[Santos "Shadow" Almaz]

Santos ran into the main area of the Garden of the Sun ready to attack anything that he saw a threat. Two pokemon an Absol and a Furfrou were standing there having just rushed in a moment before. However they had confused faces and were looking around. Aside from Santos attacking stance, and the two pokemon's confused stances. Everything was strangely to Santos normal, a few pokemon were reacting in surprise to the three rush in and had been scared but after a few moments most pokemon realizing that Santos and his pokemon weren't a threat went back to doing normal things.

Santos looked around and hummed in confusion. "Angel, are you sure of what you foresaw."

The Absol growled in uncertainty. He grunted to the Furfrou.

The Furfrou sniffed the air. He then started investigating then growled in confusion.

"seems pretty peaceful for evil trainers causing problems." Santos muttered "Either we're early enough to stop the act from occurring or..."

The Furfrou turned attentive and then growled as he looked in a direction.

Angel also looked and turned defensive "Absol..."

"or they are coming this way." Santos muttered "Angel, Furfrou let's withdraw into hiding."

Both pokemon made agreements and the three withdrew into hiding positions. Santos behind a tree bordering the garden while Absol and Furfrou went into crouched positions into the garden of sunflowers.

[Lithra Trease]

“Thanks for walking back with me, Lilith.”

Despite the brevity of their mission, Lithra felt emotionally and physically drained from today’s events. Her head hurt from the researchers’ explanations (and perhaps from the psychic illusions as well) and her heart hurt from the rollercoaster of a day they had. Because of that, Lithra was grateful she and Lilith could walk to their dorms together. Even though they hadn’t technically harmed any pokemon, Lithra still felt dirty and wrong so having Lilith by her side helped. It was a strange and emotionally torturous test they went through together. Lithra supposed that’s where bonds came from.

All of her pokemon, save for Bell, were back in their pokeballs, nestled safely in the girl’s purse. She was carrying her Cottonee in her arms once more, holding on to him much like a child would with a familiar blanket. It was safe.

Lithra didn’t want to go back to the gardens again, but it was a path they had to take. “At least the Ivysaur you caught won’t hate you now,” the Nature student said, giving a weak laugh. “And it wasn’t real. We didn’t hurt anything.” She said nothing how the mission reflected their true natures as humans, however. “And we go-“

Suddenly, without warning, Bell sprung from her hands, bounding off towards a tree. “Huh,” Lithra frowned, looking over at Lilith. “He must have seen something. He doesn’t normally do that.” Jogging over to Bell, Lithra kneeled down to pick her Cottonee back up when she finally saw the other person. Lithra gave a startled yell, jumping back.

Eyes wide, it was clear that the person lurking in the sidelines had scared her. “Wh-who are you? Li-Lilith! Someone's watching us!”

[Lilith Sinclaire]

"You're welcome Lithra. I figured that it would give up a little more time to hang out with each other." Lilith replied as a soft smile curved against her lips before focusing her attention down towards the small Pokemon Egg that rested in her arms. She had recently received the Snivy Egg as a reward for completing the gift. The mission itself was physically, mentally, and emotionally draining for the most part, but the reward was worth it in the long run. Mallory let out a soft chuckled as she floated alongside her trainer, admiring the new egg that her trainer had to gifted from the weird people responsible for the mission.

A light chuckled escaped from her lips after hearing Lithra comment about her newly Ivysaur not hating her. "Yeah, that's a relief. I almost had second thoughts about catching it because I feared that it would hate me because of our actions towards the other Pokemon. Luckily, those Pokemon weren't even real." She replied giggled a little more. "Still, I don't fully agree with that little experiment at all. At least, it's all over and done with now." She added, letting out a sigh of relief.

An unexpected gasp soon left from her mouth, once she noticed Bell sprung from out of his trainer's arms and rushed towards a massive tree. She could tell that something wasn't right. She just hopped that this wasn't another part of the mission. "Hey, wait up!" She called out to Bell and Lithra before running after them. Even Mallory didn't hesitate floating after her trainer and her new friends either.

