—Now–
—Jubilife City, Southeast Sinnoh—
The technological hub of Sinnoh never sleeps. Home to numerous corporations, biotech firms, and research centers, this city sees its skyline dominated by skyscrappers.
At the center of the most expensive commercial district of the city stands the tallest skyscraper in Sinnoh.
This building is a marvel of engineering. Two separate buildings rise into the sky, both 76 floors high, and the 38th floor acts as a bridge that connects both buildings, forming an H shape.
Inside one of the many incubation facilities of the Hawke Tower, Lazarus Hawke is playing with his newly hatched pokémon.
Kamish lets out a cry as he follows Lazarus's finger, doing a flip mid-air.
Lazarus smiles as his Dreepy looks at him, expectantly.
"Here," Lazarus feeds him a blue Oran berry.
Kamish bites into the succulent berry and chews it while making squealing sounds.
A researcher walks up to Lazarus and hands him a pokéball that is already registered to Lazarus's league-issued civilian identity, before leaving the trainer and pokémon pair alone in the room.
Lazarus looks at the custom-made pokéball in his hands, dark grey in color with an insignia of red ghostly flames inscribed upon its surface.
Just as Kamish finishes eating his berry, Lazarus points the pokéball at him and presses the button on top of the ball, a red laser shoots out of the pokéball, enveloping Kamish.
Seconds later, Kamish's figure disappears from view as his body is compressed and atomised by the pokéball and assimilated into the red light, Kamish is sucked inside the pokéball.
The pokéball makes beeping sounds and then, a couple of seconds later, it chimes, denoting a successful pokémon capture.
Lazarus looks at his wrist terminal, which is connected to his pokéballs and his civilian ID.
He navigates to the registered pokémon section and clicks on the sole entry there.
As Dreepy's entry expands, he sees multiple options to choose from.
He goes over to the nickname section and registers his Dreepy as Kamish.
Then he goes over to pokéball features, clicks on conditioning, and proceeds with language conditioning.
An AI voice comes from his terminal. "Estimating the time till Subject learns to recognize basic human language…. Estimation complete...time remaining, seventeen hours."
Next, Lazarus clicks on DNA and Cellular analysis, an option only expensive, specialised, and custom-made pokéballs provide.
"Estimating the time till the pokéball finishes DNA and Cellular analysis on the subject… Estimation complete…time remaining, forty-six hours."
He looks through more options when suddenly he gets a message notification on his wristcomm, and he looks at the screen.
See me at my office in ten minutes.
Lazarus exits the incubation room and heads inside an elevator which will take him to his father's office.
---
Inside the biggest office in the building, located on the 38th floor of the tower, the richest man in the eastern hemisphere of the planet, sits at his workstation.
He is surrounded by monitors and terminals, displaying various trade invoices, business contracts, stock prices, market research, and various other reports.
His main monitor displays technological patents worth hundreds of billion of pokédollars.
Designs on everything from every day equipment like toasters to more intricate tech like pokéballs and supercomputers can be found inside these patents.
The door to his office slides open and he sees his son enter.
He looks at him for a minute before opening his mouth, "So, you are not going to change your mind? "
Lazarus wastes no time shaking his head, "No. And we had this conversation a couple of times already. Remember?"
Arthur gives him an annoyed look, "And we are going to have this conversation again. As many times as it takes. So sit down."
Lazarus remains standing, "I don't know what else to tell you. I have already said my piece. I have chosen my path and I intend to stick to my decision. I have wanted this ever since I was a kid, I won't back down now."
This makes his father even more annoyed, "And why is that? Why the fuck would you want something like that when you have the biggest tech conglomerate in the country to inherit?"
Lazarus sighs, "I want to do something that matters to m—"
His father's frustrated voice cuts him off, "What? Do you think the legacy of our family doesn't matter? Your grandfather founded this company during a period of national crisis when Sinnoh was on the verge of collapsing! This company! Our company! helped rebuild this nation after the Regi's laid waste to our cities forty-nine years ago!"
"I never sai—" Lazarus tries to speak.
But Arthur practically starts shouting at this point, "We supplied the pokémon league with the pokéballs and the technology they needed. We helped rebuild the cities. We helped kickstart the economy again. Without us, the pokémon league wouldn't have survived. Our family helped pull this country out of the literal dark ages. And you think becoming a pokémon trainer is more noble than running the company that helped make Sinnoh the strongest nation in the world."
Arthur stands up and points at Lazarus, "And you… You have the potential to become a greater businessman than your grandfather ever was, or I could ever hope to be. Imagine the heights you can reach with your talent.
Imagine the things you can do for the world when you take the reins of this company! Why would you want to waste all of that away just to roam around the world doing dangerous things with dangerous creatures? I just don't fucking get it."
Lazarus comes close to his father's desk and stares him right in his eyes, "And are you conveniently forgetting the other half of our family's legacy? Do you think I get all my genetic traits from you and only inherited my hair color from my mother? This company is not the only thing our family has built. Mom might not have created as much economic value for the world as you have, but she was a beacon of hope to so many people.
When she was around, they knew they could rest easy because people like her were protecting them, and they were right. And that's exactly what she did, protected them right till the very end. And I'm proud of her. Children read about her in school to make we never forget what she did for us. Veilstone holds a fucking festival in her name every year. They built statues to honor her. What she gave to the world is something even a trillion-dollar company can't give.
Hope, purpose, strength. She inspired so many to become pokémon trainers. To have courage even when all odds are against you, even when all you feel is fear. What makes you think her own son would be any different? What Mom taught me is also part of my inheritance and just as valuable and important as this company. She taught me to be brave, and that's exactly what I will do."
