#ciph.hc

[cipher-legal-and-ethics-dept]

So yes, I too subscribe to the popular fanon that Ardos and Eldes inherited Greevil's yellow (and rather creepy) coin eyes. Or sun eyes if you want to be charitable.

What I also think is that, even outside of any Cipher or bodyguard context, Ardos and Eldes often wear sunglasses to cover their eyes because people tend to be unnerved by them. Yellow eyes aren't rare or particularly odd in the Pokémon world, especially in Orre where orange and red are also fairly normal, but their specific shade of this bright, pale, weirdly intense and kind of sickly yellow stands out. Especially Eldes, being the pensive and anxious person that he is, is prone to thousand-yard stares which is the single best thing someone with those eyes can do - if the goal is to freak everyone out. Spoilers: That's usually precisely not his goal. As for Ardos, he looks positively demonic during his crashouts thanks to those eyes, and Greevil uses them effectively for intimidating business partners.

Lily, as cute as she finds Eldes, was no exception to this rule. When she finally got to see his eyes uncovered, she was also unnerved and had to get used to what she jokingly named the "shining spotlight stare". In all fairness to her: He was staring at her a lot. Intensely.

And who wouldn't? Lily is gorgeous

[cipher-legal-and-ethics-dept]

Cail is actually quite the interesting character in my verse.

You see, not only do we have the fairly classic fanon of him knowing Wes, there's also the fun part where he knows Nascour as well. It started out fairly innocent too - they were both rebellious teens looking for a fun night out in Pyrite Town, with Cail living in the area to this day and Nascour coming over on Metang/Metagross after escaping from his family home near Phenac City. The two boys would chat and even engage in some experimental flirting and fooling around. To this day, Nascour will often go and say hi to Cail when he's in or near Pyrite.

What Cail never knew, however, is that Nascour has since become one of Cipher's leaders. It's even possible that Cail knows things like Miror B. being secretly backed by more powerful people from Nascour, being fed random tidbits of information that Cipher wants out there (no, of course they want nobody to find out about Evice and Greevil, but Nascour is mentioned pretty openly by Cipher people; he's the boss that people are supposed to learn about as both a threat and misdirection).

Cail isn't stupid. He would've eventually noticed that other criminals run and hide whenever Nascour is in town - if aura manipulation didn't keep him nice and comfortable in the realm of guilelessness. For the longest time, he remained entirely unaware that he was "friends" with a very dangerous person and invited in evil that was far beyond the mere pranks and shenanigans he gets up to. Nascour saw no benefit in revealing the truth, thinking that one day a good opportunity would surely present itself, and he would use trust rather than fear to deal with Cail until the time comes.

The details of what happened between Cail and Wes aren't set in stone. But they were close. And Cail had and still has strong feelings for Wes. Once he found out about that, Nascour rejoiced - in fact, he was much more delighted by Cail's attachment to Wes than anything pertaining to himself. Because such emotions could be twisted and then used. Turning love and affection into obsession and jealousy, an easy task with Rui in the picture.

It may be that Cail accidentally or even knowingly leaked information to Cipher, due to promises that were made to him. It may be that he learned who Nascour really was during this time and cooperated only out of fear. It may be that he risked his own safety and well-being by trying to mislead Cipher and/or warn Wes. None of that is set in stone either.

But this is basically what's going on with Cail and what past ficlets featuring him have been referencing.

[cipher-legal-and-ethics-dept]

Lily was determined to hate Eldes.

When the Verich brothers arrived at that fancy Kalosian university back in the day, their reputation preceeded them. Everyone knew that some mega rich billionaire guy from the crime region was sending his nepo babies. Everyone knew exactly that they were there because of money and money alone, regardless of merit or qualifications.

And Ardos behaved exactly how Lily expected a man like that to act. It was easy to let him be a dick for 30 seconds, confirming everything she already thought about him, and fully commit to hating him after.

But Eldes was different. When Lily came across him for the first time, she expected him to be exactly like Ardos and was taken aback as he proceeded to carry himself very differently. Quiet, shy, a bit awkward but very polite and nice when spoken to, weirdly sweet even. Eldes was always saying all the right things to seem like the kind of man Lily could like and respect; in fact, he was so good at it and so smoothly handled any trick questions and subtle provocations that she suspected he was playing some sort of underhanded "make the woman like me so I can get what I want from her" game.

This had Lily frustrated and, at times, led her to be more snappy with him than was strictly necessary, to which Eldes displayed his favorite fawn response and was genuinely apologetic. It was a bit of a weird situation to observe, from an outsider's perspective especially: These two young people who at first glance have very little in common and somehow go from having a normal conversation to one nearly fighting the other every time they meet, yet keep coming back for more rounds.

Essentially, Lily wanted to show Eldes that he can't fool her. She had gone into full stubborn mode about it. She was determined to rip that mask of the perfectly nice and sweet guy off his stupid cute face, so that she and everyone could see that he's just like his dickhead brother, a shallow man who's only trying to placate her so that he can get something from her.

