Chapter 71

The incident had caught them off-guard, and being surrounded by so many enemies had scared them. None of them had expected that their day would turn up like it did.

It was late in the afternoon, and they were only a couple of hours away from reaching Vermillion City when Gengar informed them that an ambush was awaiting them. Aizen wanted to Teleport them away, but they found out that Dexter could not use Teleportation because some device was interfering with his Psychic Field.

Luckily, they called out their Pokemon in time, but even then, being surrounded by so many enemies and weapons was not something they were used to. Misty and Leaf felt terrified for their lives for the first time. And just when they thought that things were going to end well, Dexter suddenly Telepored them to Cerise Laboratory on the outskirts of Vermilion City.

To their horror, Dexter could not Teleport back to the side of Aizen for some reason. Leaf was panicking, Misty was fuming, and it took some time for Anira to calm them down and assure them that everything was going to be fine. She was panicking too, and the only thing keeping her strong was the fact that Dexter had not sensed Aizen in pain.

The three of them were immensely relieved when Dexter finally Teleported away.

Professor Cerise, his wife, Chrysa, and their assistant Ren greeted them after being informed of their unexpected presence in the Laboratory. Cerise determined from Anira's features that she was Aizen's little sister, and treated the girls respectfully, not raising the fact they were trespassing. He got them settled inside the lounge, and then Anira informed them about what was happening. She did not go into details and only said that their group was ambushed by a Criminal Organization, and Aizen sent them away here for safety reasons.

It was over half an hour later when Aizen and Sabrina made it back to the girls. And Misty did not hold back and expressed her dissatisfaction at being sent away without her permission. Leaf stayed quiet. She was just happy that everyone was back. And Anira telepathically asked Dexter to show her what happened on Aizen's side.

Misty only calmed down after Aizen pulled her in his arms and tightly hugged her. He comfortingly stroked her back, and a few moments later, her fear and rage subsided. However, he did not apologise to her for his decision to send her away. And to her dismay, all her Pokemon agreed with his decision.

Aizen lightly smiled at Cerise after leaving Sabrina to inform the girls of what happened. He apologised to him for the inconvenience and then asked if they could stay the day at the Laboratory. He also informed them of a possible visit by Joseph and Bill Stone.

Cerise, Chrysa, and Ren were more than happy to let him stay there, and their excitement was doubled when they heard that Bill could be coming as well.

A week ago, Bill had officially published his Research on Alpha Pokemon, and the three of them had lots of questions for him about his new findings.

Aizen excused himself away from everyone to make a call to his Grandma. He did not want to have her informed about the incident by the Order and spent the next half hour on the call. He did not keep any details from her, and could only helplessly smile at the lecture that followed. And after ending her call with him, Grisha called Anira and talked with her and the girls for quite some time.

At around 6 pm, Joseph and Bill arrived at the Cerise Laboratory. Cerise happily greeted them, and then gave them a room to rest in, and invited them to dinner later tonight.

The Orayen Prince formally introduced Sabrina to the two of them, and then they spent the next hour discussing the events of these two days.

Aizen was quite shocked at the scientific research of Dr. Yung. He might be an evil genius, but he was a genius. Luckily for them, the research was still incomplete and had lots of flaws. So, they had some time to trace him and apprehend him before he could cause some serious harm.

Bill expressed his concerns that Team Rocket might suspect Aizen for what happened to their squadron. His concern was valid, and Aizen knew he had to be careful. However, there was also the possibility that Team Rocket would notvattack him for a while. What happened today was a great setback to them, and they would think twice before confronting him again.

Joseph decided that it was not worth the risk to keep the incident undercover. He proposed making it public, by blaming an unidentified person behind the annihilation of their squadron. Public opinion was not a problem as the victims belonged to a Criminal Organization. And the news would help Team Rocket understand who exactly was behind the death of their members and the disappearance of Archer. However, Aizen expressed his concerns about people linking the cause of deaths to those that took place in the Cerulean Cave a while ago.

In the end, they decided to go with what Joseph proposed. As long as the victims stayed criminals, the public would not be overly panicked.

"He should be in Orre." Sabrina suddenly spoke after going through a file of the evidence they found in the Mirage Mansion.

"What?" Bill frowned at her words.

"Dr. Yung should be in Orre." She looked at them and said. "The secondary research you have found at his Mansion, where the Ghostly energies and DNA of Ghost-Type Pokemon are to be implanted in Pokemon to stimulate a mutation is called Project Shadow Pokemon. And it originated from Orre."

The region of Orre was a barren region that had lost its blessing after the incident with the Regional Guardians a thousand years ago. And now, Orre was a hub for the world's most nefarious Criminal Organizations. It was a lawless region where the Black Market ruled everything.

"How do you know that?" Joseph narrowed his eyes and asked.

"My parents found out about this project, and they were traced and killed by a Shadow Pokemon. It was a Gastly that was experimented on, making it enormous and was named Black Fog. It killed my Lapras and my parents, and I killed it along with the people that brought it to our home." She indifferently answered.

There was no trace of emotion in her voice and expressions as she recounted what happened to her parents and Pokemon, and it constricted Bill and Joseph's hearts.

"So the people behind the project are dead?" Bill confirmed.

"No. They were only goons." She shook her head.

"Are you pursuing them?" Joseph asked in a grim voice.

"I am not." She shook her head. "My parents would not have wanted me to go after them. It is unwise to risk my life to seek vengeance."

Aizen's heart slowed down at her words, and his brows were deeply furrowed. Her words made him uncomfortable, but he managed to keep himself calm.

"That's good." Joseph sighed in relief.

"And now we have another thing on our hands." Bill wryly smiled. "Team Doom, Project Mirage Pokemon, and Project Shadow Pokemon."

"No. Our Action Team's current task is to deal with Team Doom. And that is the priority." Joseph shook his head. "Try not to focus on other problems. At least, not until Team Doom is dealt with."

Aizen and Bill nodded to his words. And Sabrina just stayed silent.

The four of them later joined Cerise, Talia, Chrysa, Ren, and the girls at the dinner table.

Bill happily answered the questions of Cerise and his Assistants regarding his new research, and they stayed at the dinner table for hours, talking about various things.

The girls had calmed down a lot from the day's events and sleep came to them naturally.

Aizen stayed up late with Sabrina, as they both mediated their Psychic Focus. He talked earlier with her to help her increase the efficiency that she was currently lacking in, and Sabrina welcomed his help.

He still prized his sleep, so he did go to bed, but Sabrina meditated for the entire night. If she had emotions, he would have said that she was obsessed with her Psychic Powers, but he knew that she was focused on getting stronger because her logic directed her to.