Main Hall - Cotton Down Lounge

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Steven walked with a brisk pace toward the Lounge. He was focused on the image on his Pokenav, a photo he took of the last page from Officer Jenny's journal. The last page she wrote before she was taken...


"I feel like I've seen this before somewhere," he muttered to himself. "Was it in Sinnoh? At the Canalave Library? Or was it somewhere else?"

He shook his head and was about to pocket the device when he nearly walked headlong into a familiar face.


"Oh, Wallace, I'm sorry! I didn't see you there. I was too engrossed in this--"

He held up his Pokenav to show Wallace when the realization struck.


"I always spoke about archaeology and Sootopolitan history with the Wallace from my timeline. Maybe you could help jog my memory on where I've seen this before."

@Torchic W. Pip

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Warmth flooded Wallace's heart, and he hugged Steven.

"Steven, Steven, Steven, thank goodness you're still. Thank goo—" He froze, immediately taking his hands off of Steven. "I'm so, so sorry for hugging you without your permission. I'm so—"

"Ah, that's quite alright," said Steven, recovering slightly from the sudden hug. It wasn't a bad thing, per se, just that it had caught him by surprise. "It's always good to see you, too, Wallace. I trust you're doing well?"

His gaze slid over to Victoria to gauge her reaction.

"Er, well enough given the circumstances," he amended.

Wallace scanned the writing. "Braille, it seems. Common among writings of the Regi society... You know, it's believed they came from Sinnoh, but they sealed the Regis in somewhere in Hoenn as they believed that Hoenn was the edge of the world. I studied them in my Hoennese Religions and Mythology class..."

"Ah-ha!" he said, clapping a fist into his palm as Wallace looked at his Nav. "I knew it seemed familiar. It was from Sinnoh, well, originally. But now I remember! It matches the inscriptions on the stone tablet my father donated to the Oceanic Museum."


"I knew I could count on you."

I don't know what your Wallace has been through, but... give him a hug once you get back home. He sounds like a good friend.

Steven gave this Wallace an earnest smile. "He certainly is, and it seems like that's not a difference across our timelines."

Wallace looked back at the writing. "But anyway, let's decipher this... Kidnapper has/disguise. Berry dye/leaves gray flakes./Strange scent./Stolen berries also/make pink or yellow/dye. Mythical/pokemon? Will check/all pokemon/tomorrow."

Wallace's smile fell.


"It seems as though Officer Jenny knew too much."

Steven glanced around the lounge to make sure no one untrustworthy could possibly overhear.

"The culprit is using a disguise made of berry dye? And that explains the gray flakes and strange smell we've found at all the disappearances?"

He scowled hard at the ground, deep in thought.

"Missing berries and mythical pokemon? I don't know how this all adds up..."


"You're right, though. The culprit didn't know about Officer Jenny's notebook, but they very well could have overheard her plan to check everyone's pokemon for a disguise today, and that's why she was taken."

"Wallace, we need to tell the group. We have to let everyone know what to be on the lookout for. We might be the only ones who can carry on Jenny's investigation."

 

[Seren]

The text wasn't the one she'd been hoping for. There had been nothing regarding the Jirachi search, and Kimiko was beginning to worry. Still, though... she could handle herself. She didn't need to have her hand held. Kimiko had spent longer talking to Celebi than this... she'd just have to wait.

Besides, apparently there was something going on in the lounge. As soon as Olivia was rested enough, the pair trotted over. The espeon had been mopey since their battle; just because Kimiko didn't underestimate their opponents didn't mean Olivia took them seriously. Clearly she felt she should have won handily and had been humbled by the surprise evolution. They'd talk about later, but for now, they had more pressing matters.

They made a quick pit-stop at their dorm room to collect the history books Kimiko had borrowed a few days ago. She hadn't found anything relevant in them yet, might as well return them to the bookcase.

She spotted the two champions easily as she entered the lounge; there was no mistaking Wallace's elegant, beautiful milotic, or Steven's rugged, powerful aggron. And it's not like either champion was unrecognizable, either. She made her way over to them, stack of books still in hand, and Olivia on her heels.

"Excuse me, uh, hi..." She held up her 'dex, opened to the group chat, to show why she was approaching them rather than blurting it out for anyone to overhear. "I have questions."

