Conquering the Dark Chapter 5

Conquering the Dark

Chapter 5: A Rousing Speech

"Here we are. There's not much left after all of the wars."

The group had arrived in the alternate timeline, in which Aaron had truly succumbed to evil. Aaron himself marveled in horror at the world around him. It was nothing but devastation, with collapsed buildings, desolate parks, dead bodies, and what was once a beautiful city had turned into a war zone.

His jaw dropped. "This is… this is what would have happened if I gave in to Cyrus all those years ago? To that request? How can one decision, even an evil one, destroy so much?"

"It's the butterfly effect." Dialga explained. "Sometimes, the event of one outcome can greatly change what happens next, and then after that, and so on. It's a chain reaction, so something as simple as you succumbing to evil can cause a future like this."

"But… I'd never wish this upon anyone. I couldn't ever imagine doing such a… vile, despicable thing. How could this all…?"

"I'm sorry, Aaron. But I'll have to answer your questions later." Dialga said. "We need to get to our headquarters, which isn't too far from here. It's safer there. It's about a 10 minute walk, but keep your eyes open. You can never know what will happen out here."

Aaron nodded. Along with the others, he silently followed Dialga.

Everyone else also remained silent, but had their own thoughts and disbeliefs about this horrific future as they walked. Riley's thoughts were the first to come to his mind.

"Aaron… is responsible for all of this?" Riley thought in horror. "In this universe? All of this destruction and devastation? This is impossible to believe! I can't ever imagine him doing this!"

"Who knew Aaron could be capable of such things?" Nick pondered. "He just… he's too nice!"

"Why would Aaron ever do this?" Lucas wondered. "I can't think of any reason for him to try to take over the world. It's just… wow."

"When did this all happen?" Maylene mused. "When did Aaron decide to join Team Galactic? And when did he ever become so evil? I just can't see it…"

"How did Aaron even enslave someone as powerful as Arceus?" Magnus deliberated. "Just… how could one even accomplish such a thing?"

Bridgette couldn't even really form any thoughts, still amazed in a sort of fright at all of the destruction.

Dialga's eyes widened for a moment and brought them all to a halt. Magnus looked at her in confusion. "What…?"

"Shh." she stated. Listening carefully, she could make out what the sound was. "Sentry guards. Just around the corner. Everyone, remain still. I hope this move will work."

Dialga and the group started to vanish from sight. The moment they did, the robotic guards came around the corner. They looked around in a bit of confusion, as they thought something was here. Giving up after a slight bit of searching, they turned back… and Dialga used this chance to re-appear and strike with Shadow Force. It caught them completely off-guard, killing the robots. The others also re-appeared shortly afterwards.

"That was a bit too close for comfort." Bridgette sighed in relief.

"Shadow Force?" Aaron wondered. "I thought that was Giratina's move."

"Giratina taught me how to use that move before he was… killed…" Dialga muttered awkwardly. No one questioned Dialga further on the subject as they continued walking.

After that close call, the headquarters came into view. Xerneas was taking guard of the door at that moment, and noticed Dialga and her company coming into view. Xerneas had a wide variety of mixed emotions soar through him when his eyes met the 'Commander'. He stood tall, charging a Moonblast to launch if necessary. Aaron himself reeled back a little bit in caution.

Dialga turned to face Xerneas. "It's OK, Xerneas. This isn't the 'Commander'. This is the good one."

"Commander?" Aaron asked. "So, I'm an evil commander in this universe… but a commander of what?"

Xerneas looked at Aaron with suspicious feelings, but released his charged Moonblast.

"There's going to be a lot of questions everyone will have." he told Dialga. She nodded.

"I'm aware of that. I'll be calling a meeting for everyone shortly. Until then, Aaron and his friends will be kept in my company for the time being. I don't want anyone to be attacking him, thinking that the 'Commander' has re-programmed me."

"Understood. I'll begin the assembly." Xerneas said, going inside the building. "I'll bring you in when everyone is assembled in the meeting room."

"Yes. It would be best to stay out here for his safety. We'll head for the training fields and practice a little bit. Just pick us up there."

Xerneas nodded once more, leaving the group alone.

Aaron scratched his head a bit. "Commander? Re-program? Everyone… attacking me? I think I'm a bit lost here…"

"You're not the only one." Riley mentioned, pondering this as well.

"Let's head to the training grounds first for a bit of privacy, and then you can ask me questions."

