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Season VIII: Downfall

Chapter 91

Part 1

Ember Hideout

One night, late into the winter months, Char sat atop his secret hideout to stare blankly at the sunset between the trees. Lately, he'd been doing so much decision-making, so much taking action, and not as much thinking or self-introspection as before. So at times, in the evening when the day teams were off to rest and the night missions had been sent out, he would try stealing off on his own, taking some time to just think, letting everything digest.

He was proud of his team. It seemed he hired just enough new members to keep the job board in check and make resistance work a sustainable cycle, gaining more income and prestige by the day. And that wasn't to mention the secret gemstone cave they stumbled upon, sure to keep their bank account and supply closets stocked for at least another year.

And yet, whenever he sat down to think about it, there was a festering sense of disconnection between his inner ember, and the empire he had built. While he made a lot of administrative decisions, had to address the rare disciplinary incident, and often went on fun little missions to collect valuables from the nearby dungeons, he just couldn't shake the feeling that Team Ember was operating all on its own, just fine without him.

Although, maybe that was for the best. Maybe that would help make it easier for him to say goodbye when the time would come.

Occasionally, as Char reflected upon this, his mind would drift back to some other, unpleasant truths. Namely, the truth that he wasn't really a Pokémon. Part of him felt guilty for letting himself go, letting himself grow so immersed in his body of a Charmeleon, and this world of Ambera, that he stopped caring about who he was and where he truly came from.

Sometimes he thought about Scarlet, the Quilava teammate who had fully submitted herself to her fate. She'd accepted she was a Pokémon and lived her life to her fullest. Her fire burned so bright, and so did her spirit. Every time she spoke, Char heard a little bit of that humanity in her – something that was difficult to catch unless he was listening for it. She hadn't lost her humanity entirely, but her Pokémon nature seemed to complete her human nature in a way that made her happy and fulfilled. She clung to it, and it never died.

And yet, whenever Char tried to think of himself in the same way, it didn't feel right – like he was ignoring some part of himself, some part of his humanity he'd lost. He couldn't shake the feeling that he lost something valuable, something he couldn't get back. He couldn't shake the dread that something had gone very, very wrong.

"What's on your mind?" said a soft voice from behind him.

Char didn't even have to look. It was Eva, appearing as though out of nowhere. Sometimes Char felt like he could never escape her surveillance even if he wanted. But it was okay, he thought. He felt comfortable around her, felt like there wasn't anything to fear. Even now, she was asking him about his thoughts instead of reading them directly, which was a very welcome gesture of trust.

The Charmeleon continued to peer at the horizon. "I'm so proud of my team," he told her. "Today, Scarlet, Lyre, and Kerzek built a whole cabin at the vineyard farms, did you hear about that?"

"I saw the report," said Eva, coming to sit contentedly by his side. "I'm starting to think we should hire another ghost from Team Cog. Kerzek certainly has an eye for architecture."

Char hummed. "Our team does so much work, every day… sometimes I have to stop and wonder what kind of impact this has on Ambera. I mean, all this, all the Gold Division does. Are we really making Ambera a better place? Are we really counteracting The Master's – I mean, Enigma's negligence in a meaningful way? Do you think… in a hundred years from now, the Gold Division will have made this region a better place than when it started? Sometimes I just have to ask myself these things, y'know, now that I know there's no actual Master there. Do you think…" he looked at Eva as he spoke the last few words, "…do you think we're helping to end the war?"

Eva smiled sadly. "The war will never stop. Not really," she hummed back. "As an immortal Pokémon who has watched more history than I'd ever care to recount, I don't think wars ever really end. Not as long as Pokémon – and humans – have things to fight over, and ideas to disagree over. At least, not so long as you let Pokémon have their free will. It's in a Pokémon's nature to fight, after all. We are all competitive creatures at heart. Best you can do is be like Enigma, get a group of Pokémon together and brainwash their free will away… then what you get is a whole resistance movement springing up and seeking to undermine your every move. You can never really win."

Char fidgeted with his claws, feeling particularly unsettled about the reference to brainwashing. "So then… what is peace, exactly?" he wondered. "How do you make peace work, if you don't think we can stop the war?"

"Peace is just an intermittent stage of war, I think," Eva replied. "Peace is just what happens when two Pokémon want contradictory things, but they each prevent one another from getting what they want. That is what we call balance: two forces eternally keeping one another unsatisfied. The moment one overcomes the other, you get tyranny. If they keep one another in check… you get peace. But it can never last, because they'll always be plotting to undermine the other at the first opportunity. At least… that's how I've observed history unfold from the decades that I've been alive."

"Your Master… your real Master," said Char, "you keep saying that it was a golden age when the Master ruled the continent. So, how did he do it? How did he keep the peace?"

