Chapter Text
Pokémon Trainers.
I come to you by the Holo Caster to make an important announcement. Listen well.
Team Flare will revive the Ultimate Weapon, eliminate everyone who isn't in our group, and return the world to a beautiful, natural state. Unproductive fools are consuming our future ... If nothing changes, the world will become ugly and conflicts will raze the land from end to end.
I repeat. We will use the Ultimate Weapon and wipe the slate clean.
I'm sorry, those of you who are not members of Team Flare, but this is adieu to you all.
Ominously, every single word of this disastrous message echoed incessantly in Augustine's head.
How could he have let it come to this?
Why hadn't he taken the signs more seriously and recognized earlier, on his own initiative, the dark depths in which Lysandre was now hopelessly wandering? If Augustine had taken action in time and, above all, reacted better after being invited by his friend to join Team Flare, Lysandre would definitely not be on the verge of making a fatal mistake.
Now Augustine had to do everything in his power to stop him. That's why he stormed through the long corridors of Team Flare's secret base, which lay hidden beneath Geosenge Town.
It was a mystery to him how this huge underground complex could have remained undiscovered all this time, especially as it had been in active use for some while. Someone should have noticed how regularly people flocked to Geosenge Town and simply disappeared, but hadn't left the city or could be found in one of the few buildings.
But that wasn't important at the moment.
The only important thing was to get to Lysandre in time.
Unfortunately, this turned out to be quite difficult, as members of Team Flare appeared out of nowhere at every corner, including admins, who all stood in his way. Some of them said that they would definitely not let any more intruders get any further after the brazen children. Did that mean Serena, Calem and possibly the others were already down here? Did they bravely defy this frightening danger when they were young? All the more reason to hurry.
Augustine didn't normally enjoy Pokémon battles, but Skiddo was just as determined as he was and bravely faced every single opponent. No matter how big or small.
Thanks to her help, Augustine got past all those annoying obstacles and was sometimes able to elicit information about the right path from some people by talking them through it. Any help came in very handy, these corridors seemed to branch out in a confusing way and without clues Augustine would probably be running around in circles for far too long.
By now his lungs were burning painfully, as he was not used to such a level of exercise, and sweat was pouring from his forehead. The glaring floor lights hurt in his eyes and the bright, empty corridors were even more dazzling.
... but this is adieu to you all.
There was no time for a break.
Augustine couldn't be late and leave all the work to the children alone. He was probably the only one who could still reach Lysandre. At least ... he hoped so. More self-confidence would be more helpful. The last time they had spoken, his words had not reached Lysandre. Why should it be any different this time?
Could words alone stop Lysandre in this state?
... He had no choice but to try.
Finally, after the almost non-stop running and the exhausting fights, Augustine finally reached his destination and stumbled, panting, into a gigantic hall in which he could hardly recognize anything at first because it was filled with a peculiar darkness. After the light-flooded corridors, his eyes struggled to adjust.
For this reason, Augustine didn't notice the Pokémon of the members of Team Flare and admins who were also lurking here and attacked him immediately. Gogoat – Skiddo had evolved during all the tough battles in between – did her best to fend off the attackers, but she was gradually running out of strength.
That was why Augustine's gaze darted nervously around, searching along some thick tubes that glowed red and provided only a moderate amount of light. Exhausted, he gasped for air, his heart beating faster and faster the longer he looked around.
Then he spotted him.
Lysandre.
In front of a kind of cocoon, with a strange machine on his back, which was connected to his right arm. Small, drone-like robots buzzed around him and he wore a technical visor that glowed red like the tubes – and these led to the cocoon.
The children were actually standing near Lysandre. Calem, Serena and Shauna. For the time being, Augustine concentrated only on Lysandre. He swallowed hard and took a deep breath so that his voice would reach his friend:
„LYSANDRE!!!"
Augustine had actually expected a surprised twitch, something like that, but instead Lysandre only turned his head slightly in his direction. Because of the glasses, it was impossible to see exactly where he was looking, and yet Augustine thought he could feel the pair of eyes behind the technology fixating on him. Him alone. His body reacted with a shiver, which didn't feel as pleasant as usual this time.
And then the familiar, deep voice rang out, infused with a strange, sinister undertone that he didn't know how to interpret: "Professor Sycamore? What are you doing here?"
Was Lysandre wondering how he had made it this far? If so, he successfully concealed any uncertainty.
To Augustine's relief, Team Flare stopped the attacks on him and Gogoat as soon as Lysandre spoke, so that his partner could take a deep breath. Just like Augustine, who was still panting with exhaustion and looked anything but confident or determined.
