Lysandre Labs

Why Lysandre Labs?

I've always been fascinated by websites. I got online pretty early for someone my age, all things considered; my dad was a nerd very into computers, and by the time I was 7 or 8, in the late 90s, I was already browsing far and wild, in a world wide web that was much smaller than what we have now. At 10 or 11, I played around with a small host that let you build a site out of a very basic template, and it was also around that time that I discovered roleplay boards and became a frequent administrator and moderator. Then, at 12, I discovered Neopets, and all the petpages that came with it.

One specific category of websites I used to peruse a lot when I was younger (but older than I was in my Neopets days) was shrines and fanlistings. I never really had anything I liked enough to ever feel like putting in the work to make one, but I definitely remember signing up to a few with just an e-mail and a username. Maybe I'm still registered on some that have remained around under that old name, who knows? In any case, in 2013, long after I'd given up on webmastering of any kind, I fell headfirst into a hole I would never manage to crawl out of, and with it came the pipedream of having my very own shrine.

Making it sounded hard, though, so it remained a dream. I was not in a good headspace back then and I was throwing myself way too hard into drawing anyway. I kept coming back to the idea on and off, never really committing to it, until the recent growing interest in going back to making websites brought all those memories of looking at personal websites back to the forefront of my mind. Back in February 2021, following the release of the Give and Take event in Pokémon Masters, my never-waning interest in Lysandre had reawakened with a fury. I'd started writing and drawing with an intensity I hadn't reached since the highest highs of 2013-2015, and I'd started putting my thoughts out there again, first on Twitter, then on Tumblr. As time went on, I thought to myself, wouldn't it be nice to have a place to store this that wasn't social media? Wouldn't it be nice... to finally have a fansite?

Well, here it is!

Oh, and if you were curious about the name Lysandre Labs... I like naming my Pokémon X&Y hangouts Café Lysandre, usually, but the idea of digging into things and "uncovering" secret information about Lysandre and/or Team Flare made me think that naming the site after the secret underground laboratory was more fitting. We do stan Lysandre Café though.

Why Lysandre?

People used to ask me this question a lot.

I think it was part genuine curiosity, part bafflement, and part wanting to catch me into admitting I have bad taste, or something. It depended on the person, and I could tell the vibes pretty easily, but it was also kind of annoying. Why Lysandre and not Giovanni, or Ghetsis, or Cyrus? To that I say, why not? Why is Scyther my favorite Pokémon and not, say, Parasect? Why do I like spicy food? Why did I pick up drawing and not sewing or woodworking?

Even though I did often find the line of questioning irritating, I regularly spent time self-reflecting about it. What was it about Lysandre that caught my eye? Before him, the only Pokémon character I really had any strong feelings about was Eusine after playing Heart Gold, having never experienced Crystal. I've had a thing for obsessive characters since I was a kid; I couldn't really tell you where it comes from. All things considered, Eusine's obsession is pretty inoffensive: he wants to catch up with the legendary Pokémon that he's grown to love through the tales spun by his grandfather. In the end, when he fails, he's distraught, but takes his defeat with grace, and respects Suicune's choice to go with the player.

Lysandre is... not like that. To say the least.

There can be something very human about the ugliest aspects of obsession, though. One might argue that many of the things that have brought humanity progress were fueled by obsessions. Progress, in itself, can be somewhat of an obsessive tendency. Maybe that's part of what appeals to me about him and characters like him.

Now, I wouldn't go as far as to say that Lysandre is the most complex character of the franchise, or anything over-the-top like that, but he is among the most interesting, to me. He has layers that I like to peel, in more ways than one. The fact that he definitely wouldn't enjoy that process only makes it more fun for me. >:3

I will write more about this once I have the actual shrine set up, so stay tuned for that.

Why me?

Okay, enough meandering, let's get into the meat of it. What am I doing with this website? Why should you read it? What do I expect you to get out of it, if anything?

I like Pokémon X&Y a lot, in case you couldn't tell. I have a lot of things to say about it. My primary goal with this website is to share that passion with others who may or may not share it. None of what I put on here is supposed to be the be-all and end-all when it comes to Pokémon X&Y or even when it comes to Lysandre, but if it could bring something new to the table, I'd be happy. A new perspective, information you didn't know, interpretations you never thought about; that sort of stuff. This is what this website is about, for me.

If you'd like to hear me out, or even if you're just passing by, welcome! Feel free to stay as long as you like. Kalos is all about bringing people together, after all.