Chapter 29 The Night We Met

She had texted him just minutes before telling Hugh and Nate she'd stay back in Chargestone, but as soon as they disappeared from view, she turned to find Dr. Colress waiting for her there. His trademark, unnerving grin was nowhere to be found and his eyes glittered in that way they always did whenever he started to drift from the confines of reality. She had picked up on his subtle divergences from his more controlled state. He was a scientist, but she had a hunch his theatrics were just that: theatrics. No, he wasn't unintelligent, nor did she think he was lying, but she did think he played himself up as more knowledgeable than he really was. After all, if he was such a brilliant scientist, then clearly, he was thirsty for even more intel. Why would someone so bright, someone so in-the-know, thirst so badly for more knowledge if not for fear of their own inadequacy or their own lack of understanding? Or perhaps… immaturity?

That was the weapon Rosa had readied herself with when she had left Dr. Colress the last time and following her conversation with Hugh at the Driftveil Pokémon Center. Hugh, for all of his frightening dramatics when it came to Team Plasma, had an admirable sense of justice. His refusal to take 'no' for an answer or allow transgressions to go unpunished was strictly inspiring, in a driven way, like someone burning the fear of Arceus into her mind. He had so matter-of-factly told her he wouldn't take any of the given roads; he would not have allowed himself to be hurt in her position, nor the other person—he would have fought the opposition directly.

So, Rosa had made a decision.

This was a game of Chess and she was not to be underestimated. She steeled her jaw as she overlooked this deranged, lost soul of a scientist, so obviously hiding behind the sensor embedded in his skull and the white coat that enveloped his lithe body. He was smart, but he was not omniscient. Some days he might be one step ahead of her, but others she would outwit him. She would and she had to. More than that, she had to admit… he had intrigued her in a wicked way with his disturbing, deluded talk of turning her emotions 'useful.'

Oh, did Rosa have so many emotions she wished she could act on… Nate and Hugh both had their own battles they were fighting. Theirs were dire, indeed. She would handle Dr. Colress and she would handle what she could of Neo Plasma from the inside out. Disturbingly, she lavished the thought of taking care of those problems herself… Having her own 'secret' battle to fight.

"Miss Rosa," he started in a discomforting quiet so unlike his usual gaudiness, "I did not expect you to call me back so soon. I expected to need to give you time."

"Since when did you care about that?" she cagily joked back, instinctively stepping protectively in front of her Pignite. He snorted and sidestepped her leg. It was the first time he had ever shown an ounce of bravery in confrontations with Dr. Colress. "I want to know more about what you want to do with me. I want to know every tiny detail, Dr. Colress." She took a decisive step forward, clearly surprising him with the way he tensed and unblinkingly stared at her, but she did not falter. She could not falter. This was her turn to start the game, to move her pawn two steps forward, ahead of him. She paused when she was uncomfortably close and narrowed her eyes at him, then softened her voice to hardly above a whisper. "Dr. Colress… I have friends that need help and I can't help them right now. You've made me keep quiet. I'm alone. I don't have anything else to bother with. Whatever you want to do, I'm interested. I want every detail." She raised a hand to shakily touch his jacket, to tug on the collar. "I want to know more about your tech and how you made it… Won't you give me that, at least?"

This was a dangerous move, of course. He hadn't shown her much in the way of humanity yet and she was fending off her own fear more than she would ever have admitted to him. He unsettled her and she hated the way she had approached him in such a suggestive way. She was going on seventeen, but he was well into his forties; she had no idea what his reaction would even be, but if her short experience with men and with his eccentricities were any indication, her attention would stroke his damaged ego and prompt him for more information than he would have ever divulged otherwise. She had only just moved her pawn, but she was already aiming for the king, for that delicious Checkmate.

She was oddly delighted by the satisfaction that came from knowing he had no idea.