The decisive moment had now arrived.
Lysandre had not yet fired the Ultimate Weapon.
What now?
At first, Augustine decided to call Gogoat back in her Pokéball, even though she resisted with an exhausted mow. But Augustine didn't want her to exhaust herself any more. He had to do the rest on his own. He couldn't leave something so important to someone else just because it would be easier. Otherwise he would never be able to reach Lysandre.
While he carefully put the Pokéball back into the smock, he walked towards Lysandre with big, firm steps – although he felt more insecure than ever inside, which he could probably hardly hide. Augustine stopped briefly at the children and looked at them anxiously, but they seemed to be fine so far. What a relief.
A perplexed "Professor?" came from Serena, to which he did not respond. Just as he didn't answer Lysandre's question, who was probably still waiting for an explanation. Augustine was too afraid that a single word would only make things worse. To destroy any chance of a peaceful outcome, whereupon the Ultimate Weapon would completely obliterate the shards.
Words alone ... were probably not enough. They could move nothing in Lysandre, no matter how carefully they were chosen.
No matter how much Augustine wanted to hope for it.
With a serious expression on his face, Augustine focused on Lysandre and finally continued to walk towards him, silently.
"What are you up to?" Lysandre asked warningly.
Still no sign of uncertainty. His stance remained firm, he didn't move back an inch. It made Augustine nervous not even being able to look into his eyes. Into the bright, clear light blue that always reminded him of the sky and in which there was always something gentle. How Augustine longed to sink into this sight right now.
It might not have been a good idea to get so close to Lysandre while he was wearing this strange device, but he accepted the risk. With every step he took, a determination grew in him, despite his nervousness, thanks to which he found the strength to go on.
Lysandre ...
As soon as Augustine reached him, he stopped thinking and acted instinctively. He reached for the red cloth bandage on Lysandre's neck and pulled him closer to him, with demand. In the next breath, Augustine was already pressing his lips to Lysandre's.
Unreally, as if from a dream, he thought he heard Shauna's voice quietly uttering a touched sound while Serena asked if this was normal in Kalos. Calem immediately answered in the negative, embarrassed and determined, but the children's reactions faded completely into the background as Augustine closed his eyes. Just a few seconds to realize what he was doing and to enjoy the warm feeling in his chest.
A feeling that made his heart blossom.
He would have loved to let it linger, but his exhausted lungs soon demanded air again. That was why he finally released his lips from Lysandre's slowly and took a deep breath without letting go of the cloth bandage.
Had ... had he really just done that?
He received the answer from Lysandre himself, who, after also taking a deep breath, asked in an extremely irritated tone: "What...? Augustine, what was that about?"
Finally, a noticeable change of emotion.
Again, Augustine looked at him seriously, even though the light from the glasses was a little uncomfortable up close, but it was nowhere near as bad as in the corridors outside this room.
"Lysandre, stop it," Augustine ordered urgently.
Only after these words did he let go of the cloth bandage and continued sternly: "You stop this immediately and come home with me. This isn't a trap, I just want to talk to you again. Alone. In a different place."
After he had said it, he realized how foolish it was of him to make such demands. Nevertheless, he was counting on the fact that the kiss could have an effect on Lysandre. Even if it was only indignation and the desire to reprimand Augustine for it. That would be fine with him too, as long as they could sit down and talk to each other.
A reaction from Lysandre followed several seconds later and unexpectedly unsettled: "... all right."
This decision led to quiet murmuring from the Team Flare members present, while Augustine would have liked to breathe a sigh of relief. However, he didn't want to show how tense he really was. If it was because of his determination that Lysandre actually agreed, he had to keep it up a little longer. Still ... he was indescribably relieved.
"Fantastic," Augustine emphasized with satisfaction, but maintained his serious expression. "Please make sure the Ultimate Weapon can't be used by anyone else while we're talking."
He gestured to the whispering members. "Tell the others too."
Lysandre nodded faintly, then actually turned to his people immediately. "We're retreating! The plan is ... Postponed!"
Postponed. That was definitely better than activating the Ultimate Weapon. This gave them some time and Augustine could still try to reach Lysandre to dissuade him from this plan altogether. He just had to figure out how...
"Do you need help, boss?" one of the admins asked Lysandre.
He shook his head. "No, everything's fine."
"Thank you, Lysandre," Augustine said sincerely. "Let me have a quick word with the children before we go."
