"Victreebel, I'm counting on you."
Seeing that Tapu Koko hadn't moved much for a long time, Ace tossed an exclusive Poké Ball. Victreebel used its Plant Affinity to instantly move to the side of the crater.
Whipping out its Vine Whip, Victreebel exerted force and directly pulled Tapu Koko out.
However, Ace's mouth twitched slightly when he saw where Victreebel had grabbed.
Victreebel's Vine Whip was clamped onto Tapu Koko's highly-raised, rooster-like crest and used that to drag it out.
Tapu Koko, having lost its ability to battle, was completely unable to resist Victreebel's forceful rescue. So, after placing Tapu Koko on the ground, Victreebel released its grip on the crest.
Immediately afterward, the crest, which had been bound tightly by the Vine Whip, began to shed a "snow" of hair.
Ace gasped as he looked at Tapu Koko, which was now at least one-third bald.
Now, a genuine feud was established. If Tapu Koko cared about its hair, this enmity was going to be sky-high.
Ace had Victreebel collect some of the fallen hair, found a sealed bag, and put it inside.
Immediately after, Ace grabbed Little Green and took off.
They stopped walking and instead used their respective Flying-type Pokémon, leaving Melemele Island without a backward glance.
Half an hour after Ace and the others had left Melemele Island, people within a dozen kilometers of the Ruins of Conflict all heard the piercing wail of their revered Tapu Koko.
Some even saw that their Guardian Deity, Tapu Koko, was exceptionally energetic today, circling Melemele Island in every direction several times.
However, the distance was too far for everyone to see clearly. But some people with better eyesight were puzzled, as Tapu Koko seemed somewhat different from usual.
And they had a distinct feeling that it seemed rather exasperated.
But soon, they dismissed the thought.
It was their Guardian Deity, after all; nothing should be wrong with it.
Even if there was a problem, it was for the sake of protecting them.
Hmm, it must be so.
Using their Flying-type Pokémon, Ace and Little Green returned to Akala Island.
Ace also took advantage of the time difference to submit the items, thus earning a new Guardian Deity title.
However, the effect of this new Guardian Deity title, just like the title obtained after defeating Tapu Lele and collecting its scales, could only be used on Melemele Island.
Unsurprisingly, it was another title for making dog food.
Returning to the Tidesong Hotel, Ace and Little Green had just entered their rented room when their expressions instantly darkened slightly.
"How many did you find?"
Ace asked Little Green. Little Green said in a deep voice, "To my right, two men, one woman."
"To my left, two women, four men."
Ace rubbed his temples, stating somewhat helplessly, "The people tracking us are increasing."
"But I noticed something."
Little Green pondered for a moment before saying in a deep voice, "Of the three people I found, one of them wasn't communicating much with the other two. More importantly, the tracking paths of those two would occasionally obscure that person's line of sight."
After hearing Little Green's words, Ace thought for a moment and suddenly realized, "There are two groups of people tracking us. Besides the Aether Foundation, there's another organization."
Little Green did not speak but nodded in silence.
Ace briefly contemplated, instantly understanding which organization the other group belonged to.
Apart from the people from Team Plasma, he really hadn't had any feuds with other organizations.
The problem between himself and Team Plasma ultimately lay with the Tao dragon trio.
Team Plasma's original goal was the Legendary Dragons, but now the Tao dragon trio had been captured by Ace and even re-fused into one.
As an organization aiming for this, Team Plasma naturally wouldn't let Ace off the hook so easily.
Ace had been aware of this since N encountered him in Alola.
However, Ace hadn't expected Team Plasma to act so quickly; he had originally thought they would wait for a while.
But judging from the number of trackers now, Team Plasma was probably getting impatient.
Soon, Ace thought of something else.
Team Plasma's swift action might not be N's idea.
Based on his previous meeting with N, Ace felt that N actually wanted to play a slow game with him, which contradicted the current situation.
Coupled with Ace's familiarity with the storyline, he quickly deduced that the one orchestrating all this was likely not N, the puppet of Team Plasma, but the hidden boss behind the scenes, Ghetsis.
Ace had some contact with Ghetsis in the Unova region, so he was very clear about Ghetsis's ambition.
And the facts were just as Ace thought.
In another hotel by the sea on Akala Island, N frowned as he looked at Ghetsis in front of him, coldly questioning, "Ghetsis, what is the meaning of this?"
"Lord N, please forgive my presumption."
Ghetsis bowed slightly to N, smiling, "The Tao dragon trio are partners we in Team Plasma cannot abandon, so we must liberate them from that fellow's hands. And you have also encountered him and are well aware of his strength, so to prevent him from getting stronger, we must act quickly."
N frowned deeply. In his two meetings with Ace, he hadn't been able to properly sense the status of the opponent's Pokémon.
The one Pokémon he had wanted to touch, the Ninetales, was also intensely hostile toward him.
N was certain that if he had touched the Ninetales at that moment, it would have mercilessly burned him to ashes.
It was because of that encounter that N became curious: what kind of person could cause a Pokémon to hate him so much?
Although he hadn't touched the Ninetales, N could feel its absolute trust in Ace.
This was the fundamental reason why N was not in a hurry to strike at Ace and wanted to play a slow game with him.
Ghetsis saw the hesitation on N's face and sighed inwardly, giving a subtle look to the two girls beside N.
Anthea and Concordia both looked conflicted, but under Ghetsis's increasingly cold stare, the two ultimately couldn't withstand Ghetsis's status. They softly began to console N, doing their best to dispel the thoughts in N's mind.
Listening to the persuasion of the two who had grown up with him, coupled with Ghetsis's slow narration, N eventually relented.
He agreed to Ghetsis's idea, allowing Ghetsis to lead the members of Team Plasma to prepare as much as possible to deal with Ace.
With the words of N, the proclaimed King of Team Plasma, Ghetsis left contentedly, planning to mobilize personnel to try and utterly bury Ace here in Alola!
However, Ghetsis then thought of the hesitation shown by Anthea and Concordia, and a ruthless glint appeared in his eyes.
"These two are gradually slipping out of my control. After some time, I will try to dispose of them."
Ghetsis walked out of the hotel and began contacting Team Plasma members, issuing a series of commands in an orderly fashion...
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