He further froze under the adjustment she made to the collar of his jacket, then stumbled slightly backward. He swallowed hard and seemed to take a second to compose himself. "Not that long prior to my proper arrival in Unova, I was staying in Hoenn. I apologize in advance for the history lesson, but I promise it is relevant. I was in trouble with the law. This was par for the course for me. The law cares not for the search for knowledge, Miss Rosa." He adjusted that blue sensor around his head and it finally quit pulsing with light. "Regardless I was desperate. I had made a disguise for myself and that was fine, but I was in need of work for, ah… money. I was approached by a most interesting fellow. He was dreadfully pale, skinny, seemed lost and unaware of who he was, even, but had a Samurott that loyally followed at his side. He said he knew who I truly was and handed me a cloth mask with an admittedly unsettling grin painted on it in drippy, white paint. He asked me if I could create a more sophisticated suit for keeping himself out of harm's way and to keep that design choice on the suit's visor."

Rosa frowned a little, wondering where he was going with this tale, but didn't interrupt.

"This young man called himself the Grinning Shadow. I created this suit for him for a large sum of money. I didn't ask where it came from because I already knew. He is a world-renowned thief at this point. I know his real name and face, but he entrusted me with this knowledge because he knew I couldn't exactly turn him in without shooting myself in the foot, so to speak." He flashed a weak grin at her, reminiscent of his usual expressions of exuberance, but lacking the charismatic glow. She had to wonder why he was so out of it that day. Perhaps her newfound confidence had shaken him… Then again, he had seemed like that when he first arrived… She narrowed her eyes as she scrutinized him for any detail she could latch onto. "I had no interest in studying him further and was just grateful for the cash injection, so I sent him on his way with his suit. Now, my reason for explaining that to you, is that I want to combine the efforts of this suit and what I have done with the Shadow Triad."

Rosa steeled her jaw and indifferently said, "You never did explain exactly how you control them."

That gave him pause again and he tilted his head at her, yet continued, nonetheless. "The Shadow Triad operate using a chip similar to your Pignite. It is embedded into their heads and I control it remotely. Like I said before, it can control every part of their brain and inhibit chemicals as needed to manipulate their emotions and behavior. They are not exactly the same as one another, of course… I intentionally staggered this behavior because their primary user…" Dr. Colress' nose wrinkled. "Their primary user issues orders in a very emotionally-charged way. I needed them to be able to interpret his orders to some degree. So, when they are working for him, they may show some degree of self-control and independence. However, while I do want to install one such chip for you, Miss Rosa, it is not to inhibit your brain activity in any meaning of the word. Much like your Pignite's, it is observational." He folded his hands behind his back stiffly and shuffled his feet. "It will be the suit, similar to that of the Grinning Shadow's, which allows you to turn your emotions into power. Given that power, I want to see what you do. I want to see what those emotions make you capable of… What parts of your brain work when you are feeling certain things… or perhaps acting on them…" He trailed off as he stared at her with that distant, glassy-eyed expression again.

With her heart starting to thrum with a sick sense of sweet victory—she had gotten him to talk about the chip at last!—she craned her neck with keen interest. "And how do you mean to control me?" she asked with a biting edge. At his Deerling-in-headlights stare, she snorted and put her hands on her hips. "Dr. Colress, maybe I haven't known you long, but you put a kill-switch in my Pignite's. There has to be something in this one if you're going to turn me into Iron Man." She frowned. "Iron Woman…?"

"You're correct," he breathily said, watching as she circled him ever-so-slightly. That seemed to further disjoint his thinking and he staggered away from her, putting a decent amount of space between the two of them. She fleetingly glanced to her Pignite and fought off a smirk. Had she found an opening for another move, for another pawn? He didn't seem to like her confidence or when she moved. He liked having control of the space around him and she wasn't giving that to him. Briefly, she wondered why that might have been, but focused too deeply on the detail to care. He didn't like it. That was all that mattered. Ammo.

His sensor started to glow again, and he cleared his throat before starting once more. "You're correct… It will have a kill-switch in it, Miss Rosa. However…" He grimaced. "I think you are the key to many discoveries for myself and this ignorant, unknowing world at large… I do not want to harm you if I do not have to, the same as I do not wish to harm your pokémon without need. Yet, if you intend to harm me, derail Neo Plasma, or disrupt my research, Miss Rosa, I will do what I must."

