(Gladion POV)

We stepped through the opening, ready to take action as soon as we are given the directions from Rose...

'Ein, Sun, go down the corridor to your right. The control room will be on your right after the fifth turn.'

There we go.

'Got it.' the two ravenette's nodded in sync before dashing off down the dimly lit hallway, their footsteps getting fainter as they ran across the floor tiles.

'Lillie and Hau, go straight ahead and the research lab will be the eighth door to your left.'

'Right!'

Before they could run off, I grabbed Lillie's wrist. She looked back at me with an eyebrow raised, while I stared back with my eyebrows arched upwards.

'Be safe...' I whispered.

Lillie smiled gently, giving me a gentle hug before pulling away 'I will. You will too, right?'

I nodded 'Of course.'

My eyes travelled to Hau, who shifted uncomfortably under my gaze. I sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder, startling him slightly.

'Hau, please protect her for me.' I spoke with a firm yet gentle voice 'Take care of my little sister.'

The boy nodded sincerely as he spoke in a solemn voice 'I'll die before I'd let anything happen to her.'

The corner of my lips quirked upwards as I gave his shoulder a light pat, before backing away from them and nodding

'Good luck, you two.'

'Same to you.' They smiled.

The teens took off as fast as they could. I watched with a tad of nervousness as my sister moved farther away from me.

I heard Rose clear her throat through my earpiece 'Red and Green. Go east. The cells are behind the large door at the end of the hall.'

'Got it.' Green answered as he and Red ran off. It was just me and Avory now...

'The rest of you, meaning Gladion and Antony-'

'It's Avory.'

'-Avory, make your way down the corridor directly to your left. The leader's office will be behind the large grey doors. There's more than one person there, and security gets higher the further you get so stay alert.'

Avory and I exchanged glances, before nodding towards each other and running. My heart pounded against my ribcage, feeling many nerves hit me at once the further we went. We only had one shot at this, and we had to be completely flawless carrying it out. If one of us slips up... we're all done for.

(Sun POV)

I continued to sprint down the dimly lit corridor, with Ein a few feet in front of me since he knew the place better than I did. To be honest I didn't like being paired up with him, mostly because he was an A.L.I scientist. At any point he can alert his little friends, and blow our cover. It also doesn't help that he's attractive either. The evilest are the ones with the best looks. Proven by Leven...

Tch... whatever I'm stuck with him now. Besides if I needed to shut him up I could just ask Mudsdale to flatten him

...

Yea, that's what I'll do.

'Oi, you back down on earth yet?' I heard Ein whisper yell, snapping me out of my thoughts. I noticed he was right in front of me, one arm crossed over his chest while the other was outstretched with his fingers snapping in front of my face. I grunted and swatted his hand away.

'So~rry.' I replied in a fake whiny voice, making him roll his eyes dramatically.

'You know, I expected the Champion of Alola to be a little more, I don't know, mature about all this?' he said as we continued down the hall.

'Are you implying that I'm childish?'

'I'm not implying anything. It was just a statement.'

My eyes narrowed at his smug expression, making me grunt in annoyance and quicken my pace.

'And where, may I ask do you think you're going?' Ein asked tiredly from behind me.

I looked at him from over my shoulder 'The control room, duh!'

'Do you even know where that is?' The male raised an eyebrow, which caused me to scoff.

'Of course I do!'

'Then you must also know that you're going the wrong way.'

'Pfft, nice try. I'm not falling for a trick like tha--'

I walked straight into a wall... making me land hard on my a**

I swear to Arceus, Ein's laughter was more annoying than his face.

'What were you saying before? About knowing where you were going?' he asked in an irritating cheerful voice, as he made his way over and squatted down next to me.

'Shut up, r*tard. And help me up.' I ordered behind gritted teeth.

'R*tard?!' He laughed out 'I'll have you know that the only reason we haven't been caught by security, is because somebody hacked the system and killed half of the cameras in this place. Who did that again?'

'Some stoner with an ego higher than Mount Lanakila, who I'm trying so hard not to flip off right now.'

'Why you little--!'

'Guys!' Ashley's voice came through our earpieces. 'Cut it out. We have a job to do and your bickering may blow our cover. So suck it up, and get to where you need to be!'

'Sorry, mom.' Ein and I whined in sync.

'You guys want a slap when you get back?!'

