Itâs rare to see a smile grace his features and yet it does with ease around the compliment of his cooking. Heâs in the company of a trusted companion and heâs able to relax around him in the privacy of his own quarters. Itâs a relief really to be able to let down his guard for once. Heâs always busy minding what he says and presentation is always key when youâre famous. It taxes him and it shows in how quickly that smile fades where once it lingered for a time. Heâs tired, but keeps that hidden, doesnât want to burden their time together with foul memories of work and the people heâs tolerated throughout the entire day.Â
While he was following his guest towards the dining room he was struck by some memories of Siebold when he was starting to get into professional cooking. He had definitely improved, a lot, Lysandre was absolutely certain that his own cooking skills werenât compared to Sieboldâs now, something that made a smile pop up on his face. The development of someone he once called apprentice was truly beautiful. Lysandre stopped his memory trip when his guest scolded him once again, this wasnât the first time they had this conversation.
âWe both know I donât have the time to cook again old pal, but I will consider your offer, having food this good served on a daily basis is definitely temptingâ
His hunger made him forget the initial reason of why they were meeting today, thankfully Siebold reminded him. Lysandre had already prepared some sort of speech to introduce his companion into the philosophy of Team Flare, but instead, he decided to throw that away; this wasnât a grunt, this was Siebold, a man who had shared a friendship with Lysandre through ups and downs. The introduction to this topic shall come from the heart. With this decided, Lysandre took the seat his friend had chosen for him, thanked Siebold once again for the food, grabbed the fork with his right hand and one inch before touching his meal he stopped and said:
âSiebold, Iâm going to ask you a single question before I tell you why I called you here. I know that youâll give me an honest answerâ With a pause, he changed his look from the meal directly to Sieboldâs gaze. âDo you think that something beautiful should stay that way forever?â
The recollections of the past come so easy to him; they flow into and fill every cavity, each one longing for something more than the ghost of a memory. What he does instead with these minute beings is to discard them, simply. There is no need for sentiment.
Months have passed since that day, the day that every single goal Lysandre once had were blown away, torn apart in a matter of seconds. The memories of that one moment when the ultimate weapon fired the tiny bits of energy it had gathered to destroy not only Team Flareâs secret hideout and part of Geosenge town, but also Lysandreâs ambitions.
Team Flare was disbanded months ago, the police of Kalos presumed that their leader died in the explosion, an affirmation that was false. Lysandre met many people in the process of forming Team Flare and also in the process of creating Lysandre Labs, neither money nor a place to stay represented a problem for him after the events of Geosenge town. But even thought he didnât lack any common need, the fact that everything he once dreamed of had been taken away from him made him think that it would have been better to accept his faith during the explosion and die âbeautifullyâ.
âHave you come to report me, Sycamore? Maybe the Kalos police still thinks I am alive. Or perhaps, have you come to mock me? Every single thing I once dreamed of has been torn apart, while you are still relevant as one of Kalos greatest pokemon researchers. Yes, a great mind like maybe I once was. Donât pity me Sycamore, laugh at me, maybe I can use this as a redemption.â Lysandre said with a confident voice that started to break when he pronounced the name of the person he once called friend.
The day was just starting out, bright and early, 7 am to be exact. The pidgeyâs were making their way to who knows where and people were busy bustling about the lively Lumoise City at this hour.
Serena was currently taking in the warmth that the sun had provided due to some recently cold days over the week, but it looked like the weather was going to start feeling like spring instead of winter, thank god. As she passed people she gave her usual smile, wave, and bonjours as they returned the same gestures no matter if they were in a rush or not.
âSerena, excuse my manners, I didnât recognize you. Itâs a pleasure to have you here, please, take a seat, order anything you want, and donât worry about the price. Iâd like to ask you a few questions, if you have the time of course.â he said while telling the waiter to bring Serena anything she wanted, to which the waiter nodded back with a smile.
Many memories were coming back to his mind, memories with Sycamore back when they were younger, back when they were closer and neither ideologies nor work could get between their friendship. Lysandre thought that it would be better not to bring unpleasant ghosts from the past to the conversation, after all, he had other things in mind for this pleasant encounter. Lysandre was aware that Serena owned a holocaster, after all, he gave it to her in the first place, maybe that would be a good way to start.Â
âI hope the holocaster isnât giving you any problems, Lysandre Labs has big plans for the next update. Kalos will be able to experience the future first than any other region thanks to usâ. He said in a confident voice while taking a seat in the table Serena seemed to have chosen.
