Quick note before the chapter. This might be a double update since chapter 30 is short, so be happy. Also, some character ages in case you want to know.
Zeno: 14.7
Hau: 14
Alex:14.4
Robert: 14.5
Lillie: 13.8
Gladion: 15
Kamake: 20
I groaned. "I knew it. This is a place for the stuck ups to hang out."
Alex walked up next to me. "The rich."
Alex, Hau, Robert, and I had arrived at Hano Grand Resort. To say the least, I was not impressed.
"I mean, look," I said, pointing to a Pikachu on a chair being protected by a security guard from nothing. "That's just overkill. It's just a Pikachu."
Hau, being Hau, charged past us towards the Pikachu. "It's the famous Pikachu from the Pikabot movie series!"
While Hau was finally giving the security guard a purpose in life, I groaned again. "I don't even want to know."
We made our way into the hotel with Robert dragging Hau behind us. Once inside, it wasn't hard to spot Kamake's Aether uniform among the overly fancy stuff in the gigantic lobby.
She frowned when we walked up to her. "Where's the fifth? Lillie?"
I shrugged. "Off doing something with her brother. They didn't give us any details."
Robert nodded. "It's just us four."
Kamake nodded slowly. "Madam Lusamine wanted to meet all of you, but we'll have to make do."
She gestured towards the doors back outside. "Follow. I have a boat waiting for us."
When we got outside, we went over to the dock. Among the fishing boats and a beat up yacht, was a sleek, white ship with Aether's insignia on the sides.
Once we were all on board, Kamake went up to the driver who wore weird green glasses. "Driver Faba, take us back to Aether Paradise."
He groaned. "Please don't call me that."
But he did what he was told and started up the boat.
Halfway to Aether Paradise, I noticed two very familiar Skull grunts swimming for their lives far off the starboard side. They were swimming away from where Aether was located, so I assumed they were escaping. No one what saw them, so I didn't bother saying anything. I mean, what could those two Skull Boys do anyway?
In the distance, I could see a huge white structure floating on the water, like a fifth island of Alola. Aether Paradise.
When we docked, we could see someone waiting for us.
When we got off the boat, the lady waiting for us bowed politely. "Hello, I am Ms. Wicke. It's so nice to meet all of you."
Alex nodded and spoke for the four of us. "Likewise."
Ms. Wicke looked at Kamake. "Madam Lusamine wants you to give them the tour instead of me."
Kamake sighed. "Of course, I would prefer to be working on Experiment Zero, but I'll listen to our President. Where is she anyway?"
"She's in the Conservation Area," Wicke answered. "She's trying the experiment again."
Kamake nodded. "I'll take them there later. For now, I'll show them what I can show them of Aether Paradise."
Wicke nodded and left.
I looked at Kamake. "Where to first?"
She smiled. "My favorite area in Aether Paradise."
...
"This is the Battle Zone," Kamake announced as the triangular elevator came to a stop.
We were in a room that looked like a typical Pokémon Gym back in Kanto. Like the rest of Aether, the room was completely white. A huge battlefield took up most of the room and on each side were stands.
Kamake looked at me. "I think now would be the ideal time for a battle."
I nodded. "Do we have time though?"
She nodded. "Oh yes. A two on two battle shouldn't take that long. We'll still have plenty of time to see Madam Lusamine."
I looked at my three friends and they shrugged, so I said, "Why not."
...
Kamake stood on one end of the battlefield while I stood on the other. My three friends sat in the stands, waiting for the battle to commence.
I unclipped Decidueye's pokeball. "I won't go easy on you Kamake!"
She smiled. "And I to you Zeno. Come on out Glaceon!"
I released Decidueye as Kamake let out her Glaceon.
I smiled thoughtfully. "This is going to be an interesting battle."
Aloud, I shouted, "Decidueye, use Double Team and run at Glaceon!"
Decidueye split into multiple copies of himself and ran at the Ice Type.
"Icy Wind," Kamake said.
Glaceon blew a cold wind that wiped out the fake Decidueyes.
"Phantom Force!" I yelled.
Decidueye slipped into the shadows and Glaceon glanced around.
I looked at Kamake and saw that she was muttering something. I read her lips. Two... One...
"Blizzard!" She yelled as Decidueye popped out of the shadows at Glaceon. The Blizzard slammed into Decidueye and he was thrown into the wall.
"U-Turn!" I shouted, needing to get Decidueye out of there.
"Stop him with Shadow Ball Glaceon!" Kamake ordered.
Glaceon formed the ball of darkness and fired it at Decidueye, forcing him to one knee.
"Shadow Ball one more time," Kamake said.
"Double Team!" I shouted and the Shadow Ball hit a copy.