She opened her mouth to say something, but he abruptly descended on her, making her shrink back. All she could visualize in that instant was a black pawn skipping two moves ahead on the opposite end of a Chess board. She supposed he needed to get his move in at some point.

He bared his teeth at her again in that fierce way he did whenever he was tired of her quiet renegading. "Understand me when I say this, Miss Rosa," he growled coldly as his breath misted over her face unpleasantly again, "I always do what I must. If it must be merciless, so be it. If it destroys me or others in the process, so be it. Nothing is more valuable than understanding."

She trembled slightly under his looming presence, but remembering her decision, remembering Hugh's insistence, remembering Nate's stubbornness, she forced her jaw to still and looked him dead in his glossy, dead, golden gaze. "Dr. Colress, I don't want to betray you. But… I do have to ask." Colleague. His colleague. Ghetsis. The Shadow Triad's 'primary user…' He did something to you, didn't he, Dr. Colress? I've heard of how cruel he is. Her mind was reeling, and her chest was thumping so loud, she worried he might hear it. She swallowed her heart that leapt to her throat and quietly pressed, "What happened to you? What made you so desperate for knowledge?" She puffed as her breath escaped her momentarily. "What convinces you that you aren't human?"

He slacked and blinked fervently. "Excuse me?" he choked. "Haven't I warned you not to push that subject already?"

It was her turn again. "You've made it clear I can't go to anyone, anyway. What's the harm in telling me? You say I'm your key, or whatever… You say that you need me. Well, Dr. Colress… like I said before." She needed her voice to steady. Her body felt nervous and twitchy… she needed it to cooperate better than this… "I'm alone, now. Maybe you see yourself as inhuman and maybe you don't need companionship… but I do. I'd be a much more willing participant if you told me more stuff about yourself. I know you hate talking about that, but I really think it would help."

His lip twitched. "Must it?" he almost… whined?

She had struck a nerve and he was falling for it. She was outwitting this monster. "Yes… I think it really will."

He shuddered. He shuddered. This was not the unbothered Dr. Colress she knew. Something had most certainly happened to him prior to his arrival there… He shook his head. "Very well, then. I'll tell you about myself, and then, I will take your measurements and so forth to begin construction of your suit." He regained his confidence and he approached her again speedily, jabbing a finger at her chest, electricity arcing off his sensor. "But I expect you to still respect me all the same. I still made myself who I am. I am Dr. Colress. I am."

With an alarming pang of sympathy she quickly banished, she nodded a little too eagerly. "Of course, Dr. Colress."

"I know you know of my uncle, Ghetsis Harmonia Gropius. The Silver Knights told you and I am sure you have pieced it together at this point. Miss Rosa, I don't understand that man, just as much as I don't truly understand how humans have worked so seamlessly with pokémon to create such an intricate world without truly understanding one another's full potential, to the point there has been bloodshed in cycles for centuries over where these mysterious creatures stand in our society. Yet… that man?" Dr. Colress drew a long breath. "That man raised me and introduced me to my passion for science… And he left room for nothing else for me. He would have thrown me away if he could have."

For all she knew about teleporting, mind-controlled ninjas and the wickedness she had heard regarding Ghetsis… she couldn't have imagined the details he gave her in her wildest of nightmares.

As luck would have it, it seemed Gym Leader Cheren hadn't bothered to pass the memo on about not comparing Nate to Hil to Professor Juniper, because when he and Hugh ventured into Mistralton's perimeter, she descended upon them like a Larvesta to a light. She clasped her hands together in front of herself and beamed so brightly. "Challenger Nate, was it? I'm so excited to finally meet you in person! I've only seen you across an Xtransceiver and even then, that wasn't for long, since yours was broken," she laughed, waving a hand at him. "Anyway, let me see your Pokédex if you'd please! I want to see how much you've caught since then!"

