Fidelity
Chapter 4: Lumiose Rendezvous
AN: I hope you've all been enjoying 2016 so far. Here's chapter 4 for you guys!
But first, some responses:
I. M. Poik: Glad you enjoyed the last one. Hopefully you'll be happy to know that I did get the Platinum story out on time, and hopefully you've taken a look at it by then.
Guest: Thanks! Glad you liked it.
flashyhero: Sorry to hear about that. Hopefully you had a nice vacation.
Knight of Wings: Well welcome back! Glad you like it so far, and glad you like the decisions I made in terms of characters. Well I do plan to make Team Flare a more legitimate threat this time around, and if you're familiar with how I reworked Team Plasma back in CoYS and PoYS, then I'm sure you'll like the end results. And regarding mega stones and mega rings, while the story will answer it for me, I'll just say that this takes place after all the other series, including ORAS, so yes, megas do exist outside of Kalos. I personally like mega evolutions. They give forgotten mons life and a second chance at stardom (see kangaskhan and mawile), and further improve a popular mon that needed a much needed upgrade (see charizard and gengar).
Defender31415: Yeah Calem is pretty strong, but then again compared to the cast so far, he would appear like that. There's still like 3/4s of the region to explore, not counting the fact that I may or may not be including people outside the region...
zeffron42: Well, it wasn't exactly a stroke of genius to change the protagonist from a confident male to a nervous wreck of a female. Hell that's the most obvious deviation one would do. And everyone doesn't hate Calem, only Shauna, while Tierno and Trevor are somewhat uneasy with him, while Serena internally praises the man like a god. Besides, the man thinks way ahead of plans, which is why he took an interest in Serena (whether that's for morally 'right' reasons or not is up to everyone to determine after this chapter). Also why should he care about Shauna? He pretty much showed that he doesn't care about her at all. And the eye-part back in the last chapter, while weird to some, like you apparently, is meant to show that Calem is NOT a happy person, only taking interest in things he finds 'interesting'. Besides it was made pretty obvious back in the 1st chapter that Calem thinks of Serena differently, and doesn't really care about the others. And giving Rill to Serena was obvious? Well, no shit. I wanted to give Serena a marill, so I just made a plot point that fits in smoothly.
Fix the movesets? Well what do you want me to do about it? Do you want me to make them overpowered to the point that it's just unfair for Serena? What, you want me to give Grant (next gym leader) Tyrantrum with Rock Head Head Smash, Outrage, Dragon Dance, and Earthquake and let it rip through poor Serena's team while Aurorus is sitting in the back with Refrigerate Hyper Voice? That's just not fair. Serena would actually have no chance. And it's not like you offer any suggestions on how to 'fix it', anyways.
Or what, you want me to make them weaker? Well where's the fun in that? I think the current set up is balanced enough: much stronger than the in-game teams, yet not too strong to the point of it being unfair.
The sun was shining brightly down upon Route 4. Serena felt giddy as she stared at her new badge, polishing it so that it stayed shiny and glistening. She couldn't help it. Her first badge. Her very first badge that she earned herself in spite of the hardships she had to endure in her gym battle against Viola. She had earned it. It was a huge step forward to her goal.
"My first badge..." Serena said, before giggling. "It's still kinda surreal...thinking I would be able to hold this in my hand."
Besides her, Marisso and Rill glanced up to their trainer, who kneeled down to them.
"And it's all thanks to your hard work, Marisso, Rill," Serena said happily. "I couldn't have done it without you two."
"-You deserve it, Serena!-" Marisso smiled.
"-You were pretty good out there,-" Rill agreed.
"Alright! Let's get stronger and stronger!" Serena exclaimed.
"SHH! SHH! SHH!" Shauna shushed Serena, forcibly placing her finger on Serena's mouth to shut her up. "Be quiet Seré!"
Serena glanced at Shauna confusedly, before noting the small pink feline Pokémon with a stumpy body and four short legs, minding its own business.
"Are you trying to catch that Pokémon?" Serena asked.
"Yes!" Shauna replied in a hushed tone as she gripped her pokédex in her hand. "I mean look at it! It's so adorable! It NEEDS to be on my team! I don't care if it's absolute garbage in a fight! I MUST HAVE IT! For that to happen, I need ABSOLUTE SILENCE!"
"Uh...Shauna..." Serena mumbled. "I think you're a lot louder than me right now..."
Shauna looked at Serena, before glancing back to the cat. Said feline was staring straight at her curiously. A good moment of silence stood, before Shauna released Kinniekins in front of the feline.
"Let's go, Kinniekins!" Shauna exclaimed, seemingly ignoring Serena's statement and the previous awkward moment.
"-Wha? We're gonna battle?-" the feline asked.
"-Apparently,-" Kinniekins replied nonchalantly. "-Sorry if I leave any nasty burns.-"
"Alright Kinniekins, Ember!" Shauna yelled.
As Kinniekins spewed a stream of embers at the feline who jumped back, Serena shrugged, before focusing back onto her badge with Marisso and Rill. Trevor, having watched the charade, instead decided to scan the kitten Shauna was determined to capture with his own pokédex.
"Skitty, the kitten Pokémon. It shows its cute side by chasing its own tail until it gets dizzy."
"And one, and two!"
Trevor glanced to another patch of yellow flowers, where Tierno was focused on overseeing Corphish practicing a dance routine along with Fletchling and another small, green bipedal rosebud-like Pokémon. Corphish was leading, balancing on one of his claws before proceeding to spin on it. Fletchling was trying to replicate the same move with his wing in midair with moderate success, while the rosebud-like Pokémon was blissfully spinning around on one of its stubby legs, before switching to the other leg whenever Corphish decided to switch to the other claw.
"Mhm, you've got a nice sense of rhythem there," Tierno complimented the rosebud.
"-Thank you!-" the rosebud chirped.
"You seem to enjoy dancing," Tierno told the rosebud. "Interested in joining up with my team?"
"-Huh?-" the rosebud tilted its body. "-Join your team?-"
"Yeah," Tierno nodded. "I'm Tierno. I'm aiming to make the best Pokémon dancing troupe. I can sense potential in you. If you'd like, you could become a part of that troupe, and become an even better dancer."
"-Really?-" the rosebud gasped.
"So would you like to come with us?" Tierno asked nicely, taking out a pokéball and presenting it to the bud.
The rosebud nodded enthusiastically, before hitting the button and allowing the pokéball to absorb the Pokémon in a red light. The red light went back into the pokéball, shook three times, before flashing slightly, indicating the successful capture. Smiling, Tierno released the rosebud into the open once more.
"Alright then, welcome aboard," Tierno smiled.
"-Aight then!-" Corphish exclaimed jovially, walking over to the rosebud and smacking her by the back unintentionally roughly and toppling her over. "-Welcome aboard, buddy!-"
"-Don't be too rough on her,-" Fletchling chastised, before helping the rosebud up apologetically. "-Don't mind him, he means well. He just doesn't know how to control his own strength.-"
"-Hey I resent that!-" Corphish yelled.
As Tierno and the others familiarized themselves with their new team member, Trevor decided to scan the rosebud.
"Budew, the bud Pokémon. Over the winter, it closes its bud and endures the cold. In spring, the bud opens and releases pollen."
Trevor checked the data, before scrolling through the rest of the data he obtained.
"And that should be the last one," Trevor noted as his flabébé floated up beside him, while his pikachu nuzzled his leg. "Although..."
