Chapter 56: The Proof of Resolve
May 9
Victory Road
The major battle was going to be between Hilbert and N, but Hilda wanted to be prepared too. She had spent much of this week so far training her Pokemon in various places: Trainer hangouts in Castelia, the stadiums in Nimbasa, the Ace Trainer club in Opelucid (they were mostly fond of Triples and Rotation style, but it was still good practice). Today, she decided to try out Victory Road itself. She had heard from the Ace Trainers that the wild Pokemon tended to be very strong around there, in response to the strong Trainers that came through.
But first, there were the badge check gates. They were huge stone gates built into a crevice in the rocky landscape. On the one in front of her, there was a Pokeball symbol. "These gates won't move unless you have the appropriate Gym Badge," the gate guard said. He was wearing a dark blue uniform with a patch that marked him as a League worker. "In your case, you should be able to walk up to them and they'll automatically open."
"Can't you just fly over these?" Hilda asked, looking at the top of the gate.
The guard shrugged. "Well there's nothing stopping anyone with a well trained flying Pokemon from doing that. That won't help you get into the League stadium, though."
"True. So what's your job, then?" She looked at him. If the gates could automatically open, and they were huge yet easily passed overhead, what was the point of the guard?
"I do maintenance and make sure the gates get closed again," he said. "This road's been working like this for many years; some of the gates are aged or weathered worse than the others. If they stick or give you trouble, come back and get me."
"All right, dude," Hilda said, giving him a smile before she headed up to the first gate. It pulled itself open for her.
There was a large place with tall rock walls to match the gates, making a kind of outdoors room. It was made like a little flower garden, an unexpected place to find. Maybe they did need a lot of maintenance, not just for the mechanisms. Past the second gate, there was a rock garden, with a statue of a Furret. Each of the areas was supposed to represent one of the Gyms, she recalled. Some were simple, but then there were rooms where she had to walk across walk a break in the floor just by strong winds blowing up (had to be Skyla; she wondered how heavier people managed it) or where she walked between large stone dragon heads. Seeing that, she recalled what she had done in the past six months. It had been just six months since she set out, right? Hilda grinned at the thought.
Past the eight badge check gates, she came to the enormous cliff area that made up the actual Victory Road. There was a group of Pokemon there, a group of large metallic ants as well as a couple of Gigaliths. "Hey, what's going on?" she called out to them, waving.
They started to scatter, but a few of the Durants got interested in her. "She has a sign of the dragons," one said. "I don't recognize it, though."
"It's Kyurem's sign," Hilda said.
The four Durants who were left came closer to her. "Like Kyurem's hero? We heard there was one."
"We didn't hear that she could understand us too," another said.
"Not many people know about that," she told them. Wondering if her guess was right, she asked, "Who'd you hear about Kyurem's hero from?"
It snapped its jaws. "It came through the colony news; a scout came across Zekrom's hero. He was talking about his plans to make Pokemon and humans live separately, and how the heroes of Reshiram and Kyurem were working against it. Is that true?"
She nodded. "That's right. We're trying to convince him not to do that."
"The colony doesn't want that either," one of the Durants said. "We're proud to share our tunnels with humans."
"There's no good of a road that no one uses," another said.
"We decided we would help you both, even if it's not much," the main speaker for the Pokemon said. "We can give you some nice rocks we find."
"I have one." The Durant went back to a pile of rocks and pulled out a dark stone with its jaws. It then tossed it over to Hilda. "I hope it helps you."
"Thanks," she said, although she wasn't sure what it would do. "Actually, I was out here to work with my Pokemon. Mind helping?"
"No trouble!"
Later on, she was letting her Pokemon look around the cliffs to take a break from battles. Frank spent quite a while at the edge of the one they were on, looking at the uneven landscape that led back to Opelucid. He was also being oddly quiet. Hilda went over to the Gothitelle. "What's on your mind, bud?"
"The only one who could qualify as a bud is Fedora, and he's too old now," Frank said, still looking over the landscape.
"But that's not what you were thinking until I said it," Hilda said.
He put his hand to his chin. "Right. It might be something, or it might not be. Years ago, I was told that if I became a Gothitelle, I would have the power to see into the future of anyone I cared about, even what would be their end. I never thought it would be that useful as I was always more interested in the present, and trying to get the attention of lots of females rather than just sticking with one. But in staying with all of you, I decided to try."
Shrugging, she sat down on the edge of the cliff near him. "Seeing the future? Might be cool, but I've heard too much about supposedly dying to really be interested."
"I can understand that," Frank said, crouching down so he could sit there too. "Partly because what I saw didn't make a lot of sense. It was... the night sky and city lights."