"Spiii!" Olivia interrupted, and Kimiko froze, blushing in embarrassment. "Oh, yeah... I'm Kimiko. Was on the Trousselin, I assume along with you both." Gods, that's four champions she'd met so far now... she was starting to get that nagging feeling that she was severely in over her head again. "And Olivia here is my partner," she added, gesturing to the espeon at her feet.

"Anyways... first, can I see those notes Jenny left?" Awkward introductions aside, she had come here for business. Not just to take her mind off her friend alone in the forest, nope. She had heard something previously about the berries being used to make dyes, yes... none of it made any sense, though. If they were used to make pink or yellow dyes, why were the flakes gray? "And second, am I understanding correctly that Jenny believed we're up against one of the Mythical pokemon? Did she say she was going to investigate them, or all the pokemon on the island?" Suddenly, she was pretty sure she knew how Noro felt when he and his alakazam had come under her scrutiny. She knew she wasn't really under any suspicion, but she also didn't like the alternative... a mythical pokemon was going to be a difficult foe to take down.

 

[ShiniGojira]

The lounge (aside from his dorm) was probably the place he'd most frequented lately. There were just so many books to read. There were info just about anything; legendaries, mythicals, training exercises and etcetera etcetera.

Exploring the island had been fun, as fun as it'd always been but having a place to relax and read was just something that he felt like it was hard to mimic and it was definitely something he found hard to do when faced with his more ahem... battle-hungry friends. Not to mention, there was the whole detective shtick going on, it was good to have a place of knowledge to be in.

He walked into the lounge alone, Evie had decided to get some training in and left him to his own devices all the while telling him to "Not set anything on fire." Which to be fair, he had only done so thrice... maybe four times at max.

Proceeding towards a corner that was out of sight, he spotted three people talking about mythicals and clues or something? Hm... maybe he should go to them and give his own thoughts as well as what Latias had told him.

Taking a moment to decide, he walked to them and said, "Hello there, the name's June. I can't help but noticed that you guys were talking about clues and stuff. Mind if I join in?"

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

"Excuse me, uh, hi..." She held up her 'dex, opened to the group chat, to show why she was approaching them rather than blurting it out for anyone to overhear. "I have questions."

"Spiii!" Olivia interrupted, and Kimiko froze, blushing in embarrassment. "Oh, yeah... I'm Kimiko. Was on the Trousselin, I assume along with you both." Gods, that's four champions she'd met so far now... she was starting to get that nagging feeling that she was severely in over her head again. "And Olivia here is my partner," she added, gesturing to the espeon at her feet.

Steven paused, tense, as a new trainer approached, but relaxed quickly when she introduced herself as having been on the Trousselin. He did think he recognized her and her Espeon from the deck, too.


"Kimiko, Olivia, well met. My name is Steven, and this is my partner Aggron." He gestured over his shoulder where the big steel type watched over them.


"I believe we all have questions about what is happening on this island. I'm glad you are able to join us. We're just beginning our discussion on what to do next."

"Anyways... first, can I see those notes Jenny left?" Awkward introductions aside, she had come here for business. Not just to take her mind off her friend alone in the forest, nope. She had heard something previously about the berries being used to make dyes, yes... none of it made any sense, though. If they were used to make pink or yellow dyes, why were the flakes gray? "And second, am I understanding correctly that Jenny believed we're up against one of the Mythical pokemon? Did she say she was going to investigate them, or all the pokemon on the island?"

Steven held out his Pokenav for Kimiko to see (with Wallace's help.)


"Some kind of code written in an ancient language," he said. "Wallace was able to translate it with his expertise, but it's still quite vague, and Jenny herself is no longer here to ask..."

"If Jenny was as thorough as she seemed, checking all of our pokemon for a disguise makes sense, but... Finding all of the Mythical pokemon that were invited seems like a tall order."


"Even if she did though, I'm not sure if she meant the island's Mythical pokemon," he began slowly, as if weighing what he wanted to say. "I... had an encounter with the attacker. They were powerful, malicious..."

Aggron rumbled a quiet warning to Steven. Don't go there. Stay focused on the task at hand.


Steven took a steadying breath, remembering how shaken the Latis were when he had woken up. "Whatever or whoever this attacker is, they didn't feel like someone who our host would have invited here."

