Cyrus leaned in on the table, propping his elbows up and turning his palms skyward to hold his head. An oddly childish sort of action for the super-serious guy, Gardenia found it a bit disturbing; a sixth sense informing her of what was to come, perhaps, she thought.
He grinned. It was giddy, simple and happy, as he looked at her. It made her shrink back a bit.
The tension was now so thick it was almost tangible. Volkner's gaze firmly focused upon Cyrus, Jasmine's somewhat nervous, Mana's usual calm and soothing demeanor now looking to be as tough as a brick wall. Only Mars seemed normal to Gardenia - and that was only because she didn't know the girl well.
Cyrus spoke up.
"Gardenia, has Volkner informed you of my phone call? I made it last night to him - and told him to tell you about it," he started. "But I get the feeling he hasn't."
Gardenia cocked an eyebrow. "No, he hadn't. Then again, that's Volkner for ya."
Cyrus nodded. He moved his hands back down toward his lap. "Of course. I figured he wouldn't - well then, let me inform you. I have a proposition."
Gardenia nodded in return. "Go on."
"As I left your group for my own purposes, I did so because I came upon an inscription in Mt. Coronet's walls," he said. "An inscription made by what appears to be ancient Sinnohan people... I had a bit of a time deciphering it, but I managed to get a broken message: 'He...conquers...trio...conquer...world'. Beneath it were drawings; three small pictures of tailed creatures, and two larger ones. The three tailed creatures were connected by a line, forming an upside-down triangle. The tip of the upside-down triangle drew a line that split in two down to the two larger creatures. I drew the conclusion that they were Pokemon. Are you following me?"
Gardenia nodded again. She didn't understand where he was going with the story though - and she hadn't painted a picture of Cyrus in her mind as the archaeology-inspired type. But she supposed she hadn't known him that well either.
"So, I went to a local town - actually accessible through a bike, if you're enough of a daredevil, in the path we were heading, hence how I got there - and looked it up in their library with the assistance of a librarian. She herself was married to an archaeologist... talk about luck, huh? Anyways, she recognized these immediately as a legend of Mt. Coronet - that atop it, there is a ancient building called the Spear Pillar, where, if one gathers the three legendary Pokemon Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie, they would be able to summon the legendary Pokemon Dialga and Palkia... lords of Time and Space. It made sense then. I was able to decipher the whole thing through hearing this legend... 'He who conquers the trio, conquers the world'. It made sense... the trio of Azelf, Mesprit and Uxie could summon Dialga and Palkia, and through conquering Space and Time, one could easily control the entire Earth."
Gardenia's gaze grew weary. She didn't want to think what she was thinking, but what Cyrus was leading up to sounded an awful lot like what she was thinking he was going to suggest.
"But, of course, there goes the concept of conquering the Earth if people rebel it. But with further research, I managed to deduce a solution to this too!" Cyrus's glee was apparently hard to contain then... it was almost leaking through his pores as a tangible substance. Gardenia could almost smell it.
"... and this is?" Jasmine piped up. Gardenia cast a glance at her, surprised by her speaking up. Her tone sounded a bit shaky.
"The trio are the source of human function in the legends! It makes even more sense, then! Uxie is the source of humanity's wisdom, Mesprit is the source of humanity's emotion, and Azelf is the source of humanity's willpower. With the three of them under one's control, all three things could be under that same person's grip!"
"... Scary, isn't it?" Mars said. "But wait 'till you hear Cyrus's idea!"
Gardenia glanced at Volkner, who seemed to be reddening. Then she looked at Mana, who grew tougher in her demeanor, a stone coldness evident in her eyes.
"Yes," Cyrus said. "It's frightening if it falls into the wrong hands... but I have ideas. What if someone where to use these powers for the purpose of good...? Say... to destroy this world as we know it? And rebuild it? Rebuild it so that it would be without the emotions that plague us?"
He sounded almost ecstatic at the thought. Gardenia could feel a rage bubbling up inside her.
"Eliminate anger! Eliminate lust! Eliminate all earthly wants - create a world without the strife that causes wars! Causes death, causes pain! It sounds wonderful, does it not? Gardenia, I told Volkner last night that my plans... are to perform this. Create this ideal world. Create a Galactic Sanctuary, where no man suffers. But I can not do such a tremendous undertaking on my own. I will require help, and Marsha-"
"Mars," Mars interrupted.
"Sorry, Mars, is the first volunteer to help with this. But we will form a team, a gang like the Rockets of Kanto - but with much nobler cause. We will break laws. But the benefits will outweigh the negatives such as that... we will call ourselves Team Galactic: the team for the Galactic Sanctuary. I would like you and Volkner to become higher-ups in the group: not necessarily co-leaders, but executives, within the top five people. What do you say, Gardenia? Volkner?"
Gardenia hated the idea. The world was fine as it was - sure, certain things made it a bit difficult to live in, but those things were things she was willing to live in. She was happy with her life, and she was happy with the world.
And she was about to voice this opinion, until she heard the sound of a chair scraping against wooden floor, and the fabric of a soft dress brush up against her arm. Jasmine had stood, her gaze uncharacteristically authoritative and almost frightening. She spoke up.
"... Cyrus, I don't know you much at all," she said. "But I've already come to disagree with you. Your ideas are heartful and kind, but you -must- realize that they can not work. To rid the world of anger, pain, lust and the like, you'd have to overwrite all emotions. We would live in an emotionless world and I can't help do anything but hate that! I'd rather see the world as it is, than go through such tragedy."
Cyrus stood up to match her.
"... I didn't include that for a reason. I admit. I know this to be true - but I would rather see no emotion at all than painful ones. It is the only way to fix our horrible, smitten world!" he exclaimed.
