After Alice was done yelling at him (though Bo wasn’t sure what she was so upset about. Wicked had whipped up a miniature Whirlwind that easily caught the two of them before they could hit the ground), Bo jogged over to the rest of the group in time to call an end to the day’s training and announce the commencement of a pre-tournament game night. The tired but satisfied crowd greeted his announcement with a few raucous cheers before dispersing. Dani’s Darmanitan, Saint, led several of the larger pokemon towards the practice fields where some impromptu ball games had been set up. Meanwhile, some of the smaller pokemon followed their trainers who opted not to risk death by pokemon-powered tether ball and instead headed towards the lounge to play cards. Lastly, Bo and Baron had split off in order to play-ahem* check in on someone.

“Hey there pal!” Bo called before leaning out of the way of a wispy Ember.

“Bree!” Baron greeted as well, smoothly lowering his shoulder as a small form angrily rammed into him, only to bounce off with a small cry.

“Char! Char-cha!”

“Oof, you okay bud?” Bo tried to help the Charcadet up, only to quickly pull his hands away as the little guy punched out at him with a fiery fist. Instead of connecting with one of Bo’s fingers, the young fire type whiffed so hard he nearly spun himself in a circle before falling over again, and a small snort of laughter escaped Bo before he could help it. “Sorry, sorry. I swear I’m not trying to mess with you. I just wanted to see if you might want to join us for game night? Baron and I are meeting up with the others now, so you’d have plenty of people to play with.”

“Breon,” Bo’s partner backed him, using the patient tone that Bo recognized from whenever Baron was trying to ease a new member of the family into trying something new.

Bo had previously hoped that the fire type might have mellowed out a little over the last few months of interacting with Dani or Carter’s teams. He’d even held a small hope that the Charcadet might reconsider joining the family but there hadn’t been much luck. He got along with Carter’s mellow Golurk, but otherwise he was rather persistent in his efforts to ‘purge the Dark Lord’s army of minions before vanquishing him in glorious, fiery battle,’ as Astra had helpfully translated. So far, that seemed to mean charging at any of the others if they got too near while shouting a rather adorable war cry. Tonight though, Bo was determined to woo the little guy with wonderful companionship, snacks, and games of chance. “What do you say? Give it a shot?”

The Charcadet remained silent as he slowly got himself to his feet. Straightening his back, he turned to look inquisitively at Bo and then Baron. The two partners held their breath, eager anticipation rising up within.

.

..

…

“CHARRRRR!”

“Ah, come on, please? Just join us for a few rounds of cards little buddy,” Bo wheedled sweetly as he stepped out of the way of a wild kick before hopping over a spout of flickering flames. Circling around the pokemon, he made sure to keep his voice calm and his palms open as coaxed his attacker. “It’ll be so much fun, I swear.”

“Umbree-bre,” Baron agreed in a serious tone, though it was slightly undercut by his obvious amusement as he too skipped out of the way of a stray spark. Despite the Charcadet’s meager Ember posing about as much threat as a stray drop of rain, the dark type saw no reason not to enjoy a fiery game of tag.

“Char! Char! Char-char-char-char-char-CHAR!”

Bo and Baron continued skipping and hopping a circle around the fire child as he tried to pepper them with small flames. Soon though, the young pokemon finally grew too tired to keep chasing them and the Carcadet’s flames sputtered meekly while he panted in place.

Smiling in triumph, Bo took the cessation of attacks as agreement and scooped up the tired pokemon in his arms. “Excellent! Off we go then.”

“Umbree!”

huff huff* “…char.”

Satisfied that their little guest wasn’t going to set fire to anything else that evening, Bo and Baron jogged back to the house with him. Bo was eager to enjoy a nice, relaxing evening with his friends. Arriving back at the building though, Bo was curious to a slender figure standing by the door with an expectant look on his face.

“Hey Kazu,” Bo greeted one of Suzu’s many cousins, not particularly surprised when the man simply nodded silently in response. Once Bo was close enough, the Kahale wasted no time thrusting a small, tightly wrapped package in his hands. Task accomplished, the man quickly moved away, leaving Bo awkwardly holding the Charcadet under arm while cradling the package in his other. “Thank you!”

