There was nothing to regret.
Hilda was staring at the vast blue sky; its color mingling with the sea that stretched below it. The waves close to the shore lapped at her boots; the sea breeze gently caressing her hair.
This is it. The point of no return. As they said, take it or leave it. Up to this moment, the heroine of Unova had been giving up everything she held close for so long.
This temple.
The cavernous chamber solely fit for battling was glowing in gold.
The League.
The epitome of triumph shining brighter than the sun-lit temple.
I can't stay here any longer.
"Hilda, are you really sure you want to do this?"
Alder shot a brow at Hilda, uncertain yet praying that she had no idea what she had just blurted out. The girl simply stared at the wax-laden floor, kicking imaginary dust. The shining tiles reflected her sober countenance.
For a few seconds of stillness, both Champions were listless.
Finally, Hilda replied, her head remaining low. "Sir, I think I know now what I really want, and what I really have to do."
"But, wasn't becoming a Champion your dream ever since? Hilda, anyone would kill to be where you are right now."
This temple.
A sigh came from her. "Yes, but...there are dreams we cannot grasp, and there are dreams we have grasped but we cannot hold on for longer. Sir...I don't think I want to...continue. I really don't want to...since I don't deserve holding onto this dream for long."
The League.
Taken aback, Alder came closer to the young Champion and placed his hand on her shoulder. "You have worked harder than enough. Your fight for Championship was extraordinary. Why are you saying all of these? Please, I need you to tell me."
The sincerity of the elder's voice made the girl shudder; tears began streaming from her eyes. Conscience was gripping her heart every time she thought why she was doing something as absurd as resigning. As Alder had said, there has got to be a good reason. I don't deserve this...
I don't deserve this since...since...
"…I have crushed the person who believed in my dream."
The distinct clang of a plate on a sink signified distress, as it was amplified by a Herdier's howl from outside. From the teenager's point of view, things were starting to become ominous.
"Mom, he's just a friend. A really, really important friend."
The parent crossed her arms and huffed. "Yes, Hilda, I have understood that part. You're a highly sensationalized trainer, and there are fugitives on the loose! Do you get what that means? And for Arceus' sake, why can't you stay here for a while and just rest!"
"Mom, I can't! I can't let time just run either!"
"Why is he so important to you? For all I know, he almost broke your neck for battling! Why do you still have to run after him?"
"He needs me!"
"He needs you?" Hilda's mom had both hands on her waist. "If he really did, why didn't he just stay, like what you are ought to be doing right now young lady!"
Dammit. The girl was getting exasperated already. "You don't understand!"
"What do you mean 'I don't understand'? Don't you understand that this is for your goddamn safety?"
"I'm old enough! I can handle myself!"
"No. You're not going. You understand me."
Tenser the situation became.
It was not yet a good day for Hilda to leave, since dark and heavy clouds were brooding over the horizon. If she had her way, she would have left seamlessly, but blame the Weather Trio on forcing her to make things more complicated and conscientiously maddening. She still had to show her manners, as they said. Therefore, there wouldn't be much harm in explaining why it was a sudden goodbye, right?
Hopefully.
Ironically yet inadvertently, Hilda was saying her farewell at the route where they begun their adventure. While openly discussing in front of Cheren and Bianca why she was going on an arduous journey, the brunette was trying to read their body language. Well, it wouldn't take an expert anymore. Cheren's mood was getting dimmer than the weather at any point. On the other hand, Bianca was delirious; she suddenly burst into crying like the rain, as if she regressed into a five-year old. Why did Hilda become so strange all of a sudden?
Hopeless. I knew I shouldn't have done this.
Hilda now hugged the blonde earnestly. "That's not it. Bianca, I just need to find him. I'll come back. I promise." Why did it always have to end into this? "Trust me, okay?"
"W-what w-wi-will b-become the th-three of u-us?"
"I won't forget you Bianca. You and Cheren."
"No! Why does it always have to be about him? Why do you have to leave us, after all the trouble you've gotten with him?!"
In annoyance, Hilda pushed her friend away. "How could you be so dumb? I thought you guys already understand!"
Bianca almost stumbled. If it weren't for Cheren's reflexes, she would have already been at the ground due to weakness. The boy held her arm; in any case she would totally collapse. Seeing Bianca getting hurt was making him angry. Angry at how insensitive Hilda was becoming.
"Stop it Hilda. You're being selfish. It doesn't mean you're the heroine and the former Champion you can do anything you want."
In a final attempt to assert herself, the brunette placed both hands on her hips. "You can't make me. I'm leaving. I'm searching for him, no matter what you people say."
What is wrong with you? Cheren was about to lunge forward, but Bianca gripped his wrist. The former looked at her, whose eyes were pleading him to stop. Surrendering, he was only able to shout. "Fine! Go and don't come back crying!"
Clashes of thunder were heard; Hilda was running away by then.
They'll never understand.
Take it and leave it. That's how it should be.
For what seemed to be almost an hour, Hilda was savoring the final few moments she had on the Nuveman seaside. With its unusual serenity she loved basking in from time to time, she wondered when she would ever set foot on this shore again. From her musing, a million other questions flooded her mind. How long would the search take her? Where would she start? How could she find him when a billion other people are tossed along in the bowl? It's like...
It's just like...
Hilda was at a loss of words until she looked at the ground.
Choosing a particular speck of sand from the beach!
How impossible can this get?
N could be anywhere. This realization made her tear up at the possible futility of her crusade.
If only I listened.
N could be anywhere; a grain of sand tossed among others, the sediment trying to be in a rock. Hilda could be the ocean, the waves trying to reach all the sediments she could grab. Or, it could be the other way around. N was the ocean, a mysterious and veritable pool of knowledge only he could take in. She was just a sediment among the many he had passed by. But then, she thought she was special in his eyes. A special sediment his waves have reached. Remembering how he just left her, maybe her mother was right after all. "If he really did, why didn't he just stay, like what you ought to be doing right now, young lady!"
So, maybe not.
Whether she was special or not, and either way the situation could be changed, there was only one thing certain: a sediment's goal was to get to the ocean.
A sediment had to get to the ocean. Understanding how nature spun its cogs, Hilda knew that a sediment would do anything to achieve its goal. Weathering? Erosion? Deposition? Anything. Nothing could stop a sediment, neither would the ocean it rightfully belonged to. No matter how long it would take.
Nature has its own way. So will I.
This was how Hilda was determined. She was going to find him, no matter what, no matter how long the search would span. Even if she was going to be that sediment that could never be reached by the highest point of a wave, or the highest point of a wave that could never reach that particular sediment. If nature had its own kind of fate plastered on the sediment and the ocean, then a higher power must have stamped the same fate between those two. Hilda was certain, nothing more, nothing less.
A final heave from her breath signified that she was ready. Fishing from her bag, Hilda made a Pokéball soar towards the sea. A majestic Zekrom emerged; its ebony wings gently flapping and catching the rays of the sun. Its giant tail cackled with electricity, its ruby eyes glowing along. Upon facing its mistress, Hilda leapt and rode on Zekrom's back.
"Anywhere, Zekrom. Anywhere you want."
There was nothing to regret.