The Type Specialist

Ramos truly was a Grass Type Master.

How he explained and helped train Azumarill’s Sap Sipper ability was proof of that.

Sap Sipper was a reflection of how a few herbivorous Pokémon species evolved to absorb nutrients out of all the plants they ate. It let those Pokémon eat less and gain more, and its base benefit was key for Azumarill to maintain both her Thick Fat and dense muscles from Huge Power. However, developing it further would let Pokémon that had the ability use it in combat and negate Grass Type moves entirely.

Essentially, every Grass Type attack carried a bit of Grass Type energy with it, and Sap Sipper let its user drain the energy of the attacks. As a result, the attacks would deal far less damage, and the energy drained would boost the Pokémon with Sap Sipper instead.

Unfortunately, it was generally difficult to properly handle, because nine times out of ten, Sap Sipper required the Pokémon to literally eat the attack. The most common Pokémon to actually train it were the Goomy and Gogoat lines simply because their bodies made it easier for them to snap their heads to bite down on attacks.

However, Ramos explained there was a way to not need to eat the attacks directly.

Even though mouths were the easiest place for Pokémon to both expel and absorb energy, Pokémon could still do the same with other parts of their bodies. The same concept was used with moves like the elemental punches (ex. Thunder Punch and the like), where the fists of the user literally were coated with the appropriate Type of energy.

Azumarill needed to figure out a way to absorb the Grass Type energy from attacks that hit her, and with Ramos’s advice, that was where Whimsicott came in. He partnered with both Azumarill and Florges to create a small training group that worked on their abilities and moves.

Whimsicott, being the Pokémon that needed to actually learn a bunch of moves, tried his best to figure out Energy Ball and Solar Beam, using Azumarill as target practice. Since his attacks were weak and only barely stable, Azumarill didn’t take much damage from them as a result. Therefore, they were a much safer way for Azumarill to work on absorbing Grass Type energy.

Florges, meanwhile, would heal Azumarill from the damage, coach Whimsicott on his attacks, and also try to develop her Flower Veil ability. Flower Veil protected ally Grass Types from suffering from moves that lowered their capabilities, and apparently, she already had the basics down because she knew how to help plants grow. She had practiced that power a bunch with the flowers in Sycamore’s lab, and now just needed to figure out a way to apply that to Grass Type Pokémon.

Hope also stopped by the Grass Type themed training group a few times to sneak in glances at how they were training. She also frequently requested Florges to demonstrate her Petal Dance, which she was more than happy to do. Almost every Pokémon on Hope’s team could learn the move, and she recognized that watching Florges was the perfect way to help them get it down.

The rest of my team also trained when they had the chance. Ninetales worked on getting Aurora Veil incorporated into more of her strategies, as well as fighting without the benefits of weather. She formed a secondary training group with Mawile and Ponyta, since Mawile needed to work on general improvements and her strategies against ranged Pokémon, and because Ponyta liked to hang out with Mawile. A single Taunt meant Ninetales was locked out of her most useful utility moves, and that repeatedly turned into spars between Mawile and herself.

Ponyta learned a lot from the two of them. His Double Edge attack was an extremely powerful melee attack whose recoil was negated by Morning Sun, and Fairy Wind and Confusion let him attack from range. He managed to get a lot of practice with those moves. Additionally, seeing Ninetales’s Ice Beam be used so frequently meant he was now trying to mimic her and develop Psybeam. Right now, he was only able to make his unicorn horn sparkle a bit.

With everyone else occupied, that just left Altaria.

To be honest, I wasn’t able to directly help my team that often with how much time I spent working for Ramos. I was constantly helping out around the Gym with a tight schedule that involved almost every facet of the place. I had to feed the fields of Pokémon, wash the Pokémon scheduled to be washed that day, file paperwork, and even just help with technical issues here and there. At least Ramos also taught me how to make a mean cup of tea. Overall, it was exhausting, but Hope lived for the work. I appreciated getting an insight into the life of a Gym Trainer, though.

