeat the cycle all over again. Rinse and repeat. To be called into an urgent meeting, with no questions asked, would be a complete aberration of the cycle, a sign that there were bigger problems than the current case.

And evidently, the problem was big, judging by how packed the lecture hall-like briefing room was getting.

"Looker. Hey, Looker!"

Interrupted from his musings, the International Police agent looked up and spotted a fellow agent approaching him. The dark-haired man cracked a smile at his colleague.

"Ah, Tedesco," he greeted. "So, they called you in for this meeting too?"

"Apparently we've got all hands on deck," replied Tedesco, his serious expression immovable as he sat beside Looker.

"Why? Do you know what's happened?"

"We weren't given any further details. We were all just told to gather at the briefing room immediately, and to drop any current cases or duties of focus." Tedesco then put a finger on his chin, his eyes narrowing in thought. "It is pretty weird indeed. I wonder why the higher-ups would make us drop our stuff, no matter what the significance, and report..."

"Well, we're about to find out soon enough."

Looker and Tedesco glanced at the stage, which was currently unoccupied, but they did notice the book pedestal, which held a microphone and a small stack of unknown papers. However, before either agent could think about what that stack could entail...

"Hello, Looker," a drawling male voice greeted.

Looker sighed in bitter disgust and looked to his left, where another man had just sat down. This newcomer had teal hair and a clean-shaven, almost silky face, which wore an expression of faux hospitality that Looker could easily see through. He wore a predominantly brown suit with the logo of a gold Poké Ball emblazoned over his heart.

"Hello, Archer," Looker replied sourly. "I see you're doing well..."

He met Archer only a few times on the job, but all of those uneventful encounters had left an exceptionally bad aftertaste in Looker's mouth. Once a full-time agent for the International Police, Archer took semiretirement in order to teach at the International Police Academy, both jobs of which he was renowned for. However, Looker didn't have any fathomable idea as to how the International Police Board or the students at the Academy found anything to renown Archer for. After all, his pompous, arrogant personality certainly disqualified him from such credit.

"It has been a while, I see," continued Archer, the drawl still present in his voice.

In his seat, Tedesco twitched unpleasantly, something Looker noticed at the corner of his eye. He felt infinitesimal relief over not being the only one to catch onto Archer's stuck-up characteristics.

"You seem to be doing very well yourself." Archer slightly leaned back on his armchair. "I assume that your job is treating you well? Oh, how I envy you so..."

Looker had to stifle his laughter. "Yeah, I can only imagine, Archer, I can only imagine..."

"Do you have any idea why the brass would bring us out here? I was in the middle of teaching a class of impressionable young minds when that ridiculous messenger interrupted my lecture."

"No idea." Looker's lip twitched. "Whatever it is, though, it's definitely not to give you a medal of commendation."

Archer's lips curled into a nasty frown, and his teal eyes narrowed ominously. However, before an argument could erupt, the two were silenced, along with the rest of the agents, when the side-doors leading to the stage opened up loudly.

Looker's eyes widened as the group of people stepped into the room, and he could hear gasps of shock coming from his colleagues, Tedesco included.

"The General Assembly of the International Police...?" he thought incredulously. "But...why in the world are they here? Is the matter really that serious?..."

The well-dressed men and women, led by a woman with graying-blonde hair, icy-blue eyes, and an intimidating posture, stepped on the stage, where they were greeted by a short, stout, sweating man, who Looker identified as his precinct's commanding agent. The woman politely shook the man's hand and stepped behind the book pedestal, taking the papers.

"Good afternoon, respected agents of the International Police," the woman greeted as she adjusted the microphone. "My name is Charlotte Durant, and I am the President of the International Police, as you may all know. I am deeply sorry for interrupting your current missions and bringing you all here in this hearing, but after you hear the grave news I'm about to share, you'll find that what you now have on your hands is much more dire. These are extremely serious matters, so I beg you all to be at full attention."

As the woman began speaking, a screen automatically lowered itself behind the General Assembly, bearing an image of the International Police insignia.

The first image to be displayed on the screen behind her was of a towering, fortress-like prison cramped uncomfortably on a small, steep, rocky island, surrounded by absolutely nothing but ocean. There was a gaping hole in an exterior wall on the prison's eastern side, a hole that stuck out like a large, swollen pimple.

"That is Sevii Prison," the woman explained, "located on the classified Eight Island of the Sevii Islands archipelago. But, as of twenty-two hundred local time yesterday, it is no longer classified."

