Damn, this idea of mine will NOT leave me alone. I started writing this about half an hour after posting the previous chapter.
First, Griefen, you magnificent bastard.
Just a warning, I'm writing most of this from memory, so I'm lucky to get this much right. Blame everything else on that and the fact that it's Pokémon, so people's personalities have been changed slightly because of their influence. Yeah, that'll do.
Also, I'd like to announce that I have a new beta for this story, and he is doing a fantastic job.
-}+{-
"Excuse me ladies, but could I perhaps steal Miss Stadtfield from you for a moment?"
"Huh?"
Kallen looked up from her gaggle of fake friends to see a slender, Britannian student with dark hair and purple eyes talking to them. "Ah, sure." Kallen replied, standing up from the picnic mat and walking away with the boy while the other girls giggled.
"What did you bring me here for?" Kallen asked Lelouch once they were alone in the student council club house.
He turned to face her. "Answer my questions." Lelouch ordered, Geass ablaze.
"What would you like me to know?" Kallen replied obediently.
Lelouch questioned her for some time, and she told him everything.
She was part of a small, local rebel group called Sableye, who was led by a man named Ohgi. They had been defending the Shinjuku ghetto yesterday when an unknown male on the radio began helping them. They almost won, but then the Britannians unleashed some monster of a pokémon that would have obliterated them if that soldier hadn't calmed it down.
Including herself, there were five surviving members of the resistance, their names being Kaname Ohgi, Kento Sugiyama, Yoshitaka Minami, Shinichirō Tamaki. Kallen's birth name is Kallen Kozuki, her father being a Britannian noble but her mother a Japanese woman.
When Kallen told Lelouch that Sableye would be likely to follow the voice again if they met him, Lelouch deactivated the Geass. "I was hoping that you would consider joining student council." Lelouch told her pleasantly.
"Eh?" Kallen asked.
"I mean, I've heard that you're rarely in school due to your health, so you haven't joined any clubs." Lelouch shrugged. "I mean, we'd be happy to have you as a member-"
"Is that what you brought me here for?" Kallen asked him. "To invite me to join your club?"
'That confirms my suspicion. She doesn't have any memory of when she was under my Geass…' Lelouch deducted. 'That, or she just doesn't care.'
"Well, if it helps sweeten the deal, student council members are pretty much above the law as far as school is concerned, so it'll be more convenient for you to take leave when you're ill." Lelouch offered.
She considered it. It would make it much easier for her to do missions with the others.
"Alright." She decided, offering her hand to shake. "Sign me up."
"Just one more thing." Lelouch said, activating his Geass as he shook her hand. "Don't talk to anyone about Shinjuku."
Kallen gripped Lelouch's hand tight and reached for her vileplume's dusk ball. "What about Shinjuku?"
Realising his mistake, Lelouch almost shat a brick there and then, but Milly chose this as the perfect time to charge in and bust out the champagne. "WELCOME TO STUDENT COUNCIL!" She shouted.
"Sorry!" Rivalz apologised as He came in with the desserts tray, followed by Nina. "I knew you wanted to talk to her first, but as soon as I suggested it to Milly, well…"
"T-That's fine." Lelouch recovered, pulling away from Kallen. "Where's Shirley?"
"She's getting Nunnally right now!" Milly declared, shaking the bottle as she tried to pry the cork out. "But let's start the celebration right…" POP "NOW!!"
Lelouch instinctively dodged the rocketing cork, and Kallen knocked it from the air. For a split second, she feared her sick-girl charade was over, but, for better or worse, the others were distracted when the red-head got soaked to the skin in champagne foam.
"…Is there a shower nearby?" Kallen asked, after a moment of shocked silence.
Lelouch directed her to the bathroom so she could get a shower, then ran into the corridor to get some clothes from his room. As he did, his mind raced as he tried to figure out a way to throw Kallen's suspicion off him. That said, why hadn't his geass worked the second time round? Clearly, he would need to test this weapon until he was sure of it's full capabilities… But how?