"Lithra! What's going on? Are you okay?" Lilith asked, finally catching up with her friend. She was a little startled by the Nature student's yell. Lilith didn't waste any time studying their surroundings. She had to figure out what was going on around them and to identify who was watching them. "Who's there? Come on out and reveal yourself!"

---

+1 to hatch count on Cubchoo, Mareep, Litwick, and Pancham egg!

[Santos "Shadow" Almaz]

Santos had listened to the girls talking about some sort of experiment and how a pokemon would hate them for what they did to other pokemon but then saying it wasn't real and they let out weak uncertain giggles as if they had been caught doing something bad. The look on his face turned harder and he must have been radiating some sort of aura as it had been detected by the Cottonee and it bounced over to where Santos was hiding. It's trainer coming up behind the pokemon after saying something to Lilith about seeing someone and went over to collect her pokemon then looking up to see Santos and freaking out giving a yell and jumping back five feet then Lilith going on alert picked up that there was someone there and demanded that the person come out.

Furfrou had reacted to Lithra's yell came out of hiding snarling and barked at the two girls from one side

Angel the Absol also rose up and growled with his horn shimmering as if he was also preparing an attack. He was on the opposite side of the two girls.

Santos hummed "Angel Furfrou, stand down." He commanded



Both pokemon looked towards their trainer's hiding spot then back at the girls. Suspicious looks still on their faces.

"if you're wondering who here's. I'm a self proclaimed guardian of Harmonia island and I'm here to take out some evil trainers to prevent them from doing genocide to innocent pokemon." He came out of hiding.

"however it seems the trap I set for those foreseen trainers has been set off by two academy students... one of which I have encountered before…" He hummed as he smirked to Lilith “Sup Lilith, you didn’t happen to see anyone committing genocide in this area lately have ya.”

Angel’s horn shimmered as he turned defensive “Sol, Absol!” He barked to Santos

“What is it Angel, you sense them?” Santos stated

“Absol!” Angel barked as he pointed himself at the two girls

Furfrou took a sniff of the air and then barked as he also pointed himself at the two girls. It seems the two pokemon were locked onto the two girls as if they were marked as threats

Santos looked at his two pokemon “okay you two, I said stand down, I know at least one of them cool and I trust that she wouldn’t do anything like you two think.” He smiled at the girls “Sorry about that, I’m Santos, Local of the Island and I’ve made it a personal thing to aid in the defense of innocent pokemon and my recently caught partners are quite suspicious of anyone they meet. Not that I blame them, I’m the same way. Never know when a pretty face hides the mind of a psychopath.”

[Lithra Trease]

“What’s going on!” Lithra cried, pulling Bell into arms as an attacking pokemon jumped out from the bushes. With its snapping and snarling fangs, it made for an intimidating sight. And while Lithra was not one normally scared of pokemon, this sudden attack on her, Lilith, and Bell, made her recoil in fear. Even her Cottonee shook against its trainer’s body as Lithra tried to pull him closer to her body as if she could physically protect him from the assault. Then, just as Lithra processed the first attacking pokemon, another jumped out and joined its friend. The two students were pinned between them.

Then there was a guy.

Lithra frowned at him, not trusting a man who would lurk in the bushes with aggressive pokemon. Self-proclaimed he may be, but that didn’t mean Lithra had to believe him and this came from a girl who often believed most what people said. Naivety had its limits. Her eyes widened when the mystery man mentioned Lilith by her name and casually so. “You know this guy?” Lithra whispered to her new friend, wondering how and why Lilith would know someone who watched people from the trees. It was a little strange. And after the mentally draining mission they had just finished, Lithra was too exhausted to try and figure it out.

The Nature student jumped again as the “defender’s” pokemon began to growl. Would he really allow his pokemon to attack innocents like this? Bell mewled unhappily in Lithra’s arms as he turned to face into her abody, his back showing to the attacking pokemon. Lithra couldn’t say anything as the guy continued to talk, finally introducing himself.