Not receiving any response, Bo shrugged and gently placed the young fire type on Baron’s back before… well before whipping his phone out and snapping a picture because a pouting Charcadet riding on top of a tiny Umbreon was freaking adorable. That done, Bo finally turned his attention to the package. Turning it over, his eyes widened and his heart leapt in his chest as he spotted a package label. Specifically, the package’s origin. Kalos.

Remembering the contract he’d signed recently, Bo eagerly ripped into the package to reveal a sturdy metal case sealed tightly shut by retinal and fingerprint scanners. Quickly testing them out, Bo was pleased to hear the case snap open for him. With a tense gulp of air, Bo cracked the case open. A smile spreading across his face at the sight before him, Bo reverently removed the treasure within from the case. Holding it, his hand shivered with tightly wound energy. Below him, Baron too was trembling with excitement, much to the Charcadet’s confusion.

“C’mon, Brother,” Bo grinned. “Let’s go find Carter.”

*

Standing in the dark room ringed by dozens of photos and names, Carter struggled to shrug off the sense of malaise that always seemed to settle over him whenever he was there. After returning to the house from practice, he’d noticed his shirt had gotten torn and stepped into his room to change out of it, but as he was coming back down, he found himself pausing at the stairs. Rather than go back down, his body seemed to go on autopilot, walking itself up the stairs, past some of those strange cats that occasionally tried to claw Apollo, and into the room baring the Moon family tree.

His eyes roved over the myriad portraits and pictures of toothily grinning Moons, before eventually dragging themselves back to where his own name was, surrounded by the names of his own family. All except for one. Or not. Maybe. More and more these days, Carter really didn’t know what to think about-

“Olly olly oxen freeee!” a jovial voice snapped Carter out of his daze. He turned to find Bo’s head peeking through the door with a wide smile that started to tighten as he caught Carter’s expression. Below him, Apollo and Baron nudged the door open wider as they walked into the room, Bo trailing behind them, one hand tucked behind his back for some reason. “You alright big guy?”

“I’m fine,” Carter answered quickly before gesturing awkwardly towards the family tree. “Just… thinking quietly in a dark room by myself like a normal person does.”

Sadly, this failed to elicit a laugh as Bo’s smile turned concerned. “It’s the tree isn’t it? It’s really okay if you don’t like it. I can talk to the Old Man.”

“No, no,” Carter assured him hurriedly, waving towards where his families’ names spread across the wall. “This is amazing Skittles, seriously. Reese and Maddie are going to absolutely love it. They always wanted more of a family.”

Bo huffed. “Emma’s family is still being a douchey sack of dicks then?”

“Oh, they’re much better lately.” Carter’s voice was thick with sarcasm. “Last time they reached out, they finally agreed to welcome her back… as long as she divorced me-”

“Fuck them.”

“-and apologize for having Reese.”

“Fuck them with an angry Beedrill.”

“About what I was thinking, yes.”

“Well it’s their loss. We’re happy to have you all as family. They haven’t even met yet and I think Yuzu wants to adopt Emma based off stories alone. Plus, Gramps knows Reese and Maddie are the only great-grandkids he’s likely to get.”

“Oh? You and Dani not having any?”

“No,” Bo responded easily before his eyes widened as his brain caught up with what he’d said. “I mean, uh, last time I checked, Dani didn’t want kids. I guess she could have changed her mind. I, uh, wouldn’t know, but I’m not really human parent material, and I already have Princess, and uh, no, no little Rainbows for me.”

Carter chuckled lightly to himself at his younger friend’s awkward floundering but decided to let him off the hook. “Fair enough Skittles. Emma and I will be happy to keep collecting on the free babysitting then.”

“Happy to,” Bo’s grin eased. “Just remember that you get what you pay for.”

Even Apollo snorted in laughter at that.

“So,” Bo said once they were done. “What’s got you thinking then? That’s a dangerous path, y’know?”

