Chapter 29: How to Spark a Feud

2/1, afternoon

A buzzer sounded, sending the Vanillish into a panic. "All visitors, please clear the field," an overhead speaker said. "The Large Stadium is scheduled to have focused practice for the indoors soccer team, without public access. All visitors please clear the field."

Hilda ran after her Pokemon. "Pierre, it's okay," she said. "It's just trying to get our attention."

Shuddering, he started to build up his mist again. He usually did so when feeling scared.

"Let's at least get out of here before that buzzer returns," she said.

That worked, as the Vanillish followed her off the field, back to the teleporter that led to the lobby. It was something of a peculiar feature, in that they let access that way instead of through doors. Then again, it was harder to sneak through a teleporter than through a door. Once outside, Pierre didn't seem any less nervous, so she recalled him to his Pokeball and considered what to do now. There was apparently a town that could only be reached by taking the subway from Nimbasa; that could be interesting, but it was said they had a swap meet every weekend, so it wouldn't be the best day.

She wondered how Hilbert was doing. He hadn't contacted her yet, so either he was still feeling bad or he'd gotten busy somehow. In which case, he ought to be told to relax. Hilda decided to call him, so she went to the lobby of a hotel to be out of the cold snowy outdoors. Kyurem was with her as usual, although he wasn't speaking much today.

After a couple of rings, Hilbert answered. From the background, he seemed to be in a Pokecenter. "Hi Hilda. How's it going?"

She grinned. "Great, except that it's so cold. How're you? Better?"

"Lots better," he said, rubbing the side of his head. "Well enough that I've started traveling around again. I'm in Opelucid, looking up some things."

"Ah, good luck with that."

"Thanks." Then he smiled. "So what are you calling for?"

"Oh, just because," Hilda replied. "And I hadn't heard from you since I saw you in the hospital. I kept thinking about calling you, but then I wondered if you were going to call or message me somehow."

"Sorry about that; I got caught up in things, like my two eggs hatching."

New Pokemon did need a lot of attention sometimes. Back when Hilda had helped out Professor Juniper with an egg project, there had been a Deerling which had been bounding around play fighting within a couple hours of hatching, as well as a Lillipup that hadn't done much of anything for the first week of its life. "That's understandable. What've you got now?"

"An Alomomola and a Larvesta. Plus a Rufflet I caught just yesterday. Here, check this out." He shifted his Xtransciver so that she could see a fluffy brown bird spreading his wings out, apparently playing with a large pink fish that was swimming around teasing him.

"Aw, that's cute," Hilda said, chuckling.

"I did manage to see your match against Burgh," Hilbert said, reshifting the unit so the screen showed him. "That was interesting to see Kyurem battle, but that was a cheap shot."

She laughed, pleased to hear it. "Wasn't it? But the whole thing was to get noticed for it."

He looked puzzled, a bit concerned. "Really?"

She nodded. "Yeah, because Plasma seems to be recreating local myths so that people will want to follow them. But I came out and outdid them before they had fully revealed things. I hope it did mess them up."

"Possibly, but won't you get in trouble?"

Settling into the couch, Hilda was satisfied with it. "I'm already in trouble. At least this way, people will raise a fuss if they threaten me."

"Huh, I guess that is one way to use popularity," Hilbert said, pausing a moment to think.

"What are you doing now that you can travel again?"

"I'm looking for information about my mother," he said. "I got a break a couple of days ago that I thought would reveal everything, but there's another obstacle in that there's hardly any information about her around. I was able to confirm her identity through blood tests, but it doesn't help that she died just a few days after we were born."

"That's sad," then his wording triggered a thought, "Huh, we?"

He looked surprised. "Oh, I hadn't told you about it earlier? I thought I did, but my mind was on other things that day. N is my twin brother; he had the extra information that I needed to find out who our parents are, but I haven't got back to him on it."

Over in another chair, Kyurem lifted his head, attentive to the conversation now. It was something unexpected... but maybe it shouldn't have been. "Really? But you two don't look much alike!"

"Well we're fraternal twins," he said. "Which means that Ghetsis is also my father, which stinks."

"Oh yeah, that would. Did you hear that my father turned out to be in Plasma too? His name is Rood."