Without waiting for a reaction, he turned around and walked towards Serena, Calem and Shauna. He wasn't worried that Lysandre might attack him after all. If Augustine wanted to reach him, he had to trust him. And he wanted to trust him.
When he arrived at the children, Augustine asked them if everything was alright with them and scrutinized them once more. This had only just happened in passing before. Although they must have fought many battles and made it this far, they seemed less exhausted than he was – this youthful energy was truly amazing.
"It's very dangerous here," he added. "What were you thinking?"
"Nobody else does anything," Shauna replied to his last question. "We can't just stand by and watch."
"Yes, we had to do something," Calem confirmed – the way he gripped the strap of his bag with one hand, as if he was looking for somewhere to hold on, told Augustine how tense he was too.
Understandably, it must have been particularly frightening for the children. And extremely dangerous.
At first Augustine wanted to tell them that they should have asked adults for help instead of putting themselves in such danger, but then he realized something. Neither on the way to Geosenge Town nor anywhere in the corridors had he encountered other people trying to prevent this catastrophe. No Gym Leaders. No one from the Elite Four. Not even Diantha.
Where were they all? It couldn't possibly be that each of them happened to be too busy or hadn't heard the news.
At least that meant he had been worrying about something for nothing – that's what it looked like currently. Nevertheless, he felt sorry for the children, as they had been left on their own. A certain anger began to flare up in Augustine, but he shouldn't show it in front of the children.
Instead, he smiled mildly. "It was really brave of you to come here. I'm proud of you, but now you should go. You and your Pokémon get some rest. I'll talk to Lysandre and take care of everything else."
Hopefully he would find a way to free him from this madness.
"Okay," Serena agreed, before furrowing her eyebrows suspiciously. "But be careful, Professor. Who knows what else he's planning?"
Augustine glanced thoughtfully at Lysandre.
With this apparatus and the sunglasses, he looked frightening, he was hardly recognizable – in terms of his appearance. Even if it had gotten a little better after the ... kiss had improved somewhat. Augustine almost lifted his hand to brush his fingers over his lips, but he just managed to stop himself.
Just then, some members of Team Flare rushed to Lysandre and helped him take off his extraordinary equipment. So Augustine should finish slowly and not keep him waiting too long.
He confidently turned back to the children. "Don't worry about this. I'm sure everything will be fine."
If necessary, he could call for help, but not the children. As brave as they were, he didn't want to put them in unnecessary danger.
After a curt goodbye, Augustine turned all his attention back to Lysandre. "Let's go."
Before Lysandre focused on Augustine, he instructed his people to carefully stow their things away, only then turning to him and nodding. "All right, let's go."
With these words, he reduced the distance between them until he was close enough to him to speak a little more quietly: "If this is just a trap, Augustine ... I'm going to be very displeased."
From Lysandre's point of view, Augustine could understand the mistrust. After all, he had already made it clear to Lysandre in another conversation that he could not approve of his plan. Never. Naturally, Lysandre had to assume that Augustine would try to stop him by any means possible.
But since Augustine really wasn't planning anything like that, he was able to reply in a firm voice: "I understand, but you have no reason to be angry. I told you I don't want to lure you into a trap."
Without the gadget and the glasses, Lysandre looked more like himself again, which is why Augustine even managed a slight smile.
"Lead us outside," he asked.
Otherwise, Augustine would probably just wander around even more, as complex as this secret hideout was. He had to suppress a sigh at the very idea.
"Of course," Lysandre replied and motioned for Augustine to follow him.
So they set off, both ignoring the children and the other members of Team Flare who were following them with their gazes. Instead of leading him the way Augustine had come, Lysandre directed him somewhere else until they came directly to an elevator.
"This will get us to the top much faster," Lysandre remarked.
"That's really good." Augustine let out an exhausted sigh. "I don't think I'll be able to walk very far today."
So he could hardly wait to sit down, as his legs were beginning to feel rather soft.
Without hesitation, Augustine entered the elevator with him. He could well imagine that many would have advised him against it, but he was still convinced that with enough confidence he could make a difference. After all, they were friends, despite everything that had happened in the last few hours. At least for Augustine, Lysandre was an important part of his life, even now.
***
Lysandre had worked out Plan Y perfectly.
They had found the location of the Ultimate Weapon, even tracked down Yveltal, recovered his cocoon and connected it to the machine. Finally, the key to the weapon had fallen into their hands. Arceus himself seemed to have blessed their endeavor in every conceivable way.
Everything went smoothly ...
... until Augustine's chosen children had appeared.
