Ancient Wanderings | Drabble
Lysandre had long lost count of how many years he had lived through. Being forced far into prehistoric times did little to aid his sense of time, but he and Kiko together had a rudimentary idea at the time when modern humans began to crawl out of their caves and form tribes. They estimated upwards of 14,000 years, but they simply shaved it down to 10,000 for convenience, and to make themselves feel not quite so old.
When they reached "modern" times, they had instilled in each other one rule: do not interfere with history. Lysandre did nothing to intervene in the Great Kalos War, letting AZ carry through with his building of the Ultimate Weapon and the near-destruction of the region. They never met the immortal king in their travels, either. In fact, for the most part, they kept away from Kalos altogether.
They found themselves in the last year before Lysandre's ill-fated time machine was built. Once again, they agreed on one thing: do not interfere. Not that Lysandre would have been able to intervene regardless, of course. He had long since outgrown any human building.
Now Kiko was gone. Now he traveled the world alone. This would have suited his old self just fine, but in the absence of the one woman who traveled through time with him, he found himself lonely. He couldn't remember feeling that way before.
He reassured himself constantly that it would merely be a century, if that, before she rejoined him. Team Rocket would not live forever, and they would. These would be very long decades, though.