Just one more chapter to go after this one. Sorry if things are a bit awkward, but I want to get this story finished quick.
"Go, Watchog!"
"Come on, Serperior!"
The boy in the Team Plasma uniform was determined to defeat his opponent and return things to how they were supposed to be, but his willpower was matched by the ex-Plasma grunt in the boy's outfit, not willing to give up the new and improved life he was living. Both of their Pokémon stood focused at the summit of Dragonspiral Tower, the very place where N had summoned Zekrom, the legendary dragon Pokémon.
"Serperior, Aerial Ace!" Hilbert called his attack first. The Grass-type Pokémon then lunged towards the Watchog with incredible speed, using the leaves on its tail to deliver a series of slashes that were much too fast for Watchog to defend against.
Grunter snarled, not wanting to lose to this boy a second time. "Watchog, give 'em a Super Fang!"
At its trainer's command, the brown Lookout Pokémon opened its mouth wide, before delivering a crushing bite on the Serperior, which hissed angrily at being attacked.
"Serperior!" Hilbert cried out. "…Use Leaf Tornado, quick!"
Shrugging off the damage, Serperior made a ring shape with its long serpentine form, and began spinning to generate a cyclone of wind and leaves, which started to crawl towards Watchog. Grunter recognized the move right away; the boy's Pokémon had used the very same attack in their first battle; it didn't end well for the ex-grunt.
But this time, he thought, you won't be so lucky.
"Watchog, Detect!"
The gold rings of Watchog's eyes began to glow, and the tall Pokémon remained as still as a statue, staring directly at the incoming tornado; once it had closed in, it looked for an instant like Watchog had been engulfed in the vortex. However, it had actually managed to completely avoid the attack, dashing around and re-appearing from behind Serperior when it ceased attacking.
"Now," Grunter said, "Retaliate, Watchog!"
At the command, the ex-grunt's Watchog ran towards its target with increasing speed, before ramming into Serperior. Since none of his Pokémon had fainted prior to using the move, Watchog's Retaliate could not reach full power, but it was still enough to send the snake into the air to make it fall to the ground with a crash.
"No, Serperior…" Hilbert waited for his Pokémon to get up, but his face fell when it could no longer stay upright. His Serperior had been knocked out.
"Hahah!" Grunter taunted the boy. "See how it feels to be the loser grunt?! Now why don't you run back to your boss so he can go chew you out for being so useless, huh?"
Hilbert's fists started to shake a little; this battle wasn't over yet. He still had Victini in his possession, and given the legendary Pokémon's immense power, his victory was assured. He took the ball from his pocket, rearing his arm back to throw.
"Aha! Like polka dots, you are spotted now, grunt of Plasma!"
In the nick of time, Giallo of the Seven Sages had appeared to witness the scene. The two trainers stopped to look at the old man, who wore a placid expression, as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened today.
"Come come," the yellow-robed sage said, "all done are we for this place. Now, it is time to hurry in a flurry, to our next destined nation! Quick!"
Giallo grabbed Hilbert by the shoulders, catching the boy by surprise, and the sage carted him off without further ado. Grunter didn't protest; he was considerably satisfied in what he had achieved.
%%%
Later that day, Grunter left the Icirrus City Gym, having easily defeated Brycen's Ice Pokémon.
In the middle of the city, he was met with Professor Juniper, whom he hadn't seen since their encounter at Mistralton City. The elder professor was accompanied by a younger woman sporting a lab coat and a fashionable hairstyle.
"Hello there!" she shouted. "It's been a while, hasn't it… Hilbert." The woman punctuated her words with a very obvious wink of the eye; if winking made a noise, it would have been an exceptionally loud one in this case.
"I guess," Grunter answered. "Have… have we met before?"
"Ahahahahaha!" The woman in the lab coat shook a bit as she laughed loudly. "Aren't you a funny one? I'm Professor Juniper, and this is my father… Professor Juniper."
"Senior," the man corrected.
"So, Hilbert," the younger professor continued "did you happen to notice a big black Pokémon floating in the sky? It was pretty cute."
Grunter raised his eyebrow. "Zekrom?"
"Geshundheit."
The woman ignored her father's interjection. "Yes, Zekrom. I don't know what Team Plasma wants with Zekrom, but it can't be good news. Fortunately, there's a Pokémon that may be able to defeat Zekrom. Have you heard of it?"
The ex-grunt remembered that N had said something similar before leaving the tower. He had almost forgotten the name… something about ideals?
"Uh- acchooo!" Grunter wiped his nose after suddenly sneezing.
The older professor nodded. "Correct. Reshiram, the legendary dragon Pokémon of truth. It can only be awakened from the Light Stone."
"The what?" Grunter asked.
His question was promptly answered as a round white object was thrown to him like a basketball, which he managed to catch without dropping.
The younger Professor Juniper explained, "Now, this Light Stone contains great, great power, so you have to make sure nothing happens to it."
Grunter held the stone orb carefully. If this Light Stone really did have the power to summon Reshiram, then he would really be the one to face N and his Zekrom… The man in the cap laughed as he imagined that brown-haired kid searching the entire region in search of what he was holding in his very hands.
"If you want to learn more about Reshiram and Zekrom, you should have a talk with Drayden, the Gym Leader of Opelucid City. You don't have his badge yet, do you?" The woman reminded Grunter that he still had unfinished business, even as he was caught up in all this business with legendary Pokémon. Without another word, he headed out of Icirrus City.