   They make plans to meet each other every so often after work. Heâs far more successful these days and all of it is thanks to Lysandre. He knows this and tries to showcase his gratitude by preparing the odd meal every so often and bringing it to their meetings. Tonight Lysandre has requested they meet at a later time and Siebold thinks nothing of it. Theyâre just going to have dinner and talk. It gives Siebold a chance to unwind and confide in someone he trusts, someone who wonât take advantage of his growing accomplishments and dreams.Â
   He has news for Lysandre tonight as well. The League is considering him as one of their Elites and he can barely keep from telling him or Grant and Valerie what is truly going on. To be an upcoming chef and an elite? Itâs more than he can ever ask for and it currently resides in his thoughts as he exits a cab and picks up a bag filled with food. The aroma from it is enough to garner a comment from the cab driver as he pays him: âIâll take some of that food in exchange for your fair!â. He merely declines, pays and makes his way up to Lysandreâs home.Â
   Itâs always something to take it inâ he never dreams of owning something beyond his small apartment in Lumiose, but this? He shakes his head and rings the doorbell, waiting patiently to be received even though he worries about the food growing too cold. Heâs on time though, making it a point to be a little early as heâs never one to keep someone waiting.Â
   âI should have dressed warmerâŠâ Already he feels the shift in the autumn air. Itâs brisk and all heâs wearing is a white and blue shirt tucked into some white jeans. Heâs presentable at least and ignores the nip of the air as he waits for Lysandre to welcome him into his home.Â
   When the door opens heâs sure to let his neutral expression fade into something more welcoming. Heâs among a friend here and doesnât need to express caution or keep his guard up. Heâs relieved to see a familiar face and offers the briefest of smiles to what he holds dear before him.Â
    âLysandre, I hope you havenât eaten yet. Iâve prepared us a meal.â As always. Itâs become quite routine.Â
âOur companies shall grow together, side by side, looking to achieve whatâs best for humanityâ Lysandre said in a confident voice while shaking the hand of a very well known businessman in the Kalos region.
The meeting had taken more time than he had expected, it was the third today and it was already past noon, he hadnât had the chance to eat lunch (or a decent breakfast). Lysandre was doing what he could to control the sounds his stomach was making through the many meetings he had to attend today. He was barely surviving on bottles of water and little treats that the conference room at Lysandre Labs had to offer for guests. It was painful, yes, but he was already used to it, sometimes he could have a completely free day or other times he had to handle not eating till midnight, when his tight agenda would suppress most of his meal times.Â
The CEO of Lysandre Labs had quite a different appointment planned for tonight though. Siebold, his old colleague, was coming over tonight for dinner. Lysandre made sure to cancel everything else he had to do past 7 pm, after all, he hadnât had the chance to have a talk with his old pal for a few weeks now. Sieboldâs career as a chef couldnât be better, and Lysandreâs company was growing stronger every minute that passed, they both had become two busy professionals, and as time passed, their meetings had become less frequent, but their friendship and respect for each other was as strong as ever.
Stars filled the sky and Lysandre was done for the day. He proceeded to leave Lysandre Labs HQ and ask his driver to take him home. He was still on time, Siebold was a really punctual individual, which was one of the reasons why Lysandre enjoyed his visits that much, he hates when people are late.
When he arrived home he no longer felt like the CEO of a company, he felt more normal, more human. Lysandre was wondering wether if he should tell Siebold about the usual improvement of the company, or was it time to come clean? What could happen if he decided to tell Siebold about his true plans? They were no strangers, they knew each other for a long time, there was trust in their relationship. Maybe Siebold could see Team Flare as a true way of reaching perfect beauty, maybe Siebold co-
-brrrrrrrrrrrr-
The sound of his stomach interrupted his thoughts, he was starving. No lunch, almost no breakfast, he was close to passing out. He approached to the kitchen of his place desperately looking for anything to eat, but he was interrupted yet again, this time not by his stomach, but by the doorbell.
He took a deep breath and prayed to Arceus that he wouldnât lose consciousness in the middle of the conversation. Lysandre opened the door and could smell the majestic aroma of Sieboldâs famous recipe: Clauncher with Trinity Sauce. âLysandre, I hope you havenât eaten yet. Iâve prepared us a mealâ Lysandre couldnât be happier.