Trevor glanced at Tierno, who was busy dancing along with his new team. He then glanced over to Shauna, who threw a pokéball at the skitty as the feline went down from Kinniekin's Confusion. And finally, he glanced over to Serena, who was too busy gawking over her new badge along with her two Pokémon. The boy was by himself, scanning every living Pokémon in the vicinity of the route.
"I wonder if I'm the only one who's taking completing the pokédex seriously..." Trevor mumbled to no one in particular.
"-They're all having their fun,-" Pikachu offered. "-Let them be, Trevor.-"
"-Yes, but I do wish they take the pokédex a bit more seriously,-" Flabébé sighed.
"-Oh lighten up, sweetcheeks,-" Pikachu snickered, causing the fairy to blush somewhat.
"Oh great, I picked up a flirtatious pikachu," Trevor sighed.
As Trevor sighed and looked around for anymore Pokémon to scan, Serena finally took her attention away from her shiny new badge, alerting Marisso and Rill to get up.
"Alright," Serena pumped her fists. "Time to train some more. And maybe catch a new friend."
Marisso and Rill nodded in enthusiasm and began to look around, searching for an opponent to fight. Marisso looked around, until spotting something in the horde of red flowers nearby. It was a small, bipedal orange reptilian Pokémon with a long tail that had a small fire on the end, sleeping on the ground hugging its tail surrounded by the flowers.
"-Wait that's...-" Marisso mumbled.
"Did you find something, Marisso?" Serena asked as she and Rill regrouped with the small Grass-type.
Marisso looked up to her trainer, before pointing to the reptilian sleeping in the flowers.
"Huh?" Serena asked, before taking out her pokédex and scanning the Pokémon in question. "Is that a charmander?"
"Charmander, the lizard Pokémon. The flame on its tail indicates Charmander's life force. If it's healthy, the flame burns brightly."
"Is something the matter, Serena?" Trevor asked, walking up to her.
"Yeah," Serena said, pointing to the sleeping charmander. "Do charmanders live here?"
"A charmander?" Trevor asked, glancing to the sleeping lizard, before bugging out. "What the–?! What's a charmander doing here?!"
"So I'm guessing no?" Serena asked as Trevor did his own scan on the charmander.
"Yes, charmanders shouldn't be here," Trevor answered. "So what's this one doing here?"
As Charmander snoozed off, he rolled on the other side, bringing the flame on its tail to the flowers, and lighting them on fire.
"Oh no!" Serena gasped as all the other flowers became ablaze.
Charmander woke up to see the patch of flowers burning and began to freak out.
"-Woah!?-" Charmander screeched, freaking out and running around.
"Rill, Water Gun, quickly!" Serena cried out.
Frantically, Rill sprayed the burning flowers with a Water Gun, dousing them before they could spread to anything else. Once the flames were dealt with, Rill stopped, spotting Charmander coughing from the steam produced from the extinguished flames.
"That was close," Trevor sighed as Serena went over to the charmander.
"Are you alright?" Serena asked Charmander.
The lizard looked up to her, before nodding.
"That's good," Serena sighed in relief, before giving Charmander a disapproving look. "But that was close. You should be more careful next time. If we didn't happen to be here, then who knows how much more the fire could've spread. You should thank Rill over here for getting rid of the fire."
"-S-Sorry...-" Charmander mumbled in shame, looking down to the ground, before glancing at Rill. "-Thank you for saving the day...-"
"-Well at least nothing else happened,-" Rill huffed.
"-Are you alright, Charmander?-" Marisso asked him.
Charmander looked up to Marisso and his eyes widened, recognizing the hedgehog.
"-Chespin? Is that you?-" Charmander asked.
"-I knew it was you,-" Marisso sighed.
"You know him?" Serena asked Marisso, who nodded in response.
"Wait, if Marisso recognizes this charmander..." Trevor muttered. "Could it be...?"
"Trevor?" Serena asked.
"There's a good chance this charmander belongs to Professor Sycamore," Trevor explained. "It would explain why Marisso recognizes Charmander."
"Is that right?" Serena asked, before glancing at Charmander, who nodded in response. "So then what're you doing out here?"
"-I kinda...wandered off when the professor wasn't looking,-" Charmander admitted sheepishly.
"-He must be worried sick then,-" Marisso muttered.
"-Right...I didn't think of that...-" Charmander mumbled.
"-Hmph! You shouldn't have strayed away from your owner in the first place!-" Rill scolded Charmander.
"We should take him back to him then," Trevor suggested. "We're heading to his laboratory anyways."
"Right," Serena agreed, before glancing over to Charmander. "Is that alright with you?"
Charmander looked up to the girl, before nodding in agreement.
"Alright then," Serena smiled. "Let's take you back to Professor Sycamore."
Charmander stared at Serena somewhat dreamily, before dumbly nodding in response.
"Seré! Seré!" Shauna exclaimed, running up to her holding the skitty in her arms with Kinniekins running up beside her trainer. "Look what I caught!"
"Hey, you caught the skitty! That's great!" Serena congratulated Shauna.
"Yep!" Shauna smiled. "Meet our new friend, Kitkat!"
Skitty, or now Kitkat, meowed happily in response.
"Isn't she just a cutie pie?" Shauna gushed at the pink kitten.
"Yeah, she is," Serena admitted.
"What's going on over here?" Tierno decided to join the group, his new budew standing on his shoulder on one leg. "Whoa, where did you get that charmander?"
"The charmander belongs to Professor Sycamore," Trevor explained. "So Serena and I were planning on taking him back there."
"Sounds like a plan," Tierno nodded, before noticing the burnt garden of flowers. "Whoa! What happened there?"
"Wait...you didn't notice that a garden caught on fire?" Trevor asked incredulously.
"Really? Something caught on fire?" Shauna asked.
"...So...you two didn't notice any screaming? Or panicking? Or burnt flowers...?" Serena asked.
Shauna and Tierno stared at them confusedly, before shaking their heads at the response. The two were too absorbed in their new party members to have noticed a charmander accidently setting a field of flowers on fire. Serena and Trevor shared some incredulous glances, before moving on.
"Forget about it then," Trevor said as Flabébé and Pikachu followed him.
"C'mon Charmander," Serena said as she along with her Pokémon followed her. Charmander stared back, before following her dutifully.
Tierno and Shauna looked at each other, before shrugging and following Serena and Trevor.
Meanwhile, in the grand city of Lumiose, one lone man was working away in his laboratory. Sighing, the man decided to take a break, glancing down towards the small green quadruped Pokémon and blue turtle as they had a worried look on their faces. The man couldn't blame them; their friend had disappeared while he wasn't looking. He had sent his assistants to look for the lost Pokémon, but he couldn't help but worry.
His nagging worrying took a complete 180 as he heard the elevator sound, informing them that someone has arrived to his humble abode. Giving himself a quick prep, he waltzed over to the elevator to greet his new guest.
"Welcome to my laboratory, mademoiselles–!" the man boisterously greeted the new visitor, only to be greeted by Calem's fist.
The adult comically flew into a bunch of boxes as Calem sighed in relief, shocking Froakie while Blaziken shook his head as Calem proceeded in like nothing happened at all.
"So you were expecting a girl, you damn lech," Calem sneered.
"Ow...That wasn't very nice, Calem..." the man groaned in pain, until Calem grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up. "What did I do this time?"