"Man, that was pretty hot though." Rivalz joked. "Right Lulu?"
Well, speak of the devil… "Hey, Rivalz." Lelouch said, turning to his friend with his Geass activated. "Do ten star jumps."
"Sure thing!" Rivalz declared, jumping into the air. "One… Two… Three…"
"Stop doing star jumps." Lelouch ordered his friend.
"Four… Five…" Rivalz continued, ignoring Lelouch's command. "Six… Seven… Eight…"
"I told you to stop doing star jumps." Lelouch repeated.
"Nine… Ten!" Rivalz declared, giving Lelouch a big thumb's up.
"Enjoy your exercise?" Lelouch asked him.
"Huh?" Rivalz said, tilting his head. "If you're talking about soaked Kallen, then there's better words for it."
"Do ten star jumps." Lelouch ordered Rivalz.
"Not a chance." Rivalz stated, shaking his head. "And aren't you meant to be getting clothes for Kallen?"
'I see… so it really is just a one-time deal…' Lelouch deducted, piecing together the information from his experiment. "Yeah, but would you mind if I borrowed your chatot for a second?" he asked having just realized how to throw Kallen off his scent.
"Eh?" Rivalz asked. "Why?"
"Twenty pounds and I'll give it back to you in ten minutes if you don't ask questions." Lelouch bartered.
Rivalz handed the Pokéball over. "Nice!" He said, taking the ten pound note Lelouch handed him. "Half now half later?"
"As always!" Lelouch smiled, jogging off towards his room.
"Sorry about that." Lelouch apologised as he entered the bathroom. "Milly's like that at times."
"Oh, it's fine."
"I brought you some of my spare clothes while yours are washed." Lelouch explained. "Nunnally didn't have any in your size, but I hope it's okay."
"Yes, thank you." Kallen said from behind the shower curtain as Lelouch admired her silhouette. "So, that was fast. Been to the boys dorm already?"
"No, I live in this building." Lelouch told her.
"Oh really?"
"My sister Nunnally lost her sight and her ability to walk when we were younger." Lelouch told her, "So the council president gave us special permission."
There was a short silence, broken only by the water coming from the shower head.
"Hey, could you pass me my purse?" Kallen asked, pointing her hand around the shower curtain and at a small pink rectangle by the sink.
"Uh, sure." Lelouch complied, looking away as he handed it to her.
He dropped it as she grabbed his wrist. "Hm?" He asked. "Well, this is unexpected."
"Why did you ask me about Shinjuku?" Kallen demanded to know.
"Is there any reason why I shouldn't?" Lelouch asked.
"Don't answer my question with a question." Kallen snapped, reaching for her lure ball containing her Kingler in case she needed to silence this boy. "Yes or no. That's all I wanna hear from you."
Then the phone rang.
'Right on time.' Lelouch thought as he glanced at the clock. "You know, they'll send someone if I don't answer it." He pointed out to her.
…
"I'm going to pick the phone up now." Lelouch stated calmly, reaching for it with his free hand and putting it to his ear. "Hello?"
…
Lelouch passed the phone to Kallen. "It's for you."
Kallen hesitated for a second, then carefully placed the lure ball aside and took the phone, still holding onto Lelouch. "Hello?" She asked.
_\_ "Good to see you're still alive Q-1." _\_
Kallen almost crapped herself once she recognised that voice. _\_ "Come to the radio tower at four-pm tomorrow." _\_ The chatot's imitation of Lelouch said from the other side of the phone. _\_ "Come alone." _\_ Sayako obeyed her geass command and hung the phone before Kallen could hear the "SKWARK!!"
"Hey, wait!" Kallen shouted into the phone, twisting around. "What about radio tower!?"
"What about radio tower?" Lelouch asked, feigning confusion.
Kallen looked at him. "It's that new game on the DS, right?" Lelouch lied. "Heart Gold and Soul Silver, yeah?"