I could see why a Grass Type trainer would love to work here, but as a person whose heart had been captured by Fairy Types, working with Grass Types didn’t catch my interest as much. I still appreciated being able to learn a bit more about the Type, since I gained a few tips that would help me with Whimsicott, but it was more tiring than anything. Because of that exhaustion, I only really got to practice what I wanted to practice for short periods each day: Mega Evolving Altaria.

Since I was now able to successfully Mega Evolve him when needed, we focused on training his ability as well as fighting as a Mega Evolved Pokémon. Hope and her Venusaur were a big help with fighting, but the real difficulties were with his temporary ability, Pixilate.

Pixilate, once developed, allowed its user to convert Normal Type attacks into Fairy Type attacks. It’s the result of its user having so much Fairy Type energy that every move they send out is suffused with it. Right now, Altaria was so overloaded with Fairy Type energy upon his Mega Evolution that the energy was getting mixed into his moves, rather than replacing it. He was trying to dam up a lake when he only had practice with a river, but he was slowly making progress. Like Gurkinn said, the ability was developing faster than other abilities, but Altaria could only stay Mega Evolved for so long each day so our practice time was limited. I’d imagine he’d be able to use a pure Fairy Type Hyper Voice and Uproar eventually, but that was a bit down the line.

Hope and I arrived in Coumarine City on the 21st, and Steven was due to arrive in the region on the 26th. I wasn’t too worried about my present location simply because he could Teleport to wherever I was, but the knowledge he was coming soon constantly pressed onto my mind.

While spending time with my Pokémon training was relaxing outside of all the tasks Ramos was making me do, I wanted to do at least one last fun thing before Steven and the trouble that came with talking to him arrived.

So, on the 25th, I collected Dedenne and set out to do something I had been planning to do for ages.

“See, you might not be part of the team, but that just means you’re free to help me more often,” I said to the gluttonous little Electric Type.

Dedenne’s nose twitched on the large root he was sitting on, and stared at me with his small black eyes.

“You like food, right?”

Dedenne nodded furiously.

“Then I want your help to cook.”

Dedenne shot to his feet and immediately jumped off the log to land on my arm. He crawled up it to stand on my shoulder, then squeaked out an order I didn’t fully understand.

I rubbed my head with my free arm.

“I, uh, didn’t even have a chance to explain.”

He pressed a paw to my cheek and pointed forward while squeaking, preventing me from even saying anything before I left. Sighing, but still mildly amused, I began to walk down the dirt road into Coumarine proper to fully explain my plan.

“See, for—wow, over a year now—I’ve known that if I want my team to be in the best shape possible, I need to cook their meals for them. However, I keep focusing too much on training them up and thinking ‘I can always start tomorrow.’ Well, right now everyone is focused on their own training, so I can head out to get ingredients to make meals. Premade canned food is ‘fine,’ but personally crafted meals are the best.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dedenne rub his chin and close his eyes while nodding, pretending to be much wiser than he was. I had to slow down and take small steps as I reached the steep base of the hill, and soon, I was walking down the streets of Coumarine, trying to find either a grocery store or Pokémart.

“Every Pokémon has their own preferences and needs,” I continued. “Ninetales likes sour flavors, while Florges likes sweet flavors. Additionally, Ninetales needs a high calcium diet, but Azumarill needs protein. Of course, protein specifically is difficult considering Azumarill doesn’t eat meat, but you get the point. Everyone has their own likes and needs that I’m not supporting enough by buying pre-made food.”

At this point, I found a Pokémart and made my way in. Dedenne’s eyes went wide at the shelves of miscellaneous foods and items, and making a sudden realization, I grabbed him before he could run away.

His little body had enough fat in it that he literally jiggled in my hand.

“Oh, no you don’t,” I accused. “Are you familiar with the concept of stealing?”

Dedenne nodded happily and stretched out his paws to reach towards a closed box of biscuits nearby. I pulled him away and rubbed my temples.

