Zandik. He was once a researcher in Sumeru before he was exiled after doing inhuman experiments. Since then, he has been known by a different title.
Il Dottore. The Second of the Eleven Fatui Harbingers.
He has always been obsessed with gods and desires to elevate humans to the level of gods.
Recently his focus has turned towards a new subject. Pokemon. These otherwordly creatures first appeared in Tevyat 3 weeks ago, led by a alleged 'human' named Loki.
Dottore had always been curious about pokemon since he first heard of them. His curiousity reached its peak when he recieved the report about a certain girl.
The name of the girl was Qiqi. She was a zombie. However, after she was adopted by Loki, she was allegedly 'revived'.
Dottore wanted to study the otherwordly creatures as well as this revived girl. He could have simply arranged some of the Fatui grunts to kidnap his targets. However, he did not trust the lowly grunts to do a proper job so he personally chose to carry out the operation.
'Why did he not target the core of these otherwordly creatures?' Some might ask.
The answer was simple. He was not a fool. He did not believe that the geo archon would allow outsiders into his nation unless the outsiders had some equivalent strength. Dottore would not directly confront them until he was sure of their strength.
'Then why provoke them?' Because he didn't believe they would possess too much of a threat. Even if they did, they should not be foolish enough to go against the entire Fatui and Snezhnaya, right? The reward far outweighed the risks.
Dottore arrived in Liyue a few days ago. Since then, he has analyzed all the relevant details and made meticulous plans. He arranged the grunts at various locations around the outskirts of Liyue and ordered them to target the isolated pokemon trainers that wandered into those locations.
According to reports, there were only a few hundred pokemon trainers and most of them were based in the Liyue Harbor. However, these trainers would regularly wander into the wilderness to train their pokemon and/or for other purposes.
There were a lot of oppurtunities.
By a pure stroke of luck, the very same day this plan was set into motion, his main target (Qiqi) also left the Liyue Harbor. Dottore personally trailed behind the three children and found them playing around the Luhua pool without a care in the world.
He didn't approach them immediately. He knew they must have a guardian, protecting them from the shadows. He needed to lure this guardian out before striking.
Fortunately, some of the grunts have already managed to capture a few pokemon near the Guili Plains so he made them transport those pokemon through a route near the Luhua pool.
Everything else went according to plan.
The guardian left to rescue the captured pokemon and he used that timeframe to approach his target.
Dottore took his main target (Qiqi) along with a bonus pokemon (Nana). He was not particularly interested in the third kid. Although favoured by an Adepti, she was still a human. Kidnapping her would only bring more risk than reward.
_____
A group of Caravan were moving towards the border of Sumeru. It seemed like a few merchants from Sumeru were transporting goods from Liyue back to their nation. The scene appeared normal but that was only on the surface.
This group was none than a group of Fatui in disguise.
The Fatui Harbinger, Dottore sat inside the main caravan. This caravan was completely isolated from the outside by several barriers and other mechanism. Only a door led inside and outside.
Two metal cage were beside Dottore, each holding an unconscious girl and a pokemon inside.
The Fatui Harbinger comfortably sat on a sofa and read a book on pokemon. The grunts had brought him several books from the Pokemon Store. All of these books held information about the nature of Pokemon.
There were 18 types of pokemon, similar to the seven elements of Tevyat. Each pokemon had a unique ability inherent to their species. Habitat. Diet. Talents. Skills. Dottore had read through them all of them and focused on one subject.
Evolution.
A strange concept but something that interested him a lot. He had always wanted to evolve human into a higher form of life and make them equivalent to gods. Maybe the evolution of pokemon could give him an answer.
Dottore was looking forward to researching these pokemon. Unfortunately, he couldn't stay in Liyue to do his research. He had to delay and retreat to a safer location because he had just kidnapped the adopted daughter of the leader of the otherwordly creatures.
The Fatui Harbinger knew that Loki and his direct subordinates will try to hunt him down. Staying in Liyue would only be counterproductive.
_____
Time passed quitely.
At some point, the unconscious girl woke up and surveyed her surrounding with a blank look in her eyes. Dottore closed the book and spoke to her with a friendly voice.
"Nice to meet you, Qiqi."
He spoke as if she was not held in a cage right now. He could not help but nod happily when Qiqi looked at him without any fear. He had always liked docile kids. If she were to start crying immediately after waking up, he would be annoyed.
However, he also liked to discipline rowdy kids and see the looks of terror on their faces, so he was a little disappointed at the same time.
A few seconds passed until Qiqi seemed to finally understood her current situation completely. She turned to the unconscious pokemon and asked with a voice that betrayed her worry.
"What did you do to Nana?"
"You don't have to worry. Your pokemon is just sleeping due to the anesthetic. It should wake up in due time."
Dottore answered casually. His words didn't hold any trace of deception. He had indeed injected a high dose of anesthetic to this pokemon. He was not yet familiar with these otherwordly creature and how they were able to use their powers. He had taken extra precautions to prevent any form of resistance.
On the other hand, he had just confiscated the cryo vision from Qiqi and didn't administer much anesthetic. That's why she was able to wake up so quickly and have this conversation with him.
After hearing his answer, Qiqi didn't show much of a reaction. She moved closer towards the pokemon but the cage seperated them.
"Since I have answered you question, you should answer one of mine." Dottore spoke.
"I heard you were a zombie until a week ago. Can you tell me how you came back to life?"
Qiqi remained quiet.
"You are not going to answer?" Dottore let out a bit of his power. The display prompted the girl to answer.
"I don't know."
Dottore couldn't tell if she was lying or not but he wasn't disappointed. Her answer didn't really matter as he was going to study her and find the truth in a matter of time. He had just asked the question in order to sate his curiosity and nothing more.
Qiqi returned her gaze to the pokemon and Dottore didn't bother with her anymore. He picked up the book and quitely began to read.
From the small interaction just now, Dottore had come to understand the character of this little girl. He knew that she would not do anything foolish and put her and the pokemon at harm's way. There was no need to put her back to sleep.
_____
Loki and the ghost pokemon arrived at the Dunyu Ruins in just a few minutes Each of them chose a direction and spread out to search for Qiqi and Nana.
They relied on their sense of smell, sight and hearing to locate them but there were no traces at all. Even communicating with the intelligent ghosts and lingering souls from this area offered no help whatsoever.
The ghost pokemon were forced to phase through the ground and search for any and all Fatui hideouts. Time was of the essence but there were no other choices.