Chapter 25: Good Intentions

evening, 1/19

There weren't many people in the Nimbasa amusement park. It was mid-January, after all, and the whole afternoon had been chilly. But the sky was clear and it wouldn't start snowing again until tomorrow. N had stayed around the entrance for most of the day, figuring it wouldn't be hard to spot Hilda or his followers from here.

But things hadn't worked out well. Two of the three Plasma followers had been arrested by the police around noon and the third hadn't had much luck in encountering Hilda and her friend. For the past few hours, Rune had kept suggesting that N call her instead. As the sun started to set, he figured he'd better take the Sigilyph's advice.

"It would've worked faster if those two hadn't gotten arrested," N said to Rune. "Now I've gone and wasted another day."

"Is it really necessary to hurry?" the Pokemon asked.

He crossed his arms over his chest. "The sooner I can get done, the sooner things will be better on everyone. And Ghetsis is already upset with me being behind. I don't want to disappoint him further."

Clucking, the Sigilyph drifted closer. "You're the leader of your group. He should be worried about disappointing you, not the other way around."

"I don't want to be selfish," he said, shaking his head. "He's put a lot of work into this too. I have respect for all of them."

At this point, a Minccino wearing a flower hairclip ran out in front of him. "Hiiii!" she squealed happily. "I'm a distraction."

"You're what?" N asked before he fully caught the meaning.

"NNNNNNNNNNNNN!" came a shout right behind him. He froze at that, wondering what in the world was going on. That only made it easier for Hilda to tackle him in a hug from behind.

Briefly panicked, N threw her off and stumbled around. His heart was racing, more so when he saw she had that crazy grin on her face. Concerned, Rune flew closer, but bumped into N and made him jump. This was definitely not how he wanted to start this.

After sputtering a bit more, N managed to say, "What was that for?"

"I just wanted to say hi," she said, still grinning. Kyurem stood a little behind her, smirking. But he got distracted a moment later when the Minccino ran up to him and started talking.

N looked at Hilda for a moment (also trying to calm himself down). "Is that normal?"

"No," she admitted.

"Then could you not do that again?" Okay, need to get back on subject... no, not back, but on subject.

"All right." She looked more serious, thankfully. "Sorry, didn't think you'd freak out like that."

Was he strange in that? Or was she the strange one here? N rubbed his forehead. "I don't like people touching me, that's all."

She looked puzzled at that. "Really? You don't seem to have an issue with Pokemon doing so."

"Because they're Pokemon. I don't mind them, but humans touching me is different."

After considering that, she shrugged. "Okay, if you say so. What'd you want to talk about?"

"Actually, it's a private matter." There weren't many people around them, but there was Kyurem, and a few others were near the Gym. "Would you like to come on the Ferris Wheel with me? No one should bother us there."

She smiled again, pleased to hear that. "Sure, sounds fun! Oh, but I don't know if three people can go on." She looked at Kyurem.

The dragon boy considered both of them. "Fine." Then he glared at N. "But heed my words: don't hurt her. I won't tolerate that."

"I won't," N said, feeling a chill at the look. But would this hurt her? He didn't know how she would react, but he knew he had to do this.

Kyurem nodded, then waved to the Minccino and walked off with her. N then went with Hilda over to the Ferris Wheel. "Sorry if he comes off as harsh," she said. "But he's dedicated to his duty. And that ride looks so cool, right? I've never been on one."

"Me either," N said. "It is a remarkable thing. It's a mathematical perfection, being strong and balanced, yet beautiful and airy. Every piece has a purpose and they all work in perfect harmony." That's what he would like the world to work like.

At the ride's entrance, there was no line. All of the cars looked empty, so they might get extra time if this took long. N paid fares for both of them, then led her to the platform. As the Wheel was in constant motion, they had to catch a car as it moved across the lowest level. But it had been designed to give them plenty of time. An attendant even pulled open the door for them and shut it securely when they were in.

