Pokémon Fool's Gold | Orre & Galar Fanfiction

Chapter 50: An Order

News of Verzant's fate spread fast. Incriminating videos were usually removed from Cipher's intranet within seconds, but no-one bothered removing those of the guards dragging him from the main building to the filthy and stuffy cells. At the Pokémon HQ Lab, Pierre who hacked in after tracing Anabel to The Under, eagerly downloaded it; only to find himself more perplexed than he already was.

'It's just more infighting.'

'Well, that's good, innit?' Hop replied, 'Infighting's a real weakness.'

'Yeah, but I don't have a clue what that Lyndon guy actually wants. Verzant's easy to figure out. He wants to be Governer. Znider's on a power trip and Brynlee and Coren are psychopaths. They're probably all after some form of world domination. Lumir's on our side. But Lyndon? He obviously doesn't want what his Admins want... so what the hell is it?'

He sighed. 'And there's no Anabel or Looker to work it out.'

'But we will,' Jovi insisted, 'We have to. I mean, let's see... everyone fancies Verzant, right?'

She picked up various Galarian phrases from her husband. 'Not that I get why, but anyway. He's their motivational speaker. Probably the best person to resolve their current crisis. Locking him up won't make people like Lyndon. It'll made them actively dislike him. He must be trying to send them a message. A message that Cipher isn't the sunshine and roses they've been led to believe it is.'

'But they've gone to such great pains to pretend it is...'

'Yeah, but it's not like he can pretend otherwise at this point, is it? When practically every decent person in Orre's called them out on the telly and they haven't just kidnapped our shitty cops, but two International Police officers and some innocent citizens. So he must be embracing that. Telling his followers "OK, we're actually evil and you better be scared, because if this can happen to Verzant, I'll sure as hell do it to you." I don't know. It still doesn't really tell us what he wants.'

Michael, standing beside his brother in-law, shrugged. 'Maybe it is world domination. That was their original goal. Even when Alfie went all "save Orre," Ardos still openly wanted that.'

Hop frowned. 'I don't know... Pierre, have you managed to get a pic of him?'

'No need,' Michael said, 'His name's Lyndon Massey. I remember him – he made it through Victory Road right after me. Gave me a real run for my money when we battled it out. He's 31 now.'

'Oh!' Jovi exclaimed, 'That Lyndon! I remember him, too! He chose an Eevee. Oh, that's so weird. He seemed so nice. So enthusiastic about Pokémon... and the kid he was having. I guess that was Trip. What was his girlfriend's name?'

'Laila. Yes, that Laila. It is weird. They both voiced concerns about Cipher with Gym Leaders. But of course, the police did nothing.'

'Wait, wait, wait... he was worried about Cipher and he loved Laila, but Rosen killed her because she wouldn't join Cipher and then he went and became the Grand Master?! Whaaaat? That doesn't add up.'

'Maybe he got jaded. Maybe she threatened to kill him. Or Trip? I don't know.'

'Yeah, but how did he get from that to Grand Master?'

Pierre tapped away. Concentration wrinkled his face. His Metagross was equally absorbed. No-one understood what they were silently communicating about, but they knew it was part of the genius behind Pierre's hacking. Occasionally, he mumbled in Kalosian. Metagross nodded. Jovi saw videos downloading. The lab had the fastest internet connection in Orre. They were saved within minutes.