"Oh how about telling me to move out of the laboratory, make me go buy a house all the way out to goddamn Vaniville of all places, and the proceeding to call me back here as soon as I finish moving house after I made the trek all the way there," Calem growled. "
"Oh you're still sour about that?" he asked.
"Goddamn it, Sycamore," Calem grumbled as he let go of Sycamore. "At least let me know in advance before I move fucking house."
"Haha, sorry about that," Sycamore laughed as he tidied himself up. "Although I'm surprised you managed to get here so quickly."
"Your letter had enough incentive," Calem simply stated.
"I see," Sycamore nodded as he went over to organize some files. "So, I assume you'll be taking this opportunity?"
"Of course," Calem practically growled. "I've been waiting for this for so long."
"So I assume you have a game plan then?" Sycamore asked.
"It's still in progress, but more or less," Calem simply replied.
"And you already planned out a team? A team where a hydreigon doesn't fit in? You know normal trainers would be ecstatic if they managed to catch a pseudo-legendary like a hydreigon."
"Well I'm not a normal trainer, am I? Speaking of which, how is the one I sent over to you? It hasn't been causing you trouble, has it?"
"Oh no," Sycamore laughed. "Sure it tried to eat me, but my assistant managed to discipline it."
Froakie arched his eyebrow in curiosity, before casting a glance at Blaziken and was surprised to see the Fire-type veteran shudder slightly at the mention of the professor's 'assistant'.
"That's good," Calem nodded, before noticing the two smaller Pokémon near Sycamore. "Hm?"
Calem kneeled down to the two tykes, before scanning them with his pokédex.
"Bulbasaur, the seed Pokémon. For some time after its birth, it grows by gaining nourishment from the seed on its back."
"Squirtle, the tiny turtle Pokémon. Shoots water at prey while in the water. Withdraws into its shell when in danger."
"...Where's Charmander?" Calem asked Sycamore.
"Ah yes...that..." Sycamore muttered. "Charmander decided to sneak out of the lab when I was busy and couldn't pay attention to them."
"So there's a starting Pokémon possibly roaming around Lumiose like a lost lamb?" Calem asked, crossing his arms disapprovingly.
"I have Sina and Dexio currently looking for them," Sycamore replied as he began to reorganize the boxes that got messed up. "Hopefully they'll find him before something happens."
Calem shrugged, before helping Sycamore clean up the mess that he himself caused. As he picked up some boxes, he noticed Bulbasaur and Squirtle staring at him as he worked, before Froakie got their attention.
"...Another set of starters...huh..." Calem randomly remarked as he continued cleaning up.
"So this little guy burned down an entire garden of flowers?" Shauna asked in disbelief.
"Well, yeah," Serena said, picking up Charmander in her arms. "I mean his tail is on fire for crying out loud."
"How come we didn't notice it then?" Tierno asked.
"Well you were too engrossed in your newest dance member," Trevor pointed to him and his budew, before pointing to Shauna and skitty. "And you were too busy catching that skitty–."
"Kitkat," Shauna insisted.
"Kitkat," Trevor repeated himself. "So you two were too engrossed in your own things that you failed to notice a fire going on. Sounds about right I guess."
As they approached the gate to Lumiose, two people passed by them, bumping into Serena as they passed her.
"Sorry about that," one of them said.
"No, it's alright," Serena said as she walked by.
Passing by, Serena and her group continued their way to Lumiose, until they heard a loud 'WAIT' from behind, and the two ended up rushing towards her.
"You!" they both exclaimed.
"WAAA?! Uh, hi?" Serena panicked.
Upon closer look, the two were a light-skinned boy with short blonde hair and blue eyes, and a tan-skinned girl with green eyes and short purplish black hair that curled to the ends. They were both wearing similar white-beige uniforms; the only differences being the boy wearing pants as opposed to the girl wearing a skirt, and the boy had a blue ribbon tied around his collar, while the girl had a red one.
"That charmander...where did you find him?" the girl demanded.
"Uh...he was out in the route, and we saved it after he accidently burned down a garden," Serena timidly explained, still spooked by the sudden turn of events.
"I see..." the boy muttered, before noticing Marisso and Kinniekins. "Wait...are you four perhaps the dex-holders under Professor Sycamore's care?"
"Ah yes," Tierno intervened. "May I ask who you two are?"
"Ah, pardon," the boy said. "I am Dexio. I am one of Professor Sycamore's assistants."
"And I am Sina," the girl introduced herself. "A beautiful name for a beautiful lady, is it not?"
Serena and Tierno simply silently chuckled nervously, while Trevor, Shauna and Dexio rolled their eyes at Sina's apparent ego.
"Anyways, thank you for finding Charmander," Dexio showed his gratitude. "He wandered off while Professor had his hands tied with a certain matter, so we were sent to go look for him."
"Figured..." Trevor mumbled.
"Oh?" Sina let out, noting Flabébé next to Trevor. "I see you have yourself a flabébé!"
Flabébé looked up to the girl curiously, backing away slightly from her.
"Flabébé is–now brace yourself–a Fairy-type Pokémon!" Sina explained.
'We knew that already,' Trevor rolled his eyes.
"Fairy-type is a new type of Pokémon that was just classified recently," Dexio explained. "Although there is evidence that may prove that Fairy-type may have existed many years back in Hoe–."
"This turned the entire type-matchup system on its head!" Sina interrupted. "Giving competitive trainers nosebleeds since one was documented to have taken a Draco Meteor like nothing at all!"
Serena, Tierno and Shauna all gave her a rather surprised look, while Dexio and Trevor simply stared at the girl in disbelief; the blonde shaking his head while Trevor rolled his eyes again, having already known the information and having taught his friends that beforehand.
"Anyways," Dexio coughed. "We've been battling Fairy-type Pokémon against other types of Pokémon to determine what they're strong and weak to at Professor Sycamore's request."
"I see..." Serena said.
"Among other new Pokémon, certain existing Pokémon have also been reclassified as Fairy-type upon further research and investigation," Sina said, glancing down to Rill. "Like your marill for example. It was previously a pure Water-type, but it's also part Fairy-type as well."
Rill looked up, before giving Sina a rather suspicious glare. The water mouse didn't seem to like her that much.
"Well then, now that everything's out of the way," Sina continued. "And we confirmed that Charmander's safe, we'll be heading back to the lab. Would you like us to take you there? Since we're all headed there, might as well go together."
"I don't see why not," Serena agreed on the behalf of her group.
"Alright then, let's go," Dexio nodded, before he and Sina headed back into the gate.
The four ended up following them through the gate, and reaching Kalos' ever famous metropolis; Lumiose City.
"Wow..." Serena said, marveling at the sheer size of the city.
"Home sweet home, I guess," Trevor said.
"Right, you live here," Tierno pointed out.
"Yeah," Trevor said. "Maybe I should go visit Sis before I leave..."
"C'mon! Let's go, let's go!" Shauna exclaimed excitedly, following Sina and Dexio.
"I guess Shauna's pretty ecstatic to meet Professor Sycamore," Serena giggled as she followed her.
The four followed Dexio and Sina as they led them to a large building; Professor Sycamore's lab.
"And here we are," Dexio said as he opened the door, leading them in.
Everyone walked into the main lobby, the smaller Pokémon walking in and looking around the place curiously.
"This is the Professor's lab?" Shauna asked.