There wasn't much space in here, just enough for two people (maybe a small Pokemon too, but not more than that). At either side, there were benches to sit at. And the walls were fully transparent, with only the door handles in the way. Yet the structure was secure, built to last.

"Engineering like this has always fascinated me," N said, looking at the internal structure of the Wheel. "It's amazing what people can do."

"Yeah but I wouldn't know much about that," Hilda said. "Looks like we hit the perfect time too! Right at sunset." And she was right in a way. The sky overhead was almost entirely orange, with a bright red-gold disk of the sun on the horizon, and the blackness of night creeping up on the eastern horizon. Over that way, a pair of planets shone as the first 'stars' of the night. And they were slowly coming up over the city skyline and the trees, to see the land out below them.

"It seems so." N took a deep breath, reviewing his thoughts one more time. "I know you have Kyurem with you, but I'm still worried about you. I haven't figured out how to see things on command, but when I see the future, I see some amazing things. Like a world in a peaceful balance where things are as they should be. I want to make that kind of vision real."

She smiled at him. "That'd be great. Now you just have to figure out how to get there. Zekrom should be able to help you."

N nodded. "I hope so. But I also see many bad things that could happen. Like I've seen things where you've died, four different scenes now."

Strangely, that seemed to amuse her. "Really? I didn't think anybody hated me that much."

"Could you take this seriously?" he asked. "I'm concerned about you. Even if you confuse me a lot, I don't want that to happen to you."

"Because I'm confusing?" she asked, although it wasn't apparent if this was serious or teasing. "And you want to figure me out."

"Maybe." Mentally, he braced himself, then said, "I could help protect you, if you would accept my help. I'm the leader of Team Plasma."

"What?" Hilda asked, a bit of sharpness behind her voice.

The fading sunlight made the landscape around them glow, but neither of them were paying attention to that now. N went through the words he had chosen for this moment. "I'm working to end the injustice and corruption of the world. I've known many Pokemon who have suffered immensely under the system the world lives in. You know that Tympole I had? He had been injured badly, so was released by his Trainer and left to die because that person didn't want to take responsibility for him. There have been others who were used as mere decoration and cared for badly, or just outright neglected because their Trainer didn't respect them as living creatures. I didn't want that to happen anymore, so I told many people about what Pokemon felt about all that. They listened and have come to me under the name of Plasma, in order to create a better world."

"That sounds well and good, but that's not what I've seen in Plasma so far," she said. "What I've seen so far are a number of obnoxious jerks who don't seem to care if they hurt people or Pokemon."

"That is not what I mean to happen." he said, feeling angered at the accusation but trying to fight against it. She was still in the dark.

She crossed her arms over her chest and looked critically at him. "But that is what's happening. I've seen a couple of those guys throwing rocks at a wild Munna to capture it, and there's been a bunch of little kids that get really upset when their Pokemon are taken from them by Plasma, cause the kids can only tell that someone's taking away their friends. Then there was the daycare man just this morning who was being told that he was a bad person because he spends a lot of time and money taking care of the Pokemon of others, and keeping them happy while their Trainers are away. And they've been harassing my friend Bianca because she has Victini with her, even stole one of her other Pokemon trying to get him."

Those were probably lies, N wanted to tell himself. There was nothing constraining her to be honest. But she did seem to be serious, and that was worrying. "There might have been some personnel issues, but I'm sure we'll get that problem weeded out. I don't know what the deal with Victini is, though. He told me that he wanted to spend some more time with humans, which I don't agree with but if that's what he wants..."

"What about the other Pokemon who want to stay with their Trainers?" Hilda asked him. "Or is Victini special because you know him?"

"That's not the point here. Our goal is to bring peace and freedom from harm to the world."

"Well then you should make that clearer to your followers and be a better leader."

He wasn't doing well? He face felt warm, at the same time his nerves seemed to rage. "I'm doing the best I can, but people like you are so blinded by popular belief that you don't realize that your Pokemon are better off without you. You're not even trying to make things better."

