Your personal Tumblr journey starts here
(Author's Note: this story was previously submitted to the villain story contest in @allhailpokemonvillains. Because the contest is over, I'm finally publishing it here.
Chronologically, it's set after "Promise" and before "Business")
- So, Levi, - started the cabinet minister in sinisterly gentle voice, - can you tell me, why there’s no VTOL gravplane on the aft landing pad of my airship?
- Well… - began his henchman.
- Twenty words or less, - taped Alva, gripping his staff harder and pointing it at the Levi.
- I’ve forgot to moor it after the scanning sweep in area, where bringing entire airship wouldn’t have been an option, so…
- Twenty, - stopped him minister. - Cherie - what’s your excuse?
- We were forced to commence emergency evasion maneuver soon after Levi's return, so, unmoored gravplane fell off the airship, - said the woman, looking at the sharp tip of the staff, which was now pointed at her. - At least it, during the fall, has collided with the Volcanion, which tried to attack us, and absorbed a decent part of its Overheat while simultaneously throwing its aim away, which is why we were able to bring the airship with barely working aft levitation engine here, back to the docks. If not for the gravplane, the ship would’ve been crashed wreck now.
-… OK, I accept this explanation, - replied minister, changing the grip position of his staff to the less threatening one. - After all, I saw the damaged parts of the airship. However, it does not change the situation, that, thanks to your doings, I’ve lost my private gravplane - not a cheap one, by the way, and almost lost my airship - a pricy one too. Had I ever told you “Now, these airship and gravplane are completely yours. Use them as you wish!”?
- No… - began Levi.
- Right, I never did such a thing. However, the gravplane is no more and airship is seriously damaged. What the time it is, when you come back with damaged equipment, no gravplane and no results?
- Third, boss, - said Cherie in exhausted voice.
- That’s right, you come back with no gravplane and no… Stop, you did come with some results this time! - suddenly cheered Alva, activating the projector, switching to the map of Azoth Kingdom's surroundings and pointing at it with his staff. - From what it looks like, Volcanion protects this specific region - even more specific, the Nebel Plateau. Each time you’ve tried to approach the Plateau, this Pokemon suddenly attacked you, as to if prevent you from ever getting a chance to perform a scanning sweep! Maybe, what it’s trying to hide is exactly what we are searching for.
- So… wait ‘till repairs are over and commence search-and-retrieval operation? But…
- No, not like that, - said cabinet minister with strange and menacing smile. - I’ll make sure airship gets some armoring this time and you… you will get the presents I was talking about for the long time already.
- MWDs? - asked Levi and Cherie at the same time.
- Yes, Mega Wave Devices, I’ve almost finished testing the final prototypes, so, in following months, you’ll get them along with Mega-able Pokemon. It’s kinda bad Hunter J has disappeared somewhere, so, I’ll have to work with either this new K girl or some smaller players at the black market… Anyway, you two are dismissed!
Alva’s henchmen has happily left his room, while the cabinet minister placed his staff away and took a tablet with a scanned images of Nikola’s design diagrams - specificially, Flying Fortress and Magearna.
“A year or so - and the kingdom will receive two rulers, which will finally guide it back to the ways of might and glory!” - thought Alva, analyzing the designs of the Soul Heart and the Fortress’ cannon’s power source’s cradle. - “And I’ll finally fulfill my promise!”
- Well, that’s it for today! - said cabinet minister Alva, closing the old book. - Your majesty, your homework - assemble the levi-drone and program it to avoid obstacles during the flight on determined path. Next lesson will be in two days.
- Understood, minister Alva! - happily responded prince Raleigh. The cabinet minister gave him a smile, left the prince’s room and headed for his own one, slowly drifting in his thoughts...
"Why they can’t spend more time with me?” - asked young Alva himself, slowly reading “Introduction to Arcane Science”. - “Am I less important to them, than arcane researches? Or...”
- Happy birthday, Alva! - said Ogden, giving his son a present. - Sorry for so little time, but, as you know, our salary...
- I know and I understand you, - replied boy, slowly unwrapping the package. - Wait, is it...
- Yes, it is, - proudly said Nancy. - “Young arcane researcher’s first kit”.
- But it’s so expensive... How much... What... Why...
- Alva, you’re our son, - announced both Ogden and Nancy at the same time, - and we want you to be happy. About money... It’s not that important. Again, forgive us from spending so little time with you, but...
- Thank you so much... - responded the young boy, who was on verge of crying. As he knew, this kit costed nearly thrice the dad’s salary, so, they should’ve either started saving money no less than few months ago, or overwork. From what it looked like, it was the second cause. And they did this just because they’ve wanted their son to be happy...
- Prince Raleigh, why are you crying? - gently asked cabinet minister young prince, who was silently sobbing in the far corner of the library. - If it makes you feel better, I promise, that I won’t tell it to anyone.
