The Professor's Secret

34. Plead for Me

The dull, white walls now beheld such scene: Charizard slowly woke to reality outside of his Pokéball, standing in his large body between me and Sycamore. The latter smiled.

"Darling, I compliment you on your..." he lifted an eyebrow "...quick strategizing! But what do you plan to do now? Have your Pokémon attack me?" He teased confidently, cleverly choosing to keep his distance from Charizard and me though.

"If I have to..." I replied, standing against him.

Charizard looked form one face to the other, trying to understand the context of the argument.

Sycamore closed his eyes and chuckled silently, calmly, enjoying a joke only he knew of yet... His presumption annoyed me!

"What's so funny?!!" I inquired angrily, albeit scared of the answer.

"Nothing yet, but it just might become so!" he answered raising his eyes and enjoying the remaining of his obscure laugh "I wonder if you'd forgive me for letting you first try and see for yourself, dear..."

Whatever he tried to insinuate, it pissed me beyond composure. Could Charizard really, really not do anything against him?! I frowned and stepped forward, ignoring my trembling voice as I called:

"Charizard..."

"However..." Sycamore loudly interrupted, his smile coming undone and his eyebrows tensing "I would hardly encourage such impudence and disrespect as this one you so unconscionably direct me, once you've proven yourself capable of it!"

He talked like a parent... As if disobedience both saddened and disappointed him, coming in the form of a pointless caprice only meant to injure his authority and pride. In other times, I would have fallen for it – instilled guilty often clouded the objective behind my actions... But this time it only angered me further!

"The jest is that if you are, your Pokémon isn't!" He explained to my half-comprehension. I looked at Charizard, hoping to verify it.

"Charmander has been my pet, but that is little surprise to you..." His confident smile returned as he reminisced "What I have failed to tell you is that he was Team Flare's pet before that! Trained and raised by them in their headquarters." he revealed, marking every expression of my face and drinking from the despair in it "In fact, all of them have! It was Lysandre who retrieved the three starters from Kanto, it was him who had them trained and brought to me as a welcoming gift to the three children executing our research..."

He laughed of my vague, distant and despairing expression as I processed the information.

"Charizard wouldn't attack any of his former masters if his life depended on it... Especially not me!"

And to seal his confidence in Charizard's powerlessness against him, Sycamore stretched out and rubbed the monster's neck. He stood there, watching frozen as we discussed. His pupils never shifted and never moved, like an obedient guard dog I suddenly didn't know. ...But I knew him alright: I could see how heavy the muscles in his face fell over his eyes... how tense and confused he really was!

I was his trainer, after all. He couldn't go completely without being aware of me... maybe even listening to me, so long as Sycamore didn't give the contrary order. I decided to try it:

"Charizard, back off!!" I screamed, enraged by the Professor's conceited touch, and proceeded to jump back just as my Pokémon promptly did – landing a few steps away from Sycamore, who stood with his hand stretched, slightly puzzled, but not yet impressed...

"Good boy...!" I praised, keeping my eyes on sneaky Sycamore and focusing on my short breath: I only then realized how nervous I got, scared Charizard would let me down.