"Of course not," Dexio chuckled. "It's up on the third floor."
"Hello? Professor?" Sina used the lobby desk phone to contact the man. "...Yes, we found Charmander. We also found the dex holders. ...Of course."
Sina put down the phone, before turning to the four rookies with a smile.
"The Professor seems to be open right now," Sina informed them. "The fifth dex holder seems to be there with him already."
"The fifth...?" Serena asked, before figuring out who it was. "...Calem...?"
The two assistants led the four to the elevator that stood next to the lobby desk and rode it until they reached the third floor. Upon exiting the elevator, Dexio and Sina walked out first.
"We're back Professor," Sina announced.
"And we brought the remaining dex holders and Charmander," Dexio announced.
The others followed in suit, walking into the small lab filled with boxes and computers. In the middle of the lab was a man with black, wavy hair and wearing a lab coat over a blue collared shirt. To their surprise, they found Calem with Froakie, tending to two smaller Pokémon; Serena recognized them as Bulbasaur and Squirtle. The man noticed the four kids, before sporting a jovial smirk.
"So! We finally meet!" Professor Sycamore greeted.
"So you're Professor Sycamore?" Serena asked as they all gathered around the professor.
"Yes indeed," Sycamore smiled. "Professor Augustine Sycamore at your service. Many thanks for coming all the way from Vaniville Town! It's a pleasure to finally meet you all!"
"It's nice to finally meet you too, Professor!" Shauna replied excitedly. "And thank you for Kinniekins and the pokédex!"
"Quite the energetic one, we have here, eh?" Sycamore chuckled. "I'm gonna assume that Kinniekins is the fennekin?"
Kinniekins looked up and nodded in confirmation, before all the other Pokémon gathered up towards the professor.
"My, what a crowd we have here!" Sycamore commented. "You all have been very busy in spite of the short time your journey has begun. Now let's see here..."
The man kneeled down to examine all the Pokémon. The Pokémon in question stared back curiously.
"Hm...fletchling...pikachu...budew...ooh corphish and scyther...and a marill...!" Sycamore muttered to himself. "That's some rare Pokémon to come across so early on. May I ask who owns the marill?"
"Uh...that would be me..." Serena mumbled, picking up Rill with Marisso and Charmander gathered around her legs.
"Hm...Are you perhaps Serena Yvonne?" Sycamore asked.
"Yes, that would be me," Serena nodded.
"I see...so you're Grace Yvonne's daughter..." Sycamore mused. "And I should assume you're the one who found little Charmander, judging from how he's clinging onto you?"
"Ah, yes...I just happened to find him while we were training in Route 4," Serena explained.
"I see...well, you have my gratitude for finding Charmander," Sycamore thanked her.
"You know Seré's mom?" Shauna asked.
"Of course! Grace Yvonne is Kalos's top Rhyhorn Racer after all," Sycamore replied. "It happened to be one of the reasons why I picked her to wield one of the pokédexes after all."
"I-I see..." Serena mumbled somewhat despondently.
"Oh, and I hear that you defeated Viola," Sycamore commented. "And with Chespin, no less. That is an admirable feat! Viola is not a push over after all."
"H-How did you hear that?" Serena asked.
"Calem informed me about it," Sycamore revealed.
"Eh?" Serena asked, glancing to Calem. The boy simply glanced back, before shrugging and closing his eyes.
"I have high hopes for you, Serena," Sycamore complimented the girl. "You can become a great trainer if you keep this up!"
"Y-You think so...?" Serena asked, blushing slightly at the compliment.
"But of course!" Sycamore smiled. "Anyone capable of that kind of feat is destined for great feats!"
"Can we get on with it, Professor?" Calem interrupted sternly.
"Yes, yes, of course," Sycamore sighed. "Now then, there are a few reasons why I wanted you all to rendezvous with me. For one, I wanted to see how you all were doing I your journey so far, along with how your pokédexes were doing. Secondly..."
Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Charmander gathered around the Professor.
"Serena, Calem, and Shauna," Sycamore said. "I would like you all to fight me using the starter Pokémon you got from me."
"Huh?" Shauna asked. "All three of us...fight you...?"
"Don't worry, I'll be using Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle," Sycamore explained. "It'll be a simple mock battle."
Sycamore motioned Calem to join the group, where the boy walked towards them with Froakie in tow, before leading them to another, much bigger room, more likely meant for combat practices. Marisso, Kinniekins and Froakie got in front of their respective trainers, before facing Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle.
"So we're gonna fight the professor..." Serena mumbled, casting a glance at Calem. "...Uh...Calem..."
"Just focus on the battle," Calem simply replied. "Sycamore might not look like it, but he is a powerful and capable battler."
"Really?" Shauna asked somewhat disbelieving.
"He was the one I gave that hydreigon to," Calem said.
"...Oh..." Shauna muttered, realization dawning onto her.
"So he's powerful enough to handle a hydreigon?" Serena paled.
Before Calem can respond, Sycamore clapped his hands, getting their attention.
"Now, now, let's get started," Sycamore said as his starters got in front of him. "Just so you know, they're not that tough."
"Froakie, Water Pulse!"
Calem started it off as Froakie shot a Water Pulse at Charmander. Bulbasaur got in the way, taking the Water Pulse for Charmander.
"Bulbasaur, Vine Whip!"
Bulbasaur extended vines from the pod on its back and shot them at Froakie, but the frog jumped back before they could hit him.
"-Tch!-" Froakie clicked his tongue as he was forced back.
"Leave that one to me!" Shauna declared. "Kinniekins, Ember!"
"Squirtle, intercept with Bubble!"
Kinniekins shot several embers at Bulbasaur, but Squirtle shot a stream of bubbles at the incoming Ember, blasting past them and at Kinniekins. Marisso jumped in front of Kinniekins, shielding her from the Bubble.
"-Agh!-" Marisso winced.
"-Marisso!-" Kinniekins cried.
"Marisso, are you alright?" Serena asked concerned.
Withstanding the Bubble, Marisso looked up to Serena and nodded, leaving Serena to sigh in relief. Charmander saw the exchange, became enraged and lunged at Marisso.
"-What the–?!-" Marisso blurted, blocking a Scratch attack from Charmander.
"No, Charmander get back!" Sycamore cried.
"Water Pulse!"
As Charmander angrily attacked Marisso, Froakie took the opportunity to shoot a Water Pulse at Charmander from behind. The orb of water blasted Charmander, but left Froakie open for Bulbasaur to ensnare him with Vine Whip and smash him into the ground.
"Kinniekins!" Shauna yelled.
Seeing an opening, Kinniekins shot Ember at Bulbasaur, burning the Grass-type and forcing it to let go of Froakie. The frog jumped back, coughing from the dust, while Squirtle jumped in, grabbed Charmander, and jumped back to their side to regroup.
"-Thanks...-" Froakie muttered.
"-No problem. You be a bit more careful,-" Kinniekins said, before checking up on Marisso. "-And are you alright?-"
"-Yeah...-" Marisso muttered. "-Why did he suddenly attack me like that though...? I don't remember Charmander being that aggressive...-"
"-Ten oran berries says he's just jealous,-" Froakie muttered.
"-Jealous? Of what?-" Marisso asked.
"-It's not fair that Chespin gets her attention like that!-" Charmander complained.
