A young man, no older than twenty, walked down a forest path. Dressed in an inconspicuous black shirt, blue vest, jeans, and a red hat, he hoisted a grey backpack with all his most precious belongings in the world. He’d been working undercover as an editor in Kalos media for over a year now, forced to keep his true allegiances a secret to help filter out any potentially damaging or alarming news stories from ever seeing the light of day. It was tedious and difficult labor, and so he hadn’t hesitated a moment when the long-awaited signal had finally come. He’d called in sick, packed his favorite things, and left without a word to his neighbors.
The journey northwest from Lumiose had gone smoothly, an oblivious taxi driver getting him as far as Cyllage City. From there it was just a few hours walk to the worthless backwoods town his colleagues had so easily commandeered. He was excited, a little nervous too, but mostly excited. After all, he’d been promised a heaven on earth. Who wouldn’t be?
“Trike!” a short yap cut into his thoughts.
“Hmmm?” he frowned, looking ahead.
A small green Pokémon stood on the path ahead, sharp teeth bared and crouched as if ready to pounce.
“Trike!” it barked again. “Electrike!”
“Yeah, what do you want?” he asked it. “I’m really busy today, so I don’t have time to battle-”
A bolt of yellow electricity flew from Electrike, just above the young man’s shoulder. He could feel his hair standing on end – it had just missed his face. He took several hasty, reflexive steps backwards, eyes wide as the small hound pawed the ground aggressively. But when it didn’t advance, his shock swiftly turned to anger.
“Alright, if that’s the way you wanna play it,” he gritted his teeth and fished around in his pack. “Tyrunt and I can-”
“Spearow! Row row row!”
He was interrupted, again, by the sound of a Pokemon’s voice. He looked up to see a small bird perched on a tree branch, glaring down at him with baleful eyes. A rustle in the bushes to the side of the path alerted him to the coming of a third, this one a furry purple Stunky with a white stripe along its back. Then, from the other side of the road, a Snubbull. Then a Houndour from amongst the dark woods. It was around this time he began having second thoughts.
“Nice Pokémon…” he said softly, taking several steps back with empty hands in front of his chest. “Good Pokémon… I-I didn’t mean anything bad, okay?”
“Dour!” the Houndour barked in reply, breathing a small trail of flame. It struck the dirt at the human’s feet, searing a crude black line into the tail. “Houndour!”
“Electrike!” the other Pokémon added.
“What?” He looked down, blinked, and looked back up. “Oh… you’re saying don’t go any further, right?”
“Hound,” the dark canine nodded once.
“Okay…” He said, briefly considering his odds of making a dash past them all. “I’ll just turn around and go back then, is that good?”
The Pokémon didn’t say anything, but on the other hand they didn’t do anything when he turned back around and began walking back the way he had come. The young man walked a good few yards before nervously checking over his shoulder. Finding them still staring unwaveringly at his back, he picked up the pace and within a few minutes had lost sight of them altogether. He cast newly-wary eyes about the dark forest several times as he walked, and only when he was absolutely sure that he was alone did he reach into his backpack and extract a Holo Caster.
“Agent XY to base,” he said almost as soon as it booted up, “we’ve got a problem.”
“It’s happening everywhere?” Lysandre frowned.
“Yes sir,” Bryony said in a neutral tone, “We’ve received reports from multiple agents on several different paths through Routes 10 and 11. When they begin to approach Geosenge Town, multiple Pokémon come emerge from the woods and threaten them until they turn around and leave. We have instances of different species of Pokémon working together to turn our people back. There seem to be too many to handle in a standard battle. One our people tried, and she subsequently reported having to flee with unconscious Pokémon and her hair on fire.”
“Intolerable,” Team Flare’s leader clenched his fist. “We can’t allow our people to be harmed and humiliated like that. We’ve suffered far too many losses already.”
“What are your orders, sir?” the green-haired scientist asked.