"Now Shadow Sneak!" I commanded.
All the Decidueyes rushed towards Glaceon, covered in shadows.
"Blizzard," Kamake said calmly and Glaceon blew up another cold storm.
The real Decidueye was flung backwards and he fainted. I returned him and grabbed my second pokeball.
"Let's speed things up," I shouted. "Let's go Lycanroc!"
Lycanroc howled upon entering the battlefield and fixed his blue eyes on Glaceon.
I didn't give Kamake a chance to say an order. "Lycanroc, use Accelerock!"
Lycanroc sped forwards and slammed his head into Glaceon, sending her flying. She landed at Kamake's feet, fainted. Kamake returned her, unfazed.
She let out an Absol. "Psycho Cut!"
Absol swung her curved horn and sent blades of psychic energy at Lycanroc.
"Dodge," I ordered and Lycanroc sped out of the way. "Now, use Rock Slide!"
Lycanroc howled and big boulders slid towards Absol.
Kamake didn't say anything and the boulders smashed into Absol. When the dust settled, Absol looked weaker, but fine.
"What gives!?" I thought.
Kamake grinned at me. "Hey Zeno. I think it's time we showed you our secret weapon. A little something we picked up in a faraway region."
She took her clipboard and unclipped her pen from it. Where the button would've been to push out the tip, was a small orb. And nestled at the bottom of Absol's horn was a similar orb, but different. Kamake pressed down on her pen and both orbs began to glow. Light intertwined from both orbs, connecting them with flows of energy.
"A bond beyond science's knowledge," Kamake said as Absol began to glow. "Our hearts combine into one. Beyond normal evolution! Absol, Mega Evolve!"
The intertwined energy exploded in a fury of light and Absol was revealed. A different looking Absol. She had angel-like wings now and had one long curved horn and a small one. Her white fur swept down the left side of her face, covering half of it.
I gaped at her as Kamake said, "Night Slash!"
Absol ran at Lycanroc, faster than before.
"Accelerock!" I yelled, but Absol swiped her paw up, a burst of dark wind that sent Lycanroc into the air.
"Psycho Cut!"
The psychic blades smashed into Lycanroc, sending him further. When he crashed to the ground, he had fainted. I returned him, a surprised look most definitely on my face.
As I ran up to Kamake, a glow surrounded Absol and then disappeared, revealing a regular looking Absol.
I stared at Kamake. "What was that!?"
Kamake smiled as she petted her Absol. "Mega evolution. Something more commonly occurring in Kalos and Hoenn, using a key stone," she pointed to the orb on her pen. "And a mega stone that is unique to the Pokémon using it," she pointed to the orb on Absol. "In this case, an Absolite."
She tucked her pen and clipboard away. "A trainer must first have a strong bond with their Pokémon before they are able to use mega evolution."
Alex smiled. "I've seen it on TV before with Hoenn's champion Steven, but I've never seen it up close."
"You don't happen to have any more of those do you?" Hau asked eagerly.
Kamake shook her head. "Sadly not."
She looked at her watch and I was reminded that she was a double agent. "Would you look at the time. Madam Lusamine would want to see you all soon, so let's get going."
...
The elevator stopped on what Kamake said was the Conservation Area. There were small habitats scattered around the large room, filled with Pokémon.
Kamake explained this. "One of Aether's goals is to protect the Pokémon who can't protect themselves. When we find an injured Pokémon, we take it here and help it recover. When they're healed, they have two options. Go back to the wild or stay here."
We nodded and Kamake encouraged us to have a quick look around, saying Lusamine was around here somewhere.
After a couple minutes of looking around, I saw a woman in a tailored Aether uniform. She had long blonde hair and my first thought was, "Lillie's mom?"
As I got closer, I saw that she was talking to Kamake.
"How did the experiment fair?" Kamake asked.
Lusamine sighed and her voice sounded like a older, more mature Lillie's voice. "Nothing happened, again. We can try again in a month, but if we still had Cosm-"
"Zeno," Kamake said loudly, interrupting what I'm pretty sure was a confidential conversation. "This is Aether's President, Madam Lusamine."
I nodded at Lusamine. "Alola."
She smiled. "A pleasure Zeno. I've heard amazing stories about you and your friends."
Speaking of my friends, they joined us at that exact moment.
"Wow," said Hau in a way that I just knew he was going to say something without thinking about it. "This is Aether's President? But you look so young!"
I groaned. That kid had no shame whatsoever.
Lusamine laughed, a beautiful burst of sound. "Oh, you sweet boy Hau. I'm over 40."
Hau was taken aback. "Say what now!?"
"Anyway," Alex said, glaring at Hau. "I heard you wanted to meet us Miss President. What for?"