"Really? Huh, that's weird. And my uncle's also in Plasma." He paused, looking bothered. "You don't suppose that this was all intentional?"

Hilda frowned. "I hope not, because that would be creepy. But can you see how they're trying to invoke myth?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Maybe it's better if I step out of all this. That would break up what... no, not quite, because N is determined. He's Plasma leader, you see."

"Yeah, he told me himself," she said. "They've been infuriating, really, but I can't be mad at him. But you know, maybe the two of us can talk him out of it, and the rest of them will follow. He really believes, but I think he might listen if we had a compelling argument."

"True. I keep thinking that maybe he'll run into some genuinely happy Pokemon with humans and that'll reveal the holes in his argument. And... well N has invited me to go visit Plasma headquarters so he can tell me more about what his beliefs are about."

"And I've had Kyurem translating between me and Pokemon. We should put our information together and make up a plan," Hilda suggested. "See, you're in a good spot, where you can go into Plasma without committing to joining and get information no one else can. Meanwhile, I have connections to the Gym Leaders and the Pokemon League now, and they do know more. I'm sure they'd be willing to help us out if we exchange information with them."

Hilbert looked impressed at that. "Right, they would be concerned. I'm afraid that I've already promised that I won't tell where their headquarters is, but it's just that information and nothing else. It's a risk, but that could stop things."

"Yeah."

"Does he have the White King's Stone?" Kyurem asked.

"What was that?" Hilbert asked.

Hilda repeated the question for him. "Kyurem wants to know; he's been listening in, but no one else is here at the moment."

"Yes, I have it. I picked it up in the ruins of Desert Resort about a month ago."

She grinned. "Cool, so you are a king now too."

"I don't know about that," he said, blushing a little. "I just have the King's Stone, and the Light Stone. I haven't been fully accepted by Reshiram yet. Actually, he said we had to give them a month to consider things, and it has been a month. I haven't heard anything from him yet."

"Give them another two weeks before you get really concerned," Kyurem said.

Hilda relayed that, just in case. "We should meet up sometime after you visit N. That should give you time to figure out what you want to do."

"Right. Um, Hilda?"

"What?"

"I hope you're not disappointed at me not saying anything, after what happened in Castelia that night. I'm having some trouble figuring out what I want." He bit his lip and momentarily looked away from the screen.

"I was more worried if you weren't getting better," she said. "And I thought you had the power to know what people want."

He nodded. "I do, but that's only other people. It's like you can't see your own face except in a mirror, and I don't have a mirror for what I want. I'm pretty sure that I'm confusing getting favorable attention for, well, everything, now that it's not blaring at me."

"Well what's important to you?" Maybe she could help him talk through it.

"I always thought honesty and truth were important. Fame too, but it might not be that important." He struggled for a moment to think of something. "I really don't know beyond that."

"Maybe friends? I always thought helping my friends was important."

"I don't know if I've really had friends before," he said sadly. "Well there's you now, I think."

"Of course," she said, hoping to cheer him up. "And I'll help you like any other friends I have, you know. Always got to stick up for your buddies."

That worked, as he smiled. "That's good. I'll do the same for you. Although, I'm still not sure about dating again. I hope you don't mind."

"Nah, that's okay," she said, shifting how she was sitting. A few people came out of the elevator and walked out the front door, but didn't seem to be eavesdropping. "I don't really want to get into that yet either, cause I want to be free to travel around and do lots of other stuff. If any boy wanted to fall in love with me, he'd have to be willing to travel."

Hilbert chuckled at that. "I was the same way, actually. Always on the move no matter what some of the girls wanted otherwise. You mean to just travel around Unvoa?"

She shook her head. "Nah. Maybe for now, but I'll go out and see other regions someday. You made Hoenn sound really awesome."

"That's cause it is," he said, seeming upbeat again. That was a lot better than getting him sad; Hilda was glad she managed that. "There's just so much diversity in the landscapes that sometimes you have to wonder if you're still in the same region, even if you've only been traveling for a day. You'd want to get a Pokemon that can use Surf though, if you have any intentions of seeing the eastern half."

"You want to show me around there?" she asked teasingly.

