>>28322496>>28322852>FRLG/RSE happen>HGSS/DPPt then occur>Cyrus gets yanked into the Distortion World via the Griseous Orb and Giratina>Due ot being stuck there possibly only with Giratina and nothing else but the other two magic legendary pokemon rocks, develops ways to move between dimensions at different times>Encounters a younger version of himself in another dimension, encourages him to focus on the development of Pokemon's potential>This Cyrus becomes Colress>Colress realizes he can't do this alone>With the help of Cyrus's time travel/dimension hopping, he creates two separate instances of the Aether Foundation, who wish to study and improve Pokemon>This becomes the "sponsor" group that allows for the various Pokemon professors to come around>They're all very aware of Cyrus and his plans>In order to create a stable time loop, Cyrus enlists Rowan's help in order to help his original self find the Lake Trio (hence why he's the one observing Lake Verity)>Cyrus lets Rowan know it's to help develop Pokemon's potential>Pic related for quote on this>Rowan uses this opportunity to set up the necessary "Opposition" needed to build up Cyrus>Encourages Lucas/Dawn to lure out the Lake Trio, starting with Mesprit>Cyrus was probably really close with Rowan in general, really, given he also let slip his interest in Rotom>Rowan is the one who speaks to Lucas/Dawn after Rotom takes over an appliance for the first time>Rowan most likely tells this to Colress>Colress uses Rotom's appliance-posession ability to make the Rotom Pokedex>Uses the ORAS/XY/SM dimension as the testing grounds for all these newly developed theoriestl;dr
THE AETHER PROJECT IS THE PROFESSOR ILLUMINATI AFTER CYRUS MADE HIS FAILED CULT
HIS CLOSEST ALLIES ARE A YOUNGER VERSION OF HIMSELF, COLRESS, AND ROWAN
THE PROFESSORS HAVE BEEN MANIPULATING YOU AT EVERY TURN, THE MOST OBVIOUS CASE OF THIS IS ROWAN