She smiled. "You can just call me Lusamine if you don't mind. And I wanted to-!
Whatever she was going to say wasn't said. Instead, she looked behind us, shocked.
We all turned around to see an opening of sorts, a portal. It's inner circles looked web-like and its core glowed and pulsed slightly.
"An Ultra Wormhole," Lusamine breathed. "But at the wrong time!"
Suddenly, a jellyfish thing floated out of the Ultra Wormhole and it hovered in front of it. Lusamine stepped closer, hand outstretched.
"Madam Lusamine," Kamake said. "What are you doing!?"
She ignored her and the creature reached out a tentacle and wrapped it around her right arm. Lusamine whipped back her arm, small welts forming where the tentacle had touched.
Kamake grabbed her other arm and pulled her back. "It's not safe Madam President."
The creature shrieked and flapped its tentacles wildly.
I let out Growlithe. "That thing is dangerous. Growlithe, use Flamethrower!"
Growlithe shot the jet of flames at the creature and it backed up a little. Alex let out Vulpix and Hau released Primarina who had evolved during his battle against Olivia.
"Flamethrower!" Alex and I yelled at the same time as Hau shouted, "Moonblast!"
The combined moves damaged the creature and it tried to get away, but Robert's Snorlax, who had also evolved during his Grand Trial, was there, blocking its exit. It had no choice but to flee back into the Ultra Wormhole. When it did, the Wormhole closed and the excitement was over.
"You okay Madam President?" Kamake asked, trying to examine her arm.
Lusamine pulled her arm away and waved away Kamake. "I'm fine."
She turned to walk away, her heels clicking on the floor. "Kamake, I have work to do. Escort the children to wherever they need to go, then get back here immediately."
Kamake nodded. "Yes Madam President."
She ushered us towards the triangular elevator. "Come on you four. Time to get you back on the road."
On the way down to the docking area, I knew something was up. First Kamake mentioned something about Experiment Zero, then the fact that Lusamine looked like an older Lillie and might be her's and Gladion's mother. Also, I'm pretty sure Lusamine was talking about wishing they still had Cosmog, which is Nebby. That would mean Lillie, Lusamine's daughter, stole Nebby from Aether and ended up on Melemele.
I thought back to Mahalo Trail. Lillie had mentioned "they" could try and take Nebby again. If "they" were Aether, therefore Lillie's mother, then that would mean that there was more to Aether than meets the eye. Plus, Lusamine was trying to do something with Ultra Wormholes and if everything I just thought of was true, then that would mean it wasn't for anything good.
...
Kamake and Driver Faba dropped us off at our next destination, Ula'Ula Island. We bid Kamake farewell and I pulled Rotom out of my bag.
"Where are we?" I asked when he jolted awake.
He shook himself. "Malie City, Ula'Ula Island. New Pokémon and places to discover Z-man!"
"One," I said, grabbing a discarded piece of paper off the ground. "Cool. Two, don't ever call me..."
I trailed off as I read the paper.
My friends looked at me and Robert asked, "What?"
I breathed in. "Look at this guys."
They looked over my shoulder and Robert and Alex gasped.
"No way," Robert said, shocked.
"Oh my Arceus," Alex said, her eyes wide. "And it's the Grand opening too."
Hau read the paper, which was a flyer, more closely. "What's so special about a "Pokémon Gym"?"
"Rotom," I said. "Bring us to the Gym's location. It's high time I earned myself a badge instead of a Z-crystal."
...
Lusamine and Kamake looked at a monitor.
"These calculations are correct?" Lusamine asked, needing to confirm.
Kamake nodded. "All we need is Cosmog. A shame Lillie didn't show up when Zeno. Would've been so easy."
Lusamine nodded. "Gladion knew better than to let her come with Zeno, especially since he knows we want Cosmog. For what, he doesn't have a clue."
Lusamine stood up straight. "Go to Po Town Kamake. Speak to Guzma about arranging an abduction. We need that Cosmog no matter the cost."
Kamake nodded and left the room to head for Po Town.
Lusamine sat in her chair and examined her right arm. She had refused for it to be decontaminated and the welts had already faded.
Lusamine smiled as her eyes glowed purple. "I will find you again Nihilego and we shall become one."
Zeno and his friends see Aether and see a shocking creature of unknown origins. Zeno suspects there's more to Aether than just good and now that they're on Ula'Ula, he and his friends are heading to Alola's first ever Pokémon Gym. And something happened to Lusamine, something that could change her forever.
Another chapter, another day... I already used that line. Oh well. Anyway, as I said at the top, this might be a double update since the next chapter is much shorter than this one. But it will set off key events, so that's good at least. Things are about to get much more interesting here on out people, so stay tuned. Things will never be the same after the next chapter. Toodles.