"Maybe," he said, then turned a little more serious. "Hey Hilda? Have you kissed anyone before me?"

"Yes," she said without hesitation. At his look, she giggled. "What? It was a guy I dated for a little bit last summer, but it didn't work out cause he was lying about things. But I didn't do much more than that kiss."

"Oh, well at least you didn't lie about that," Hilbert said, turning a little pink.

They talked for a little while longer, agreeing to meet up again later on.


N stood by a large red pillar of the suspension bridge. Nearby, the Swanna he'd nicknamed Allen landed on the railing. He was free now, along with the Cubchoo and the Deerling. While the other two had not argued against being released in the places they were caught, they both seemed greatly saddened at parting. It still made him feel bad, so he felt strongly that he should just keep walking down the bridge at this point.

But then Allen spoke up. "Then you're going back on your mission?"

"Yes, of course," N said. "Thank you for your help."

The Swanna dipped his head. "Thank you for taking me."

That was puzzling. "Really? But I had such trouble convincing you to come."

"That's because I thought all humans were bastards," he said. "My mother had told me years ago that someday I might find a human friend who would take me in and ask for my help, and that I should help my friend because we might become so close that our hearts would always remember each other. But I had gotten to the point where I thought that was useless dreaming of because it couldn't happen. You though, I've only known you for a few days, but I think my heart would always remember you. Will you come by this bridge again?"

"I might," he said. He would always remember the Pokemon he'd met. He just wished that it could make him feel happy.

"I hope I get to see you again, then," Allen said. "I'll be happy on that day." Then he flew off over the river.

Was he implying that he'd be sad until then? N put his hands on the railing and watched the Swanna fly off until he vanished from sight. Then he had to rub his eyes so he didn't start crying. "I hate these days," he said. "Too many goodbyes." But he had one more Pokemon to let go, and for that he had to cross the bridge to near Nimbasa.

It wasn't snowing today; N's boots crunched on salt that had been left to keep ice down. While it discolored the snow, it wasn't as bad as the piles that came up on vehicle bridges. Those turned black in proof of the flawed technology around today. If he knew more, it might be good to try solving that problem. But he had a more important problem to tackle.

A treacherous thought in his mind wondered if it was as important and pervasive as he thought it was.

The world was wearing down on him, like Giallo had suggested. He really did need to get out of this for a short time and clear his mind of all these doubts. If he went into Nimbasa, he could take a subway to Opelucid and get back that way. Rune was probably still following him too, so maybe if he had something to give the Sigilyph in exchange for that favor, he could fly him back.

N headed past the fence and into the forest to let Frank go in the area he had been in, but there was another person there, a girl in a pink coat. "Hilda? What are you doing here?"

He felt nervous given what happened last time they met (but why should he? He had been right), but she turned and smiled. "Oh, hi N! Fancy meeting you out here. I wanted to train my team in the stadiums, but they're both closed to the public for team practice. So I came out here instead."

"And that's dumb because I was going to get the ball in that basket this time," the Scraggy with her said.

"What about you?" Hilda asked.

"I came back here to release a Pokemon," he said. "I beat Driftveil Gym earlier today."

"Really? That's wild. I mean, hasn't it been barely two weeks since you beat Nimbasa? You have to be a really awesome Trainer to make that kind of progress." She seemed genuinely impressed. And, not still mad at him?

"You defeated me last time, though," N said. Although his team had been designed to beat Elesa, so that had given him an advantage in the Gym and a disadvantage against other Trainers like Hilda.

"Probably cause your team was made to defeat the Gym, not me," Hilda said, eerily echoing his thoughts. "And hey, I'm sorry about getting mad at you then. You were trying to help, I suppose, but some Plasma folks have been harassing Bianca about Victini and that was strongly in my mind at the time."

That made N feel relieved. Maybe he could still win her over and convince her that his views were right. "That shouldn't be happening any more, nor the other incidents of us forcefully taking Pokemon. People should realize the reality of the injustice and choose to do so on their own. I've told them to stop that."

"That's great." Then she smiled. "Oh, and I convinced another person to let his Pokemon go free."

She what? That didn't make sense. Why would she convince someone else to do the right thing, but not do so herself? She still had her Pokeball holder next to her Xtransciver on her left arm. "You did?"