“Santos,” she repeated, rocking Bell gently. “They’re scaring him,” she pointed out, looking at the stranger’s pokemon to Bell. “I don’t know what you or they think we did, but we haven’t harmed anyone. Not real anyones.”

Nervously, Lithra turned to Lilith. If she knew the guy then maybe she could explain it. She wanted to ask if Santos was dangerous, but that seemed rude given he was right in front of them. Still, Lithra trusted Bell’s instincts just as much as Santos would trust his pokemon. Something was off.

[Lilith Sinclaire]

A slight frown spread across Lilith's face as she noticed the two aggressive Pokemon appear in front of them. She had no idea why two random Pokemon would jump out from behind the business and threaten. Well, maybe if the two Pokemon were considered to be wild then it would make a little more sense. After all, what careless trainer would allow their Pokemon to attack a pair of innocent students? Lilith quickly noticed the fear that her new friend was feeling and she couldn't help, but to find herself becoming rather protective. She took in a deep breath before stepping in front of Lithra and Bell. Mallory soon followed behind her trainer for a few seconds before phasing through her trainer's body and positioning herself in front of her beloved trainer. She wouldn't dare let this two Pokemon attack her trainer or her new friends. The Misdreavus didn't even care about being outnumbered by her foes. The gorgeous necklace around Mallory's neck soon started to shimmer as she started preparing for an attack herself. Luckily before any of the Pokemon were able to attack each other, a familiar face emerged from behind one of the trees. It was Santos, another new friend that she had meet a few days ago. A huge sigh of relieve escaped from LIlith's lips as she nodded her head at Santos. Once Mallory's ghostly eyes noticed Santos the Misdreavus lowered her guard a bit.

"Oh, hi there. I definitely wasn't expecting to run into you today." She spoke in a calmer tone now. A soft smile curving across her lips as she noticed his small smirk. It was good to know that Santos had remember her name and face. She turned her attention away from Santos and focused it back onto her other friend. "Yes, he's another friend of mine. The two of us meet each other a few days ago. He's a decent guy." She explained to LIthra. "No. I have no idea what you're talking about Santos. We're just coming back from completing a mission. A mission that didn't involve battling against real Pokemon. Well, at least two of the Pokemon were real, but we didn't hurt them." She replied with another soft smile.

She then turned her attention towards Santos new Pokemon. She definitely have not seen those two about before. "Santos if those Pokemon belong to you, please calm them down, please." She spoke in a calm tone. "It's okay LIthra and Bell. You two don't have anything to worry about right now. I promise." She smiled, placing her hand over LIthra's shoulder.

---

+1 to hatch count on Cubchoo, Mareep, Litwick, and Pancham egg!

[Santos "Shadow" Almaz]

"a mission that didn't involve battling against real pokemon..." Santos muttered then blinked "of course... a sim sin." He growled as he put his palm to his face "Angel, Furfrou, I know what happened here. We picked up a simuation signal from a bunch of psychic types. There wasn't an genocidal attack and there isn't going to be one"

Both pokemon grunted in confusion

Santos sighed "stand down you two what happened here wasn't real, never was. These girls just got used like lab rats in one of the academies experiments. They are about as much a victim as I was when I was a student there."

Angel growled but both relaxed and went to Santos side

Santos sighed then looked at the two girls "trust me I hate it when people get into my head and mess with it. It's not fun and it makes you question on what's real and what's not or if they are still doing it."

[Lithra Trease]

As Lilith placed herself between Lithra and the stranger, the Nature student couldn’t help but to smile despite the dangerous situation. The pair had known each other less than a day and Lilith and Mallory felt some desire to protect Lithra and Bell. It was a sweet and heartwarming gesture. Noticing that Mallory was willing to fight to defend her friends, Bell felt he should too, gaining courage from having the Misdreavus around. Pulling himself away from Lithra, he hopped next to the floating pokemon, cotton shooting off his body as a distraction. Lithra watched as the breeze tugged the bits of cotton away from the small group, billowing higher and higher into the air.

