INTERLUDE - Maylene/Mirror

Like every single day, Maylene woke up at five in the morning.

Eat, work out with her Pokemon, spar with the first and second-badge Pokemon, shower, check the Gym's emails—

Hatred. She read out hate coming her way by anonymous users or simply trainers that looked to pile on. And that was just the email, which she was obligated to look at. That was procedure. She knew Candice and Volkner had Gym Trainers take care of it for them, but she couldn't be sloppy like them, lest she disappoint her father when he came back.

Step down. You're an embarrassment to Veilstone. You're pathetic. Grace Pastel didn't go far enough and should have beaten you into the dirt. Maylene blinked as she peered through every single message, and many were worse than those. A lot worse. She was used to hate, but it had intensified since her battle with Grace Pastel. That damn girl had walked all over her and made her look like the villain while escaping with her reputation nearly intact. Fucking psycho. The forums were worse, but at least that was moderated, so the most unhinged messages were deleted there.

Each message hurt. Like stacking weight on top of her stomach until she couldn't bear to breathe, but Maylene told herself she was fine. She slapped herself on the cheeks and smiled. It was eight in the morning.

Time to go to work.

Challengers filtered in and out, and Maylene slowly realized that she couldn't get in the zone. She noticed that multiple trainers were no longer battling like she liked, and instead tried to push her as Grace Pastel had. They probably expected her to break down and cry. Instead, she tried her best to provide a challenge— and she tried to work with them, not against them. It was easier said than done, of course. Many times, she lost her temper and shut them down like she was used to, and she often justified it to herself. That she deserved to let loose and that she was right and everyone else was in the wrong. The audience had grown so toxic that they started to boo her every time she stepped onto the field. When she asked them to stay silent for the battle, they clamored louder instead. She remembered Gardenia telling her about hecklers during the protests in her city.

Maylene was fine.

Lunch break. She quickly grabbed a sandwich that Lucario made for her. He'd been raised with her as a Riolu and they were the same age. She considered him a brother, but he liked to take a more subservient position because her father had asked him to. Demanded it, even.

Master Maylene, I sense you are anxious. You should take a break.

The deep voice rang into her mind like cold ice.

"I'm good. This is my break, I'm eating lunch," Maylene said. "I can't slack off! Who'll run the gym otherwise?"

You could close it down for a day. Or you could have one of your prestigious Gym Trainers take over for a little.

"That'll only spread more rumors about me quitting. They think I'm weak, but I'm not," Maylene spat. "I can do this. I was born and raised for this—"

It is okay to be weak at times, Master Maylene.

"What? No, that's not— you know Dad won't approve. I want this job, I just need to get more used to it. It's just been a hectic few months."

The world might have ended by then, she thought as a shiver ran down her spine. It'd be like a blip. One second she would be there, and the next, everything she'd known would be gone. Palkia and Dialga. Space and Time.

Maylene was fine.

The hour went by quickly. So quickly. Her next opponent was a kid with two badges, and Maylene grabbed at least twelve Pokemon to choose from during the battle. She walked through the locker room, placed a hand against the sliding door and—

Open. Open. Fucking open!

Her hand trembled against the glass. Glimpses of the arena were far ahead, and Maylene suddenly felt nauseous. She couldn't bring herself to open the door. Slide it open! Slide—

Aura burst from her skin, and the glass exploded. She was too tough to be cut, but she still flinched backwards, stumbled, and fell onto the floor. Maylene's throat felt so dry, and she'd just drank an entire bottle of water for lunch.

"I need a break," she realized. Lucario had been right.

A mountain lifted up from her shoulders, but with that freeing revelation came disappointment that seeped into every pore of her skin. She couldn't even bare to ask one of her Gym Trainers herself, so she had Lucario do it for her and her best Gym Trainer Garnt quickly took over her duties for the day. A one-day break was okay. It wasn't even a day, it was half a day. She locked herself in her room and slept for a good while. She didn't know how long. What time was it? The sun had set when she opened them again, but Lucario reassured her that the trainers had everything under control. Unfortunately, he also had to help around the Gym and couldn't really be here to keep her company.

The entire system was running smoothly without her. Smoother, even. She wasn't there to tell people to do things by the book every time they broke protocol, and yet, it seemed like they were working faster in spite of it.

