Pokémon Chronicles 零 (ZERO)

Episode 48: Decisive battle! Versus the lord of the dead PART 2

The final stairway was climbed in silence, with the two of us walking side by side with our swords out and ready for action. As we ascended, the ambient sound grew louder and clearer, whilst the background seemed to alter in terms of colour and pattern. By the time we reached the top, the water in the background was golden, whilst several different coloured neon lights and patterns fluctuated around it all beautifully.

FinVarra sat on the other side of the island with his back to us, calmly and solemnly playing an organ. I couldn't recognise the song, but its tone wasn't unfitting, somehow. Alver was beside him with a conductor's baton in hand, but he started to panic the moment we showed.

FinVarra ignored Alver's crazed taps and silent warnings until we were in the direct centre of the island, where he stopped playing the organ immediately. Stark silence fell, and there was a long moment of silence, even when he turned around to face us. His sword was directly beside his organ the whole time, lodged into the ground.

"... So that's what happened. FinVarra saved you, and you retreated back here," I began, holding my sword loosely at the moment.

"Indeed. I require a conductor in the event that I need to reanimate Heroica's population," FinVarra replied, shutting his eyes. He raised an arm, pointing to a gigantic ball of light that was behind the organ. The orb was so big that I couldn't even see all of it. "Despite my efforts to stack all the odds against you, you've come before me."

"It doesn't matter what you would do to us, I would do everything to stop a Pokémon like you," Lucca stated.

"This alone proves it. You've literally climbed above mountains and mountains of corpses to reach this far. This determination is only what I've come to expect from my son... you didn't disappointment me, in the end," FinVarra agreed. "And behind me is all of the world's bestia energy. You've come to return it, haven't you?"

"I've... I've actually come to find out what you're really planning," Lucca admitted, stepping forwards. "I just can't understand it. Bringing me up to be a leader, getting me to take on the extreme task of ensuring Heroica had no hierarchy... just to attempt to wipe out all life. It's difficult to call you this, but... father, we were after peace! You told me that everything I was working towards would be for the sake of a world where everyone is equal and free, where true peace reigns. Why have you done this?"

FinVarra put his arms down and shut his eyes, bowing his head slowly. "Hierarchy is inevitable. The Aska are the superior race. We were born to rule Heroica."

"No we weren't. That's why our ancestors didn't live in a specific place in society. They simply shared their knowledge and talents with the other races. To claim that we're the superior race goes against everything you've taught me!" Lucca argued.

"... So then tell me... what is it the Pokémon did when the predicament of lost bestia arrived? The crisis I caused by draining Heroica," FinVarra challenged.

"They... they helped us get here. We all worked together to get this far," Lucca answered.

"They turned to you, the shining warriors, did they not? Because they felt helpless and relied on Pokémon above themselves," FinVarra answered, opening his eyes. We didn't reply. "Pokémon cling to power. Whether they want to or not, they look up to an individual to guide them. If that individual tells them to fight, they'll fight. But if told to starve, they will rebel and select a new leader to guide them."

"What's your point?" I spoke up.

"Therefore, the leader must be perfect, correct? A perfect king who all Pokémon can look up to for ushering an era of peace. The only Pokémon with that kind of knowledge and talent are the Aska... so I set out to recreate the world, a world where true peace reigns, just as we desire," he announced. "The cost for this world is the complete and utter destruction of every last Heroican that refuses to look up to me, but that is the cost that my Pokémon will have to understand. In time, they will come to appreciate the suffering I am causing them."