Taking a moment to decide, he walked to them and said, "Hello there, the name's June. I can't help but noticed that you guys were talking about clues and stuff. Mind if I join in?"

Another voice caught Steven's attention. Another trainer joining their group at the lounge. And, interestingly enough, another talking pokemon, a Charmander this time. He tried to recall if he'd seen them on the boat...


"Hello, June," he said cautiously. "Forgive my rather abrupt question, but did you arrive here on a boat by the name of Trousselin?"

Realizing that not every guest may have caught the name of the ship, he cleared his throat lightly and said, "There was a, uh, small incident on board. Maybe you remember it?"

He just needed to be certain June was one of their group who could be trusted.

@ShiniGojira

 

[Sinderella]

Odette stumbled into the first building she came across. The lounge? She hadn't been here yet. Perfect place to not be in the infirmary. SHe could barely see straight at this point, but all she'd wanted to do was drop Mitch and Mightyena off and dip. Who would have guessed Nurse Joy would have wanted to examine HER too? All she did was coordinate the rescue, not be rescued. She was winded and tired, but that wasn't anything a jug of water and a few minutes laying down wouldn't solve. And there were plenty couches here.

She tried to be inconspicuous as she entered the building, but walked right into a decorative table. The noise it made caused het to flinch, and she stopped to rub her throbbing head. Maybe that would get her to stop seeing two of everything.

Then the door opened and shut behind her.


"Odette! Go back to the infirmary, this instant!"


"For the third time, I'm good. I just...need to..."

A couch. Within a few feet. Perfect.

She pushed herself up and with a few heavy steps, she was close enough to throw herself onto it face first.

"...lay down."

It already felt better.


"̷T̷h̶i̵s̴ ̸w̶h̵i̵t̴e̵ ̵c̵o̶a̸t̶ ̸s̶y̶n̷d̸r̴o̸m̴e̸ ̸o̵f̸ ̸y̶o̵u̵r̴s̵ ̶i̸s̶ ̸r̴e̶a̴l̶ ̴l̸i̴t̴t̴l̴e̷ ̸d̴i̵c̸k̶ ̷e̵n̸e̸r̵g̴y̴.̸"̵ Odile commented as she followed Enora in through the door. The two of them stomped over to where Odette was now laying.


"Then we're all blessed that I don't have a dick, aren't we?" Odette yawned, picking up her head so she could be heard better. As she spoke, she let her backpack fall off her back and to the floor, where she lazily yanked her bottle from the side pocket. She struggled to roll onto her back before taking a long drawn out sip of it.

That's what she needed. To be off her feet and some hydration. And it didn't need to be in the infirmary. As much as she did want to stay and watch over Mitch...

Now that she could actually see, she pushed herself up to get a better look at the place. She wondered why she never came here before, as this seemed like her place. Chill atmosphere, and a lot of books.

Oh. And there were some familiar faces. Steven, Kimiko, and Wallace. They put her much more at ease, after what had just happened. Well, maybe not Wallace with his high strung nature, but it was still nice to see him anyway. That Charmander she'd yelled at the other day was there too.

She waved tiredly. "Hey," she called in another yawn. "Fancy seeing you all gathered here."

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

She waved tiredly. "Hey," she called in another yawn. "Fancy seeing you all gathered here."

Steven caught a slight motion out of the corner of his eye. "Oh, Odette! I didn't see you there," he said, turning to face where she was laying on the nearby couch.

If he was startled to see her, he was even more startled to see her condition. She looked completely exhausted.

A pang of guilt hit him, knowing she had to deal with walking him back to the dorms last night, but she looked more tired than simple lack of sleep. He bit back on the urge to apologize to her, this wasn't the time or place.

"Did you get the group text that Wallace sent? We're discussing it now."

 

[Sinderella]

"Did you get the group text that Wallace sent? We're discussing it now."

A text? Truthfully, she hadn't looked at her phone since she got out to the woods. "No..." she drawled. "Didn't see any of that. I was busy."

Though, she supposed if they were here talking, this would be a good opportunity to discuss what she'd found.

"Odette, what happened? Is everything okay? You don't look well."