What the hell was she here for, then?

After making rounds around the Gym, Maylene dragged herself back to her room and onto her desk. This wasn't the office, but she'd do her best to check her emails again. The girl squinted when she saw that Candice had written something to her. Gym Leaders weren't supposed to use that kind of channel to speak, and she had her number. The ice type Gym Leader was as sloppy as always. The email simply read: 'I know you're doomscrolling right now, but stop doing that and check your messages.'

"What?" Maylene muttered. She grabbed her phone and noticed an audio file that Candice had sent her. She clicked it and let it play.

"Hi Maymay! Am I allowed to call you Maymay yet, or is that only Gardenia's thing? Maymay, I saw what happened to you yesterday. I know Grace kind of well and it kind of feels bad that both of my friends are fighting, but I knew you'd be spiraling hard and that you'd need help, so Gardenia and I came up with something. Call her when you're done listening to this, by the way! She's been calling, but you're not answering. She has some good advice with the whole being a Gym Leader thing. Anyway… trrrrrrrrrrrr… was that a good drumroll? Yeah, I think that was pretty good. Here's my piece! Stop reading what they say about you online, but if you do, make a burner account and go ham on those little shitters. Call them every single name under the sun, just don't get caught because that'd be a huge scandal. It's incredibly cathartic, trust me on this. But! It's important to note that not every piece of criticism is wrong even if it hurts, and you've got to learn to parse through the garbage to find some gems! Anyway, I'm passing the phone to someone else— well, I'm not passing the phone, this is an edited audio file—"

Maylene ignored the fact that Grace Pastel was somehow friends with Candice and heard Roark's voice on the end of the line.

"Hi Maylene. I see the situation you've been put in, and I know you must be feeling the heat right now. I was in a similar situation when I was eighteen and I ascended to Oreburgh's gym when Byron went on and moved to Canalave, and uh, it wasn't pretty. I desperately wanted to be stronger than him and I took out my frustration on my challengers for a good year or two until Wake knocked some sense into me. He's going next, by the way. Wait, that was a spoiler, right? My bad. Anyway, the point I'm making is, if you want to quit, you should quit. We'll convince Cynthia to let you go, but if you want to push through this? I know you have what it takes. You've made mistakes, but I was a lot worse than you and I was four years older than you were when I first became a Gym Leader. Just keep your chin up, kid. You're family and I love you."

As Roark had said, Wake was up next.

"MAYLENE! I HEARD ABOUT—

She pulled the phone away from her ear with a trembling hand. She was already tearing up.

—about what happened to you. I can see why you'd disapprove of the way that kid battled, but I see no harm in it. To me, battling is just a show, but I know we see things a little differently, you and I. You take great pride in your position, and sometimes it can feel like you're sinking. We've all had bad days, or weeks, or months. But being a Gym Leader means that you don't let it slip through when you work. ANYWAY, Have you considered taking a little break? A mental health day, maybe! Y'see, Gym Leaders and even trainers often don't consider their mental health and think checking in with one of the Nurse Joys makes 'em weak. I actually still regularly see one of them. I have for the last twenty years. This job, it wears on you. It erodes you like the ocean does to cliffs— did you like that water comparison thing I did? Get it? Because I'm the water type Gym Leader?"

Maylene let out a wet chuckle and wiped away some of her tears.

"Just trying to make you laugh, kiddo. Hope that worked. Jean-Pierre says hi, and we'll cook you some wonderful seafood the next time you swing by Pastoria. How 'bout this summer? JP always says that there's more to life than seafood, but I'll tell ya, I'm gonna file for divorce if he keeps saying things like that about my cooking. That was a joke, by the way, please don't tell him I said this! See you later, kid. CRASHER WAKE, SIGNING OUUUUUUUT!"