“Hmmm…” Lysandre unclenched his hand and considered a moment, stroking his beard. “This is obviously the work of that ‘Luna’ creature. She must feel emboldened by Celosia’s downfall and be moving to trap us here. Or perhaps she wishes for us to come and meet her on her home ground again, to waste more good people trying to flush her out. Either way, this poses too much risk to our people and cannot be ignored.”
“As you say,” Bryony nodded.
“Send out a message to all our incoming agents. Order them to meet up along their respective routes. Gather together for safety, then await my signal.” Lysandre folded his arms behind his back. “As for you, collect Malva and Aliana and inform them I want a distraction. The alien is sure to have spies watching over our base. When I give the order take whatever you need and use your visors to locate them. I don’t require them to be eliminated or captured, simply attacked and driven off or otherwise occupied. Keep all attention on yourselves. Accomplish that task, and don’t stray far. Return to base immediately if resistance becomes stiff.” He looked her right in the eye, even through her visor. “I don’t want any further losses, do you understand?”
“Yes sir.”
Jessie, James, and Meowth were started from the relative complacency of running a systems check on their mecha by the sound of chiming on the control dashboard. Meowth hastily pressed a button to accept communication, and the viewscreen in front of them was replaced by a black background with a bright red “R” emblazoned on it. A moment later, Giovanni’s stern-looking face appeared on screen, several times larger than life.
“Boss!” all three of the trio, plus Wobbuffet, saluted at once.
“Me,” he said in a low tone couched with anger. “Listen up you three and listen well. We’ve finally broken the encryption on the data that you stole. And the situation is worse than we believed. Far worse.”
“Sir?” Jessie asked.
“We’ve confirmed that Team Flare has indeed obtained the ultimate weapon used in Kalos’ mythic war 3,000 years ago,” Giovanni said. “And they appear frighteningly close to being able to use it. Based on the data from their system, they only need one key component to activate it. And what they intend to do with it…” for the first time any of the trio could remember, their boss looked genuinely discomfited. “I might use it as a means of extortion. They intend to use it to utterly annihilate all life, barring themselves.”
Jessie, James, and Meowth looked nervously at one another. Mable had been telling the truth after all.
“And when the world has been reduced to ashes, they intend to use it to create a verdant paradise, eternal and unchangeable, for themselves alone. It’s a fit of utopian delusion at its finest, but whatever happens to their ‘perfect world’ will be of no concern if we are one and all burned away to nothing.” Giovanni closed his eyes, for once not stroking his Persian. “It goes without saying that this is extremely serious. I’m sending the architectural plans for their base around the ultimate weapon – near Geosenge Town – along with their membership roster. Proceed to the attached coordinates immediately and prepare for an attack. We must put an end to this before it begins.”
“Just prepare, sir?” James said.
“Do you honestly think I would be so foolish as to leave the fate of the world in your hands?” Giovanni kept his eyes closed, hands folded together. “I’m on my way there as we speak. Kanto and Kalos are a considerable distance from one another, but I will be there as soon as I can. We will destroy Team Flare all together and dash the madman’s dreams on the hard rocks of reality.” He opened his eyes again. “And after that, who knows?” He smirked. “Perhaps we shall even claim the ultimate weapon for ourselves. I can think of few other tools that can extort entire nations.”
“Y-Yeah, dat’s right!” Meowth nodded hastily.
“Team Rocket could really rule the world with that thing!” Jessie added.
“We’ll do our best, boss!” James assured him.
“I should hope so. All our lives may depend on what happens during these next few hours.” Team Rocket’s leader nodded once. “Are there any questions?”
“J-Just one, boss,” James raised a slightly-trembling hand. “Do we have idea now where Team Flare got the Dark Ball data from? That was a Team Rocket project, wasn’t it?”
“It was, briefly, until I ordered it aborted and all data destroyed. It never advanced past the prototype stage, and its sole field tester was the man you know as the Iron-Masked Marauder.” Giovanni’s tone was even. “The benefits it conferred came with unacceptable costs. I’ve double-checked our computer networks and cross-examined the scientists involved in the experiment, and I’ve yet to establish any clear means the data could have leaked.”