- Dad... I’m not sure if he still remembers that I exist, - angrily whispered boy. From what it looked like, he just couldn’t keep it in himself anymore. - Sister loves her jetbikes more than her own brother... And mom, the only one, who loved me...
Raleigh couldn’t see it, but Alva’s grip on the staff became harder. His parents may’ve spent too little time with him, when he was child, but, at least, they’ve truly loved him and wanted their son to be happy.
- My condolences, prince Raleigh, - said cabinet minister, looking at the book, which was placed on table before prince. - You’re interested in the arcane science?
- Yes, and what? - harshly replied boy, showing, that his closest relatives didn’t share this kind of interest.
- Nothing special, prince Raleigh, I’ve just wanted to say, that I’m an arcane researcher and can provide help in it to you, if you want it.
- Really? - asked Raleigh, looking at cabinet minister with hope in his eyes.
“Just how alone is he?” - asked Alva himself, while giving a smile to prince and saying:
- Of course.
- Great work, but there are some mistakes, - said Alva to Raleigh, checking his homework. For more than year now, Alva was pretty much giving free private lessons in arcane science to young prince and, from what it looked like, neither king nor Kimia cared. - Looks like we need to perfect your math first!
- If we need it, I’ll do my best! - responded Raleigh whole-heartedly. As Alva has understood, he was pretty much the only friend of young prince, his closest men... and that the plans about overtaking kingdom needed to be re-written. Raleigh may never know it, but he was the one who deeply softened the cabinet minister’s heart and prevented a chain of planned political assassinations.
“When we overtake the kingdom, you will be the one, who will bring it might and prosperity, and I... I’ll help you do it,” - thought Alva, looking at young prince’s work and explaining him his mistakes.
“From what it looks like, I’m more of a parental figure to Raleigh, than the king,” - finished his chain of thoughts Alva, putting the staff aside, taking the place in the chair, pressing the “Door lock” button on the remote, opening the drawer and taking an old photo from it.
The lavender-haired man entered the room, put his staff away and took a sit in the big chair. Financial reports, talk with the king, princess and other officials, an arcane science lesson with Raleigh, who was so heart-achingly similar to him - right now, the cabinet minister Alva was very exhausted.
The man smirked, remembering something, then pressed the “Door lock” button on the remote, opened a drawer and took an old photo from it.
On the time-worn card, there were three smiling people - a lavender-haired green-eyed man roughly in his late 30′s with a book in his hands, a similar-aged green-haired lavender-eyed woman with a clipboard and a young lavender-haired lavender-eyed boy with a short haircut and an old goggles on his forehead. All of them looked so happy...
-... but it did not last, - finished his thought minister, diving deeper into the memories...
***
- You made us proud, son, - sad the green-eyed man, gently patting young Alva’s shoulder. - You made us really proud.
- Ogden, can’t you wait until we’re home? - asked the man his green-haired wife.
- No, Nancy. I still can’t think of it - you’ve managed to do your first arcane science discovery in such a young age! Alva, you’re truly our son.
- Thank you, dad, - smiled the boy, tugging the goggles away from his head and putting them into pocket. - I always thought of it as... Mom, dad, just imagine it - you’re surrounded by agressive wild Pokemon, your only hope is, let’s say, Lucario, Alakazam and Steelix, but you can’t Mega Evolve them all at once... at least, the classic way. Just think, what the Mega Wave will be able to do in this situation! Quick multiple Mega Evolutions, which also bypass usual side-effects of Mega-Evo, such as loss of Pokemon self-control and like that, do not require Mega or Key Stones, so you can give your Pokemon something more useful, and require no special bond with them, so you will not be forced to pick a favorite from your equally-beloved team or force yourself to bond with a strongest one, if you don’t like it! Mega Wave will make them all strong and powerful, and will protect them from loss of mind!
- Of course it will, honey, - responded Nancy. - However, you can see, that it will take many years to complete and perfect this technology!
- I know it and I will do it, Mom, or I won’t be your son!
- Alva, there is no need to say it in such a way, - lost his smile Ogden. - You are and will always be our son, no matter what.
- Okay, Dad.
- Son, say me, what do you want to do in your life? - asked him mother, hoping to quickly shift the theme.
- Become the best arcane researcher and make the Azoth Kindgom great and prosperous! - replied the boy from his very heart. - I promise you, I will do it, no matter what it takes!
***
-... And I will keep my promise, - whispered the cabinet minister, putting the photo back into drawer. Today was the 20th anniversary of the unfortunate day, when his parents died in the accident.
In my fic, cabinet minister Alva is a child of the not very famous, but still pretty well-known arcane researchers Ogden and Nancy.
