Something broke inside of me when I watched the buzzwole slip into the ultra wormhole, carrying Dawn in its arms. My pokemon were frantically battling against the swarm of ultrabeasts and all I could think of was my desperate need to save Dawn. Something exploded behind me and the force of the blast tossed me off my feet and sent me rolling across the battlefield. Wincing, I pushed myself up and for a second I wondered if this was fate laughing at me. Was I just doomed to lose everyone that I loved?

Shaking my head I turned and blinked when I saw a familiar black and red figure standing in front of me. Incineroar roared angrily and shot off a Flamethrower that smacked into three Pheromosa's running towards me. They all shrieked in pain and I shook my head, trying to get the ringing in my ears to stop.

Why are ultrabeasts here? How is Faba controlling them like this? Where did he take Dawn? My thoughts swirled in my mind sluggishly, like they were trying to swim through syrup, as I boosted myself onto my elbows and knees. Incineroar stood protectively in front of me and I looked around at the chaos surrounding me. I had never wanted to scream so badly in my life.

"Use Multi-Attack, Silvally!" 

A deep roar sounded behind me and I turned to see a Frankenstein-like pokemon let loose a streak of bright light that smacked into three Nihilego's and caused them to crash to the ground of the battlefield. I pushed myself into a standing position and watched as a guy a few years older than me with platinum blonde hair released a few more pokemon and gave them orders to take down any ultrabeasts in sight. He ran into the fray, shouting orders left and right to his various pokemon and lashing out with a savage kick if any of the beasts got too close to him.

"Heads up!"

A body knocked into my back and forced me down to the ground just as another huge explosion boomed behind me. I glanced over at Incineroar to see that he had followed my rescuers lead and fallen to the ground to avoid the brunt of the explosion. Then I turned to see Kahuna Olivia looking at me.

"Where's Dawn?" she yelled over the ruckus.

"They took her," I yelled back, pushing myself to my feet and reaching down to pull her up after me. 

Olivia frowned heavily and yelled at her Lycanroc to use Stone Edge, which took out Blacephalon and Pheramosa who was racing towards us.

"Take you pokemon and go after her," Olivia yelled at me. I blinked in surprise and she met my eyes steadily for a few seconds. "We'll handle things here, but Dawn needs you. NOW!" With that Olivia ran off, releasing the rest of her pokemon and fighting alongside the other guy to try and keep the waves of ultrabeasts at bay.

Closing my eyes briefly I took a second to calm my thoughts and then one by one returned all my pokemon except for Metang. He had noticed his comrades being returned and turned to look at me. I motioned for him to follow me and we weaved through the chaos until we got to the other side of the battlefield where it was a little quieter.

"Metang, I need to get up to that wormhole," I said, pointing up to the hole that Dawn had disappeared through. Metang looked where I was pointing and then turned back to me, watching me steadily. "I know it's a lot to ask, but can you carry me up there?"

"Meta!" Metang responded emphatically in his robotic voice. 

I nodded and he turned around and lowered himself so he was hovering a few feet above the ground. Not stopping to think of how stupid this idea was I cautiously placed a foot on the lip of metal on his body and then put my knee on top of Metang's head. Metang bobbled in the air for a second, adjusting to my added weight, but he then righted himself and slowly began to make his way up towards the ceiling.

There were a few times that I thought an ultrabeast was going to take us out, but either Olivia or the blonde guy saved us with a well-aimed attack from one of their pokemon. I gritted my teeth as the wormhole got closer and gripped Metang's metal arms tightly so that we wouldn't be separated once we entered. Once we slipped through my body instantly began to feel like a million magnets were trying to tear me apart. My stomach rolled and my vision shivered crazily so I shut my eyes and did my best not to throw up.

When I researched about the Aether Foundation I had come across many articles explaining the incident with the former president and her misuse of research on the ultra wormholes that sometimes appeared in Alola. I had researched extensively about the Ultrabeasts that slipped through the wormholes and wreaked havoc across the islands until they had all been rounded up and dealt with. The thought of a beast even more powerful than a pokemon had been intriguing and I naively thought it would be incredible if I could catch one of the creatures and train it to battle for me. However, seeing them like this had changed my mind completely.

Suddenly Metang and I were falling and I landed onto grass-covered ground with a loud groan. My body felt like it had gone through a compressor and I had to concentrate to not expel the contents of my stomach all over myself. Wheezing with effort I forced myself into a standing position and tried to open my eyes, but everything was spinning and multiplying so I quickly shut them and fumbled for my Pokeballs. Hoping that I had chosen the correct one I pushed the button to enlarge the Pokeball and then tossed it. A wet nose snuffled over my face nervously and I heard Lycanroc whine quietly in obvious concern.