“Maybe the Marauder had some backups stashed somewhere?” Jessie volunteered. “He’s in prison, isn’t he? Couldn’t we ask him?”
“Oh, I assure you, no one will be asking him anything ever again.” A vicious gleam appeared in Giovanni’s eyes. “It seems that prison food didn’t quite agree with his delicate constitution.” He smirked again, finally giving his Persian a pat on the head. “How very unfortunate for him.”
Jessie, James, and Meowth looked at each other again, and this time couldn’t quite hide their shuddering.
“I’ll tolerate a great deal of failure in my agents but plotting to overthrow me is a step too far,” he continued, now stroking his cat. “Are there any further questions?”
This time, all three members of Team Rocket emphatically shook their heads as hard as they possibly could.
“Excellent. Prepare yourselves for battle and await my arrival. Giovanni out.”
The boss’s face disappeared from the great viewscreen. Once again, the trio were staring out at an incongruously bright and pleasant sunny day, with many species of Pokémon scurrying around through the greenery at the mecha’s feet. They didn’t even have to look at once another before simultaneously reaching straight for their microphones.
“Princesses!” their voices boomed out.
“Your courage is commendable,” Lysandre said, arms folded behind his back. “And your determination is also praiseworthy. You allowed my men the chance to turn around and walk away unharmed, which is why I’m extending the same offer to you now.”
All around Team Flare’s leader, wild Pokémon were gathered. Almost a score of them altogether, with species from Gulpin to Houndour to Poliwag to Electrike all represented amongst their ranks. All were staring at him with the same angry expression regardless of species, fanning out to surround him on all sides. Many of those who had them were showing fangs.
“Perhaps you don’t understand quite who you’re dealing with. I am Lysandre, the leader of Team Flare.” That brought a chorus of angry barks and growls, though he remained unmoved. “While my associates back at base keep your leader’s spies occupied, I’ve come here to retrieve my errant subordinates. I far beyond your battling skills – you cannot hope to win against me. But because you allowed my people to flee, I’m giving all of you the chance to do the same. Turn and run right now, and I won’t raise a hand against you. Attempt to stop me, and I can’t guarantee your safety.”
In answer, a Houndour growled and lunged at Lysandre with jaws wide. But it never even got close, because the white and purple Pokémon accompanying him leapt immediately into action. Its long paws glowed with orange energy as it slammed them together, the clap unleashing a shockwave that hurled the dark canine back before it could touch the trainer.
“Thank you, Mienshao,” Lysandre patted his Pokémon on the head briefly. “Now, is that your final answer? All I desire here is to collect my subordinates and return to base.”
Electrike struck him in the back with a bolt of lightning.
Lysandre dropped to one knee with a pained grimace on his face and sparks dancing across his dark suit. Behind him, Mienshao sent Electrike soaring into the distance with a single blow, but more forest Pokémon were already surging forward to attack. Lysandre’s Pokemon was by far the most individually powerful of them, but it was also getting all but buried in a dogpile of its wild brethren.
“Fine,” Lysandre fished into a suit pocket while Mienshao struggled to throw off its enemies. “Xerneas, come out!”
He tossed a black and grey orb into the air, and the blue and black Legendary Pokémon appeared in a burst of dark energy. Its horns flared to life showing all colors of the rainbow in a beautiful display of the raw energies of life itself. It pawed the ground aggressively, empty eyes looking from one stunned forest Pokémon to the next with no trace of empathy or compassion.
“Every Pokémon here except Mienshao is an enemy of Team Flare,” Lysandre announced. “Get rid of them with your Dazzling Gleam!”
Xerneas’ antlers shone like a second sun, and the forest exploded into rainbow light.
Okay, Giovanni coming is a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, he'll definitely be useful in the coming battle. On the other hand, now they also have to find a way to keep the weapon away from him. Still, given the trio's reputation it should be simple enough to "accidentally" damage it beyond repair. Either that or they can seek asylum in Equestria.
Yikes. On one hand, Giovanni is trying to save the world. On the other, he's still pretty much a hardened mob boss. As for the mob of Pokemon vs Lysandre, it was nice knowing them. Excellent chapter.