Nate clenched his jaw and wordlessly reached for the device, unceremoniously dropping it to her hand. He fleetingly glanced to Hugh and saw him raise a brow in confusion. Issuing a slight shrug that silently told him, "I don't know, man," he turned his attention back to the gushing professor as she nodded happily at his Pokédex. "You've only caught a few, but you've seen so many! I see you actually remember to bring yours out—you've caught a Zorua! That's so impressive!"

"Yeah, she's impressive, alright…" Impressively obnoxious and has said nothing useful. Plenty of foreboding things, but…

As if sensing his thoughts, Zeshi skipped from behind him, but not before nipping at his calf. Wincing at her needle-like teeth, he scowled after her when the little Zorua darted around Professor Juniper's feet like a wound-up toy. Professor Juniper's face lit up with delight. "And she's so friendly! This is astounding! Zorua are almost always suspicious of people, even outright malevolent at times!" She looked up at Nate with a distant, almost starry-eyed expression he already didn't like. Without her saying a word, he could hear her comparing him to that Hero again. Nate was starting to really get a foul taste in his mouth whenever Hil was brought up and he had never even met the guy. This was his life, not Hil's.

To his relief, she expressed nothing about Hil, but handed Nate his Pokédex back and then stuck her hand into a pocket of her coat. She briefly pulled something black and purple free and rolled it around in her palm, appearing to lose herself in thought at it. Interest piqued, Hugh stepped forward and breathlessly awed, "Is that a Master Ball?"

"Oh," she jolted and dropped it back to her pocket. "Why, yes, it is…" She faltered and then shook her head. "My apologies, I was just thinking about something…"

"You just carry a Master Ball around on you?" Nate raised a brow at her. "Do you have anything caught in it?"

"Well, no…"

It was Hugh who chimed in again, this time with a clumsily amused tone. Nate had to admit, listening to Hugh try to be funny was about as good as entertainment as it got. At least he had lately started to get more comfortable with idle chatter… No longer did Nate feel he had to beg Hugh for vacant discussion. "So, uh… come on. You can tell us… Did you, uh, catch a Magikarp with it or something on accident?" He inched forward and Nate stifled laughter when he saw Hugh's Servine latch vines around Hugh's ankles to keep him from moving too much further. You know it's bad when your pokémon gets secondhand embarrassment, Nate thought gleefully. "Hey, what gives?" Hugh frowned down at Ivy.

"No," Professor Juniper laughed weakly. "I was given this one by my father some time ago after he visited Hoenn. He joked and told me to use it wisely, but… I don't think I want to use it at all. I don't think I want anyone to use it." She smiled almost sorrowfully at the two of them. "Sorry, I don't mean to be all teary-eyed in the middle of a perfectly-good day, but I had someone tell me just how dangerous a Master Ball was a long time ago. Or, rather…" She sighed. "He didn't even call it dangerous. He felt like catching anything with that was forcing it."

Hugh and Nate both exchanged a look, and then it was Hugh who pressed his lips to a thin line as he looked at the professor. "I hadn't thought of it like that before… Whoever that was, I think they're right, now that you mention it… They get no choice in the matter. Can't even battle you. That's just it… The pokémon is forced…"

Nate had a sneaking suspicion he knew who this 'someone' was. He shifted uneasily and hoped to Arceus they'd soon change the subject.

He was granted his wish in the form of Gym Leader Skyla, rushing over in her azure uniform, waving madly at them. "Professor Juniper!" she exclaimed, jogging closer and slowing to a stop once she reached them. She pleasantly smiled at Hugh and Nate and then dipped her head respectfully. "Hello! Are these challengers you gave Pokédexes to, Professor?"

Professor Juniper clapped excitedly. "They are!" She gave Skyla a puzzled look.

"Don't gawk at me like that," Skyla snorted, "You're the one who asked for a lift to Opelucid, remember? I was wondering where you were!"