The whole group arrived at the training grounds for the headquarters. It was a lengthy walk, but nothing that couldn't be handled. The grounds themselves were large, yet a bit barren. Practice targets were on one side of the grounds, with some of them hit and knocked down. Most of them had seemed to be polished up recently though, so someone still took care of this place. A couple of trees and large rocks were also scattered throughout the entire field, usable as practice obstacles.

Magnus looked around the area, analyzing it. "Wow. These grounds still seem to be in good shape for being in a war zone. You guys must take good care of it."

Dialga nodded. "Yeah, we've kept this location secret to anyone outside of our organization, because this is really the only 'safe' training ground we have left."

Maylene herself was thinking a bit. "Hmm… what kind of 'organization' are we talking about here? This whole thing doesn't really seem to be what I would call an 'organization'."

Dialga chuckled a little bit. "Well, we call ourselves an organization. In truth, we're more like a resistance group in actual function."

Bridgette placed a comment as well. "But then why…?"

"We call ourselves an 'organization' in case any of Cyrus's or the Commander's spies happen to be listening. There's no such thing as too much caution." Dialga warned.

Bridgette nodded. "That definitely seems fair enough. It does leave me wondering, though. Does your organization slash resistance group even have a name? I know it's an odd question, but I am a bit curious."

Dialga continued. "We just don't bring it up much outside of our headquarters to avoid suspicion, but we do have a name. We call ourselves 'The Returners'. The name comes from how we want to 'return' the world to how it was before. Back to a place where we call all live peacefully."

Aaron sat himself underneath one of the trees, looking off into the distance. He was still trying to understand and comprehend all of this, as hard as it was.

"Dialga?" he asked, looking over at her. "Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"

Dialga walked over to the tree where Aaron was sitting in the shade, with Aaron still greatly mystified and almost in a trance from his situation.

"Yes? You wanted to ask me something?"

"Yeah, I did." he answered, being brought out of his own trance. "Commander? Re-programming? What is all of this? What exactly is it that I do in this universe? I understand that I'm evil in this universe, but… what do I do that is so evil?"

"I suppose I should elaborate about the Aaron in this universe for you." Dialga said. "You are an evil monster in this universe. A bastard of the highest order."

"That… would certainly explain why Xerneas looked like he wanted to kill me at first." Aaron muttered.

"In this universe, you're known as the 'Commander'. The Commander is a highly-ranked general in Cyrus's army, and Cyrus's second-in-command. Along with filling out Cyrus's orders, you get free range to do whatever you want."

"I'm… guessing that he's not an upstanding moral Pokémon, is he?"

"He's about as far from it as you can get. Along with his troops, he regularly surveys the area of the capital city, knowing that most survivors of the war hide here. Other troops have other jurisdictions they survey, but the Commander surveys the capital. He locates strong Pokémon and makes quick work of them with his powers. If they're weak and not worth bringing into his army, he kills them off. He can even make quick work of many Legendary Pokémon. After subduing and capturing them, he… re-programs them to be loyal to him and Cyrus. He takes a sick, disgusting pleasure out of it. Hundreds are in his control now, including two Legendaries." Dialga sighed.

"Re-programs?" Aaron thought for a bit. "Wait… Wait! Hold on! You're saying that he can brainwash Pokémon at will?!" Aaron shouted in horror.

Dialga nodded silently.

"That… wow. That's really insane. I never imagined… not ever… that I could become this. Back when I was held captive, I never would've given in. Not ever. Giving in like that… my own faith would never let me do that. Faith… my faith in my God gave me the strength to keep holding in. And then I received my dream. I was free."

Aaron shook his head. "I hate this universe's version of Aaron already. No wonder you guys despise him so much. But still… you got a lot of info on him… How do you get all of this information, anyways?" he wondered. "Wouldn't you be found out by now?"

"We have a double agent in Cyrus's army that works for us." Dialga informed. "This Pokémon is Mewtwo. He takes cover as a soldier to discover information about Cyrus and deliver it to us to keep us updated as well as to help form a way to overthrow Cyrus and the Commander once and for all. Unfortunately, posing as a soldier in Cyrus's army means he actually must play the part and also perform those… atrocities. Out of all of us, he definitely seems to hate the Commander the most."

Aaron gulped a bit. "I do hope we can clear that up with him. I mean, the whole 'I'm not the evil guy' part."

Xerneas could be seen walking towards the grounds. "Dialga?" he stated. "The group is assembled. I've told them to refrain from any retaliation or attacking whatsoever when you come in. Even though I've told them that you have the good Aaron, I still feel that there will be a lot of hostility."

"What about Mewtwo?" Dialga inquired. "He's going to be the first one to retaliate because of his personal experience. We both know that."

