FEPW Chapter 101 A Mob of Incompetents

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"It really seems like you've grown up... time flies."

"I'm surprised you didn't come up with some excuse. I thought you'd try to brush things off with one of your usual half-truths."

Shiran let out a soft chuckle. "That's because... You feel like a stranger now."

"Your change started about two months ago, right? Ever since you fell into the river, you haven't been the same. That timid kid who used to flinch at the sight of a Pokémon... is gone. The one who used to see Pokémon as terrifying creatures vanished. That look of admiration I once had for you faded into simple respect... and now, even that's gone."

Shiran leaned forward. His half-lidded eyes snapped open, glinting with a cold, piercing light.

"So tell me, where did the old Luther go?"

"Maybe he died. Or maybe he just got lost on the road he was traveling."

Shiran didn't believe a word of it. He took that as Luther mocking him.

Luther's sarcasm couldn't cut through the tension hanging between them. As much as he wanted to snap back, he couldn't risk burning this bridge, he still had too much to learn from Shiran.

Luther placed five Poké Balls on the table.

Shiran hesitated for a second before placing six of his own down.

"You're one short, aren't you?"

"Not anymore. My Mismagius isn't with me. I'm sure Professor Rowan mentioned that."

"We both have questions. Maybe it's time we tried talking, calmly and clearly. Do you agree?"

Luther nodded.

"Then tell me, who are you, really?"

"Luther."

Shiran sneered. "You can't be. I raised Luther myself. I know his every habit, his every fear. Can a person just shake off a lifelong phobia overnight? After twenty years together, I know him. You may wear his face, but you are not Luther."

"People change. With the right push, a timid boy can learn courage. An insecure kid can gain confidence. Even someone who once shut everyone out... can find real friends."

"I've lived seventy-six years and met people from all walks of life. But you... the look in your eyes, I can't read it at all."

"You think I betrayed you. Betrayed your parents. That I'm the enemy. And you're not wrong. But after everything, after twenty years, can't you even look at me with conflicted eyes? With anything more than cold detachment? No... you're not Luther."

"Does it matter whether I'm Luther or not? Did you ever really care about him? Oh, right, you only saw him as a tool. A flawed one, sure, but still useful enough."

"So he's gone, isn't he?"

"Maybe his spirit is dead. Or maybe he truly is."

For the first time, Luther's answer made Shiran visibly shaken. He exhaled slowly, as though trying to purge some deep frustration from within.

"Do you really think I'm faking all of this?"

"Why shouldn't I? What proof do I have that you're not just putting on a show?"

"I never married. I dedicated my life to Pokémon research. Even after resigning from Rainbow University, that dream never changed. I had hopes... maybe even saw potential in you. But I never wanted to hurt you."

Luther slammed his fist on the table. His voice rose with fury. "So you're telling me, when you made me feed nectar to a Nidorino and a Nidoran during their mating cycle, you planned that out of kindness? You really think that's not disgusting?"

Shiran's voice rose to meet his: "Twenty years! For twenty years, we lived under the same roof! Day in, day out. I'm not heartless, Luther. Think back, did I ever treat you poorly? Since the day of the ambush, have I ever once wronged you?"

"You always had the best food in the Pokémon Center. Your room was the biggest. You got stuck with the simplest tasks and had more free time than anyone else. Even when you were too scared to ask me for things, I still gave you everything I could."

"And now you want me to believe that's love?!" Luther scoffed. "That was just your strategy. If I thought you cared, I'd be more willing to hand over whatever you wanted. But if I stopped being useful, would you still have treated me the same?"

"Spare me your self-righteousness. It's filthy."

"Then tell me, what were my feelings toward you? I could've used more direct means to get what I wanted. The others in the organization suggested it. But I refused. I carried the burden alone for twenty years, just hoping to gain your trust. Isn't that care?"

"No, it's just guilt. Guilt toward my parents. Face it, you don't know what real care is. You don't know how to love someone. You only see emotions as currency, a way to buy results."

"Care is noticing someone's hurt hand and not asking how it got hurt, just asking if they want a bandage."

"It's trading promises under the sunset, singing each other's favorite songs, and swearing to take on the whole world together if anyone comes looking for revenge."

"It's about using your experiences to ease someone's pain, so their confidence doesn't drift like a Weedle's web in the wind."

"It's calling to say you're someone I can trust, and more than that… my friend."

"It's warning me to be cautious because Shiran, the very man who killed your parents, is still out there."

"It's learning that when I requested time off, you immediately called three times in a row, asking if I needed an advance on my pay."

"It's seeing parents who would rather quit their research positions at the university, give up everything they've worked for, and take up jobs they hate, all so their child can grow up safe and strong."

"It's hearing all the Pokémon cheer the moment his story is told."