"I'm okay, Lycanroc. I just need a second. Stand guard and make sure no one sees us, okay?" I asked through gritted teeth. 

Lycanroc whoofed quietly and her warm breath left my face as I assumed she went to walk around the perimeter of where we were. I purposefully blinked my eyes until my vision returned back to normal and I frowned when I saw that Metang hadn't moved from where he had crashed onto the ground. Moving was difficult, my entire body felt like it had pins and needles prickling through me, but I managed to crawl over to Metang and check to make sure there weren't any obvious signs of injury. Metang's eyes slowly changed so that he was looking at me and I rubbed his head fondly.

"Thank you, Metang," I whispered and he let out a garbled metallic sound. Everything in me wanted to run after Dawn right away, but I knew I needed to be smart about this.

As I looked around I realized that we were in the grassy area of the Aether Paradise where Dawn had performed in the Luau Showdown Tournament. Bile rose up in my throat at the thought of Dawn being here alone with that creep Faba. Quickly I released all of my pokemon and I rummaged through my backpack as the feeling in my fingers began to come back. I gave everyone a super potion and several oran berries to help them recover their strength before returning them to their Pokeballs, except for Lycanroc.

"Can you smell Dawn, Lycanroc?" I asked softly. 

She barked quietly and began jogging towards the main building of the Aether Foundation. Without hesitation I followed after her, trying to keep low and quiet. Lycanroc and I crept through the building stealthily and I had to hold myself back whenever we passed an aether foundation employee who was walking through the halls. I wanted to lash out at everyone I saw, asking them what possessed them to go along with Faba's idiotic idea, but Lycanroc paid them no mind and continued to travel through the building confidently.

She finally stopped outside of a huge circular doorway that was sealed tight. She whined quietly and scratched at the metal door, then looked up at me with a concerned expression. I rubbed her head soothingly and then glanced around. A keypad was off to the side of the door and I walked over, looking at the 9 digit keypad and wondering what a psychopathic pedophile would choose for his passcode. Lycanroc suddenly barked menacingly and I whirled around just in time to see a gigantic Buzzwole stepping from the shadows.

"Lycanroc, use Rock Slide!" I growled.

Before Lycanroc could even begin to form the cascade of rocks though, two more Buzzwole peeled away from the shadows and all three of them pounced. One of them wrapped me into his disgustingly huge arms pinning my arms to my side and lifting me so that I was a foot off the ground. I kicked savagely at his thin legs but it didn't seem to feel it, while the other two buzzwole pounced on my lycanroc, raining down punch after punch onto her. She howled in pain and I saw her trying to fight back, but she only lasted a few minutes before she crumpled to the ground.

"Lycanroc, no!" I cried out in anger.

One of the buzzwole lifted my unconscious pokemon onto its shoulder and the door in front of us slid open, revealing a lavishly decorated living space. The room was circular and covered in a plush cream carpet, very different from the white linoleum floors of the rest of the building. Black leather couches and armchairs circled the area and a large TV was stationed on the left wall of the room, which was showing the news coverage of the attack going on at the pokemon league stadium.

My attention turned from the TV to the detestable man lounging comfortably on one of the black couches. Faba was still wearing his black pinstripe suit and I struggled even harder against the beast that was holding me. The buzzwole's arms tightened and I groaned as my arms and back popped from the pressure. Faba turned a disdain filled expression on me and slowly stood up from his position on the couch, twirling one of her fingers around his disgusting goatee.

"Well, if it isn't the brute? How did you get here?" Faba asked with a sniff and I spat towards him. He was too far to actually hit him, but it was the only thing I could do in my current state.

"Where is Dawn?" I growled at him and Faba smiled wickedly.

"She is getting changed, of course. I can't have my queen looking shabby when we accept the surrender of Alola after all," Faba said with a grin and anger exploded through me.

"If you touched her..." I growled, redoubling my efforts to try and squirm out of the Buzzwole's grip. Faba laughed and licked his lips.

"There will be time for that later, I'm sure" Faba said with a glint in his eyes and I strained against the ultrabeast's hold furiously. 

Faba laughed, seeming to enjoy seeing me struggle, and then turned to a door on the opposite side of the living area we were in.

"Would you like to see her?" he asked as he began walking towards the door. 

The buzzwole that was holding me back squeezed me even harder as I tried to free myself. Faba entered a code on the door before it opened and I strained to see past the doorway. An elegant Pheromosa stepped through the open door, walking gracefully over to stand by the side of the door, and then my eyes widened in shock.