"I'm aware. He is the only one that I've restrained for the time being, but he'll still be watching you guys. Seeing that he practically blew up at the mere mention of 'Aaron', I… decided it was for the best. Better safe than sorry."

"Understood." Dialga accepted. "Well, let's get back to our HQ."

The group arrived back at the front of the entrance, ready to enter. Everyone from Riley's universe was nervous to a degree, but none to a degree than Aaron was.

"Oh boy." Aaron gulped. "This is… to be honest, I'm a little scared. I'm kinda afraid they'll all try to attack me the moment they see me."

Xerneas shook his head. "Not all of them. Most of them do understand that you're the good one when I told them. Only a few are still skeptical."

"Including Mewtwo?" Aaron chuckled a bit nervously.

"Yeah… including Mewtwo. He's the only one that's outright furious." Xerneas confirmed. "Don't worry about him, though. As I told Dialga, I have restrained him for safety purposes. He won't be able to hurt you."

Aaron breathed deeply. "All right. I guess we better do this."

Riley set his hand on Aaron's shoulder. "Relax, Aaron. I'll be there with you. I won't let anyone lay a single hand on you."

The Lucario smiled softly. "Thanks, Riley."

The group entered the building, only to find the main hall completely barren and empty. Not a single soul aside from anyone in the group was in sight.

Nick scratched his head in confusion. "Umm… I thought we were… you know…" he stuttered a bit in nervousness.

Magnus sighed, putting it much more directly. "So, where is everyone?"

"Everyone is in the meeting room." Xerneas informed. "Just follow me."

Xerneas led the group through some of the halls, going around unfamiliar turns for Riley and friends. The halls were all-white, giving Aaron a slightly uncomfortable reminder of the same colored walls when he was used by Team Galactic. After what seemed to be an eternity, they arrived at the end of one of the hallways, with 'Meeting Room' clearly labeled on the side of the door.

"Well… no time like the present." Xerneas said, walking inside. Everyone behind him followed.

Everyone had different reactions to seeing 'Aaron' come in with Xerneas and Dialga. Some covered their mouths. Some gasped in surprise. Some of the more skeptical one gave glares of hatred towards Aaron, making him feel even more uneasy. And finally, Mewtwo was screaming bloody murder, and would probably have his hands around Aaron's neck if Xerneas hadn't taken the necessary precautions.

"Boy, that Mewtwo is spazzing out like crazy. Xerneas wasn't kidding when he said he hated me." Aaron thought to himself.

"Everyone? May I have your attention?" Xerneas requested. Everyone was immediately silenced and gave their attention to Xerneas, even Mewtwo.

"Thank you. Now, I know that I've told you that the 'good' Aaron was coming. I want to explicitly inform you that this is the benevolent Aaron who Dialga was successfully able to come and join us. As he is going to be staying here, I don't want ANY of you giving him a rough time. He willingly came here to help us, and he had every right to decline. So, if I see or hear of any hatred or hostility towards this Aaron, punishments will be dealt accordingly." Xerneas said both harshly and strictly, glaring directly at Mewtwo. "Are we clear?"

The skeptical Pokémon in the crowd recoiled in fear, immediately nodding. Mewtwo also nodded, not wanted to be punished. Xerneas's punishments were usually strict yet reasonable, but punishments issued for hatred, bullying, or hostility towards anyone tended to be incredibly unforgiving. Groudon gave Raiden a tough time when he first came in half a year ago and well… let's just say there's a reason he's still cleaning bathrooms daily.

"Good." Xerneas said. "I'll let Aaron have a few words, and then you will all be dismissed."

Aaron widened his eyes in fear. "M-Me?! What do I say?!" he thought in panic. Regardless, he still did what Xerneas asked and took to the stand.

"Uh… hi, everyone. As you've probably been aware of, I'm… err… not evil. I can't blame there being hostility towards me. Dialga has told me of what kind of things the Aaron of your universe has done. It's no surprise you'd hate him so much. But I… I understand the hatred. He's murdered innocent Pokémon. He's brainwashed strong Pokémon into his army. He takes away any sense of safety that both humans and Pokémon should be able to have. That's… that's just not right! I can't stand for these atrocities, either! I am absolutely ASHAMED of this universe's Aaron! After knowing of these injustices, I'll help you whatever it takes to bring him down! That, I promise you!"

After Aaron was done, he actually couldn't believe he gave that speech. He almost thought he didn't. But then the cheers erupted.

The cheers of hope.

The cheers of joy.

And the cheers of freedom.