Kind of a short piece about an idea I'd had for a while. Moonringshipping, maybe.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.
In retrospect, Rosa thinks to herself, it really was obvious. The scientist's attire was all white and blue and black—colors matching the flags that Team Plasma had once paraded around Aspertia City two years ago. Sure, parts of the so-called Pokémon rights group were now sporting black burglar's duds instead of that hypocritical white knight's ensemble from the past, but still—Colress may as well have pasted a sign reading 'Hello, Team Plasma member right here!' in bright red letters on his forehead.
But it was still kind of hard to accept, especially when he was being so damn helpful all the time. Like whenever there was a huge group of Crustle blocking her path, he always seemed to appear out of nowhere with that Pokémon energizing machine to move them away. Presto! Roadblock no more!
...Even though she usually had to sit through some enthusiastic scientific rambling first. Still, Colress was amiable enough. They were almost friends.
And, well, maybe she liked him. Just a little.
Then, of course, everything goes to hell. ...Well, more accurately, everything in Opelucid City turns into a frozen waste, but the point still stands. And as she chases after the Shadow Triad and battles Plasma grunts, feet sliding on the ice and face stinging from the biting cold, it occurs to her—maybe she's the only person who can put an end to this insanity.
So when she meets him at the controls of Team Plasma's frigate, all smiles and cheer and talking like a kid at a candy shop about how even if the entire world is destroyed as a result of his research, then so be it—she jolts as though her world has been turned on its head.
But she's not surprised. Not in the slightest.
And that makes the sinking sensation of disappointment all the more bitter.
"So be it," she says, but it's not so much agreement with his points as it is defiance, and it seems only fitting that they would end this charade with a battle.
After all, it had just been a matter of time.