"-B-But Charmander...he's her Pokémon...-" Bulbasaur tried to reason with him. "-Of course he'll get her attention. I mean he has to, or else he won't get any commands.-"
"-Geez guy, calm down,-" Squirtle rolled his eyes. "-We're in the middle of battle; don't let your own jealousy cost us the match.-"
"-But she's pretty! And nice!-" Charmander yelled back.
"-Not now!-" Squirtle grumbled, smacking Charmander upside the head. "-Focus man! Bros before hoes! Bros before hoes! C'mon now buddy.-"
"Come on you three, let's get along here," Sycamore insisted, sensing the tension between Charmander and Squirtle.
Charmander puffed his cheeks in annoyance, Squirtle sighed in disbelief, and Bulbasaur was trying his best to calm them down.
"-...Yeah, he's jealous alright,-" Froakie deadpanned, seeing the exchange between Charmander and Squirtle. "-Look alive Mar, because he's probably gonna target you for like the entire match.-"
"-Are you kidding me?-" Marisso asked.
"-Well there's no helping that,-" Kinniekins said. "-Tough luck Marisso. We'll try to keep the other two at bay, so try not to faint too quickly.-"
Marisso's jaw just dropped, before sighing. After having his entire being brutally beaten down by that vivillon, he really didn't want to fight another opponent that had the type advantage. But, if it was for Serena's sake, the Grass-type had no choice. Marisso slapped his cheeks, before sporting a determined look.
"What's up with them?" Shauna asked.
"How would I know...?" Serena asked.
"Stay sharp," Calem said sternly. "They're coming!"
"Alright, let's kick things up a notch!" Sycamore announced. "Charmander, Smokescreen!"
Charmander released an obscuring cloud of smoke, filling the area with smoke, obscuring their vision.
"Shit..." Calem muttered as his side looked around, trying to see where Sycamore's side was.
"Vine Whip! Bubble! Ember!"
From different angles, vines, bubbles and embers shot out, nailing Froakie, Kinniekins and Marisso respectively.
"Tch! Water Pulse!" Calem swore.
Froakie growled, before charging a Water Pulse and shooting it in the direction where the Ember was shot, but nothing happened. Instead, another Vine Whip attack was shot at Froakie. Kinniekins tried to shoot down the vines, but she missed, leading to a Bubble attack blasting her.
"We need to deal with this smoke, somehow..." Serena mumbled. "But how...?"
"...Froakie," Calem said, getting the frog's attention. "You think you can pull that new move off?"
The frog nodded in response, before taking a stance as if he was about to wield a sword.
"What's he...?" Shauna asked.
"Aerial Ace!" Calem yelled.
Froakie formed a sword out of energy in his palms, before swiping it furiously; the force of the attack managed to clear the smoke, revealing their foes from their hiding place.
"Now!" Calem yelled as Froakie lunged for Bulbasaur.
"We won't let you hog all the glory!" Shauna declared. "Kinniekins! Psybeam at Squirtle!"
"Marisso! Rollout on Charmander!" Serena yelled.
As Froakie darted for Bulbasaur, Kinniekins shot a peculiar beam at Squirtle, while Marisso rolled into a ball and rolled towards Charmander. The psybeam blasted squirtle back, as Froakie and Marisso charged at Bulbasaur and Charmander. Bulbasaur began to panic from the sudden counterattack, as Froakie flung the blade at the Grass-type, slashing Bulbasaur across its head.
"Charmander, quickly! Dragon Rage!" Sycamore quickly commanded.
Charmander hastily shot a blue shockwave at Marisso, but Marisso managed to power through and crash into the fire lizard. The three Kanto starters fell to the ground, unconscious from the assault.
"Well, I guess that's that," Sycamore sighed, holding his hands up in defeat. "You three are pretty good."
Marisso, Kinniekins and Froakie fell onto the floor, panting slightly from the battle.
"Thank you," Serena and Shauna said, while Calem simply nodded.
"Wow..." Trevor mumbled, having watched the battle on the sidelines with Tierno. "The Professor's pretty good..."
"Yeah," Tiernoa greed. "If he was just using those three...imagine what he can do with his actual Pokémon..."
"So..." Serena asked. "Now what...?"
"Hm..." Sycamore said as he kneeled down and healed the three starters with some potions in hand. "While you're all exceptional, I feel that one starter may not be enough to explore the vast region of Kalos."
"Wait...does this mean...?" Shauna asked, realizing what Sycamore was implying.
"But of course!" Sycamore exclaimed. "I would like you three to take one of these starters with you on your journey!"
Everyone looked up, as Sycamore's starters looked up in surprise.
"-Wait, so we're going with them now?-" Charmander asked.
"-Seems like it...-" Bulbasaur mumbled timidly.
"-Well it's better than lounging around here all day,-" Squirtle shrugged.
"Now then," Sycamore said. "Serena, Calem, Shauna. Which one would you like to take?"
The three trainers glanced down to the set of small Pokémon in front of Sycamore, the trio glancing back at them curiously.
"Hm...Which one should I–?" Serena mumbled, contemplating on which one she should pick.
"Well if anyone's not picking, then I'll pick mine!" Shauna announced, interrupting Serena's thought process. "And I pick Squirtle!"
The turtle looked up, before shrugging at the response. The tan-skinned girl went over and picked up Squirtle, before smothering it into her chest in a strong embrace.
"So you pick Squirtle, I see," Sycamore mused.
"Uh huh! This little guy's just so cute!" Shauna exclaimed, before tightening the embrace. "I'm Shauna. We're gonna have so much fun together Squirts!"
"-Geh–worth,-" Squirtle, now Squirts, sniggered to himself as he enjoyed the embrace directly into his new trainer's chest.
"And what about you two?" Sycamore asked Serena and Calem.
Serena glanced down to see which one she should pick, but Calem went first, walking up to Charmander and Bulbasaur, who stepped back slightly. Bulbasaur looked somewhat intimidated by the boy, unease evident in its red eyes, while Charmander kept shooting glances at Serena, while looking at Calem wearily.
"Hmph, so you'd rather be with her," Calem snickered. "Fine by me. I wasn't going to pick you anyways."
As Charmander shot him a surprised, yet angry glare, Calem kneeled down to Bulbasaur.
"I pick you," Calem said.
Bulbasaur looked surprised as he stared up to Calem's stoic expression. He would pick him, when Charmander's right there? He was the stronger, the faster, and the more agile of the two so why would he pick himself over Charmander? The Grass-type glanced over to Froakie, who simply shrugged in response.
"Huh? You pick Bulbasaur?" Serena asked.
"Do you have a problem with my pick?" Calem asked.
"Ah–No, not at all!" Serena quickly sputtered. "I was just wonder and all...I mean Charmander is faster and more mobile than Bulbasaur and all..."
"Why would I pick a Fire-type?" Calem asked. "I already have Blaziken; not to mention I also have a Water-type in Froakie. Bulbasaur is the only logical choice here in the matter."
"Well when you put it like that..." Serena mumbled.
"Besides," Calem said, glancing down at the small lizard. "It would seem that he would rather go with you than with me."
"Huh? Really?" Serena asked, genuinely surprised, before glancing down at Charmander. "Is that true?"
Charmander shot up to the girl and nodded enthusiastically. Smiling, Serena petted Charmander on the head, causing the lizard to wag his tail happily.
"Alright then," she said. "Hm...What to call you now..."
Serena tilted her head as she contemplated silently, before inspiration came to her mind.