Luther's voice was rising with each word, trembling with emotion. His fists clenched tightly on the table, trying to hold back tears.

"These past two months have shown me more love than I ever felt in twenty years. It was overwhelming. It made me feel like I wasn't alone... like the world hadn't given up on me after all."

Shiran looked visibly shaken. His lips parted slightly, as if he wanted to speak, but no words came.

He leaned back in his chair, slowly closing his eyes.

"So… it's true. He really is gone."

"My parents' deaths... they're tied to you, aren't they?"

"It was my plan," Shiran admitted quietly. "We lured your father with the claim that someone had finally built the amplifier he envisioned. We wanted him to bring the documents and validate it. Once we confirmed the papers were at your house… I stepped out of the car."

"But you didn't expect the documents to be fake, did you?"

Shiran gave a bitter smile.

"They were clever. Your father didn't confront us directly. He didn't even carry his Poké Balls. To fool us, he left the general framework intact but altered key segments. It took five years of failed testing before we realized the data was falsified."

"So the Pokémon I rescued… and my parents' missing team… they became your final gamble to retrieve the real research." Luther's voice dropped coldly. "But I guess you already know the truth: five years ago, you finally succeeded in building the amplifier based on the actual theory my parents left behind."

"I've heard those amplifiers aren't very reliable," Luther scoffed.

Shiran sighed. His eyes showed a flicker of regret.

"Your parents were once-in-a-generation talents. If they'd chosen to work with us, we could've changed the world in twenty years."

"What's so wrong with the world now?" Luther challenged. "What exactly are you trying to change?"

Shiran snorted with contempt.

"For the average Trainer, this world might seem fine. But the Pokémon League has wrapped scientific research in red tape, chaining our progress. How can anyone uncover the true mysteries of Pokémon under such constraints?"

"So all of this… all this destruction, just for your twisted dream?"

Luther's words struck a nerve. Shiran's pride in his cause made any insult feel like blasphemy.

"Twisted? You think this is twisted?" Shiran hissed. "Unbound by the League's restrictions, I've made breakthroughs your so-called professors could never even imagine! I've seen truths they'll never touch!"

"Even if it costs Pokémon lives? Even if it's soaked in blood?"

"Do you know how medical science advanced in the early days? Through failure. Through loss. Through sacrifice."

"That's medicine. Not this."

"This is science."

Their eyes locked, both pairs frozen like ice. The temperature in the room seemed to plummet.

"I have to ask," Luther said, his voice sharp. "How many of you self-proclaimed visionaries keep preaching these grand ideals while lacking the strength to back them up? You're just a bunch of clowns… no, a mob of incompetents."

Shiran froze, stunned for a second, then suddenly burst out laughing.

"You figured it out. That's what our group is called, 'A Mob of Incompetents.'" His laughter was manic, half-mocking. "Compared to the Pokémon League, yes, we are just a bunch of nobodies hiding in the shadows... but who says nobodies can't shake the foundations of the League itself?"

"With your cheap knockoff amplifiers?" Luther said, unimpressed.

He had read the experiment logs. The damage rates were sky-high. The success rate was so low it was almost laughable. It was no wonder they had been obsessed with the original notes left behind by his parents.

Sure, they had made progress, but without proper guidance, they were lost. They were walking blindfolded in a maze, stumbling with each step.

"Isn't your Mismagius proof enough?" Shiran countered. "There's more than one path forward."

Luther suddenly stood up.

"That was only a speculative theory in my parents' notes, one they barely touched on. But you… you actually turned it into reality?"

Luther's tone was filled with suppressed rage.

"So what? What's your success rate? One in a hundred?"

"That's the nature of discovery," Shiran replied calmly. "Trial and error is how we get closer to the truth. Every mistake brings us one step nearer."

"Must be nice to have bottomless pockets for endless failure," Luther said coldly.

"Funding?" Shiran scoffed. "That's never been a problem. From the very beginning, what we've needed most… is your parents' formula. The original blueprint. The one path that works."

"Too bad you'll never get it."

"I'm not worried," Shiran said with a smirk. "I have a feeling I'll find another way to obtain it."

Luther narrowed his eyes. "You're still chasing something that might not even exist."

"Your parents were so clever, using a fake document to stall me while hiding their Pokémon, giving you a twenty-year protection plan. It's hard not to believe that your parents' Pokémon hold what I want."

"And so what? Do you think they will obediently appear and hand it over to you?"

Shiran agreed with Luther's words.

"I used to think I could obtain it peacefully from you, but now it seems I was too naive."

Suddenly, Luther's Poké Ball seemed to be pulled by something, flying across the office to a corner.

Luther instinctively protected his chest with his hands as a tongue abruptly appeared from mid-air, striking his hands painfully.

Kecleon!

"Welcome to the adult world," Shiran said with a smile. 

(End of Chapter)