Everyone turned out to be good people after all.
The Psychic-type queen, who had always maintained an icy demeanor, unexpectedly had a low threshold for humor.
Tapu Lele, feeling the chill from another bad joke, rubbed its arms.
"Humans are really strange," it thought.
The Sharpedo trembled as they revealed everything they knew, connecting the story from beginning to end.
According to the Sharpedo, Guzzlord had been sleeping deep within Resolution Cave.
That is, until Alola opened up. Guzzlord had somehow gotten mixed in with those from the Ultra Space and was awakened during that legendary battle.
Not long after that, it sensed Necrozma's aura emanating from the tower that Roy had brought back.
That kind of aura felt both familiar and captivating to Guzzlord, and it began planning to release whoever was imprisoned inside the black tower.
But the truth was, Guzzlord didn't actually know who was inside.
It simply assumed that the imprisoned being must be a fellow countryman from its homeland.
Ever since arriving in Alola, Guzzlord had felt endless loneliness. It wanted to go home, to return to that familiar place.
But there was nothing it could do, so it had fallen into a deep sleep to ease its suffering.
This time, Necrozma's aura immediately awakened the homesickness in the recently roused Guzzlord.
If it couldn't go home, at least finding someone it could talk to wouldn't be so bad.
Then one day, it encountered a very distressed human who ran into the cave in a panic to meet Guzzlord.
From this person's words, Guzzlord learned that to release the imprisoned Pokémon, all it needed to do was take someone named Roy's heart and sacrifice it to the black tower.
It sounded ridiculous.
But Guzzlord, who had only been awake for a few days, believed it.
Moreover, something about that person's scent seemed vaguely familiar, though it was very faint and dissipated quickly.
But even that slight trace was enough to convince Guzzlord of what the person said.
Besides, it was just a human's heart.
Even if the imprisonment wasn't lifted, it didn't matter.
The seal would open eventually, and Guzzlord could afford to wait for that day.
After all, it had already been waiting for a long time.
After that, Guzzlord helped the panicked human leave Poni Island, and the person was never seen again.
Roy listened as Sharpedo stuttered out these seemingly fantastical stories, and he began to see how certain things might be connected.
To verify his theory, Roy asked, "So how old was the man that Guzzlord met?"
"Was he a Pokémon Trainer?"
From the way the guardian deities had treated Roy earlier, the Sharpedo could tell that this person definitely had authority among this group.
So Sharpedo was careful not to lie or deceive.
Facing so many powerful Pokémon while tied up and unable to move at all made resistance pointless anyway.
Even trying to cause trouble would be difficult.
Sharpedo said tremblingly that it hadn't seen the person directly—these details were gossip passed down from other Sharpedo.
"And how did that Sharpedo know?"
Sharpedo explained it came from a Murkrow that had been with Guzzlord all the time.
In short, no one could correctly identify who this so-called human was.
Seeing Roy's thoughtful expression, combined with the questions he had just asked Sharpedo, Caroline lightly poked Roy's shoulder.
"Hey, do you think that person was Arman?"
Roy looked at Caroline in surprise. "You think so too?"
Caroline nodded. "Based on the timeline, I think so as well."
Roy's thoughts began to crystallize.
If what Sharpedo said was true, then by the time everyone had left Alola's spiritual domain, the only person left who could have met Guzzlord was Arman, who had been hiding all over the place.
Besides, the location of Terminus Cave where Guzzlord lived was extremely hidden.
If it were an ordinary Trainer, there would be no reason to venture into such a desolate place.
They might even put themselves in danger.
Obviously, since they could leave the Alola region soon, there was absolutely no need to put oneself in such peril.
After eliminating other possibilities, the only person left was Arman, who had been on the run at that time.
Additionally, choosing to deliberately mislead Guzzlord out of hatred for Roy showed considerable skill at using others to do one's dirty work.
Roy stroked his completely nonexistent beard and nodded.
"Mm... I'm fairly certain it was him."
But Roy still felt that something wasn't quite right.
"You mean the familiar scent on Arman's body?"
Roy nodded, thinking hard but unable to understand why.
There were no Pokémon from the Ultra Megalopolis among Arman's team—how could he have an aura familiar to Guzzlord?
Caroline didn't think this was a problem.
"I think it was probably the black tower."
"The black tower?"
Caroline nodded. "Yes, Arman must have been quietly lurking around the black tower."
"Or perhaps he went to check on the black tower's condition and picked up Necrozma's aura that way."
Roy felt that Caroline's explanation made sense.
But there was no need to dwell on it too much now. Fortunately, Arman had been secretly sent to China by Tapu Koko.
With China's methods, they would definitely make him reveal a great deal of information.
After asking Tapu Lele to sprinkle its healing Scale Powder on all his Pokémon, Roy flew back to the geyser camp on Salamence's back.
After a quick wash, he prepared to get a good night's sleep. Since yesterday morning, neither Roy nor his Pokémon had gotten proper rest.
The Pokémon were fine and still full of energy.
Under Roy's very reasonable arrangements, they had alternated between rest and battle, giving them plenty of time to recover.
This wasn't the case for Roy, who had kept his mental focus at a high level throughout. Even though his mental fortitude was strong, he was already feeling somewhat exhausted.
Roy and his Pokémon said goodnight to each other, and Lucario said it would stay by Roy's side to let him rest peacefully.
Roy didn't refuse and fell asleep the moment he lay down.
Perhaps because he had used too much mental energy, this sleep was not filled with pleasant dreams.
In the dream, Roy saw that he had failed to rescue Caroline. Her body lay exposed to the sun beneath the black tower, and her beautiful face was covered with blood.