Fourteenth Move - Check

[king_of_flames]

[Video]

[The video feed comes on showing Roy holding something between his fingers:]



And then there was one.

I may stay here a little while longer and get some extra training in. The wild Pokémon around Mahogany Town are stronger than those around Goldenrod City.

Additionally, I could use someone to help me evolve my Magmar. Just one trade and a tradeback is all I need. Any takers?

[The video feed ends.]

[Video; a few hours later]



[This time, Roy looks more serious when the feed comes on.]

Lust. I know you're here, so don't bother trying to hide. Pick up.

Comments

[derpsaboutfamily]

A... patch...

[ ................ can't possibly be...? ]

... You said they were artificially created humans? So they'd be made to look exactly like a normal human?

[king_of_flames]

...I'll come right out and say it. Wrath's public identity?

He's King Bradley.

[derpsaboutfamily]

[ Have a lot of shocked silence as he tries to wrap his brain around all of this new information. ... The most powerful man in Amestris was artificially created.

Finally, a wry laugh. ]

I take it the goals of whoever created these homunculi isn't world peace.

[king_of_flames]

That depends on how you look at it. Some might consider a world ruled by an immortal, omnipotent being -- one that sacrificed tens of millions of lives to attain that immortality and power -- to be a peaceful world.

[derpsaboutfamily]

[ Honestly, he's beginning to wish that Lust had just been a scorned lover or something... ]

That's...

[ There are plenty of words he could use. Absurd, insane, etc. but none of them seems to fit just quite right. ]

They've already got the fuhrer of the country on their side. I take the other other six aren't exactly small fries either...

[king_of_flames]

The other six are damn near immortal themselves. Their cores are Philosopher's Stones, and they need to be killed enough times to exhaust the regenerative properties of the stones.

[derpsaboutfamily]

The Philosopher's Stones... but those take dozens of human lives to create!

[king_of_flames]

The mastermind had hundreds of thousands of lives at his disposal. He was responsible for the entire population of the Kingdom of Xerxes ceasing to exist.

[derpsaboutfamily]

Xerxes... that's... hundreds of years before our time! Then he's really... immortal.

[king_of_flames]

In my time, he's since been defeated. So what he had wasn't a true immortality -- just one that lasted until he used all of his powers up.

[derpsaboutfamily]

[ A small laugh ] Ah, I forgot. You're the fortune teller.

[king_of_flames]

In a manner of speaking, I suppose.

But otherwise. You've got a Kadabra? Sounds like we both have good reasons to trade. I'm up for it.

[derpsaboutfamily]

[ Nods ] Yes, I've heard they evolve after a trade as well.

[ Pausing. ]

Er... how exactly does this work, anyways?

[king_of_flames]

It's actually pretty simple as long as you don't think too hard about it. Every Pokémon Center has a room with equipment to make trades. As long as both trainers are using one of those machines, it doesn't matter what kind of physical distance there is -- the trade will happen.

[derpsaboutfamily]

How convenient!

Would you have time to do it now, then? I'm in no rush, but I suspect you'd rather have yours sooner than later.

[king_of_flames]

Not a problem. My schedule these days is plenty flexible. I'll head right over now.

[derpsaboutfamily]

I'll be over in a moment, then!


[[ And then handwaving the trade~? ]]

[king_of_flames]

[[And the trade-back.]]