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He had no idea where he was. He couldn’t remember anything from before his eyes slowly opened. He had a splitting headache and he was surrounded by rubble. Pieces of buildings, furniture, machines, screens… nothing around him was making sense. What made even less sense was the green and black dog-like creature in front of him. He had no idea why, but he felt like it saved him from something.
Maybe even saved him from himself.
He had no way of knowing.
As he stumbled to stand up, he watched the creature step away. It then picked up a belt that had six red and white balls on it. He watched as the creature walked over, holding an arm out in an attempt to tell it to keep its distance. It soon gently dropped the belt at his feet, turning around and slowly leaving the room.
Staring down at his feet, the man wondered why he felt so relieved.
He bent over to pick the belt up, taking each ball into his arms. He instinctively hugged them to his body, feeling tears well up in his eyes.
They’re safe.
He didn’t know why he felt like after whatever just happened that whatever lay dormant in these… these Pokéballs he realized, being safe, was far more important than what happened.
Than what he did?
That felt right, but he had no clue if it was. Deciding that, what he realized were his Pokémon, being safe was the most important thing right now, he slowly made his way out of the rubble and towards what he hoped was an exit.
Maybe he could find answers out there.
-----
It had been a few days since he woke up. He still hadn’t figured much out, aside from the fact that it was Zygarde who had saved everyone. He was trying to figure out from what, but at least he had the first piece to the puzzle.
He’d luckily found a hoodie to put underneath his jacket, which was extremely helpful with the way that people kept whispering and staring and running.
His Pyroar frequently helped shield him from onlookers, and sometimes even his Gyarados would scare them away.
The man had become accustomed to moving around during the evening and night, thankful that less people were around. It gave him the chance to look for the answers he searched for without getting caught.
He still didn’t understand why he was trying to avoid getting caught, but he knew that he had to.
He’d taken to hiding in rubble, under bridges, recently abandoned buildings. Wherever he could fit into. As he walked through the streets of Lumiose City alone, he came across a shopfront selling televisions. He turned to look at them as the news from the day replayed. Footage of a woman in red with vibrant blue hair tied into two loops being arrested. She had lipstick that matched her hair and looked like she’d been crying as she was hauled away.
He wondered what she’d been saying. Why he felt guilty again.
He’d been wondering a lot, the past few days.
Soon after, the silent image of a man with bright, spiky orange hair appeared. He was labeled Lysandre, Boss of Team Flare.
The man felt like he was looking in the mirror.
So that’s who he was.
Was it?
They had the same face. Their hair spiked the same. He’d woken up in Lysandre’s last reported location.
Maybe it was him. Maybe he was Lysandre.
But he didn’t remember a thing.
How could he be Lysandre if he didn’t even remember what he’d done? What they’d done?
Did they count as two different people? He didn’t know.
Looking back in the glass at his reflection, the man looked at his own eyes. His left one almost shined, and he wondered what otherworldliness had caused it. If it meant he’d given or taken. If there was any kind of balance in who he was.
Staring at his left eye for a few moments, the man soon pulled his hood up to hide his almost pure white hair, glancing at the small orange streaks in his beard.
Even if he was Lysandre, he had only splinters of his memories. Bits and pieces that made no sense alone and would likely never be connected.
With a frown, the man turned away from the storefront, closing his left eye and continued walking, resuming his search for the next day’s shelter. He didn’t think he wanted to be called Lysandre. He still wasn’t even sure they were the same person. But at least for now, he could go by L. Something to give himself humanity while he desperately searched the remnants of his memories for whatever was left.
Before he continued that, though, he needed to find the Pokémon that had saved him.
-----
L had been wandering for weeks. At this point, he wondered if it had been a couple months. The days and nights blurred together, and with no memories to draw upon, there was no easy way to pass the time except thinking.
Thinking about how he'd ended up in this situation, eating scraps he'd found or that his Pokémon had managed to snatch away from some stall.
There were blurry figures in his head. Faces he knew. Smiles. Frowns. Determination. But aside from the vague shape of a person, he couldn't begin to describe whoever it was in his memories looking at him.