“No, I mean— Look. There’s stealing, where you might slip a piece of someone’s meal away, and then there’s stealing, where you take something that someone worked hard to make that rightfully isn’t yours. People trade goods and services for other goods and services, and if everyone just took whatever they wanted, there would be no reason for that exchange in the first place. I mean—I can’t believe I have to explain society to a Pokémon—you can’t just take things belonging to other people like that. You might get thrown into a box for several years as punishment.”

Dedenne stiffened and nodded, and I sighed in relief that telling him about a punishment at least got him to stop. I placed him back on my shoulder and continued to go through the shop.

While I doubted most Pokémon would get arrested and thrown in prison, if Dedenne decided to take things here, I would get in trouble. It was best to try to put a stopper on that now.

I went around the store with Dedenne and made my selection of a few different ingredients. I grabbed items like Moomoo Milk, raw vegetables, vitamin supplements, and even soy meats to make meals for my team. The prices of some of the items made my head boggle, but it was necessary for them to be high due to the difficulties that came with producing them as well as just how nutritious and valuable they inherently were.

Dedenne was a big help since he knew the types of food Pokémon enjoyed, and pointed out the ingredients he thought my team liked the most. I honestly should have been able to do the same, but I had slacked when it came to meals and only knew which brands of canned food they liked as well as their berry preferences.

After collecting everything, I quickly grabbed the bag of biscuits Dedenne had wanted earlier as a reward for not stealing and made my purchase. If I wasn’t sponsored, there was no way I could afford this stuff as once again the cost of training Pokémon reared its ugly head.

However, I wanted the best for my team, and I had no excuse for failing to give them what they needed. After saying goodbye to the clerk, I grabbed the numerous heavy bags and made my way back to Ramos’s Gym.

Like Lumiose, Coumarine was composed of cobbled streets lined with trees and buildings with european-like architecture. However, the buildings were nowhere near as dense, which let me get a beautiful view of the ocean from its position on the cliffs above. As a major port, its proximity to the sea was evident by the number of seafood restaurants I passed by. The streets were packed and I saw people walking with Pokémon like Furfrou and Barbaracle, and even spotted a lone Diancie spinning in place, looking around with wide-

Wait, what?

“Why is there a Legendary Pokémon wandering the streets?” I said to no one in particular.

About half a block away, a Pokémon floated above the sidewalk with an amazed expression on its face. Its mouth was open and eyes wide as it looked around at the stone houses and streets that made up Coumarine. On its head was a large pink gemstone, and it had a humanoid upper half on top of a levitating geode base. More gemstones grew out of its base and back of the head, and its short arms were held out in wonder as it took the environment in.

As far as I could tell, the Pokémon was a legitimate wild Diancie, a Rock and Fairy Type Legendary Pokémon that had a close connection to Carbink, and it had no trainer nearby.

Dedenne slapped my cheek and I recollected my focus from where I had paused in the middle of the street. People were being forced to walk around me, so I moved off to the side to try to properly collect my thoughts.

If Diancie is here, there has to be a reason for its presence. It clearly doesn’t have a trainer, but there’s absolutely no reason why it should have wandered into the middle of a human city. Think, Alex, think. Maybe there’s someone chasing it?

My heart started to pound as I considered the implications of its presence in a region with Lysandre, and paranoia, my old frenemy, started to act back up. I glanced around to see how everyone was reacting, and found that practically no one cared. While there were a number of people on the streets, no one seemed to pay much mind to it outside of a few curious glances thrown its way. No one seemed to properly understand there was a Legendary Pokémon with them.

Considering that few people knew about most Legendary Pokémon, or even knew they existed in most situations, it didn’t surprise me that most people here considered it to just be a rare, foreign Pokémon. How closely it resembled Carbink probably helped it hide, since it was known for other regions to have variants and special evolutions of Pokémon common to other regions.