Is this thing working? Volkner said. Okay, it is. Oh boy. I'm not really great at the sentimental thing, so I'll just give you a word of advice. Sorry about not visiting you more often, by the way. You've been asking for a while, and I feel like I could have been more helpful if I did. You see, battling those little pipsqueaks with one to four… maybe five— actually six badges. Battling them feels like a real drag for me. I don't have fun, I don't even feel like I'm doing anything substantial, really. I just turn my brain off and let it ride. So sometimes, I'll just let one of my Gym Trainers take over. Hell, I'll let them work for the entire day if I feel like not doing anything and only battle the people that really get my blood pumping. That's not to say you should only battle people that fight the way you like, but if you feel yourself slipping and start brutalizing a kid with two badges because his little Budew used Poison Powder, maybe take a breather for an hour or two. It won't make you any less of a Gym Leader. You work too hard, Maylene. You work harder than all of us. Relax, yeah?

"I will," she cried to no one in particular.

Fantina's voice came next. "Maylene. As you no doubt know, I hate the duties I have as a Gym Leader, and as it stands, I think I am a bad Gym Leader. Not a day goes by without my Gym Trainers hearing my complaints, so I figured I'd offer a different kind of advice. When you wake up in the morning, do you dread the day that is to come? When you go to sleep at night, do you wish morning would be delayed? When you battle, do you enjoy yourself? Depending on your answer to these questions, you should consider quitting. That is not me telling you to quit, of course. Just take it from an old lady, you do not want to be stuck doing a job you hate for decades. You do not want to look back upon your life when you are old like me and be filled with regret. People will say you can always quit, but we all know there are obligations. Training a successor, the loyalty to your city and region, and more personally, your father. As you no doubt know, I am well acquainted with Oscar, so if you ever feel the need to talk to him but are too scared to, I will relay your message. Good luck with whatever you decide. The next time we see each other, I'll take you to eat some poffins. You complain about it being unhealthy, but you've got to live a little!"

It was Byron's turn now. "Young Maylene. I assume my son has already given you advice on wanting to fill the shoes your parents left you, but I will go more in-depth with this. I know for sure that he skirted around the details. It took a while for my boy to understand this, but you do not owe your parents anything. You do not have to be greater than them in some arbitrary manner. Oscar was a titan. Even I look upon the man's spirit with envy. He never tired, always worked, but that is not sustainable for many, and I fear he might have thought you to be the same. He is also not without fault. He and I… we both made mistakes when we raised our children. My mistakes are reflected in Roark's behavior and his are reflected upon yours. We were too focused on what you could become— a perfect version of you we had inside our heads instead of realizing that you already were perfect just by being you. Children… they are complicated to raise, but you are also your own person. I apologize on Oscar's behalf, and I hope he will do the same when he calls next. If he doesn't, well, there's always my trusty shovel. One wack to the back of the head ought to set him straight."

Maylene was a sobbing mess and she could barely see straight. The world was marred by her tears and she struggled to take breaths without whimpering. She continued listening to the file, but Gardenia's audio only said one thing.

"You're done! I hope you liked it, it took the entire day putting this together with how busy everyone was. You should call me next, I'll talk to you. I hope Candice or Roark didn't ruin the surprise."

Maylene's trembling fingers scrolled through her contact list and clicked on Gardenia's name. She answered instantly.

"Maymay? Did you see the message?"

"I did," the girl cried. "I did. Thank you. I can't even— find the words."

"Just a little something to make you realize you're not alone," she said. "I love you, Maymay. We all love you, remember that. You're the kind of person that'd be too stubborn to ask for advice and to pretend everything was fine, and we believed that until yesterday. Sure, you ran your gym in an eccentric way, but we thought you were ignoring all the noise and that you'd grow and mature slowly but surely. I'm sorry we failed you. With all the Galactic stuff on our minds, we kind of put social interactions to the wayside."

"It's not your fault. I think I convinced myself that I was okay," she said. "I'm gonna take a break. I think a month-long break unless I need to battle someone six badges or up should be good. I'm gonna see about making some time to talk to a Nurse Joy."

"Perfect! The first step's always the hardest. Now, my advice! It's a shame what happened with Grace Pastel. Been looking at the kid a little, and while she did cross a few lines, if it hadn't been her, it would have been someone else that would have pushed you over the edge. You know how people hate fighting me, right? I get in their heads and stuff. I've seen my fair share of toxicity, but that's not the point. There are two fundamental ways to run a gym. One, you go hard against everyone. That's me, Fantina and Byron. Of course, that doesn't mean you go all out, but you do give them a harder time than what you could be doing because that's the point! Make your challengers step out of their comfort zone and confront situations they've never seen before. The other way is to go easier on people. That's Roark, Volkner, Wake and to a lesser extent, Candice. That doesn't make them worse Gym Leaders, mind you, they just have a different philosophy. Of course, all of that goes out the window when you're the gate between someone and their eighth badge, but you know that already. Do you follow?"