She pressed the remote's sole button again, and the image switched to a slide depicting the mugshots of three people.

"These are the leaders of the three criminal organizations whose members escaped from Sevii last night. Salvador Turner of Team Galactic, Ghetsis Harmonia of Team Plasma, and Xerosic Zander of Team Flare."

"Wait, what?!" Looker thought, flabbergasted. "Teams Galactic and Plasma escaped?! Why wasn't I personally informed of this?!"

"According to the surviving guards," Charlotte continued, "these three men, along with all of their followers, were singled out by the people responsible for the attack. The prison's security camera systems were knocked out seconds before the attack, but the descriptions the guards gave of the attackers, their Pokémon, and their modus operandi match ones that we have on file."

She pressed the button yet again, and the next images that were displayed were a series of amateur pictures taken of a dozen men and women raiding a Pokémon Center and escaping with bags of Poké Balls and an assortment of equipment.

"Team Rocket."

Small, scattered groups in the audience started muttering amongst one another. The overall tone was a mixture of shock and confusion. The muttering was immediately quelled, however, when Charlotte cleared her throat audibly.

"As I'm sure you are aware, this is an unprecedented case in the International Police's long and storied history. We have a good reason to believe Team Rocket is providing shelter for Teams Galactic, Plasma, and Flare, since all of their assets have been frozen and their equipment under complete confiscation.

"To say the Pokémon League and the governments of six different regions are worried is an understatement. We're deep in the middle of a very active Pokémon tournament season right now. Regional Leagues across the world have just begun their new seasonal tournaments, the Pokémon Contest Committee is planning its bicentennial celebration, the Pokémon Showcase Committee just announced its intent to branch out to other regions, the World Coronation Series is celebrating its first tournament since it went public last winter..."

Charlotte narrowed her cool eyes, and a cold, foreboding feeling swept the room, chilling the International Police agents to the bone.

"I do NOT need to tell you the ramifications of a potential alliance between these four organizations. But what I DO need to tell you is that desperate times call for desperate measures. And desperate measures the International Police will take in the interest of security. As of this moment, we are at Code Alpha Red."

The agents began murmuring again, this time in worried tones, while Looker and Tedesco looked at each other in shock. Code Alpha Red was the International Police's highest level in their threat level scale. It had actually been many decades since the agency was at that kind of level.

"Because of this unprecedented turn of events, the General Assembly has issued the executive directive for all agents to drop their current cases and treat this investigation with full attention, with no distractions, effective immediately. And in addition, we have agreed to form an alliance of its own with the G-Men and the Pokémon Rangers-"

This time, outraged yells and shouting erupted all across the room, piercing right through the cold, stern professionalism that the woman had been trying to maintain. Some of the International Police agents even shot up from their armchairs in protest.

"THE G-MEN?!"

"THE RANGERS?!"

"COME ON!"

"YOU'VE GOTTA BE FRIGGING KIDDIN' ME!"

"YOU CAN'T POSSIBLY BE SERIOUS-"

To Looker's side, Archer sighed, stood up from his chair, took out an Ultra Ball from his pocket, and threw it in the air. A bright flash enveloped the room for a couple of seconds, catching the agents' attention almost instantly. Then, the light soon faded away to reveal a badly-scarred Houndoom standing atop the table. It growled and then barked at the agents, startling those within close proximity.

"Now, now, now," Archer said, his calm, soothing voice resonating through the briefing room. "Is that any way to respect your commanding officer, ladies and gentlemen?"

Charlotte nodded approvingly. "Thank you, Agent Archer." She then glared at the other agents again. "Now, if anyone is still interested in acting like adults, we have a job to do. These four organizations are out there, planning Arceus knows what to wreak all sorts of mayhem and terror upon Trainers worldwide, and we need all the manpower we can possibly get if we're to capture them. Even if it means having to deal with our jurisdictional rivals, we must shoulder this task, for the future of the Pokémon sport is at stake. President Goodshow personally spoke with the leaders of the International Police, the G-Men, and the Ranger Union a couple of hours ago, and he is urging all of us to sweep this up as quickly and quietly as we can. And we are gonna round up and capture all these bastards like the Tauros they are. Do I make myself clear?"

No one bothered to speak up anymore, regardless of whether it was because of the woman's judgmental stare and harsh words, or the burning stare of Archer's Houndoom. This allowed the woman to continue speaking.