Lifting my bags back up the ground, as casually as possible, I started to make my way towards Diancie. I was completely unprepared for this situation since the only Pokémon on me were Dedenne, Ninetales, and Ponyta. I had left behind the rest of my team to continue training and resting in Ramos’s Gym, and Mawile in particular had been taking a nap when we left. On the other hand, Ninetales refused to let me enter a city without a battle-ready Pokemon to defend me, and demanded she come with. In this moment, I really appreciated her, as right now I only had her to defend me.

“We’re going into a high alert situation,” I said under my breath. “Keep an eye out for anyone approaching, and Dedenne, I know you’re not my Pokémon, but I might need to rely on you to protect us alongside Ninetales.”

Dedenne twitched his whiskers in response and looked at me, both a little worried and a little confused. Unlike the Pokémon on my team, he had no context for why I might be so panicked. Thankfully, he seemed to still believe me.

(Although I did get the vibe he expected to be rewarded with food, later.)

I approached Diancie as nonchalantly as I could, and as I neared, it didn’t even bother to look my way and just continued to stare at the buildings around it.

“Hey!” I said cheerfully to get its attention.

Diancie turned to face me, and its smile grew as it looked at me.

“Similar!”

A young, female voice echoed through my mind and I was assaulted with a wave of emotions. Happiness, wonder, a slight bit of confusion, and awe. I hadn’t expected telepathy, of all things, but when it came to Legendary Pokémon, I should have known normal was off the table.

“Yes, uh, hello. I— would you— I’m planning to make a meal for my Pokémon tonight. Would you like to come?”

I winced at how direct my question was, but Diancie’s face still lit up with joy and she nodded excitedly. Acceptance and elation washed over me, and I tensed to not flinch from the unexpected mental communication. Ponyta sent a pulse my way as if to apologize, but I didn’t blame him. Dealing with a Legendary Pokémon, even if it wasn’t a Psychic Type, was a whole other level than what he was used to.

“Well, it’s just up the hill that way,” I said, forcing my hand up with the bags still on it to gesture toward Ramos’s tree. “I can lead you there. Follow me, I guess.”

Diancie's eyes somehow grew even wider at the revelation of our destination, and she excitedly followed along as I started to move towards our destination. At the same time, I couldn’t help but to feel a little bad with how easily she went along with me. That had worrying implications if someone tried to lure her away (which was exactly what I was doing, and it made me feel like a creep), but I didn’t want to risk someone with bad intentions taking advantage of her. Ramos would know what to do, and I could only hope he could keep her safe.

As we walked, Dedenne jumped off my shoulder to jump onto Diancie’s, and while she was only about half the size as I was at most, he still managed to hold on and started to chitter in her ear. She giggled and sent some more telepathic emotions my way as she spoke her name out loud a few times in response.

I smiled at seeing them getting along, but stumbled when Ponyta left his ball and looked at me worriedly. He pretended to just want to be out with me and immediately moved to walk alongside me, but if that was the case he wouldn’t have just left his ball so suddenly.

With a subtle flick of a head he gestured towards a direction behind us, and I knew we were being followed.

Briefly, I turned a corner to get to the next street over, and I casually glanced to my side to see if I could recognize anyone behind me. I almost froze when I saw two people wearing bright orange suits traveling in the same direction.

Team Flare.

My pace quickened and Diancie looked at me questioningly, but Dedenne distracted her in conversation once more and she happily returned to talking to him. I sent him a thankful glance and he winked at me, and I focused on reaching our destination. Due to his small size, Ponyta almost had to jog to keep up, and once more he flicked back his head to signify people were right behind us.

So, I pulled out my Holo Caster, which I had barely touched until now, and made a call.

“Sprout. Are yeh having trouble with picking ingredients? Yeh got the tea I recommended, right?” Ramos asked when he picked up.

Since Ramos didn’t have a Holo Caster himself, the call was only through voice. I made sure it was on speaker phone so the people around me could hear.

“No, I didn’t have trouble finding anything, and yes, I got the tea you recommended. I was calling about something else.”