She didn't even look guilty at that. "Maybe because there isn't a problem. Are you actually listening to the Pokemon? Maybe there are some bad cases out there, but most of them seem happy enough."

"Do you know that for certain or are you just assuming that? I've seen a lot of people who aren't aware that they're being hypocrites in limiting their Pokemon while claiming to love them."

"I would think the same about you guys because you speak of the freedom of Pokemon and use them in battles, just like everyone else."

"That's because it's the only way most people will listen. You even sell Pokemon when you don't have any right to own them. Isn't that slavery?"

Without them realizing it, the Ferris Wheel car had dropped down to the loading platform again; the door unlocked with a loud click. Hilda glowered at him a second, then brushed past him and headed out the booth. She couldn't just walk away from this. Clenching his fist, N went after her.

"I know it's hard to accept such a large change in belief," he started to say. Kyurem had been there waiting, but N barely noticed.

"There's something not quite right with it," Hilda said, turning back to him. "It sounds good but the evidence you say is everywhere isn't. Are you sure it isn't your idea that's the wrong one?"

"I know right from wrong," N snapped, taking hold of one of his team's Pokeballs. "And I've been pursuing right from the very beginning. Why don't you prove your side to me?"

"Even if the battle is against your beliefs?" she said, mockingly. But she did take a Pokeball and glance at it.

Moments later, it was N's Sandile against her Scraggy. After giving his orders, N said, "I haven't seen you before."

The Scraggy was distracted a moment, then bounded over and knocked out the Sandile in one blow with a Brick Break. The Sandile had been too caught in the sudden cold to react in time. Biting his lip, N knew that had been a mistake (and at such an important time too). And then the Scraggy grinned at him. "Nah, we met. You weren't that interesting for me to follow. But she was."

Taking a bit more time to be careful, N called out his own Scraggy. "What do you think of her?"

"Dunno yet."

"What's going on?" Kimi asked, looking over at her peer. "Why're we fighting that idiot?"

N told her to go ahead and attack; she was able to move quicker than the male, knocking him out. Due to their type arrangement, they were weak to each other's strongest attacks at the moment. Hilda next called out her Minccino, which N thought was a mistake. That is, until she had her use Retaliate, which was enough to overcome the odds and let her win that match-up. "Wooo, nobody had better be mean to my teammates," Mimi cheered, skipping as she went back to Hilda's side.

"Why are you with Hilda?" N asked her, calling out his Darumaka.

"Because daddy's with her, and I love him," she replied without hesitation. "And I love Hilda too! She's so much fun and let's me play and be pretty."

She seemed to be a simple creature, which could account for why she loved both of them. But then, was her devotion because she wasn't intelligent enough to consider the rights or wrongs of a situation? Possibly, that made her no different than a child. Daisy was the same way. And unfortunately, Daisy lost that match-up too.

N considered that he might be getting distracted in thought, so he focused on the battle as he was forced to call out the last member of his team, Rune. The Sigilyph was much tougher than the rest of his Pokemon, able to survive the Minccino's first hit and shift the winds to his favor, so that he was faster. Possibly worried, Hilda ordered Mimi to use Sing. N had to resist smiling, as he knew status effects weren't as potent against Rune.

However, the notes came to his ears and brushed away any thoughts of battle. It was that beautiful lullaby. And it didn't even give him a second to resist before he fell asleep.

When he said that he wanted to protect her from death, Hilda was pretty happy to hear that. She tried not to think about that possibility too much and get all mopey or fearful about it. And surely having more people look out for her would help. But then N had told her that he led Team Plasma. It had taken quite some effort to resist slapping his face.

Sure, they gave her an easy target for mocking, but they were bullying her friend because she had Victini, as well as pushing around that old guy, the little kids, and even innocent Pokemon, all in the name of ideals that went against those actions. All in the name of their King, who turned out to be someone she had been trying to help. Their ideals didn't even make that much sense; people and Pokemon had been working together for thousands of years. She didn't think there could be an ideal where the end result would be worth changing that fundamental part of society.