I far beyond your battling skills
1. I'm.
Against just a Xerneas or a Yveltal, maybe everyone's combined and maximum efforts could take it out. Ash has certainly done it by himself before, and having the help of the others will bridge the gap made by the Dark Ball. Going against both at the same time, however- that's a big no-no. They will have to fight Legends with their own Legend- but where is it?
Also: what do we call a Pokemon under the influence of a Dark Ball? Shadow Pokemon are basically this.
Lysandre has no honour, trying to convince them they'll leave unharmed when he plans to wipe them all out. The legendaries' clash is getting closer...
So, it seems we'll have Celestia, Luna, Twilight, the TR trio (+ their boss and an army of TR grunts - the meeting with the non TR people won't be smooth - + an army of wild pokemons facing Lysandre and his TF...
I didn't expect this fanfic to become this intense. I'll prepare a playlist of epic themes (like this one) for later...
9107719
I have the feeling Twilight, Celestia and Luna haven't shown, yet, the full extent of their powers. That they soon will earn their own title of Legendaries.
Best case scenario is that Lysandre is defeated, and the Ultimate Weapon is DESTROYED. Giovanni wouldn’t be as bad with it under his possession, but it’s the type of thing better off destroyed than in ANYONE’S hands.
Still, gonna be AWESOME seeing the big boss man in action! Already got his battle theme from Ultra Sun and Moon ready to play!
So Giovanni is coming into the fray. I wonder how he'll react seeing Ash and his friends are also here in a joined force.
9107770
And Giovanni meeting Luna? Everything is going to be just fine!
A sobering thought springs to mind. Had twilight NOT accidentally sent Celestia there, and Luna followed. it is quite possible Lysander's plan would have already succeeded with not much hindrances
That one one word reply, especially with how serious the rest of the conversation turns out to be, had me in stiches. Super happy to hear that he'll be joining the frey.
Everything's falling into place and I await the climax with bated breath.
9107846
It's already been speculated in the comments that a Legendary sensed the presence of Twilight's mirror portal and lashed out to destroy the intrusion.
What if the speculated Legendary was actually summoning the alicorns for aid?
Giovanni, saving the world so he can rob and rule it.
9107659
He unl ike Lysandre has morals
9108123
Unless he's planning to bluff at holding nations hostage with the Ultimate Weapon, no he doesn't. He just has different ends.
9107726
What do you call unique Pokemon that don't show up outside exceptional events? Not legendary - mythical.
9108157
note it is a bluff, also note he went to great lengths to destroy the Dark Ball project. Is he a villain? Yes, but a villain with some morals unlike Lysandre
9108211
That's you speculating ut would be a bluff. What happens if a nation refuses to pay his ransom? Does he fire the weapon or not? We don't know, but I would bet on him doing so at least once, to establish his credibility.
9108219
because he is. He is usign it to extort money by threatign to use it.
9108271
And if he is not paid? Does he make good on his threat or not?
9108306
because he has nothign to gain buy using except as a bluff.
9108364
He gains credibility for future threats, and thus the likelihood that people will capitulate to his demands in the future.
9108412
But it's a destroyer of all
9108469
That's not something it just does automatically. You point it at whatever you want gone and fire a blast of varying energy level that annihilates whatever is in the target zone. It has been used once before, and life still exists in Kalos. Team Flare certainly intends to survive to firing, which you generally do by not being in the vicinity of the death ray.
9108489
still a lesser evil and his stanace on dark balls shows some morality
So, are we going to get the pokemon special's badass Giovanni saving the world from the badies?
9108123
He rather unsubtly insinuates that he had the imprisoned and powerless Iron-Masked Marauder poisoned to death for plotting against him. In the past he threatened to crush Ash and Pikachu to death to blackmail Meloetta into cooperating with his scheme. A cuddly bunny he ain't.
On the other hand, it has been left purposefully ambiguous as to whether or not he has a glimmer of a heart or is just far more materialistic than Lysandre and pragmatic about things.