"Good. All of you should have your assignment files on hand. Review them, and review them well, for this joint criminal investigation starts now. No one in this precinct is stopping for anything and anyone uninvolved until we capture the last of these crooks and throw them in jail." She lifted her pointed chin slightly. "Now, dis-"

"Uh, excuse me?" a voice suddenly interrupted.

Everyone's heads turned toward the doorway, where a teenage girl was standing. She was wearing the traditional female International Police Academy uniform and holding a bag full of items in one hand, while a laptop was tucked underneath her unoccupied arm. Looker heard Archer grunt bitterly beside him; it appeared he knew this girl.

"Excuse me, ma'am," Charlotte said, her eyes narrowing suspiciously, "I didn't see you standing there. Who are you?"

"Um, my name's Emma," the girl replied. "Emma Matiere. And, uh, I think you guys missed a couple of things." Her eyes slowly focused on the screen behind Charlotte and the rest of the General Assembly. "Uhhh, make that a whole bunch of things-"

"I see you're wearing an Academy uniform, Ms. Matiere," interrupted a male member of the General Assembly. "Students aren't allowed here. How'd you get past security?"

"How I managed to get past your security doesn't matter. What matters is all the information that I have here in this bag and laptop-"

"We do not have time for your science project, Ms. Matiere." This remark drew jeering snickers from some of the agents, causing Emma's face to turn florid; Looker could not help but felt bad for the student. "I'm not asking this again, how did you manage to get past all of our security systems, which the staff here reviews three times a day?"

Looker could see the sweat appearing on Emma's forehead. Then, he saw Archer bury his face into his palms.

"I knew it," the fellow agent whispered. Then, he stood up and spoke loudly and belligerently, "So, it was you who did it! I should've known!"

Everyone's heads turned towards Archer.

"Agent Archer," Charlotte said sternly, "is there something you would like to explain to us?"

"I'm this girl's instructor at the Academy." He bowed slightly with a pompous air that would have made a Glameow sick. "And it appears she was the one who stole my special security clearance card hours earlier."

The teal-haired agent glared daggers at his young student, who was now stunned to see her teacher there. "You must be wondering why I'm here if you stole my card, Ms. Matiere." He gestured to the card pinned to his breast pocket. "Always carry a backup, dear." His eyes narrowed. "Did you really, honestly think that you could use my card to gain easy access to classified International Police meetings and just get away with it? Just to make yet another foolish attempt at proving yourself?!"

"Agent Archer," Charlotte said, her voice laced with a disturbing calmness that silenced Archer before he could continue on with his rant. "Do you mean to tell me, the President of the General Assembly of the International Police, that...your security clearance card was stolen, by one of your students, of all people?"

"I-I b-beg your pardon, m-ma'am?..." Archer asked, his teal eyes growing wide.

The veteran agent's voice was so shocked and terrified that Looker and even Tedesco nearly choked on their own spit as they tried to stifle their laughter. One went a day without seeing the revered agent Archer faltering in his confidence, so this was priceless.

Charlotte's eyes narrowed, causing Archer to recoil in horror. "You, a well-trained, honorable agent for the International Police, became inattentive long enough for a mere student to take your special security clearance card?"

"I-I wasn't being attentive- I mean, inattentive, ma'am-"

"Then how did one of your students acquire your security card? You couldn't have just possibly given it to her."

"My Arceus, of course not. Not even for a silly tour of the place!"

"Well, whatever the reason, you obviously played a factor in this security breach, quite unfortunately. Inexcusable." This last remark caused Archer's face to redden, and Charlotte exhaled. "With all of this talk about how effective our security is against external threats, it turns out we must focus on internal threats even more."

"Mrs. President, ma'am, i-if I can just explain-" began Archer. His face was as red as an apple at this point.

"Enough, Agent. I do not want to hear any more nonsensical blabbering from you." She placed a hand on her forehead in disbelief. "I am simply embarrassed to hear of this. Seat yourself, Agent. I highly congratulate you for posing a potential risk to the security of the International Police's institutions."

Archer gagged in horror at being insulted by his highest superior. Nevertheless, he went silent and sat down, his face still red. Looker desperately wanted to burst out laughing.