Hilda had been mad enough about it that she didn't care if it was N. She would beat his team with some of her weaker members and prove her worth. But then the unexpected happened and forced her to cool down a little. N had fallen asleep towards the end of the battle.

The Sigilyph had noticed right away and got frantic about it; it flew closer to him and tried to wake him up by calling him. At this unusual event, Mimi hesitated, looking up at Hilda curiously. She held her hand up, agreeing to a stop of the battle until this was sorted out. "Don't think I've heard of a human that falls asleep to Sing."

"You shouldn't do so," Kyurem said.

The Sigilyph said something in a series of beeps and chirps.

"Even raised by Pokemon is a stretch," he responded, walking over to N. But then the strange bird got defensive, giving him a tone of warning. This time, Kyurem acknowledged it. "I wanted to check something, but I wouldn't hurt him at this time." He came back to Hilda. "It's possible he may have some condition that prevents him from sleeping normally, or even just a high level of stress. That could cause this."

"It might be the stress then," Hilda said, as the Sigilyph flew up and vanished in a blue light. Maybe she'd unknowingly attacked him in a vulnerable spot when she told him he wasn't being a good leader if his followers were being hypocritical. Even if Plasma didn't have the right ideas, he certainly believed in it and wanted to make things better. Or maybe there was something to what N was saying.

By then, N had been flown away from the scene by his Pokemon. "He told you that he was the leader of Team Plasma," Kyurem said.

She nodded, then thought about it. "Yeah, but how did you know?"

"Victini told me, but he didn't want me to tell you right away."

"Ah, I should've guessed that." She dug into her bag, searching for a Revive she'd picked up a while ago. "I got mad at him for it, but now that I'm thinking on it, he might not be the problem. He's genuine about caring for Pokemon, while the others I can't really say."

"What are you going to do about it?"

"Ah, there we go," Hilda said, finally getting the Revive to use on Tarzan. "Well I know what I'd like to do, but you've been uncooperative about it."

He rubbed his nose just below the mask. "Pardon?"

She smiled at him. "I want to talk to some people and Pokemon about this, and find out what they think about Plasma's ideals. Not their actions, what they say they follow and what N believes in. That'll help me if we get into that discussion again. And if he is right, well, I'll have to find some other way of going about this. But I can't understand Pokemon, and you translate sporadically."

To that, Kyurem smirked. "If you have the right reasons for wanting that, then I will act as a translator. And if that's what you're after, then yes, I'll work with you and other Pokemon to get their message across."

Hilda grinned, feeling the excitement of a plot in action. "All right! Might as well start with you guys," then Mimi squealed and hugged her leg, "although that might not reveal much that I don't already know."

He nodded. "Very well."

N walked out the south gatehouse of Nimbasa, looking down at the sandy road and feeling tense. He was quietly grateful that he hadn't run into Hilda on the way from the Pokecenter. Falling asleep like that when he should have been focused on guiding the battle, that was embarrassing. And how dare she accuse him of being a terrible leader when she had no idea before today that he was the leader of anything? Although, there were all the things that Giallo had told him about in what the team was doing while he was on the road. Why hadn't anyone called him before? Or why hadn't Val and Carol made a better effort not to irritate him into not listening to them?

Or maybe he really wasn't that great. What should he do?

"What's troubling you, N?" Rune asked, flying closer to him. "Are you tired? Or is it about what she said?"

He sighed, feeling his energy ebb when it was mentioned. "Both, probably. But I need to let you guys go now."

"Are you certain of that?"

"Yes." He went down the construction road towards Desert Resort, but stopped partway in. There weren't many people around, so the Pokemon could get to safety in good time. He brought the other three out, as well as his release tool. "I'm sorry about that last battle. But, you guys have done a lot for me, beating the Gym and even more than I asked for. But it's time to say goodbye."

"What?" Kimi asked, forgetting to clasp her loose skin over her torso. "No way!"

"Do you have to let us go?" Daisy asked, scrunching up her small red body even further. "You're nice and I don't mind working for you. I want to stay."