Their naïve sense of justice had thrown a spanner in the works of his plan. What did they think they were doing, interfering and knowing better than him? Than the rest of Team Flare? A few children could never understand what a dark future humanity was steering this beautiful world into. They lacked the experience and foresight for that.
To his annoyance, none of the team had managed to stop them, so in the end it was up to Lysandre to take over. He had put on the specially made equipment for this purpose. But before he got to use it properly, he suddenly heard a voice he hadn't expected.
Another obstacle appeared out of nowhere.
Augustine.
Although his appearance had taken Lysandre by surprise, he had managed not to show any weakness and yet ... he could not keep this further intruder at bay. He should have pointed the gun at Augustine, but he couldn't hurt him, not even threaten him. Perhaps paradoxically, the use of the Ultimate Weapon was supposed to kill Augustine in the end.
But ...
He couldn't do any of that.
So Augustine managed to get far too close to him. Took him by surprise with this ... kiss ... that Lysandre had enjoyed a little too much. It had released a pleasant feeling inside him that he couldn't fight.
Nevertheless, his mistrust persisted.
What had Augustine been thinking?
Why had his insistent voice appealed to something in Lysandre that had always longed for Augustine to talk to him, about anything? But especially about this situation. It upset him so much, he'd almost told Team Flare earlier that the plan was history. No, it wouldn't come to that.
If Augustine had him arrested, Plan Y would be carried out without Lysandre, no matter what. Although he had taken the key for safety's sake while Augustine was talking to the children, he knew that Xerosic could quickly develop a way to launch the weapon by other means. He wasn't worried about that.
Now here he was, in the elevator, on his way up. Together with Augustine.
Lysandre could never have foreseen this turn of events.
"You shouldn't have done that," Lysandre said calmly as soon as the elevator started moving. "Above all, you shouldn't have..."
Following a brief impulse, he wanted to brush his lips, but he controlled himself. He couldn't show any weakness just yet. Not any more than he already had.
"You shouldn't have awakened desires in me that will never come true anyway."
Not again. At least this time it had been intentional, because he wanted to see Augustine's reaction.
He looked at him in surprise. Had he assumed that Lysandre would be annoyed? Of course, the word desires was bound to irritate him.
Augustine swallowed nervously and lowered his eyes. "I ... Let's talk about it in more detail when we get to my place. Anyway, I had to do something. I couldn't just sit around in the lab and wait."
Still, Lysandre had hoped Augustine would do nothing. As usual. Just like all the time before.
Once at the top, they left the elevator again. There, Lysandre explained to the confused members of Team Flare who were here what was going on and asked them to pass it on to the others. He then left the hideout together with Augustine.
Outside, Lysandre released Gyarados from his Pokéball. "I suppose this kind of trip is okay for you, right?"
It had been a while since Augustine had last seen Gyarados. Smiling, he greeted him and then nodded to Lysandre. "Perfectly alright."
Augustine's attempt to climb up Gyarados after that, however, looked anything but fine. Although he looked for two places on the scaly body to hold on to, he barely managed to pull himself up. Powerless, he kept slipping down, which visibly embarrassed him.
Lysandre sighed softly. "I can't watch this …"
Even Gyarados seemed a little confused by Augustine's unsuccessful attempts. So Lysandre walked past him, swung himself onto the Pokémon first and offered Augustine his hand. "Come on up. Then we can finally get going."
And Augustine wouldn't have to move for a while if he was so exhausted. A little hesitantly, he took Lysandre's hand and let him help him onto Gyarados.
"Thank you," Augustine murmured. "So, let's fly to my place."
"As you wish."
Lysandre immediately passed this order on to Gyarados.
As he rose into the air, Lysandre turned a little towards Augustine. "I hope you realize that I expect at least a coffee if you've already interrupted my plan."
He would appreciate a coffee more than an ambush.
It seemed as if Augustine was smiling properly again for the first time. "Of course you'll get a coffee, it was already planned from my side. A good cup of coffee is the best way to talk."
Besides, they could both certainly do with one at the moment to ease the tension. This conversation was probably not going to be easy for either of them. They just had to hope that someone wouldn't stop them after Lysandre's announcement. But ... so far, it still looked as if the police hadn't really taken action yet. No wonder, perhaps most people still thought his speech was an unusual PR stunt.
Humanity was simply too ignorant.
Too preoccupied with themselves.
Augustine was one of the few exceptions. One reason why Lysandre was willing to listen to him. Especially since a conversation was so important to his old friend that he had even tempted him with a kiss ... There was probably no other intention behind it. But Lysandre would find that out too.