Hello everyone and welcome back to a new chapter! If all goes to plan, this should come out a lot sooner than the last one. No promises but I'll try to make that happen. Now I don't hate Gladion at all, in fact I love him lol. But let's say I might've had a little to much fun with this chapter. And yes I might be focusing too much on Aether and Skull but I'm gonna swing back to our heroes after this. Just please be patient for me. Enjoy ;)

Gladion's POV:

I opened my eyes to find myself in another dark void. ("This again?") I asked myself. This was the second time that this had happened to me. I was really starting to think this was more than just coincidental.

"I don't really know how I feel about this kid joining," I heard a voice say. It felt like it was right behind me. I turned around and saw the source of it. It was Plumeria that was talking to me.

The room then started to take shape. Soon I was surrounded by lavender walls. There was a staircase in the middle of the room. Halls and rooms on both sides of the staircase. The room was a mess with paint in places and tables pushed over. I realized I was in the main lobby of the base in Po Town. ("Oh I remember this too. From a year ago. It was just after Liam joined the team"), I said. Or I guess we all called him Liam. But we all knew better.

"I know where you are coming from," I said to her while sitting in a chair. "But I think we should give him a chance with this. It's one way to increase our numbers," I said. "Plus he's no pushover, if everything we've heard is correct." The argument we were having was whether or not we could trust Liam. I was convinced he wanted to help. But Plumeria on the other hand, not so much.

"Increasing our numbers by adding an outsider?" she asked. "What if he just decides to rat us out to the police or Aether?" she asked. "I know of his reputation and what he can do. But he can't possibly understand what we want to achieve here."

I looked down at that comment. "We all have a similar goal in mind. Aether. You want to save your family. Me and Guzma want the same along with giving some of them what they deserve. I don't think this kid gets that."

I then got up and looked at her. "I don't think he needs to understand it fully to help us," I said. "He was there when that crisis happened three years ago. He has seen danger and destruction first hand while we have yet to witness something of that scale. If he is willing to help us out, then I'm sure he must know what he's doing. He's not the person to go against what he thinks is right." She looked at me skeptically and squinted her eyes.

"Well whatever floats your boat," she responded shrugging her shoulders. "But just know that if this goes horribly, it's on you," she pointed out while backing away. "And I am willing to take responsibility if it does go wrong," I responded.

I knew what we were doing was risky. But I had asked them to do it because it could make changes. I had heard lots of stories about what he was able to do. And all the stuff he was able to accomplish. I heard what happened in Kalos now four years ago. I heard he was there and all the things that happened. From what I've heard, he felt weak and not good enough. He wanted to try and get better for those close to him. With everything that I was going through, I felt the same way.

Before anything else happened, everything started to fade and turn bright white.

I jerked my head forward and awoke from my sleep. I awoke to see all darkness again. No view of anything at all so I simply tried to feel my surroundings. I was sitting down on the ground instead of that chair. It was really cold too yet there was nothing much I could do. I decided to lean back a little but hit a wall, which was also cold. I tried moving my arms and legs around the floor but I couldn't.

There seemed to be objects on my arms and legs that were holding me down. "So they chained me up to the wall," I said out loud. I felt really uncomfortable in the room but it didn't bother me too much.

What bothered me the most were these dreams and memories I was having. I haven't been here for what feels like very long and it's the second time this has happened. My mind went to thinking about what happened in that dream. When Plumeria reminded me what my goal was, my mind went to my first dream. And all that came in my head was the ending of it.

That last look Lillie gave me before I left. I could feel tears starting to form in my eyes. I knew that face well and the memory just made it worse. The fact I had run off to join Team Skull in order to do what I thought was right. I ended up getting captured while also almost getting a friend into trouble. I looked down at what I thought was the floor.

"I'm....so sorry Lillie," I said quietly. "I'm sorry....I couldn't keep your promise." I promised myself to protect her and keep her safe. I even promised her to not get and to come back to her. More tears had started to fall. "I'm sorry....I wasn't good enough to keep you safe. I failed you. I failed our family. And I failed my friends."

Tears continued falling from both of my eyes. I then thought about my friends and the other dream with my Skull popped in my mind. I thought back to Guzma, Plumeria and Liam. The ones who I considered my friends. The media can think what it wants but I know who they are and what they can do.

I looked to the ground. "I can't do anything for now. Now it's up to you guys," I said. "Protect her along with everyone else." They couldn't hear me but I know they would do what I ask. I continued to sit there as the tears fall.

3rd Person POV:

"Those are very interesting memories you have there Gladion," Faba said with a grin on his face. He was watching what was going on in a room next to the cell. The room was mostly dark but the only source of light was from several machines in it. Only Faba and another figure were in it at the time.

"I have to hand it to you again Colress," he said to the figure. "Making a device that's able to control memories and see dreams of others is phenomenal!"

