Except for those who had spoilers, who expected this thing to be important? Clearly not Hilda.

Alder led the two to Nacrene City, where they found Hawes and Lenora tidying up the museum without a worry. When she noticed the guests and their sad faces, Lenora dropped the broom in her hands and asked the Champion what was wrong.

"Nothing too bad," Alder said, faking a lack of concern. "Just the end of the world as we know it."

"Oh, is that all?" Lenora didn't seem that concerned, either. "What brings it on this time?"

"Team Plasma got the legendary Zekrom," Alder explained. He ran a hand through his ridiculous hair, before letting the real mood sink in. "Our only hope was to find Reshiram, and there was absolutely nothing. Not even a hint."

Hawes looked back at the twins, noticing Hilbert had returned to Eggber while Hilda stared at the Dragonite skeleton - in one piece once again, thanks to the hard work of her and her brother. "Any idea where Reshiram could be hiding?" he asked, and Alder jumped in to answer.

"Brycen checked Dragonspiral Tower, and the kids and I went back to Relic Castle. Nowhere."

"A lot of interesting things can be found in Relic Castle," Hawes said. "That's where we found 'Eggber,' as Hilbert likes to call it."

Lenora straightened up as her husband's words registered with her, and she turned to him with a mixture of irritation and amusement in her eyes that Alder had previously only believed his ex-wife to be capable of. "We found Eggber in Relic Castle?"

"What's wrong with that?" Hawes demanded, squirming under the stare like any man would. "You were the one who dug it up, remember?"

Lenora thought back, to a time before they were married, a time before she was even a Gym Leader. The pretty white stone had seemed to call to her, begging her to pick it up. Nothing had ever happened with it, they just put it in the museum because it was pretty and old.

"That's true," she finally said. "But you don't really think that's the answer, do you?"

Hilda tore her eyes away from the skeleton to watch the grown-ups talk. "What are you guys saying?"

"What if Eggber is Reshiram?"

Hilda made a sound that could only be spelled as "buhwuh." She glanced at Hilbert, who met her gaze and gave her a proud I told you this thing was important look. "No. It can't be."

Alder chuckled. "The girl's probably right. So, with that out of the way...got any beer, Lenora?"

"We have wine."

"That'll do."

Zekrom sat in front of the television, watching and waiting for N and Ghetsis to finish their discussion. He didn't ask what about, but he pieced together something about that Hilda character and how she was a distraction from the mission. The dragon couldn't care less, but the voices were carrying.

"Is this frequent?" he asked Zoroark as the fox turned up the television they were watching.

"Way more so than it used to be," Zoroark replied, stretching out across the ground. "Still not frequent enough to get concerned."

Zekrom decided that Zoroark would probably know better than he would, and the two Pokémon returned to their program. It was a very interesting show, actually, and when N entered the room, Zekrom had turned to him with a ridiculous request: "Do you have any Pecha Berry smoothies?"

"That came completely out of nowhere." N knew enough to get suspicious around random statements. "What do you really want, Zekrom?"

"I want a smoothie. Or a nickname, whichever's easier."

"Why in the world would you want a nickname?" N questioned. "Isn't that proof of a trainer's control over a Pokémon?"

"The Serperior has one, doesn't she?" Zoroark's question went ignored, and he immediately decided that he was going to ignore them right back.

"You're a legendary Pokémon," N was saying instead. "You're better than we humans could ever hope to be."

"While both of those statements are true, some Pokémon prefer to have nicknames. And, since I chose you as my personal favorite human and therefore the hero of ideals, the least you could do is give me one."

N glanced at the television, and understanding dawned on him. "Zoroark's watching stupid shows again, isn't he?"

"It's not stupid!" Zoroark protested, forgetting his decision to ignore N. "It's non-intellectual programming for humans to -"

"Pointless," N insisted. "I thought we would be preparing to take on the Champion."

"We're lazy."

"And you have me," Zekrom said. "There's no need to train."

He was probably right. There was really no need to get worked up about things when he had a legendary dragon.

N let his mind wander as the two Pokémon continued watching Gorm's TV, barely aware of the sound or pictures himself. As it often did, his mind wandered to the twins, Hilda in particular. They'd come so far...he wasn't sure he could deal with sending them home. And if they managed to find Reshiram, then he should be on his guard.

But why did he not see Hilda as the enemy? Ghetsis had insisted that he should recognize her for the monster she really was, or that she would become if she hadn't already, and Hilbert was easy enough to forget when he wasn't in the room. Rood had just waved it away, saying that he was sure whatever N chose to do was right.

Anthea and Concordia, on the other hand, had been no help at all. They had been older sisters to him for years, and like any siblings would, they had laughed in his face and assaulted him with questions. "Is she pretty?" "Does her smile make your chest feel funny?" "Would she make a good queen?"

He hadn't really answered them, but they took his silence as a yes in all three counts and encouraged him to talk to her, but he needed a second opinion before he confessed his undying love, someone who wasn't one of the so-called goddesses. He'd speak to the Serperior again, he decided. Perhaps she'd put aside her mischievous streak for the sake of a person's sanity.

Then again, perhaps Hilbert's Samurott would be a better choice in a conversation partner. Erika would mock him, but Tommy probably wouldn't understand at all.

"So you're saying that the rock is a dragon?"

Cheren's facial expression was priceless, but Bianca was the only one who managed a laugh. "Why not?" she asked, smiling a little as her optimism shone through. "I read something in a book once: 'Once you've eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.' And since Reshiram hasn't been seen in years, and Brycen couldn't find it in Dragonspiral Tower, and no one could find it in Relic Castle, it's worth a shot."

Cheren didn't seem convinced, and gestured at the item in question. "But Bianca, it's a rock."

Lenora held Eggber carefully in her hands. It felt just as cold and lifeless as ever. Perhaps if she handed it to the kids, it would have a better result.

Each of the four held it, not one of them unleashing the giant white dragon of legend. Hilda sighed and gently placed it in a box in her bag, after Lenora had given permission to take it.

"Eggber just needs some time to hatch, that's all," Hilbert stated, but Hilda could tell he was starting to lose hope himself. "Come on, Hilda. You're just one badge short of entry to the League. You-Know-Who, remember?"

"I don't care about him anymore! I want to find a way to keep Erika, and Zebstrika and Leavanny and..." she trailed off, staring at the wall for a moment, before rushing into the gym's bathroom, not wanting her friends to see her cry. Bianca waited a while longer, her eyes trained on the determined Cheren, before following, Hilda's bag in her hands.

The boys and the adults tried to continue the conversation, and Cheren called Bianca on his communicator so the girls could hear.

"If only we knew a Dragon Master," Alder said, running a hand through his ridiculous hair. "They should know something about this."

Lenora brightened. "But we do know a Dragon Master, Alder," she said, before giving Hilbert some complicated instructions. He blinked, then looked back at Lenora.

"Tell her what now?"

Lenora buried her face in both hands. "You said Hilda was one badge short of taking on the Elite Four, right?"

"Yeah..."

"There's a Gym in Opelucid City. The Gym Leaders there might know how to hatch Eggber, if my theory is correct."

"So you're saying Hilda could go and get a badge while trying to hatch this 'Eggber' thing," Cheren summarized.

"Precisely." Lenora smiled. "I like you, kid. You catch on fast."

Cheren glanced down at his transceiver, seeing both Hilda and Bianca on the screen. "Did you hear that, Hilda?"

"I heard. Opelucid City." Her face disappeared from his screen, and she reappeared among the crowd seconds later. She readjusted her hat and smiled. "Well, what are we waiting for? Opelucid awaits."