August 18, 13 AL

2:52 PM

Drake smiled as he stepped into the League's makeshift hospital.

"Hello, Kyle, Terra," he nodded at each of them.

"I'm going to get you, you filthy-" Kyle was stopped as Salamence's tail slammed down in front of him and forced him to sit down again. Salamence had been guarding them ever since they arrived, but they had seen no people except Sydney and a few Elite Guards.

"Kyle, just stay quiet until we can do something useful," whispered Terra. They had already looked for ways to escape, but there were no windows, and they figured there would be Elite Guards outside the door. Salamence hadn't let them near enough to check.

"I hope you two are enjoying this clinic a bit more than that little place in the back of a Pokémon Center. It must have been quite cramped."

"It was better than being close to you," replied Kyle.

"Kyle, if I wanted to hurt you, you would already be dead. Seeing as you are not, I thought you would want to know why you are here," he paused, seeing that he had caught Terra's attention, "but I can tell that nothing I say will convince you, Kyle."

"Nothing from a black-hearted murderer ever will."

"Terra, if you want to know why you are still alive, I would suggest that we move to another room where your brother will not be insulting me with every sentence. Your alternative is, of course, to be locked away until you change your mind."

"I'm not leaving my brother. Just get it over with; you must be dying to gloat about your evil plan to rule the world."

"Rule the world? Never. Alexander simply forced us to take control so our true mission will not be harmed. Once, all four of us worked together for a more important goal. Now, I cannot trust the others. I fear they may believe that we are here for power instead of our mission to help pokémon by having less be captured. No one ever condemns trainers for capturing pokémon because they know that pokémon will be well cared for by their trainers. But how many can a trainer truly care for? I checked your Pokénavs just enough to see that you are normal trainers: you have a favorite pokémon. It receives most of your attention, the others are there but not as important. You care for them too, but it is not the same. I won't blame you; there just isn't enough time to care for all six the same way."

"We heard that Agatha explained it differently to the Senate. You're just making this up now," said Kyle.

"When Agatha went to the Senate, a bunch of nontrainers, security was the only thing important enough to convince them to make immediate changes. They would never have understood how much care goes into those few pokémon."

"But why have a second pokémon at all? You seem to think one should be the limit," asked Terra.

"It would be nice if we could do that," agreed Drake. "Unfortunately, not every pokémon can transport people, so an extra is needed for flying or surfing. Imagine trying to get around using only your Sandslash. You would be forced to walk everywhere. Also, without trying to spread secondary care among all five, the second will be better treated."

"I don't care about some fake mission," interjected Kyle, "you killed the champions!"

"I never wanted them killed. If your friend Alexander hadn't tried to save them, they would be doing fine. They had everything they needed and were recovering well."

"But you didn't need to hurt them in the first place. They could've avoided all if this if they had never gone there!"

"What do you think would have happened if we had announced that a single pokémon defeated the Champion and no one was allowed near it? Would only the Champion be attacked? No, it would become every trainer's dream to catch the uncatchable pokémon. Remember, your friend Alexander knew about the danger and went anyway. Warning them would not have helped. Instead, they become a symbol of a failed system. A system where thousands of pokémon spend their life uncared for. Also, there are others there only for a trainer's collection in a PC somewhere. Once we have defeated Prism, all those stuck in PC's will be released. And why haven't we done this before? No Elite Four has ever convinced average trainers to voluntarily carry fewer pokémon. They want every advantage they can get in a battle. The original Elite Four thought they could set an example by carrying only five, and that tradition has never been broken. No trainer has ever challenged us on even terms by using only five. They take every advantage they can and use six. Then they have power. Power that comes from being able to sacrifice one of their pokémon to weaken the opponent's best. If you always fought only with your favorite, it wouldn't be much of a change. For them, there is no one that is loved. Instead, all are just there to fight. A champion gives orders and the pokémon follow them. The individuals do not matter. As long as the opponent is hurt worse, it is success."

"No, you never saw Alexander and his Blaziken together. They were closer than any other trainer and his pokémon!" Kyle answered.

"Maybe once he was like that. But he disappeared before challenging us, and there he must have changed. You must have watched our battle. Do you remember the fight between him and me? At the end it came down to his Blaziken and Salamence here." Smoke blew from Salamence's nose in agreement. "They fought with fire and claw, but in the end Blaziken released the strongest Overheat that I have ever seen. That is where the public tape ends. The commentators then jump to an interview later on with Alexander. There are many things you did not see. The metal floor below Blaziken melted. When he was returned to the Pokéball, feathers outlining the shape of Blaziken were left stuck in the ground. He actually spent longer in the Pokémon center than Salamence did because he used so much energy. Alexander seemed to be more worried about catching Deoxys than looking in on Blaziken."

There was silence, then Terra questioned, "So what"s the point? What is your offer?"

"Unfortunately, the other Elites have forgotten our original mission and oppose me when I have the best plans to advance our cause. They want to get rid of me so they can make decisions that will make each of them more powerful. I could remove them to a prison if I needed to, but they are important. They carry out tasks too important for the Elite Guard, and I would need to replace them. You two could learn from me and, one day, bring peace to Hoenn and give full life to all pokémon."

"But why would you offer it to us? You know we will refuse."

"I thought you might see the light. You have seen too much already, so you can't be allowed to leave. Kyle, I was amused to hear stories of your Shedinja. The Elite Four have long known of its special powers, so every one of us can defeat it, but others have not studied as much. Terra, I feel as if I could trust you. I would assume Prism does too."

He turned and left the room. The lock clicked behind him.

"I hate him," muttered Kyle.

"And so do I," answered Terra, "but if he hadn't killed Alexander, I could almost believe him."