O Death? Where is Your Sting?
“It is a pity that you and your partner have come so far these nine months, only to die here.” The statement echoed throughout the sterile hallway.
“Pity for whom, Lysandre?” A young woman and Serperior turned to face the leader of Team Flare. Defiant, the two blocked the hallway to the Ultimate Weapon and the captive Legend within. They knew the man had lost all pity for anyone, much less the Pokemon held captive under his command.
“For Kalos.” Lysandre walked forward, his Flare glasses covering his face and gadgets whirling around him. Every step thundered the oncoming doom of Kalos as the tall man came closer and closer to the Ultimate Weapon.
“The region used to be famous for the Serperior line. Its wealthy kings would flaunt such magnificent creatures to any visitor that entered the palace. And those ambitious nobles would clamor and backstab just for the chance of being gifted a Snivy.”
The man stopped, sighing. “And yet not even a single Snivy can be found in the Kalos region today. All because of the greed of humankind that led to no one finding a single loaf of bread. And all the Beauty and Innocence caught in the middle.” As Lysandre spoke, one could almost hear the flames and wails of dying Pokemon in an age gone by.
The tall man finally stopped before the trainer and Serperior. He towered over the two of them, being eight feet tall and not burdened by ‘low’ ceilings. “Why are you here, Unovan? You have no interest in this region.”
“Sir?” The trainer put her hands on her hips, “You wish to unleash a genocide upon the human race that will also wipe out all the Pokemon. I think I have a right and duty to be very interested. Ain’t that right Ivy?”
The Serperior’s response was to get into a battle ready position, ending his preparations with a solemn nod.
Lysandre scoffed, “And what foolish delusion made you think that you of all people have the right to stop, nay, question me? You are no Chosen One.”
“Says the dude who goes around announcing that someone is a ‘Chosen One’ just based on whether or not they had enough money to get into Team Flare? What kind of quality is that to judge whether or not a person has what it takes to strive for the Ideal and preserve Beauty?” The young woman crossed her arms in defiance.
Lysandre gritted his teeth, “Then pray tell, who are you to question me so?”
“A dangerous question Lysandre. You already know my name. Will you like the deeper answer?” The young woman gripped the rim of her pink and white hat while her partner stood beside her. “I am White, Chosen Partner of Ivy the Serperior. Chosen Hero of Zekrom, Legendary Pokemon of Ideals. Chosen by Arceus himself for a task I did not completely understand until today.”
“At first, I believed Arceus sent me to train the next generation so they had the knowledge of the Good and the strength to carry out the Good. And yet, after all their adventures, conversations, and battle with you, you rejected their Innocence and Determination by bypassing their choices to set off the Ultimate Weapon.”
Lysandre shook his head at the words, appalled by the utter nonsense he was hearing. Why was she treating his overriding of Sycamore’s chosen ones as if it was a bad thing? Those children had no experience of the greed of mankind, so he, the more experienced one, had to be the one with the heavy burden to wipe the slate clean. “Would you rather have me let them suffer in the neverending task of trying to fix a world that can't be fixed?”
“You promised to give the world another chance if the children chose the button to deactivate the Ultimate Weapon. Your sign from Arceus was answered by those children. They chose rightfully and the Weapon was deactivated…only for you to BREAK that promise and reactivate the Ultimate Weapon anyway!” White declared; her Serperior added his fierce glare to her own.
Lysandre scoffed and his robots whirled, “They should get used to disappointment! After all, conflicting egos drive this world round! And despite those egos and limited resources, the populations of people and Pokemon have grown to unsustainable levels! And those conflated egos fight for money, energy, or power and they win in the world while everyone else suffers and dies.”
“And yet, the first lesson any child here learns is that nothing is impossible if people and Pokemon work together.” White softly whispered.
Not hearing her, Lysandre asked, “Will you submit so we can clean that slate?”
“You can't clean a slate by taking lives, only by changing them.”
“Very well, so-called Chosen One.” Lysander gripping his first Poke ball, “Let this battle begin.”
Do you want to read the whole battle? Click here to read Chapter 26 of Whoops! Wrong Region!
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