And Lily wasn't entirely wrong. We all know that Eldes is masking in some ways. He was also very much trying to placate her, seeing that she was upset with him for reasons he didn't quite understand but wanted to make right.

Unfortunately for Lily, she found that, when she finally ripped off the mask, there was in fact a nice and sweet guy behind it. Someone who had been genuinely trying to be a good person and connect with the people he had met, even those like her who weren't making it easy for him. Someone who never was and never has been like his dickhead brother.

Worse yet, however, Lily found that she had started to like the guy Eldes had put on display since the very beginning. And that the fact that this guy was actually real and his genuine self meant that she liked him - and could now like him in peace, knowing that he never deceived or disrespected her like she thought he did.

[cipher-legal-and-ethics-dept]

My take is that Ardos and Eldes - yes, both of them - are far less popular among Cipher people than one would perhaps assume.

Disregarding the additional nuances of Ardos probably losing more likeability points due to being an asshole and Eldes winning some back by being nice, the main thing about them is that they are the Grand Master's sons and get special privilege and treatment for that all the time, even compared to the other admins who are of the same rank. This gets especially egregious when they get that over Nascour who is not only Chief Admin/Executive ranked above the admins but also a relative of theirs in my verse (context). And yes, you bet that this pisses him off, creates interfamilial conflict and is used by him to do some campaigning and alliance forging behind the scenes.

In addition to that, a lot of members of Cipher are actual, hardened criminals (from the thugs Cipher hires on the side to the more sophisticated and sneaky conpeople and killers in its upper ranks) and can tell that Ardos and Eldes got their ranks and privileges purely by being born in the right bed. They are strong Trainers, that is something people will concede, but that's also about it.

They suck at crime and lack experience in the actual criminal scene. They could not pick a lock if they tried. They know very little of the daily dealings of the gangs and current state of affairs. They can defend themselves and put people in their place if they have to, but the gang leaders don't respect them (meanwhile compare how Nascour made Gonzap his little bitch)

Most of their time is spent hanging out with their father and traveling. Ardos and Eldes do very, very little of the actual work that goes into building up and running the syndicate - no research, no lab work, no recruiting, no participation in gang wars or street fights, no coordinating or overseeing anything or anyone, etc

Also let's be real: Greevil can absolutely defend himself and he will. He doesn't need them, it's mostly for show and convenience

In addition to the combination of 1) "people can tell they aren't proper criminals" plus 2) favoritism from the Grand Master plus 3) their own family member, Chief Admin and the one among the Cipher bosses who is the most directly involved with everyone else (I tend to say that Nascour being a decoy boss means he still counts as a boss) making sure to remind everyone of these facts and undermining the standing of various Verichs in his own favor, there is yet another factor. Many members of Cipher are, if the general state of Orre is anything to go by, poor. We even have at least one confirmed working class person among the admins. And these people have yet another - very good! - reason not to like Ardos and Eldes. Maybe they can respect Greevil a bit more because he actually ran (and still to a degree runs) his business, but his boys? They were just born into luxury, they did nothing to earn this.

I imagine that, even when other Cipher members hide their feelings - which I imagine they don't often do, at least not the higher-ups - the brothers are aware of this. Eldes deals with this by keeping his head down, smiling through snide remarks and potshots aimed at him and just trying to be nice and pleasant, which some people appreciate on an individual level and sometimes has them go as far as to say something along the lines of, "well, at least he's alright", but others interpret this as yet more weakness on his part, lowering their opinion of him even further. Ardos fights fire with fire - he gets smug, snaps back, puts people down, holds his power and money over their heads and forces compliance, if necessary with literal fire from the maw of dragon Pokémon. His credo is: "If you hate me, fuck you, you filthy little peasant".

[cipher-legal-and-ethics-dept]

Out of universe, it's quite likely that Orre's name was derived from "ore". But I have a fun headcanon regarding the linguistics in-universe.

You see, in my verse, "Orre" actually evolved from "Aura" (also a reference to the Spanish localization). That's what it was called during the time period now referred to as Ancient Orre.

Now, as some of you may know, my main source of inspiration for Ancient Orre is Ancient Rome, due to the colosseum ruins and all. Correspondingly, my main source of inspiration for the Ancient Orrean language is Latin.

In Ancient Orrean, "aura" had a double meaning. It was used both like Latin "aurum" (gold) and "aura" as we know it today, the latter of which evolved from its original meaning of aroma and odor (borrowed from Latin "aura" which means breeze or air) to the more "vibe" kind of thing we mostly associate it with in modern day English. The reason why Ancient Orrean "aura" meant both gold and, well, aura is that, in this language, it was conceptualized as meaning some kind of richness or wealth, with gold as one of the most precious materials being the "outwards" riches in your possession and aura being a manifestation of the "inwards" riches that come from your soul - also quite a precious thing.

Both meanings of the word became central to Ancient Orre's identity due to its reputation for being rich in precious metals and minerals and its proud tradition of training psychics, and so Aura became its name first and then later Orre.