"How about 'Salamé'?" Serena suggested, leading to vigorous nodding from the enthusiastic lizard. "Alright then, I'm Serena. Let's work together from now on, Salamé."
Charmander–now Salamé, smiled eagerly, happy to have been chosen by her. Marisso walked over to the lizard, before the two slapped each other's palms in a high five motion.
"Now then, since you chose your second starters," Sycamore said, rummaging through his pocket and taking out three stones. "I'll present you with these!"
The professor walked over to the trio, handing the clear stone with the blue and brown swirl crystallized in it to Shauna, the bluish green stone with the green, red and pink swirl crystallized in it to Calem, and the last one, the orange stone with the red, yellow and orange swirl crystallized in it to Serena.
"What're these, Professor?" Shauna asked.
"I'm glad you asked," Sycamore smiled. "What I gave to the three of you are Mega Stones."
"Mega Stones?" Serena asked.
"Yes, Mega Stones," Sycamore smiled. "Now, what would you say if I told you that some fully-evolved Pokémon can evolve even further?"
"Evolve even further?" Trevor asked. "Like if say Calem's Blaziken for example could evolve even further?"
Calem raised an eyebrow at the orange-haired boy, before glancing back at Sycamore, who merely grinned.
"Indeed," Sycamore said. "There are some Pokémon that can evolve even further in battle, resulting in vehement increases in the Pokémon's abilities, power and prowess. There are cases where the Pokémon changes their type to another type, they gain a new sub-typing, and there's even a case where the Pokémon loses their sub-typing."
"Wow..." Serena said in awe.
"While it was initially theorized to only take place in Kalos," Sycamore went on. "There have been past cases of Mega Evolution taking place in regions such as Hoenn, and even Unova. And thus is why I gave you three the Mega Stones."
Serena and Shauna glanced at the stones in their hands curiously.
"Shauna has the 'Blastoisinite', which Mega Evolves Blastoise to Mega Blastoise, Calem has the 'Venusaurite', which Mega Evolves Venusaur to Mega Venusaur, and Serena has the 'Charizardite Y', which Mega Evolves Charizard into Mega Charizard Y," Sycamore explained. "Those Mega Stones are the key necessary for a Pokémon to Mega Evolve, along with a Key Stone and an appropriate catalyst, a 'Mega' item. They can be in the form of many common accessories."
"That sounds cool!" Shauna squealed. "Can we get one of those Key Stones and Mega thingies?"
"Unfortunately, I don't have one to spare on me," Sycamore admitted sheepishly, earning a dejected sigh from Shauna. "However, I do know where you can get one."
"Where?" Tierno asked.
"All of you should head to Shalour City," Sycamore suggested. "The Mega Evolution Guru lives there, and is the main overseer of Mega Evolutions of the region."
"Shalour City, got it," Serena nodded, before noticing something. "Um, Professor? You said that I had Charizardite Y, and it Mega Evolves Charizard into Mega Charizard 'Y'. Does that mean there's another version of Mega Charizard?"
"My, quite perceptive, are we," Sycamore grinned. "You are absolutely correct, Serena! Research has uncovered that there are two Mega Stones for Charizard, Charizardite Y and Charizardite X. Both Mega Evolve Charizard into their respective Mega Evolved forms: Mega Charizardite Y, and Mega Charizard X."
"Wow..." Serena gasped, glancing down at Salamé, who would eventually become a charizard. "So if I can get both versions...could I possibly be able to Mega Evolve Salamé into both forms?"
"While there's a limit in that only one Pokémon can Mega Evolve during combat," Sycamore said. "If you obtain the other Charizardite, then you would have both Mega Forms at your disposal. That would give you even more fire power."
Well, Serena knew what she would do now. She would find the other Charizardite. It would certainly help her get much stronger. The girl smiled as she looked at her current roster: Marisso the Chespin, Rill the Marill, and now Salamé the Charmander. So far, so good.
"Now then, before you all leave, some words of encouragement for all of you," Sycamore said. "Be the best trainer you can be! At the same time, remember to have fun traveling with your Pokémon!"
"Yes Professor!" everyone sans Calem replied heartily.
"Good! Then you're all dismissed!" Sycamore nodded. "Make sure to keep in touch. Oh and Calem, would you mind staying behind?"
Calem nodded as the others began to leave with their Pokémon. As Serena left, she noticed the black bracelet on Calem's, and the rather lustrous stone embedded into it.
'Huh...what a pretty stone...' Serena thought to herself as she followed the others into the elevator.
As the elevator went down, Calem glanced at Sycamore, who sighed and took a seat on a nearby chair.
"Are you sure you should've done that?" Sycamore asked.
"Pray tell, what did I do exactly?" Calem asked.
"Oh please," Sycamore scoffed. "You know what."
Calem grunted in irritation as he reached into his pocket and took out another Mega Stone that was blue with a blue, dark blue and black swirl crystallized in it.
"Do you honestly expect me to trust her with this?" Calem asked. "You read the reports."
Sycamore's expression became grim as he remembered what the report found.
"There were several cases of trainers having been killed by their Mega Charizard X during the initial Mega Evolution, which also resulted in all the charizards whom murdered their trainer being euthanized by the Kalos League as a result," Sycamore muttered. "In all the reports, that specific Charizardite X is directly linked to all of them. In fact, that stone has been returned to this lab ever since the first trainer got killed."
Calem eyed the Mega Stone, while Froakie and Bulbasaur looked up curiously at the stone.
"The only theory I can come up with is that the shift in the charizard's DNA from Flying-type to Dragon-type produces a sharp rise in animosity in their behavior, along with the increase in their overall potential," Sycamore said. "But I highly doubt that's the case. There've been several Mega Ampharos trainers who never had such a problem, even in their beginning phases."
"But then again ampharos were never known for their aggressive nature," Calem pointed out. "While charizards are much better known for their bloodthirsty and prideful nature"
"And there's the fact that it's this specific stone that's to blame," Sycamore sighed. "The stone might as well be cursed or something."
Calem still eyed the stone along with Froakie and Bulbasaur.
"...You're still planning on giving it to her once she can Mega Evolve her Pokémon, aren't you?" Sycamore asked in disbelief.
"She does have the Y variant," Calem said. "If she does achieve the ability to Mega Evolve and control her charizard, then perhaps she could control this."
"Even after hearing the report that I just summarized, you still plan on leaving Serena with a Mega Stone that has a history of causing charizards to go berserk and kill their trainer," Sycamore drawled. "And now you're banking on the chance that she somehow becomes skilled enough to wield Mega Evolution and have her try to use a potentially 'defective' Mega Stone."
"You make it sound like I'm a bad person," Calem said in mock hurt.
"I'm saying you should consider her wellbeing as well with your war plan," Sycamore grumbled.
"Of course," Calem said matter-of-factly. "If things go south, then I'll intervene and stop it. Otherwise this will make her stronger."
Sycamore didn't look too relieved, although he said nothing more of that. Instead, he decided to offer the boy some advice.
"You seemed to have planned out, but you should be careful with it all," Sycamore said. "Not everything will go according to plan."
"...Understood," Calem leered at the professor, before recalling his Pokémon and heading out through the back door, before stopping. "Oh, and Professor...you should really clean up your lab more often. It's not good for your health."
Sycamore perked up, before smiling. "Yes, yes, of course. You stay in touch, you here?"
Calem nodded, before leaving. Sycamore sighed as he glanced over to the files he was looking over before they all got here.