Carter sighed, looking back towards the wall with his family’s names. “Just trying to decide whether or not I wish my brother’s name was there too, I guess.”

He winced slightly as Apollo whined quietly beside him, an uncertain anxiety similar to Carter’s own spilling from across their bond. He knew that his partner too, had complicated feelings about his old trainer. Bo also grunted slightly as he stepped up next to Carter. The larger man watched a stretch of barely recognizable emotions pass across his friends face before he nodded to himself, moving over to tap a finger against one of the many photos on the wall. “I think I get what you mean, at least a little.”

Carter moved closer to look at the small photo Bo was looking at. Within it, Old Man stood tall and much younger than he was now. A blonde woman with a stern expression but laugh lines around her mouth stood beside him with three small children arrayed in front of them. Carter recognized the serious-looking, bespectacled Armand from the town council meeting, and the smallest child with sharp features and a cocky grin that used to be famous enough in his own right for Carter to have been at least a bit of a fan for years now. It was only the last child that truly surprised him. Looking like a miniature, clean shaven version of the Old Man, the only evidence of who he was was process of elimination and the same stretched grin that permanently adorned Bo’s face.

“Personally, I’ve always wanted to meet my other uncle. Sure, he made a bunch of mistakes and ran off, but I’m the last person to judge about that. I actually heard a rumor that he’s in Alola now, though how he can stand all that sunshine is a mystery to me. I even considered trying to track him down when I went to find Dani. Convince him to join the team, you know?”

Carter whistled at that. Retired or not, having former Elite Four and recognized dark type master, Grimsley Moon, would have made a world of difference when it came to the tournament. “What happened? You change your mind or did Nanu just kick you off the islands before you could find him?”

“Little of both,” Bo chuckled before his voice sobered. “I sort of figured that if I knew Uncle G was there, then so did the Old Man. And if the Old Man called me and told me to get my ass back home, then he probably called Uncle G too. As you can see, he’s still not here.”

Carter felt a spike of sympathy towards his friend and the Old Man before his gaze tracked towards the other child in the picture. He hesitated to press on a sensitive subject, but with his own missing sore spot fresh in mind, he nodded at the tanned child in the picture. “And what about your father?”

The effect was instant. Bo’s face twisted while a warning rumble rose from within Baron’s small body. Even Apollo tensed, pushing himself between Carter and the Umbreon. He reached down to stroke his partner reassuringly, confident he wasn’t in any danger from Baron.

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“…Like you said, I’m not really sure if I wish he were here or not. I feel angry that he broke Gramps’ heart by leaving the way he did. Empty, I guess, about the fact that he was never there for me… Guilty that I killed the woman he loved. And yes,” Bo held up a hand before Carter could interrupt. “I’m aware that I’m not supposed to blame myself for that last one, but it doesn’t really help. What does help is, well, you.”

“Huh?” Carter’s head tilted back in confusion.

Bo shuffled in place somewhat bashfully. “All the others too. You might not know what to think about your brother, and I might not know what to think about my dad, but we both have people in our lives that we know exactly how we feel about. They’re our family,” he nodded meaningfully towards the family tree inscribed on the wall. “I, uh, I know that I, for one, am really fucking grateful to have found an amazing older brother who watches my back and keeps me from going off the rails.”

Carter blinked back the warmth that welled up in his eyes and he slung an arm over Bo’s shoulder. “Love you too little brother.”

Feeling a hefty prod against his hip, Carter glance down with a smile, spotting Baron leaning forcefully into Apollo to nudge him into Carter. “You too Baron,” he said with a laugh. “Honestly, us four and Angel getting along is probably a small miracle given how I met you all.”

“Hmm,” Bo tilted his head in confusion before Baron yipped and he leaned back with a groan of realization. “Ohhh, right. That thing with your friend back when I was a kid. Yeah, that could have gone badly.”