"Uh, yeah." Kallen lied. "I mean, because I'm ill so much, I've been playing those games… but I'm kinda stuck on the next part, so…"
"I thought so." Lelouch nodded. "Makes sense really." 'She's not even considering defending why she was called at this number.' Lelouch smirked to himself. "By the way…" Lelouch turned his head away. "You are aware that I can see everything, right?"
"Eh?" Kallen asked, before looking down and realising that the telephone cord had pulled the shower curtain back, leaving nothing to Lelouch's imagination, having obliterated any need for such a thing. She immediately immediately shrieked and dropped both the phone and Lelouch's hand, curling up into a ball and pulling the curtain to cover herself.
"Sorry about that." Lelouch lied, moving towards the door. "Let's… just not talk about this again."
"Y-Yeah…" Kallen agreed, her face rapidly reaching the same colour as her hair.
"Also, the reason why I asked you not to talk about Shinjuku…" Lelouch said as he reached for the doorknob. "I almost got caught up in a battle between the army and team rocket there yesterday. It really wasn't pretty, and it'll be all over the news. I just thought that someone like yourself really shouldn't have to know about that kind of thing."
"Oh, oh okay." Kallen nodded, so embarrassed that she'd have accepted almost any explanation at that point. "J-just go!"
Lelouch left quickly and set out to track down Sayako and teach Chatot some new words to cover his tracks.
"I…" Kallen said to herself inside the shower. "Was wrong…"
"I'm Rivalz and I lururve Milly Ashford, SKWARK!"
"Hey, not funny!" The blue haired boy shouted at his mate as the girls giggled. "Dude, you just don't!"
"And you thought someone would pay twenty quid just to borrow your chatot?" Lelouch laughed. "Come on, I thought you knew the value of a penny!"
"You've insulted my honour!" Rivalz bellowed. "I DEMAND SATISFACTION!"
"Are you challenging me to a duel?" Lelouch asked, hands reaching for the pokéballs at his waist.
"H-hey, I just want some blood money!" Rivalz corrected himself.
"Once a duel has been challenged, you Have to battle!" Shirley reminded Rivalz with a snicker. "You can't wimp out, remember?"
"H-Hey!" Rivalz shouted at her. "Weren't you telling us not to gamble earlier?"
"It's fine if no-one bets any money." Milly declared. "Right Nina?"
"Um… Yeah…" The girl replied nervously.
"THEN IT'S DECIDED!" Milly declared, swinging her rolled up paper between the two boys. "BEGIN!"
"Alakazam!" Lelouch decided, throwing his premier ball into the air and sending out the psychic type.
"Er… hey, Kallen!" Rivalz shouted, waving to the red-head as she came in. "Wow… those really suit you- URK!"
He was cut off by a focus punch to the face from Lelouch's Alakazam. "You're supposed to send out your pokémon in a battle… oh, Kallen."
"That wasn't very fair, brother." Nunnally pointed out.
"Eh, I deserved it…" Rivalz mumbled, rubbing his jaw as he got to his feet. "After all, there was no chance in hell that Lelouch would ever pass up the chance to fight dirty in a pokémon battle-whoa!" He shouted, dodging another punch and sending out a golduck to battle with. "Zen headbutt!"
The duck pokémon charged at alakazam, who elbowed it down to the ground and launched a thunderpunch between the golduck's shoulders.
"Gaaall…" Golduck screeched as it fainted.
"Good work." Lelouch complimented his pokémon as he returned it to its pokéball. "Your honour is intact." Lelouch told Rivalz as he curled up into a ball of self-pity. "Oh, and I don't fight dirty. I'm pragmatic."
Lelouch then turned to Kallen. "How're you feeling?"
"Erm… not that good." Kallen lied. "I think I'll go home… I don't think I'll be in school tomorrow…"
"That's fine." Shirley nodded. "We'll see you later, okay?"
"Goodbye, Kallen." Nunnally said, waving goodbye.
"T-thanks." Kallen smiled, before turning to Lelouch. "I'll return these when I can." She said.
"I'll send Sayako with your clothes once they're cleaned." Lelouch replied, walking towards her. "Let me walk you to the door."