"Figures he would have things planned out this far the moment they decided to show up," Sycamore sighed. "I got to give him credit though, he's really motivated, in spite of that cold expression of his. I wonder how Serena would react if she saw his more 'passionate' side."
Sycamore chuckled to himself, before sporting a bitter smile as he sighed.
"I do hope you know what you're doing, Calem," Sycamore muttered. "And I do hope you realize..."
"People aren't weapons."
As Serena and the other three exited the building, they saw many people starting to gather around a nearby café.
"Huh? What's going on?" Serena asked.
"Did you hear? Diantha's visiting Café Soleil!"
"Seriously!? C'mon dude, let's go visit!"
Two people rushed over to the aforementioned café, along with several other people.
"Diantha...?" Serena mumbled, tilting her head slightly.
"Oh my god. You mean THE Diantha?! The famous movie star!?" Shauna gasped.
"I guess...?" Serena asked.
"We have to go see her. And get autographs. Now," Shauna declared.
"Wait, but what about–?" Serena asked, but Shauna interrupted her by grabbing her arm, and dashing towards the café.
"NO EXCEPTIONS SERÉ!" Shauna yelled as she dragged her away. "FANGASM TO THE MAAAAAAX!"
"Shauna wai–WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!?" Serena screamed as she was taken away against her own free will.
"...Do they even know where the café is?" Tierno asked.
"I'm pretty sure the giant crowd is a good enough indicator," Trevor shrugged as the two boys followed after the two girls.
It didn't take too long for them to catch up, as the giant crowd gathering around a certain café was a dead giveaway. Tierno and Trevor spotted Shauna trying to muscle her way through the crowd while carrying Serena by the arm like a rag doll.
"Shauna~! Can you at least let go of me!?" Serena asked.
"What?! Don't you want to see Diantha?!" Shauna yelled back.
"I'd rather not get crushed by the crowd!" Serena whined.
In spite of her protests, Shauna powered her way through the crowd, dragging poor Serena with her, until they managed to break through, and both fell face flat to the ground into the café from the force of pushing through the massive crowd.
"Ow..." Serena mumbled. "Shauna..."
"Sorry...but it was necessary..." Shauna mumbled.
"Why is it necessary by the way?"
Serena started to get up, but she saw a hand being offered to her. She looked up to see a pale man, with blue eyes and with pointed red hair and beard, wearing a black suit lined in red, black dress shoes and a pair of black fingerless gloves.
"Are you alright, jeune fille?" the man asked in a kind tone.
"A-Ah...yes..." Serena stuttered as she accepted the hand.
The man helped Serena up, before proceeding to help Shauna up as well.
"You two are very brave to power through a crowd like that," the man commented. "Although I would advise against doing something like that again."
The two girls looked confused, until they heard a low growl from behind. The two jumped and turned around to see a quadruped, leonine Pokémon with a large, dominantly red mane with gold streaks growling menacingly at them.
"There, there, Pyroar," the man calmed the Pokémon down. "These two mean no harm."
The lion, Pyroar, glanced at the man, before shooting a glare at the two girls, before proceeding to return to his post, which was seemingly to keep the crowd from entering the café. Getting out of her stupor, Serena took out her pokédex and proceeded to scan Pyroar.
"Pyroar, the royal Pokémon. The male with the largest mane of fire is the leader of the pride."
"So it's a male...?" Serena asked.
"The pokédex..." the man commented. "Could you two perhaps be the children chosen by Professor Sycamore?"
"Huh? Uh yes..." Serena said.
"You know the professor?" Shauna asked.
"We are old acquaintances," the man chuckled. "I am Lysandre. Sycamore and I used to be colleagues, until he went on to become Kalos's regional Pokémon Professor and I went to start Lysandre Labs. You both happen to have Holo Casters, would you?"
"Well, yes..." Serena replied, as she and Shauna took theirs out.
"Wonderful!" Lysandre exclaimed. "Lysandre Labs was the company who developed the Holo Caster."
"Really?" Shauna asked.
"Indeed," Lysandre smiled. "Knowledge is power, after all. Put it to good use."
"Oh, and aren't you forgetting someone, Lysandre?" another more feminine voice interrupted.
Everyone turned to see another figure, sitting at a table nearby. It was a woman with short light brown hair designed in a somewhat star pattern, with light blue eyes and violet eyeshadow, wearing a fairy-like white outfit with lots of gold trim, and possessed a pendant with a stone in it. Accompanying her was a white bipedal Pokémon with a lower body resembling a green gown with a green underside. It had a pale stone with a light green and pink swirl crystallized in it, hanging onto its head via string.
"Apologies, Diantha," Lysandre chuckled. "You two, care to join me?"
"Oh. My. God," Shauna said as she and Serena followed Lysandre. "That's Diantha! THE famous movie star; Kalos's idol! THE Diantha!"
"Wow..." Serena could only say as she scanned Gardevoir with her pokédex. She would've never thought she would actually meet someone as famous as a movie star.
"Gardevoir, the embrace Pokémon. To protect its Trainer, it will expend all its psychic power to create a small black hole."
"Hello you two," Diantha smiled. "Gardevoir, could you set up two more cups for us?"
Gardevoir nodded as she emitted a strong psychic power, causing two cups to float towards Shauna and Serena and landed before them. Gardevoir them carried a teapot, and went over and poured tea into the two cups.
"Thank you," Serena and Shauna said, where Gardevoir smiled in response.
"So do you two know each other?" Shauna asked.
"Why yes," Diantha said. "We knew each other for quite a while."
"Really now," Serena said as she took a sip from her cup.
"That's right," Diantha replied. "So you two are the children chosen by Professor Sycamore, huh."
"Yes, but there are three more," Serena replied. "Two of them are waiting outside, while one more stayed behind since Professor Sycamore wanted to discuss something with him."
"I see," Diantha mused as she took a sip out of her own cup. "How is Augustine by the way? Is he doing well?"
"Huh? Well, he's nice," Serena said, not sure of what to say. "I guess he's doing alright."
"Oh? Worried about old Augustine, are we, Diantha," Lysandre teased. "Now if only you could actually get through with that playboy's dense head, then perhaps there's some hope for you after all."
Diantha's response was to flick Lysandre on the forehead, hiding a faint blush, while Lysandre simply chuckled.
"Uh, Miss Diantha...?" Shauna asked, getting the actress's attention. "I-I'm a huge fan of yours! It would mean the world if I could have your autograph!"
"Why of course," Diantha said happily, taking out a pen. "Do you happen to have something I can sign?"
"But still, Diantha," Lysandre insisted as Shauna scrambled to get something to get an autograph with. "We won't stay young forever, you know. You should get a move on, or else someone else might bewitch Augustine's heart, and you'll end up old and ugly."
"Well don't you have a way at words," Diantha remarked sarcastically.
"So, how would you feel if you could remain young and beautiful forever?" Lysandre asked.
Diantha arched an eyebrow at her former colleague, as Shauna produced a notepad for her to sign.
"If I recall, your debut was that of a young girl you played so wonderfully," Lysandre commented. "Wouldn't you rather remain young and beautiful forever and always be able to play such roles? You could stay young and forever and be the apple in Augustine's eyes even."
"What a strange question, Lysandre," Diantha said as she signed Shauna's notepad. "While that sounds appealing at first, I would have to say no. Why would I want to play the same roles forever? Youth may be beautiful, but it's not all there is to life."