Then, Emma spoke up. "Look, if the General Assembly doesn't mind, I-"

"As for you, young lady," Charlotte interrupted, causing the student to squeak out fearfully, "you still unlawfully breached a top-secret, high-security meeting. I don't care what you have for us that could be of any use for our case. The fact that you're still underage already undermines your credibility. I'm sorry but you must be detained for trespassing on classified grounds." She looked at one of the beefy security guards standing beside her. "Security, please remove Ms. Matiere from this meeting."

"Wait, no!" Emma shouted as the guard started approaching her. "I really need to tell you this! It's important!"

"I cannot imagine what could be more important than this case at hand." The woman then eyed Emma's bag and laptop. "Security, confiscate her belongings too."

"NO!"

Without thinking, Looker stood up and exclaimed, "I'll do it!"

Charlotte glared at him sternly. Already from her icy-cold stare, he felt as if he could freeze in his tracks.

"Please identify yourself, Agent."

"Agent Looker, Mrs. President. It's an honor to meet you, it really is. And I would like to take Emma's belongings, if you don't mind."

The woman raised an eyebrow. "And why is that?"

"Well, there's obviously only one guard. He'll need some help if he's gonna escort Ms. Matiere to detention and carry all of her items at once." When Charlotte continued to glare at him with suspicion, Looker added innocently, "Unless there's supposed to be anything else you want to make clear during this meeting?"

"No," she replied. "No, that'll be all, Agent Looker. We're done here."

"Not for me..." Looker replied in the confines of his mind. "Oh no, I'm still gonna have to find out why you didn't inform me of these escapes beforehand. But for the time being..."

He approached Emma and the security guard, taking the bag and laptop from the former's hands without saying as much as a word.

As he did, the student pleaded, "Please, you need to listen to me-"

"Don't see what there is to listen to, young lady," the agent replied as the trio stepped out of the meeting room, all sets of eyes following them as they did so.

"Pl-Please, Agent Looker," Emma said, a worried expression rising in her face. "What I have in there is much bigger than just those four organizations!"

"Oh, really?" Looker crossed his arms, a stern frown coming upon his face. "Well then, enlighten me, Ms. Matiere."

"Uh, excuse me, Agent-" began the guard, but Looker immediately held up a hand, silencing him.

"Please, if she wants to get whatever he wants to tell us out there, we might as well save her the trouble and get it over with. The findings of a single Academy student would not hurt anybody, nor would it be against the interests of regional security, now would it?" He glanced at Emma again. "So then, what is it that you want to tell us?"

"Team Rocket doesn't just have Teams Galactic, Plasma, and Flare under their wing!" Emma blurted, as if she had been holding in this secret for so long and was ready to explode like an Electrode.

Looker blinked incredulously at the young student. "Excuse me?"

"I said Team Rocket doesn't-"

"I know what you said, kid. I was simply questioning the credibility of your claim."

"If you just read my notes and the news articles in my laptop, it'd make a whole lot of sense!"

"I suggest being quiet from now on, kid-" began the guard.

However, Emma continued persistently, staring up at Looker with an extremely serious expression. She spoke so quickly that the agent had a difficult time trying to keep up with all of the girl's words. But as he continued to listen in, with the guard or himself being unable to interrupt, Looker found himself intrigued by Emma's findings.

"And that's not all, Agent Looker! Y-You see, I have been closely monitoring the regional crimes rates with the Pokémon Criminal Registry for the past six months, a-and I noticed something! There's been an abnormal change in Hoenn's crime rates starting about two years ago! At first, it was just a small uptick in robberies and burglaries. Standard money stuff, you-you wouldn't even blink at the changes at first! Then, six months after that uptick, there came reports of organized criminal activity going on in the region!"

Looker stared at Emma disbelievingly. "Organized criminal activity in Hoenn? Now, if that were so, Ms. Matiere, then the Localized Law Enforcement Association's Hoenn branch would have alerted us, or our counterparts at the G-Men and the Ranger Union. Seeing as we never got an agency-wide alert about any organized activity occurring in Hoenn, I'd say you misinterpreted the reports-"

Emma, however, shook her head confidently. "No, no, no, there is organized activity going on over there, Agent Looker! The LLEA just hasn't caught onto it yet."

The agent blinked slowly. "And you know all this...how?"

"Based on the patterns." The girl gestured to her bag and laptop. "Look, if you could just take a look at everything that I compiled-"

Emma was about to kneel, likely to set her laptop down on the floor, when the guard suddenly tightened his grip on her, causing him to squeak fearfully.

