"Serena! Calem! Over here!"
The pair perked up at the familiar voice, turning their head to the source of it. Not far away, Shauna, Trevor and Tierno were standing together in front of a Café, waving towards them before Shauna rushed over to give them a hug.
While Serena smiled at the welcoming gesture of their friend, Calem only managed to curl his lips upwards ever so slightly in response, barely returning the embrace. It had taken a few days for the journey back to Lumiose City, but now here they were, and their little group was reunited once more. However, Calem was still occupied with his own thoughts in this moment, and just as Shauna pulled back to look them both over, he tried to hide any trace of his inner turmoil.
"How have you two been? I don't know about you, but travelling separately from you is simply not the same anymore. We're all so glad to have you both back with us!", Shauna was radiating an aura of excitement, and Serena was quick to reply with masked contentment.
"We are as well, after all that we've been through, I guess this is just what we all need now.", Shauna smiled in acknowledgement before she shifted her eyes over towards Calem, hesitating to inquire about their small journey alone as she waited whether or not he wanted to speak first. Yet, upon seeing that Calem merely blinked once, she clasped her hands behind her back and decided to leave it be for now, not wanting to ruin the moment.
"How about we all sit down inside the Café and share our experiences? I'm sure there's a lot we all have to share, and it's nice to simply settle down for a moment.", leading the pair towards the rest of their friends, who were still patiently waiting for them in front of the small Café, Serena subtly stole a glance at Calem with barely hidden uncertainty and concern, for even now, he seemed to be somewhere entirely else within his mind.
If only she knew what he was pondering about… she simply didn't want to make any false assumptions without knowing for certain. She merely hoped that, now that they were all reunited once more, they could perhaps talk together about the rift that had appeared between them. She might not have shown it, but every night, she simply couldn't sleep. The guilt would constantly wear her down, and she blamed herself for the distance between them.
She should have been more aware, she could have asked about his feelings, she could have… she could have simply talked with him. But in all their time together, it had never once crossed her mind that he might feel down, that their rivalry could hurt their friendship under these circumstances.
They chose a more secluded spot within the Café to settle down, each of them ordering something to drink or eat. Tierno was the first to break the silence, his enthusiasm immediately lightening the mood.
"You should have seen all of the new Pokémon we've encountered, their moves are so mesmerizing, I could spend hours watching them to improve my own set of moves! There's so much we can still learn out there.", his eyes turned to a nearby window, his sheer excitement reminding Serena of the first time they had all met to set out on their journey together. All of them with different dreams and ambitions, all of them so determined and excited to see the world…
They have all really come a long way.
"Yeah, there was a ton we have experienced along our way. Do you remember the mysterious Pokémon that we've encountered in the forest?", Serena listened intently when Trevor mentioned something that seemed to pick everyone's attention, causing both Shauna and Tierno to remember it as well.
"Oh yes, I wish we could have made a picture of it! We've lost our orientation on that day, and the weather was far from pleasant. But when we seeked shelter, a dense fog began to spread throughout the forest, and we couldn't discern anything in front of us anymore. But just as we wandered around for what felt like hours, a Pokémon appeared in front of us.", Shauna reminisced about the events in her mind, the sight of it still managing to take her breath away.
"It was nothing that we've ever seen before, its antlers were glowing in so many colours, and it was huge. Whatever it was, it seemed to guide us through the forest. We tried to get a better glimpse of it, but every time we would catch up to it as it waited, it would move away again. Before we knew it, we were outside of the forest again and the way was clear in front of us, but the Pokémon was gone…", Tierno finished the rest of the tale as he, too, recalled the events.
"We never got to thank it for rescuing us when we would have otherwise been wandering around for who knows how long. I hope we can see it again one day…", Shauna took a small bite of her cake, all while Serena glanced at the table beneath her, pondering about what kind of Pokémon they might have encountered.
