Information
Dramatis Personae
Professor Augustine Sycamore
The Pokémon Professor of the Kalos region. Mega Evolution is his main field of study. He was mentored by Professor Rowan from the Sinnoh region in his youth.
First introduced in Pokémon X&Y, the player meets him in his laboratory in Lumiose City, where he offers them one of the first partner Pokémon from the Kanto region after challenging them to a Pokémon battle. Of course, as is customary, he is also the one who originally entrusted the player's friends with Pokédex and first partner Pokémon from the Kalos region.
Although he is demonstrably successful and renowned in his field, he appears to lack self-confidence. He believes in other people's ability to do good above all else, sometimes to his detriment.
Lysandre
Founder of Lysandre Labs, creator of the Holocaster, and owner of Lysandre Café in Lumiose City. Unbeknownst to all, he is also the leader of Team Flare, a secret organization which aims to bring Kalos back to a blank slate so it can be remade into a beautiful world, or so they say.
First introduced in Pokémon X&Y, he is, as expected, its main antagonist. Having grown dillusioned with the world, its inhabitants, and his own inability to make any kind of meaningful change, he's taken it upon himself to grant Kalos a "fresh start", even if it implies ending the lives of thousands of people... and Pokémon.
His status at the end of the games is left up to interpretation.
The Situationship
What a passionate person. He's just like a blazing flame. Perhaps his pride in his lineage is what makes him burn so intensely. — Professor Sycamore
In Pokémon X&Y, we only see Lysandre and Augustine's relationship in bits and pieces scattered through lines of dialogue and limited interactions, and even in supplemental materials based on the games, there is, sadly, not much, to analyze. However, we do have a window through which we can guess the nature of their relationship & history, as thin as it may be. I will attempt to summarize it all here, in anticipation of finally unveiling a full-length ship manifesto sometime soon.
In Pokémon Masters EX, which takes characters from the main game series and put them into a different setting, their shared Theme Skill is called "Old Friends" in Japanese and French, suggesting that they may have known each other for many years. The name was changed to "Old Colleagues" in English.
Upon meeting the player in Pokémon X&Y, Lysandre mentions that he has studied under Augustine's guidance, presumably Mega Evolution, and perhaps Pokémon biology more broadly. He namedrops the professor regularly in his Holocaster calls to the player, usually in relation to Mega Evolution. He even mentions him in the last few lines he says to the player and their friends.
Of course, the most iconique Pokémon X&Y scene between them is the one in Lysandre's café, where they meet up with the player and actually talk to each other. Lysandre is introduced by Augustine with unabashed enthusiasm, and though Lysandre spends most of the exchange exposing himself as having less than savory intentions, Augustine dismisses most of it after he's left, and praises him further. (See the quote above!)
Once Team Flare and Lysandre have been defeated, the player meets up with Augustine in Couriway Town, where he apologizes for not trying hard enough to stop Lysandre, and thanks the player for "saving Lysandre" through stopping Team Flare.
In Pokémon Masters EX, Augustine keeps on clinging to his hope that Lysandre can someday see the light and recognize that his drastic measures were (and are) unnecessary. Lysandre, though unwilling to compromise on his vision, does concede to a truce, and is in fact not depicted as particularly villainous in the Kalos Villains Arc... at least, toward the player and their allies.
Only the future can tell us what Pokémon Legends: Z-A may or may not have in store for them. In the meantime, their friendly yet tumultuous relationship leaves a lot to the imagination, offering a wide array of possibilities and flavors. What were they like prior to the events of Pokémon X&Y? Would Lysandre ever bow down to Augustine's steadfast belief in him? What did Augustine feel upon realizing that his friend really was behind the villainous schemes going on in Kalos?
Ultimately, that is up to us to decide... and isn't that the best part?
About this fanlisting
This ship has been my OTP since I first defeated Team Flare back in October 2013. I've always wanted to make a shrine to them, and this is the very first step I'm taking toward that goal. Hopefully, I'll also have a proper, more elaborate shrine up soon, but for now, I'm pretty happy with this!
Why Quid Pro Quo?
Quid pro quo is a Latin phrase that translates to "something for something", used in English to mean "a favor for a favor" — give and take. However, the original meaning (still prevalent in languages such as French or Italian) is of replacing something for something else, often duplicitiously. The French word quiproquo, following that meaning, refers to a misunderstanding: mistaking something (or someone) for something (or someone) else.
These two meanings (give and take & misunderstanding/miscommunication) have always tied this specific phrase to this ship for me, which is why it instantly came to mind when deciding on a title for this fanlisting.
Design & Credits
The current design is based on the iconic scene from Pokémon Evolutions where Lysandre and Augustine walk side-by-side on Rivière Walk, surrounded by purple flowers. You can watch the episode on YouTube here!
The art for the banner and some of the buttons was drawn by me, Samifer. Otherwise, all the art used belongs to The Pokémon Company.
The hyacynth/lavender emoji was sourced from Emojipedia. The flower texture used for the background was sourced from Transparent Textures. The fonts used are Bai Jamjuree, Abril Fatface, and BIZ UDPGothic. The screenshots used in the above section were sourced from this playthrough of Pokémon Y on YouTube.
This fanlisting was entirely coded by me. My apologies if anything is broken or scales incorrectly. Thank you for visiting!