Dawn walked slowly out of the room, decked out in the most elaborate dress I had ever seen. The bottom of the skirt was made up of several layers of golden feathers that wished against the floor and hid her feet from view. The feathers got incrementally smaller as they traveled up to about her knees and then a shimmering cream-colored fabric stretched up to her waist. There the cream-colored underlining of the dress ended and beautiful gold patterns of leaves swooped up her sides and covered her breasts, but a see-through gauzy gold fabric was the only thing that covered her stomach, shoulders, and arms. A train of the gauzy gold material draped from her shoulders and followed her as she walked slowly into the room.

Her hair had been let out of her long braid which now streamed down her back and a delicate gold crown adorned her head. If this had been any other circumstance I probably would have been dumbstruck by how beautiful she looked, but I hardly even noticed her outfit now. What struck me deeply was that her head was slightly bowed and her eyes seemed to be half-closed, so I didn't think she'd even seen me yet.

"Dawn! Dawn, are you okay?" I yelled over at her and frowned in confusion when she didn't react to me. "Dawn!" I repeated, but she continued to look down at the ground. 

Motion caught my attention and I growled as Faba walked over to Dawn and looked her up and down with the most disgusting look I had ever seen.

"Get away from her!" I growled as I threw myself forward, trying to knock the buzzwole that was restraining me off balance.

"Dearest, why don't you speak to this boy?" Faba asked, reaching out a hand and running a finger down her arm. 

I grunted in disgust and frowned as a Hypno slunk out of the room Dawn had been in to come to stand behind her. Dawn slowly raised her head but her eyes continued to remain half-closed so I couldn't see them very well.

"Because I speak only when addressed by you, Faba," Dawn said in a low, airy tone. I inhaled sharply through my nose and glared at Faba, who was grinning widely.

"And why is that, my darling?" Faba asked in a purr. I awkwardly continued to kick at the Buzzwole's legs, not caring as he gave me a vicious squeeze.

"Because I love you," she responded while looking straight ahead and my heart felt like it had been ripped out of my chest and stomped on.

"What did you do to her?" I growled, struggling madly against the beast.

"I've made her the perfect woman!" Faba said with a large grin towards me. "Isn't it amazing how everything falls into place with just a small hypnotic nudge?" Faba asked with a disgusting laugh and I glared at the hypno standing in Dawn's shadow.

Hypnosis? But a pokemon's hypnosis should only put someone to sleep, not actually hypnotize them... Right? I thought with fear and revulsion coursing through me. 

Faba moved a little closer to Dawn and slowly caressed her side, causing me to lunge forward once again, and this time the buzzwole holding me actually stumbled a bit before yanking me back.

"Get your filthy hands off her!" I yelled, looking over at Lycanroc who was still passed out on the other Buzzwole's shoulder. Faba laughed at me, taking Dawn's hand and tucking it into his elbow so that he could guide her closer to me as he grinned with a look of triumph on his face.

"Poor boy. Just accept that you've lost and go back to Sinnoh. Dawn is happy with me, aren't you, Dearest?" Faba asked while bending down and purring into her ear. 

Dawn didn't move as the creep touched his nose to her cheek and as they walked closer I could see that her usually deep blue eyes looked murky. Like someone had dipped a sapphire into a mixture of wet clay but only partially wiped it off.

"I am happy," she intoned without emotion. 

A strangled cry rose from my throat as I looked at the girl who was more precious to me than even my own life and I continued to desperately struggle against the buzzwole's hold.

"You fight dirty, Faba," I spat at him and he shrugged, unconcerned.

"Empire's are never created fairly," he retorted arrogantly and I scoffed.

"You only did this because you knew you were too weak to win in a fair fight," I growled and I saw one of Faba's eyes twitch slightly.

"How do you think I got these ultrabeasts to follow me, boy? It's the strongest that survive and I assure you, I am the strongest," Faba said contemptuously, but I saw his jaw clenching as if he were repressing a more intense emotion.

"Then battle me," I challenged. "If you're really so strong then you should be able to beat me in a pokemon battle easily, right?" 

Faba's nose flared as he glared at me and for a second I thought I had gotten to him, but then his shoulders relaxed and he gave me a sly smile.

"A battle is an excellent idea. But I seem to recall that I interrupted your battle against my queen," Faba said mockingly and I felt the blood drain from my face. 

Turning my neck slightly I looked at Dawn, who was still staring straight ahead of her without any emotion and I felt my body begin to sag.

"No..." I whispered quietly. He wouldn't be this cruel would he? 

My entire body stiffened as Faba slid his hand around Dawn's waist and rested it possessively against her hip. A threatening growl ripped up my throat and I returned to struggling against Buzzwole.

"We have some time before the kahuna's realize it is futile to battle against my ultrabeasts, so how about this. If you can defeat Dawn in a pokemon battle then I will let her go," Faba said with a wicked grin. I glared at him with all the venom and hate I could muster.