However, just as the silence returned, everyone glanced at Calem only to see that he had been staring at the table with an empty stare the whole time, spacing out once more. The moment Serena gently touched his shoulder, he jerked his head up and looked back at everyone, seemingly torn out of whatever thoughts had occupied his mind.
"... Calem? Is everything alright? You seem to be lost in thought again.", Shauna smiled gently in his direction, hoping that would ease him to speak about what was bothering him.
"No no, I'm fine. I was… pondering about what kind of Pokémon you might have encountered.", while it wasn't a complete lie, for he had been listening to them, albeit absentmindedly, he was internally stuck with memories of a certain Legendary.
However, Serena suddenly placed her hand upon his shoulder to gain his attention, and once she saw him shifting his eyes towards her, the rest of their friends turned silent, sensing that something was about to happen.
"Calem… can we talk about this…?", he stared at her in a mixture of confusion and hesitation, prompting her to continue.
"About what Lysandre said back then… I never knew what you might have felt, I… I'm sorry, I'm utterly sorry…!", not knowing how to approach the matter, she spoke freely from her mind, hoping to pour all of her genuine guilt into her words in the hopes that he would forgive her for her ignorance, all while the rest remained in an uncertain silence, not knowing exactly what had transpired between them.
But suddenly, Calem merely shook his head slightly, showing a small but genuine smile for the first time during their entire trip back.
"No, I'm sorry. I should have said something about this sooner, but I… I guess I was simply lost in my own thoughts. I didn't mean to make you feel like this, not when it is me who felt like this over a petty rivalry. For that, I am really sorry…", gently taking her hand off of his shoulder, he continued before she could formulate an answer to his words, albeit suddenly, he realized that he had only managed to corner himself.
He didn't want to speak up about what was truly on his mind, what… or who was constantly occupying his thoughts.
"I've seen how you have sometimes wandered off alone at night, did you simply want some space…?", thinking desperately how he could avoid the truth, his mind simply couldn't come up with anything that sounded believable enough.
"No, I… it's just-"
Before he could say anything further, an eruption suddenly shook the ground beneath them, causing one of the waiters to stumble and drop the glasses they were carrying. And yet, before any of them could even ask what was going on, a giant vine suddenly pierced through the window near the entrance of the Café, smashing into the ceiling above.
Screams erupted from everywhere around them, but Serena was quick to act and grasped Calem's hand into her own, pulling him up with her.
"Everyone, we need to get out!", breaking free from their trance, their friends followed Serena and Calem out of the Café only to witness a sight that caused everyone to freeze. Giant and dark vines were emerging from the ground from several places along the streets, causing any bypassers to jump back in fright before they ran for their life, fearing that the next one would appear directly beneath them.
"What is going on…?", Serena surveyed the area, keeping her calm despite the situation until she suddenly spotted something that caused even her mind to turn blank, utter disbelief reflecting in her eyes.
On every monitor scattered around the city, whatever show that was displayed was interrupted only for an image of a single person to replace them directly afterwards. And his voice echoed in every street and alleyway, hearable from every corner of the city.
"People of Kalos, my name is Lysandre. Within this very moment, my Team Flare is carrying out my will."
Calem gasped at the sight of the man they had believed to be dead, his voice echoing in his mind, almost believing that it haunted him. His arms shivered ever so slightly, his surroundings almost entirely lost to him.
"The inhabitants of this world have grown out of control. People have forgotten how to share, and ressources have become more and more sparse. As a consequence of this, they start to steal from each other, they start to wage war against each other. An endless cycle that will bring about the end of our once beautiful world!"
Suddenly, the screen switched to show a Pokémon that Calem had never once seen before in his life. It was large, colored green and blank, and its shape almost reminded him of a Z…
"This Pokémon is Zygarde. It is angry at our way of living and how we have disrupted the natural order. Together with my Team Flare, we will bring about a new dawn for the entire world! In order to achieve this, we have no choice but to eradicate whatever dirt is still tainting the world. Only we of Team Flare will be the ones to experience a new beginning, in a world where no one steals from each other anymore, where there is enough for everyone again. A world that will truly be beautiful."