"By being powerful," said Eva with a delighted nuzzle against Char's cheek. "He was very, very powerful… Far more powerful than Enigma could ever hope to be. He was powerful enough to have whatever he wanted… and he wanted all the Pokémon of Ambera to coexist and be happy. Maybe someday… you could be just as powerful. And be like him."

Char looked into her eyes, concealing his own internal conflict. Certainly, he had that power, the power to have everything he ever wanted by brainwashing the Pokémon of Ambera… but somehow, that seemed more like a curse than a blessing. He feared how easily he could misuse the power in a moment of weakness, and how confusing the world could become if his own will became the only thing that mattered.

Char was about to reach up and reflexively scratch Eva between the ears, as he usually did, when there came the sound of another Pokémon climbing onto the bunker roof.

"Ah! There you are, Char!" said the voice. "Something told me I'd find you up here. Oh… am I interrupting something?"

Char sighed. He knew the voice belonged to Saura. He also knew, without having to look, that Eva would be scowling, sending a clear message with her eyes that "Yes, yes you are interrupting something, go away." Despite his best efforts to understand, Char didn't get why Eva always felt so threatened by Saura. At least a dozen times he'd tried asking, "You know Saura isn't going to take me away from you, right? We're just friends, we have kind of a long history together. What do you have against him?" But Eva was never able to give him a straight answer. It was the kind of tension he'd originally expected between Zachel and Sabertooth – some kind of unexplainable, instinctual loathing that wasn't rooted in anything rational. And that made it even more scary. It was honestly the only part of Eva that made Char feel genuinely uncomfortable.

It wasn't the first time that Char felt tempted to use the Call on Eva to make her get along with Saura. Or to make her tell the truth about why she despised him, like he once used the Call to make Saura tell the truth. Yet, he never did. Perhaps a part of him regretted using the Call on Saura and losing his friendship for as long as he did. Perhaps he feared that something worse would happen if he tried it on Eva. Perhaps it would somehow tear apart the team he'd tried so hard to build.

Perhaps he was afraid of the answer. Perhaps he was afraid the answer was something he couldn't change.

His conscience told him not to. So instead, he reminded the Espeon once again, in the kindest terms he could manage, of the promise she had made him – that if Saura came back, she wouldn't get in the way between them. After all, it was Eva whom he spent almost every night with, it was Eva who shared a telepathic link with him, and Saura barely got his undivided attention for an hour or two every few weeks. Eva had his heart, certainly, but Saura still deserved his friendship.

In times like this, it made Char wonder: how much more would he need to reduce his friendship with Saura before Eva would be happy?

Hey, he said telepathically to Eva. I haven't gotten to have a talk with Saura for a while. Mind if we have a quick word? I'll see you back at the base in an hour or two, alright?

Resentment burned in the Espeon's eye, but she covered it up and replaced it with a look of forlorn submission. Fine, she returned, turning up her nose. Suit yourself, Master.

Saura hesitated for a moment, waiting for the Espeon to tiptoe to the edge of the roof and leap back down to the forest floor, out of sight. Then he timidly crawled up to beside the Charmeleon and together they stared at the sunset.

"Heya, buddy," said Char, shifting his fiery tail away from the Ivysaur's leaves. "Been a while since we had a chat, hasn't it?"

"Yeah…" said Saura quietly. "Sorry I haven't been around to run a mission lately. The seedlings have been a handful."

Char grinned. "Yeah, your family, how are they doing? How's Team Grayleaf?" he said kindly. "I bet they need a lot of mentoring from their expert brother."

"Ohh… actually, they get most of their mentoring from their awesome dad," he replied, rolling his eyes. "Saurlee is taking it all in too quickly. It's like she has a magic touch. She can just look at a plot of land the right way, and it becomes beautiful. She told me that the forest mystery dungeon made most of her artwork for her back at home, but after seeing her work, now I'm not so sure. Um… So they're thinking of starting their own farm on the outskirts of Iron Town, and trading exclusively with the resistance. How's that? Imagine, cheap berries and seeds forever."

"That… sounds great," Char chuckled. "I'm really happy for you and your family, I hope you know. I'm… really proud of you for saving them. You did good."

"Aww… well, thanks," Saura said with a bashful laugh. "You know, it's… it's just the things you do for your family. No big deal, really."

They sat quietly for a moment as the Noctowl began announcing their presence in the trees above. Char savored this moment. It was like nothing changed. They had come so far, and yet… some things had never changed at all.

"Hey, I came to tell you something," said Saura quietly. "Hunter says he put something together. He's going to reveal it tomorrow evening."