“Wasn’t my friend,” Carter corrected reflexively, his mind briefly going back to when he’d first met Bo as a child. He’d been sent looking for a coworker, only to find that the idiot had tried messing with a group of Cleffa. Needless to say, young Bo and the Old Man had not been happy to meet him back then, for more reasons than one. “Anyways, thanks for the talk Bo. I think that’s enough emotions for one night, though. You wanna head back down?”

“Oh wait! I actually had something fun I wanted to talk to you about first before we got sidetracked by emotions!” Bo’s grin turned megawatt excited and he seemed to bounce eagerly in place. Baron too, quivered with excitement and even nudged Apollo playfully once more. Carter reached out through their bond to see if his Houndoom had an idea as to what was going on, but the canine was just as lost as he was.

Turning to face Bo, Carter noticed Bo once more had both hands held tightly behind his back and quirked an eyebrow. “What’s up Skittles? I know I just said I love you and all, but if you’re about to propose, I have to warn you that I’m already married.”

Seeing his friend’s grin grow wider and a mischievous twinkle enter his eyes, Carter immediately regretted his joke. “Please don’t,” he tried even as Bo smoothly went down to one knee.

“Carter Bartholomew Rosen-”

“That’s not my middle name.”

“Will you make me the happiest man in the world-”

“Nope.”

“And accept this big, shiny rock?”

“Skittles, what ro-”

Carter’s exasperated question froze in his throat as Bo held up a small crystal orb. Next to him, Apollo’s spirit flared with sudden intensity and Carter knew he was laser focused on the crystal as well. Tinged pink with a red and black swirl nestled within, the marble-like object seemed to burn with heat that reached Carter’s soul.

“That’s,” Carter struggled to find the words. “Bo that’s houndoominite.”

If possible, Bo grinned even wider. “I would sure hope so. If not, this was going to be really awkward. You’ll also need this.” He said, fishing out a familiar knife. Flipping it over, he held it out to Carter pommel first, the embedded marble within glimmering in the low light. The double-helix pattern inside gave it away as key stone.

Gently taking the crystal and knife from Bo, Carter felt his bond with Apollo pulse and crackle like lightning. For the briefest moments, an unending, all consuming flame seemed to rise to life in his chest, and he knew that Apollo could feel it too. Then he blinked and it was gone, nothing but an echo of the familiar well of power remaining in Carter’s soul. It had been years since he’d felt such a thing, not since the Hoenn League had confiscated his last mega and key stones.

“Bo,” his voice was soft and hushed despite no one else being around. “How did you get a mega stone?”

“Would you believe I bought it at the fish market auction where I got Rotobi?”

“No,” Carter said flatly before his face scrunched in confusion. “Wait, you bought your phone from a fishmonger?”

“Yeah, he gave me a great deal on it too,” Bo smiled. “Ridiculously cheap even."

“That’s because it’s defective and keeps changing your phone contacts. If you’re going to use one of those things instead of a transceiver, just go buy-, wait,” Carter cut himself off as Apollo growled pointedly. “Right, thanks. Skittles, you are not distracting me with poor financial decisions. How did you get the mega stone?”

“Ok, fine,” Bo grumbled. “Well, I wanted to steal your old one back from wherever the Hoenns had it-”

Carter felt a headache build as his face reflexively moved to what even he had to admit was a ‘Dad face,’ but Bo kept going.

“-but Old Man wouldn’t let me. Instead, we just reached out to the Kalos League. They still owed me a favor for that whole abducting me thing and apparently still had Malva’s old stone in a vault, so we worked out a trade. I talked it over with Gizmo, and we agreed to trade our sablenite for the houndoominite.”

Forcing the hungry desire out of his head at his friend’s words, Carter thrust the two objects back towards Bo. “No. No, no, no. Bo, either one of these are worth a literal fortune and they’ve been in your family for years-”

“We literally just covered the fact that you’re family too. I gave you the chance to opt out and you said no. No take backs.”

“-We can’t take your key stone or Gizmo’s stone,” Carter spoke forcefully, ignoring Bo’s interruption. Apollo barked softly in agreement as well. “Please tell me you can get the other stone back.”