"Yes. I do."

"The problem with you, Maylene, is not that you shut down strategies that aren't straightforward. In fact, forcing trainers to approach battling a certain way can be excellent at teaching them to either adapt or push through. The problem is that there is no consistency in how you do things. One battle, you could let a kid have it easy because they fought how you liked, and in the other you up the ante and destroy someone's team. There's also the fact that you shouldn't let the way you like battling or your mood influence your decision-making at all, but you'll learn. All of this means that you don't come across as someone trying to teach, you just come across as a bitter bully, which means you aren't doing the job properly. Even after a loss, a challenger should feel like they've learned something, not that the battle was horribly unfair. You've got to choose, Maymay. Are you a Gym Leader that trainers will flock to for their first badge like Volkner and Roark, or are you someone who'll be just a little more demanding. Sinnoh needs both of these, and it doesn't matter which one you pick. The former comes with a higher workload because all the new trainers will swamp you every single year, and it can be extremely boring or easygoing depending on what you're like. The latter will bring hate your way, but you'll have less work and you might enjoy yourself a little more. So which one, Maylene?"

The girl stammered, "I— I have to pick now?"

"No. You can pick today, or you can pick a month from now after your break. Just look within yourself and pick one you know you'll be happy with. If trainers know what to expect when coming to your Gym, this entire thing will die down, I promise you."

"I'll think about it. Thank you so much, Gardenia."

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"Anything for you. You're like a sister to me, Maymay. I'm Teleporting to your Gym tomorrow, and we'll have the whole day to ourselves. I've been wanting to catch up with you for so long!"

"What about your Gym?"

"Eterna City's Gym will be run by Roland tomorrow," she said. Maylene could hear her smirk. "And all battles above the sixth badge will be delayed. Volkner was thinking of doing the same next week, and Roark the next. We won't let you go through this alone, alright? And we've got plenty of tips to give you for running your Gym."

"Okay," she timidly nodded.

"Let's talk about something."

"What?"

"Anything! Just nothing related to your job."

"Well, if you're coming tomorrow, there's this really cool nail salon place that opened, and now that I'm on break I won't damage my nails all the time during training…"

Maylene was… on the road to being fine. Truly, this time.

—

Mars leaned against both of her palms as she kicked her legs up and down her couch. She'd let her hair grow longer and it wasn't gelled to its usual shape today, so it draped over her eyes. Mars puckered her lips and blew some air upward, lifting some of her red hair and then groaned.

"Booooooooooored. I'm so bored! Juju, entertain me!"

Jupiter smirked and freed one of her ears from her headphones. She was listening to the same cooking podcast she always had on. "Do you want some of Charon's crosswords? I've almost finished all of them."

Jupiter threw a basketball toward her large, lumbering Tangrowth in the corner of the room and the grass type let out some half, gurgling, vomiting sound as he caught it and began dribbling the ball on the floor with a vine. They'd been throwing it back and forth for the last thirty minutes.

"Juju, even as a joke, you're going too far," Mars rolled her eyes. "Crosswords? I'd rather die."

"Your loss," she shrugged. "You could always just watch cartoons."

"Cartoons suck. I haven't watched cartoons in six months, Juju! Don't treat me like a kid!"

Tangrowth threw the ball back at speeds high enough to break a nose, but Jupiter caught it with a single hand without even looking up from her screen. Mars let out a haughty huff and began to pout.

"What? Do you want to play too?" Jupiter playfully asked. She spun the ball on the tip of her finger for a few seconds.

Mars groaned. "Forget it."

The young woman lay there, splayed across the breakroom sofa that felt more like drywall than soft cushions. Team Galactic had been fun for her when she'd first joined, but these days, all she did was wait. Where was the fun, the adventure, the killing?! She wasn't even allowed to mess with the grunts anymore because she was holed up at their main Headquarters and everyone here was in the know. They'd all be joining Cyrus in his New World, and he had forbidden her from tormenting them. She couldn't even fool around a little bit.

