there's something horribly bitter and sweet and both measures when you think about how lysandre "died" an absolute madman to the vast majority of the populace, but there's still pockets of people who were disadvantaged at the time and were so stricken by his kindness that they went on to dedicate their lives to service in honor of that man.
i know there's only so much a pokemon game is gonna be willing to dive into it, but i highkey wish we got to speak with more of flare nouveau or others like corbeau who remember a charitable lysandre willing and able to actively save kids from hunger or homelessness or otherwise being abandoned by family or state.
and not in like a, "oh all his works of goodness mean his attempted genocide is completely forgotten and excused" sort of way, but in a "it was scary to see someone change so sharply. it hurt to see someone fall apart like that. it was horrifying to see someone lose their will to live and their faith in humanity in real time and it was painful to see what happened to those on the receiving end of it. i don't know if im right for still feeling grateful. i don't know which was the real him." sort of way.
i would've loved to see the other, non-mable team flare scientists reminisce. how did he seem to them when they joined? do they remember the kind lysandre or the cruel one? which one of those sides made them stay? was it simply out of commitment to science? was there any true loyalty to the cause? was there ever? and how do their opinions contrast with the grunts?
back when team flare was a charitable organization, did you still need to pay an exorbitant amount to get in, or was that a tax that was levied later? and if it was a later addition, what was the cultural difference between those new and old grunts? were the older grunts and those born into it more likely to start up stuff like nouveau cafe?
there is so, so much to think about...
