The next day, while Gloria was battling her way through the Champion Cup tournament, Hiki couldn't get her mind off of everything that had happened as of late. The fact that Rose failed to show up for the tournament only made her more anxious. She had to find out what was going on…
After Raihan lost in his match with Gloria, Hiki hopped into a Corviknight Taxi, following him home to Hammerlocke. If anyone could help her figure things out… it was him.
"C'mon, Rai! I've gotta find out what's going on down there! I really think Leon could be in some sort of trouble…" Hiki told him after entering the Gym. But Raihan was already against her crazy idea of learning the truth behind Rose's schemes.
"Sorry, Hiki. I really can't do that. Shouldn't you be in Wyndon right now? Leon is going to have his match with Gloria soon, and… I really think she's going to give him a real challenge." He grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her around to push her out the door of his gym.
"Ninetales, now!" At her command, Hiki's Pokemon dashed behind Raihan and got the card key to the elevator from his back pocket and used an Ice Beam at his feet to keep him from following them. "I'm sorry I had to do that, but this is really important!" She and her partner Pokemon ran towards the elevator and got in before he could pull his foot out of the ice.
The gym leader groaned loudly. "Yep, Leon's gonna kill me…"
Hiki clenched her fists at her sides. She felt really bad for going against Raihan like that. But the thought of Leon getting involved in something illegal, or worse… dangerous… She shuddered. If anything, she had to confirm she was wrong about what was going on. But the fact that Raihan was so quick to stop her only fueled her suspicions further.
The elevator arrived at the power plant in the basement of the gym with a ding. Hiki took a deep breath and looked around before exiting. It looked like the coast was clear so she and Ninetales quietly made their way down the hallway, which opened up to a big open area on the right. That must have been where Rose was conducting his experiments.
She peered around the corner to see what looked like a giant egg. It was almost frightening… "What do you think it is..?" she asked Ninetales as she stared at it in disbelief. Rose was in there giving it some sort of energy. Whatever it was, the egg just seemed to absorb it. The ground seemed to shake the more he gave to it, which suddenly made Hiki feel very anxious. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea… "Let's go back, Ninetales… I'll just have to talk to Le-"
The moment she turned around, two men dressed in Gym Challenge official gear stood in front of her. It took everything she had not to yelp in surprise. "O-Oh no… I guess I've been around Leon too much. It seems I have gotten lost. How did I… get here?" she said nervously. She wasn't exactly the best liar. The two men each grabbed her by the arm on either side and lifted her from the ground. She kicked her legs and shouted, "H-Hey! Let me go!"
Just as she started shouting, she caught the attention of both Oleana and Rose, himself. Oleana crossed her arms over her chest and sighed, shaking her head as they approached her. "I don't know what you thought you were going to accomplish by coming here, but we're going to have to ask you to leave. Take her away!"
"Wait!" Rose said, stopping the two who were carrying her. "If she is so curious, why don't we let her stay and watch as I save this region's future. Maybe then our dear Champion will change his mind and assist us this evening." Even if she wasn't so close to the Champion, he couldn't allow someone to run off and spread the word on what he was about to do. But their relationship could surely work to his advantage.
"Wait, wha-Uhhh?" Before she could question what he meant about Leon, the two men who were holding onto her, carried her, following behind as Rose got back to work. "You know… I think I've seen plenty really! I'm supposed to be on a Corviknight Taxi on my way to Wyndon right about now. I'm sure you already know, but Leon has a very important match today and I can't miss it!"
Not one person responded to what she had to say. Instead, they kept their attention on the egg, which was starting to shake more furiously. Panic was starting to set in. That thing was about to hatch… She had to get out of there! "Ninetales, help!"
Her Ninetales ran toward them, but a Pokeball was thrown her way. It was Oleana's Garbodor, who blocked Ninetales's way. "I wouldn't, if I were you," Oleana warned the Pokemon. "It's a Fairy-type against a Poison-type. You don't stand a chance."
This was bad. Hiki had no idea the kind of trouble she was going to be getting herself into. She was running out of ideas. If only she would have just listened to Raihan… Maybe he went to get help! He should have been free of the ice by then.
"Here it is! Eternatus!" Rose called out, interrupting her thoughts. A loud rumbling filled the power plant as the egg broke open, revealing a terrifying sight. She had never seen a Pokemon quite like it before… Judging by its appearance, it seemed incredibly powerful. Eternatus looked just as scared as Hiki felt, confused as to why it was in such a place. "Turn on the machine," he told one of his workers.
Using energy that had been gathered in the power plant, an electrical beam was fired toward Eternatus, with the intention of bringing it to submission. However, this only enraged the Pokemon and it fought back, first attacking the one who fired the beam at it. Hiki flinched, worried that she may end up struck by one of its attacks. Why would Rose try to mess with such a strong Pokemon? Was there really something it could do to solve an energy crisis so far in the future?
