Aiden did not linger in Nimbasa City for long.
After all, as a homeroom teacher from Paldea, he had his primary duty of guiding the students to attend to.
As for the Meloetta he had met by chance, it seemed to get along very well with Indeedee, so it followed Aiden back to Blueberry Academy.
However, perhaps because it didn't want too many people to know of its existence, it spent most of its time holed up in Aiden's room, immediately turning invisible the moment someone came in.
This was a complete contrast to its bold performance in Nimbasa City earlier.
It seemed that only when listening to music would this little one, who looked like a musical note come to life, show its cutest side.
Besides Indeedee, Aiden's other Pokémon also quickly became familiar with it.
"Melo~"
"Indeedee~"
"Buii!"
Whenever Meloetta felt the urge to sing an ancient ballad, Sylveon and Indeedee would join in and show off their own singing voices.
The result, naturally, was—
All the other family members, except for Miraidon, soon became drowsy and fell into a sweet sleep, toppling over. Even the strong-willed Lucario only managed to hold on for a moment before collapsing into sleep.
The effect was so good that it gave Aiden a strange idea: if he had the three little ones at home record a track, would it become a gospel for insomniacs?
It would probably be much more useful than a math teacher's lecture!
As for why Miraidon wasn't falling asleep?
It wasn't because of its Electric Terrain, but because even without Meloetta's song, it slept just as soundly.
The peaceful daily life continued for about ten days or so. During this time, Aiden also inquired a bit about Team Plasma's movements through Director Cyrano.
They seemed to be starting from Accumula Town, giving speeches all the way to Opelucid City, then circling back to complete a tour covering the entire Unova region.
That was why he had happened to run into Team Plasma members while in Unova.
However—
For some reason, Aiden felt that something was a bit off.
After all, in the game's storyline, they seemed to follow a similar path, and judging by the timeline, they should be reaching Opelucid City soon.
At this thought, he suddenly felt a faint sense of unease in his heart.
Could the plot have already begun?
After thinking it over, just to be safe, Aiden sent a message to Drayden, who had just been added as a contact:
[Aiden: Beware of Team Plasma!]
Blueberry Academy and Opelucid City were in opposite directions in Unova. Even if he rushed over now, it would probably still take some time.
But thankfully, he had prepared a backup plan in Opelucid City—
Lacunosa Town, the Giant Chasm.
A giant meteorite crater located in the northeastern corner of Unova. Legend had it that a "giant dragon" once lived inside.
But in Unova, there were simply too many legends like this, so the Giant Chasm wasn't actually very famous.
Added to that was the long detour required to get there and a rumor circulating in the nearby town that "disaster will befall anyone who approaches this cave," so basically no one was willing to go near the creepy place.
However, it was precisely because of this that some of the things that happened inside remained unknown to anyone.
"The body of the legendary 'Original Dragon'... to think it was actually hidden in a place like this."
An obvious echo came from within the cave as a scientist wearing a gray, high-tech robe with very unique-looking glasses dusted himself off and walked out.
Before him sat a destroyer equipped with a sealed container.
Colress's gaze fell upon the container, where a giant dragon, seemingly in a deep slumber, exhaled countless freezing gases with each breath.
"Kyurem... how pathetic."
His tone held a hint of mockery.
According to the long-standing legend in Unova, that triune Original Dragon was once the most powerful deity in the region.
However, due to a war caused by humans, the Original Dragon split into three, leaving only an empty shell behind in the Giant Chasm.
Theoretically, it should have been the individual that inherited the most power from that giant dragon, but Kyurem had never appeared in the human world.
He never thought the reason behind it was so simple—after splitting, Kyurem seemed to have lost the ability to replenish its strength. To prevent itself from weakening, it had no choice but to seal itself with ice of its own accord, waiting for the two dragons that had left it to return to its body.
However, over a thousand years had passed, the clash of Ideals and Truth continued, and thus it remained in a deep sleep.
"Ideals and Truth? Heh."
Colress scoffed and raised an eyebrow, seemingly uninterested in the philosophies of the black and white dragons.
"To fight for over a thousand years over such boring ideals... how utterly pointless."
"Only power and talent are the truth that transcends all else."
"Everything else is merely an illusion."
Adjusting his glasses, Colress suddenly turned his head to look at the three masked men who had appeared behind him at some unknown point.
They knelt on one knee within the shadows, seemingly waiting for Colress's next instruction.
"Tell Ghetsis that I have found the 'container' and am now preparing to meet up with him."