And with that, the screen turned black entirely, leaving every citizen to be stunned and confused by what he had just said. But the vines didn't cease to cause damage everywhere, and Calem finally turned his attention towards the tower in the middle of the city.
There it was, the mysterious Pokémon in question was standing at the very top of the tower, glaring down at the entire city beneath as the vines started to engulf more and more houses, destroying them in the process.
However, Serena snapped out of her trance and immediately looked back at their friends, who were still in shock at what had transpired in front of their eyes.
"We need to make sure that we help however we can! We should see that the people here can get to safety, will you do that?", tearing their attention away from the horrible sight around them, the trio nodded with renewed determination at Serena's confident words.
"Don't worry, we'll see if we can help the police somehow in evacuating everyone!", Shauna grabbed one of her Pokeballs, regarding one of the vines that was blocking one of the main streets.
"You should go and see if you can reach the tower somehow, if anyone can do that, it's you two!", Tierno nodded at both Serena and Calem, knowing that despite whatever happened back at the Café, as a pair they were unbeatable, even if they might not know it themselves. And with that, the trio went on ahead to cut a path through the vines blocking several important streets, joining a few trainers who were already trying everything in their power to cut through them.
It just left Serena and Calem, the former looking back at her neighbour with determination.
"Lysandre thinks that our greed will be the end of the world, that we don't look after each other anymore and only seek to steal what we can't have ourselves…", Calem shifted his eyes with a gasp when she gently took hold of his hand, nothing holding her back anymore from trying everything to close the rift between them.
"... will we prove him wrong?", she left her question open in the air, her eyes refusing to look away from him this time. The silence only stretched on for a single moment before Calem finally broke it once more, a small smile appearing on his face once he looked back at her as well, nodding in confirmation.
"We will.", her eyes lightened up upon hearing this, however, suddenly another thick vine emerged from the ground a short distance away before it spiralled directly towards them, causing him to freeze. Realizing it too late, Serena desperately tried in vain to push him out of the way in time, but the vine still managed to graze him against his shoulder to which he cried out in pain before he was sent flying, landing on the ground a few meters away.
Serena called out for him in utter horror, but the vine was now separating them before even more of them began blocking the way between them. And in just this moment, a pair of Team Flare's grunts noticed the unconscious form of Calem on the ground, recognizing him after a small moment of hesitation.
"Sir, we've located him. We'll be on our way back immediately."
…
In a forest far away, a certain Pokémon suddenly reared its head back, its eyes setting upon the distance as if something was calling out for it.
It reached out its mind, trying to sense the well being of the one person that was on its mind before it was met only with a stinging pain. Narrowing its eyes with pure rage filling its eyes, a terrible scream echoed in the entire forest, causing all of the wild Pokémon to flee in fright from the angered Legendary just before it took off into the sky, an overpowering instinct overcoming it. It did not matter who was responsible for his suffering, but they would experience pain that was worse than death…
… it would make sure of that.
Viperclaw14: Of the entire trio, Palkia would definitely be my favourite as well. And since it is rumored that a remake of the fourth generation will come out next year, this would be quite fitting.
Kurama The Platinum Zoroark: I always have difficulties to determine which one I like the most as well, but now that you are mentioning it, I could probably make a list on my profile, too...
DestinyDragons101: The movie was great, in general, all of the movies revolving around Sinnoh were really great in my opinion. And Giratina is certainly appealing.
The Brutal Legend: I can definitely relate to this one. Lugia is very high up in my own list and I will always love the movie revolving around it, but in general, I tend to like some of the earlier movies the most.
If you are interested, I have made a small one shot for my most favourite Legendary as well. Aside from that, I hope you enjoyed, and I wish you all a Merry Christmas!