"Sir, I'm worried we may be a little underprepared to contain this thing," Oleana said, starting to worry that they had gone just a little too far.
"You see? This is exactly why I required Leon to be here. He is the only trainer in this region strong enough to capture this thing," Rose responded, sounding eerily calm.
"You want Leon to battle that thing? But he could get hurt!" Hiki cried out. Unfortunately the Pokemon didn't seem against attacking people… though being brought into such a hostile environment, she didn't entirely blame it.
"It's his duty as Champion to protect our beloved Galar region, is it not?"
"Y-Yeah, but… this is far too much for one person to handle!" And with how much Leon had been overworked lately, Hiki knew he wouldn't be at his strongest, either. "Isn't there any other way?"
Her question went unanswered as Eternatus emitted a strange energy and Oleana's Garbodor Dynamaxed without warning and went into a furious ramage. It fired off a multitude of poisonous attacks, one of which struck Ninetales with a critical hit. The men who had ahold of Hiki practically dropped her out of shock and she hit the ground with a thud. Eternatus broke out of the power plant, with Garbodor following behind it to escape. Oleana and the other two chased after Garbodor, but still, Rose remained calm.
Through the chaos, Hiki crawled to her Pokemon to care for it. "Ninetales, are you okay? Come on, you have to get up! We need to get out of here!" Hiki stood and reached into her bag to find Ninetales's Pokeball. She would just have to go back into her ball. "Okay, there's no time, let's just- Hey!"
"You're staying right here," Rose said angrily as he grabbed her by the wrist. He snatched the ball from her hand and shoved her back to the ground with her weakened Pokemon. He tossed Ninetales's Pokeball away from them and pulled out his Rotom Phone, which floated in the air in front of him. "Leon's match with Gloria should be starting right about now. I think it's time we call for 'help.' With you here, that Champion will come running like a knight in shining armor coming to rescue a princess from a dragon!" The man adjusted his tie and started recording a broadcast to be played on the screen in Wyndon Stadium.
Leon stared down at his phone just before heading out onto the battlefield. He hadn't heard from Hiki in quite a while, which was unusual. Should he be worried? He sighed and shoved the device into his pocket.
Cheers erupted in the stadium as Leon and Gloria took their places to start their battle. Leon scanned the crowd for Hiki, but couldn't spot her anywhere. Maybe she was just running late. Just as they were about to throw out their first Pokemon, the crowd all began shouting at them to look at the screen. There, they saw Rose's face and Leon immediately cringed. Was he really so set on doing this right now that he would interrupt their match to make a point?
"Hello there, Leon and Gloria! Just letting you know… I think it's time I brought about the Darkest Day. For the sake of Galar's future, of course! But I'm in a bit of a pickle. The energy released by the Darkest Day is too much for us to contain. I'm sorry it's come to this. But it's you who forced my hand, Leon. You refused to listen!" He then turned the camera on Hiki and Ninetales. "A friend of yours decided to drop by to lend a hand, but it seems her Pokemon was hurt. You may want to hurry if you don't want to endanger their lives."
"Hiki…" Leon's heart immediately dropped to his stomach. What was she doing there? How did she get there? Suddenly a beam of light burst out of the ground on the battlefield and his thoughts were cut short. He and Gloria rushed to safety, where they met up with his brother, Hop.
"Lee! Gloria!" Hop shouted as he ran toward them. "That video stream… That was from Hammerlocke Stadium, right? What in the world did the chairman do…? And why was Hiki there?!"
"I don't know!" Leon responded, worry very strong in his voice. "But everything he was saying yesterday… Did he really pull this crazy stunt to solve some problem a thousand years in the future?! I've got to go see what's going on… I'm the Champion! I have to go!" He sighed and shook his head. "I should've realized what the chairman intended to do before it came to this…"
Leon rubbed his forehead, feeling stressed. "And to think Hiki got dragged into all of this because I wouldn't tell her what was going on. It's too dangerous for her to be there! I'll take responsibility now for fixing this mess! This is a real Champion time!"
As he ran off, Hop called out behind him, "But, Lee! You're terrible at directions… What if you get lost along the way?"
Hiki sat on the ground next to her Ninetales and stroked her head in her lap. The poison was quickly draining her energy and she didn't have any kind of medicine or berry to cure her. All around them, the building was shaking, with Eternatus raging on the rooftop. Just knowing Leon was heading that way to fight it had her both relieved and terrified at the same time. She knew she would feel safer with him there, but she also worried for his safety.
"You know, if Leon would have just listened to me in the first place, you wouldn't be in this position," Rose told her, with his back to her. He stood at the entrance of the power plant, waiting for Leon's arrival.