"It's fine, really." Kallen declined. "I can see myself out."
Lelouch stopped. "Very well," He said, turning around. "if you insist."
"Hey, Lulu!" Shirley shouted. "Don't be rude!"
"She said it was fine…" Lelouch sighed, turning around again. "Right this way, Miss Stadtfield."
Lelouch geassed a tailor that evening to prepare his disguise, then to destroy the evidence once he collected them the next day. Lelouch made sure to prepare for the materials, purchasing it from a separate source entirely, and then got to work on constructing his helmet.
By which I mean geassing a mechanic into building it to his exact specifications.
On his travels, Nunnally gave him a desperate phone call, telling him that Suzaku had let a dangerous pokémon loose at Shinjuku and used the confusion to murder Prince Clovis, and was going to be executed the next day.
Lelouch was shocked that Britannia had decided on a scapegoat so quickly, but he quickly realised that they knew Suzaku was innocent, the Blood-purist association running the investigations just wanted to use him as an example to prevent the honorary Britannian system, which let Numbers ascend into middle and upper class society as an honorary Britannian.
"Don't worry Nunnally." Lelouch comforted her. "I'm sure it's just a mistake, just you wait and see. Everything will be fine, I promise."
_\_ "When will you be home brother?" _\_ Nunnally asked from the other end.
"Soon, I promise." Lelouch told her. "There's just one more errand I need to run and I'll be on the next taxi back- No, I'm not battling, whatever gave you that idea?"
_\_ "Call it a sisters intuition." _\_ Nunnally giggled.
"Well, I'm afraid that you're wrong this time." Lelouch replied honestly. "I'm not battling, I promise. Bye Nunnally."
_\_ "Bye brother." _\_ Nunnally replied as Lelouch hung up the phone.
Lelouch smiled and pocketed his Pokénav before entering into the black market shop.
"Whaddya want?" The Elevener shop keeper said.
Lelouch activated his Geass. "Give me a snag machine." He ordered the man. "A stylish one."
"'Ere ya go." The shopkeeper said, giving him the cloaked sleeve in a case. "On da house, Ah insist."
"Why thank you." Lelouch smiled, taking the case and leaving the shop a satisfied thief.
School was cancelled the next day, so Lelouch took spent it gathering his orders and preparing the elaborate show he'd be giving Kallen and her friends.
Kallen arrived at the radio tower early, followed by three men who were doing a rather decent job of being anonymous.
Lelouch smiled, and let her walk to the side as he handed the pokégear into the front desk, asking that it be returned to Kallen Kozuki.
That got her attention.
Lelouch quickly walked out of there and rang the number on the illegal pokégear he had cloned the previous night. "You're early." He told her, distorting his voice mechanically as he walked through the crowd. "I like that. Get on the next train at the nearest station. Bring your friends."
He then hung up and carried on walking.
He smirked with satisfaction as Kallen ran past him, quickly followed by three Elevener rebels.
Lelouch took his time. He had plenty of it before the next train arrived.
He got on the train at the front cabin while Kallen and her friends entered one closer to the middle.
Once the train got moving, Lelouch stood on his seat. "Attention everyone!" He shouted from the front, getting everyone's attention. "Leave this cabin and do not let anyone enter except a girl with red hair and three Elevens."
Everyone immediately rose from their seats or let go of their handles and left the cabin, leaving Lelouch free to get changed, calling Kallen again as he did so, Asking her about the two cities on either side of the train, he smirked at her daring replies and summoned her and her allies to the front of the train.
He then smiled as he placed his helmet over his face and turned to face away from the door for effect. This had to go perfectly.
"Was that you in Shinjuku?" Kallen asked the robed figure who stood alone in the train. "Was the ceasefire your doing?"
"Hey!" One of her allies shouted, "We're talking to you!"
Lelouch turned around, revealing himself as a black cloaked figure in a black, metallic mask with a gold trimming where his mouth should be, and a purple visor covering most of his face. "What do you think of my tour of the settlement?" the distorted voice asked from behind the mask.
