"He told me his name was Mohn, but he had lost his memory. Aside from that name, he couldn't recall anything else."
Maki's words struck Lusamine like a bolt of lightning, leaving her frozen in place.
"You're not lying to me, are you?"
After a brief moment of shock, Lusamine fixed Maki with a stern and almost frightening expression. Normally, she would never show such a face in front of others, but right now, she couldn't suppress her emotions.
"No, Mohn saved me on that island. I wouldn't lie about something like this."
But Maki's words weren't enough to put Lusamine at ease. She remained wary, her sharp gaze still locked onto him.
"You're aware of who Mohn is, aren't you?"
"Yes. Dr. Mohn, an expert in Ultra Wormhole research. He mysteriously vanished a few years ago due to an accident in his experiments."
"If you knew that, why didn't you bring him back with you?!"
Lusamine stood up abruptly, glaring at Maki.
Once upon a time, Lusamine might have genuinely loved all Pokémon. But after one particular event, she began to change. That event was Mohn's disappearance into an Ultra Wormhole. Her entire personality shifted, but she never gave up on finding her husband.
For years, she had been obsessed with Ultra Wormholes—not just because of the Ultra Beasts, but because she was searching for him.
"I'm sorry. The Ultra Wormhole appeared too suddenly, and Dr. Mohn wasn't with me at the time. Besides... he doesn't seem to have any intention of searching for his past right now."
Maki shook his head. The sudden appearance of the Ultra Wormhole had thrown all his plans into chaos. Originally, he had intended to wait until his Charmeleon evolved into Charizard and was strong enough before catching a Water-type Pokémon capable of carrying him across the ocean.
"Is... is he doing well?"
"Yes, actually. He seems to be enjoying his current life."
"I see... I apologize, I lost my composure."
Lusamine sighed and sat back down, rubbing her forehead. After so many years, she finally had news about Mohn, and it had shaken her more than she expected.
"So, you're with Team Rocket?" Despite her emotions, as the president of the Aether Foundation, Lusamine's keen judgment remained intact.
"What makes you think that?" Maki asked with a smile, neither confirming nor denying her suspicion.
"For starters, you're from Kanto, yet you're so well-informed about Alola. Apart from the League and Team Rocket, I can't think of any other organizations that would have such intel. And based on your behavior, you definitely don't seem like someone from the League. You know that as well as I do."
A confident smile appeared on Lusamine's face. She knew her deduction was solid.
"You're quite knowledgeable about the League."
"Actually, I'm not originally from Alola. Mohn and I moved here from Sinnoh. I imagine the Sinnoh League isn't much different from the Kanto League."
Lusamine's response didn't surprise Maki too much. Though the original story never specified their hometown, the existence of Type: Null was proof enough.
Silvally—
A Pokémon designed to change its type using items, even altering the properties of its moves. Wasn't that an obvious attempt to replicate Arceus, the legendary Pokémon of Sinnoh?
Even in terms of base stats, both Type: Null and its evolution, Silvally, shared the same evenly distributed values as Arceus—albeit in a significantly weaker form.
"That makes sense." Maki nodded.
"So, what's your goal? Right now, Alola and the League are in something of a honeymoon phase as they establish their relationship. If I were to hand over a Team Rocket operative like you, I imagine they'd be very interested."
Lusamine's tone carried a subtle threat.
"Ahem, I actually came to you with a proposal for cooperation."
"Cooperation? Regarding what? The Ultra Beasts? Or is this about Mohn?"
"Dr. Mohn's situation... even if you refuse to work with me, I'll do my best to help. Consider it repayment for the kindness he showed me. No, my proposal is about something else."
"In reality, Team Rocket's goals don't conflict with the Aether Foundation's. In fact, you could even say we're quite like-minded. You might not know this, but Team Rocket is full of people who truly love Pokémon. In that regard, I'm sure we have common ground."
Maki spoke without the slightest hint of shame.
Lusamine, on the other hand, simply gave him a sideways glance. She wasn't naive. Thanks to Wicke, she had learned plenty about Team Rocket.
Its members weren't exactly known for being kind-hearted—far from it.
Even passing Rattata weren't safe; they'd get kicked around just for being in the way.
Her expression might as well have had "Yeah, right" written all over it, but Maki didn't seem the least bit embarrassed.
Still, while she didn't buy into his claims, Lusamine wasn't blind to one fact: there was potential for cooperation between Team Rocket and the Aether Foundation.
Though she was born in Sinnoh, she had spent most of her life in Alola. She felt no attachment to Sinnoh, let alone Kanto, and she had no particular fondness for the League either.
As for Alola itself, it remained in a strange state of balance. Each of the four islands was effectively ruled by its respective kahuna.
There was a reason for this. The four Guardian Deities—Tapu Koko and its kin—had always maintained close ties with humanity, particularly with the kahunas, who could communicate with them directly.
And as Alola's divine protectors, the Tapus weren't on the same level as ordinary Legendary Pokémon like Zapdos or Moltres. Each of them wielded the power of a full-fledged deity.
Seizing control of Alola from such powerful kahunas wouldn't be easy. Even the League had to negotiate with them carefully. As the League's long-time rival, Team Rocket wasn't about to sit back and watch it expand unchallenged.
Even if they couldn't establish a foothold in Alola, they could at least disrupt the League's plans.
And with the Aether Foundation's help, Maki believed achieving the former wasn't out of the question.
"Let's switch topics for a moment—why should I trust you? You don't look much older than my daughter. Can you even speak for Team Rocket?"
"Of course." Maki grinned. "Funny thing—my father just so happens to be Giovanni, the current boss of Team Rocket."
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