Lord of Entertainment

Chapter 516: Pokè Craze

(3rd Person POV)

The private room of the five-star restaurant in Morningstar had been cleared before Lucy arrived. She was still sitting alone when the door opened and Arthur came in with a woman beside him.

It had been a month since the Pokémon craze began, and the world could not get enough of them.

Even the wealthy hunted now. Nobles, royalty, people who had never walked into a forest without a retinue were out there in the trees with a Poké Ball in hand, and the ones who could not catch what they wanted simply bought it. Rare Pokémon moved through the markets at prices that would have bought estates a year ago.

Lucy ignored the woman entirely and kept her eyes on Arthur.

"How did you manage it?" She did not stand to greet him. "I've been trying to work it out for a month and I can't. Breeding a beast that looks like a picture is one thing. Breeding one that looks exactly like a fictional character, down to the markings, in every corner of the world at once? Even for you, that should have been impossible."

The Pokémon beasts remained a deep mystery to her, and Lucy did not enjoy mysteries she could not take apart.

Arthur pulled out the chair across from her and smiled. "It wasn't me who did it." He tipped his head toward the woman at his side. "Let's just say she's the one you should be asking."

Mephista bowed at the mention, and gladly.

Lucy looked at her properly for the first time. "She is?"

"It's an honor to meet you, Lord Arthur's sister." Mephista straightened, hands folded in front of her. "I am Mephista."

"Hello." Lucy returned the greeting on reflex, and then the name caught up with her and she sat forward. "Wait— you have the same name as the goddess in the Pokémon world. Mephista. The origin of all beasts?"

Arthur nodded. "She's the one who designed the Pokémon."

He lied without so much as a pause. In truth he had gone back into the game and rewritten the story around her, threading her name through the founding of that world so that every player who picked up a Hellboy would be worshipping her without ever knowing they had started.

"I see." Lucy's eyes moved over Mephista again, slower this time. "Then it's good to meet you."

"Mephista will be the one working with you on the Pokémon games," Arthur said. "Anything you need on that side, she has the authority to decide it. Mephista, I'll leave it to you."

"Yes. I'll handle everything."

Lucy caught the way she said it. Not the tone of a colleague accepting an assignment, and not the tone of an employee either. It was a lord and a servant, and the servant was pleased about it. Lucy found that rather peculiar.

"By the way." She turned her glass a quarter turn on the tablecloth. "How exactly are you manufacturing them? Because that's what this is. You have secret labs somewhere, don't you, and Mephista runs them."

Arthur shook his head. "No labs. Mephista did it with magic."

"What!?" Lucy's hand stopped on the glass. "Mephista. You can do such a thing?"

"Yes." Mephista smiled at the reaction, and did not elaborate.

Her power was overwhelming now. She had gathered a fair share of energy from the players, and thanks to Arthur, the Faith Energy she held was enough to generate Pokémon across the whole world. The rarer the creature, the more it cost her; a common one was nothing, a legendary drained a great deal.

Even so, what came back from the players dwarfed what she spent. And the players kept multiplying at a rate she could not have predicted.

At this pace, she would have more than enough long before Solarus could set foot in this world. She had already passed her former peak.

Arthur stood. "All right, I'll leave you two to it. I have something to tend to."

Lucy nodded and let him go. She had a great many questions for Arthur.

But she had more for Mephista, who could conjure living beasts out of magic. That was unheard of.

---

Somewhere in the vast forest under the Morningstar Kingdom's domain, the royal siblings had spread out under the canopy with their Poké Balls: Azazel, Apollonia, Arnold, and Bobby.

They were not alone. Scattered all through the forest were others, nobles and commoners alike, every one of them hunting, their voices carrying faintly across the distance.

Catching Pokémon was easy. Catching a rare one never was.

Arnold hurled his Poké Ball at the ground beside him. "Damn it! A Rattata. Two hours and all I've got is a Rattata."

"You're already lucky." Bobby snorted. "I got a Caterpie. A worm, Arnold. I've been out here since sunrise and I caught a worm." He turned. "What about you, big bro?"

Azazel released his, and the ball snapped open. "Bulbasaur."

The Bulbasaur came out and blinked up at them, small and round and entirely too pleased with itself.

Arnold could not bear it. "It's obvious! This freaking Hellboy is walking me straight to the common respawn points every single time. It's biased toward you, big bro. Look at it. It's not even hiding it."

The Hellboy was what led them: it marked where the Pokémon would appear, the respawn points, and it kept updating as they moved. But the marks were only marks. Whether a player went to the right one, and what was waiting when they got there, came down to choice and luck in equal measure.

