Oh, look, it's the theme word as the chapter title! Whatever will this mean! Find out in Chapter 20!
Chapter 20
A Pedestal
Gloria couldn't believe the look on Ash's face.
For a man usually so warm and genial, the grim line that his lips were set in upon demanding an answer from Leon made him seem far older than the Champion he was squaring off against. A man more world-weary and experienced. It reminded her of all those times before, where he would jump into action, but on a far greater magnitude. His Pokémon were just as tense, prepared to defend their trainer with the littlest of actions.
Hop was also in a state of disbelief, but far more vocal about it. "Hey, there's no reason accuse Lee of that. He's here to help. Right?"
"That machine is made by Macro Cosmos," Ash said, sending a glare to Hop that caused him to stumble into Marnie. "So, I need to know if you're here to defend it, or to save Spikemuth."
"I would never want to harm anyone," Leon finally answered, but Gloria could hear it, the strangulation in his voice. There was a rattled doubt, something he didn't know, and wasn't sure of. Looking between the two men it became more obvious that one stood taller than the other without even meaning to. "But let's not jump to conclusions here."
"Did you or did you not come here on Oleana's orders? It's not a hard question, Leon!" Ash was tightening his fists, and across from him, Leon's Charizard was coiling, tensing. Hop tried to intervene, pulling on Ash's arm.
"Hey, cut it out! Lee is here to-"
"Shh!" Gloria shushed him, pulling Hop away from Ash as he faced down the Champion. He looked at her like she was crazy, and no matter the flutters she had felt before, she didn't have any of them when facing her friend down now. "Let them handle this. We should focus on that machine."
"I wouldn't go anywhere near it," Leon interjected, having heard the exchange. Gloria froze, her hand still on Hop's wrist as all the teens stared to their beloved Champion. He had moved forward just a bit, but Ash had refused to shrink the line even a little. "You have no idea what that machine is."
"I think we can guess," Ash spat. There was anger present now, and an unflinching capacity for battle that Leon could only have guessed at. To Gloria, it wasn't a growing clash between Champion and Liaison, but rather battler and warrior. Or a hero. Ash refused to relent. "But you haven't answered my question: Spikemuth, or Macro Cosmos?"
"I'm here for all of Galar."
"And what decision does that mean?" Ash demanded. "Because before, you sided with Rose when he went a step too far. This is even further than that."
"Rose is my benefactor. I trust his judgment," Leon said. He was sounding a little miffed himself, clearly not enjoying the way that his authority was being challenged like this. Gloria wasn't quite sure what to do, in any event, her eyes darting between the two men and the machine that continually pulsed with its sickening energy.
She had to do something.
"Does that mean you trust his judgment on who he hires, too? Does that mean you just trust Oleana's words?" Ash had broken the line, getting up into Leon's face. Hop tried to stop him, but Marnie was now the one to yank him back, shaking her head furiously. "Was she who sent you, Leon? Because if she was, then she doesn't care what happens here so long as you protect her precious machine. So, tell me now, Leon!"
Ash's statement echoed, all eyes drawn to the Champion. Both Charizard were prepared for a fight, and the other Pokémon were no less so. The flashing lights from the generator bathed their faces in purple, neither saying a word in that bated breath.
Neither needed to, for Leon's scrunched eyebrows and rattled breath said everything.
"You can't mean that..." Leon's stunned surprise didn't affect Ash, nor did it stop the trickle of the roof. The only one it seemed to matter to was Hop.
"Lee...?" His eyes widened, fight leaving his body at the disbelief coming from his brother. Hop started to shake his head. "Lee, he doesn't know what he's talking about, right? You came here to save Spikemuth, right? Like a Champion would! Like the person I always aspired to be! There's nothing different, right?"
Leon may as well have not even heard his brother, his brain too busy processing the sheer possibility that his benefactors would be involved in anything remotely shady. He shook his head, tightening the cap atop it. "No, that's not possible. Macro Cosmos works for the good of all Galar."
"Then how do you explain these incidents?" Ash asked. He pointed behind himself, and soon gestured around the room, but it was clear as he spoke that he intended to speak of all Galar. "Motostoke. The mines. Now, Spikemuth. If Macro Cosmos's Dynamax Division can't seem to understand these events, then the only answer for any of it is that they're keeping it a secret."
"No. Chairman Rose assured me he was looking into Motostoke," Leon said. He was gaining his bearings, becoming more defiant, more defensive. Yet, standing before Ash, Gloria couldn't see their famed Champion. He seemed too small for that. "I...We can trust in him, Ash. He makes the right calls."
"And if Oleana is whispering in his ear?" Leon continued to shake his head, not willing to listen to it. Pikachu's cheeks sparked, his little head turning in the direction of the generator. "Can you trust that his decisions are his own?"
"Well, why don't we ask her when she arrives with the Chairman," Leon said, folding his arms across his chest. His cape fluttered out, but Ash wasn't scared by the action or attempt to assert dominance. "You're positing complete speculation regarding their affairs in Spikemuth. Yes, it might be a side effect of whatever energy system they are trying out, but I would never think you one to assume malice!"
"I'm not assuming anything..." Ash practically growled those words. The air had grown thick, nearing the edge of a precipice that, once gone over, would send things tumbling into freefall. Gloria flicked her eyes to the generator. They needed to act soon. "I'm just asking you to think about what's being done. You're a Champion!"
"And you're just a Liaison!" Leon shouted in turn. Hop stumbled back, falling to the floor at Marnie's quivering body. "This isn't Kanto. This is Galar! You've no idea the good all of Macro Cosmos has done. You have no proof of their involvement, but are going around accusing. I thought your job was to be impartial in rating the League, but you would attack its biggest financial backer?"
"You mean your biggest backer." This voice was Marnie's, the girl stepping forward. Ash and Leon both turned in the direction of the girl as she crossed the distance, leaving Gloria to stare at the generator. She looked down at Raboot, and then over to the sparking Morpeko. "I don't believe it...Piers was right...Yer just another one of 'em. Another one of Macro Cosmos's puppets."
"Hey! Don't say that about Lee!" Hop regained himself, just enough to stand. "My brother is the best Champion Galar has ever seen! He cares about everyone in Ga-"
"My city is sufferin' right now!" Marnie yelled, the scream ripping at her throat. "A Power Spot is tearin' it apart, destroyin' my home, the people I love. And it's not because of Dynamax. It's because someone had the idea to do it! To control that power for themselves! What do lives matter if you got the strongest guy in the region to defend you when things go horribly wrong? Or even horribly right?!"