Char's eyes widened. He couldn't decide whether he wanted to hear this news or not. "Oh? Did he tell you anything about it?"

"Not too much," said Saura. "He said he got a lot of information from Team Cog, or some kind of secret-keeping system they have. He says he has a pretty solid idea of where Scythe wound up. So… yeah, starting tomorrow, we may have to start making solid plans to chase after him. Just… figured I'd let you know ahead of time."

Char reached over to give Saura a back rub beneath his long leaves. "Thanks, Saura…" he sighed. "Thank you for telling me. Ah… to be honest, I was getting really comfortable being here. You know… just here, building my team, feeling like a leader, running missions every day… When you get into the groove of it, it really feels like paradise here, as a Pokémon. I didn't want to think about the fact that I have to keep moving forward with my mission. Part of me doesn't want to move forward. Part of me just wants to stay here forever with all of you."

"Well, I made a promise to you a long time ago, and I'm not forgetting it," Saura said with a small smile. "Even now, I'm not going to let you forget. It's the least I could do. You're a human. And we're here to figure out what your plan was. It doesn't matter how old we get, or what forms we take. That's never going to change. I'm getting you to the end of your journey one way or another."

"Thanks, buddy, I really appreciate it," Char replied, taking a deep breath. "Hey… I've been meaning to ask you something. It's kind of uncomfortable, but…" he looked into his friend's eye. "Do you… think I should bring Eva on the trip with us? Like… I know how things are between her and you. I've been thinking about bringing her, but I wanted to give you the opportunity to voice your objection if you wanted."

Saura chuckled. "You want me to be completely honest?" he replied, smiling back. "I really don't care either way, Char, and that's the truth."

"Really?" Char asked.

"Really," said Saura. "Look, I'm not afraid of her. I know she doesn't like me, but I honestly couldn't care less what she thinks of me. I care about my duty to the team and my friendship with you, and I'm going to keep caring about it whether she's there to get in the way or not. So bring her if you want, Char. Don't leave her behind for my sake. It's not going to change a single solitary thing for me."

"That's… wow, that really means a lot to me," Char replied with a fond smile. "I'm still going to think about it, because I'm not going to bring her along purely for my sake, but… thanks. That means a lot to hear you say that. I just… sometimes I just wish she felt the same way, and I wish I knew why she doesn't. I mean, first it was Scarlet… now it's you… I feel like if, hypothetically, I got rid of you for her sake, she'd just pick someone else she doesn't like and start targeting them. And if she runs out of Pokémon to target, maybe she'll start targeting me instead. It's just something I'm nervous about sometimes. I hope I can get her to see that she really has nothing to worry about from you, or any of our teammates."

"Well, I dunno about a lot about Pokémon relationships aside from watching my mom and dad," Saura offered, "But I think that if Eva really loves you, she'll be willing to work things out."

"Yeah," sighed Char. "Yeah, I certainly hope so."

Between the trees, the stars began to sparkle. The Watchers would be out soon. Char wanted to cling to these last few moments in the darkness with his best friend in the world. Ever since evolving, there was always something about watching the sunset that Char had learned to hate. It made him feel forlorn, somehow. Like he was forced to say goodbye to the world while the ghosts of the night took over.

And one thing that Char began to realize about himself, whether it was part of his Pokémon nature or his human nature – he hated saying goodbye.

"I think I decided something just now," said Char all of a sudden. "I've decided… I'm coming back."

"Huh? Coming back to where?" Saura replied.

"Here," said Char resolutely. "I'm coming back to here. To Team Ember. I don't know how it'll happen, or how long it'll take, but… I'm not leaving the Gold Division forever, Saura. I like it too much here. I really feel like I belong. So make me another promise, Saura, if you can. When we're all done, when my goal as a human-turned-Charmander is finished, when all the divine fatestream nonsense is taken care of… Let's make it our second mission, that somehow, some way, we'll return back here to the Gold Division and keep Team Ember going. Want to make that pact with me, old friend?"

"Oh heck yeah!" shouted Saura, sprouting his vines and clinging to the Charmeleon. "You got it, Char. You're right. It's not good enough to do whatever it was that your human-self wanted. We also gotta do what we want, and that's being Team Ember together. So yeah, of course I'll make that pact with you! Let's do it. Let's do whatever it takes to get back here, back to this awesome base, and maybe on this very roof together… and keep going as though nothing ever changed. We can do it."

Char took a moment to cling tightly to his friend. Soon, the moment would be over, but he realized more than ever how true it was – he didn't like saying goodbye to anything or anyone he truly loved. Maybe that was true of everything and everyone since the dawn of time, but it gave him the conviction that maybe, if his fire burned brightly enough, sometimes he really could have the things he wanted.