AoR32

***Would I Lie To You?*** is the thirty-second chapter of *The Angel of Reckoning*. It follows a series of characters outside of the central group as numerous plots develop in the time following Olivia Mistbloom's battle with Clair.

## Plot summary

Bunny Spruce and Nando travel to Goldenrod City in search of Bill. After a brief sidetrack where they encounter his sisters Mako and Audrey at their family home, they manage to track him down at his apartment. Upon meeting up with him, Bunny shows him the letter written to her by Jacob Alexison requesting that she investigate the secret of the Coronet Rosary; she believes that Bill may have information on it due to his Tenganist heritage. Bill leads the pair to his Rotomi and shows them texts he found tying the Coronet Rosary to the Defense Mechanism of Alto Mare, a device built by the ancient Tenganists who settled the island city. In order to investigate the Coronet Rosary's power source, which Bill believes to be the Megalith hidden on Emeraude Island, the trio decide to travel there next. However, Nando requests that they travel to Kanto first so he can participate in the upcoming Grand Festival in Saffron City.

In his newly assigned quarters at the Polaris Temple, Renzo Milos ponders his situation until he is summoned by Finansielle, who brings him to a grand hall in which hundreds of Polaris members have gathered. Father stands at the head of the hall and delivers a fiery speech about the decay of society and the progress Polaris has made in fighting it. At the conclusion of his speech, he has a special kind of distilled water distributed to the members of his audience. Finansielle explains to Renzo that this water helps those who drink it clear their minds and listen to their inner voices. Stating that his only goal is to destroy Olivia and Anabel Mistbloom to get revenge for his mother, Renzo refuses to drink the water, much to Finansielle's amusement.

Rowena Byrne arrives at Tobias's office and is ushered into a meeeting with the governor of the Tohjo Continent; it is revealed she arranged for this following Malva's broadcast of the Polaris manifesto in *Don't Say a Prayer for Me Now*. Though she enters the interview with confidence, it quicky begins to go wrong when Tobias coldly dismisses the concerns raised by Polaris's crusade, deeming the disadvantaged to be necessary sacrifices for the success of the existing system.

Meanwhile, in the Lapidaria region, Sheena Carnet travels to La Ciudad Dorada via Hoopa's ring portal. She goes to Lingote Palace, where Edrei brings her to meet with her old friend Queen Rosalita. Rosalita hosts Sheena at a dinner, giving her the opportunity to tell her story in full. When Sheena expresses a wish to locate Navel Rock so she may meet Ho-oh again, Rosalita brings her to the palace archive. There, Rosalita gifts her with a Sparkling Stone to be fashioned into a Z-Power Ring, and reveals an old Tenganist legend that pinpoints the mysterious Tanoby Key on Quest Island in the Sevii Islands as the starting point for her search to obtain a Rainbow Wing.

At the Sinjoh Ruins, Mewtwo continues to consider its place in the world while soaking in the underground Gaia spring. It muses that it once struck back against humanity for creating it and other clones with the burden of having to fight their templates to justify their existence, but it is now fighting to help protect vulnerable humans as well as Pokémon Polaris has harmed. This leaves it to consider whether it simply desires equality for all life.

After editing the footage of her interview with Tobias, Rowena attempts to send it to Secc at ONBS, only to never receive confirmation he obtained it, much to her frustration. She is unaware that the footage was intercepted by Polaris agents working with Malva at FlareNet, who - on orders from Finansielle and Lysandre Flordelis - plan to broadcast it themselves at a later time. Rowena starts watching television and sees Malva on a news broadcast, in which she shows footage of numerous people expressing support for Polaris before broadcasting Lance doing the same, a development that disgusts Clair and Fran at Blackthorn Gym as well. A commercial is then broadcast featuring Gabriella Bouchard announcing a support program from the Angel Corporation's pharmaceutical division that is intended to help people troubled by the present turmoil in society. Gabriella asks the public to "keep an open mind" about reaching out, which Rowena observes is a phrase she says often.

Looker arrives at the Aether Foundation's headquarters in Alola, Aether Paradise, with Mitsumi Crowe and Silva Shaw. They are met at the docks by Aether President Lusamine and her husband, chief scientist Professor Mohn, who introduce the three agents to their children, Lillie and Gladion. As Lillie and Gladion are fascinated by the three, owing to their interest in spies via being fans of the television program *Alolan Detective Laki*, Mitsumi takes some time off to play with them and her Inteleon while Looker and Silva interview Faba Antimony and Wicke Antimony. The interview is interrupted by a containment breach on the Aether Paradise lab floor.

On the lab floor, scientists in a pod near the breach rush to lock down their work, while the lifeform they're studying curiously observes them. Lusamine, Mohn, and her subordinates arrive with the International Police agents, Lillie and Gladion to discover that the breach is a rampaging Type: Null that went wild after its handlers tried to activate the RKS System programmed into it and attempted to install a limiter helmet when the system failed. Identifying with the creature, Mitsumi manages to calm it and decides to take it with her. At Gladion's insistence, she officially names the Pokémon "Silvally." Her phone suddenly rings with a call from Trevor Hastings; he has arranged the meeting with Dr. Zager that she requested, and needs her to be in Celadon City the next day. Lusamine volunteers an Aether Foundation aircraft to help make this possible.

Gabriella reflects upon the design of Angel Tower while looking out at the Viridian City night skyline from her office, when Dominic arrives for a meeting with her. Though he initially thinks she is going to fire him, she gives him a promotion, assigning him to oversee the Angel Corporation's work supplying goods and services to the upcoming Pokémon League. After he leaves, she opens a secret video feed to the Angel Corporation's secret laboratory, where a Nihilego is imprisoned. She tells it that there will soon be many new people for it to meet, who it will help have open minds.

In the Terminal Void deep in outer space, a spark of Dark Matter returns from probing the universe to inform the Forbidden Beast that Earth is the planet it has been searching for eons to find. In response, the Forbidden Beast stirs, and a giant red eye opens up in the darkness.

## Characters

* Bunny Spruce
* Sheena Carnet
* Nando
* Mewtwo
* Renzo Milos
* Clair
* Fran
* Trevor Hastings
* Looker
* Mitsumi Crowe
* Silva Shaw
* Lusamine
* Mohn
* Faba Antimony
* Wicke Antimony
* Father
* Gabriella Bouchard/Finansielle
* Tobias
* Lance
* Malva
* Rowena Byrne
* Bill Malcolm
* Rosalita Renata I
* Edrei
* Shaymin
* Lillie and Gladion
* Dominic
* Polaris members
* Aether Foundation scientists
* Zygarde
* Lingote Palace guards
* Forbidden Beast

## Trivia

* This chapter's title comes from the song of the same name by the band Eurythmics.
* This chapter was originally released on September 12, 2022, but it was quickly withdrawn when a continuity error was discovered, and later rereleased in a corrected form four days later.
	+ The continuity error concerned Sheena's conversation with Rosalita about Navel Rock. In the original version of the chapter, Sheena was told what it was by Rosalita as if she did not know already, when she expressed knowledge of Navel Rock prior to this point when speaking with Jacob Alexison.
* The drama program about the Pokéathlon featured while Rowena watches television is a reference to the Serial Radio Drama series "The Young Pokéathlete Maximo" featured in *Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver*.
* The Forbidden Beast's eye opening is a reference to Zero Two/0², the main antagonist of *Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards*.