"I told all of you before," N said. "It was only supposed to be for one Gym and then I'd let you go. But then things didn't turn out as I planned and it went on too long. So I need to keep my word before I move on."

"Aw, forget about that," Kimi said. "We work good together and I think we can get really strong together."

"Yeah, we'll keep working hard," Daisy added, agreeing with the Scraggy for once.

At his ankles, Sal came up and gripped N's pants with his teeth, gently tugging at him. The Sandile never said much, but right then, he said, "Stay?"

N gritted his teeth. There was an impulse to lash out (why did they keep making him feel guilty?), but he kept that quiet. "This is for the good of everyone. Besides, I'd have to let you go eventually to keep in line with the future I mean to bring about. It's better to leave now than much later." When it might hurt them to leave even more. But it shouldn't hurt, not like this.

They pleaded, but he still released them from their Pokeballs and said goodbye. He left the four of them there not long after, not sure if he wanted to punch someone or cry. But neither option was good and it was better to keep such extremes to himself. At least Rune hadn't fussed, but the others...

No, it was Rune too. N heard him coo as he flew behind. "I was careful not to let them know that I followed."

"You should go back to your own life now," N said. "I mean to separate all humans and Pokemon."

The Sigilyph didn't heed that. "I cannot return to my previous life, now that I know Shira is nothing but a memory."

"Well then find a new life. I have to get back on track."

"What shall I do?" Rune asked, flying ahead of N and stopping in his path. When he didn't reply, Rune went on speaking, "I was made to serve. A life in what you call freedom would be a failed and worthless life in the eyes of my peers, and my own. Also, Lord Reshiram asked that I personally serve you. I am bound by his words and can do nothing against that until he says otherwise. I will continue to follow you."

"I don't want servants!" N said, trying to brush him aside. "I don't want to burden anyone else with what I should be doing myself. I certainly don't want to make a Pokemon work for me."

"We all fight and serve you out of our own free will," Rune said. "You would not agree to take us otherwise, correct?"

"That is right," another Pokemon said. To his left, a Liepard came slinking around to join them. She had a faded scar where her fur didn't grow right.

Was it her? "Pricilla?" N asked. "You're still following me? And you evolved." He reached out to pet her, but she kept just out of reach.

"Well somebody's got to watch your back," she said, swishing her tail.

"She's been near us the whole time, save for when I flew you elsewhere," Rune explained.

They were doing this of their own free will. And it had been long enough since he'd released Pricilla that she shouldn't be affected by brainwashing techniques. Maybe it was all social expectations that were difficult to throw off. Or maybe Pokemon really wanted to be with humans.

But that would mean that he was wrong, that he'd mislead a great number of people, and that he didn't deserve to call on Zekrom.

"I'll be fine on my own," N said, then headed into Nimbasa to find a place to stay for the night. They didn't follow him, but while that should have satisfied him, it left him feeling lonely. And no matter how he tried to quiet his thoughts, they kept examining things from every angle and coming up with troubling conclusions.

It was another sleepless night.

You really should play this scene at sunset sometime! It looks so awesome! Sure, it's a pretty scene at other times of the day, but when I caught it at sunset, I knew that's when I had to time it for this fic.

Well it may look really pretty, but the scene itself doesn't flow that well. After the weird thing about chasing the Plasma members, N takes you over to the entrance of the Ferris Wheel and 'casually' suggests you go on it to see better. He makes a comment about engineering, then brings you onto the ride itself, where he tells you that he's the leader of Plasma and a little bit of his intentions. And then he talks about engineering again (leading to my characterizing him as interested in science and architecture). When you get off, he battles you so that the two Plasma grunts that had been harassing the Daycare man can run off, even though they had been worriedly looking for him. Lastly, he says he intends to become Champion and starts daring you to do the same.

I think it could be an amazing scene if it had more of a dialogue. Or at least a less choppy set-up.

Specifically for ClicheStorm... this was how the characters led me. And now Rune will join Pricilla in stalking N.