She looked at him. "That was it for the future?"
He was frowning. "Not that that was it. That's the best way I can understand that. It was where we will be, only it wasn't normal. The sky was bigger than it should be."
"How can the sky be bigger than it is?" Hilda asked, looking up. It was blue with a few clouds, good weather for being outside.
"It was. There was also something about another harsh winter influenced by Kyurem's power, where many of the cities are coated in ice."
She laughed. "That could make for some awesome ice skating. Aw, but now that you say it, it can't be anything as awesome as I imagine it."
"Humans do have quite an imagination," Frank said, amused.
Hilda punched her hands together. "Yeah, and that's what they count on with movies all the time. Put the most awesome parts in the trailer, but then it turns out that the only awesome parts were in the trailer and the whole thing is one long slog through a story you weren't expecting and don't care about. Bah. I'll take on the future when it becomes the present."
Nodding, he said, "Yeah, that sounds better than worrying about something I can't interpret. But if I do see something useful, I'll let you know."
"That'd be cool," she said.
He looked at her, indicating the direction behind her. "I can see Hilbert coming this way, but that's with standard powers. You got something earlier that will be of use to him."
"Did I?" She thought about it, then pulled out the stone the Durants had given her. It was a deep purple, black from some angles. "It's like that stone I gave Mimi, so it's probably some other evolution stone. When's he going to be here?"
"Not too long. Should I let you know?"
"When he's within throwing distance. So does your future seeing power helps you figure out how to get your girls?"
Frank rolled his eyes. "I wish! But it's about those I care about. Maybe if I did have a life mate out there, I'd see something about her. But nothing so far... then again, I haven't been interested to look for that. Hilbert should be coming out of the tunnels there; his eyes will be adjusting."
"Perfect," Hilda said with a grin. She turned around, saw him, Reshiram, and the Alomomola Loch coming out of the tunnels. "Hey, catch!" she yelled, throwing the stone at him.
"Huh?" Hilbert said, throwing up his hands and barely managing to catch it. He looked at it for a moment, "A Dusk Stone? What's this for, Hilda?"
"It's for that Dawn Stone you got me months ago," she said. "You should be able to use that."
"I can..."
"Pretty!" Loch said, swimming around Hilbert. "But I don't think it's mine."
He spent a moment trying to translate that, then nodded. "I don't think so either. But I think, who would be most fitting..." he took another Pokeball and called out his Lampent. "Madeline, you want this?"
"That's beautiful," she said, taking hold of it and causing it to float into the fire in the center of her body. "It will help."
Getting up and away from the cliff edge, Hilda said, "It'll take a little while, at least it did with Mimi. So what're you up to?"
"Looking for you, actually," he said, scratching his head. "I kept hearing you were somewhere training, but then you wouldn't be there."
"You could've called," she said. "What're you looking for me for?"
"We have plans to discuss with you," Reshiram said. "We've been considering how to handle what's coming"
"Yeah, and we want your help with it," Hilbert said. "Are you going to be taking on the Elite 4 on the eleventh?"
"I was planning on it," she said. "Unless there isn't time with everything else."
Hilbert nodded. "I think there will be. Let me tell you what we have in mind."
May 11
Pokemon League Headquarters
At the top of Victory Road, they were greeted with the grand stone structure that housed the Unova Pokemon League Headquarters. Next to the imposing entrance was a modest Pokecenter carved into the local stone. There hadn't been many battles to get here today, just a few wild Pokemon who wanted to test them, but Hilda's Pokemon needed to be in top shape for what was to come. "There's already been one young man who's come in to take this challenge today," the nurse said. "It was that one who is the Black King; I remember seeing him on the news the other day."
"How long has he been here?" Hilbert asked. If N got too far ahead, then who knew what would happen. He might even attempt to force the League to shut down again, this time for good.
"Not that long; I saw him just ten minutes ago." She handed over Hilda's team. "When you get inside, there will be four ways to choose from. If another challenger is inside, the door will be shut. Good luck."
"Thanks," she said. There was a small counter for a Pokemart there too. After making sure her supplies were well-stocked (overstocked even, since anything could happen today), she, Hilbert, and Reshiram headed back out to enter the stadium itself.
The guard at the door stepped aside on seeing Hilda's full Badge box. "Once you enter for a challenge, you will not be able to leave until you win or completely wipe out," he said. "So make sure you're prepared. Oh, and I can't let you both in, unless you also are eligible to try for the Championship."
"Well," Hilbert said, thinking about how to explain this without taking up a lot of time.