"We had an agreement before I set out. Team Plasma would act in the open to attract the League's attention and take the opportunity to search for 'the key that unlocks the ancient secret'."
"My work here is done. Don't disappoint me."
"—Yes!"
The Shadow Triad glanced at each other. The very next instant after speaking, they vanished without a trace.
Colress was not surprised by this. He quickly turned back to look at the Team Plasma grunts who were opening the hatch and waiting for him to enter.
"An opportunity like this is rare. I must get a good look at the power of a Legendary Pokémon."
"If I can obtain data on the three dragons of Unova... perhaps my research on 'potential' can also see new progress."
"So, don't disappoint me, Ghetsis!"
Opelucid City.
When he received Aiden's message, Drayden was in the mayor's office, reviewing documents.
Upon seeing the warning, "Beware of Team Plasma," his heart suddenly skipped a beat for no reason.
In fact, he had been feeling a bit uneasy these past few days.
Aiden was far away at the man-made Blueberry Academy on the sea, so he wasn't clear on the situation in Opelucid City.
But as the mayor, he was all too aware of Team Plasma's every move.
Not only had they been staying in Opelucid City for over five days, but they were also discreetly asking for information from certain people who knew the inside story.
Information about an object passed down through the generations of the Opelucid Gym, an object related to the "Original Dragon."
Their objective was very clear: they were after the DNA Splicers.
Therefore, Drayden had temporarily closed the Opelucid Gym during this time and had also refused an audience with Team Plasma's boss, Ghetsis.
After receiving Aiden's warning, this unease had reached its peak.
However—
Why, at this very moment, did the entire Unova League's communication system seem to be paralyzed? He couldn't contact the Elite Four or Champion Alder at all.
Relying on the strength of Opelucid City alone to stand against the now powerful Team Plasma was clearly difficult.
He had even sought out the International Police, whom he wasn't very familiar with, to request their support.
However, the International Police's main focus was not on Unova at the moment, but on responding to the "Ultra Beasts" that had already appeared several times in Alola.
So the support they could provide for the time being was limited.
"Alder—what on earth are you doing?"
Recalling this Unova Champion, who was once full of fighting spirit but now was carefree and uninvolved in worldly affairs, Drayden could only sigh helplessly.
Even without him, he had to stop Team Plasma's scheme!
And just as Drayden's conviction was gradually strengthening, a knock suddenly came from the door of the city hall, which should have been locked—
His attention was instantly drawn to it, and he immediately prepared for battle at any moment.
"I see. I understand."
After the Shadow Triad informed Ghetsis of Colress's original words, the latter's expression was unexpectedly calm.
"I have already basically confirmed the location of the DNA Splicers. It's on that old fool Drayden."
"So, your next mission is to infiltrate his mayor's office and bring back the DNA Splicers that can control Kyurem."
"Yes!"
The Shadow Triad vanished once more. Neither Ghetsis nor the several grunts beside him found anything amiss.
As "ninjas" carefully trained by Ghetsis, they had never failed a single mission so far, always completing it cleanly and perfectly.
This time would clearly be no exception.
And indeed, for ninjas, infiltrating a room might be as simple as eating a meal, just a trivial, ordinary matter.
After vanishing, they almost immediately broke straight into the city hall where Drayden was and quickly locked onto the office's location.
The triplets exchanged a look and immediately divided their labor.
Bang—!
The eldest brother kicked open the door first, followed immediately by the third brother, who tossed a smoke bomb inside.
As for the last one, he had already disappeared into the smoke.
"Mayor Drayden, please come with us."
The voices of the triplets merged into one, making it impossible to discern their direction.
And the man sitting behind the desk was being held at the throat, heart, and back by three daggers simultaneously. It seemed any slight movement would result in his immediate subjugation.
For ninjas, Pokémon battles were completely meaningless. They only needed to carry out the most precise decapitation strike to achieve their master, Lord Ghetsis's, objective.
It was just that this time, they seemed to have run into a tough opponent.
The threatened "Drayden" not only showed no reaction but, because of their actions, actively fell forward.
"??!"
The Shadow Triad didn't even have time to retract their daggers and could only watch as their target was stabbed through the heart—?
But no blood gushed out as they had imagined. Instead, a strange, feather-light material, like cotton, was blown out.
They'd been tricked!
This was their first reaction.
The Shadow Triad didn't even have time to confirm before immediately preparing to release a ninjutsu and escape.
Clearly, their actions had been discovered. If they stayed, they risked being captured. It was better to abort the mission immediately and wait for another opportunity.