Once he was out of the professors' sight, the senior Juniper commented, "I still think there's something funny about that guy… darn kid still didn't find a Klink…"
His daughter simply chuckled. "Oh, I'm sure things will work out…"
%%%
Night had come, and Hilbert felt completely worn out by what had happened at Dragonspiral Tower. The boy was also feeling rather bitter about not being able to use his Victini in battle against that grunt, the man who forced him into this position… but he remembered how Giallo, the weird-talking sage, had interrupted them, and realized that Victini remained safe from Plasma's grasp.
In a small secluded room of Team Plasma's headquarters, Hilbert wondered, did the villainous team still need Victini, even after N had acquired Zekrom? The small fiery Pokémon was powerful, he knew, but the huge black dragon was frightfully intimidating… what he saw of it, anyway. The green-haired man did mention that only Reshiram could hope to match Zekrom's strength, but Hilbert was still worried; there was little chance he would be able to go searching for Reshiram on his own, and he didn't even know where to start looking.
Perhaps, if he had to fight Zekrom himself, Victini would be his only option.
"Heeey, man, whaddya –hic– doin'?" A Plasma grunt barged into the room, holding an almost-empty bottle. "Don'tcha wanna par –hic– party with the rest of us?"
Team Plasma was celebrating their imminent victory, but Hilbert didn't really feel like joining in. Still, he hadn't eaten all day, and it was a miracle that he hadn't passed out from exhaustion by now.
He followed the partying grunt's lazy steps, hearing lively music playing in the distance. Suddenly, the inebriated man turned into one of the doors at the hallway, where the Plasma sages were seated, apparently dining in silence.
"Hey, wha'happen to the drinks?" he asked the sages in a slurred voice. "Did… d'you old guys get all the –hic–drinks? Aww, man…?"
Rood, who was sitting furthest from the door, sighed. "Confounded drunkard… I knew it was a bad idea to let the grunts have a party." He turned to one of his fellow sages, this one in robes of blue. "Ryoku, you handle this."
As Ryoku complied, leaving the table to usher the other grunt away, Rood turned his attention to Hilbert. "And you… don't just stand there. Sit with us."
Rood's suggestion was met with protest from the other four sages present.
"Like, you are totally kidding me, right?"
"Is this some kind of joke? It's not very funny."
"Oy, you want this cold-lipped nudnik futzing up our dinner or something?"
"The boy is just a child boy! His dinner is not with us!"
"I am serious," Rood asserted. "Ghetsis hasn't shown his face for hours. Hmph, too busy to sit and eat with his friends, is he?" The sage in the dark red robes huffed when Hilbert didn't move an inch. "Well, what are you waiting for?"
Nervously, Hilbert shuffled to Ghetsis's empty seat, with an untouched dinner plate waiting nearby. Even while sitting directly next to Rood, the icy stares from the other sages were making him feel uneasy. Still, he picked up his fork and slowly began to eat the food placed before him. He was halfway through with the meal when the door suddenly burst open, revealing the intricately-robed Ghetsis.
"Curses upon curses!" His peers flinched at the sound of his anger. "That pitiful wretch Alder, the Champion of the Unova region… He dares to hide from me?!"
Before continuing his monologue, Ghetsis brought a fist down on the table with a heavy slam, shaking the plates and silverware. "No matter. He will be found eventually, and N will destroy his Pokémon! Once that happens, all shall know the absolute might of Team Plas-"
The maniacal man stopped talking when he noticed the boy who was sitting at his seat.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Ghetsis yelled. "Why is this… worthless, miserable plebian sitting in my seat, and eating my dinner?!"
Hilbert immediately dropped his fork, but Rood defended him. "Your dinner was getting cold, you know. Thanks for being two and a half hours late."
Ghetsis eyed Rood with suspicion, and then approached Hilbert. The boy knew that getting off the seat was the best course of action, but his legs seemed to be too intimidated to move.
"You!" One of Ghetsis's eyes was hidden behind a red lens, but the other displayed a strong fury directed at Hilbert. "Leave at once, and I may consider sparing your life… for the time being."
The sage's baleful glare finally spurred the boy into jumping to his feet and making a hasty escape. Now that his seat was unoccupied, Ghetsis hobbled over to the chair and eased himself down, eating his cold, half-finished meal quietly with the other sages.
When Hilbert returned to his room, he began pondering over what Ghetsis had said about N and their plans; it all seemed very weird.
But on the bright side, he was not hungry anymore.
%%%
"…and so the Unova region remained peaceful when the two legendary Pokémon returned to stone form."
In Opelucid City, Grunter listened as Drayden recited the story of Unova's origins, and of how Reshiram and Zekrom came to be. Also present in the man's home was Iris, the childish girl who had accompanied Bianca at Castelia City.
"Hey, stop falling asleep!" She jabbed Grunter in the stomach with her elbow. "So rude!"
Grunter scowled; he hadn't even yawned once throughout Drayden's speech. He wanted to teach the girl a lesson for her unfounded accusations, but as long as the pointy-bearded man was around, she could do as she pleased with total impunity.
Changing the subject, Drayden made his way to the door. "Now then, I believe you have one badge left to obtain, young man?"
"That's right," Grunter nodded.
Drayden's voice remained calm, his expression indiscernible behind his beard. "Then come with me, we shall have our battle." The Gym Leader turned to Iris. "Keep an eye on things here, please," he instructed.
"Aww, man!" Iris pouted. "That's so, so, so boring!"