Reddening like a Tamato Berry, Professor Juniper sheepishly grinned. "Did I…? I'm sorry, I need to go check something at Celestial Tower…" She heaved a weary sigh. "I learned yet something else new in my recent video shares with Kanto, and I wanted to test something as soon as possible. I can't believe Alder had us so convinced we had no need to communicate with other regions! I mean, even my father used to tell me it would likely be helpful, but…" She trailed off and put her hands on her hips. "How stubborn we were! Then the temperatures across the region drop a few degrees and suddenly, we're scrambling to gather as much information as we can from across the globe due to how fast the biodiversity shifted. I'm so glad Champion Iris is more understanding of that, though. She's such a bright young girl. Gym Leader Drayden should be proud!" she giggled. "Adopted a girl expecting a gym leader and ended up with a brave, new Champion of Unova!"

Okay, this is great, Professor, Nate thought impatiently, but I'm tired, Chargestone Cave and Route Six was a lot, I'm sure Hugh's gonna explode if he doesn't get to challenge Skyla as soon as he can, and I'm gonna explode from trying to not say anything rude if you don't let me go soon. So… Shooting Hugh a momentary look, he felt his thoughts were confirmed in the way he tapped his foot.

"Well, anyway," Skyla pointedly stopped Professor Juniper with a smirk on the edge of her lips and her eyes trained on Nate and Hugh, "you two can challenge me or head to the Center or whatever. I'm sure Professor here will lose track of time and have to stay the night, anyway."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Professor Juniper indignantly teased, feigning intense offense.

Skyla rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, sassily drawling back, "The apple don't exactly fall far from the tree, now does it, Aurea?"

"That is Miss Professor Aurea Juniper to you, Skyla," Professor Juniper retorted playfully, raising her chin, and sashaying away with a flick of her hand.

Stiffly nodding at Nate and Hugh, Skyla snorted, "I don't know if she just really doesn't pay attention, or if she gets lost in her own head, but she's still smart as they come. Anyway, I'm gonna head to my gym for a while. Gotta keep the meatheads from the airport and the greenhouses and such from accidentally leveling the place. Come challenge me if you want or…" She gnawed her lower lip as she thought for a second. "I dunno what much else there is to do here, but if you don't feel like challenging me yet, that's cool." She shrugged and started to walk away as well.

"I'm gonna go do that," Hugh said right away.

Casting a worried look over his shoulder, Nate frowned. "I'm gonna go to the Center and get us a room… and I'll call Rosa to see if I can't figure out what's keeping her. Or what's bothering her." He still couldn't believe Hugh had just let her brush him off like that.

Guiltily, Hugh mumbled his agreement and then followed Skyla at a nervous trot, Ivy hurrying after him.

They'd learned a lot about each other, but Nate couldn't help but feel like they still had such a long way to go… All three of them… Like a house of cards standing on stilts of hopeful trust, ready to cave in at the slightest breeze.

Briefly distracted, he thought that the breeze in Mistralton was not nearly as cold as in Driftveil… It felt kind of nice…

He jumped when he felt claws on his shins again and he glared at Zeshi. "What do you want?" he hissed at her, thoroughly frustrated and more than happy to let her know that.

She sulked by flattening her ears and upturning her eyes at him. I think I can tell you more about the stuff I said back on Route Six! You said you were gonna be in the Center alone for a while, right? Well, let's go!

Like always, she raced ahead of him, and Nate just traded a tired look with Spacey on his shoulders. "You're lucky," he grumbled to her. "You don't understand much of anything that's going on… Or, well… maybe you do." He uncomfortably remembered that night with the Xtransceiver…

He thumbed the device in his pocket.

He knew he had to answer it some day… His journey across Unova couldn't last forever, and he would already have such a big fire to put out with his family… With my father.