Cyrus. Mars couldn't help but bite her bottom lip when she thought of her leader. He was the first man that had given her a home. The first person she'd known.

Mars' first memory was waking up in a dumpster in Jubilife two years ago now with her Pokeballs by her side with no idea of who she was, where she'd come from or what had happened to her. She'd been naked, her body pale as if it had never seen the sun and her skin as soft as a newborn's. She wandered the streets for a while, skulking away from view in the middle of the night, but a perverted man had noticed her, acted like he'd help and covered her with his jacket. He'd tried to force himself on her once he brought her to his apartment.

She'd been too terrified to even release one of her Pokemon, but the man had put them away anyway. She'd just been a girl and he could easily overpower her, so Mars had resigned herself to her fate.

Instead, his soul was swallowed whole by a ghost. Dusknoir. Mars remembered his pleading, him begging for his life as Dusky approached him inch by inch and feasted on his horror. Color, drained from the walls of his home. The television playing a deafening static. Screams. So many screams. He'd tried to run away, but Dusky had blocked every single escape, and the man shrieked and pleaded until his voice was gone and he resigned himself to his fate a broken husk. Mars remembered his body, dropping like a log with his face still covered in tears and snot. His last expression, a mix of confusion and dread, still anchored there. The smell of urine as his bladder emptied.

She thought it was beautiful. Nostalgic. Something about it reminded Mars of what she'd known, but the knowledge was out of reach. At the tip of her fingers.

From that day forth, she carried a knife she'd stolen from his home and she murdered more. And more. She killed eight people and fed Dusky seven more before Cyrus somehow found her and allowed her to pick her name. Mars. That was who she was now, and who she'd been for the past two years. She did not remember her previous name, and she did not care for it. She belonged by Cyrus' side. He was her knight in shining armor, her savior, her Messiah!

And she hadn't seen him in ages.

Mars sighed again before shooting up. "I'm gonna walk around. Stretch my legs and scare some people."

"That's bad for morale. The grunts haven't been a problem, but the scientists never were fully onboard with the whole cult thing," Jupiter said. "Charon's got a tight leash on them, but they're working slower than we need."

"Then maybe I should make an example out of one."

"No. Torture," Jupiter scolded. "I swear to Arceus, you're like a kid. I guess you technically are two years old."

"Two and a half, thank you very much!" Mars pouted. "I'm off, Juju! See you later!"

Mars quickly skipped across the Commanders' office and entered the brightly lit hallways of their base. The place was a true labyrinth that even she got lost in sometimes, and that was by design in case the League ever broke in. Research they had stolen from Valley Windworks had been used here to create artificial teleporters that made traveling within the base an annoying process. The floor was made of grey tiles so clean that Mars could see her reflection on them, and the walls were made of reinforced material that Pokemon Centers were built out of. Only the most powerful of Pokemon could break through those. Mars released Mr. Wiggly as she walked, and the grunts made wide berths around them to avoid ever bumping into Mars or looking at her wrong. The Wigglytuff smirked, basking in his superiority and the fear that exuded out of the grunts.

He loved tasting their fear. Oh, fairies weren't sustained by emotion, but they were very sensitive to them and Mars' fairies found fear tastier than others, which was something shared by Saturn's Grimmsnarl. Wigglytuff might have looked innocent, but he was truly wicked in a very enjoyable sense. They had a lot in common. All of them did.

All of her Pokemon except Dusky had lost their memories as well, and they shared her goal of trying to figure out what the hell had happened. Well, it wasn't really a goal. More like some side quest in a game. Now that she had Cyrus, she couldn't care less about her past life. She had lots of fun here, even if it was boring these days. She'd tried asking Dusky about her past life a little, but his mouth was sealed. Every time, he told her it was for her own good, and she believed it. For some reason, she could understand whatever he said, and only him. No other Pokemon shared their bond. Mr. Wiggly, for example, needed a psychic translator if he needed to tell her something complicated.

Oh! Back to Team Galactic!