Which was why Azazel did not agree with him. "Not at all. You keep letting the Hellboy do the thinking for you. Work at it, stop leaning on the thing, and you'll catch a Bulbasaur too."

Arnold shook his head. "I don't agree."

"Then explain little sis Llonia." Bobby jabbed a finger toward her. "Explain how she pulls a Charizard out of nowhere on her second day. That damn Arthur is biased against us, and don't tell me he isn't."

Apollonia had the Charizard pressed up against her side, its wing folded over her arm. She went red at the mention of it and said nothing.

Arnold nodded along with him. "I agree. He clearly hasn't forgotten about the bad blood."

Apollonia grew more flustered still.

Just then a voice came from behind them.

"So you lot talk about me behind my back."

Bobby stepped back into a root and nearly went down. "A-Arthur!"

Azazel recovered faster, though his eyes had widened. "Arthur. You're actually here? Did you see father?"

"Not really." Arthur came out of the trees at an easy pace. "And there's no need to. Aren't I exiled already?"

Something complicated moved across Azazel's face. "That..."

Arnold cut past it and went to the point. "So there you are. The so-called creator of Pokémon." He folded his arms. "You clearly have favorites among us—"

"L-little bro Arthur." Bobby was already stepping around Arnold's shoulder. "Forget what I said. No, I take it back, all of it, I never said it. Can you do me a favor and help me catch a legendary?"

Arnold turned to stare at him. "Bobby, you—"

"It's not impossible," Arthur said.

"Really!?" Bobby's eyes went round.

Even Arnold flinched. A legendary Pokémon was the same as owning a personal dragon.

No, it was better than a dragon. Anyone with enough gold could buy a beast. There were only so many legendaries in the world, and everyone alive knew their names.

"But it depends on your skill," Arthur said, patient about it. "You don't just walk up and catch a legendary. Rare ones already take real skill. Legendaries take more than you have."

Bobby gritted his teeth. To him it was plain enough: Arthur simply did not want to hand one over. "Come on, won't you give your brother a leg up? We share the same blood. Think about it, if I caught a legendary I could sell it, and I'd split it with you—"

"Shut up, Bobby." Azazel did not raise his voice. "Arthur doesn't owe you anything. Or did you forget the family exiled him?"

"Exiled or not, he's still a brother—"

"It's true that I share blood with you Morningstars," Arthur said. "But you've got the rest of it wrong. We aren't brothers. I'm not your father's son."

"What!?"

They were all of them shocked, Apollonia included.

Azazel spoke first. "What are you saying, Arthur?"

"What are you trying to say?" Arnold's arms had come uncrossed. "That we aren't siblings, but we share blood anyway? How is that even possible?"

Apollonia was trembling faintly where she stood, one hand still on the Charizard's neck. "Brother, you—"

"Talk to Luke," Arthur said. "The man who's supposed to be my uncle. He can tell you the rest."

He had no interest in keeping the secret any longer. Not now. He ruled the world; there was nothing left that hiding it protected.

Azazel's eyes widened. His father had a sister once. He remembered being told she had died giving birth, and that no one knew where the child had gone.

"D-don't tell me. You're the son of father's sister?"

"You got it." Arthur smiled faintly.

"..."

Nobody had anything to say. They were learning this now. After everything, they were learning it now, standing in a forest with Poké Balls in their hands.

"Anyway." Arthur turned. "I'm here to borrow Apollonia for a while."

"Ye-yes?" Apollonia was still catching up to the last revelation and had nothing ready for this one.

Arthur still cared for her, deep down, and it showed in the way his voice changed. "Little sister. Are you interested in acting? My next film is already underway. And I don't plan to shoot it in this world."

"!!!"

That Arthur had called Apollonia his sister at all, after what he had just said, was surprise enough. What followed it was worse.

Azazel let out a long breath and felt the strength go out of him. "Arthur. You keep doing this. One revelation isn't enough for you, it has to be two in the same breath."

"Not in this world?" Bobby's face screwed up. "How is that even possible?"

Apollonia seemed to realize something. "Brother. Is it 'that' world?"

Arthur chuckled. "I know what you're thinking. But no. It's a world where we'll be using a spaceship."

Her eyes widened. "Ah! Like in Star Wars!?"

"Yes."

Arnold's eyes caught on the exchange. "Wait. Apollonia, it sounds like you know something the rest of us don't."

Bobby had already heard enough to know it would be incredible, and his face slid back into that flattering shape. "Arthur, can we join—"

Arthur shook his head. "Sorry. You'll have to audition like everyone else."

Azazel: "..."

It was obvious enough. Siblings or not, Arthur cared for Apollonia and Apollonia alone, and he had nothing softer than that for Arnold and Bobby.