Infiltrating the Network

He watched Celebi and Little Black play with a gentle gaze. After all, that was what Kaim had said.

"Let's head back soon. It's getting chilly."

"Ah."

"Oh, yes. Celebi, would you like some herbal tea?"

Celebi nodded and hugged Towa.

"My, my. No matter how much time passes, you're still such a spoiled child. Will you have some too, Kaim?"

"Yes, please. Shall I get Cynthia's share too?"

"Hehe, leave it to me."

Towa gave Kaim the same cheerful smile as always.

"Ah, that sounds lovely."

Cynthia poked her head out from the top of the tree house.

"Oh, Miss Cynthia-no, just 'Cynthia.' Perfect timing."

"!"

"I was going to make some herbal tea. Would you like some?"

"Um, could I ask you for some, Towa?"

"Hehe, leave it to me."

"Oh, Celebi!"

When Celebi noticed Cynthia, she flew over and hugged her.

"You came."

"He came to see me."

"Hehe, let's go upstairs and have a proper chat."

Holding Celebi, Cynthia returned to her room.

Towa and Kaim followed them back into the tree house.

The next day, the two left the Johto Region.

"They've gone, Grandma."

"Yes."

Towa gently stroked Miku's head as the girl spoke sadly. Miku was very fond of Kaim and Cynthia, so she had seemed happy to spend time with them, however briefly.

This time, they had exchanged contact information so they could get in touch whenever they wanted. Even so, meeting and talking in person was more fun.

"Will we see them again?"

"Of course."

Towa spoke as she looked at the photographs taken before their departure.

There were pictures of Towa's family with Cynthia and Kaim, as well as pictures of Towa and Cynthia, Miku flirting with Kaim, and Towa, Cynthia, and Kaim drinking herbal tea.

"They kept their promise from last time, so I believe we'll see them again."

As she spoke, Towa carefully placed the photographs in her hands into an album.

"Yes, that's right."

"That's right. The bonds between people are strong."

"Yes, I believe it!"

"What a wonderful child."

She placed the album beside the picture frame by the window.

The old photograph and the new album gleamed in the warm light.

Believing they would meet again, Miku left the room.

"Ugh."

"All right, target reached!"

He sat down on a bench and wiped away his sweat with a towel.

Kaim was drenched in sweat after completing all his targets for the day, including strength training for sparring and aerobic exercise to build stamina. Plenty of trainers around him wore the same exhausted expressions.

As one would expect from a Fighting-type Gym, the trainers exercised there alongside their Pokémon. Kaim trained too, of course, and his physical abilities ranked among the best at the Gym. Other trainers surpassed him in raw muscle strength, but like Sumomo, Kaim knew how to use his body well and excelled at full-body activities such as parkour.

"That's all for today's training. Thank you for your hard work."

At Sumomo's words, the trainers returned their Pokémon to their balls, exchanged farewells, and headed to the changing room.

Only Sumomo and Kaim remained, and Sumomo called out to him.

"Aren't you going home, Kaim?"

"I'll wait until the changing room clears out."

Kaim answered while mixing a protein shake in a shaker.

"Protein after exercise is great, isn't it? The new protein powder the Pokémon Triathlon Association released recently is delicious."

"What flavor?"

"Mystery berry!"

"Is that really any good?"

Of course, it would not retain the mystery berry's original flavor exactly, but compared with reliably tasty Oran Berries and O-Bon Berries, mystery berries did not taste very good. Kaim therefore suspected that Sumomo's taste buds were numb.

"I think it's a matter of personal preference."

"It must be."

"Speaking of which, Kaim, what was the Johto Region like?"

"It's hard to put into words, but it was a nice place. You should visit someday."

"Really?"

After finishing his orange-juice protein shake, Kaim stood up.

"Oh, that reminds me."

He remembered what Cynthia had told him about Team Galactic earlier.

"Do you know about Team Galactic?"

"Team Galactic? Yes, of course. Their clothes and hairstyles are very distinctive."

"Yes."

"Oh, so that's how it is."

"They advocate developing energy from space, but they seem to have been making a lot of moves lately. It would probably be best to share that information with the other Gym Leaders."

"...Is that so?"

"That would be helpful."

"I'll look into it too. Being a Gym Leader gives you plenty of connections."

"Please do."

With that, Kaim bowed to Sumomo and headed to the changing room.

"I see. So the Gym Leaders know about Team Galactic."

Cynthia and Kaim were talking in Kaim's room at Cynthia's house. Naturally, Kaim was doing some work on his computer.

"For now, I asked the other Gym Leaders to discuss it with Liden."

"It couldn't be helped. Team Galactic's actions have become more aggressive lately."

"So what have they done this time?"

"Well, you know the lakes in the Sinnoh Region?"

"If we're talking about the obvious ones, there are three, right?"