She couldn't believe he was trying to throw blame at Leon for her own stupid decision to stick her nose in something she shouldn't have. On top of that he was the one forcing her to stay there… like she was some sort of hostage or something. Leon had nothing to do with any of that, but he was probably very angry with her if anything. "That's not true! I did this to myself… If I wasn't so weak, I could have gotten out of here by now." The sound of a Charizard's cry quickly broke her out of her moment of self pity. She gasped, holding back from just jumping up and running in that direction since Ninetales was resting in her lap. "Lee?! Is that you?"
Rose, his back still facing her, put up a hand, signaling her to stay put. He walked out to the elevator, where he met a very angry Champion. His Charizard growled at the sight of the man walking toward him, but Leon placed a hand on the Pokemon to calm it. "Let Hiki go, Rose… This isn't funny!"
"You're right, it's actually quite serious. I didn't ask much of you and now look at the situation we're in," the chairman responded. "I'll tell you what… You capture Eternatus and bring it back to me, and she will be free to leave with you."
Leon clenched a fist at his side. "Fine. But nothing had better happen to her." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a Pecha berry. "Just make sure she gets this!"
As Leon rushed to the other elevator that would take him to the rooftop, Rose returned to the power plant where Hiki remained with her Pokemon. Without a word, he tossed the berry to Hiki, who had heard the whole thing. She was extremely grateful Leon had come prepared with something to take care of Ninetales. She fed the berry to her poisoned Pokemon and calmly pet her head as she started regaining her strength.
If only she could be up there helping him… But there was no way she could get past Rose. She knew his Pokemon were far stronger than her own. Ninetales finally sat up next to her and nuzzled her trainer's face, hoping to provide her the same comfort she had been giving her while she was poisoned. "Niii…"
Before long, Hiki heard more footsteps approaching the power plant. Why would anyone else try to come down this way? Ninetales stood to guard her trainer, though she had a low amount of health. However, both were pleasantly surprised to see that their new visitors were Gloria and Leon's younger brother, Hop.
Gloria stood before Rose, her Pokeball in hand. It looked like she was ready to battle him. "And what do you plan on doing, Gym Challenger?" Rose asked her.
"We're here to help the Champion," she responded.
"I'm afraid I can't allow that. The Champion is the one who needs to control Eternatus." He rubbed his forehead and sighed in annoyance. "Must I explain myself? From your perspective, I suppose it must seem that I am doing something terrible. I don't expect you to understand. But I must provide the Galar region with limitless energy to ensure everlasting prosperity. It is my purpose, my duty, my destiny!"
He continued. "That's why we've been giving the Wishing Stars to Eternatus! Surely you remember the red light that caused a ruckus around Hammerlocke. That was all part of our experiments to awaken Eternatus! You must understand. I can't let you interfere with my plan to protect the future of Galar!" He sent out his first Pokemon, an Escavalier, to battle her.
As the two began their battle, Hop ran to Hiki's side. "Hey, are you okay? Lee is pretty worried about you."
"I'm okay, but we have to help him… I know he's strong, but that Pokemon is too powerful for just one person to take on," Hiki started as she snuck behind Rose to finally take Ninetales's ball back. "But Ninetales was pretty hurt by Oleana's Garbodor. I don't think she can fight…"
"Here, let me help." Hop reached into his bag and pulled out a Full Restore and sprayed it on the Ninetales. "Let's get you out of here so you can help my brother! I'll wait for Gloria down here!"
"Thank you, Hop. You know… You really remind me of Leon when we were your age!" She returned Ninetales to her ball and followed behind the younger trainer, sneaking past Rose now that he was distracted. When they reached the elevator, she gave him a quick hug. "Be careful… He's really determined to take care of this whole energy crisis, and I'm not sure just how far he will go to do that…" Hiki warned. She believed in them, however. Between the two of them, they were sure to stop him.
When she reached the top of the building, she heard the sound of Leon recalling one of his Pokemon. Had it just fainted?
He reached to his belt for his last Pokeball, which had Charizard inside. As he threw the ball to release the Pokemon, he noticed another Pokemon sent out next to him. An Alolan Ninetales? "Ninetales?!"
Hiki ran up to him and called out his name. "Leon!"
He quickly turned around, relieved to finally see she was okay. He wanted to take her into his arms and never let go, but unfortunately, there was no time for that. "Hiki! Get behind me!"
Instead, she stood next to him and took his hand. "I came to help you! I've seen what this thing can do and I don't think you should be fighting it alone!"
He shook his head. "No! It's too dangerous! You shouldn't even be here!"
"I'm not leaving your side," she said, still firmly holding his hand.
He sighed deeply and squeezed her hand. He didn't like it, but he didn't have any time to argue with her. "Alright. Just stay close, okay?"
She smiled and nodded.