"They're my groupies," Hilda explained for him. "They aren't going to fight, but they're coming with me. Besides, did you see the Black King N come through here? This is the White King Hilbert, and the legendary dragon Reshiram himself. They're here to kick N's ass and knock some sense into him, so they have to come in with me in order to get a chance to do that."
"Oh, well..." the guard looked uncertain for a moment.
While he wouldn't have thought to be a groupie to someone else, it might work. He added, "N wants to separate Pokemon and humans, and so undo the entire Pokemon League, including your job. That's why we need to go in with her."
"I see." He bowed his head. "In that case, an exception could be made. I'll make a call to confirm that. But, they cannot assist you with your challenge, Hilda, and you cannot change Pokemon."
She nodded. "Gotcha. Don't want to get a reputation as a cheat, after all."
Past the guard, there was a large circular lobby with a large statue of a Trainer and a Pokemon in the center. There were actually six ways to go in here. However, one was the way back out and another was marked off as private property, most likely the back area with offices. That left four paths to take to the four Elites, and the northwestern one was shut off.
"Do you know which one you want to take on first?" Hilbert asked.
Hilda shrugged. "Who cares? Got to beat them all in the end. I'm going this way; good luck!" She headed to the southwestern door.
"I'm the one who needs luck?" he said.
Glancing back at him, she gave him a thumbs up. "You have to deal with N. I just have to beat five of the toughest Trainers in Unova."
Hilbert laughed. "Right. Show them a good fight."
"No need to worry about that." Then she headed through the door.
Once she was gone, he turned on his Xtransciever and called up Cheren and Bianca. They had told a number of people the decided date, but he needed to tell them when they were starting so they could start their parts of the plan. While his end should work, they decided that there should be plans in case it didn't work out.
A few minutes after he got done with the call, a circle on the floor to the northwest lit up. Circles of energy surrounded it as N teleported onto that spot. It surprised Hilbert to sense that his brother was actually calm today. From what he'd talked about during their talks in the hospital, Pokemon battles made him tense. But he seemed to have confidence in his Pokemon, and the Klinklang following him around was in good shape. "Good morning," he said, waving to N. "How're you doing?"
"You did come," N said, glad to see him. "Good morning. We've gotten past two of these battles."
At least he wasn't completely done. "Your Pokemon are doing well, then," Hilbert said. "Hilda and I just got here. What do you think of the Elites?"
N looked back at the doors, thinking. "I've only met with Caitlin and Marshal. I thought I wouldn't like them; anyone who'd gotten this far with battling would have to be tough on their Pokemon. But I got here, and..." he stopped with that train of thought and looked back to Hilbert. "Not now. But once I get past this, we will settle things. I intend on telling everyone to release their Pokemon at the end of the day. If you want to stop that, you'll have to win today." Then he headed to the northeast door.
The Klinklang paused a moment. "He's depending on you," it said, then followed after N.
"What do you think of that?" Reshiram asked.
Leaning back against the statue, Hilbert said, "He wants to test me, like you are right now. If he's counting on me, maybe he just needs to see how determined I am. But we'll stick to the plan."
"Sounds good."
Then Hilda appeared on the southwest teleport pad. "Did you get to speak with him?" she asked.
"He's on his third battle," he said. Then there was something he had to ask. "Oh, and I've been wondering... why are you dressed normally today, Hilda? After what you and your Mom said the other night about going to Dragonspiral, I thought you would have gone for something special here."
"I did," she said, tipping her usual hat. "This is what I was wearing on the day I started. That was also the day I met N, and you. Remember? I even got the Bisharp patch right, I believe."
"That was a long time ago, it seems," he said, trying to remember back then. He mostly remembered his surprise at seeing that she had Kyurem as such a new Trainer. At the time, he couldn't see how she deserved that. "I wasn't paying much attention to anyone else at the time. But that works."
"Got to remember how I started," Hilda said. "How are the others doing?"
"I told them we were getting started," he said. "Haven't heard back."
"All right. Well, got to keep moving." She headed into the northwest door, going counterclockwise.
While Hilbert was waiting, he got a call from Cheren. "A news report just came out with word from Plasma," he said. "Ghetsis said that N was going to address all of Unova later on today, but didn't specify a time."
"They're probably planning on using the Champion's platform for that," Hilbert said. "They have cameras in that area, and if N defeats Alder, then he will be able to ask for use of that space for such a proclamation."
"They're confident, but with good reason," Cheren said. "I'm getting things done, but I thought you should know about the report."
"Yeah, thanks."
Strangely enough, Hilda came back out before N did. "Man, it's almost a disappointment how quickly that went," she said, coming off the receiving pad.
"Your Pokemon do seem over-leveled for this challenge," Reshiram said.
