Aizen spent a week at the Oak Laboratory.
On the 7th Day of the First Month, when Gary, Ritchie, Ash, Misty, Leaf, Brock, and Risa left on their journeys, he saw them off.
Lily, Violet, Daisy, and their father stayed for a day more before taking his car and heading to Cerulean City. Since he had no need for it, he let the car stay in the region, under their use and care.
Dexio, Sina, Dora, and Jared decided to stay at the Oak Corral for a month. Professor Oak wanted to visit Sayda Island after giving the Pokémon to the new Trainers, so they were all going to leave together.
Having found something to do now, and aspiring to become a Breeder, Elaine Green decided to work at the Oak Corral, taking care of all the Pokémon. She planned on applying for the Breeder's Licence as soon as she would make up her mind on which Pokémon she wanted to breed at her breeding farm.
Her decision, which she announced on the day they returned to Pallet Town from the Indigo Conference, had made Leaf feel very happy and emotional, and Elaine had promised her that she would also make her proud by becoming one of the finest Pokémon Breeders in the world.
Her decision also elated Professor Oak, Hilda, and Blue. The Oaks even agreed to finance her breeding farm for a share in it, and Elaine promised them that she would set things up within the next 18 months.
Once the agreement had been reached between the two families, the girls had even come up with the name for it.
The Green Ranch.
It was simple, and Elaine liked it very much.
By the time the Orayen Prince left, Anira had already convinced Elaine to breed Arcanine, Houndour, Tauros/Miltank, and Bulbasaur. They already had the right Pokémon to start the farm, and Elaine was very familiar with both Fire and Grass Type Pokémon. She also had experience in raising Dark Type Pokémon as she owned a pair of Mightyena and Houndoom.
The Princess even promised her that the Blanc Kingdom would become one of their prime customers for Arcanine and Houndour for their Pokémon Rangers and Guards. And Elaine promised to consider her offer.
All in all, Anira was happy at the laboratory, spending time with Hilda Oak, Daisy Oak, Elaine, and little Crystal, who had decided to attend Pallet Town School.
The Orayen Princess also promised him that she would take care of his Pokémon, so Aizen left many of them with her at the Corral.
Officially, he only took his Shiny Eevee, Shiny Alpha Shinx, Riolu, Shiny Gyarados, Alpha Aerodactyl, Scizor, Kleavor, Electivire, and Crobat with him.
Unofficially, he had his Dragonite, Mega Metagross, Mega Pidgeot, Mega Salamence, and Mega Garchomp with him inside the Promise Ball, and his Gengar in his shadow.
Aizen left behind his Arcanine at the Oak Corral so that he could spend some time with Leaf's Arcanine and mate with her. For the same reason, he also left behind his Blastoise so that he could mate with Misty's Blastoise.
Both had performed exceptionally well, so they had earned the break to relax for a while.
He sent his Ivysaur and Nidorino to Blanc Island so that they could be with their sisters as well. And his Rhyperior, Steelix, and Snorlax were already at the island together with Sabrina's Snorlax.
Anira also requested him to let Togepi, Clefable, and Lapras stay with her at Oak Laboratory, and he allowed it. And of course, she had her Vulpix, Chimchar, and Shiny Dratini with her, who would remain registered under Aizen's name until she would get her Licence.
After talking to his Ninetales, he left him at the Oak Laboratory as well to protect the Orayen Princess, and to be with its sister, Xena. He also left his Machamp there to be with his buddies Arcanine and Blastoise, and to help his sister and the Oak Family if they needed its assistance.
The Orayen Princess planned on visiting Saffron City with Misty, Leaf, Ash, and Brock when they would journey through Kanto for Risa's Battle Frontier matches. She told him that she would take Machamp to visit the friends he had made at the Fighting Dojo.
Since Clefable too wanted to visit her family at Mount Moon, she planned on taking her there as well.
Seeing how good she was being, making promises to him that she would behave herself and take care of all the Pokémon, he sensed the fears in her heart.
