Team Galactic Headquarters

“Forrest? Report.”

The red-haired woman cleared her throat in front of the Galactic Boss. “Leader Cyrus, the Host appears to fight with a variety of Pokemon. However, his most powerful weapon is his Shinx, MoonFlash, apparently the child of Solareon and Sunshine.” She paused. “He also seems obsessed with listening to Shinx’s cry.”

“MoonFlash,” Cyrus repeated. “Interesting name.”

“The Shinx grows continually faster as it battles, and has shown itself to be powerful enough to evolve,” Forrest went on, “but it appears that the Voices haven’t learned from their mistakes. Something is preventing it from reaching its next form, which appears to be a Murkrow.”

Cyrus shrugged. “A Murkrow wouldn’t be as much of a risk to us -- it can only use Normal-type moves, and it couldn’t evolve further without a Dusk Key.” He paused. “Still, we cannot allow the Host to hold on to such a powerful Pokemon so long as he opposes us.”

“Understood.” Forrest bowed respectfully. “What would you have us do, then?”

“Fetch Charon for me. If pure force can’t stop this Shinx, then perhaps technology can.”

Forrest nodded and left the room. Some time later, a somewhat heavyset man in glasses walked in. “Yes, my lord?”

“I need you to hack the Sinnoh PC system. Set the default option to deposit Pokemon, and make it exceedingly difficult to retrieve them. Oh, and one other thing.” Cyrus smiled malevolently. “Set it to target Shinx.”

---

Hearthome City

“Cynthia, we have a situation,” Bebe said over a Scythpe call. “Someone has altered the PC functions to dangerous levels.”

Cynthia swore. “Of course they have. Does it look like any of the usual suspects?”

Aaron spoke over Bebe’s shoulder. “If you’re talking about you-know-who, then… yes and no. It’s not a fatal situation like the Voice Syndrome era, or a mass theft like the Flak era. It’s more of… the PC is grabbing trainer’s Pokemon, sucking them inside the boxes, and not letting them go.”

“But the Pokemon are safe inside?”

Bebe paused. “Almost. There’s rumors of a few casualties, but so far they seem to be more along the lines of natural causes. A Drifloon, for instance, that was denied the chance to evolve, eventually burst from the strain inside an Eterna City Pokemon Center.”

“The Host’s Drifloon,” Aaron said ominously. “Bebe, does that sound in any way natural to you?”

“I know Bill wouldn’t target a Ghost-type without cause,” Bebe answered, “especially not given how long he’s been with Giratina. He’s nothing but loyal to her and we all know it. There’s some other force at work, and it’s certainly no glitch.”

“I’m not talking about Bill, I’m just saying it’s suspicious.”

Bebe glanced at her husband nervously. Bill had been on the side of the angels for a while now, but she knew that Bill’s tricking and then threatening Aaron and Bebe into involvement in perpetrating the Voice Syndrome hoax was an old wound for Aaron that perhaps had never really fully healed. But it certainly wasn’t worth opening again.

“Lord Amber and I have confined Bill to the Dongstortion World for his own safety,” Cynthia pointed out. “Also under the cover story that he’s under house arrest because we don’t have ‘proof’ he didn’t do it this time. Given his past reputation, that ought to be enough warning to keep him from leaving. We don’t need him doing anything monumentally stupid just to clear his own name.” She sighed, rubbing her temples. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but we need him alive.”

Bebe blinked. “We need Bill alive. Yeah, I can’t believe it’s come to this either.”

Aaron said nothing, the sins of his past weighing silently on his soul.

“Bebe, you would not believe how close I have been over the past four days to wanting to slap a god over this mess,” Cynthia admitted. “I just can’t decide which one.”

“I know what you mean,” Aaron agreed. “Cynthia, tell Lady Jasmine and the Elite Four that I’ll be vacating my position until this mess is sorted out. Could you call my daughter Crystal and ask if she’d take my spot while I’m busy?”

“Actually, she already volunteered,” Cynthia said with a slight smile. “She had a feeling you’d step down for a while.”

Bebe and Aaron looked at each other and smiled. “Hey, that’s our girl, right?” Aaron said proudly. “Always one step ahead of us. Tell Mallorie to watch out for her Empoleon; they may be pretty bugs, but they’ve got some serious attitude.”

Cynthia nodded, wondering if the couple would believe her if she told them that Empoleon were supposed to be steel-plated waterfowl and not psychic stag beetles. Or that their daughter hadn’t always been psychic either. Given that Bebe had tended towards skepticism and rationalism in a past era, Cynthia decided it probably wasn’t the best move. “Understood. Call me if you learn anything.”

“Will do. Gods bless!”

As Bebe closed the Scythpe call, Cynthia shook her head at the irony of it all.

---

Eterna City Pokemon Center

“TURNITOFFTURNITOFFTURNITOFFTURNITOFF!!!!”

Pepe watched helplessly as the Voices panicked. Something inside the PC he’d accessed on the top floor of the Pokemon Center was clearly malfunctioning… unless this was planned.

MoonFlash gripped the Blue Flute in its teeth in fear. The vacuum grip of the PC’s ‘Deposit’ function was growing stronger. As strongly as Pepe was mashing the power button, it couldn’t last forever.

Finally something snapped inside the Shinx, and it dropped the flute into its paws, screaming one word and one word only…

“RUN!”

And before Pepe’s terrified eyes, his beloved Shinx disappeared into the PC.