Looks like Team Rocket's loyalty is going to face a dilemma after Lysandre is taking care of, stick with Giovanni for world domination or stick with the Princesses. Celestia isn't going to like this.
9108669
and for the death balls, it's clear he finds that tech abhorent so again SOME morals
9108729
It's less that he finds them a moral issue and more that he prefers to think longer term, and in the long run pokemon that are stronger but die quickly are less useful than normal ones you can keep using. Lysandre plans on killing them all anyway, so he doesn't have to worry about that.
I really want to see Giovanni and Lysandre fight for sure, I soooo hope you let us see that. Cause it would be like watching two big villains going at it, and that is usually pretty entertaining to watch.
Besides Giovanni would I assume have mega stones and all that himself, I mean...the guy has all the resources of a international crime organization at his disposal to do so. And it clear when it comes to his pokemon like Persian that he honestly cares for them and they like him too.
Then Lysandre finds out Xerneas doesn't learn Dazzling Gleam by level up. And it's only level 50, because he hasn't done anything with it since he caught it. And it doesn't know any AoE moves at level 50.
Imagine his face when Xerneas faints itself with Struggle while fighting level 10 enemies.
I think all this discussion about whether Giovanni has much of a heart in comparison to Lysandre can be summed up with a couple of quotes from Hogfather, by Terry Pratchett, comparing Giovanni to Lord Downey of the Assassins Guild and Lysandre to one of its more infamous members, Jonathan Teatime.
'Like many people with no actual morals, Lord Downey did have standards, and Teatime repelled him.'
'Mister Teatime had a truly brilliant mind, but it was brilliant like a fractured mirror, all marvelous facets and rainbows but, ultimately, also something that was broken.'
'Something began when the Guild of Assassins enrolled Mister Teatime, who saw things differently from other people, and one of the ways that he saw things differently from other people was in seeing other people as things (later, Lord Downey of the Guild said, “We took pity on him because he’d lost both parents at an early age. I think that, on reflection, we should have wondered a bit more about that”).'
Good chapter, by the way.
9109124
By level up, no, but I wouldn't put it past Lysandre to use a TM on it as a precautionary measure. Considering how many times things have gone south since the alicorns have entered the fray, I doubt he can afford to leave things to chance by this point.
9109373
I can't recall anyone using a TM in the anime. They seem to deal with TM moves by finding someone to demonstrate the move and then having the student pokemon practice it over the course of several episodes. By that model, pokemon in dark balls won't be able to learn TM moves.
9109124
Xerneas already knew Dazzling Gleam when Lysandre caught it. It used that move to sweep aside the ranks of the Flare Grunts and their Pokémon he'd brought as backup.
9109933
We know from other sources that mobs of trash are actually the most effective tactic against legendaries (Rayquaza in Destiny Deoxys, Arceus in Arceus and the Jewel of Life, and Luna 9 chapters ago).
9109939
Not this one. This particular Xerneas is also shown to know Giga Impact (learned at level 88) and Moonblast (learned at 35). You might infer I'm not playing entirely by the game's rules. Or that it has a much higher level than its game counterpart.
9109933
And that goes to show what happens when I don't pay enough attention to the story: I completely missed Xerneas using that move entirely at that point. ()^_^
9107765
It might be possible to talk Giovanni out of keeping the weapon.
Lysandre's plan is relying on total surprise to hit everyone at once with a single firing. Giovanni's idea to use it for extortion requires him to let everyone know he has it before firing it. If everyone knows he has it everyone is going to want to take it away from him before he can fire it.
It would mean Team Rocket being the target of every trainer of note, all the Champions, all the Elite Fours, all the Gym Leaders, and all of the Pokemon Rangers just to name a few. It is also likely that at many of the Legendary Pokemon remember the weapon's original firing and know how it is powered by killing Pokemon. Since about half the Legendary Pokemon are about protecting the balance of the world or protecting Pokemon from human abuse that means a lot of them would be after Team Rocket as well.