Saturn was fun to tease, and he'd passed out when he heard the news about Abel nearly getting caught. The man had called, told them all of the information he had revealed to preserve his 'honor' and then disappeared into the wind. Mars hoped they'd see each other again, he was a lot of fun. Charon was a grumpy old man obsessed with bringing his sister back to life, and Mars couldn't care less about him. Juju? She was her best friend, and also an enigma.

Jupiter was fully aware of Cyrus' goal, and yet she was just a normal girl. Dangerously normal. She almost never got mad, although even Mars shook in her boots when she did. At first, she'd apparently joined Team Galactic for the money, but she was all in, now. Mars knew there must have been a deeper reason, but she had never revealed it to them. Only Cyrus knew. She knew it was a cult, she knew they wanted to end the world, but she treated this like a regular old 9 to 5, except she didn't get to go home by the end of her shift.

Cyrus… Mars wished she could see him, but he had holed up in his office for the past two weeks and asked not to be disturbed. Mars stepped on one of the yellow pads and was instantly whisked away to a lower level of the base, toward the scientists' quarters. Down there, gone were the large 'G' logos and the crowd of grunts. The clean floor had been replaced by some dreary beige. People that looked like they hadn't slept in weeks typed away on computers, experimented with substances Mars didn't understand and had their noses deep in ancient texts about Legendary Pokemon. They all flinched when they turned to look at her and Mr. Wiggly.

"Good evening!" Mars yelled. Her voice reverberated through the entire corridor. It only took thirty seconds for Charon to show up.

"Mars," the man said, walking with his usual limp and terrible posture. "Why have you come to bother me now?"

"I'm bored, so I came to see the progress on your toy."

"It is no toy," he spat. "It is a weapon. And I do not want you anywhere near the Chain Prototype."

"Aw. Can I see it, at least? From afar? I'm a Commander, so I deserve to see what you're working so hard on!" She said, puffing out her chest. "I wouldn't do anything to piss off Cyrus."

The old man pinched the bridge of his nose. "Do you promise to leave afterward? And not to come back down here for a week?"

"Pinky promise! Also, ew, when's the last time you showered?"

"That is not your concern."

He briskly motioned at her to follow, and she did, skipping across the floor as she did. Wigglytuf mimicked her, almost floating in the air with each jump. He could do a lot more when he put his mind and will to it. The closer they got to the chain room, the more strange machines sprung up. White cubes that created wooshing sounds anchored to the ground with tubes that went even deeper and topped by strange yellow towers with green lights. Then, blue machines— or vats with some Pokemon that looked like Ditto trapped inside a strange green liquid, begging to be let out as they slowly and forcefully changed into something else with restraints keeping them still and a dozen tubes penetrating their bodies. Mars stuck out her tongue at one and kept moving. The further she processed down the hall, the more the change had progressed. They'd been turned into a Pokemon Mars had never seen, but that she knew about.

"Replicas of one of the Lake Trio," Charon explained. "Mesprit, to be more precise. They are continuously fed and tranquilized to avoid any unfortunate accidents. They're nowhere close the amount of power Mesprit could wield, of course. Ditto do not become as powerful as the Pokemon they transform into. In fact, I'd argue their level of power does not change at all. They merely adapt to their model's way of living and battling."

"Then why do you need them if they aren't worth anything?" Mars asked. She was curious. After all, Charon was the brain behind this entire operation. She tapped on the transparent glass and the fake Mesprit flinched away.

"Stupid girl. They're worth more than you, I and all of Sinnoh combined will ever make. The only thing we're after," he said with a lazy smirk. "Is this."

He pointed to the top of his forehead, and Mars noticed the red gem embedded on each Pokemon's head. Some of them were missing and were in the process of regrowing.

"We need thousands of these to create the Red Chain. With the Red Chain, we will bring the trio under our control. It is made of the same DNA, after all. It should theoretically work on the real specimen."

"How'd you get their DNA? No one told me about this?! I'm a Commander! Does Cyrus think I'm useless?! Is that why he won't see me?!" Mars yelled. She felt Dusknoir's cold embrace around her and calmed down.