"Yes. And the Pokémon living there?"

"I don't know their ecology. All I know is that there are Ghost-type Pokémon."

"It seems Team Galactic has captured the Mythical Pokémon there."

Kaim's hands stopped moving.

He took off his blue-light glasses and turned his gaze toward Cynthia.

"They're going to use those Pokémon for something."

"I think so."

"First, could you tell me about those Pokémon? I don't know much about them."

"All right."

Three Pokémon lived in the lakes: Uxie, Azelf, and Mesprit. They inhabited Lake Acuity, Lake Valor, and Lake Verity respectively, and were said to govern knowledge, willpower, and emotion.

Although they rarely appeared in the Sinnoh Region's myths, the existence of these three beings was believed to be connected to the region's origins.

"Pokémon connected to the human mind, then?"

"I have no doubt about that interpretation."

"Why would they capture those Pokémon? That's what I need to know."

"Yes."

These three Pokémon did not have enough power to feature prominently in the myths, but as long as they existed as Mythical Pokémon, they had some role to play. In the Johto Region, Ho-Oh ruled the skies and Lugia ruled the seas. These three did not appear often in mythology, but their residence in the lakes was surely connected to their role.

The question was why Team Galactic had captured the three of them. Cynthia said they possessed powers related to the human mind, but it was unclear whether Team Galactic intended to influence people's minds.

"I don't know what they captured them for."

"That's right."

"All I know right now is that they need all three."

"What do you mean?"

"The fact that they deliberately captured all three means they can only accomplish something together. I don't know anything more than that, but I'm certain of it."

"That's true."

"As far as I know, their individual abilities don't seem particularly strong, but that changes when all three are together. I'm not familiar with them, so I can't say much." "That's certainly true, but perhaps their powers resonate somehow when all three gather. That might make something possible."

"That seems very likely."

"Right?"

He could not predict what that resonance would cause, but he could not deny the possibility that it might trigger something terrible. Mythical Pokémon possessed many abilities beyond human understanding. That alone would not bring the world to an end.

For example, Dialga, who controlled time, and Palkia, who controlled space, were said to reside in the Sinnoh Region. If those two tried to destroy the world, humanity would almost certainly have no way to stop them.

"It would be better if we could investigate thoroughly."

"I'll leave the Pokémon's history to you. You'll be faster at that, Cynthia, so I'll investigate the other side."

"What will you do, Kaim?"

"Look into Team Galactic's movements."

"How?"

"Infiltrate their database."

"Can you do that?"

"The preparations tend to be a pain, but it's possible."

One of his school friends knew a great deal about computers. Listening to him talk had led Kaim to start tinkering with computers himself, and depending on how he went about it, he could access databases belonging to people he did not know at all. Of course, that was an invasion of privacy, so Kaim generally avoided doing it.

"What will you do?"

"Nothing much. Just take a look inside. That should help narrow down their objective."

"Then could I ask you to handle that?"

"Got it."

Kaim answered casually, put his glasses back on, and resumed his work.

"By the way, what are you working on now?"

"Organizing the server. Documents are fine, but anything I can manage in a database, I'll keep there. Managing backups is necessary too."

"You set up a server?"

"I did that recently."

"If it's that much work, I'll cover it with my research funds."

"It's a hobby too, so I don't mind spending the money. I've also prepared a server computer. I'll connect your computer to it later, Cynthia."

"Oh, can I use it too?"

"We're on the same network, so simply connecting it isn't a big deal."

Cynthia did not know much about computers, so she did not really understand any of this. She used hers to write and read papers and order materials, but that was all, so she left management of the Wi-Fi and internet connection to Kaim. Since Kaim had arrived, the house's network had improved considerably, allowing Cynthia to use it without worry.

"I'll do some more research into the myths and legends about Uxie and the others. I think I've learned something."

"Understood."

"I'm glad I have you."

With that, Cynthia left Kaim's room.

Left alone in his room, Kaim sank into thought.

What had Team Galactic done to the Pokémon in the lakes? The legends did not mention it, but he could understand why they might need the power of Pokémon that played important roles-the so-called "semi-legendary Pokémon." The crucial question was what they intended to use that power for. Perhaps capturing the lake Pokémon was merely a preliminary step. It was reasonable to assume they planned to use them to accomplish something major.

Kaim picked up a book about the Sinnoh Region's myths from his desk.

The obvious possibility was that they intended to use either Dialga or Palkia, or both, to do something. But what could they do with them? Create a new world, like villains who controlled time and space? In the end, he still did not understand.

In any case, he did not have enough information.

He could infiltrate Team Galactic's hideouts and buildings directly, but that sort of thing was best left to the police. Besides, if he did it without Shirona's permission, she would be furious, so physical infiltration was out of the question.