He too promised his sister that they would return safe and sound from this mission, and silently left for the Cameran Palace at dawn.
His grandmother was at the palace with Sabrina, Anabel Stone, and Kidd Summers. They had their breakfast at 9 a.m., and then together, the five of them Vein Travelled to Blanc Island.
Grisha had stubbornly refused to let Ilene stay at Rota Kingdom, and she had managed to convince the Cameran Queen to stay by her side at the Blanc Palace until the birth of the child and a few months more to recover.
His wife, however, did not want to miss this year's Annual Rota Games and Silver Conference, and she wanted him to be there with her at the birth of their child.
He could not make that promise to her, no matter how much he wanted to be there. He, however, promised her that he would come back if there was any window for it.
For the next three weeks, he spent most of his days with her, touring the Blanc Kingdom, and held her to sleep at night.
Being an Aura User, she was growing extremely moody, and at times, she was outright annoying, but he was very patient with her and knew that it was not her fault. These were all the side effects of pregnancy, and most of the time, he found her tantrums very cute.
What amused him the most was how she would break into tears when she would realise that she had been a little too much, and would repeatedly apologise to him, but despite all her efforts, her hormones were not in her control nowadays.
Their days were peaceful and comfortable, but not for long.
Two days before he planned on leaving, he received a very disturbing call from Riley.
Doctor Krane's older brother had been killed in Orre three months ago, and he only received the news the day before yesterday.
"He has run back to Orre to check up on his brother's family, Aizen. We need to leave now. He is not in his right mind and might do something stupid."
"Where are you?"
"On our way to Blanc Island. We should be there in two hours."
"All set?"
"Yes," the boy nodded his head.
"Alright. Meet me directly at the Tree of Beginning."
Riley acknowledged the command and ended the call.
The Orayen Prince let out a sad sigh and sank back in his seat.
He knew how much Krane loved his older brother. The two had grown up without their parents, in a region where there was no law, and his brother had protected and raised him into a fine, honourable, and sincere young man.
Aizen could completely understand how distraught Krane must be feeling right now, and how worried he was since the deceased had left his wife and two young kids behind.
The mother and her two children were now all alone in the worst place in the world.
Yes, Orre was the worst place in the world.
The region was located to the west of Unova, divided by a river, and once upon a time, both regions were under the rule of a royal family.
It was the very family that had been betrayed by their sworn Arcane families and killed. Their Promise Ball had shattered, and the bloodlines of the traitors had ended.
Several thousand years later, another tragedy struck Orre, when people tried to capture the Guardians of the Region, succeeded, and took them away.
Within a matter of a few years, the region had turned into a barren wasteland. Two-thirds of it was now a desert, the hottest place in the world, and there were hardly any native Pokémon there.
All had migrated to Unova, Ransei, Ferrum, and Lental, and when the Regional Guardians were rescued by the Legendary Pokémon, they never returned to Orre.
It was a reminder from Arceus to them of how important the Regional Guardians were to the regions.
Aizen let out another sigh and calmed himself down.
His darkness was whispering to him to just go there, read the minds of people, kill every scum he came across, and purge the evil of the world. The desire to control everything and everyone was quite alluring, but he had not lost his mind and knew what the consequences of such actions would be.
By doing such a thing, he would become the new evil. Everything had to fall into a balance, and he would fill that void before something else would eventually replace him.
Wherever there are desires and ambitions, there is selfishness, and where there is selfishness, there will always be evil.
Unless every conscious being in the world loses their freedom of choice and their desires, evil will never cease to exist.
The Orayen Prince silently stood up and started packing his things after making a call to Sabrina. And an hour and a half later, when he came to the Blanc Laboratory to see his grandmother and wife, the ladies tensed up at the sight of his backpack.
He did not hide things from them and informed them of the reason why he had to leave right away, and both understandingly nodded their heads.
"Be safe." Ilene tearfully said to him, and he smiled at her.
"Always."