Hilda nodded. "Yeah. I got to thinking about what you said, so I talked Kyurem into acting as a translator for me, so I could question the Pokemon themselves." Then she explained about how a musician had been accidentally causing his Audino painful headaches because he played in a loud band.

Good, that was one of those bright points to this rough mission. Too bad it hadn't been N himself to speak to the musician. "That's good. I could forgive someone like him, as it seems like he did end up caring about how his Pokemon felt."

"Yeah, he did. But you know," she waved over at where Nimbasa was, "I've been talking to Pokemon like that most of these past couple of weeks. And all the rest of them seemed pretty happy and healthy in captivity. It was good that we could help the Trainers talk to their Pokemon and solve smaller problems and misunderstandings. That Audino was the only one who was really happier away from her Trainer."

"There are much worse cases out there that must be stopped," N said. "But thanks for your effort. Will you let me help you, then?"

Disappointingly, she shook her head. "Nah, I'm good. Kyurem's watching over me."

N glanced around the wooded area, seeing some Pokemon watching them but not the one he expected. "Yes, but he's not here now."

"He's off hunting," she said, not worried. "He's been more concerned lately, and he's even eaten cooked meat more often so he doesn't have to leave like this. But he really isn't happy like that, so I told him to go on and go."

"I'm protecting her now," the Scraggy said, showing off a fist while keeping his loose skin up with his other hand.

"So Tarzan here is watching out for me," Hilda echoed.

N came closer to her. "But who would protect you from Kyurem? The myths and histories tell us that he is a destructive force that comes to destroy powerful corruption in Unova, but he will destroy a lot more in doing this, forcing everyone to start over. And just look around you." N grabbed the end of an tree branch and easily snapped it off. It was coated in ice. "This winter has been terribly cold, with more snow and ice than any person living here can remember. It has to be the influence of his being awake."

"It might be a passive effect of that," she admitted. "But I have confidence in him. He told me what he's up to, maybe not all yet but enough that I trust him. Besides, have you seen how he acts around Mimi? That tells me he's not all bad."

"If you know," N started to say, thinking he might get it out of her. But something in his memory called for his attention. "Wait, Mimi? That's the Minccino's name, right?"

"Yeah, that's her. She came from Kyurem's dreams."

Dreams? Those insubstantial visions that haunted a slumbering mind? "Came from his dream? How do you know?"

She seemed to think it was no big deal. "I was in that dream when she came to the waking world. But she's the only Pokemon that I've had come out of another Pokemon's dream. Mostly it's just berries and little items."

"You can see into the dreams of Pokemon?" N asked, now being the one who was amazed at her. That was a power that was mentioned a few times in myth; maybe there was something to the stone pendant she was now wearing after all. "That's incredible."

"Actually, it's technology," she said, patting her bag. "I have a device which was a gift from Dr. Fennel, who's been trying to view and interpret the dreams of Pokemon so that we can better understand them. But I've only really remembered and can figure out three of the dreams I've seen so far, so there's still a lot to do."

"I had not expected that technology to be functional yet," he said, putting his hand to his chin. Seeing the dreams of Pokemon might help. But at this stage, it would be better to work with what he had rather than trying to learn a complex new angle. "But I could see Mimi coming from Kyurem's dreams; that would mean that one myth is true."

Hilda raised her eyebrows. "Oh really? Which one?"

"The one about an old tradition in Opelucid, to bring about spring. It was always seen as a peculiar one, as it didn't fit in with the rest of the tales about Kyurem. But if the Mimi you had came from Kyurem's dreams, it might have some truth to it."

"Huh." Then her eyes brightened. "But you like science, right? Isn't it always that if a scientist has a theory and something goes against that, then the scientist must be willing to admit that the theory is wrong? So if that one story is different from accepted beliefs and Mimi proves that it could likely be true, then the accepted beliefs might be wrong."

N bowed his head. "True. But it doesn't mean the idea that Kyurem could be dangerous to you is completely false."

"Well thanks for worrying. And hey, I have a great idea! Could I give you a Pokemon to take care of?"

Give him a Pokemon? What was she planning now? "You want to give me one? But you know that I don't keep them for long."