"We don't have time for you to play show-and-tell, girlie," he snarled viciously. "Now, for the last time, come along-"

"Let the kid go," Looker said sternly. Emma looked at him in relief, while the guard appeared flabbergasted.

"A-Are you kiddin' me, Agent? This kid just interrupted a top-secret meeting. Who knows how much sensitive information she overheard-?"

"And if she did," Looker cut off, "then I'll see to it that she's punished to the fullest extent of the law. But it's just like you said, she's a kid. Are you really going to manhandle a kid?"

"If it's for regional security, then yes!"

Looker let out a sharp sigh. "Look, we may be looking out for the interests of Trainers, Pokémon, the sport, and all that, but don't you forget, we're still an investigative agency, first and foremost. I'll escort her to the detention facility myself. You have my word on that." He raised an eyebrow. "Now, are we clear on that?"

The guard blinked and stared at the unflinching Looker. His pupils instinctually flicked to the agent's shining badge, and Looker could tell that the man was evaluating his rank as an agent for the International Police. Finally, the muscular man sighed in defeat and released Emma, the girl sighing in relief. He then glared at Looker.

"You'd better get this handled appropriately, Agent," he said as he walked back into the meeting room, "because I will be forthcoming to the General Assembly if any of this turns out to simply be additional trouble for the International Police." He pointed at himself with an air of haughty pride. "You have my word and my badge on that."

As soon as the guard was gone and the door was fully closed, Looker stared at Emma. He didn't know why, but now that he heard what the girl had to say, Looker found himself even more intrigued than ever. He knew that he was technically disobeying the President and the General Assembly by assisting this student, who had heard sensitive, top-secret details, and yet...he wanted to learn more. Looker didn't know what exactly was fueling his actions, but he felt confident in being able to turn to this girl as a reliable source of information. Besides...

He felt as if Emma reminded him of someone... Someone who had helped him out a lot in the past...

The agent smiled slightly at the teenage girl and said, "Well, I hope you're up for a lot of reading, kid."

Disturb not the harmony of fire, ice, or lightning, lest these titans wreak destruction upon the world in which they clash. Though the water's great guardian shall arise to quell the fighting, alone its song will fail, lest the earth shall turn to ash. O Chosen One, into thine hands bring together all three. Their treasures combined tame the Beast of the Sea.  Thus concludes the Trial of the Soul.

Quell not the discord of death, darkness, and violence, lest its weak state expose its true nature upon the world in which it resides. Though the sky's great guardian shall arise to restore the balance, alone its power will fail, and thus the earth shall turn to ash once again.  O Chosen One, into thine heart accept your ultimate fate. Your brought sacrifice tame the world.  Thus concludes the Trial of the Heart.

O Chosen One, look deep into your heart and soul, seek what lies underneath, discover the true spirit that constitutes you. Perils await, and all must be dealt with due process. Do not hesitate, do not doubt, do not regret. Do not dwell in the past, merely look forward to tomorrow, and always remember, for the power of one is-

Sheena opened her eyes, the faint, angelic glow retreating back into her diamond-blue pupils. Taking a deep breath, she averted her gaze from the glass-encased stone tablet propped in front of her. Slowly turning, the guardian of the Michina Town ruins faced the six other people and the lone Pokémon in the ancient room with her. She was under the shadow of a strange, ancient-looking yet futuristic contraption consisting of four differently-colored spheres on axes, hovering right above a fifth, static sphere situated at the bottom, their movements rapid and almost frantic.

"The full prophecy ends there," she said.

Michina Town Ruins
SINNOH REGION

– Three months later –

"The power of one," whispered Baraz, his chin tucked between his thumb and index finger as he was deeply absorbed in his thoughts. "The power of one is...what?"

"Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing," Kevin replied, the blond man looking concerned. "This is how we found that tablet. Incomplete."

"Incomplete?" Meray asked, her reaction of incredulity a stark contrast to the heartwarming sight of the Pokémon eating a chocolate-and-sprinkle-coated donut while perched on her shoulder. "How is that possible? Prophecies cannot simply be incomplete." She glanced at Baraz, her brown eyes shimmering with confusion as she beseeched her older brother. "Can they?"

"It appears this incompletion was intentional," replied the skinny, dark-haired man standing next to Meray. He promptly approached the stone tablet, with Sheena stepping aside for him. "Look, this portion of the stone tablet at the bottom is empty."

