Caedmon Yeonart
Birch Enclave
Caedmon closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. He wasn't nervous, but he wasn't looking forward to what he was going to have to do. As the leader of the mechanists had come up with the idea, Caedmon hadn't disagreed. His honor prevented him from doing that, despite how badly he felt about this current part of the plan. He stared out onto the stage from his hidden position off to the side, his arms folded across his chest. He could hear the crowd murmuring between themselves, confused and perhaps slightly angry at the would-be joke.
As Damon gestured towards him, he closed his eyes and removed his arms from his still armored chest, unfortunately still carrying the oran berry on its front. He hadn't the time to worry about something like that right now, as he opened his eyes again and strode onto the stage with his head held high and the always emotionless expression plastered onto his face.
The various Pokémon scattered throughout the crowd gasped, staring with disbelief, anger and fear mixed throughout the crowd, up at the former commander stepping up to the podium, resting his 'hands' behind his back, looking out over the crowd, waiting for them to quiet down. This took quite a while, but eventually, they lowered their voices to an angered murmur.
"… I know what you must be thinking. That I am a monster, questioning yourselves and those around you why I'm here, what I could be doing, whether your troops have caught me, or if I'll be executed soon. Truth to be told, I thought I was going to be." He paused to collect his thoughts, staring out at the crowd still. "… After witnessing the truth of the Council-"
"Go back to your Council City, murderer!" One Pokémon in the crowd called out and the rest mumbled along agreeingly, another few calling out at him. He breathed deeply, keeping his stoic expression as he kept going. "I witnessed the truth of how corrupt the Council and the Knights have become, and I saw no other way than to seek out the only others who had a cause they would die for. The Mechanists."
He closed his eyes a moment, a flash of the blood and the dead Pokémon scattered across the empty street back at the other enclave sweeping by him as he shook his head a little, letting out a huff. "… I sought out your troops and gave myself up, after freeing one of your own from captivity. I gave myself up, and, after speaking to your leader, I realized that the Mechanists… despite everything I have been taught, still have their honor intact. They still believe in what they began fighting for."
"You –murderer-! You killed my child! He was so young!" A voice cried out from the crowd. Caedmon turned his head to look down at a female Togetic, tears swelling up in her eyes while staring up at him with hatred burning behind the tears. "If you hadn't attacked his group, he would still be alive, you MONSTER!" She raised her arm and threw a tomato, which she had apparently gone out to fetch.
Caedmon kept completely still as the tomato flew up and smashed against the side of his face. The only motion this caused on him was that he shut his eye, keeping it closed, without even changing his expression, the tomato smeared across his face. He did, however, start to breathe a little more heavily. More Pokémon began growling and shouting, someone fetching more vegetables as they began throwing tomatoes, eggs (From the farm animal, non-sentient Pokémon) and potatoes at him, majority not hitting, but a few scattering across his torso and arms as he simply stood there, taking the barrage, turning his head to stare ahead of him. He then parted his lips and spoke again, louder now, to meet their ears over the roar of their anger.
"… Your leader decided it would be the best course of action to use me, not as an example, but as a soldier. And that's what I will do. I will fight for the Mechanists, and give no quarrel to the Knights. From here on out, they are my enemy." He paused, his lips twitching a little, as his eyes swept back towards the Togetic. "… I'm sorry." He said, slightly lower, his voice changing to reflect the regret and sorrow he suddenly felt, but his demeanor not changing at all.
Before turning and walking away, he glanced over the crowd, locking his gaze with Alice, the Absol, staring into her eyes for a few moments, Caedmon taking a deep breath before letting it out as now rocks were mixed in with the vegetables flying towards him. He then turned and walked back towards the doorway, a rock colliding with the back of his chestpiece, causing him to stumble a little, but none the less, continue walking.
"Yeah, and STAY away! We don't want anything to do with you stinking knights! Murderers! Freedom-crushers!" "Yeah! Go back to your towns and lock up your villagers!" The crowd continued roaring as he stepped out, away from the scene, standing still and simply closing his eyes, trying to relax himself, waiting for Damon to return and tell him what would happen next.