"̸O̶f̴ ̵c̷o̴u̴r̴s̶e̷ ̶s̷h̵e̶ ̸d̷o̴e̶s̵n̴'̶t̴ ̵l̷o̸o̷k̴ ̷w̴e̶l̷l̴,̵ ̸w̶e̵ ̸j̷u̵s̶t̸-̸-̷"̷


Odette beamed a couch cushion at her at the same time Enora looped a ribbon up to cover her mouth. This wasn't something that needed to be broadcasted to the heavens. She didn't even want to text anybody about it, out of fear of having it in writing.

She forced herself to stand, taking a second to catch her breath as she rose, before carefully walking over to them.

"I'm good. I think," she said. She was talking in a borderline whisper now. Something of a smile curled her lips as she thought about the breakthrough that just occurred. Was she tired? Yes. Was she proud of herself? Also yes.

"I just saw Jirachi," she continued, rubbing her cheek. "She told me some interesting things, but do you want to hear the best part?"

She motioned for the trainers around her to come closer as she took a cursory glance around, making sure no undesireables were in the immediate area.

"We saved Mitch. And Mightyena. They're in the infirmary right now. Unconscious, but they'll be fine."

As the words came out of her mouth, she snickered. She had to cover her mouth as her eyes fluttered. "I'm exhausted, holy shit. Wishes will wind you, guys."

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

"You were?? Steven, what happened???? Are you okay???????"

"I'm okay, Wallace," Steven said quietly. "Thanks to the Latis, I'm okay."

("Aggron? Steven had an encounter with the attacker? Were you... Were you there?")

Aggron scowled at the empty air. "I was there. We're both okay. But this enemy isn't something we can stop with power alone."


Steven watched his partner's reaction, and shook his head. "The attacks have been consistent, though. Ghost and psychic energy at both of the latest sites. And I was hit with the same flash that the Mightyena trainer was--"

"I just saw Jirachi," she continued, rubbing her cheek. "She told me some interesting things, but do you want to hear the best part?"

She motioned for the trainers around her to come closer as she took a cursory glance around, making sure no undesireables were in the immediate area.

"We saved Mitch. And Mightyena. They're in the infirmary right now. Unconscious, but they'll be fine."

As the words came out of her mouth, she snickered. She had to cover her mouth as her eyes fluttered. "I'm exhausted, holy shit. Wishes will wind you, guys."

"Wait, what?" Steven gaped at Odette. "Jirachi saved them? They're here? Safe? That's... That's incredible!"

"What of the others? Reena, Jenny, the rest--?"

He stopped himself when he saw Odette sway on her feet. Of course, she used her own energy to help Jirachi.


"You should be resting too, recovering your strength. I fear we're closing in on a clash with this culprit, if Jenny's notes are any indication."

He jumped, startled as Wallace fainted. Thankfully Victoria caught him.

"Ah, we all might need a minute at this rate."

 

[Sinderella]

"Tziráchi?! The deity that protects the sick and children?!?!?!?! You met them?!?!?!?!?! And that's not even the best part?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?"

Odette stiffened, and she felt her fingers curl as her anger surged. “Shush! Shut up, oh my gods!” she whisper-yelled. “Are you fucking crazy? I’m trying—“

Wallace collapsed at that.

Odette stared at him. She wasn’t sure if she’d have had any less or more of a reaction if she were in a better state, but at this moment, all she could do was stare. She’d probably move to gag him otherwise.

“I promised Jirachi I’d keep the information she gave me between people I can trust. If you start yelling about whatever just happened and the undesireables hear you, I swear on my fucking life…”

She pinched the bridge of her nose as her vision swam. Hm. Maybe she should have stayed in the infirmary.

"Wait, what?" Steven gaped at Odette. "Jirachi saved them? They're here? Safe? That's... That's incredible!"

"What of the others? Reena, Jenny, the rest--?"

He stopped himself when he saw Odette sway on her feet. Of course, she used her own energy to help Jirachi.

