1. Ash's Story (Part 9: Alola)

Chapter 80: Rainbow Castle

Aether Paradise looked wrong before we even reached the entrance.

The white structure that usually rose from the sea like a clean promise now seemed bruised by rainbow shadows. Distorted light bent around the mansion, and every reflection on the water looked sharper than it should have been. Team Rainbow Rocket had not simply invaded Aether Paradise. They had made the place look like it belonged to them.

Our group of nine moved quickly: Lillie, Gladion, Serena, Alice, Trenor, Zossie, my parents, and me. Zossie kept glancing at the warped lights with the serious face of someone who understood Ultra Wormholes too well to treat any of this like a normal attack.

The dock workers and Aether employees who remained outside looked shaken but determined. Some guided frightened Pokémon toward safer rooms, while others tried to keep the main paths clear for evacuation. Nobody needed to tell us that every second mattered. The mansion ahead was not only a building. It was the center of Lillie and Gladion's family, the Foundation's work, and the promise that Aether Paradise was supposed to protect Pokémon from harm.

Lillie's hands trembled as we stepped onto the platform. "Mother. Father. Aether Paradise. It is all a mess."

I stayed close beside her. "Lillie, breathe. We are here now."

"I know," she said, swallowing hard. "I am just so worried."

Gladion's jaw tightened, but he did not tell her to calm down. He looked just as worried, only colder about it. Serena placed a hand on Lillie's shoulder, and Alice watched the mansion gates as if she expected them to bite.

Wicke hurried toward us from the entrance, relief and fear fighting across her face. "It is good to see you again. Please let me explain the situation."

She told us what we already knew from the broadcast, but hearing it in front of the invaded building made the danger feel heavier. Lusamine and Mohn had called a press conference about Necrozma's darkness, then an Ultra Wormhole had opened, and a mysterious force had taken over the mansion. The invaders called themselves Team Rainbow Rocket.

Serena frowned. "So they came from an Ultra Wormhole."

Alice's eyes narrowed. "Our world's Team Rocket was already dealt with. Giovanni should not be standing here like nothing happened."

Zossie spoke quietly. "Different worlds can keep the same names after taking different paths."

That sentence made nobody feel better.

Gladion stepped toward Wicke. "Mother and Father were taken captive, correct?"

Wicke looked down. "We believe so. I am trying to prepare every possible rescue strategy, but the enemy is powerful, and we still do not know why they are targeting Aether Foundation."

"There is no doubt," I said. "They want Aether's Ultra Wormhole technology, and they will use it to threaten other worlds too."

Wicke also explained that the mansion's internal routes had rearranged themselves after the wormhole opened. Elevators no longer led to the proper floors, security doors responded to unknown authority codes, and several Aether employees had been locked out of rooms they were supposed to manage. The labs below were protected for now, but nobody knew how long that protection would hold if Rainbow Rocket reached the deeper systems.

Hearing that made Lillie close her eyes for a moment. Aether Paradise had failed her once because adults had treated secrets as walls. Now someone from another world had forced new walls into the same place, and I could tell the old fear was trying to find a way back into her voice.

Lillie opened her eyes before it could. "Then we cannot only rescue Mother and Father. We have to keep the employees and Pokémon safe too."

Wicke nodded with visible gratitude. "That is why I am relieved you came."