While Tristan at first didn’t want to bother his family and was fine to wait on the report from the Rangers acting as a protection detail, once he organized the files and discovered what he did he had to. Veritas was released from her pokeball almost absentmindedly. He didn’t even look up from his work, but she would read his mind and soon enough teleport to his parent’s house. He wasn’t going to leave this to chance, and she was tasked with gathering Deirdre, Leon, and Percival to inform them that they were all targets and try to convince them to stay at the Ranger’s HQ until further notice.

Given that there was evidence that they were explicit targets, he felt comfortable allowing Veritas to inform them of this to convince them, if it was needed. Otherwise, he would have preferred to do it himself.

Tristan considered it curious that the Ranger Headquarters seemed to be the only important structure or organization that wasn’t to be directly targeted. He was also somewhat disappointed that there was nothing on the Mauville attack that would reveal what their mission was and what they had discovered through it.

In speaking with Frederick, he made sure to note her appearance, which pokemon they saw, and the name she had given to include those in their descriptions. This was added for Pisces and Taurus as well. Now only 9 more to learn about…

[i]”Oracle? Please gather Forrest and his team and bring them to my office.”[/i] Oracle had been in touch with Tristan, along with Ether, all while he was going through the documents. It was actually nice; they helped him remember what he had just gone through so he could marry the papers together. They also guided him to make sense, and viable inferences, of all of this.

These Mythical Pokemon concerned him, though. Were they already in possession of, or otherwise have control over, these Pokemon? Were they still searching for them? What did they hope to accomplish with all of them? He figured one by itself was enough to reshape the entire world. But gathering them all together, he couldn’t fathom what they were going to try to do.

While Oracle went to find Forrest, Syressa, and Antligon, Tristan summoned the Secretary to ask him to procure the most current blueprints and personnel files of all the individuals listed in these Zodiac files. He wanted to compare them and see if they matched and were up to date. He would investigate any discrepancies to find who had the better and more accurate information. Even with this limited amount of documentation, he was going to determine how much they knew.

Getting into his work allowed him to ignore the near-hopelessness of the situation. He wondered if he was lying to himself, but figured it didn’t matter much either way. It was better that they knew as much about their enemy as possible. Especially about themselves, he figured. He knew that, moving forward, they would need to overestimate their enemy and underestimate themselves. By doing this, they would increase their chances of successfully thwarting whatever was going to happen next.

It was at this point that Tristan had the secretary reach out to the other Elite Four members to let them know that they are likely targets, and that he would like to get them involved in whatever was to come. He suggested that they join him at HQ, but knew that collecting so many high-profile, and clearly targeted, people in one location was unwise. The only reason he felt good about it was that they were capable battlers themselves and would be able to stall for time, at the very least.

It was weighing whether they should scatter and be easy pickings, or gather and be available in one convenient location.

And he’d need to inform Lady Fairfax of all this. They would have to discuss whether Jonton was still a target and perhaps on some burn list, or if he was now of no use and would be left alone. Admittedly the latter seemed unlikely, but still something to consider. Then they would need to discuss where to keep him. The background checks on the Fairfax’s would need to be combed through so they knew exactly what these Zodiacs had on them. 

For now, he would allow this to play out and see what everyone here thought about this on their own without prompting them. He would be sure to give Lady Fairfax advance notice, though. It was the least he could do after leaving her in the lurch like that.

He also wondered what side Ms. Shade was on.

While he had managed to procure surprisingly pertinent and insightful documentation, it wasn’t everything. And when it wasn’t everything, there were always more questions. They were probably going to destroy and kill everyone listed, sure. But, when? Was it going to be simultaneous, or over a period of time? Regardless, when was it to start? How would they defend against all of this?

Tristan considered the Hospital the most vulnerable and important location. Objects could be moved or recreated. Hospitalized people, not so much. Sea Mauville, Ener-Geo, New Mauville, and the Pacifidlog Mills were next priority. If they went off-line, there would be utter chaos. Not to mention that mustering a response would be heavily impeded.

[i]”They’re here…”[/i] Ether lifted his head to inform his trainer.

Tristan pushed his head back and pulled at his clothes to make himself more presentable as Oracle shuffled towards them. Oracle knew to take her time to allow Tristan some room to consider all of this before she arrived.