After returning to the city and checking out his new suite, which even had a pool, he took a swim, then a bath, and went out for dinner, accompanied by his Riolu, who was sitting on his shoulder, and Mega Gengar, who was merged with his shadow.
Aizen ate to his fill, and watched the belly dancing by beautiful ladies, who were masters of this art, just to keep appearances.
Later, he walked towards the Desert Chief's Mansion, and without a wait, he was taken inside by the guards.
"Master Rhazak is not home right now, Mr Zaine, but he instructed us to give you these two Eggs..." the maid revealed the two Eggs inside their respective cases. The Eggs of Chikorita and Charmander, and seeing him nod, she handed him the Money Cylinder, which contained his five million PokéDollars. "The other Chiefs also wished to leave you a gift."
Aizen curiously looked at her as he watched her bring over a small case, which contained a Mega Stone. It was a Scizorite, and he smiled at that.
They were obviously trying to curry his favour, bind him to the city, and make him frind them if he ever needed somehting.
"Thank you."
Seeing him accept it, the maid happily smiled and bowed, and then led him to the field at the back of the mansion, where the attendants were waiting.
"You may pick any of the two male Sandiles," she informed him, and Aizen nodded and took a walk around the lake, inspecting every Sandile.
When he found one mischievous enough to try to sneak up on him, he invited it to join his team, but the little one wanted to battle, so Aizen entertained it.
Riolu jumped off his shoulder, his eyes already serious, and then it fought the Sandile... beating the consciousness out of it.
The attendants were just relieved that no other Pokémon interfered in the battle, not even when the Sandile was captured inside a Pokéball, and they simply followed Aizen and Riolu, who resumed their search for another Sandile.
It did not take long. They found another one who tried to sneakily attack Riolu, only to end up getting hit by a Force Palm and fainting. But it was not the one Aizen chose.
He chose the one who was hiding in the sand a little away, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
Riolu battled it, and following Aizen's instructions, tested out its limits. Satisfied with the result, he threw a Pokéball at it, activating the catching mechanism, and when the ping sounded out, he smiled.
Every single Sandile here was perfect, but the two he had chosen were unique even amongst them, and he knew they had the potential of becoming truly powerful.
He left the mansion with two Pokémon Eggs, two more Pokémon, a Mega Stone, and his five million PokéDollars.
When he came to the city, he had not imagined that this would happen, but life had interesting ways to surprise you.
Aizen stayed in the city for another five days, exploring it all, and gathering the intel he needed.
Once he knew everything that was going on, and learned the truth about Cipher and its relationship with Oasis, he took his leave at dawn.
People chased him, kept eyes on him, and he knew that they were from Cipher, however, none of them attacked him.
Once he crossed into Unova, they gave up the chase, but he stayed alert and took a detour.
A day later, early in the morning, he landed in Nuvema Town and silently walked to his room.
The Trapinch Egg was recently laid, and it would not hatch for another seven to eight months, and he decided not to hasten the hatching and moved it into an Egg Case, just like he had done with the Eggs of Charmander, Chikorita, and Totodile.
He did not have time to take care of newly hatched Pokémon right now.
Aizen spent an entire day writing the mission report about Oasis, Phenac City, and Cipher's origin.
From his investigation he found out that Cipher was formed by people from Oasis, who did not believe in the organisation's pessimistic approach and lack of ambition to expand their influence outside Orre.
The Oasis scientists and some seniors were approached by a mysterious group, who swayed them away, and Aizen guessed that it was Team Doom who created Cipher. Piecing all the information together that he had gained from this mission so far, he mentioned that Team Doom may have originated from Agate Village.
He sent the file to Joseph Stone, and then leaned back in his chair and lazily stretched his arms.
When he stood up and turned around, he smiled at Rui, who was standing at the door for the last fifteen minutes, debating if she should disturb him.
"Hey." He approached her, and before she could answer, he pulled her chin up and kissed her.
She clutched his shirt, blushed hard, and then shied her eyes away.
"Dinner will be served in fifteen minutes," she meekly informed him, and he nodded to her before heading into the dressing room and then into the bath.
He came out ten minutes later, having changed his clothes and washed up, and then followed her to the dining room.
"You are not sad here, are you?"