I glanced down at Ponyta who had a serious expression on his face as we continued to move, and my hands unconsciously tightened around the bags of groceries. I had to shift everything to one arm to hold the Holo Caster, since I didn’t normally keep it on my wrist, and the combined weight was already making it numb. I would be proud of myself for managing this if I wasn’t so panicked.

“Eh? What is it, then. Spill it,” Ramos said.

“I might be bringing over a guest to make them a meal, too. I assume that’s fine?”

There was a pause on the other side.

“A guest? But I thought yeh were making a meal for yer Pokémon? Is the guest a Pokémon?”

I opened my mouth to respond but found myself gaping as I noticed something red out of the corner of my eye. I purposely contorted my face as to pretend I was thinking, and the two Team Flare members pretended to casually walk by.

Considering the speed my little group was walking, they could have only passed us intentionally. They didn’t make any aggressive movements, however, which meant Ninetales stayed in her Premier Ball and didn’t make a scene.

“Sprout? Are yeh still there? Alex?”

“Yes, I’m here, Ramos. Just thinking,” I said quickly.

Ponyta was a master at keeping calm and continued his pace without revealing anything, and both Diancie and Dedenne most likely had no clue who Team Flare was to freak out. I eyed the two grunts carefully, and soon, they turned left at the nearest corner to disappear from view.

I breathed out a sigh of relief.

“Someone important. I’ll just say they’re not a Carbink.”

“What? Not a Carbink? What do yeh mean?”

“Sorry Ramos, I got to go. Please get everything set up for me.”

“Sprout—”

Ponyta seemed much more relaxed now, and I took that as a sign that Team Flare was no longer following us.

I hung up the call and shot a smile to Dedenne and Diancie behind me. As I did so, I subtly glanced behind them to double check no other members of Team Flare were present, and my entire body relaxed when I saw no further signs. I also gave Ninetales’s Premier Ball a quick pat just to acknowledge how much I appreciated her.

I quickly shoved my Holo Caster back away and divided the bags up to help my now-burning arm, and continued to make our way back to the Gym.

I was stressed and Team Flare had confirmed their interest in Diancie, intentional or not, but I knew that Ramos would be able to help me figure out what to do next.

“So, sprout, why have yeh brought a Legendary Pokémon to the Gym?” Ramos asked.

I shifted in place awkwardly within the underground battlefield Ramos had brought us to. Nearby, my team was greeting Diancie alongside Hope’s team, and thankfully, everyone was getting along. Dedenne was still on Diancie’s shoulder acting as some sort of bodyguard, using his Electric Type attacks to shock Pokémon that got too close.

Diancie giggled whenever he did so, and that created an unfortunate scene where Altaria looked absolutely betrayed after Dedenne shocked him when he tried to crash into Diancie to greet her.

“Can I just say real quickly it was an emergency situation?” I added. “I panicked and didn’t want someone else to capture her or take her away. She went with me far too easily. As far as I can tell, she’s extremely naive.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Hope interrupted. “You’re sure that’s a Legendary Pokémon? Aren’t Legendaries supposed to be able to manipulate life and death itself, or change the weather patterns of an entire region?”

I scratched my cheek.

“I mean, she’s a Mythical Pokémon, not a full-on Legendary. Rare but not unique, and just inherently strong rather than reality bending. I think she can conjure diamonds?”

Hope froze.

“That’s... diamonds? Really?” she asked.

I shrugged and Ramos spoke up.

“She gave me one when she first arrived. I don’t think they’re permanent. It’s already starting to disappear,” Ramos interjected.

Hope looked a little disappointed, and I shot her an annoyed look.

“The reason I brought her here was so people don’t take advantage of her powers. I— well, give me a moment.”

Taking a deep breath to prepare myself for what would come next, I reached into my backpack and pulled out a card to hand to Ramos.

“Do you recognize this?” I asked.

Ramos carefully took it from my hands and looked it over, but found nothing other than the single red image. He handed it to Hope, who looked it over as well, then gave it back to me with a confused expression on her face.

“I don’t know what it is. A flame?” Hope said.

I looked toward Ramos. He sighed.