"Well I can't take all the credit," the figure replied. Faba turned his head to the other figure in the room. He was wearing a mechanical suit that covered most of their body. The only part that didn't was his head. The man had white skin and a pair of glasses on. He had blonde hair and also some blue hair the circled almost all around his head. He was sitting in a chair near a table that ran along part of the wall and in front of the glass.

"I'd have to thank that to the Doctor Fennel of Unova," he said. "I may have taken her notes of both dream energy and the dream world to make it. It targets the part of the brain that holds memories. It then picks any thoughts or memories they might be having. Then it projects it to the person so they dream about it and it collects that data through dream waves. Then the machine transmits it to us." He then adjusted his glasses and finished with, "We can use this on anyone and we can see their thoughts and memories through their dreams."

"Outstanding work!" Faba exclaimed but turned toward Colress. "But what ever happened to the Doctor?" he asked. Colress turned to face Faba with a mischievous smile. "Oh we don't need to worry about her anymore," he said ominously. "Of course there are some problems. One is that we can't choose memories at will. That would take too long and we'd risk memory loss of more than just said chosen memory. Also since we used this earlier today, we won't be able to use it for a while. Too much dream manipulation could cause some negative effects."

Faba turned to him with a worried expression. "What sort of effects?" he asked. Colress sighed and said, "Well for one, losing certain memories as previously said. There's also the danger of erasing every single memory they have. And since we are dealing with thoughts, they could also lose all sense of intelligence to even walk or speak. And there's also the danger of the machine overloading and blowing up too," he finished. "And I'm sure none of us exactly want that to happen."

Faba then gulped out of worry. All those things that he said were things none of them could afford to lose. "Well how much longer until we get it working again?" Faba asked anxiously.

"I'd say at least a few days. This dream manipulation is not very easy to do. The mind needs a rest after stress like this. If we put it under too much stress, his mind could break. But once a few days goes by, we should be ready to go," Colress answered.

"Well at least we were able to rule out beginners luck," Faba said. He looked down at his tablet and brought up two pictures of Liam. One with the hood of his cloak on and the other with it off, exposing his black hair. There was also his Raichu by his side.

"So it seems that fellow with the cloak was in Kalos when the Crisis happened. He was never seen by Lysandre or any of his units. But if this one took part in it, that must mean he was part of the group that stopped him."

He then brought up pictures of all those involved. There were screenshots of multiple people on the screen including the two champions and the Kalos Gym Leaders. "These are all the likely suspects."

"We can rule out all the adults and that robot I'm pretty sure," Colress said. "Looked too young and organic to be one of them." Faba nodded and took all of them off the screen. Now there were only a few left. "You think we should rule out all the females of being him?" Faba asked.

"I say we should keep them under suspicion," someone else said. Both Faba and Colress turned to face the door and saw someone else enter the room. It was a larger man. He had on a red suit and red goggles on his eyes. And he only had a bit of red hair on him.

"It could be one of them. People can go really far to hide their identities," he finished. Colress and Faba looked at each other. All of them wanted to go through as few as possible. Colress shrugged his shoulders, not knowing what to say. Faba, realizing he had a point, rolled his eyes. "Alright then, Xerosic. I'll keep them there," he said.

"Well that really narrows it down," Colress said sarcastically while leaning back a little in his chair. "Think we should go back to a further memory to see who it could be?" Faba asked. "Well we could but we wouldn't want to erase anything important if something went wrong right?"

The other two nodded in agreement. "Who do you think it is," Xerosic asked Faba. He shook his head while still looking at his tablet. "I have no clue and we won't know for quite some time. What we do know however is that Lillie has Cosmog thanks to our Recon."

Then he pointed at Xerosic. "Xerosic, I want you to tell the trio to go to the Professor's house. We know they are leaving so let's see if they leave anything. Anything that could be useful to us."

"Got it," Xerosic said before he rushed out the door. He turned to Colress. "I want you to stay here and make sure everything is in order. I'm going to have a little trip with the President," Faba said. He put his tablet on to the table. Colress nodded and Faba walked out of the room. Once the door shut behind him, Colress turned to the window to face Gladion.

Gladion was still in his chains. He looked like he was crying but Colress couldn't tell and didn't seem to care. "I'm sure we will find out who it is eventually," he said picking up Faba's laptop. "But don't worry about your sister. Sooner or later, she will be joining you." He looked down at the pictures on the tablet and picked it up. "And if not, then maybe at least one of these guys will be joining you" he snickered.

When he looked down at the tablet, something caught his attention. One of the faces he had recognized. It was the one that mostly caused the fall of Team Plasma in Unova years ago. Just seeing his face got him a little angry. He had seen he was involved in Kalos but didn't think he'd be a suspect at all.

It was because of him he almost spent a lot of time in prison. It was also due to him that his former boss and companions were thrown into prison. He got up out of his chair and walked towards the door. "Interesting suspect," he said to himself. "If it is him, then maybe I can have some fun." He walked out of the room and the door shut behind him.

