“They copied everything,” Lysandre repeated in a subdued tone.
On the computer screen, Aliana’s bandaged face flinched, but nodded.
“It’s difficult to say for absolute certain, sir,” she said. “Due to the fact that they destroyed and vandalized our data repository before making their escape, but security footage we’ve recovered seems to bear the theory out.”
Aliana’s face vanished from the computer, replaced by a scene of a man, a woman, a Meowth, and a bright white Pokémon with a flowing rainbow mane and tail. He recognized them from that night in the Poke Ball Factory immediately – apparently, he had been far too merciful.
“Hey, Team Flare!” the woman pointed up at the security camera. “We’re in your super-secret room!”
“And we’ve stolen all of your files!” the blue haired man added.
“And dere’s nothin’ you clowns can do about it!” the Meowth laughed.
All three of them stuck out their tongues out a blew a raspberry directly at the overhead camera. Behind them, the white Pokémon that Gyarados had faced not so long ago was breathing a steady stream of flames even through the sprinklers. When it stopped, Lysandre realized that it had burned an enormous “R” over the Team Flare insignia emblazoned proudly on the central wall. The mysterious Pokémon turned towards the camera itself, then flashed a winning smile with utterly perfect white teeth. The image froze right there, and Aliana’s face reappeared.
“I trust that our data has been better protected in cyberspace than here in reality?” he asked her in a level voice.
The scientist swallowed, but nodded. “We encrypted all data stored there as best we could, but…”
“But?”
“But no encryption is unbreakable, and to be frank our knowledge of Team Rocket’s technological capabilities is incomplete at best. I doubt they’ll get anything out of there fast, but we could be talking about anything from days to weeks,” she admitted. “Maybe even months, if we’re lucky.”
“Which is a foolish assumption to make,” Lysandre said. “Especially under these circumstances.”
His subordinate nodded with visible reluctance.
“We must accelerate our plans,” he continued. “I want all personnel evacuated from the Lumiose base before the week is out. Wipe all remaining systems and destroy anything of substance left behind.”
“But, sir-”
“Your experiments can continue when we’ve won and the world is reborn. Right now, all of our efforts must be turned towards ensuring that. We must proceed as though our enemies will very soon understand something of the true extent of our plans and the location of the ultimate weapon. Do you understand, Aliana?”
“I understand, sir,” she stiffened. “I won’t fail you again.”
“See that you don’t.” Lysandre nodded once. “Over and out.”
As his subordinate’s image vanished, Lysandre folded his hands together and considered the situation. Apparently, he’d underestimated the persistence of Team Rocket. He’d thought that after the thorough pummeling they’d been given in Laverre and the total defeat of the force sent after him personally, that they’d take the hint and back off. For selfish, criminal, cretinous vermin they were strangely hard to dissuade. Was their strange determination simply a result of his… acquisition of what was left of their Dark Ball project? Would simple revenge really drive even such base people so far? Or had they somehow uncovered hints of his greater plans? Did that strange white Pokémon have anything to do with it?
“Sir,” the voice of his secretary cut into his musings. “We have the Lumiose Gym Leader Clemont and a group of his companions here, requesting to see you. They say it’s something about a job you had offered.”
Ash, Serena, Clemont, Bonnie, Pikachu, and Twilight were escorted from an elevator a few minutes later by a stern-faced, brown-haired middle-aged woman who apparently served as Lysandre’s gatekeeper. She led them to a finely crafted oak door, knocked three times, apparently received some answer through her earpiece, and finally opened it. They had to squint briefly against the sudden blaze of sunlight.
Once their eyes adjusted the group caught a breathtaking view of Lumiose’s Prism Tower and the surrounding downtown through the enormous window that made up the office’s back wall. The remainder of the room was lavishly decorated, shelves packed with antique books and rare first editions sitting next to plinths topped with expensive-looking statues and pottery. Several paintings hung from the walls, many depicting what looked to be kings and nobles of ages long past. Others portrayed proud-looking Pokémon in regal poses.
In the center of the room was a sleek-looking metal desk decorated with Lysandre Labs’ corporate logo. A bound notebook rested alongside a computer, a small statue of a Gyarados, what looked to be a fossil of some kind. And behind it, seated in a deep red leather chair, was the man they had come to see.
“Ah, Clemont,” Lysandre smiled warmly as they filed in. “And I see you’ve brought your sister Bonnie, Ash, Serena, Pikachu, and…” his eyes fell on Twilight, widened briefly, then flicked back to the Gym Leader. “And a new friend I’m not acquainted with.”