“Nope,” Bo replied casually, drawing a frown from Carter. Transitioning to a more serious tone, he looked Carter in the eye. “Look, please just hear me out on this. Even if we say that I’m not responsible for you losing your old set-”

“I already told you to stop blaming yourself for that. Besides, considering how I got them, my brother probably stole my old set in the first place.”

“That was never proven,” Bo interjected quickly. “And, like I was saying, even if we don’t call it my fault, I’d still want to do this. I talked it over with Gizmo, remember? The fact is, she hates mega evolving; makes her too slow and clumsy for her tastes. Rasputin and Erasmus aren’t interested in battling on that kind of level either, so at the end of the day, the sablenite is really just a… well, I’m pretty sure she actually referred to it as a shiny Kegel ball, but I don’t like to think about that. The point is, she really doesn’t need that specific rock. Don’t get me wrong, Gizmo is expecting a really nice Mewmas gift from you, but the trade doesn’t bother her, and without the mega stone, I really don’t need the key stone. You and Apollo, on the other hand, are freaking forces of nature with those. You two being able to mega evolve could help the team and even the entire town way more than me holding onto shiny trinkets.”

“Umbreon,” Baron yipped definitively with a stern look in his eyes, daring Carter and Apollo to argue.

Seeing his friends’ earnest expressions, Carter felt his heart lighten. Glancing over at his partner, he saw Apollo nod, a rare, vulnerable smile spreading across his fanged mouth. Kneeling down, Carter held up the mega stone to Apollo. With a small flex of his aura, the Houndoom removed a small piece of aura-imbued charcoal from where it had sat within his spirit and set it down of the ground. Leaning forward slowly, the hound rested his nose against the houndoominite. With a soft glow and flare of aura, the stone disappeared from sight and Carter actually felt the vibrations from Apollo’s satisfied rumble.

Looking up at his friend, Carter smiled gratefully. “Thank you, Bo.”

“Any time,” he smiled back. “Sort of. I don’t actually have any other stones to trade. You get what I mean though.”

Chuckling, Carter stood back up, but a faint lingering doubt echoed back through his head. “Seriously though, this means a lot to me Bo, but I have to ask, how did really you get Kalos to agree to this? Sablenite is valuable, but the end product isn’t anywhere near as dangerous as what houndoominite can cause. Even if they owe you a ‘favor,’ I kind of doubt the League would agree to a one-to-one trade. Just please tell me you didn’t do anything too, well, you, to get it.”

Bo sighed in response, but didn’t seem particularly offended. “I did, sort of agree to one other thing in addition to the trade, but you don’t need to worry about it. It’s really not a big deal. Honestly, the whole thing is more ridiculous than anything else.”

“Skittles, what did you agree to?”

“You remember my lucky charm, right?”

“…I remember a creepy, cursed bottle thing that you insisted on buying despite both Dani and I’s objections. The thing that randomly appears inside your bag even if you try and leave it somewhere else, that glues itself to your hand if you ever try and hand it to someone, and that got you abducted and nearly tortured, most likely by the Kalos League. Is that the thing you’re talking about?”

“It is not cursed, it’s cool,” Bo rolled his eyes. “But yes, that lucky charm. In addition to my mega stone and promising that I’d keep my mouth shut about the whole government abduction thing, Kalos wanted me to allow a team of scientists and some of their Ace Trainers to stay at the compound for a few months and study the charm. And, technically, I agreed to let them have the bottle if they can figure out how to take it.”

Carter’s face contorted into a guilty grimace at that and he pinched his nose as if in pain. “Leaving aside why scientists would want to study a ‘good luck charm,’ I’m hearing that people who might have been involved with kidnapping and holding you prisoner are going to be staying here? Bo, you shouldn’t have to put up with that just to get me-”

“It’s fine Carter,” Bo cut his friend off. “Seriously it is. With the Kahales around, none of us are in any danger within the clan compound. As for if they actually manage to take the bottle, well, it’s like Guru Capiche says. If you see a Luxray, hug it tightly and shower it with love. If it mauls you, let it go.”