"Really?" Hilda asked. "Well I'll definitely have to ask if they have a tougher set later on."
"If your Pokemon are over-leveled now, think of how it would have gone if you still had Kyurem," Hilbert said.
She laughed. "It would've have gone the same so far. I'll catch up at this rate!" Since N was still in the northeast door, she went to the southeast door to challenge that Elite. Shauntal, if Hilbert's guess was right.
The next wait was nearly ten minutes until N came back. He was a great deal more worried, immediately working on healing up his Pokemon. "Tough challenge, huh?" Hilbert asked.
"I still don't like seeing them get hurt, but I feel proud of how my friends are doing," N said. "We can make this world right. But what are you doing just standing here?"
He shrugged. "Waiting. I'm not qualified to take on this challenge; I don't think any of my Gym Badges count right now. But this is the day we decided on for this duel, so I'm here."
That caused N to pause, concerned about him. That made Hilbert feel hopeful. If he cared enough to worry about him, he might care enough to really listen. "You are," N said. "Is that foolishness or determination?"
"Maybe both, maybe neither," Reshiram said.
"Now why are you being vague?" Hilbert asked of the dragon. "I can understand why Kyurem is that way, but your power is about truth and the truth is certain."
"It is true in many ways," he replied.
"I thought the truth could only be in one way," N said.
"But there are many ways to look on truth, like there are many ways to look at objects," Reshiram said. He pointed at the statue. "Like that. It looks different from many angles, but they are all true."
N looked up at the statue. "Right. Zekrom was saying something like that the other day, about how people will see the same event but think of it differently depending on how they lived. But that doesn't change the basics of morality and responsibility. I think..." then he stopped himself, looking towards the southeast door, the one fight he hadn't taken yet.
"We'll settle it once you're done here," Hilbert said, sensing a degree of fear still in N. But now it wasn't clear if he was afraid of being wrong, or of being right. Or his fear could be of the uncertain. Once things were certain by having one of them win, then all else could be explained. While Hilbert wouldn't agree that this battle would settle everything, it would be a good place to start over from.
"Right," N said.
Then Hilda arrived. "Oh hey, I caught you!" she said, smiling on seeing him. "And caught up to you. The biggest part of this challenge is just ahead for both of us. Are you and your Pokemon ready?"
"We are," N said. "But what happens if we both win?"
She put a hand on her hip and thought about that. "You think so? I think so! Well, whichever one of us wins faster in the fourth battles will take on Alder, then will be the Champion that the other challenges. But, I figure that battle is not as important as what you boys have got planned, so I wouldn't mind delaying our battle for that."
He nodded. "Very well. I'll see you both later."
Hilda's last battle had been against Grimsley, and it had been tougher than the other three. On coming out, she had to revive Tarzan, Mimi, and Fedora. But, they had done it. They had defeated the Elite 4 without Kyurem. With that done, the statue revealed itself to be sitting on top of an elevator. Reshiram, Hilbert, and the new Chandelure Madeline were waiting for her, and they rode down to the Champion's area with her.
There was a huge amount of stone stairs waiting at the bottom of the elevator. More columns lined the way up. Cheren was waiting higher up, as a witness to the battle; he waved as he spotted them. From above came the sounds of a Pokemon battle. However, it didn't last. By the time they climbed all of those stairs, N had already defeated Alder.
And had defeated him soundly. It was hard to tell what had happened, but Alder had been knocked to the ground at his end of the battle platform. While he was sitting up, he was clutching his chest and seemed to be in pain. His wild red hair was in even more chaotic shape than usual. On the other hand, N seemed to be perfectly fine, walking to the center of the platform. "I had heard that you were a talented Trainer, but you seem to be fighting much too cautiously. How long has it been since you had a battle as the Champion? If it's because of the Pokemon you lost last year, then your heart is too weak."
"Hey, you shouldn't be harassing someone you just defeated," Hilda called over.
N turned to them. He still had that creepy fake smile, although neither his eyes nor his posture showed the expected emotions for the moment: no excitement, no disbelief, no pride. "You made it. You all came for this moment of fate." Then he paused, took a step back and pulled something out of his pants pocket. "This shouldn't take long. But, this isn't an appropriate place for a showdown between legends." He brought the device up in front of him, some kind of remote. "Let me set the stage properly." Then he pushed a button on the remote.
Then the ground rumbled as if an earthquake was struck. It was more intense than Olette's tremors, even. While one of the columns below toppled over, the main thing that happened was a building began to grow in front of them, rising up from the ground. What seemed to be open grassland rose high into the air, revealing a grand castle that had been hidden within the earth itself. After just three minute, the castle stopped growing. Nine gates then opened up in the facade of the castle, each releasing a walkway that rapidly bridged the huge gap between the castle and the Champion's battle platform.