So it appeared Lilith did know this stranger, Lithra thought as the two traded information. Still a little uneasy with the whole thing, Lithra nodded back at her friend. Decent guy. Yeah, so why had he been spying on them? Crossing her arms over her chest, Lithra stayed behind Lilith and the pokemon, her eyes studying Santos carefully. “It was all a Psychic pokemon illusion,” Lithra added. It was only when Lilith touched her shoulder and told her not to worry did Lithra begin to actually relax. Even Bell stop producing cotton as he settled more in a defensive position.

Finally, it looked like Santos understood what had happened to them. Lithra felt bad for judging him so harshly, but could anyone blame her after the mission they had gone through? She was still wary of Santos, but at least he wasn’t going to attack them now. Hopefully. “You used to be a student?” Lithra asked suddenly. “They made you do missions like this too?”

She paused, unsure if she wanted to voice this opinion so soon. What if other judged her for it?

“I don’t agree with them doing this to unaware students…”

[Lilith Sinclaire]

Another slight frown soon spread over Lilith's fair face again, this time after hearing Santos state that Lithra and herself were pretty much a victim as he was during the time that he was a student at the academy. "What are you talking about Santos?" She asked as a look of confusion continued to be expressed across her face. Perhaps her friend had experienced a similar situation a while back. She then glanced back over at Lithra, who also seemed to want more answers from Santos.

"I do not like to be manipulated into things that I don't want to do or believe in. I'm still a little upset that I allowed myself to fall into that little experiment. THere's not much of anything that we can do about it now though." She sighed, glancing down at her feet for a few seconds. "I just stop that other students won't get tricked into doing their little dirty work." She added, looking up from the ground and returning her attention back onto her friends. "So, what should we do now? I just to forget about anything or search for more answers? Maybe, we could talk to the Head Master about it, but maybe he already knows about the experience." She sighed, feeling a bit lost in determining their next move.

---

+1 to hatch count on Cubchoo egg!

[Santos "Shadow" Almaz]

Santos nodded "Yeah, they put be through a few official sim sins, and I'm stilling thinking that a few other incidents in this school was a simulation but I've decided simulation or not. I'm going to accept what I do and won't make excuses on why I did it. I'll just live, learn and maybe occasionally grit my teeth at what I've done but not let it hold me back." He hummed then exhaled "anyway, there's nothing you can really do about it. If you go to the headmaster and state that the mission you just went through was under false pretenses, he'll, to get you out of his hair, express that he'll look into things and that if you need someone to talk to, go see your Dorm Warden. He scoffed "but watch out if you become to vocal about what happened to you, it gets thrown back at you through the rumors and other things that you can't handle what choices you make. It's one of the reasons I got out of the academy. I don't need to be put through simulations to determine who I am. I just need to live life making my own decisions and not turning back." He hummed "maybe I'll apologize if my decision has upset someone but once you take a step more often then not you can't take it back." He hummed "anyways sorry about the ambush my pokemon and I really thought there was trouble going down."

[Lithra Trease]

"So you're saying we can't do anything about this?" Lithra frowned, unhappy with this information. "If you've been in these kind of missions before and tried to fight them and got nothing..." The teenager trailed off, pulling Bell closer to her in a habitual movement. What was the point now? If Santos tried battling against missions like these before and there still going on now then what difference would Lilith and Lithra make? But it didn't seem right to give up either. "I just feel so...dirty. Being used and doing what we did in the mission even if it was fake." Hopelessly, Lithra looked at Lilith.

The Nature student shrugged at Santos' next words. "I guess it's okay," she continued, accepting Santos' apology even though she didn't want to. "No one got hurt," Lithra defended for him. Antsy, she moved her weight from one foot to the next. She didn't know what her next move should be, but she was ready to go home.

[Lilith Sinclaire]

 Lilith bit down on her bottom lip as she listened to Santos explain to them what had happen to him a while back. She couldn't believe that it wasn't the academy's first time tricking innocent students. She still didn't understand the logic behind it, but figured that it probably wasn't meant for her to understand for now. She nodded her head at his next words. He was right. There was nothing that the trio could do about right now. "Umm, it's okay. Just remember to take it a little more easier towards innocent passerby." She giggled a bit before turning her attention away from the male and turning her attention towards Lithra.