Charon ignored her outburst. "Cyrus came upon one of the lakes last summer, the one the League has called Lake Verity. An appropriate name for the being of Emotion," he rambled as he stroked his chin. "Afterward, we sent teams of divers and found an underwater cave with the remains of Mesprit's DNA. Only traces. Barely usable, but usable nonetheless. The Pokemon itself was nowhere to be seen, but almost all of our divers couldn't feel compelled to go back up and drowned in the process. The survivors say it was like the only thing in the world they wanted was to stay there because it was the most fulfilled they'd ever felt in their entire lives. Even now, they say their emotions are never as strong as what they felt in the cave. They'll live a muted life from now on."

"Yikes. You better not send me down there!"

"Even though it pains me to admit, you are too valuable. That is what grunts that aren't in on the plan are for, although we are starting to lack manpower in that regard."

"If you couldn't find Mesprit, how're you gonna grab them? You need all three for the big day, right?"

"We think we have a way of forcing them out of their… hibernating state when the time comes."

"I can't believe you've come so far already! Turning Ditto into these little boogers?! Charon, you're a genius!" She yelled.

The man groaned. "It was not just me. The entire Department of Sciences worked on this. It took many tries for the Ditto to take to the DNA without dying. Thousands of trial runs and wasted specimens, but now… here we are."

They reached a set of giant doors that looked more like the outside of a vault than anything else. Charon pushed a series of buttons, then placed his thumb on a scanner and showed his eye to a camera before the doors opened with a loud hiss. Mars' eyes widened at what she saw before her. The chain was red like the color of blood, but it was not really a chain. More like hundreds of stones linked together in a brilliant display of symmetry. Each gem was the same, and yet it was not. Mars almost felt herself get lost in the colors. She squinted and realized each gem was a never-ending pattern— a fractal. A strange, red glow surrounded the chain and it floated by itself without any device or Pokemon to carry it, as if it worked beyond the forces of gravity.

"Behold. The Red Chain," he said, extending an arm as he smiled no doubt for the first time in weeks. "It is currently around forty percent finished, which is why we need to buy time and you can't go gallivanting on one of your usual killing sprees. If we had obtained Uxie's or Azelf's DNA, the process would have gone faster, but the damn League got ahead of us at Valor and Craig Goodwill killed our first expedition at Acuity. A shame. It is funny, how even though the Legends are powerful beyond compare, their rules can still be broken."

"Can I touch it?!" Mars said, her voice laden with excitement.

"Wha— Absolutely not!" He screamed. "It is being assembled and moved around with specialized equipment. I had one of my test subjects touch the Chain and he was overtaken by a sorrow so great that he died."

"Died? How fun. What killed him?"

"Sorrow, you daft girl. He was a mess for weeks until he couldn't take it and took his own life. It could only affect him so because it is made of Mesprit's gem. We handle them all through tools, even when carrying a single one."

"I didn't know being sad could kill. I wonder what the real deal would be like if a fake's this powerful. Maybe the real Mesprit can make you so sad you kill yourself instantly! That'd be a lot more fun than the normal way of killing, like squishing your brain into mush or whatever."

"Of course you wouldn't get it," he said after a pause. "You've never felt sad a damn day in your life. And I don't mean the little outbursts you get into when Cyrus doesn't give you enough attention, I mean true sorrow."

"Don't get into some sappy story about your dead sister now," she chided. "I really couldn't care less. Hey, did you know your niece is in town? Abel told us she was trying to find you."

Mars leaned toward the older man until he backed off. She'd been probing for a reaction. Weakness. Something to exploit if she ever got too bored. Unfortunately, there was almost nothing. How unfun.

"Do not speak of my sister. As for my niece, I already know she would not be open to our plans, so there is no point in speaking to her. She is blinded by morals. Useless. If she truly cared for her mother she would have joined us by now."

Mars grinned. "So are you gonna kill her? Make it slow? Watch as she realizes her old uncle isn't coming back and the life slowly drains out of her eyes?"

"I do not care what happens," he shrugged. "With the birth of our New World, she can be brought back as she was before my sister's accident, and so can she."

"I'd call dibs, but she's all yours," Mars pouted. "Thank you for the tour, Charon. Mr. Wiggly loved it."

Wigglytuff spun around and happily squealed.

"I said I did not care what happened to her in this world, not that I would kill her. And I grow tired of your silly nicknames," he sighed. "Your Pokemon are all monsters as you are. They are not appropriate."