It was a jaw-dropping sight. Once the noise died off, N slipped the remote back into his pocket. "Welcome to my castle, the headquarters of Team Plasma."
Grinning, Hilda couldn't help herself. "Wow, do it again!" she shouted.
"Uh," that threw him for a moment, but then he shook his head. "That would be a waste of time. I'll meet you in the throne room at the center of the top floor, Hilbert. Don't make me wait too long." Then he turned and walked up the central walkway.
His invitation was there. But there was something more immediate to take care of. The group of them ran over to where Alder was, still sitting on the ground by two of the ramps. "Alder, what happened to you?" Hilbert asked.
"It was his dragon," Alder said, not sounding well either.
"Zekrom used a move called Fusion Bolt that released immense electricity into the area," Cheren said, activating his Xtransciever. "That's when you started having trouble, right? You should get to a doctor quickly; just relax."
Reshiram went over and put his hand on Alder's shoulder. It glowed briefly. "That is not surprising. I can give you some strength, but you should rest now, or your body will definitely be unwell."
Alder lowered his head. "I thought I was ready to battle again... I was fine with others, but the challenge N presented reminded me. His determination and beliefs both show in how he was in battle; his bond with Pokemon is powerful. You two, if you mean to challenge him, you had better fight with all your heart, like he does."
"Don't worry about us, or I'll end up worrying about you stressing out like this," Hilda said, hoping to reassure him. "We'll handle things now."
"Bianca's end of things should be showing up soon, as well as the results of what I did," Cheren said. "Go on ahead."
"Thanks, and hang on Alder," Hilbert said before checking on Reshiram. Since he seemed to be done with what he could help Alder with, they headed up the ramp.
Hilda followed after them. "So if his determination shows up strongly enough to increase his Pokemon's confidence and faith in him, is he going to stick to his words or not? He'd have a tough time breaking such a bond."
"I don't think his ideals have changed," Hilbert said. "But he may have realized that his ways of putting them into practice are flawed. He wants to challenge us to fulfill our round of these legends, yet he does want to discuss things now."
"Can't drop the momentum in the last act, huh?" She shrugged. "I'm fine with that. Oh, but Reshriam, I want to ask you a few more things."
He nodded. "Go ahead. We have a long ways to walk."
N walked along the halls of his castle, taking an easy pace. The few knights who were in here today, as well as the Shadow Triad, might stall Hilda and Hilbert, but they wouldn't obstruct them. N didn't want to wear himself out before the battle.
Ahead, one of the Knights was kneeling by a Patrat. "Can we play a game today?" the Patrat asked, looking eagerly at the knight. "It was so much fun last time."
"What do you want?" the knight asked curiously. He turned his head on hearing N's footsteps, then got up quickly and saluted. "Oh, my Lord! S-sorry, I'm not," he glanced at the Patrat, blushing.
Was there time to deal with this? "What is it?" N asked wearily.
"Well this Patrat," he said, nervously fiddling with his armored gloves, "it was assigned to me months ago to help spread the word of your ideas. But, I think I, I mean, it's become attached to me. I've tried to turn it back in, but it keeps coming back, and well, it's hard to ignore the cute face it gives me. I don't know if I'm worthy to stay, but I really just wanted to help you."
"You…" would have trouble letting go too, N nearly said, but stopped in time. He closed his eyes. "Don't worry about that. If he likes you… well just go in the room here and keep out of the way. We'll see what happens and figure it out later." Then he headed on to the next set of stairs.
"Oh, um, thank you, Lord N," the knight said, still uncertain. He spoke quietly to his partner and left the hallway.
This was going to cause sadness even within Team Plasma? There was something fundamentally wrong with this all if that was so. However, he had come this far and he couldn't give up now. But then, the next battle would decide things for certain.
N wondered how things would turn out.
The rooms the Elites are in are nifty for Unova. But, writing battles is one of my weaknesses and there could have been anything from eight to twenty in this section of the story. So, I cut it down to the plot important ones to spare everyone the boredom.
And calling on the castle is one of the coolest scenes in Pokemon! The Pokemon League headquarters is already a grand building, like a Greek temple, and then this castle emerges from the ground and dwarfs that. It's really amazing that Plasma managed to build that and keep it hidden all along. I suppose if you wanted, it's possible one of the League members is involved with that. I doubt it's Cilan, Cress, and Chili, though. They're running a business and a Gym (if you think, like me, that the restaurant is active), plus they're all the way across Unova. It's more likely it's one of the Elite 4.