We were silent.

'That's what I thought. Now get your a**es in gear!'

Ein grunted before rising to his feet, offering a hand to me which I grudgingly took. We began moving again, only this time it was in silence and we were heading in the right direction.

Remind me to kick Ein in the nut when this madness is over...

'Well, this really is a surprise~'

The two of us froze at the voice behind us, which seemed far too familiar for my liking. Ein had squeezed his eyes shut, mouthing a quick cuss word before pursing his lips together. We slowly turned our heads to face each other, me whispering a quick 'we're so dead' and him nodding in agreement, before glancing at the person from over our shoulders. She was smirking at us with her arms crossed, and had an angry looking Gardevoir at her side. With a gulp, Ein and I fully faced them before giving them a dark smile.

'Long time no see, Pastel... Or should I say, Virgo.' I spat.

(Hau POV)

Hau, please protect her for me. Take care of my little sister.

Gladion's words stayed in my mind, along with the amount of trust visible in his eyes when he spoke them. He trusts me to take care of Lillie, and I promised I would with my life. And that's just what I'll do.

Lillie and I continued to dash down the hall, counting the doors as we went past them so we wouldn't pass the one we needed.

'6... 7... 8! There it is!' Lillie pointed out in excitement.

'SHH!' I shushed her loudly, causing her to slap her hands over her mouth and let out a muffled 'sorry'. I sighed and eyed the metal door to our left. My heart began beating faster from nerves as we stepped closer to it.

'Guzma, is the coast clear?' I asked through my earpiece. There's no such thing as being too careful.

'All clear.' The ex leader confirmed 'Y'all can enter no problem.'

I thanked him and reached for the door handle, turning it and pushing it open. I took Lillie by the hand and lead her into the room, before reaching for the light switch and flipping it on.

'Wow...' Lillie squinted at the clean, high tech lab in front of us 'The tech in here looks more advanced than in Aether's labs.'

'Well,' I let go of Lillie's hand to search around the shelves 'If we've learned anything from all this, it's that the A.L.I definitely isn't something to scoff at.'

'True...'

Lillie and I began searching everywhere around this place, trying to find any sort of clue to why the A.L.I wanted Megan, Luke and Laura so badly. First the shelves, then the drawers, then the files. Basically anywhere we could reach.

I squatted down to look through one of the lower down drawers, skimming through every file, leaflet and sheet of paper I could get my hands on. There wasn't anything useful, which made me puff out my cheeks in annoyance.

'Wait, I think I found something!' Lillie exclaimed from behind me, causing me to spin on my heel to face her. She seemed to have been looking through the files of the computers, and currently had one in particular opened up. I made my way to her and rested my arms on the chair she was sitting in.

'What'cha find?' I asked.

'Well, it seems to be information on the Artemus siblings, like their birth certificates, school photos and such. But there is only so much information, like enough for a child. Though, that's not the weird part. The weird part is this,' She clicked on another file 'It's some sort of code, along with instructions for conducting some kind of experiment.'

I leaned forward slightly, squinting at the screen. 'Operation perfection...?' I muttered out.

'Exactly. I may be wrong but I think this coding is what Megan's father used when he fused those people and Pokemon.' Lillie moved her mouse slightly 'The instructions mention something about a mysterious shard, which allows someone to inherit a Pokemon's abilities. Which is exactly like the gem inside Megan. They somehow know everything about the experiments. From who was involved, to the dates they were carried out, and even super secret information that not even the police have encountered!'

'How is that possible?' My eyebrows raised in surprise.

Lillie bit her lip 'Maybe if someone who was there worked with the A.L.I...'

'No, the only people who actually worked on it was your mother and Megan's father. And it can't be them because Lusamine's good now, and Megan's dad is dead.'

Lillie frowned at my statement 'Then how can--'

She suddenly paused, her eyes going wide before she went to typing things on the computer.

'What are you doing?' I asked.

'Looking up the information on who works here... Bingo!'

Many pages popped up, mostly photos of people next to their information. I immediately recognised Leven, Ein, Pastel and Avory's photos. There seemed to be twelve photos, with one in the middle of all of them. It was a photo of a man, seeming to be in his early forties, with blonde hair and blue eyes. To be honest he kinda looked like an older version of Luke, with a similar colour palette to Megan.