"I'm going to act like I didn't hear that," she said before slipping away. All of her Pokemon deserved cute names. Even Dusky.

Charon would probably stay there, mesmerized by his own creation. He always cursed how slow they were being. They were close, but the League was beginning to breathe down their neck. Mars had not known about the chain, but she'd known about the plan of action when everything was in place. She couldn't wait! There'd be so much carnage, and she was really pent-up. She returned and was pleased to see that Jupiter was still on her break. It wasn't like there was much for her to do in these boring and uninteresting times. Charon ran the scientists, Saturn ran the grunts and Jupiter ran their Finance Department, but they had stopped making much money these days because they'd been forced into hiding. Thankfully, they had a lot of cash stockpiled from their activities these last few years. As for Mars? She was muscle and made sure no one in Team Galactic's core (so the members that were going to the New World) ever got second thoughts about the plan. After all, anyone would rather die to League forces than have their soul wallow in agony for as long as Dusknoir wished, which would probably be… forever! Mars was muscle and a deterrent, and so she was the most powerful Commander. More powerful than Cyrus, even, but her love almost never used his Pokemon.

She was not only loyal to her leader because of love, although that was a huge part of it. The New World beyond this one would be a beautiful thing. Cyrus would become a God, and that meant that he'd be able to create as many people to torment as she wanted. Forever. There was nowhere else Mars would rather be.

"Mars, I found something you might find fun. That kid you're obsessed with… well, I don't want to be an enabler, but there's a battle you might like," Jupiter said.

"Oh? Now I'm interested!"

The break room's television was at least three decades old and the quality on it was garbage, but Jupiter still managed to get the battle to play. Grace Pastel against Maylene. At first, seeing that girl all stoic made Mars angry. Where was the little pipsqueak that had whimpered at her mere stare? Flinched away at her touch? That wasn't her, it was someone else. It made her want to break into her Pokemon Center and cut her open. A thousand tiny little cuts, going slowly deeper as she bled out, just like Mars loved… her knife suddenly felt heavier in her pocket. Unfortunately, with all of her guards, it was impossible even for her, and she wouldn't disobey Cyrus.

But slowly,

Gradually.

She realized something.

Mars began to giggle as Infernape slowly choked out behind a stone pillar and Maylene stared in utter despair. Her face twisted in horror at the fire type's little choked screams. She slowly approached the screen, crawling until she was less than an inch away, her eyes unblinking as she hugged the television. Every word, perfectly crafted to appear innocent, just as she'd done with the dozens of grunts she'd subtly broken these last two years, the gaslighting that made them look like kooks to the outside world and their peers. She knew, because she was the same. They were the same, but Mars embraced it while Grace pushed back. Even the nicknames…

She placed her forehead on the screen and beamed. "Oh, Grace, oh Grace."

Mars laughed until it felt like she'd asphyxiate. Until all the air was out of her lungs and her chest hurt. Until even Jupiter had to ask if she was alright and her Tangrowth nearly whipped her because he disliked the noise. Mars didn't answer and slowly watched the girl she'd wanted to kill dismantle a child in front of her as the spit she'd expelled from all that laughing slowly dripped down the TV. She hugged it tighter and pressed her cheek against the warm screen. Grace, her mirrored self, just a few precious pixels on the screen that she so desperately wanted to touch.

Mars nearly gasped and then broke into a sob. "She's just like me, Juju. She's just like me. We're like long lost twins…"

She felt Dusknoir's cold hand gently pat her shoulder.

"Your body's older. You can't be twins," the Commander deadpanned.

"Siblings then!" Mars sniffled. "And it was a manner of speaking! I don't want to kill her anymore."

"Good. I was scared you'd slip away at some point and ruin things—"

Mars didn't even hear the rest of what she said. Instead, her mind went racing. Mars wanted to keep Grace. They'd make a mean duo together! But there was no way she'd just become her friend. Unless. Everyone else around her was still fair game… maybe there was a way to break her until she joined her… and then it clicked. It'd be her most complicated game yet, but Mars was certain it would work now that her conversation with Charon had given her inspiration. Her face twisted into a grin as she wiped her tears of joy. Of ecstasy, even.

For now though? She was stuck here until the Red Chain reached its completion.

Mars watched the video over and over until the sun rose again.