Giovanni would essentially have to watch his back from being jumped by a ludicrous amount of Pokemon firepower whenever he left the weapon's complex for the rest of his life. Then there's the really exotic abilities of some Pokemon that he'd have to guard against like Darkrai coming after him in his dreams.
In simple terms point out that Giovanni may be able to make threats with the weapon to gain enormous wealth and influence in the short term but long term it would get him so many powerful enemies with too many varied forms of attack that it would only be a matter of time before he and Team Rocket were destroyed.
9110439
Your beef with Lysander is reasonable, but honestly, his lack of motivation is about par for the course when it comes to pokemon. Apocalypse cults are the most popular choice for the enemy faction, and all of them plan to cure a grievance that you do not see any evidence for whatsoever. So yeah, Lysander's got nothing to justify his opinions, but that's normal. What makes him worse than the other villains is that he's a plot-forced genius. He gets credit for being a master tactician when he does the very same things that are stupid when anyone else does them. In other words, there is absolutely nothing special about him except that he's the special guy, and all his normal stuff is special. It's not Snake Staff's fault, since he inherited this issue from Game Freak, but that's what makes it so annoying to see Lysander do anything.
9110439
Ever heard of the Malthusian Dilemma? As the world's population of humans and Pokemon continues to grow, without apparent limit, the need for resources will get higher and higher. The gap between those who have and those who have not will only increase as available resources dwindle, driving people to consume more and more of the environment simply for their daily bread. Eventually, Lysandre believes, the world will reach a point of no return and conflicts will ravage the last of the beauty he loves so much as people squabble for the last scraps of hope. He tried at first to resolve this by acts of charity, but even for a man as obscenely wealthy as himself the world is huge and for every problem solved a new one cropped up. What's more, his generosity conditioned many people to become entirely reliant on his help and convinced them that they had some kind of right to it. So even the poor and destitute were revealed, to his eyes, as hopelessly greedy and corrupt. If nothing was done, the world would be consumed entirely. So, time for drastic measures.
Basically, the contradiction between what he wanted (to create a utopian world where no one wanted for anything) and what he got (more problems cropping up everywhere and continuous demands for his aid) drove him up the wall. If it weren't for his exaggerated sense of responsibility to solve all the world's problems, he'd still be a good guy. If he could accept some things as beyond his ability to solve and concentrated on doing what good he could, we wouldn't be here now. But he refused to do that, and so he's the bad guy.
As to where the greedy people are, ask Giovanni.
9110796
Giovanni's counterargument would be that, sure, nations of the world could probably take him down personally when he stepped outside. But would they risk it? Because if they do, and fail to capture the weapon simultaneously, their nation is going up in flames. He knows better than to make such exorbitant demands as to leave his victims with nothing to lose. Are they really going to risk the deaths of millions of their own people to avoid paying a high but manageable "not getting incinerated" tax? History says probably not.
He's a mob boss, I'm sure he's familiar with the intricate art of running a protection racket.
9110889
What has Lysandre done in this story that's been stupid? His biggest mistake so far was dismissing Celestia and Team Rocket at the Poke Ball Factory instead of trying to finish them off, but he had no idea who any of them really were at the time. The trio are just petty and failed criminals, that funny white thing just a rare species of Pokemon. When attacked by other Team Rocket agents in a far more serious way he uses much more debilitating methods to subdue them. When he had the chance to learn more of the princesses he took it, and when he realized that they could be a bigger threat than anticipated wasted no time in sending some of his best minions to off them. When Celosia failed once he gave her something that would substantially increase her Pokemon's power when she persuaded him to give her one more chance. When a horde of Team Flare grunts was no help at all against Xerneas, he replaced them with his single most powerful subordinate for tackling Yveltal. When it became clear that sending even high-level agents after the alicorns was a huge risk he opted to sneak into their forest under a distraction to rescue his agents himself, and brought at least one Legendary for backup. Just about everything he's done so far has been reasonably pragmatic.