Were they his memories? Technically. But how could they be his memories if he had to learn his own name from a news broadcast?
Thinking about it too much made his head hurt. He much preferred reading documents or looking at photos he managed to scrounge up. He had only been able to find bits and pieces of information about what happened. L assumed that most of it had been taken by authorities by this point.
That fact made it much harder to figure out what sins he'd committed.
Were they even sins? He didn’t know. Part of him, deep down, felt like it wasn't. Like he was doing the right thing. But he didn’t know what had even happened. How could he trust feelings with unknown origins?
L hated not knowing.
As he sat in his shelter, staring at the little fire that Pyroar had started for him, he frowned. There had to be more information somewhere that he wasn't finding. He desperately wanted to piece together an idea of who he was. Who he'd been. What he could do. Getting lost in thought, L accidentally dropped the sandwich he'd been eating. With a sigh, he reached down to pick it up and determine what was still edible before a black and green snout entered his field of vision. His eye widened as Zygarde began sniffing at the food, licking some of it before looking up at L.
The two stared at each other for a moment before L pushed the remainder of the food towards the Pokémon. Zygarde happily chowed down on the scraps before placing its paw on L’s knee. L once again stared at the Order Pokémon, trying to figure out what it wanted before he noticed a little green… thing slithering into view. After a moment, he noticed the similarities between it and Zygarde. When he watched it get absorbed into the dog-like Pokémon before him, he hummed.
“Are those part of you?”
Zygarde moved its paw off of L’s knee and stood. It began to walk away, only to stop when L didn’t follow. With what seemed to be a slight annoyance, Zygarde reapproached and took L’s hand in its mouth, pulling him up. Deciding he had nothing better to do, L followed. The night was still young, which gave them plenty of time to get wherever they needed to go.
He followed Zygarde on a path that felt familiar to his feet, but practically brand new to his mind. Weaving through the stationed police and their Pokémon, entering the remnants of Lysandre Cafe and its hidden labs.
L remembered waking up deep in the labs, but considering the cleanup crews that he assumed had been looking for evidence of any kind, it looked significantly different. At the very least, he could easily walk through it now.
Coming up on what seemed to be teleporters, L frowned. He had no idea how to get through them to wherever Zygarde was trying to take him, and it seemed that would be a problem. He did his best investigating the room to no avail before his Gyarados let itself out of its ball, gently leading him the right way. With its help, they swiftly made their way to the central computer lab.
L wondered how much time he and his Pokémon had spent in the labs for Gyarados to know the way so confidently.
Stepping up to the central computer with Zygarde, L could feel his muscle memory trying to take over. Something in him still knew what to do, and as odd as it felt, he allowed it too. With practiced fluidity that felt extremely foreign to his mind, he managed to get the computer running.
The most recent thing that had been up caused his eye to widen.
The ultimate weapon?
In an instant, he remembered what he’d done.
He’d fired the ultimate weapon. He’d nearly destroyed everything he thought he loved, and Zygarde had saved him despite what he tried to do.
L stared at the monitor in disbelief.
He thought he loved the world. How could destroying the world mean he loved it.
How could he even begin to make up for everything he tore apart?
Was he still Lysandre? He could remember at least what had led to his most recent predicament. For the past weeks, he’d thought that he wanted to remember. But if that was who Lysandre… who he, had been, maybe he could take this chance to rectify his mistakes.
Maybe Lysandre needed to stay in yesterday, and L would walk forward to the coming future.
Looking back down and at Zygarde, L’s brow pinched. L could feel his heart pounding in his chest.
“Your cells. That’s what you’re missing.” It wasn’t a question. He knew he was right.
Zygarde looked up at L and blinked.
“You want me to help you find them?”
Zygarde turned and sat, almost nodding to the man.
L nodded in return, his confused brow pinch from earlier turning into a determined one.
He couldn’t remember everything, but he did know that he had to make up for what he could remember.
Turning back to the computer, he began the search for any information related to Zygarde.
“Then we better get started.”