He pointed towards the area of the tablet in question, and the eyes of everyone else followed the direction of his finger. Indeed, there was an area of the aged, long-polished stone that remained curiously empty, despite the ample space that it could've provided for an extra sentence or two in the ancient inscription.

"Oh, wow," remarked a rotund man standing beside Baraz. "Nice catch, Kevie."

"So you're sure this is how you found it?" Baraz asked, his eyes surveying the stone tablet curiously. "No one dropped it or anything at any point."

"We always do background checks on our excavators," Kevin replied.

"And we oversee the excavations ourselves," added Sheena. "If there were any incidents, we would've pointed that out a long time ago."

Baraz narrowed his eyes slightly at the tablet. "The full version of the Shamouti Prophecy... I've always suspected there was more to it than some tribal island sport from the ancient times. Hmmm... Lest the earth shall turn to ash... Thus the earth shall turn to ash once again..."

"Ash..." repeated Meray. "Ash, Ash, Ash... As in...Ash Ketchum...?"

"That certainly seemed to be the case during the Shamouti Island incident a few years back," Sheena replied. "According to my sources there, Ash brought to an end the worldwide calamities that stemmed from the area. And judging by their accounts, he did this by going through the actual Trial of the Soul."

"He went through the actual Trial?!" Baraz exclaimed incredulously.

"Yes."

"You know, the nature of the new content discovered is concerning, to say the least..." said a brown-haired woman who had been standing right behind Meray. She stepped forward, approaching the tablet while adjusting her circular glasses. "Quell not the discord of death, darkness, and violence, lest its weak state expose its true nature upon the world in which it resides..."

"The discord of death, darkness, and violence?!"

It wasn't any of the humans who had spoken, but rather, the Pokémon sitting on Meray's shoulder. Having finished eating its donut, it hovered in the air and approached the tablet as well.

"Hoopa?" Meray asked. "Do...Do you know what that means?"

The Pokémon read and reread the ancient inscription for a long, tense moment. Then, it glanced at its companions with a bashful look on its face.

"Not really. Were you surprised?!"

Meray nearly fell over with a gagged grunt, while Baraz sighed and buried his face in his right palm with embarrassment. As for Kevin, he gave the siblings a look of dissatisfaction.

"You think this is supposed to be a joke...?" he asked, his voice slow and ominous.

Baraz lowered his palm and glanced at Kevin, his brown eyes narrowed with disapproval. However, before a contentious exchange could break out, the rotund man stood in-between the other two men, his hands raised in a gesture of goodwill and humility.

"C-Co-Come on now, guys!" he cried. "L-Let's all get along here! W-W-We both want the same thing, after all!"

"Pit's right, Kevin," Sheena replied.

The blond man glared at her. "But Sheena-"

"Enough, Kevin. Besides..." The guardian glanced back at Hoopa, her gaze sympathetic and almost maternal. "I think we just need to give Hoopa some encouragement, that's all."

"Huh?" The Mischief Pokémon's face was wearing a mask of confusion. "But Hoopa knows nothing-"

"And yet, the phrase 'discord of death, darkness, and violence' caught your attention..." Sheena took a step closer to the small hovering Pokémon, and it hovered a couple of inches away in response. "Hoopa, I know you know something about this discord. Now, whatever that means, I promise you, we will do everything within our power and then some to find the root cause and put a stop to it."

This did nothing but earn a terrified whimper from Hoopa. Meray's eyes widened slightly upon hearing this.

"H-Hoopa?"

Then, she noticed the Mischief Pokémon was trembling severely in midair. Out of concern, the dark-haired woman slowly approached it, her white robe fluttering as she walked along.

"Hoopa," Meray said as she took her friend and tucked it in her arms, "it's alright. Whatever it is that you are afraid of, it can't hurt you here."

"Yes," Kevin added. "This place has been blessed with the divine protection of Arceus. No dark forces can penetrate these walls."

But Hoopa gazed at him, his eyes wide with terror. "Shadows...never go away..."

"Shadows?" Sheena asked.

Hoopa pointed at the floor with a shivering finger, and the ruins guardian looked down. At first, she did not see anything that the Mischief Pokémon would want to point out. But then, she realized what it had been talking about.

"What about our shadows, Hoopa?"

"Darkness is part of us," Hoopa explained, its voice broken by the chattering of its teeth. "Shadows never go away. Even from Hoopa. And where there's shadows, there's evil..."

"I...I don't get it," Kevin replied.