"You must have one hell of an issue with people, Cyrus," Gardenia stated, standing up as well. "'cause I can't see why anyone would go through such insane measures. Bad things leave scars sometimes, but just 'cause they do, doesn't mean you don't have the option 'ta just forget 'em! You -will- get over it."
Volkner stood up next. He apparently decided to take the more direct route of telling Cyrus that he was thinking too high, a bit too high up on his mental pedestal.
Because his route was cocking back his elbow and then thrusting a fist straight into the blue-haired boy's face.
Cyrus was sent sprawling back onto the wooden floor with a thud, his head hitting the ground. He lay there for a moment, groaning, a steady trickle of scarlet coming from his nose. The skin on his nose was a bright red, obviously prone to swelling very soon. He stood up a second later, and glared daggers at Volkner.
Volkner grinned from ear to ear. Gardenia stood there, watching the incident with awe.
"You're insane, Cyrus," Volkner said.
"... In-...insanity is a matter of perspective to me, Volkner," Cyrus responded. "You may disagree with me now, but I will prove that what I say is what is the best!"
"Ego problems, much?" Volkner retorted. "'What I say goes'. Fuck that. This world fucking sucks, but, hell... for some insane reason, I don't think I'd have it any other way. Anything other than sucky is kinda boring."
Cyrus rushed forward, arms outstretched. He slammed into Volkner, sending the two of them toppling to the floor. The waitresses in the area had all rushed away, presumably a bit frightened by the fight - and it struck Gardenia that they might be calling local authorities. She watched for a few more moments as Cyrus and Volkner wrestled each other on the ground, before walking over to them and delivering a firm kick toward Cyrus's stomach the moment she saw it exposed.
"Volkner," she said. "Get up."
Volkner listened, surprisingly. Cyrus was supporting himself by his knees and a single palm, his other hands grasping his stomach.
"It's time for us to get out of here," Gardenia said. "Volkner, leave a fifty on the table for the bill. Overpayin', but I say who the hell cares right now. Mars, I'd suggest you help Cyrus up and leave too."
Volkner reached into his pockets and pulled out a fifty dollar bill, set it on the table and then recalled his three Pokemon. Gardenia, Jasmine and Mana followed suit in returning their Pokemon, and the four of them headed toward the door.
four days later
Volkner stared at what remained of his fortune in the pockets of his wallet, a desperate sadness in his eyes. A grand total of two hundred Pokedollars out of the three thousand that he had gone into the department store with.
He leaned up against the wall of the department store, zipped his wallet shut and slipped it back into his bag. He sighed, and watched the people walk by on the streets of Veilstone City, at a slightly lower elevation than them, for the department store rested on a hill. He supposed the spending spree was for good reason - a lot of it was toward supplies, an awful lot of dried Pokechow and canned people food, as well as a few advanced pieces of technology for the four of them, including new phones and small rectangular-shaped devices called Pokedexes.
"Hey, hey," Mana said as she approached him. She had been standing from a bit of a distance, but now leaned up against the wall with him, a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about the cash. I have an awful lot stored up in the bank. And, you know, with modern technology, we can withdraw it anywhere."
"Yeah, I suppose," Volkner muttered. "... But still, twenty-eight hundred in one sitting? Fucking amazing how well you women can spend."
This earned him a light slap against the back of the head. Oddly enough, it cheered him up a bit, and he grinned.
The two of them were waiting while Jasmine and Gardenia checked out a place for possible free lodging for the four of them. And just at that moment, Gardenia could be seen walking up to them and slowly nodding her head in confirmation.
"I... I can't thank you enough, Miss Adamson," Jasmine said. "Your hospitality is amazing."
"Mattie, Jasmine!" the woman corrected her. "Remember? Please, I don't like the formalities. You're more than welcome here any time you'd like, as are your friends."
A little girl at Mattie's side nodded slowly, her pink hair bouncing as her head moved. "Any time, any time!" she exclaimed happily.
Jasmine grinned and knelt down, extending her arms. "Aw, I'll remember it, May," she said. The little girl rushed forward and embraced Jasmine, and Jasmine returned it gently.
The girl then broke the embrace, and waggled her finger in an adorable disapproval. "I decided that I wanna be called by my full name from now on. May is my little name! 'n' I'm getting bigger!"
Volkner, in the sidelines, massaged his temples. Why couldn't they just stay at a freaking Pokemon Center? It was a big city, Volkner realized, abuzz with trainer activity, which meant that the Pokemon Center required a small fee, but it was much more worth it to him. He never would understand these girls.
"Oh, I see," Jasmine responded. "Alright then - let me rephrase that... I'll remember that, Maylene."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next day, only two of the group of four were left in the house. They would be staying another night, but two of the four of them had business in the city that needed to be taken care of.
Namely, Volkner and Mana were headed toward the Veilstone City Gym. They currently walked the streets of the city, speaking in low tones of voice, just barely audible to each other.
"I have a question, Volkner," Mana said. "Do you understand now?"
"Partially," Volkner responded. "I understand... you dropped me in here to take care of the blue annoyance, right?"
Mana nodded.
"One thing I don't understand, is why. But I suppose you're not going to reveal that to me, are you?" he said.
Mana shook her head.
"Thought not. Another thing I don't understand is how you knew he was going to go and do what he's doing. But I suppose you're not going to reveal that to me either, are you?"
"In due time," Mana said. "In due time."
The two of them reached the gym a few seconds later. It had an odd appearance compared to the usual image of a Pokemon Gym: it was made of wood, first thing off. It had a sign above it, also wood, hanging from two rusted metal poles, reading "GYM" in peeling red paint. It also had no door, and even though it was perfect daylight outside, the two of them couldn't see an ounce of anything but sheer darkness inside.
Volkner folded his arms over his chest and moved toward the door. Mana followed suit.