"You're sick," I spat at him and he shrugged, pulling Dawn firmly against his side and smirking at me.

"Do we have a deal?" he asked. 

I looked at my expressionless girlfriend as Faba pressed her to his side and swallowed quickly. You have to do this to save her, Paul. She's not herself. But that was entirely the problem. I had looked forward to battling Dawn on equal footing. But battling her like this, when she didn't even recognize me... I shuddered and swallowed quickly.

"Fine," I growled and Faba grinned.

"That's what I like to hear! Buzzwole, take him to the greens, and you," Faba said while pointing to the beast holding my injured Lycanroc. "Have that pokemon healed and brought back to its trainer." 

My eyes went to Hypno who was still lurking in the shadows behind Dawn and I narrowed my eyes as he waved his gold coin towards both of the pokemon Faba had addressed. After a moment they turned and I tried to come up with a plan for my battle.

Will Dawn's pokemon even battle against me like this? Maybe I can make them understand what's going on and get them to help me, I thought as I strained my neck to keep an eye on Faba who was leading Dawn behind the buzzwole that was still restraining me.

We walked back to the place the ultra wormhole spit me out thirty minutes ago. My captor deposited me roughly on one end of the stretch of grass and I glared up at the massive thing, but it simply walked away and went to stand behind Faba. I watched as Faba guided Dawn to her spot across the grass and it took all of my self-control not to run over to her. 

If I do that though then he'll call off the battle completely, I told myself reasonably as I clenched my hands and jaw so hard my teeth felt like they were vibrating.

"Pheromosa, her Pokeballs."

Furrowing my brow I looked over to see that the Pheromosa who had been with Dawn stepped forward and produced a belt with Dawn's Pokeballs all clipped to it. Frowning I watched Faba take it from the beast and then step behind Dawn and clipped the belt around her hips. I couldn't help but take a few steps forward, wanting so badly to just go up and deck the guy right in the face. He grinned slyly at me and backed away from Dawn, taking a spot on the sidelines where he could watch. Just then the other Buzzwole stepped through the door with one hand clamped around Lycanroc's muzzle and the other holding her body pressed against its chest. Lycanroc was struggling like mad and I couldn't help but feel proud of her.

"Return your pokemon," Faba ordered and I glared at him. He raised one yellow eyebrow up and then nodded towards my struggling pokemon.

"Return it or I will have Buzzwole break its back."

Lycanroc let loose a strangled growl as she continued to twist and squirm against the beast's hold. Swallowing my disgust I took Lycanroc's Pokeball and returned Lycanroc without a word. Faba smiled condescendingly at me and I again fantasized about punching him in the nose.

"Very well. This will be the long-awaited battle of Dawn against Paul. Let's see, since you are supposedly a gentleman, you should go first..." Faba said when suddenly Dawn lifted her head and tilted her neck so that she was addressing Faba without meeting his eyes.

"Ladies first," she said in her airy tone and Faba blinked. 

I looked at her and felt my brow furrow in confusion. Is this part of the hypnosis? I wondered as Dawn stood perfectly still with her eyes still half-closed.

"But my dear..." Faba began to say and Dawn interrupted him once again.

"Ladies first. Isn't that right, Faba?" she asked dully and Faba frowned in confusion but then smiled brightly.

"But of course! You are exactly right, Dearest. Then let the battle begin! And Dawn," Faba's eyes narrowed and his mouth curled into a cruel smile. "Make sure you crush him."

Dawn nodded without emotion and turned to face me, but her eyes still remained downcast. My heart was beating like crazy as Dawn reached for her Pokeballs, selected one, and then released it. Ribombee appeared in front of her and I took a step forward.

"Ribombee? Ribombee, it's me," I called out desperately. 

Faba laughed and I looked between Ribombee, who was unusually still, and Faba.

"You don't think I would let Dawn's pokemon keep their personalities intact, did you?" Faba asked with a grin and I clenched my jaw. "Hurry up and choose your pokemon before I get bored," Faba said imperiously and I made a rude gesture at him. 

He either didn't notice it or didn't care so I reached for my Pokeballs and after a small hesitation, I released Lycanroc. She came out growling and snarling, but when she saw Dawn and Ribombee on the other end of the green she looked back at me and whined in confusion.

"If we don't beat her then we won't be able to save her," I said under my breath. "Be careful. Dawn isn't herself." 

Lycanroc nodded and turned to Ribombee, who was still just floating in one spot in the air, no twirling or rapid backflips or anything.

"Let the battle begin!" Faba said with a grin.

A/N Blech blech blech! Ugh, I hate Faba so much. *Shudder* What do you guys think?