Seeing Archie show interest in his little project and flip through the files he gave him did a lot to warm the frigid mechanisms of Maxie’s heart. He made a good decision coming to him first, he supposed, and Archie’s admission on feeling special only sweetened the deal. After all, Archie was special to him.
In more ways than one, possibly.
The light faded from his expression as he paid closer attention to Archie’s body language. The slight frown as he stared at the photograph of cave paints depicting Groudon, the uncomfortable shift in his posture… there was a but coming, and Maxie had to brace himself for the oncoming questions. He wasn’t going to win over Archie so easily, it seemed.
And come the queries did. Of course Maxie knew about Archie’s love of the environment, specifically maritime life. He’d even accompanied Archie to the beach on occasion, watching him pick up litter from the sands as he sat with the trash bin next to his chair as he read. He hadn’t forgotten, and if all went according to his initial calculations? The ends would more than justify the means.
“We as humans have struggled against Pokémon for land and territory for ages.” He sat back and steepled his fingers, thinking. “Think of it, Archie. With more continent space available to us, we’d have our own territory to build upon. Any untouched ecosystems - forests, deserts, et cetera - can be left alone for the use of Pokémon and Pokémon alone. With a steady, controlled hand guiding the expansion, the environment can soon reach a new equilibrium. We will all benefit in the end.”
“Besides…” Maxie propped his chin on his hand and stared Archie down over the top of his glasses, allowing them to slide down the bridge of his nose ever-so-slightly. “We as humanity have to set boundaries with Pokémon some day. Isn’t it inevitable? The more we rely on them as the foundation of our society as a whole, the longer it will take to assert ourselves as our own species. I know it’s an uncomfortable truth, Archie, but it’s a truth nonetheless.”
He gave him the most vulnerable expression he could manage. “You understand now, don’t you?”
To say the least, Archie was a bit lot taken aback by this whole plan. Was he understanding wrong? Did Maxie really believe that Pokémon were standing between humanity and success? Humans have done nothing but take from Pokémon who have absolutely no say in the matter, and while it wasn’t entirely a bad thing in the beginning, things have escalated to the point of no return. If anything, this was proof alone that humanity was standing in the way of its own success.
And the worst part was that he had told Maxie all of this before. In detail. Did he just forget all of that? He couldn’t believe that his friend secretly harbored such a capitalistic mindset. Sure, yeah, he couldn’t deny that what Maxie was saying made sense in a.. way, but it was such a selfish kind of thinking. Still didn’t justify trying to use the power of a God either.
“I mean-- yeah, sure. I get where you’re coming from.” He began, closing the folder in his grip and placing it back down on his lap. It had come out a little more frank than he intended it to be, and the curve of his smile was long gone now, but-- he set the folder down because he wanted to give Maxie his full attention again. Though when Archie opened his mouth to continue, he found that he quickly shut it-- Oh. The way that he was looking at him like a hopeful puppy....... He really was serious about this, huh?
The thought caused a twist in his stomach-- it kind of stung a little.
At this point he was sure that his friend wasn’t going to listen to his points about the environment ( even though Archie very well could have argued how more land equals more people, and more people equals more need for invasion of habitats full of Pokémon ). So he scratched the idea. It was kind of frustrating him a little that Maxie wasn’t seeing how ridiculous this all seemed, and Archie could find himself looking off to the side, reaching a hand over to pet Boss in an effort to calm himself before he let his mind begin to overthink.
“But... think about it. Would we even be here if not for Pokémon? I don’t think expanding life or becoming more self-reliant is a bad thing, Max. It’s just-- Don’t you think we’d benefit a lot more if we worked better together with ‘em?”
Even humanity’s food was governed by the lives of Pokémon, but what was more important was the fact that there are legends that contributed in creating the entire world. He knew Maxie believed in that sort of thing considering the fact that he was going after the power of a legendary in the first place, so how did what he say make any sense? How could he just gloss over the fact that we owe everything around us to the Pokémon that inhabit the world? How could he say that they, as humans, were at a competition with Pokémon over who should live where?
“I think the problem s’that we disregard the lives of Pokémon too much. We’ve already taken and taken from the environment and acted selfishly to the point that we’ll basically drain the world away---” He paused, though it was with quick decision that he decided to be bold.
“ ‘Sides. Wouldn’t harnessing the power of a legendary Pokémon beat the purpose of not relying on them?”
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