"I…" Arthur Hawke tries to retort, but he can't find the courage to say anything.
He remains silent and thinks back to when he first met his wife.
'You look just like her,' Arthur thinks, seeing the determined expression on his son's face.
Lazarus softens his voice, "Dad, do you remember what Mom used to say?"
"Yeah…" Arthur Hawke says with grief in his eyes, "And look what happened to her."
"She saved an entire city from annihilation that day. I am proud of her." Lazarus says with watery eyes, "But I couldn't even protect my pokémon and my friends."
"I have already lost your mother. And I don't want to lose you too."
Lararus wipes the tears off his face, "You won't. I promise you won't. My pokémon will protect me, I won't be alone. I'll have my pokémon with me, that's the entire point of being a pokémon trainer."
Lazarus takes a deep breath and looks at his father with a pleading expression, "I have made my choice, so please..."
Arthur Hawke closes his eyes and lets out a deep sigh, "Fine. I knew I wouldn't be able to convince you. You are, after all, just as stubborn as your mother. But I had to try."
He leans back on his chair and massages his forehead before saying, "I wish you didn't follow in her footsteps. But if you really want to do this, then I will support you, I always will. However, I have one condition."
This makes Lazarus break into a smile, "Yes, anything."
"If you're going to do something, then do it properly. I give you one year to do whatever you want. This time next year is the Lily of the Valley conference, and if you can't win it, then you will come back and work to inherit the company."
Lazarus is taken aback, "You want me to compete in Sinnoh's biggest tournament with just one year of experience? I only have a single pokémon right now, and it was born thirty minutes ago. And you want me to compete with trainers who will have had their pokémon for at least four to five years?"
Arthur stares into his son's eyes before saying, "I don't think you are in any position to complain. If you can't even do it with all the resources available to you, then I don't think you have what it takes to become the best in that field. And why do something when you won't be the best at it? Might as well use your talents somewhere they can make a difference."
Lazarus thinks about this for a second and smiles. "Yeah, I guess you're right. If I can't even do this, then what hope do I have of becoming like Mom? You and Mom taught me so much. She taught me to be brave, to never give up. And you taught me how to get what I want. How to best leverage the resources at hand to get the desired outcome. In one year, I, along with my pokémon, will win that tournament with everything you have taught me."
"Alright then. Looks like we have a deal." Arthur Hawke nods, having come to a common ground with his son, "I got you a present. To make your journey easier."
That surprises Lazarus, but he smiles and nods, "I like gifts."
"It's meant to be a surprise." Arthur says, "I'll have someone deliver it to you when the parcel reaches the city. But it's an ice pokémon from Alola. Sired by a Calamity pokémon. I'll send you the details later, though I am sure you can probably guess what pokémon it is."
"Where did you get a pokémon like that?" Lazarus wonders.
"I got it from Lusamine. Said she wanted to thank us for the work we did on her ecological domes. She even refused payment."
"I'll be sure to thank her when I meet her again," Lazarus makes a note of that before asking, "Also I am going to need a psychic pokemon before I leave the city. I want you to contact Steven and see if I could get one of Aeosis's eggs."
"I'll see what I can do." Arthur Hakwe nods.
They both talk for a couple more minutes before Lazarus leaves his father's office and steps into an elevator.
"Take me to the ground floor," Lazarus says.
"Reaching the ground floor in three minutes," the program running the elevator systems of the tower replies.
Three minutes later, the elevator door slides open, and Lazarus steps out into the hallway.
The biometric sensors there confirm his identity and let him enter the parking lot of the tower, which professional pokémon trainers guard at all times.
He walks unhindered by the security and stops next to a sleek, angular-looking vehicle with electromagnetic hover propulsion and a neon underglow.
Lazarus puts his hand on the smart glass of the car, scanning his fingerprints.
The door opens, and as he gets inside the car, Lazarus says, "Take me home."
The autonomous driving system of the car maps out the best route to take him home, taking into consideration the traffic and various other metrics.
The silent engine of the car comes to life as its entire body hovers a few inches above ground, and then drives.
—
Lazarus looks outside the window as the car drives through the metropolis of Jubilife City.
The colorful neon glow of the advertisement boards and building signage gives the city an almost ethereal look.
After an hour of driving, the neon glow and skyscrapers of the city vanish as Lazarus's car enters a residential sector built to house private mansions in the privacy of huge gardens and swimming pools.
Lazarus reaches his destination after going through various security checks by cameras and drones hidden from view.
The car comes to a stop in front of a huge gate protected by private security employed by Hawke Industries.
Four trainers with various pokémon come and greet him.
He exits the vehicle, gives them a nod of acknowledgment, and hands one of them the car keys.
The gate opens, and a contemporary-looking building with huge floor-to-ceiling windows comes into view.
Lazarus walks towards his mansion. Motion sensors detect movement, and every single exterior light turns on.
On the way to his home, he comes across three lifelike pokémon statues of a Corvisquire, a Kirlia, and a Snover.
Lazarus pauses to look at these statues for a minute and then makes his way over to the back of his mansion's deck.
He walks over to the lounges next to his infinity pool and sits there.
The lounge is strategically placed to give him a full view of the garden.
The back of the building is surrounded by a massive garden sprawling with various plant life, beautiful flowers, and colorful berries of different shapes and sizes.
In the middle of the garden, surrounded by sweet berry bushes is a huge skeleton of a dragon.
Sunfyre's massive skeleton contrasts with the serenity of his garden. Serving as a memento of all he has lost.