Personally I hope the weapon's damaged in the fighting and beyond repair. I'd rather not see things turn into the gang having to deal with the moral quandary of whether to stick with Team Rocket when Giovanni's willing to use the weapon or quit. It'd give me much more peace of mind to have it damaged, Giovanni shrug and congratulate the team on a job satisfactorily done, maybe offer them a slight raise, and assume that the status quo is returned to after the fic ends.
9111014
What he's doing right now. Facing an army alone is a guaranteed defeat for anyone else, but he's special, so it just works.
media0dk-a.akamaihd.net/10/43/5b6173a1d9e471d1c15d7e2bebbee4b3.jpg
9111014
By that same token successful mob bosses choose their victims to threaten carefully. To people who's actions they can reasonably and rationally predict.
The Ultimate Weapon by its very nature threatens everyone at once. You talk of rational state actors where it might work but he also has to worry about the other regional villain teams, powerful independent trainers like Champions, powerful independent Pokemon like the Swords of Justice. Somebody is going to take a shot at him sooner or later.
Speaking of Pokemon half of Anime Zygarde seriously considered exterminating humanity as a threat to the world's balance. He might consider the possibility again to eliminate the threat of the weapon. I also doubt say Mewtwo would consider what to do about Giovanni 100% rationally.
You also speak of our history look up the B-59 incident during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Policy may be set by governments but that policy is ultimately carried out by individuals who are not always rational in the heat of the moment.
The idea isn't necessarily that Giovanni would think of this by himself but if an experienced and well spoken individual explained it all out (like say a capable leader with over a millennium of experience) he is probably rational enough to at least think it through.
9111175
All he's doing is sneaking out under a distraction to allow his men to return to base. He's not intending to fight Luna and everyone else by himself, they're supposed to be distracted by his subordinates attacking Luna's scouts near the Flare base. And he has one or more full-fledged Legendary Pokemon on hand, plus Mega Gyarados and rest of his team. He's by far the best equipped to deal with the situation, and he refuses to leave Team Flare members out to die. Even if he was to be cornered by a force he couldn't fight outright, Yveltal has shown it's Phantom Force is capable of conveying stuff considerable distances. If he doesn't want to kill members of his team (he doesn't) and wants to fire the ultimate weapon as quickly as possible (he does) this is his best option.
9111014
I haven't heard of it under that name, but I have heard of it, yes. Again, the problem as I see it is that the pokemon world as shown to us in the games and anime seems a lot more upbeat and brighter than real life. People seem a lot more concerned about the environment overall (baring some nutscases who think that erupting volcanoes or flooding the world is a good idea...) and at least from what I can see, it seems far less likely that the pokemon world will experience such an issue. This is compounded by the existence of pokemon themselves. There are a great many different types and all with interesting abilities and capabilities. Grimer and Muk can help with trash and pollution by actively consuming it. There are pokemon that help plants grow that could allow for higher crop yields and sustain larger populations. And again, al this is coupled with the, admittedly much less tangible sense of people just being better. One of the reason Gary stands out, I've always said, is because in a game where everyone else barring Team Rocket is pretty nice and polite, Gary Oak is the only person who's a complete and utter jerk. Heck, even Team Rocket don't act as entitled and rude as him, despite doing demonstrably more harm. Anyway, he stands out so much because he's the only person like that in the game. Likewise in the second generation, ??? is just about the only rude boy you encounter.
As to your other point, mentioning people who were greedy or grew entitled, my problem with this is that so far this fic has yet to show that. All we've heard is Lysander saying how greedy and awful people are (again, counter to just about everything we see baring his team and other criminal organizations, but what I mean is I've yet to see someone who acts like they wouldn't tip their waitress, you know?) but we've yet to see people acting so greedy... apart from established villains such as Team Rocket and Flare. I didn't know that Lysander's attempts at charity had such effects, because it hasn't been mentioned other than the occasional throwaway from him that he tried it and it didn't work. So for me, it's a case of being told rather than shown, which has lead me to my current stance. This stuff might be in the game; honestly I never played X/Y because I found out they put a legitimate genocidal misanthropes as the team villain and nope'd the heck out of that. It was not what I wanted from a pokemon game. But be that as it may, it's not shown here, and yet other characters have had some of their backstories shown, like when Team Rocket talked to Celestia about why they are with Team Rocket. I just feel that this is especially important for Lysander because not only is he the primary antagonist, but his way of thinking comes across as so utterly contrary to everything that is shown that it creates a disconnect, for me at least.
