Chapter III: Guess Who
A pidgeotto supplied an appropriate means of transport. That was HM02 for you. It didn't matter the size of the pokémon; it could still carry you and your fellow human.
Ash Ketchum had seen and heard many things, but what Hilda had described went beyond anything he had ever heard of. Perhaps he should have gone with Misty and Brock on that doomed moneymaking venture after all. It sounded far safer. Finally he reached the grove Hilda had described. At the edge of the new Victory Road nearby, Hilda and Zekrom waited, attracting his attention with a combination of sparks and waving.
"No time for details and small talk. You remember N," Hilda asked Ash on his arrival.
"Yes," he replied. "Why?"
"He's been kidnapped by his own lookalikes," Hilda told him. "They built a human pyramid and caught Reshiram with a special pokéball."
"It sounds a bit farfetched, but I'll take your word for it," said Ash. "What do we do about it?"
"I don't know," admitted Hilda. "But that's why I called you." There was a moment of silence in the uncertainty.
"Perhaps we should start by looking at what they're doing," suggested Ash. This seemed a good idea.
Investigations demonstrated that the doppelgangers, who still looked a little beat-up after Zekrom's attack, had tied N up, and were now giving him a personality quiz.
"Grass, Water, or Fire?" asked one Doppelganger, who by the writing on the back of his shirt was H.
"Fire," replied N, his voice no longer possessing luster. He had resigned to his fate.
"They are trying to break his spirit through a series of cruel and unusual punishments!" cried Hilda in alarm.
"With a personality quiz?" asked Ash in surprise. "They're not cruel or unusual."
"They're exceptionally boring and have no real bearing on anything," said Hilda. "In this purpose, they are the ultimate." Ash did not reply.
"Deerling, Boldore, Shelmet, Durant, help!" called out N desperately. Out of the shadows came the pokemon he had called. Durants swarmed up the legs of M, and H was tackled by a Boldore. D was at first unsure of how to react when a deerling challenged him, and but his question was answered when it jump-kicked him. A, F, and L were surrounded by shelmet, the carapace clad bug-types of no remorse. Nearby, the modified pokéballs quivered as Reshiram fought to escape. The members of the Alphabet who were not being attacked by Pokémon panicked, as they might be about to join the ones who were.
The doppelgangers fled before N's army. Ash and Hilda descended on the scene. Hilda quickly untied N's bonds, and Ash stood back. When it came to knots, too many cooks spoilt the broth.
"What did they do to you?" asked Hilda concernedly.
"First, E accidently sat on me, then they tried to get me to submit to the Alphabet, that's what they call themselves," explained N. "Then K recited, Ode to a Small Lump of Green Putty I found Under my Armpit One Morning, and then H gave me a personality quiz."
"The Ode…" breathed Hilda. "These people are pure evil." Clearly the Alphabet heard this, as once again they entered the grove, regardless of the consequences.