'Who's that?' I asked, pointing at the picture.

Lillie clicked on it, bringing us to a page full of the man's info 'It looks like he's the leader... there's no name given.'

I hummed in response, squinting at the man before reaching my hand up to my earpiece 'Guzma can you find any information on The Artemus family? Like pictures?'

'Sure, but why?'

'I have a theory...'

It was silent on the other line for a bit, but I could hear typing so I know it didn't cut off. A couple of minutes later a screen popped up in front of my eyes from the device. Damn this technology is amazing.

There were a bunch of photos of a family. A mother, father, two girls and a boy. I recognised the children to be Megan, Luke and Laura, which made me let out a small 'aw'. The woman wasn't someone I recognised, but then again I haven't seen Megan's parents before. And the man...

My eyes switched gazes between the leader of the A.L.I, and the man in the photo. Sure there seemed to be an age difference, but I was sure of it. 'It's the same person...' I breathed out.

'What?!' Lillie whipped her head round to face me.

'Megan's father is the leader of the A.L.I.'

'But how is that--?'

'I don't know. It shouldn't be possible, but it's too convenient. The information, the code, the resemblance...' I paused 'All the facts point to him. And since we know Meg's mom's alive, I don't have a lot of doubt in my mind that her dad is too.'

Lillie and I exchanged glances, before turning towards the man's ID on the screen. No name given, as the girl next to me had said, but there was something interesting at the top. Three words.

Artemus

Labs

Inc.

...

That's what A.L.I stands for OH MY GOD!

'This is crazy! Benjamin Artemus is behind this?!' I screeched 'The same guy who tore apart so many lives those years ago?!'

Lillie gasped 'Now what Leven said makes sense! Megan'll find out her dad runs this place eventually and... and lose it...'

Worry was visible in her eyes, and I had the same feeling in my chest. We gulped at the idea of facing such a powerful, dangerous psychopath as him.

'We- We gotta get outta here!' I covered my mouth 'We gotta find the others, they have to know about thi--'

A force was met with the back of my head, making my world spin and causing me to fall to the floor. I heard Lillie scream my name as I slowly slipped unconscious.

'You're not telling anyone about anything.' A male's voice growled. Before everything went black.

(Gladion POV)

'So basically Megan was trapped as a Type:Null for two years,'

'Yes...'

'And she willingly became your partner after you saved her,'

'Yes...'

'Until your sister was kidnapped by Team Skull so they could get their hands on this 'Cosmog' thing, causing you, 'Null', Sun and Hau to go on this huge rescue mission, kinda like this one?'

I let out yet another annoyed sigh 'Yes.'

Avory hummed 'So what happened after that?'

I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, raising an eyebrow.

'Oh come on!' He whined 'This is really interesting! I wanna know what happens!'

I bit the inside of my cheek, inhaling and exhaling through my nose in the form of a defeated sigh 'Fine... During our 'rescue mission' we came across Guzma, who was a huge douche back then. I think Rose did something to change him-- ahem. Anyway, after Sun defeated him he ordered his grunts to restrain us and take Megan to my mother. We fought through the grunts and tried to find them, but when we did Megan was being mind controlled by mother.'

'How?'

I glared at him.

'Sorry, sorry. Continue.'

'mother used Cosmog to open an Ultra wormhole, which she and Guzma disappeared into after ordering Megan to 'take care' of us. To be honest if she hadn't snapped out of it when she did... I wouldn't be here.'

I recalled Megan's claw just missing my face, and shivers shot up my spine.

'After she snapped out of the mind control... she also became human.' I finished.

Avory nodded, intrigued by the story. 'And then?'

My face heated up from the events appearing in my mind. From having to carry her, all the way to waking up with her in my arms. I gulped 'I- uh... Oh look we're here!'

I pointed towards the large doors in front of us, causing Avory to turn his head to them. He pouted.

'It was getting good, too...' He muttered.

I mentally sighed when approaching the door. I never thought I'd be so relieved to enter an evil organisation leader's office...

I felt a hand in my shoulder.

'You know I'll bring this up again when we're out of here.' Avory whispered with a smirk.

If we get out of here...

I glared at him for a moment before placing my hand on one of the doors. Avory did the same with the other and we counted down from three, before pushing them with all our might.

