It was all over.
Jimmy had read about what happened when the voices left their hosts. There was always some sort of transition period, when their vessels woke up at home without knowing how they got there, when they were led around every which way without any clear purpose, when the voices finally faded away amidst whispers of riot, But none of that happened here. Just after N flew off on Zekrom, the voices disappeared from Jimmy's head without warning. One second they were tormenting him as always, and the next… nothing.
One of the last things they had said was We erased Jimmy.
But that wasn't right. He hadn't been erased; the voices had been, though the reason remained unclear.
And Jimmy was painfully aware that he alone had fallen short of what seemed to be the voices' main goal: he alone had not become Champion under their control. Sure, he had stopped Team Plasma from taking over Unova and caught a Pokemon spoken of only in legends, but that was nothing new. The hosts always defeated some evil organization in one way or another, and most encountered legends of their own along the way. Two had even saved the world from utter destruction, not just conquest. And they had all gone on to become Champion after these exploits.
But not Jimmy. The voices had spoken of fighting for the Championship, but they never brought him that far. Something was different in his case, it seemed. Something had gone wrong.
And, before he knew to expect it, the thousands of companions that had filled his head had left him alone, uncertain what remained.
As silence filled the room, Jimmy finally felt the effects of the days he had spent without food, water, or sleep. He noticed the scratches and bruises that covered almost his entire body. The pain that had been suppressed by sheer determination and adrenaline came surging back with a vengeance, and Jimmy fell to the floor, unable to move. The few noises that remained- the footsteps of those retreating from the scene of the battle, the wind rushing into the room- made his head pound worse than ever before.
He needed help, that much was clear. If he was left alone, he had no idea how long it would take for him to recover enough to stand up on his own. The tiles on the floor were refreshingly cool, and all Jimmy wanted to do was close his eyes and take what little comfort he could in sleep, but he knew that if he fell asleep now, he might never wake up. But who could he call out to for help? N was gone now, just a speck of green in the distance, growing smaller every second. Did he need his friends, or the Gym Leaders…? As Jimmy thought things over, he realized that there was only one person close by who could be of assistance in more ways than one, only one person who might be able to understand.
"Alder!"
His voice was hoarse, and not as loud as he would have liked, but Jimmy had put all the energy he could into it, and the effort made him sink further down onto the floor. He could feel as much as hear the footsteps now, but he wasn't quite sure where they were coming from. Agonizing minutes went by as Jimmy wondered if Alder had heard his cry, if anybody was coming for him. Then, finally, as his vision was dimming, Jimmy saw a splotch of orange enter his field of view.
"Jimmy? Are you alright?"
"The…" His tongue felt like sandpaper, and even its soft scraping against his mouth ached. "The voices left."
"You…" Had he told Alder about the voices when they'd met before? Jimmy couldn't quite remember now. "Do you need help?"
"…yeah."
Then the cool tiles were gone, replaced by two supports whose warmth burned against his back, and the big tuft of orange hair and its owner were even larger and clearer now, and every footstep made his body bounce up and down… It took him a minute to comprehend what was going on. Alder was carrying him. Jimmy would have protested if he had the strength for it, but instead he sunk into Alder's arms and closed his eyes. If this was how it had to be, so be it.
"Alder?"
"What is it, Jimmy?"
"Let's fight later. I want to be Champion, for real. Not because of… this…" Jimmy waved his hand around weakly. "Or them. On my own."
"Okay."
"…I mean it. I think I can do it."
"…get some rest, Jimmy." Jimmy could both feel and hear the half-suppressed laughter in Alder's voice. Okay, so maybe this wasn't the time to be challenging the Champion, not when he had to be carried away to safety. But someday. Someday he would be ready. And he'd be up to the challenge, whether the voices were there to guide him to victory or not, even if they left him alone for good.
…but he wouldn't really be alone, would he? No, that much Jimmy had learned from his battle with N. He had his Pokemon, the team he'd grown to know and love as he traveled across the land with them, the ones who had faced every challenge along the way with him and proven that not even a legendary was a match for their fighting spirit.
As the footsteps faded away and Jimmy was lulled into sleep, he thought of his Pokemon, picked by the voices but forever at his side. As long as he had them, he would never be alone.