She finished signing Shauna's notepad and handed it back to her, before glancing back at Lysandre.
"Everything changes, Lysandre, and I want to live and change like that," Diantha replied. "So I look forward to playing different roles as I get older."
Lysandre's glance grew cold at her response, which didn't go unnoticed by Gardevoir, who tensed up.
"You were chosen to be a movie star, so shouldn't your duty be to stay ever beautiful for the people?" Lysandre asked, his tone growing angrier. "Beauty is glorious, but it is at the same time fragile. If we do not protect and maintain the beauty of this world then who will? Will we just sit back and watch as the beauty is destroyed by the filth that is the world itself?"
'Filth that is the world?' Serena thought.
"Of course, change is inevitable," Diantha argued. "Nothing can stay the same way forever, Lysandre. We would have no choice but to see as this so-called 'beauty' is destroyed by the world, and then replaced with a new beauty, and so on and so on. It is a cycle that is inevitable. Or do you think otherwise?"
"As a matter of fact I do!" Lysandre suddenly roared, surprising everyone. "Everything beautiful should stay that way forever! I cannot stand the thought of this world becoming more and more unsightly! Why, I would make this world unchanging and eternal so that all beauty will last forever! Even if I would have to end the world in an instant so that the beauty never fades! "
All eyes were on the man now, as Lysandre finally noticed how surprised and scared Serena and Shauna looked, and calmed down.
"My apologies," Lysandre said calmly. "I let myself lose control."
Serena and Shauna glanced at the man somewhat cautiously, but regardless sat down.
"Let's talk about something more positive, shall we," Lysandre said, wanting to shift the conversation into a more positive one. "But still, you have become one of the most accomplished movie stars in Kalos since the last time we met. You move multitudes with your excellent acting."
"Why thank you," Diantha simply smiled as she took a sip from her cup.
"You would've rather had Augustine compliment you, don't you?" Lysandre decided to tease.
"That's none of your concern," Diantha shot back hastily.
"Of course," Lysandre chuckled, before turning to Serena and Shauna. "You two should look up to her. She dedicates her life to making other people happy. Oh! If only everyone were like her...what a beautiful world that would be..."
Shauna seemed to have lightened up a little, but Serena was still eyeing the man cautiously. Something about him was...odd...to say the least. Even if his intentions and apparent goals seem to be righteous, but something about Lysandre unnerved her. She had to be weary of this man, no matter what.
"? Oh, excuse me," Lysandre suddenly said, before putting his finger to his ear. "It's me...I see...good work. I'll return immediately."
Lysandre then got up and prepared to leave.
"Oh? Leaving already?" Diantha asked.
"Something came up back at the lab, and my colleagues need to see me apparently," Lysandre smiled apologetically. "It was nice seeing you again, Diantha. Perhaps next time we can bring Augustine here and you can work on your seduction plans."
"The door's right there," Diantha retorted, not even sparing him a glance, where Lysandre simply chuckled.
"Oh and it was a pleasure to see you two as well," Lysandre said to Serena and Shauna. "I wish you luck on your journeys. Hopefully next time I can meet up with the rest of your friends."
"Ah–yes," Serena said somewhat hesitantly, bowing her head slightly. "It was nice to meet you too, Mr. Lysandre,"
"Please, just Lysandre is fine with me," the man chuckled, before he made his exit.
As the man turned to leave, his mouth moved, although what he said was lost to the see of people outside waiting to hound the redhead. The motions, however, wasn't missed by Serena.
"Huh...?" Serena asked.
"Seré? Are you okay?" Shauna asked.
"Ah–y-yeah..." Serena mumbled.
"Now to get you two out of here in one piece," Diantha said, watching as Pyroar kept the mass at bay as Lysandre walked out. "Gardevoir, if you would be a dear?"
Gardevoir nodded as she lifted her arms, releasing psychic energy that engulfed everyone in the room, causing them to teleport out of the room.
Soon enough, they found themselves in front of a gate away from the café. The honey blonde girl looked at the gate, noting the giant number '5' engraved onto it.
"This is the gate to Route 5," Diantha said. "I hope this was okay."
"It's fine," Serena assured the actress. "Sorry for making you do this though..."
"Oh, it's no problem," Diantha assured her. "I should be the one apologizing. Those people are most likely after me, but you two ended up getting caught up in this."
"No no no, it's not your fault, Miss Diantha!" Shauna assured her enthusiastically.
"Well, I do hope I didn't cause you too much trouble," Diantha giggled. "But tell me, are either of you trainers?"
"Huh? Well, Seré here is a rookie trainer," Shauna said. "But trust me, she's good!"
"I-I'm not that good..." Serena mumbled.
"Well, when you do become confident enough in your skills and bonds with your Pokémon to call yourself 'good', then I look forward to us battling someday," Diantha said nicely.
With that, the girls exchanged words of goodbyes, as Gardevoir teleported Diantha out of the scene.
"We better let Tierno and Trevs know that we're here," Shauna said as she took out her holo caster and contacted Tierno.
As she called up Tierno, Serena couldn't help but think back to the café, and what Lysandre said.
"Everything beautiful should stay that way forever! I cannot stand the thought of this world becoming more and more unsightly! Why, I would make this world unchanging and eternal so that all beauty will last forever! Even if I would have to end the world in an instant so that the beauty never fades! "
Even if he had to end the world? Was he serious? How could he even be capable of doing that? Why would he even consider doing something like that?
Everything about that man scared her. Especially when he delivered that speech, instantly changing from a calm and collected persona to a more fervent and passionate one. He sounded so serious; mad even.
"Serena! Shauna!"
The two girls turned to see Tierno and Trevor running up to them. Oh well, she could worry about that man on another date. It wasn't as if he was the leader of an evil organization or anything, even if he was a little...passionate his ambitions.
Although, what he said as he left the café...while everyone else didn't catch it, she saw what he had mouthed, and she was able to understand what he said even when he was muffled by the crowd:
"Je ne peux pas supporter l'idée de voir le monde devenir souillé. C'est pourquoi mon désir...c'est pour un plus beau monde."
To be continued
AN: Bonus points to anyone who can tell me what that last line means in English. Of course I know, since I wrote the damn thing, but I want to see how many of you know French. And besides, revealing the translation would (technically) be spoilers to Lysandre's true character, since no one seems to have gotten it in the story.
Anyways, pretty sure that's good enough. Sorry for a lack of battles, but this was more plot-orientated than actually focusing on battling. Everyone gets a new Pokemon, officially enter Sycamore, Lysandre, and Diantha, and now they're off to learn about Mega Evolutions. Yeah
If anyone actually agrees with me with buffing the gym leaders disgustingly and wants to see Grant use a Tyrantrum and Aurorus with a competitive set, then you all actually hate Serena, the poor girl. And I play competitively, so I know how to up the ante with these guys.
And now to update the team rosters:
Serena: Marisso (Chespin) / Rill (Marill) / Salamé (Charmander)
Calem: Blaziken / Froakie / Scyther / Bulbasaur
Shauna: Kinniekins (Fennekin) / Kitkat (Skitty) / Squirts (Squirtle)
Tierno: Corphish / Fletchling / Budew
Trevor: Flabébé / Pikachu
Anyways, hoped you enjoyed the chapter, and as always, look forward to the next chapter. See ya next time and take care.