"No." She shook her head. "Everyone is kind, and there are so many Pokémon at the Corral..."
He smiled as he heard her enthusiastically start talking about all the Pokémon she had met, and all the friends she had made.
"Samum is fine now. He took me on a flight in the morning."
"Nice. And have you started on your studies yet?"
She pouted when he mentioned studies and nodded her head, which made him chuckle.
"You need to get an A-Class Licence. So, work hard."
Rui nervously nodded her head, not saying anything, and he did not talk about studies any more either.
He asked her about what Michael and Jovi had been up to lately, and she told him everything, not hiding that Jovi was way too mischievous and would daily sneak into the Corral, worrying her mother, Lily.
Michael, on the other hand, was almost always engrossed in his studies and was attending the school, taking the Lillipup with him.
"Do you want to join the school..."
"No!" She freaked out, almost horrified at the thought of sitting in a classroom with little kids, and Aizen heartily laughed at her reaction.
"Relax. I was just messing with you." He gently patted her head and then stepped into the dining room, where everyone was waiting.
"Aizen!" Little Jovi jumped off her seat and rushed up to him, and he picked her up and gently tossed her in the air, which made her laugh.
Aurea and Lily asked him about Phenac City, and he informed them how things went, but kept the gruesome details away since kids were at the table.
When he finished his meal, Aurea led him to her father's study, and the old man's eyes brightened when he saw him enter.
Cedric Juniper was super excited to meet him, and pulled him to sit down with him and have a discussion between three researchers.
And betraying his age, he stayed up all night with the same energy, talking endlessly about various topics and taking his input on them.
Aizen even showed them Diancite, which he knew they had never seen before, and the two were amazed at its beauty and diamond-like shine.
Before breakfast, he sent back all of Anira's Eeveelutions and the Pokémon he had borrowed, and then went to his room to freshen up.
Even though he had not slept all night, he was still late for breakfast, and it was because his dear Aurea had decided to join him in the bath.
Just one look at her was enough for Lily to understand the kind of relationship they were in, but she did not comment.
Cedric Juniper probably did not notice it, and maybe he did, but Aizen was not curious enough about his thoughts to try and read his mind.
The old man was also interested in Phenac City, and Aizen and Rui told him everything about it, which both fascinated and disturbed him.
"How did they get the Eggs of Charmander, Chikorita, and Totodile?"
"They have people in the regions who collect wild eggs for them on demand. They were not stolen from Reserves and Breeding Farms."
"And the tanker?"
"Every year or two. Various wild Pokémon from around the world, and well, Oasis are a Criminal Organisation, they have links to several poaching organisations," he informed the old man. "In their twisted sense of fairness, they think it is justified since there are no Pokémon in the desert and barren Orre. Even Agate Forest does not have a lot of Pokémon."
"Ridiculous!"
"Indeed," Aizen agreed and sighed. "However, the regions need to eliminate the poaching organisations first and then the buyers. As long as Poachers exist, they will find buyers. If not Oasis, then someone else."
"Yeah," Cedric sighed and shook his head, but soon he was busy making Jovi laugh and even engaged Michael in a conversation. "I wish I had grandchildren your age..."
Aurea choked at his words and repeatedly coughed, and Lily had to soothe her back to calm her down.
Her father gave her a knowing smile, and she could not stand it and quickly excused herself from the table.
"I have to deal with something important." She said, and no one followed her out.
No one saw her until they gathered for lunch, and then she took Rui, Jovi, and Michael, who was back from school, to the Corral.
When she returned, she was sad and a little upset to find out that Aizen had left, but smiled when she found the letter and a Pokéball waiting for her on her bed.
It improved her mood a lot, and everyone noticed that she was very happy when they sat down for dinner.
"I will give you grandchildren soon, Papa." She said, and grinned when she saw her old man choke on his food.
She was known for returning the favours in kind, and Cedric usually knew better than to pull her leg.
He, however, was happy to hear that she was ready to pass on the Juniper name.
Later that day, Aurea gave Rui the Pokéball Aizen had left for her. It was the Pokéball of one of the Sandile, and he was hoping when it would grow up, it would become the mate of her Krookodile.
It was truly something that elated Rui a lot as she was planning on becoming a Pokémon Breeder in the future.