"The tour?" One rebel asked.
"Aw, come on." The other groaned. "There's no way it's this joker…"
"I wanted you to fully grasp the two. The settlement," The masked man explained, lifting his left arm from beneath his cape. "And the ghetto." He added, raising his right arm.
"A snag arm…" One rebel gasped.
"Yeah, we know." The one with the Elvis haircut said, stepping forward. "There's a harsh difference between us and them, and that's why we fight."
"You're wrong." The masked figure told them, folding his arms beneath his cloak. "Britannia will not fall to terrorism."
"Fall?" The rebel leader, Ohgi, asked.
"It's little better than childish nuisance." The masked man continued, ignoring their protests. "You should know your enemy… it is not the people you should fight, but BRITANNIA ITSELF!" His anger was apparent, despite the mask and the voice distortion. "It is a war you must wage… take up your sword and FIGHT FOR JUSTICE!"
"That's very easy for you to say." Kallen snarled. "Hiding behind that mask… why should we even trust you!?"
"Yeah, lose the mask!" Another demanded.
"Are you going to show us your face, or not?" Ohgi asked.
"Very well, I shall make myself known to you." The masked man said. "But rather than my face, I shall show you who I am." Lelouch smiled behind the visor. "If I deliver unto you the impossible, then I might earn your trust."
That evening, during the parade where Suzaku was carried through the city for all to see, Kallen drove the late Prince Clovis's car down through the path of the parade, forcing it to grind to a stop.
This car was not a fake. This car had been taken through the bartering powers of the Geass, and at got the attention it deserved.
"You dare desecrate his royal highness's vehicle?" Margrave Jeremiah Gottswald shouted from his float, to which Suzaku was chained.
The back of Clovis's car was incinerated from the inside by a houndoom, revealing the masked man once more.
"I am… ZERO!" Lelouch declared.
The crowd began panicking, and Kallen began sweating like she was in hell itself as Britannian soldiers released their dragons and other such powerful pokémon, surrounding them and leaving no hope for escape.
"Well, Zero." Jeremiah sneered. "How's about you lose that mask?"
Zero reached for his mask, then lowered it as he raised his other hand into the air, holding a master ball.
"Suzaku Kurugi." Zero declared. "I believe that this Pokémon belongs to you."
Suzaku looked at him in confusion, but then realised just what was inside it. "DON'T DO IT!" He shouted. "YOU'LL- GAH!!" He was cut off by the electivire gripping him in a single hand.
"That's right." Zero said. "I hold in my hands a Pokémon so terrible, that none of you would be able to stop it."
'That bastard…' Jeremiah thought desperately, knowing full well what is inside that master ball. 'I don't know how he got that, but he's taken every Britannian here hostage without them even knowing it!'
Jeremiah did the sensible thing. "FINE!" He shouted. "What are your demands!?"
"An exchange." Zero called. "I will give you the pokémon inside this ball, and you give me Kurugi."
"Not a snover's chance in hell." Jeremiah shouted back. "This man in charged with high treason, HE MURDERED A PRINCE!!"
The crowd gasped and burst into nervous chatter, and beneath his mask Lelouch smirked. He has them right where he wanted them. "You're wrong." Zero said. "Kurugi is no murderer. The one who killed Prince Clovis…" He turned to face the cameraman running up the road to catch better footage of him. "WAS ME!!"
"For a single eleven, you will save scores of Britannians." Zero shouted over the din of the crowd. "I find that to be more than fair a bargain."
"KILL HIM!" Jeremiah shouted. "For disgracing the crown… CHARGE YOUR HYPER BEAMS!!"
"Careful," Zero warned as the monster's mouths opened wide and energy began to gather. "You don't want the public to learn about Dunsparce, do you?"
Zero tapped the floor, signalling for Kallen to move forward. "If I die, it'll all go public. Everyone will know everything about Dunsparce."
"What're you-" Jeremiah began.