During his childhood, young Alva was a pretty lonely boy, whose main and almost only interest was the arcane science. Because his mom and dad were too much into arcanics to pay enough attention to their son, Alva spent most of the time reading the Ogden’s and Nancy’s books, trying to study the arcane science himself. While Alva’s parents were proud of it, they still paid too little attention to the boy, so Alva had to pretty much fight tooth and nail for his social progress from the position of the simple researchers son to recognized arcane scientist to the (much later) cabinet minister. However, Alva still loved his parents very much and they loved him too, though, again, payed too little attention to him.
Both Ogden and Nancy died in the accident (one of the catwalks above the big city gears, due to metal fatigue, broke and fell down along with people on it right into the working mechanism. The results were far, far from the pretty), when Alva was 19, so, from this moment, lavender-haired boy could only count on himself. Thanks to his parents library and his own skills, he was able to quickly take a position of the arcane science student in the local technological university and earn a degree in just five years. Overall, professors thought of Alva as a very promising student, so he was able to take a position of the junior arcane researcher.
At this point, Alva started to grow dark. Seeing, how Kingdom used pretty much the same technology as in the Nikola’s times with little to no advancement (how else would you explain such hi-tech control systems in the Nikola-built and then unmodified Flying Fortress?), how safety rules were violated from the very founding of the Kingdom (his parents died because of badly-placed and undermaintained catwalk, after all), how not-very-young corporations started to slip in the traditionally Azoth-monopolistic airship market (Tunguska Technologies, SaL-12 “Charizard” Assault Ship Aerodyne, which, thanks to high resilience and durability, low price, great fuel efficiency along with ability to use pretty much any liquid, gaseous or even gelatinous fuel, wide range of modifications and very easy repairs became widely-used platform for different machines, including even the VTOL cargo fliers and passenger transport) and how royalties weren’t doing a thing about it made him angry. After understanding this, Alva chose to become at least cabinet minister to try to, in the best case, influence royalties to take actions, or, if they won’t, take over the Kingdom and do it himself. Considering his genius, it didn’t take a long time.
The true reason why Alva sympathizes Raleigh is because cabinet minister sees himself in the young prince and does not want such a childhood for this young boy. If not for this, his plan wouldn’t even included Raleigh after the Alva takes the control over the Kingdom - he would’ve simply exiled or even executed everyone from the royal family and become the sole dictator, but friendship with the prince made Alva change his plans - in the new version, after the Alva takes control over the Kingdom, current king and Kimia are stripped of their positions, but left alive, Raleigh becomes a new king and, until he reaches the adulthood, former cabinet minister takes control of the Kingdom, while continuing to teach Raleigh arcane science and, as a part of preparation to become the king, politics and economics.
On top of everything above, the reason Alva is doing all of this is because he loves Azoth Kingdom very much and wants it to become mighty and prosperous once more, even if by such a dirty means.
Unlike in the canon, Cabinet Minister Alva here is less of a “Complete Monster” and more of a “Well-Intentioned Extremist” with a tiny bit of Richard Hawk from “Metal Wolf Chaos”. He still wants to overtake the Azoth Kingdom and rule it from the Giant Metal Spider Flying Fortress (which here is also often called “Defence Fortress”), but here, it’s because he wants Azoth Kingdom to become great and powerful once more (no, no Trump jokes. Really, no Trump.)
As for now, Azoth Kingdom is slowly, but surely losing positions in the airship and small VTOL markets due to corporates proposing more advanced machines for the same price. Considering that Azoth’s main sources of income are, again, airship and small VTOL production and export, you can understand the feelings of minister, who does love his motherland and does not like the ruling royalties, which do next to nothing about it.
The true reason Alva was able to get along with prince Raleigh is because the young boy was very alone. Raleigh’s mom has passed away several years ago, dad is paying next to no attention to him, Kimia is not much better in it, so young prince took refuge in studying arcane science, which has brought him close to Alva, who was an arcane researcher. A small kinda quote from the fic:
(Raleigh, trying to ask his sister for help): Kimia, can you help me?
(Kimia, going to king to discuss Alva’s financial report and barely paying attention to her brother): Not now, Raleigh.
(Raleigh, silently, but angrily whispering): “Not now”, just as always! Daddy - “Not now”, Kimia - “Not now”, so when will then be “Now”? And these people wonder...
(Alva, silently coming to prince): Is there something wrong?
(Raleigh, calming down): Nothing special, minister Alva. For some reason, I can’t assemble a working levitator - outer shell breaks all the time, resulting in systems failure. Can you help me with this?
(Alva, smiling): Of course I can.
Not quite like the canon Alva, this version of the cabinet minister actually does sympathize Raleigh, which is why he tries to slowly get his trust, loyalty and support instead of just using him as a simple tool.
When it comes to arcane science, Alva uses the Nikola’s version (the only one available now), but he does know the rumors about the Soris origins of this discipline, though he prefers to dismiss them as jokes. His favorite directions in it are arcane computing devices (for unlocking Fortress’ control systems) and Mega Evolution research (he is yet to create Mega Wave devices here, though he has some working prototypes now).