>>50265643His goal isn't retarded because he knows exactly what he wants and he's capable of getting exactly what he wants. He knows it will fuck over everyone else. His goal is terrible for everyone that currently exists but he doesn't care because he views everyone that exists as imperfect beings incapable of being perfect. Like he says, wars happen because of the incomplete human spirit. People maim, their negative emotions and impulses drive them to do terrible things. In a world of automatons, there are no wars. There is no strife, no greed, no rage, no sadness. His goal is to wipe the slate clean and start all over again with himself as the arbitrator, old world be damned.
>>50265471He did mean to destroy the world. The sympathy angle comes from his upbringing or lack thereof, his lonely sterile life. He could have ended up as a different person if somebody was there for him. His grandfather even regrets not taking him in as a child, knowing the life he must have led. The one friend he is implied to have had was a Rotom. The journal in the Eterna Galactic HQ in Platinum was written by him. And it ends with Rotom disappearing and him being left grief-stricken and alone. In USUM, he wonders if he could have turned out different had someone like you been in his life, and gives you some preferential treatment because you have the Rotom Dex. In Masters, he ends up developing a kinship with Sophocles when he finds him searching for Elesa's Rotom, and they spend hours talking about Rotom, technology, and theories. Cyrus is right on the cusp of salvageable because of his unfortunate background. He's not a fundamentally terrible person like Ghetsis. Cynthia has regrets in Masters over how she utterly rejected him in Sinnoh while the younger generation now wants to understand and reach out to him.