Odile narrowed her eyes at Steven. “̶B̸i̸t̸c̵h̷ ̴d̵o̵n̸’̷t̴ ̶s̶t̵r̴i̶p̶ ̶u̸s̷ ̵o̴f̸ ̶t̵h̶e̵ ̸c̵r̴e̴d̵i̴t̷;̴ ̸J̴i̷r̴a̸c̶h̵i̶ ̷c̵o̴u̸l̵d̷n̷’̴t̶ ̵h̸a̸v̴e̵ ̸d̷o̷n̷e̷ ̸i̸t̴ ̵w̵i̶t̷h̶o̵u̷t̶ ̷t̷h̷e̵ ̷p̶o̶w̷e̸r̶ ̷o̸f̸ ̶o̶u̸r̸ ̸b̴o̸n̴d̶.̸ ̸S̴h̸e̶ ̸g̶o̵t̷ ̴u̵s̸ ̴i̶n̸ ̷a̵n̶d̶ ̸o̷u̴t̸ ̴w̶i̵t̷h̷o̵u̶t̵ ̷b̷e̷i̷n̵g̶ ̶s̸e̸e̷n̵ ̶b̶e̸c̸a̴u̸s̸e̵ ̴w̵e̴’̵r̴e̵ ̵t̶h̵a̷t̷ ̷s̴t̵r̸o̸n̶g̵.̵”̸ ̶“̵S̶h̴e̵ ̷w̸a̸s̸ ̶v̴e̸r̴y̸ ̶t̴i̷r̵e̵d̷ ̴a̷f̶t̴e̷r̷w̵a̵r̵d̴,̴ ̶t̶h̸o̴u̶g̵h̵.̴ ̴I̵t̴ ̵w̴a̷s̶ ̷h̷a̴r̴d̵.̵”̵

“The bond made it possible,” Odette agreed. “They were…very far away.” She frowned. “We could only get it to work on whoever I’d directly interacted with the most, and that was Mitch. Since I’d never met Reena or Franklin, I couldn’t—“

No. Do not feel bad about that. There was no reason to.

Jirachi trusted her. Enough to even try to save somebody. And they did.

“One is better than none. So let’s count that as a blessing, yeah? It’s a step in the right direction for getting the rest of them. Besides unconsciousness, they otherwise looked unhurt. That’s a good sign, and we’ll cling to that,” she said, sounding rather cross.

“And I have means to contact her again if we need to,” she said quietly.

"You should be resting too, recovering your strength. I fear we're closing in on a clash with this culprit, if Jenny's notes are any indication."

She rolled her eyes and took one more swig from her bottle. “I’ll live.” But…what had they found that made him sound so sure?

“Do you know who the culprit is? Jirachi told me their theory.” She cupped a hand over her mouth to muffle herself. “A myth. About a malicious entity called ‘The Golden One.’”

She recounted the myth Jirachi shared with her, as close to word-for-word as she could manage. Every now and then she’d look around to make sure nobody was listening.

“Again, I promised to keep this between people I trust. And if you’ve found information that begins to corroborate that…then we might be in a world of shit. Because whatever this thing is, it’s going after the strongest bonds. And we need those.”

It was there that Enora handed her her phone. She unlocked it, and through tired eyes, took a look at all the correspondence she’d missed.

“Mm,” she hummed. “Starting to look less and less like a theory, Jirachi…”

("I'm so sorry my Trainer is like this. I'm so, so sorry.")

Odette tried so hard to not let her disdain show. It couldn’t be helped Wallace was an anxious mess, but she didn’t want him to be the reason this information got to the wrong ears. Mitch would be up and walking sooner rather than later, of course, but until then, it didn’t need to be common knowledge that he was back yet. For his safety.

“It’s fine,” she grumbled reluctantly. No use in directing any annoyance at Victoria. She was just trying to keep things at bay. “Just keep it to yourself.”

 

[Sinderella]

"I'm sorry, Odette," Wallace said quietly. "Truly, I'm sorry.

Odette huffed again. “It’s fine. Again.” She was too tired to keep being angry.

"The bond! Xavian mentioned how bonds have power on this island."

This, however, made her raise a brow. “Xavian said that? That lines up. Jirachi needed our bond to attempt the rescue, and this Golden One wants the strong ones…”

And suddenly, it felt like they were getting somewhere.

 

[Seren]

Aside from that tangent, I believe Jenny was going to investigate the guest Pokémon, though she could have also been planning on interrogating the Mythical Pokémon."

If Jenny was as thorough as she seemed, checking all of our pokemon for a disguise makes sense, but... Finding all of the Mythical pokemon that were invited seems like a tall order."