Just like aura was originally borrowed from Latin in our world, it would then be the case that aura in the Pokémon world is a very rare and possibly the only example of an Ancient Orrean word being borrowed and continuing to be used in modern day language.

~

Bonus lore: This is the kind of thing only few people can tell you in modern day Orre, examples being Dakim if he thinks you're worthy of sharing insight into his culture with, Nascour if he ever feels like sharing the old lore he learned, which is never, and Ardos after about three glasses of ridiculously expensive alcoholic beverages, because he wants to show you how much he knows.

[cipher-legal-and-ethics-dept]

One pocket headcanon I have for Michael is that he never told Lily, Jovi or anyone in HQ Lab what happened on Citadark Isle.

He knew that it would break Jovi's heart and possibly forever change the way she interacts with the world if she found out that "Mr. Cool Man" was not a "nice person" and in fact tried to kill her brother. After she already lost her father (possibly to Cipher as well).

He knew that Lily, Krane and the other adults would never forgive themselves for letting him get into such a dangerous situation in the first place.

And Michael just wanted everyone to be happy, as his reward for his hard work as a hero, not be upset and heartbroken about things that happened. So he left out parts of the story. I like to think that he said he went to the dome to face Greevil and defeated him and then ended his tale there. At some point, Michael definitely also had to catch Eldes before he could drop the truth bomb, as part of his efforts to make amends and come clean about everything, and made him promise to not say a word either.

I like to imagine that Eldes asked Michael if he was sure and said that it's not his responsibility to protect him, his father or his brother, and that Michael told him it's more so for the sake of his own family, which actually made Eldes feel better about it. He wasn't happy to agree to this, not because he was at all looking forward to telling Lily that his brother almost fucking murdered her baby boy, but because he wanted no more lies and to finally face the consequences of his own and Cipher's actions, so that he can be free from it all after. Still, he agreed because it was Michael's wish and he felt that Michael alone should get to decide this, not he (Eldes).

It doesn't bother Eldes that only four people, himself included, know what he did that day. That he saved many lives and arguably accomplished a tiny bit of heroism himself. The shame that he feels about the actions of Ardos and Greevil is far greater than any pride he could take in his own, and he views them as the only right thing to do in that moment and what he as just a human being was supposed to do.

Michael has shouldered many burders a boy his age shouldn't have had to carry, so to him it's simply "what is one more?". And so he takes on one more, just to make sure his loved ones don't worry about him more than they already have. He also hides the threatening message he receives from Ardos after defeating him in Orre Colosseum (if we want to consider that canon), possibly even from Eldes to also not stress him out any further.

And even though Ardos is most definitely the last person Michael cares to protect with this - if he ever finds a way out of Cipher fanaticism, changes his way and truly regrets what he did, Michael's action might also allow him to come back from something there usually is no coming back from. I don't think too many people have considered an eventual redemption arc for Ardos and it's not something I necessarily plan to make canon in my verse either, but if we want to entertain that possibility for a second, we can appreciate that Michael saved him too, in a way.

In a way he should never, ever have had to, mind you.

[cipher-legal-and-ethics-dept]

Alongside the other contrasts, differences and dichotomies that are pretty much mandatory for any characterization of Ardos and Eldes, they ended up with another in my verse: Past and future.

Ardos is fascinated - almost obsessed - with the past, specifically Ancient Orre with all its glory, achievements and culture. He sees the destruction and downfall of Ancient Orre not as an inevitable and perhaps even justified consequence of endless wars and battles and massive abuse of power and resources on every side; he sees it as a tragedy that must be reverted. Essentially, Ardos hopes that Cipher's rule could be the first step towards restoring this old power and glory that Orre once had and eventually bring it back to a place where it and its inhabitants are taken seriously and no longer branded as a filthy den of lowly criminals (ironic, coming from a man who is a criminal himself and whose father is probably one of the biggest thieves - by virtue of being a billionaire - the world has ever seen). Needless to say, Ardos also pictures himself as one of the rulers and masters of this restored realm.

Eldes believes - due to aforementioned reasons - that there are damn good reasons why Ancient Orre fell and that it should be left buried under the sand and its dreams of power and conquest laid to rest forever. He wants a better future for his home region, but it should be a future that moves on from the past and doesn't repeat the same mistakes. This is why Eldes takes such a liking to Michael and develops a strong desire to both guide and protect him: Seeing what a genuinely good and positive person Michael is and how he works hard to save and protect people and Pokémon makes Eldes believe that this future could become reality, despite all the corruption, injustice, spite and hatred poisoning Orre to this day, manifested in Cipher (chiefly but sadly not exclusively). It has since become his goal to preserve this better future - through its "avatars" like Michael - at all cost.

Ardos wanting to kill Michael works well with this new aspect too, as I'm sure you can already tell.

[cipher-legal-and-ethics-dept]

As a dad, Agnol is pretty hands off if you want to be charitable. Uninvolved and kind of a deadbeat if you don't.

It suited Venus well enough growing up. You know she was up to some mad shit in her teens.