“This is Twilight,” Clemont introduced the alicorn, who gave a respectful nod. “And she’s… well, she’s,” he looked a little guilty. “She’s the reason we’re here.”
Lysandre raised an eyebrow.
“The truth is I didn’t exactly come here about a job interview,” he admitted sheepishly.
“You lied to us?!” the woman who’d escorted the group there started. “That is grounds for immediate eviction and-”
“It’s alright,” Lysandre held up his hand for peace. “If such fine young people are willing to tell a lie just to gain a few moments of my time, then it must be important. I’ll hear what they have to say.” His gaze turned back to the group, and his smile faded. “But be warned that you’re treading on thin ice. I am a busy man and I do not much care for dishonesty.”
“Thanks very much Mr. Lysandre sir!” Bonnie said.
“Yes, thank you very much,” Clemont nodded, to general agreement from the others. “We came to you because we’re looking for someone, and we were hoping you could help.”
“Twilight isn’t just a Pokémon,” Ash added, “She actually came here accidentally from another world.”
“She was a princess there,” Serena said.
“Right,” Ash nodded. “And she’s looking for another princess that got accidentally caught up here too. Do you remember Team Rocket’s strange white Pokémon from the factory?”
Lysandre frowned, looked down, and typed something onto his computer. A moment later, he swung the screen around to reveal a hazy picture of a white alicorn with a rainbow mane in a dark hallway. Smoke and water obscured the image, but it was clear she was accompanied by two humans in white uniforms, a Meowth, and a Wobbuffet.
“That’s her!” Twilight said immediately, pointing and nodding her head frantically. “That’s Princess Celestia!”
“You’ve seen her?” Clemont asked breathlessly. “Since Laverre?”
“Not personally, no.” Lysandre shook his head, and their faces fell. “But not long ago an affiliate of Lysandre Labs suffered a break-in at the hands of Team Rocket. They assaulted several employees and made off with a great deal of valuable data. I believe this to have been their revenge for thwarting their plans at the Poke Ball Factory.” He frowned. “This friend of Twilight’s appears to have been complicit.”
“Princess Celestia would never do something like that!” Twilight shook her head vehemently. “Not unless she was being forced to somehow! She’s not a thief and she’s not a bad guy, you have to believe me!”
“When did this happen?” Clemont asked.
“Less than a day ago,” Lysandre answered.
“So that means they can’t have gone far,” Twilight felt her hopes rising. “Please, do you know which way they went?”
“Do you have any idea where they’re headed?” Ash asked. “If we hurry we might be able to catch up to them and get Twilight’s friend and your data back.”
“I would certainly appreciate it if you did,” Lysandre smiled faintly again. “And I do have enough information from people who spotted their balloon to make an educated guess as to where they headed.”
“Really? That’s great!” Clemont smiled back.
“But…” he paused. “Before I give you that information, might I ask that you do one small thing for me? It’s nothing difficult, I assure you, just a small compensation for getting my hopes up.”
“Name it,” the Gym Leader said without hesitation.
“I am, as you can see by my choice in literature, fascinated with unique and beautiful stories. And this particular tale seems to be a true once in a lifetime event. So, after I tell you where I believe Team Rocket to have headed,” his eyes glittered, “I’d be much obliged if you would tell me everything that you know about Ms. Twilight there, her white friend, and what exactly is going on here.”
“Done,” the alicorn said immediately.
Several minutes of mutual explanations later, Lysandre’s underling escorted the children and their Pokémon from his office and shut the door quietly behind them. The famous inventor and philanthropist folded his hands together, considering all that he had just learned, and what had just happened to Team Flare’s Lumiose base. He was lost in thought for a good few minutes before finally coming to a decision. Lysandre reached for his computer, tapped a few keys, and waited. The Team Flare logo appeared on the screen for perhaps half a minute, before being replaced with the image of a blue-haired woman in the uniform of a Flare Scientist wearing a mechanical visor across her eyes.
“Lysandre, sir,” Mable saluted him. “You called?”
“It seems this Team Rocket and their mysterious new Pokémon – this ‘Celestia’ – have the potential to pose a more serious danger to our plans than previously anticipated,” Lysandre informed her. “Therefore, I’m authorizing the release of Pokémon under Dark Ball control from the ultimate weapon project. Send whomever you deem appropriate, go yourself if necessary, but hunt down this Jessie, James, and Meowth, and see to it that they are no longer an issue.”
