Epilogue Rosa's Thorns

Ghetsis' failure to control Kyurem and freeze Unova had taught Dr. Colress that, while technology could theoretically pull a significant amount of potential from a pokémon, it was just no match for the heightened bonds certain individuals could reach with their nonhuman partners, as evidenced by how Hil Whitacre and his Reshiram had apparently overpowered Kyurem even when it was fused with Zekrom. That didn't mean he quit inventing or scheming for ways to pry the power out forcefully, of course, and Rosa was there every step of the way to goad him on that wayward path. She was his Queen of Diamonds, he was her King of Hearts, and together, they could play one hell of a hand… With his intelligent power and her sinful delight, they easily skipped out on Unova once it started to undergo its massive changes, deftly avoiding the lawful hammer that descended on other criminals that had taken refuge in Unova's rotten core.

First, they hit Kalos, where Dr. Colress insisted he had more to study with mega evolution. While he kept a low profile due to how badly he was wanted by Kalos' law, Rosa would slip into that dastardly suit, and scoff at the officers that tried to sic pokémon after her as she stole equipment and money alike for Dr. Colress, all the while she privately fueled his desire to create experiments, to create monstrous devices designed to control pokémon. The police truly had no idea who they were messing with. She was a pinnacle of human experimentation, far above the need for pokémon companionship (or at least, that's what she told herself in the aftermath of her Emboar's death, able only to bond with some of Ghetsis' mechanical creations, such as his Genesect project). She got nothing out of their relationship other than the simple, primal pleasure of getting into his head, loving the way she could direct him, as if he were nothing more than a Rapidash and she the rider clutching his reins. It wasn't long at all before she had him worshipping her every need like a lowly Herdier.

She recalled one such memory fondly, of him curling up next to her on their bed, exhausted after a long day of tinkering on an invention that he couldn't seem to figure out. Hugging her tightly, he had tiredly slurred, "I should have done this sooner…"

"What's that?" she had curiously pried, brown eyes glittering dangerously as she waited for his answer.

"Given up trying to understand people and their emotions," he mumbled. "I don't understand it… but I don't have to… Not understanding with you is exhilarating, Miss Rosa~"

Still, once the heat turned up too far in Kalos, Dr. Colress interestedly insisted there was another phenomenon in Galar that could prove useful to his studies. She had expected that stay to go similarly to their stint in Kalos, and for a while, it did. Yet, not long after their arrival, Rosa found she was not quite feeling herself. After one such evening in the shady motel they were holed up at, in which she spent it vomiting, Dr. Colress demanded that she allow him to examine her. Deciding she wanted him to figure out what was wrong with her more than she wanted to argue and express her dominance over him, she had allowed him.

The result of that examination had shocked them both. Dr. Colress had turned white as a sheet and refused to tell her at first. "What?" she had barked at him when he balked and flopped down on the single bed in the motel room. He had put his head in his hands and stared at the ground, the blue sensor in his head sparking warningly. Growling, she had darkly said, "Dr. Colress, what's wrong? Tell me." You know I don't like it when you play these games.

"You're pregnant," he had told her in a ghost of a whisper. Rosa had felt like her entire world fell apart in that instant.

"How?" she had all but squeaked. "You're ster—"

"I know!" he had bristled, spitting the reply back at her like a bullet.

"Then you must be wrong!" she had snarled. Yet, she knew Dr. Colress was never wrong. The news had infuriated her, confused her, haunted her, until she remembered that it had been less than seven months since her encounter with Nate prior to the attack on the Plasma Frigate. She had lavished, at the time, getting into his head and easily convincing him to open up for her, but she supposed in her feverish lust for power over him, for agency over how quickly he had trusted her, she had forgotten just what else could have resulted from their coupling—or perhaps, if she were being more honest with herself and not as lost in her own web of internal lies, she would have remembered crooning into Nate's ear that he had nothing to worry about and that just once would be fine, and how he had trustingly hugged her and kissed her, accepting her word for fact.

Unwilling to accept that she had been wrong, however, she found herself astride the back of Genesect, one of Dr. Colress' experiments, trudging through the snow toward Circhester at an ungodly hour. Galar's snowy city was home to an orphanage. Part of her had to wonder why she had even bothered with this; fully-suited, she looked down at the whimpering infant wrapped tightly in a cocoon of warm, thick blankets, knowing just how easily it would have been to have simply killed him. Dr. Colress had offered her the option of an abortion, and she had strongly considered it for a while, until she realized how much more attentive he had become to her needs after learning she was pregnant. He practically groveled at her feet without her having to threaten him nearly as much. Cruelly delighted by the knowledge, she had realized quickly that for as much as Dr. Colress claimed to be inhuman, he ironically had an extremely paternal instinct, that he wanted children so, so badly. She had more than abused that knowledge to her advantage, dangling the possibility of even keeping the child over his head like a carrot on a stick. Thanks to her taunting, birthing her son hadn't even been that painful, thanks to the concoction of drugs he had tirelessly worked to perfect prior to her due date.

Of course, no longer pregnant and no longer having a use for the child, it would have been easy to simply abandon it to the Snom in the wilds and leave it to freeze to death… Dr. Colress had reacted with nothing but sheer sadness upon learning that she had wanted to give up her son in the end, but at some sharp words from her, he had held his tongue. She supposed she figured actually killing her son would be too much. Such an event would make Dr. Colress an infinitely less entertaining pet, considering how depressed she was sure he would be.

Perhaps some remaining shreds of humanity encouraged her to journey to the orphanage, but once Rosa found her way there, she unceremoniously laid her son down in those blankets on the front porch. Tucked within those blue blankets was a card with a name on it that she had not written. Dr. Colress, in a fit of paternal yearning (one he would later insist he did not have), had begged for her to allow him to name the child before she took him away. Although she could have easily manipulated him into giving up the request, Rosa had decided granting that wish was harmless, and served to further ingratiate Dr. Colress to her. So, she had allowed him to tuck the card in with her son. He had chosen the name 'Victor Harmonia.' Perhaps if she had cared enough, she would have asked him why he had chosen the name Victor. His choice in last name was obvious enough; it allowed him to live out the fantasy Ghetsis had always sworn he'd never get to do by passing on the Harmonia name. Rosa just had to roll her eyes at the thought. Dr. Colress only cared so much about it because Ghetsis had convinced him in the past that it was a big deal.

Despite her racing thoughts, dropping Victor off had taken just a few seconds, and to finalize her task, she had Genesect punch the front door. Not hard enough to break, but certainly loud enough to alert anyone inside. Without waiting to see if anyone actually answered it or not, deciding she had done her part, Rosa urged Genesect to get out of there, retreating to her and Dr. Colress' trailer setup back in the far reaches of the vastness that was Galar's Wild Area.

She had to admit, there was a sick thrill in knowing she had taken something from Nate, had created something with him whilst he was completely unaware—and he would always be blithely unaware.

Oh, how she fucking loved that thought. Checkmate, Nate, she thought with a psychotic shiver of satisfaction as she recalled Genesect, heading into her and Dr. Colress' trailer. I'll get you back eventually, but small victories are fun for now~