What? It's for the Element of surprise

BANG

'OKAY, NOBODY MOVE!' I yelled as me and Avory stomped into the office, pokeballs at the ready in case a battle was to start up. I would say whoever we walked in on was surprised, but... there wasn't anyone in the office to surprise.

'What...?' I heard Avory whisper next to me, as our eyes scanned the dimly lit room. It seemed pretty normal, apart from all the TV screens monitoring every corner of Alola.

As if this guy wasn't scary enough already...

'Rose.' I barked into my earpiece 'You said there were people in here. I don't see any people!'

'I don't know what to tell you, Gladion.' the girl replied, and I could hear her typing on the keyboard. She sounded just as confused 'It says right here that there are two people with you in there.'

'Well maybe the system made a mistake.'

'I doubt it.' Avory spoke up, shaking his head 'Ein does not play around when hacking. The A.L.I only hire the best of the best. There shouldn't be any issues.'

'Then how do you explain this?' I asked with a growl, gesturing to the empty room. The man bit his lip.

'I... I don't know.'

'Guys, we have a problem.' Ashley spoke in a panicked tone.

'Is it the system?' I asked with a hint of sarcasm, causing Avory to scoff next to me.

'No. It's... it's the others.' the woman answered with a gulp 'I've lost contact with Sun and Ein!'

'What?!' Avory and I yelled.

'I've been cut off from Hau and Lillie, too!' Guzma told us, seeming to have lost his 'chill' attitude 'They ain't answering!'

No...

I clenched my jaw as worry soon overtook me. My friends and my sister... what happened to them? Where they captured by the scientists or... or worse? I felt nauseous from the thought.

'Are... are Red and Green still in commission?' I asked shakily, trying my best to not stutter.

'Fortunately, yes. They're almost at the cells.' Rose assured, making me let out a breath.

At least it's not completely up to Avory and I. I'm still not certain about trusting him...

'U-Uhm... Gladion?' Avory called to me shakily, tugging on the sleeve of my hoodie to get my attention.

I turned to him with a raised eyebrow 'What?'

He seemed to be staring at the ceiling in fear, the colour slowly draining from his cheeks as he pointed up to one particular area. I followed his gaze, and my breath hitched.

'Hello, boys~' A redheaded woman sang. She and another pink haired woman, as well as a Medicham and Kingler, where floating above us with the help of Medicham's psychic. All of them wore wicked smiles on their faces.

Avory gulped, taking a step in front of me 'Cancer, Libra.' he greeted with a nod.

'Hi, Leo.' the red haired woman waved. She seemed a little more friendly than her companion, who continued to glare at us.

I slowly reached for my Pokeball, not wanting to take any chances with the scientists as their attention was focused on the caramel haired boy. But just as I reached for Crobat's capsule, it flew out of my reach.

'Ah ah ah.' The pink haired girl wagged a finger in a scolding manner, though her smirk remained 'I wouldn't do that if I were you~'

I growled.

'You know, Leo. I'm kinda disappointed.' The woman continued as her gaze one again focused on Avory 'You had so much potential, yet you chose to betray us. Even after we took you in when you had nothing.'

Avory visibly tensed.

'Yeah, what's up with that?' the redhead pouted 'Wasn't it fun to plan the new world? Wasn't it fun to experiment on innocent people and Pokémon? Wasn't it fun to continue what your mother couldn't be a part of?'

A small gasp escaped his lips and he began trembling, his fists clenching until they were white.

'Avory,' I placed a hand on his shoulder from behind 'Don't listen to them. They're only trying to get under your skin.'

He didn't answer, but his hands seemed to loosen only slightly. The pink haired girl chuckled.

'Why do you want to help them, anyway? They're freaks. They aren't human anymore, nor are they Pokémon. Do you pity them, Aether? Is that why you claimed to love her?'

Oh. Oh no she didn't!

'Shut up! You know nothing!' I snarled.

'We know that it was a huge mistake for you to come here.'

Avory growled 'I beg to differ.'

The two of us grabbed our pokeballs, this time successfully as we called out our companions.

'Lucario!'

'Pyroar!'

The creatures appeared from the light, snarling at the opponents with their teeth bared.

Both women let out a mocking laugh.

'You really think you can defeat us?!'

'Dunno.' Avory shrugged, both of us smirking as we said at the same time:

'But we can at least try!'

(3323 words god dayum)