“Don’t think that’s the expression, Skittles.” Despite his flippant retort, Carter’s face still remained locked in a worried grimace. Even if the thing might give Carter the creeps, he hated the idea of letting Bo risk giving up something else for Carter’s sake. What’s more… Bo didn’t like talking about it, but Carter and Dani had privately agreed that Bo’s disappearance in Kalos had been one of the most worrying times of their lives. Letting anyone who might have played a part in that near Bo just didn’t sit right with him. Perhaps seeing his friend’s discomfort, Bo tried harder to reassure him.

“Look, I won’t deny that being locked in a cell for a month was… unpleasant, but I got over it. Mostly. I mean, I am a little tempted to throw whatever researchers they send into a deep, dark pit and leave them there to die, but that’s a pretty normal daydream for me,” Bo rambled, forcing Carter to suppress a small smile. “Anyways, getting our hands on something that allows you and Apollo to be at your best is worth letting go of a grudge. And if it ever does start to bother me, I promise I’ll come talk to you about it. We can go drinking and plot ways to set them on fire.”

Seeing that Carter’s large frame was shaking with laughter by the end of his explanation, Bo smiled triumphantly. “Besides, we’re just talking about letting a couple of scientists run scanners over an old, admittedly awesome-looking bottle. What’s the worst that could happen?”

*

Within a busy bar in Lumiose City, a gaunt, bespectacled man was deep in his cups with a very pressing train of thought on his belabored mind.

“Fuck you, Rainbow Moon!” Ernst, a mid-level researcher employed by the Kalos League, slurred loudly as he raised his fifth shot. “I, hic*, I pray Yveltal eats your soul!”

Slamming his empty glass down, Ernst listlessly dropped his head to the bar top. ‘Why???’ the man thought to himself. ‘What did I do to deserve this?!’

It had all started years ago. Younger and with a much fuller head of hair, Ernst had been ecstatic to be assigned to lead a classified research project into a possibly Legendary artifact. His team had been assigned to map any energy signatures it was radiating, and if possible, open the sealed artifact. Sure, the designated ‘Jar’ hadn’t looked particularly impressive. Rather, the thing had seemed like nothing more than a creepy, dusty bottle that was sealed to tight to open. Still, the young Ernst had been hopeful that it would only be a matter of time until he’d make a world shattering discovering.

…Then the Jar tried to escape.

A typo on an email had almost caused the object to be shipped to a less secure facility, but Ernst had caught the mistake before it could go anywhere. At the time they had all just assumed it was a simple mistake, and even laughed about it once the bottle was secured again, but then it kept happening. First another typo, then a janitor trying to steal it for no real reason, then the bottle somehow falling through an open air vent and nearly tumbling into the sewer system, and finally, the bottle randomly being in Ernst’s car when he got in to go home for the day. No matter how many times he reviewed the security footage, Ernst still couldn’t figure out how it got there.

Nevertheless, his scientific mind had been fascinated. Sure, the bottle had well and truly turned creepy in his mind, but Ernst was more confident than ever that he was onto something big. Besides, a few strange events should be expected when it comes to studying a Legendary artifact. Nothing to be concerned about. He’d had no idea that his own personal hell was already unfolding.

No matter what they did, no matter how hard they tried, Ernst and his team couldn’t keep the Jar from trying to escape. There was no explanation for it either. If they tried to lock the bottle away, they’d accidentally lock up a soup thermos instead without noticing. If they tried to monitor it through surveillance, the cameras would all glitch at once and the bottle would later be found in one of their pockets. If they tried to have someone personally watch it… well even the most curious scientist refused to do so after the second mental breakdown.

Then people had started disappearing. First a janitor just left for work one morning and was never seen again. Then two of the security guards vanished while on break. Finally, the lights flickered while Ernst had been talking with four of his team members, and when they came back on, he was the only one left in the room.