Kimiko listened intently through Wallace and Steven’s introductions and then as they caught her up to speed.

“It makes more sense to me to investigate the invited Pokémon, yeah. But Jenny specifically refers to the mythicals in these notes. Tall order or not, it looks like she felt she had good reason to check on the specifically. Shame she didn’t code what her reasoning was…”

Even if she did though, I'm not sure if she meant the island's Mythical pokemon," he began slowly, as if weighing what he wanted to say. "I... had an encounter with the attacker. They were powerful, malicious..."

She nodded. “Yeah, I heard about that. Even a champion, latios, and latias together couldn’t stop whatever it was. I can’t say that makes me feel any better, personally. I like to think I’m good, but I’m not champion level.”

She waved tiredly. "Hey," she called in another yawn. "Fancy seeing you all gathered here."

“Odette! Oh thank gods, I hadn’t heard from you after that first message this morning, I’ve been worried!” She looked the girl up and down. She and her team looked like they’d just run five miles and back again. “What happened, are you alright?”

The bond made it possible,” Odette agreed. “They were…very far away.” She frowned. “We could only get it to work on whoever I’d directly interacted with the most, and that was Mitch. Since I’d never met Reena or Franklin, I couldn’t—“

She listened patiently as Odette explained what she’d been through with Jirachi. She had succeeded, if only partially. Still, bringing back one of them was a win! When he recovered, they could ask him where he was and who attacked him!

Still, though, Kimiko couldn’t help feel a little jealous, and hoped it wasn’t showing on her face. She hadn’t been able to use Celebi’s time travel. Was her bond with Olivia not strong enough? That’s…. Not what Celebi had said at all, but… now she couldn’t get that thought out of her mind.

Expression or not, Olivia must have sensed the shift in her emotion, because she pressed against her leg and started purring again. Right, right… control. This wasn’t the time…

Do you know who the culprit is? Jirachi told me their theory.” She cupped a hand over her mouth to muffle herself. “A myth. About a malicious entity called ‘The Golden One.’”

She recounted the myth Jirachi shared with her, as close to word-for-word as she could manage. Every now and then she’d look around to make sure nobody was listening.

“Hmm… I combed through these pretty well,” Kimiko said, indicating the history books still in her arms, “and I didn’t see anything about this Golden King. Maybe it’s worth a more focused skim…”

 

[Dragonfree]

So much for things calming down. Two people gone, one of them Officer Jenny, the other the girl with the Roserade that they'd chased down after the first disappearance.

Spirit was visibly unnerved, staying close to May's leg, looking restlessly around. May checked her PokéGear and found a message about the lounge.

She followed the discussion for a bit from the back, frowning. Then the woman with the braids, Odette, arrived, and said... she'd brought back the guy with the Mightyena?

Spirit straightened, ears perking. "They're okay," she whispered. "Thanks to Jirachi."

Well, hopefully they'd have a story to tell once they were conscious.

"Look," she said, keeping her voice quiet, "aren't we overlooking the obvious here? The stolen berries make gray, pink and yellow dyes? That's the exact colors of the Hoopa from the banquet. If the culprit was in disguise like Officer Jenny thought, then Orzo is probably who it's disguising itself as. Right? We need to be investigating him."

 

[Dragonfree]

May pressed her lips together. "Well, then somebody other than you. Would he not let anyone check if his partner is actually his partner?"

 

[Hanafuda]

At the building's entrance, the doors slammed open, and Seb, riding on his humanoid Pidgeot, who slid along the floor after landing, came in with a sheepish expression. "Hey guys! Sorry we're late! What did I miss?"

 

[Hanafuda]

"Hello, hello! It's wonderful to see you okay!" Wallace could trust Seb. "Well, we've been discussing... things. Did you see the text I sent to the Serious Business group chat?"

"Yeah, we did!" Seb replied with a smile towards Wallace. "I'm glad to see you too, mister Wallace." He looked around at the gathered crowd as he got off from Zack. "So, we're discussing who the culprit might be?"

 

[ShiniGojira]

"Hello, June," he said cautiously. "Forgive my rather abrupt question, but did you arrive here on a boat by the name of Trousselin?"

Realizing that not every guest may have caught the name of the ship, he cleared his throat lightly and said, "There was a, uh, small incident on board. Maybe you remember it?"