"If you don't want that to happen," Zero said, opening a slot on his helmet and activating his Geass. "You'll do everything in your power to help us escape with Suzaku Kurugi unharmed!"
"Understood." Jeremiah nodded, hopping onto his metagross and floating into the air. "RELEASE THE PRISONER!"
"A-Are you nuts!?" Villetta Nu shouted, climbing up her kangaskan.
"YOU HEARD ME!" Jeremiah shouted. "RELEASE HIM NOW!"
The electivire backed off and a soldier helped Suzaku to his feet and sent him down the steps.
"What do you think you're doing?" Suzaku hissed at Zero.
"I don't like it when people are blamed for my deeds." Zero explained, throwing the master ball into the air as Kewell ordered the death of the rebels.
The master ball burnt, revealing itself to be a paper-Mache ball containing many shrunken pokéballs. They hit the ground, releasing the several ghastly within, growing rapidly and enveloping the crowd in their sleeping gas.
Zero and Kallen took Suzaku and ran for the edge of the building.
"TAKE MY METAGROSS!" Jeremiah shouted at Zero, tossing him its pokéballs as he covered their escape with a salamence. "ALL UNITS! HELP THEM ESCAPE AT ALL COSTS!"
The three jumped onto the floating metal pokémon and used it as a lift down to the truck awaiting them below, where Zero threw a heavy ball with his Snag Arm, capturing the metagross and changing its OT number to -0-.
Another favour he gained through the Geass. His own Trainer ID was (11)0629595372, 11 signifying which area he lived in, 0 that he was a Britannian citizen, and a nine digit code that identified Lelouch Lamperouge to the world.
He'd had a different OT once. Back when he was Lelouch Vi Britannia.
"So, are you really the one who killed Clovis?" Suzaku asked Zero. "Why!?"
"This is war." Zero replied. "Why wouldn't I kill my enemy?"
"And Mewtwo!?" Suzaku shouted.
"You saw for yourself that that was a bluff." Zero answered. "The result? Not a single life was lost this night."
"The result?" Suzaku asked, incredulous. "That's all that matters to you, isn't it?"
"Come join me." Zero offered, missing what Suzaku was saying entirely. "The Britannia you serve is but a useless dominion."
"That may be true, but…" Suzaku glared at Zero. "But this nation can be changed for the better! And from within!"
'From within?' Lelouch asked himself silently.
"And anything gained through contemptible means aren't worth anything." Suzaku added, turning to walk away.
"Wait!" Zero shouted. "Where are you going?"
"My court martial begins in an hour." Suzaku replied, walking away.
"ARE YOU MAD!?" Lelouch shouted from behind the mask. "The only reason they're giving you a trail is to find you GUILTY! THE JUDGE, THE PROSECUTION AND DEFENCE!"
"Maybe so, but rules are rules." Suzaku said. "And if I don't go, they'll start cracking down on Elevens… AND Honorary Britannians…"
"BUT YOU'LL DIE!"
"I don't mind."
"DON'T BE AN IDIOT!"
"And old friend of mine used to tell me that." Suzaku replied. "He used to say I was a fool."
Lelouch gasped. "It's my weakness I guess." Suzaku continued, turning to face Zero. "I'd try to bring you in, but you'd just end up killing me. And if I'm going to die, it's going to be in the service of the people." He turned away and began to leave again. "Even so, I thank you for saving me."
'You… fool…' Lelouch said to himself through gritted teeth.
That night, Suzaku Kurugi was found innocent of all charges, and returned to his previous position in the military.
However, that's not all that happened that night.
The world came to know the masked trainer named Zero, but they had yet to grasp just what he was capable of.
In fact, the one person who had the closest hint of what he was capable of was the green haired girl entering Lelouch's home, holding her jirachi close to her chest.
-}+{-
Dadadum, dadadum, dadaDADADADADDA, End theme.
Yeah, this shall be fun.
That's the kind of trainer I see Lelouch as being. Not afraid to do what other people would consider 'cheating', but he'd call it strategy, or combining moves for the greatest effect.
So, until next time, enjoy!