"I feel the same way, Lithra. Santos is right though. There's nothing that we can really do about anything right now. We can't continue to beat ourselves up about taking on the mission. Luckily, no one really got hurt in the process. We have to learn to forgive ourselves and move on. I know it's easier said that done, but we'll get over it." She replied as a soft smile touched her lips. She then turned her attention back towards Santos. "So, what are you about to do now?" She asked in a curious manner. There weren't any evil villains around for him to deal with at the moment.



!

[Santos "Shadow" Almaz]

"right right right." Santos muttered in displeasure "you heard her guys take it easy on 'innocent' bystanders."

Both The Furfrou and Angel made scoff like barks. They haven't seen an innocent bystander yet.

Santos chuckled lightly at his pokemon's response but didn't scold them because he felt the same way for the most part. However when Lilith asked him what he was going to do. He hummed in thought "well I was training when that one." He pointed to his Furfrou "attacked me thinking I was an enemy." He looked at the Furfrou. Hey I need to come up with a name for you anyhow. You are mine..."

The Furfrou growled in displeasure.

Santos hummed "let me guess you have a name."

Angel's horn glowed and an image of a magazine with the name Cosmopolitan came to Santo's mine however the politan part faded out leaving only the word Cosmo

Santos hummed "Cosmo?"

The Furfrou barked in agreement

Santos hummed "good name for you..."

Cosmo looked around at the garden. This was his home and he didn't fully want to leave it unprotected

Santos hummed "you know Cosmo you don't have to come with me if you don't want to. I'm not leaving this island anytime soon and you can still be out roaming around taking care of yourself and the other pokemon if you don't like the idea of being with me but remember if you need something or a human to help you I've got your back

Cosmo looked at Santos then barked then he took off

Santos hummed "well Angel what's our next move, back to training."

Angel growled slightly as he rested into the garden

Santos hummed as he looked at Lilith "looks like I'm taking a break for a bit at least then most likely heading back home. Seems today adventure was more then enough training for today." He replied

[Lithra Trease]

So there was nothing for them to do and they couldn’t beat themselves up about it? Lithra could get behind that (even if she would continue to berate herself for choosing that mission in the first place--behind closed doors, naturally), but that still left the question as to what they were going to do now. It was Lilith who knew Santos, not Lithra, and the Nature student still felt uncomfortable around him. The way he spoke about them and the way his pokemon looked as if they wanted to bite down on them even though they knew Lithra and Lilith were innocent made Lithra’s stomach churn. “How innocent do you want us to be…” she mumbled into Bell’s fur, unable to hold the comment back. Still, between her Cottonee’s body acting as a natural muffler and her already low voice, she had doubts whether people would hear it.

And so Lithra stood there awkwardly as Santos and his pokemon had a moment. It would’ve been a ‘heartwarming’ moment for Lithra had she not just spent the morning emotionally drained from a mission or scared by the very person before her. Now it just seemed intrusive.

When Santos finally finished, he attention turned to Lilith. So he was going home? “We were heading home too,” Lithra added, feeling a lot like she was unwantedly butting into the conversation.

Again she thought, now what?

[Lilith Sinclaire]

Lilith couldn't help, but to laugh at the words that Lithra mumbled against Bell's fur. She had to admit that they were the innocent for the most part. Therefore, she didn't quite understand why Santos and his Pokemon didn't seem to acknowledge it. Either way, it was over and done with now. "Okay Santos, you guys be safe on your way back home." She spoke, giving him a soft smile. "Until next time, I suppose." She added, waving goodbye to her friend.

A couple of minutes passed and Lithra turned her attention back towards Lithra. "I don't know about you, but I've had enough interesting encounters for one day." She giggled, shaking her head at the unexpected events that the two of them encountered together. "It's definitely time for us to make it back to the our dorms before the sun starts to set." She pointe rout before leading away again. She would escort Lithra back to her down since it wasn't too much further away from them, thens he would make her way back to her own dorm.