“Yes sir,” she nodded. “Consider it done.”
Lysandre frowned. “Only when it is.”
She lead them to a finely crafted oak door
1. Led.
Welp... Let's hope Luna arrives with the unexpected Royal Air Force. Celestia's going to need it after Twilight inadvertently spilled the beans.
I feel as though this could be compared to a game of chess; all the pieces are dancing around each other but no pieces have converged yet. I can see it happening, possibly soon, but not yet. The fact that I've slipped into prediction mode proves you have a good tale to tell.
I really am glad that you are continuing this.
Letting them meet up is gonna be Lysandre's biggest mistake. They're gonna find Team Rocket, have a big battle due to a misunderstanding and at the end of it all the problems will be worked out possibly by Luna's arrival where Lysandre will be ousted as the leader of Team Flare where the three groups will then proceed to stop him with Team Rockets data. Just a prediction of things to come.
Twilight and the Ash gang's innocence in a sense might be their downfall...
Uh-oh. Lysandre knows that the princesses are immortal. This makes all three of them high-priority targets for the Dark Ball project.
Wouldn't it be something if Celestia ended up in a Dark Ball and it was up to Twilight, Luna, and James to save her? Heh. As always, I can't wait.
Oof. That's obviously not great. Hopefully Twilight at least hears Celestia out. I still can't ever imagine she would shoot first, ask questions later, but Ash and co., or even Team Rocket might fuck things up. I have a sinking feeling Twilight is going to end up in a Dark Ball sooner or later., quite possibly after some such misinformed battle. Perhaps even Luna as well. Excellent chapter.
led
This is getting tense. Hopefully it never enters "Comedy of errors" mode, though.
Argh! Ash, you moron! :D
9002632
I agree.
9002699
It's Twilight. She tends to prefer "expedient" actions, shall we say, and she thinks Celly is under mind control.
*cough* smartypants *cough*
They're probably going to bag Celestia, hand off Team Rocket to Flare, and only ask questions about T-3 minutes from when Lysandre activates the weapon...
Hoping not, but between established personalities and Ash being naive... no such luck. :(
And even if Twi doesn't bugger it up, something'll probably happen to the translator and Team Ash will do the buggering instead.
I forget, was Cadence involved in this mess?
Can't blame Twilight and Ash and Co for giving out precious information.
They're still not aware they're dealing with the devil.
Great chanpter.
When pokemon speak, you should put their lines in brackets or something. It'll help show that the humans don't understand them.
9002780
Smarty-pants was a bad decision, but it was hardly expedient. It came at the end of the episode, after all.
That said, she's characterized in this story as a bull-headed, virtuelss niaf, so expecting the worst of her isn't a bad bet.
9002638
even if its sunds unrealistic it whould be real nice
Darn it Twilight
Maybe Twilight, Ash and co will see through the shroud and team up with Celestia and co, and with Luna and her flock for the right cause.
I wonder if Cadance follows them in at a moment.
It seems like Luna might have been left out of the conversation, since no hunting party was mustered for her. Twilight was keeping some secrets, and I don't recall if she let anyone know Luna might be there.
Look like the big resolution is comming up!
9003052
If I recall, Twilight isn't actually aware that Luna's IN Poke world... and even then, definitely doesn't know where Luna is.
9003446
Well once Lysander Labs is assaulted by a huge flock of Spearow I think they will know...
9002638
You know what's an even bigger mistake? Sending Team Flare goons to the same place and at the same time as Ash and company. That will end up ringing all sorts of alarm bells.
9003446
She knows or at least strongly suspects Luna got caught in the mirror incident, but doesn't know where she is, true.
9002336
He talked about Luna gathering a horde of wild pokemons to attack Team Flare. See the linked video to see the common point.
9000900
One cannot watch Avatar too much! We doth decree this!
vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/deathbattlefanon/images/1/13/Luna.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/300?cb=20160529150010
9002785
I don't think so, and if she was she's been very quiet throughout this mess.
9002785
Explicitly Twilight Celestia and Luna.
It was mentioned in a flashback when Twilight first started to talk.
Unless plot twist they went in willingly.
9026676
That and a permanent day/night would kill crops and pones, so have to have Cadence hold down the fort
My military senses are tingling. 'over and out' is something you never say because 'over' means that it's the others turn to talk while 'out' means you close off the conversation
9627373
so its the military equilibrium of saying "its your turn to talk, but I dont care" ?