âSiebold, on time as always, and just by the smell of that Clauncher I can tell how much youâve improved with your cooking skills. Please, come in, I havenât ea-â Lysandre was interrupted, not by Siebold, but by himself, his stomach released the loudest noise it could. He couldnât hide how much he was starving. But now, he was more embarrassed than hungry.
(This was definitely now how I wanted our conversation to start) he said to himself
Being in Unova always made N slightly uncomfortable. It was a rare day something good came of an Unovan recognizing him; more often than not, it meant exactly the sort of judgement he felt he deserved.Â
Just because he felt he deserved it didnât make it feel any good, though.Â
So being in Castelia was a special sort of nightmare for him, but thatâs where he found himself today. Why did he come here? He wasnât even sure himself. Heâd never had the chance to explore it before, and while he normally preferred to stick to forest when he visited his home region, something inspired him to come to the densely populated city.Â
What a mistake that was turning out to be. Heâd bought coffee at some stand, mostly out of curiosity. Heâd never had coffee, as he never felt the need for extra caffeine. Cap pulled low, he tried to avoid brushing against people but his shoulders got slammed every few feet. Mumbling âSorryâ after every hit, N was trying to keep from spilling the drink everywhere. At least it had a lidâŠ
He finally found himself with a little space to breathe by turning into a side street. Sighing in relief, he went to turn to see the street sign, only to elbow someoneâand, jolting in surprise, N finally lost hold of his drink, leaving it to splatter both him and the stranger as it fell to the street.Â
For a moment, he stood there, wide-eyed and blinking. But then the stream of apologies got going, a mile a minute.Â
âIâm so sorry, please forgive me, is there anything I can do to make it up to you? Are your shoes okay? Iâm really sorry, I canâreplace them? Iâm so sorry, I didnât mean to ruin your day, IâŠâ
Lysandre was starting to get used to leave Kalos. The past month he had to attend to quite a few meetings in Hoenn, last week he had to fly to Kanto for an interview, but today, today was different, he was visiting a region he didnât use to visit often. Unova was beautiful, the orange haired man hadnât traveled here in more than a couple of years, and he was excited, but not because the fact that he was revisiting Unova, he was excited because he was going to do one of his favorite things: helping others. The CEO of Lysandre Labs decided to make a large donation to the pokemon center in Castelia city for further investigations in pokemon health.Â
â...The health of pokemon is important to the well being and happiness of humans as well. This donation will be the first of many, and I assure you that Lysandre Labs will ensure the best of treatment for pokemon in Castelia city.â he said to the microphone in front of him, finishing his speech.
Claps could be heard around the pokemon center from passerby and interviewers. Lysandre smiled and felt a warmth feeling in his chest. He didnât care about the recognition of the people, he cared about the fact he knew he was doing what was right. Giving back the wealth the creation of the Holo-Caster gave him to society was the right thing to do. Pokemon around the region would be able to be healthier thanks to him, and he couldnât feel better about that. Lysandre had a meeting programmed after his speech, but he decided to cancel it, he was in love with Castelia. After a few phone calls, he had the rest of the day for himself, and the only thing that he wanted to do was to admire the view of such a gigantic city. Some people could find such populated places as boring or uncomfortable, but Lysandre was amazed by Castelia, it reminded him of Lumiose.
Lysandre didnât knew where he was going, he was just walking at a slow pace, switching directions every few minutes. What could he do next? How could he help the world improve now? Questions like that popped his mind every time he turned. He was lost in thought.
âWhat if I improve the Holo-Caster? Maybe I should add-â Â his thoughts were interrupted by a large amount of apologies that seemed to be directed towards him. Lysandre looked down and noticed that his shoes were a bit wet by a drink that seemed like coffee. He was so distracted that he couldnât even feel the liquid falling on his clothing. Standing in front of him was a green haired man wearing a hat a bit lower than normal. Lysandre didnât need to make much effort to see in the manâs face that it had truly been an accident, so he interrupted:
âMy shoes are okay and they donât need a replacement. You donât have to apologize, I am sure by the look on your face that this was an accident, but let me take advantage of your kindness. I adore coffee and having conversations, and since the drink you spilled was coffee, I think we both share at least one interest. Thereâs something you can do for me, and that would be taking me to where you bought this drink and sharing one with me. Is that fine with you?â
It was 7 oâ clock in the morning, most of the people walking around Lumiose were men and women dressed in formal clothes, but not Lysandre. The orange haired man was wearing a casual outfit, it was his day off, one that he definitely wanted to start with the right foot, and for him, the right foot meant a warm coffee that would help him start his day energetically.Â