"Hoopa must be talking about the Dahara City incident," the other woman said, adjusting her eyeglasses again.

"Lucianne's right," Baraz said. "The evil being that formed was a result of Hoopa's hatred of the Prison Bottle."

Hoopa shuddered, the only confirmation Meray needed that her friend's words were right.

"That was certainly a strange phenomenon..." remarked Sheena. Then, she slowly glanced at the Mischief Pokémon, her mind putting two and two together. "Hoopa, are you saying that shadow Hoopa is the discord you're talking about?"

Hoopa nodded and then said, "Everyone has shadows..."

And finally, it hugged Meray, unable to say anymore. The woman gasped and gently stroked Hoopa's cheek in an attempt to comfort it.

"Everyone has shadows?" Kevin repeated. "What does that mean, Hoopa? ...Hey, Hoopa!"

"Don't rush him!" Meray protested, holding the Mischief Pokémon tighter against her. "Can't you see he's frightened?!"

"We'd be able to protect him if we knew what the hell the threat was first!"

"Aw, come on now, guys!" Pit cried, waving his hands again. "L-Like I said, th-there's no need to fight! W-We have all the time in the world-"

The rotund man was cut off by Kevin's burning gaze, which he recoiled at.

"All the time in the world?!" Kevin snapped. "All the time in the world?! Well, with every second that passes like this, we are wasting that time! Now, I don't know if you've been listening, but the Time-Space Axis has been in a constant state of unsettlement ever since the discovery of the stone tablet!" He pointed at the ancient yet futuristic contraption with the five spheres, which were still moving at a breakneck pace. "If we are gonna still have 'all the time in the world', we gotta act quick, or we-!"

"We all know what's happening, Kevin," Baraz interrupted, his eyes narrowed. "And I don't appreciate you talking to my friend in that manner."

Kevin gritted his teeth at Baraz. "Ah, you're not appreciative, huh?! Well, I don't appreciate you stonewalling-"

"Kevin, enough," Sheena interrupted, her voice strangely cool.

"Arceus-damn it, Sheena, they're-"

"I said enough." Once Kevin went silent from her sterner tone, Sheena carefully approached Meray and Hoopa, her eyes trained on the latter. "We shouldn't be confrontational to our guests, Kevin. Besides, there are other ways of getting the information we need, ways that are less invasive."

Kevin's eyes widened in alarm. "But Sheena, is that really a-"

He was quickly silenced by the sight of her raised palm. Knowing there was no way to dissuade his colleague, Kevin fell silent again and simply kept his distance from Baraz. Everyone watched as Sheena raised her arms, clasped her hands together, and bowed her head, taking a prayer position.

"Transcend the confines of time and space."

A moment later, she felt herself floating, even though her feet were still firmly planted to a solid surface. She opened her eyes and was instantly met with the sight of a terrified Hoopa, hovering several yards away from her, its body trembling like a scared young child. Surrounding them both was an otherworldly realm of purple energy that seemed to writhe and recoil at their very presences.

"Hoopa..." Sheena said serenely.

Then, suddenly, her eyes went wide in horror when she saw something emerging from the purple energy behind Hoopa: a massive, multi-armed being, its outline enveloped in an aura of darker, almost blackish purple, its eyes glowing red, a gaping hole in the middle of its chest. It reached out for the smaller Mischief Pokémon, who seemed unusually passive to what was about to happen.

"Mine..." it growled greedily behind a grin of jagged teeth.

"Hoopa! AGH!"

An unseen force pulled Sheena backward, and she stumbled, almost ready to fall.

"SHEENA!"

Kevin's arms caught her. Sheena quickly opened her eyes and found herself back in the old room. Hoopa was still tucked safely in Meray's arms, fear etched in its normally mischievous face.

"Sheena," Kevin said with concern, "I told you using your ability now was a bad idea!" He gently held her bulging belly in his hand. "What about the-?!"

"The fear," Sheena interrupted, speaking more to herself than everyone else. "The uncertainty, the helplessness..."

"What?"

"I hadn't felt that kind of emotion since..."

Sheena's voice trailed off, and she worriedly gazed toward the Time-Space Axis. The four main spheres were still moving erratically, especially the one in the middle, a brown sphere suspended in the middle of a rippling, yolk-like veil. Within a split-second, all of the uncertainty drained away from her soul and was replaced with a great resolve.

"Kevin," she said with finality, "it's time."

JUDGMENT'S FALL