However—
Ding—!
A spotlight, coming from an unknown source, pierced through the smoke, shining directly on the trio's location.
At the same time, the Shadow Triad also felt the subtle sensation of air disturbance on their skin.
It was as if something were circling around them outside.
"Who is it!"
The eldest of the three raised his dagger, flinging it straight in one direction.
There was no echo. The thrown dagger vanished into thin air without a trace.
At the same time, several slightly chaotic voices also rang out:
"Since you've asked so sincerely..."
"We'll graciously tell you..."
"To protect the world from devastation..."
"To unite all peoples within our nation..."
"To denounce the evils of truth and love~"
"To extend our reach to the stars above~"
"Jessie!"
A red-haired figure appeared, holding a thick rope in her hands.
"James~"
Another figure with short, blue hair followed closely behind.
"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"
"You two idiots, the boss said we can't call ourselves Team Rocket right now, Meowth!"
Two flashes of white light darted out from somewhere, and soon a Meowth appeared in front of the desk, striking a cool and dashing pose.
"So, in a nutshell..."
"That's right!"
The Shadow Triad looked completely baffled, having no idea what their words meant.
However, they seemed to have fallen under some kind of strange, rule-based power. Under normal circumstances, with their level of vigilance, it would have been impossible for them to wait for the other side to finish such a long speech.
But just now, it was as if they were being controlled. They stood there dumbly, without any thought of escape.
By the time they reacted again, the Team Rocket member named Jessie had already tied them up tightly, leaving them unable to move.
"All done! This mission was surprisingly simple, Meowth~"
Meowth, who seemed to have done nothing at all, clapped his hands with a "we three are so amazing" expression.
At the same time, it didn't forget to look at the already-tied-up Shadow Triad, a look of confusion on its face.
"I heard from the consultant that these three are supposed to be very powerful ninjas, Meowth. How come they seem so silly?"
"After all, they're members of Team Plasma, whom Boss Giovanni looks down on. How powerful can their boss be, anyway~"
James slickly brushed back his bangs.
"These small fry don't need the Boss or the consultant. The three of us can handle them easily."
Jessie, who was holding the end of the rope, also nodded in agreement.
"Although it's our first time working together, we seem to have surprisingly good chemistry."
"After this 'Operation Tempest' is over, maybe the three of us will be praised by the boss and become famous executives in Team Rocket, Meowth!"
"Hehehe—"
The two of them and a Meowth simultaneously fell into fantasy.
"What a wonderful feeling~" × 3
Compared to the three goofing off, the tied-up Shadow Triad was clearly a bit angry.
They—had actually lost to these three losers?
Impossible, absolutely impossible!
Seeing the three begin to struggle violently, and one of them even trying to quietly slip his hand into his pocket, clearly preparing to resist to the very end, Meowth immediately revealed the sharp claws on his hand and leaped onto the desk: "Behave yourselves, no funny business, Meowth!"
With a few swipes, several claw marks quickly appeared on the Shadow Triad's faces, and the various strange gadgets hidden in their pockets and on their bodies were all confiscated.
"Truly worthy of being ninjas, you were carrying a lot of weird things—"
Looking at the pile of strange gadgets on Meowth's claws, James's mouth twitched.
"But now, you should recognize reality, right?"
"Rocket—Rainbow Corporation, has decided to take over all of Team Plasma's operations in Unova!"
"Effective immediately!"
After James finished his forceful declaration, he turned his head to look towards the balcony.
"Speaking of which, did you two hear any strange sounds?"
"Strange sounds?"
Jessie and Meowth looked at each other. After listening carefully for a moment, they finally reacted.
"Vroom-vroom-vroom—"
"It's the sound of an engine, Meowth! And it sounds like it's coming from the sky!"
Meowth immediately grew excited.
"Is it the Boss? Has he already arrived?!"
It immediately darted out, looking up at the sky from the balcony.
However, its expression quickly stiffened considerably—"Wh-what is that, Meowth?!"
Jessie and James also turned to look outside, soon revealing the same expression.
A wooden destroyer was sailing through the sky, its oars rowing evenly in the air, but they were clearly not the source of its power.
And at the stern of that airship, a strange device that continuously scattered ice shards and vaguely showed the outline of a cannon was aiming downwards.
Then—
BOOM—!
An ice-cold cannonball shot directly towards the city.
------------------------------------------------------
30+ Chapters Ahead: patreon.com/EphemeralShadow
There's something for free patrons too! Free Patrons receive 1 chapter in advance :)