He just needed to be certain June was one of their group who could be trusted.

"Do you remember the fight?"

The sudden questions thrown made him think for a moment, trying to remember what exactly they mean. He snapped his claws. "Oh you mean the one on the boat where one Wes tried to murder the other? Yeah, I was there. Didn't get to see the fight but I heard it. You can ask Hazel or Coleane if you don't believe me."

She waved tiredly. "Hey," she called in another yawn. "Fancy seeing you all gathered here.

Oh, it was that girl. "Yo." He waved. "You look like crap."

"I... had an encounter with the attacker. They were powerful, malicious..."

"You met it?" He blinked. "And you lost? Holy cheese, are you okay?"

"I just saw Jirachi," she continued, rubbing her cheek. "She told me some interesting things, but do you want to hear the best part?"

"We saved Mitch. And Mightyena. They're in the infirmary right now. Unconscious, but they'll be fine."

"Jirachi you say?" he murmured. "So, it brought back those two... Hm, hopefully they'll know something that can help us."

Wallace collapsed at that.

Woah jeez, that was... that was one heck of a reaction. He stared at the downed man, incredulously.

“A myth. About a malicious entity called ‘The Golden One.’”

"'The Golden One'?" He raised a scaly brow. "Is that the same one Latias sensed?"

Look," she said, keeping her voice quiet, "aren't we overlooking the obvious here? The stolen berries make gray, pink and yellow dyes? That's the exact colors of the Hoopa from the banquet. If the culprit was in disguise like Officer Jenny thought, then Orzo is probably who it's disguising itself as. Right? We need to be investigating him."

That... that makes a lot of sense actually. But how could this 'Golden King' disguise itself? Could it be another Hoopa? An evil Mew? A Ditto?

At the building's entrance, the doors slammed open, and Seb, riding on his humanoid Pidgeot, who slid along the floor after landing, came in with a sheepish expression. "Hey guys! Sorry we're late! What did I miss?"

"Yeah, we did!" Seb replied with a smile towards Wallace. "I'm glad to see you too, mister Wallace." He looked around at the gathered crowd as he got off from Zack. "So, we're discussing who the culprit might be?"

The door slamming open alerted the Charmander and he turned. "Oh, hey there, we're just thinking that this 'Golden King' may've disguised itself as Orzo."

 

[Hanafuda]

The door slamming open alerted the Charmander and he turned. "Oh, hey there, we're just thinking that this 'Golden King' may've disguised itself as Orzo."

"Golden King?" Seb asked, becoming interested. He leaned forward and listened closely.

"Orzo?" Zack asked, just as interested. "Who was that again?"

"You mean the Pokémon with those rings?" Jack asked, standing beside Seb. He held his leek over his shoulder. "But the way you worded that makes it sound like it's a Zoroark. Those aren't really 'golden'. We're looking for a yellow Pokémon, right?"

 

[Hanafuda]

"Well, my friend Diantha once told me of a Kalosian noble with a yellow-colored Hoopa. Perhaps Orzo is disguising as a pink and gray Hoopa."

"I knew the dye stuff that was mentioned in the chat was important," Jack said, smacking his leek onto his free wing.

"Ooh, we got some juicy stories here," Seb said, irking a brow. "So, what does this 'Golden King' want? He's the kidnapper, right?"

 

[Sinderella]

Suddenly the birds and Seb were here, and it felt like too many people. But…did one of them look different? It didn’t matter. Too much happening for it to matter.

“Keep your fucking voices down about it,” she snapped. “It’s a myth Jirachi informed me of that might align with what was found in Jenny’s notebook. Keep it within the group, or I will hunt you down and beat the absolute fuck out of you. That’s not a threat, it’s a goddamn promise.”

She sighed and turned to Kimiko. “I’m rightfully going to skin all of these fucking loudmouths alive,” she grumbled at a volume that assured only Kimiko would hear.

Still, that younger blue-haired girl with the Ninetails had a point. They should be hunting for Orzo. But, Wallace had said that upon questioning Xavian, he wouldn’t budge on where Orzo even was. All they knew at this this point was that he’d been poisoned.

A thought suddenly occurred in her tired brain. Poisoned, huh?

“I think…there’s another lead I need to follow…” she murmured to herself.