He started walking down one of the hallways when he noticed someone standing in front of him. A tall man wearing a white and blue suit, with a helmet covering his head and face. The only thing that wasn't covered by his mask was a mustache that appeared to be blue in color.

"I can see things have been going well," he said with a smile on his face. Colress knew who he was and put a small grin on his face.

"Everything is going okay so far," he replied. "Actually things seem like they've gotten a bit better than they were. We are getting closer to our main goal and even have some good results from our side projects."

The man maintained the smile on his face. "That's good to know. I was getting worried we managed to hit a roadblock."

"Not at all," Colress smugly replied. "We are progressing nicely to get what we want to accomplish. I'm sure you are happy to hear that."

"Oh I am," he replied. "I've been waiting for the day when our worries will be over. My companions will be happy to hear this news as well."

"Speaking of which, where are they?" Colress asked. "I had always assumed they'd be close by at all times.

"They usually are but I decided they needed some time away from everything. So I decided to allow them to have some rest. Soleria is still in the base and the other two were still on an island close to Poni Island."

"Well if that's the case, call then back here," Colress commanded. "Things are about change drastically and we are gonna need everyone here soon. I'm sure you don't need me to tell you how important this is. Right Phyco?"

The man smiled. "You don't need to remind me. That's the whole reason why the Ultra Recon Squad was formed. I'll talk to them and get them back here by tomorrow.

"Good to know," Colress replied. Colress continued walking down the hallway while Phyco turned around and walked the other direction.

Sycamore's POV:

I had gotten up earlier in the morning to make sure things were all ready for the day. The rest of the kids had never seen the rest of what this place has to offer. I had some time to do some more work so I took advantage of that.

I had walked into the room where I did most of my research. It had a good sized desk and a comfortable chair. And it even had a good view of Akala Island and the ocean.

Before I started working, I decided to sit down and look out the window. The sun was now starting to rise over the big ocean. It covered the island in an orange light too. It also made the sky a beautiful light pink color with some orange and blue. It also reflected beautifully off the surface of the water. I had always appreciated seeing the sun set and rise whenever I was here. It always looked so breath taking. "It sure is nice to see something so marvelous, even in this kind of time," I said to myself.

One day, I had hoped to see this sunrise in a more peaceful time. Which is part of why I asked all the kids to come along. I knew that all of them together, along with everyone else here, could do anything to save this place. They would just need to work with some new things.

While I was enjoying it, I heard a noise coming from the computer. I turned around and saw a box on the screen. It read 'Do you wish to accept this call from AETHER?' I recognized the name when I read it. The organization had come here to visit the lab every once in a while. They used the research here to help the people of Alola during this time.

I decided to open it up and then the screen went black. The next moment, the screen flashed back up and I saw someone looking at the screen. "Greetings there Professor," it said. The figure looked and sounded like a woman. She had light skin and long blonde hair from what I saw. She was also wearing a white dress with a green crystal like object near her neck.

I knew who it was immediately and almost fell backwards in my chair. "Oh! Madam President Lusamine!" I said still very shocked. "This is a very unexpected surprise." I had seen her before when she was on the news, telling others about their cause. But this was the first time I ever talked to her.

She giggled at that remark. "I should say the same for you Professor Sycamore, I was honestly expecting Kukui to pick up instead." I had met the Kukui when I came to the Alola region. When he wasn't at home or the other lab, he was usually here.

"But it's still nice to finally get to talk to you in person," she finished with a smile. "Likewise ma'am," I replied. "But what can I do for you today, Madam President?" I asked. "Straight to the point like I've been told. Also no need for the formalities. Call me what you wish," she said.

"As for your question, Professor, I am just calling in to let you know that the new inspection is today," she said. I knew what she meant. Every once in a while, Aether would send people to check and make sure everything here is okay. Also to see if we've made any more discoveries with new Mega Stones or Z-Crystals.

"Alright then," I replied. "Thank you for telling me. But why did you decide to call and tell me this?" Normally a simple employee would call or at most, the Assistant. "Well I'm calling you to say that this time, I will be the one to come over," she answered.  I went wide-eyed at that statement. "Pardon me but why?" I asked.

"Well, I had heard from Kukui that you were bringing some people over from Kalos. He even said that they were in the crisis from four years ago. I was going come over anyway since I felt I needed to see the place for myself this time. But now that you are here, I feel I must come over and meet them," she answered.

To be continued...

And that was Chapter 18! I hope all of you enjoyed it. So Lusamine is now coming in the scene. Yeah it should've been a while ago but I thought this way to be a very good way to introduce her. And dream manipulation, that was an idea I thought about toying with so I brought it in. And to all my American followers, I want to wish you a Happy Early Thanksgiving. And to everyone else, I hope that you have a good day! Peace out! ;)