“I recognize it. It’s a card with the logo of Team Flare, a subgroup of Lysandre Labs who get into trouble occasionally. They’re pretty independent from the rest of the company, but haven’t actually done anything that bad. They just overstep their authority, sometimes.”

I shook my head.

“That’s not the case. Team Flare is led personally by Lysandre, and as far as I can tell, they’re a threat on the level of Team Magma or Team Aqua, or maybe even above.”

Hope looked stunned, and Ramos’s eyebrows almost shot through the roof.

“That’s a big claim. Do yeh have any proof?” he asked.

“I... I don’t. But I do have someone who can back me up.”

Hope and Ramos exchanged a glance, and Hope crossed her arms.

“Who?” she asked.

“Steven.”

She rubbed her temples.

“You’re going to need to be more specific than that.”

“Steven is, uh... Steven Stone, ex-Champion of Hoenn and son of the president of the Devon Corporation. Additionally, he’s a stone collector, too. He’d probably get upset with me if I forgot to mention that.”

There was an awkward silence between us as the only sound in the room was the amazed gasps of our Pokémon as Diancie created a twinkling shower of diamonds.

“Thats... yer really serious, aren’t you, sprout?” Ramos said.

I nodded.

“Yes, and he’s arriving in Kalos tomorrow. He trusts me for reasons I won’t get into.”

Hope looked shocked, and Ramos rubbed his chin. Suddenly, his eyes went wide, and his mouth fell open and he pointed at me.

“Yer— he’s— the ult—”

He quickly shut his mouth again to stop his sputtering, and I winced as I realized that Ramos just figured out I was Steven’s source. Hope, thankfully, just looked confused as Ramos, and I proceeded to somehow manage to have an entire conversation with Ramos solely through a series of concerned expressions. He wouldn’t reveal his realization to Hope.

Ramos finally calmed down, and gave me a pointed look.

“Alex, if yer claims are right, and I’m starting to believe they are, I need yeh to know Lysandre Labs was in charge of... the dismantling.”

My heart almost stopped.

“Of... the...”

“Yes. In the northwest.”

It took all my willpower to not have my knees to not buckle beneath me, and Hope’s worried questions were deaf to my ears.

I told Steven about the Ultimate Weapon with the intention that looking into it would specifically reveal Lysandre’s plans. Instead rather than anyone figuring out Lysandre was a threat, all I had done was given him the perfect excuse to get set up there and make the League think he wasn’t involved at all.

I basically handed Lysandre the Ultimate Weapon for free.

I thought that sharing my information would help, but all it did was make things worse.

An unfamiliar beeping noise knocked me out of my stupor, and I looked to Ramos to see what it was.

He frowned and pulled out what looked to be an ancient phone from his back pocket, and after typing on the keys for a moment, his frown deepened.

“It seems we have a guest in the main lobby,” he said without a hint of emotion in his voice.

He flipped it around to show us the screen.

My eyes went wide and my breaths shortened.

Lysandre was here.

“Sorry about the wait. Ramos and Hope are healing their Pokémon up after a battle. Can I help you?” I asked Lysandre as I walked into the lobby.

He actually looked a little shocked to see me there, but I was unsure if his expression was fake or genuine. After taking a few minutes to calm down earlier, we quickly decided on a plan, a plan that unfortunately required me to talk to Lysandre myself.

Seeing my unexpectedly cheerful attitude, Lysandre gave me a gracious smile, and walked a few steps forward to approach from where he was waiting next to the front counter.

“Ah, Alex. Good to see you. Have you given my question any thought?”

I froze.

His question? What question? Wait, the one where he asked me if I would make the world a better place? I mean, I thought about it at the time, but I was too freaked out to really consider it afterwards.

“...Kind of,” I said carefully. “It’s simple, but there’s a lot to consider.”

Lysandre didn’t let me leave it like that, and purposely stayed silent so I would feel forced to respond.

“I think... I think I would take the step to make the world a better place,” I said. “One decision can make a big difference, especially in ways one might never expect.”