Thank you for reading and responding to my criticism, I do look forwards to reading more of this and seeing where things go.
9111284
Poke-world may be somewhat nicer than our own, but that doesn't mean bad or greedy people don't exist. Look at Hunter J in Sinnoh, a sociopathic woman willing to murder a child or set a forest ablaze in pursuit of profit. Not only did she amass considerable wealth, she had dozens of willing henchmen and plenty of wealthy clients, to the point where she could buy her own stealth airship. One episode even featured her successfully stealing a Pokemon and delivering it to her client, then getting away scott-free with the money. Lesser hunter and poachers also are semiregular antagonists, for instance in "A Poached Ego" where the TRio have to release Arbok and Weezing. They wouldn't exist if there weren't a genuine market for them, and for stolen Pokemon. Even amongst wild Pokemon themselves you have the trio of evil Malamar, who attempted more or less the same thing as Lysandre to reshape the world to best suit their species. Team Rocket itself is mostly known for our lovable losers, but in the background the greater organization has to have successful crime stuff going on to finance all their neat toys.
With all that established, people getting a bit greedy when offered generous aid from a very rich man does not sound so farfetched, does it? Pun intended.
9111479
Quite frankly, no, I don't find people getting greedy when offered aid, after having been in great financial distress, to be reasonable. It does sound farfetch'd to me, now please trade me something better because this 'mon ain't gonna do shit for my team :/ ...I think I let the pun get away from me there. I just don't find it believable that so, so many people would do that. A small number? Sure! There's always jerks or greedy, ungrateful people. But for what happened to Lysander, it seems like it would have to have been incredibly common, the norm even, to make him believe that that's just human nature. And as someone who does rely on financial assistance, and would be living a much, much more difficult life without it... Well, I can't speak for anyone but myself, but I have never stopped being thankful to the person who enables me to live a relatively comfortable life. And whenever they mention worry that they need to do more, I actively feel awful and have to assure them that I am fine, no I don't need more money, please grandma everything is okay.
Again, that's just my one personal experience. But from it comes my viewpoint. And while like you say, there's certainly plenty of bad folks in pokemon, it seems to me that you would need to be exclusively looking for them, and blinding yourself to everyone else, the hundreds or thousands of people that exist for every one of them, to get the idea that that is how everyone is. And as I said, that's where the disconnect happens for me. Not the Lysander could be upset by the nature of some humans, but that he could somehow come to the conclusion that every human was like that.
The stuff about letting Mable and the others join his team despite them being absolutely awful human beings who are everything he supposedly stands against, that is one thing that I find completely understandable. Parents are often blind to the flaws of their children, as the saying goes, and as you've mentioned in his eyes, due to his insanity, anyone who supports him and his ideas must be at the core good even if they're a little rough around the edges. But I still think that, for me, me personally and subjectively, I can't buy a way in which Lysander got to that point to begin with.
Lastly, I will return to my point that, even if we assume that it's reasonable for Lysander to have been exposed to things that would bring him to where he is now, this is still is not something that has been shown here, in this work of fiction that you are writing. It does not matter if there are reasons for something to happen if the reader is not made aware of them. And while I disagree with Lysander's backstory being at all plausible, it would still be a lot easier to swallow his BS if we, the audience, were shown why he's come to view things the way he has. Even if we take away completely different things from those glimpses into his past than he did.
9112184
If you find the idea that people might take advantage of or grow complacent with/dependent on charity implausible, then from extensive personal experience you haven't worked with many charities. Many people are ungrateful or simply lazy by nature or habit. Not all, but not none.
As to showing it in story it's a process Lysandre underwent years ago. It's a backstory explaining why he does what he does. He formed Team Flare and resolved to reset the world years before Celestia ever showed up. And fundamentally, this isn't his story.