Grimsley was an ungracious host, but Church was used to his profanity and his indignity at this point. It was a tired tension, more of a muscle memory, really; in a way, a distant way, the squirrely Elite Four member reminded him of his mother. Grimsley had a way of saying one thing, meaning another, and then pulling that lucky coin of his out and laughing about it. Yet, Church didn't fault him for it, and still did his best to assist where he could. He'd chide Grimsley like a child—if he intended to act like one, Church was more than happy to treat him as one—and take away his alcohol when he'd had too much, would thieve the power cables to his electronics to keep him from his favorite gambling sites, or just distract him too much to give him time to engage in them, anyway. Grimsley wasn't that interested in actually teaching him much about what it meant to be an Elite Four member, so Church often had to remind him that was what he was actually there for, and to goad him into doing so. That tended to keep him out of trouble for at least a little while… Until Grimsley grew frustrated with his efforts and dragged them to Nimbasa or Castelia no matter how much Church disputed it, anyway.

Of course, this time was much different. Upon his arrival, Church had a guest in Hil. Clearly slightly buzzed already, Grimsley had all but rubbed his eyes and frowned almost like he was sincerely disappointed as he looked over Hil. "Church… s'that…?" he had slurred.

Hil, with the ghost of a grimace on his face at the tangy scent of alcohol on Grimsley's breath, had just anxiously waved back and tentatively joked, "So… I see you guys rebuilt the League. I did think the debris would mess with your whole Dark-type theme."

"Oh… Oh, my Arceus. Hil? Hil Whit'cre?"

It had been pleasantly surprising to find that Hil's presence seemed to enrapture Grimsley's attention in a way Church hadn't ever been able to do. Although, that meant watching Grimsley eagerly press Hil about where he had been or what he had done in his time away from Unova, failing to touch a bottle in all that time, sent dull pangs of disappointment through him… Somehow, Church felt everyone saw him as so passive despite the loud, extroverted exterior he boasted, like a redheaded doormat more than a person. Grimsley ignored his warning words at best and vehemently complained over them at worst, while Hil just turned on that anxious charm, and that was all it took to suck almost anyone in. Despite all of Church's capacity for understanding and compassion, he often felt he was rubbish at actually helping people. He was everyone's second choice on a good day, or… their enabler on a bad day. That latter thought sent a cold chill up his spine. Did his intense desire to assist just… help enable others' struggles?

He had wanted to wait until that night to tell Hil about N and all he had learned, so wait he did. Grimsley had a spare bedroom in his living area at the bottom of his chambers in the Pokémon League, and upon learning Church and Hil's involvement with one another, he had just waved a hand at them and told them they could stay in the bedroom if they wanted, he didn't care, then crashed in his bedroom still in his day clothes. Rolling his eyes, Church had told Hil he was fine, and then a little impatiently, pulled him to their guest room.

"You're a little eager…" Hil commented wryly once he shut the door. Wiggling his eyebrows and with his hand still clasping the handle, he snarked, "I mean, I can keep Noodle and the rest of the gang in their balls for now, but at Grimsley's? I was expecting you'd get a little bolder given some time, but I didn't expect this much…~"

Blushing like a fool, Church flopped to the edge of the bed and laughed frustratedly, "No, Hil!"

Apparently proud of his quip, Hil flopped next to him, and took a deep breath before sprawling onto his back against the thick, weighted comforter. "This bed's nice, but your bed's better," he immediately mumbled.

Gnawing his lower lip, Church just chuckled uneasily. When he felt the silence might strangle him if he didn't speak, he swallowed against what felt like a wad of cotton in the back of his throat and asked in nearly a whisper, "Hil… Do you remember that night when you first stayed with me, back in Nacrene?"

Church did. He had jumped up at the sound of the knock, thinking perhaps one of his friends had returned early due to family drama, and he had been fully prepped with an arsenal of advice in his mind. He'd seen more than his fair share, after all. Then, he had opened that door and Hil had rushed in to hug him, banishing any sense he'd had of readiness. He hadn't known yet why Hil was there, and that hug had been so genuine.

Although he had just dryly joked to Hil at the time, expertly disguising the well of emotions it had dredged up, that hug had meant so much to him, so unprompted and real…

"Of course I do," Hil answered with a slight chuckle from the bed. He lazily reached a hand up to pet Church's back. "You… really saved me there… I loved that night so much, Church."