That left Kaim with limited options. He had little authority himself, so he probably could not obtain information from the police. If he presented himself as Cynthia's representative, they would surely give him some intelligence, but since Cynthia had entrusted this to him, Kaim wanted to deliver results that exceeded her expectations.

"Unauthorized access to Team Galactic's network."

If he was going to do that, the important thing was to extract information without alerting the enemy. However, that would be difficult with the equipment Kaim currently had.

"Should I ask someone knowledgeable for help?"

With that in mind, Kaim called one of the contacts saved on his smartphone.

"King! This is rare."

"I have a favor to ask. Are you free right now?"

"I just freed up my hands. Besides, it's rare for Kaim to ask me for anything."

"Will you agree to help me?"

"Yes, Yoshimiya went to the same university. And? What happened?"

"I can help you, Seizaki."

Two days later.

With Masaki's help, I was able to prepare to infiltrate Team Galactic's network.

"He's so talented, it's worth giving some thought to."

I was grateful for all the help I had received at university, but I hadn't expected him to create a setup that exceeded my expectations in just two days.

Masaki apparently was in the Sevii Islands in the Kanto Region at the moment, so he couldn't come here. Instead, he used a system adapted from the Pokémon Storage System to send over the missing equipment, leaving no evidence behind. We had created a setup that would let us infiltrate the network smoothly. He laughed and said he could overload their server and take it down if he wanted, but Kaim didn't intend to go that far.

"Now..."

Once I started the system and entered the specified command, I was able to infiltrate Team Galactic's network.

"Have you already gotten in?"

The folder that appeared immediately contained daily reports submitted by rank-and-file members. Accessing them to any great extent would be inconvenient.

I checked the data at a lower level.

There was a report on space energy development. As expected, the confidential information was protected, so I couldn't break in. A report on the lake Pokémon... Oh, was this it?

I found a suspicious file, and when I checked whether it was protected, it turned out to be a document with no special viewing restrictions, so I decided to open it.

"So that's how it is. The author is 'Pluto.' An engineer? No, an ordinary researcher."

The report had been written by someone named Pluto and outlined a substance produced by the power of the lake Pokémon.

"This isn't protected, and there's not much to say about it. Let's dig a little deeper."

Looking further through the network, I reached a research server. However, if he lingered too long, he might get caught, so Kaim hurried to check the server.

"Space energy, the distribution of Pokémon used for supply, 'Rotom,' lake Pokémon... That's everything."

I opened the folder and looked inside. Several research reports were stored there, and I opened a recent one.

"By using the power of the lake Pokémon, we successfully created a Red Chain. This chain... Ah, so that's how it works."

After quickly skimming the report, I guessed what Team Galactic's higher-ups intended.

"He's a textbook villain."

After saving screenshots of the report's text, Kaim disconnected from Team Galactic's network. To be safe, I checked the firewall that blocked external intrusions, then emailed the screenshots to Cynthia.

Kaim took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling. For now, I had done what I had told Cynthia I would do. Leaving Cynthia to decide what to do next, Kaim turned off the computer.

"They're researching Rotom too, though. What is Rotom? A Pokémon?"

It would be some time before he learned about Rotom.

"Kaim, I heard from the police. Team Galactic seems to be gathering at Mount Coronet."

A few days later, Cynthia received intelligence from the police officer Looker and learned of Team Galactic's movements.

Team Galactic planned to mobilize not only its executives but also many of its subordinates to carry out some work at Mount Coronet.

"How many?"

"Quite a few. It looks like there are a lot of them, but the police haven't pinned down the number yet."

"After all, their goal is..."

"It has to be Spear Pillar. I suspect you want to do something to the legendary Pokémon there."

I had guessed that the Red Chain would be used to control the legendary Pokémon Dialga and Palkia and accomplish something, and that had proven to be an excellent prediction. I didn't know what they would do, but it wouldn't be a bad thing.

"Let's go now. I don't know what you're planning to do."

"Yeah."

When the two arrived at Mount Coronet, a man wearing a coat appeared at the cave entrance inside the mountain.

"Oh, Miss Cynthia! You've come?"

"Thank you, Looker. Sorry for the wait."

"No, no, thank you for your support."

The man at the scene was Looker, an officer from the International Police. He had once pursued Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket.

"What's the situation?"

"They destroyed the mural blocking the way to Spear Pillar and forced their way through. I can no longer extricate myself."

"I'll head there right away. Kaim, let's go."

"Yeah."

"And who is that?"

"He's my assistant. Don't worry, he's very capable."

"Is that so? I'm sorry to leave this to you."

"No, this is part of my duty as Champion."

"Oh, right! Miss Cynthia, a girl wearing a knit cap entered Mount Coronet not long ago. I'm not too worried, since she's capable enough to have earned all the Gym Badges, but there's still a chance something could happen. Please let me know about that girl, too."

"A knit cap... Dawn. Understood."