Lysandre nodded.

“I feel the same way,” he said.

I forced a smile back on my face.

“Now then, if Ramos is preoccupied, I wish to talk to a Gym Trainer here. Are any present?” Lysandre asked.

“Unfortunately, most Gym Trainers have left for their vacations, or are out doing odd jobs. Since I’m helping Ramos, I have the temporary authority to send any messages his way.”

Lysandre’s small smile faded a bit, but it quickly regained its full form and he nodded again.

“Then, I must ask, have you seen any strange Pokémon recently?”

“All Pokémon are strange,” I said quickly. “You’re going to have to be more specific.”

Lysandre frowned. I tried not to shiver.

“A certain gemstone-encrusted Pokémon. It floats and is colored pink.”

I rubbed my chin and purposely pretended to think about it. In his Dream Ball, Ponyta sent a comforting mental pressure to me. I almost wanted to cry, I was so thankful.

“I don’t think I’ve seen any Carbink,” I said as slowly as possible, as if I was still processing what he was saying.

“It’s... It’s not a Carbink,” Lysandre gritted.

“Then I don’t think I can say that I’ve seen it.”

Lysandre opened his mouth to speak, but I quickly spoke up to change the topics. For the briefest of moments, he looked absolutely apoplectic that he had been interrupted, but what I said seemed to catch his interest enough that his anger never fully manifested.

“But before you get upset about that, I want to talk about our last meeting.”

“Oh?” Lysandre said, a smile returning to his face.

“I believe that it seemed we got off on the wrong foot, last time. To make things right, I wanted to return the favor. You invited me to dinner, so let me invite you to dinner. Are you free tomorrow night? It’s the best time that works for me.”

Lysandre made a show of considering the offer, rubbing his chin and temporarily looking away. However, with the way his eyes were glinting, I knew I had him hooked.

“It’s a possibility. I’ll see if I can fit it into my schedule,” he replied. “I will get back to you. You’ll find out by the end of the night. Perhaps we could resume our discussion on the fate of the world?”

I perked up.

“Actually, a discussion like that would be great. I’ve given what you said to me a lot of thought, and I think I have a better response in mind,” I said.

That got Lysandre to give me a genuine smile, and once more, I tried not to shiver when I looked at him. At this point, I felt like enough had been said and that I could finally end the conversation here.

However, the moment I opened my mouth to speak, Lysandre’s expression shifted and the warm expression on his face faded away. His eyes hardened and his lips pressed into a thin line. His shoulders straightened out, and he took on an almost regal pose. No longer was I speaking to Lysandre, businessman. I was talking to Lysandre, the leader of Team Flare.

I took a step back.

“With that settled, I require a favor from you, Alex. Tell me when you see the Pokémon I mentioned. It is imperative to the future of the region that you do. I know the kind of person you are: you are someone who does what must be done. I recognize myself in you, and I trust that you will follow through.”

The only thing I could do was nod.

Lysandre’s amiable expression returned to his face.

“Then, I bid you adieu. Your Holo Caster should already contain my contact information for when you decide to call. Farewell, Alex. May you do the right thing.”

With that, Lysandre swept out of the room, leaving me completely still and alone within it.

It took me several minutes to recover. My heart was pounding and a cold sweat had formed on my back. I hadn’t expected it, but I just got an insight at who Lysandre truly was.

It scared me.

Slowly, I peeked outside to make sure Lysandre had actually left, and forced myself to maintain a neutral expression when I noticed a helicopter hovering ominously in the distance. I quickly pulled my head back instead, then moved to return to where Hope and Ramos were waiting.

Once I arrived back in the small lounge they were waiting in with Diancie, I immediately collapsed to my knees. Hope and Ramos quickly moved over from where they were pacing to check on me. At the same time, I was assaulted with fluff as my Pokémon released themselves from their Pokéballs and surrounded me.

I could barely move with how much my body was shaking, but I was still able to look up with a grin on my face.

“Tomorrow,” I said. “He’ll be coming here tomorrow.”