"You were scared. You needed someone to tell you it was okay, and help you get back on that Zebstrika, to get back out there." As I tend to do. Almost feels like I was put here to just build others up sometimes…

Sitting back up, Hil moved his hand to Church's shoulder, concernedly looking his partner over. "Um… yeah, I did, I'll admit." He paused. "Is… everything okay, Church…?"

Pulling away slightly from the touch, Church shook his head. Softly, he whispered, "No, Hil. Everything isn't okay… I know you spoke with N." He heard Hil's breath hitch and could sense that he was about to launch into a flurry of explanation, so Church raised a hand and quickly continued, "I talked to him, too. He showed me a very sick pokémon… He said a lot of scary things, Hil…"

Hil had clutched his shoulder tightly and he could feel his fingers shivering despite them digging in. "Church, you have to believe me, he came and found me and I wanted him to go away, I don't want to go anywhere, and I don't even know if anything he said is real—"

Church silenced him with a kiss and by looping his arm tightly around Hil's shoulders, pulling his body taut against his own. When he broke the kiss, Hil seemed stunned into silence, his brown eyes round with confused apprehension. "I… I don't understand…" he whimpered, voice crackling as he lowered his head just slightly, verging uncomfortably on fright…

Smiling a sad, warm smile, Church just sighed. "I think you need to let Reshiram out of the Light Stone and see what it wants, Hil… I… don't want you to go… But I never meant to make you feel like you couldn't help if you were needed by Unova again…" His jaw stiffened slightly at the thought of N, but he quickly abated the twinge of jealousy by reminding himself of how cold N had been… Not to mention, he was briefly warmed by the realization that Hil had sent N away, all because he wanted to please and remain at Church's side. He still felt a little guilty for perhaps scaring Hil into that… but it still felt nice that, at least for a brief time, Hil had put him first. It was potentially Unova itself wedging its way between them this time… It felt so nice to know he had been someone's first choice at least at some point… "You're the Hero of Truths. As much as you deny it and as much as I see you glare at that stone and as much as I can imagine you tell it every profane word under the sun you can think of in your head or when I'm not there, that… that Ancient Dragon of Unova chose you as its Hero. It did that for a reason, Hil." He swallowed hard. "I'm sorry I… I selfishly downplayed its importance just to keep you…"

Hil was shaking his head, more and more vigorously as Church continued. "No, no, Church, I'm not—I can't—you—"

"Hil." Church clutched him tighter and touched his head to Hil's. "It's okay… It'll be okay. I don't even know if I… I don't know what all to make of what N said." Or of what Victini did… "But you are the Hero of Truths. You need to see what Reshiram wants. It's been calling you for a long time…"

A long, heavy silence dragged between them, and then Hil finally relaxed, leaning into Church's embrace. "Fine, I will," he answered gingerly, "but… you're coming with me."

Church almost choked. "What?"

Hil dug his fingers in harder as he clutched Church close. "If Reshiram wants me to go, then you're coming with me." Hil looked up at Church with determination. "I told you I'm not running away anymore, and I meant it." He cracked a nervous, lopsided grin. "You're stuck with me now, theater boy."

Church couldn't believe it… was this the good luck Victini had been talking about, or was this real?

…

He wanted to believe it was real and no effect of Victini's whatsoever… So, he did. "I-I… I'd have it no other way…"

Hil visibly relaxed with relief. "Good… but… let's just enjoy the weekend first."

"Ha. Enjoy. You haven't spent enough time with good ole' Grimsley yet."

"Mm, like one big, happy, dysfunctional family," Hil teased. He leaned his head against Church's shoulder and snickered. "Like we're not used to those."

"Oh, you are bad," Church laughed, loudly.

He hadn't laughed like that in so long. It was so nice to be so wanted and to joke so easily again.

QOTD(s): I am having so much fun gut-punching you guys with Hil and Church over and over again I'm not even gonna lie I am not sorry in the slightest, how many of you really thought Hil was gonna skip out on Church? pls don't lie I am actually real life curious