By that point, the bottle haunted his dreams, both waking and asleep. The stress of it all had resulted in him losing thirty pounds and his hairline had shot back two inches after just a month. Ernst had begged to be allowed to leave, but the League had denied his request. Not even his insistence that studying it was near impossible as is swayed them. He’d even tried to resign, only to be told in no uncertain terms that that wasn’t allowed either. Ernst was to figure out what the Jar was and how it worked or die trying.

He’d despaired, until finally, a miracle occurred. The Jar disappeared! And it didn’t come back!

Ernst never figured out how it happened or where it went, and he hadn’t cared. It was gone, well and truly gone! He was free!

…Until now.

“Fucking Rainbow Moon,” Ernst nearly cried into the bar top once more. He’d gotten the call a few hours ago. “Fucking bottle from hell!”

The Jar was back.

Some crazy Kantonian had it.

The Kantonian wanted something from Kalos and was willing to let them study the Jar again in exchange.

And he, Ernst was expected to be the one to do that studying.

“Nother round!” Ernst moaned loudly, causing several other customers to glance over before looking away in discomfort. Reading the room, the bartender was set to cut him off then and there. He was just about to do so, only for a silky voice to cut him off.

“And one more for me,” a woman said warmly as she slid into the seat next to Ernst. “Go ahead and put both on my tab.”

Blinking at the speaker, the bartender that had just about to cut the man off schooled his face back to blank professionalism before methodically pouring the drinks and stepping away. Meanwhile, Ernst looked up blearily and gaped at his new companion. She had straight blonde hair and attractive features, but in a plain sort of way that almost bordered on nondescript. Similarly, a classy but modest and inexpensive dress wrapped around her. Nevertheless his eyes gravitated towards her warm and beguiling smile that seemed to glow with empathy.

“I hope you don’t mind,” she demurred. “You just looked like you were having a rough day, and I know what that's like. I've always found that a friendly ear helps though.”

Ernst blinked dazedly as her words filtered through his foggy brain, before giving an exaggerated nod. “Sure, I mean, hic*, yes! Please join me.”

“Why thank you good sir,” she said, smiling beatifically at the drunk researcher. “Now please, tell me all about this horrible… rainbow bottle, you said?”

“Hah. I wish,” Ernst slurred eagerly. A dim, possibly soberer voice in the back of his head told him to cut the conversation off there, but a much louder voice wanted to latch onto the first hint of happiness he’d felt since getting the news. “It all started with…”

Across the room, nestled within a shaded corner of the bar’s ceiling, a small, furry face with huge ears nestled within a nondescript man’s coat. The Noibat’s ears twitched lightly as she listened to the man’s scrambled mutterings before the words passed through to her trainer's mind. He in turn kept his face blank and expressionless as he typed away on a small transceiver.

In a data farm hidden halfway across the world, a Porygon-Z peeked into an encrypted email on a flagged account and ran keyword searches for every word found within before formulating the most likely conclusion. Without any particular emotion, it raised the highest level of alert possible to its employers.

In a nondescript office, a tired analyst’s eyes shot open as an urgent alert appeared on their computer. Hurriedly reading the linked report, the analyst rushed to contact her superior, completely forgetting to bring her Rotom phone with her. As soon as she was gone, her phone floated up in front of her computer and typed in her password to unlock it.

In a coffee shop a region away, a teenager whistled as one of the Rotoms he'd trained and sent out through the net sent him a bunch of pictures of a government alert. He had no clue what it meant, but the urgency of the alert alone probably meant it was valuable to someone. With a few keystrokes, he sent out feelers to find that someone.

In the basement under a shoddy paper supply store, a nervous-looking man wiped sweat from his brow before finalizing his purchase. A moment later, he smiled with relief as he got a full look at what he’d just bought. With still shaking fingers, he clacked away at heavy typewriter keys, typing out one letter at a time. An hour later, he rang for a messenger to pick up the finished and sealed copy.

In a glamorously decorated room seemingly devoid of any windows or doors to the outside world or any type of electronic appliance, a man scrutinized the printout in his hand, his cold eyes locking onto one word in particular.

Hoopa.

Pleased, a hungry grin spread across the man’s face.