"I know, and I don't mean to sell him to you either. You were right about that, most likely. But this guy," she pulled one of the Pokeballs off of her holder and enlarged it to release the Pokemon. "This is Pierre; I picked him up in Desert Resort and apparently Kyurem can't understand him."

A Vanillish appeared by Hilda's side; his posture suggested anxiety and fear. His black eyes darted around, but soon stared at N. "You have green hair!"

"I can understand him," N said.

Pierre shook himself, sending ice crystals flying. "Time falling like earth-born ashes, no blood here. Why move forward? It lurks yet, swimming through the earth. It was a mirror at the wrong tick. Fear the right tick."

N gaped at it for a moment. "On the other hand, no, he's not making sense."

"He can make sense about once a day, but that's it," the Scraggy commented.

"I saw his dreams once and it was an awful nightmare," Hilda said. "Very bloody and lots of nonsensical images. I can't really use him on my team, but even without a translator around, I can tell he needs help. There's a chance that Kyurem intimidates him, but you shouldn't. Would you take him and figure out how to help him? If you can; it'd be like a trade."

That didn't really work with his mission. He wasn't supposed to keep Pokemon long so as not to hurt them. But, this one was suffering. And Pierre being in a Pokeball would help to keep him close. "I don't know if I could trade, as I only have one now, and I shouldn't..."

But then an idea came to him. The Gothita was fairly normal and he had already said that he'd probably seek out another person to grow stronger with. Like with Victini, N could let him go, but couldn't guarantee that he'd stay free since he didn't want that. Then there was how happy and loyal Hilda's Pokemon were. Even this Scraggy, whom N knew was a recent addition, his body posture in relation to her showed that he respected and trusted her. They were already friends and teammates. If there was anyone outside Plasma that N could trust to treat a Pokemon well, it was Hilda.

"You don't have to trade," Hilda said. "I know how to hand his Pokeball over as a gift."

N glanced around again. It was just them and the Pokemon out here. "Actually... I know you treat Pokemon well. Let me check, though." He released Frank. "Look, I know I was going to release you, but I was wondering..."

"I was listening in," he said, putting his hands on his hips. "So this the girl you've been talking about? Is she a good Trainer?"

"You got that right," the Scraggy said smugly. "She makes us a team, a powerful team, and we'll kick the asses of anyone who says otherwise."

"Fidelity, compassion, loyalty, passion, charity," Pierre mumbled, his eyes half-closed now.

"She's good enough to get Kyurem's loyalty," N said. "Do you mind going with her and watching her closer for me?"

"A spy for my team, huh?" Hilda said. Was she teasing him again or not? "Well as long as I know up front."

Frank smirked. "To my mind's eye... she's interesting. And she'd fit my wants better than you. Still, you've been nice. Okay, I can handle that."

N nodded. "All right. He's okay with that; this is Frank, by the way, and this would be Hilda. I hope you don't mind..."

But instead of thinking it was strange (or maybe because it was), Hilda broke into a grin. "Oh, Frank, really? Oh man, that's perfect. I'm surprised that you'd pick that, though. Mom would never let me watch the entirety of that movie."

The Gothita chuckled, but that didn't mean anything to him. "What movie? He told me that was a nickname he liked, so I called him that."

"He chose it? I guess I'm going to have to be careful around him then. Do you know how to make a trade or should I show you?" She came over next to him.

As it turned out, trading Pokemon rather than gifting them was a long process. Gifting erased the previous Trainer's DNA data, while trading kept both the old and the new for some reason. Nothing seemed to happen to Pierre and Frank as they were still out, but the two Pokeballs became wrapped in a pale light, then connected through the light. N's arms tingled from the power of that exchange. After a minute, the lights disconnected and reabsorbed into the Pokeballs. On the screen, it noted that Frank was now owned by Hilda.

"Good, that's done," Hilda said, then was interrupted by a chirp. "I wish there was a progress bar for that trade... ah drat, my holder's battery has got low power. I thought it'd be good for the rest of the day."

"You didn't see and feel that light?" N asked.

"What light?"

"It was something you can only see by your mind's eye," Frank said. "And she doesn't have the sense for that."

"Oh. Don't worry, Hilda, it shouldn't matter to you. I'll see what I can do to help Pierre."

"I want to help," Pierre said, distressed for a second, then depressed the next. "Never to be. I'll sing a lament for you."

"Good luck with that," Frank said, kicking his way through the snow to check out Hilda's bag nearby. "I'm only disappointed that I never got a girl for you that night."

"That wasn't important," N said, feeling his ears and cheeks get warm.

Unfortunately, Hilda picked up on that. "Now what's got you all shy all of a sudden?" she asked, going to poke him but deciding against it at last second.

"It was something silly," he said, glancing aside and hoping she'd lose interest. "Frank tried to get me to attract some girls last night."

Hilda started to laugh, but put her hand to her mouth and tried to stop, making her cough. "S-sorry. That was just weird."

"It was. And I don't see what the point of it was."

"Oh really?" she asked, definitely teasing him now. "How'd you do?"

N thought about saying nothing more, but the words came out anyhow. "Well don't tell anyone else about it, but not too well. I had a hard time getting any of them to speak to me at length. Frank said to try to get one of them to kiss me, but that definitely didn't work. I don't see why he thought that was important."

"How's that not important?" Hilda asked, looking to him curiously.

N brought his hand up and tried to put those thoughts into words, but wasn't sure how. "Well I don't see what the point is. It's just another form of touch. And the whole thing was just to pass the time because none of my team wanted to train anymore that day and it wasn't time to sleep yet. I mean, I didn't know what I was doing anyhow, so it was a waste in the first place and since it didn't get anything accomplished, I just don't think that..."

And then his attempt to explain himself was interrupted when Hilda kissed his lips.

It was a strange thing, only lasting a few seconds. He'd never liked physical contact with other humans, or at least he'd always thought that way. This should have been the worst offense yet, as she was right up close to him with one hand on his left shoulder for balance. And where he could feel her breath before she dropped back from tiptoes. Instead of distressing him, it was actually enticing. It made him feel that he wanted to keep her close.

"See any point now?" Hilda asked, smiling impishly.

"I'll take that for a success," Frank said, winking at them.

"Possibly," N said to Hilda, making her laugh. It was really stupid and he knew that; it probably didn't even qualify as a joke. Yet he still found himself laughing with her and feeling happy about that.

"Never know until you..." and out of nowhere, there was a small explosion nearby. They all turned immediately to the sound. "What was that?" Then there was a scream from a woman and Hilda took off to see what was happening. Her Pokemon followed, while the Vanillish started up a more frantic rambling of fright.

"Don't worry, Pierre," N said, going over to him. But he was worried about Hilda going straight for the trouble. Should he recall the Vanillish, or work on calming him down and then seeing if she was okay? It would have been no issue earlier today, as he'd help the Pokemon. But now his mind felt torn.

"My lord," a calm voice said. The air vibrated for a moment as one of the Shadow Triad materialized. "You are needed back at the castle."

The scent of fire was in the air; Pierre was shaking, slowly drifting away from both of them. "What, now?" N said in irritation. If they hadn't called him back in all this time, then they could wait until he had his Pokemon calmed down and made sure that Hilda was all right.

"Right now," she said. "It is your responsibility. Recall him and take my hand."

His responsibility. It had to be important then, if terribly timed. "Fine. It'll be okay, Pierre."

"Does it start again?" the Vanillish asked in a whimper. N recalled him and took the ninja's hand.

The air blurred in a disorienting way as their surroundings changed from the cold snowy forest to the warm and bright interior of the castle. "Ghetsis will meet with you shortly," she said. "I will inform him that you have arrived. Please stay in this area." Then she vanished.

There was no one else in the area, not that he could see or hear. What could they want him for? N paced for a moment, then called Pierre back out to speak with him.


To the person who wanted me to do a B/W2 fic... I can't do that. I haven't played the game yet (nobody outside play testers have). I do mean to integrate some things once I get the right info.

And there you go. Pierre is N's Vanilluxe; we already met his Zoroark way back in the beginning. That leaves the Klinklang and the rest of his Chargestone Cavern team, and the two fossil Pokemon yet to go.

Don't you just hate it when random explosions interrupt a special moment?