Chapter 30 Out of Kindness

Hil clutched the Unfezant's feathers uncomfortably tight, and he knew he was hurting the pokémon when it screeched, pitched, and rolled… which only made him dig his fingers in even tighter. A raging sandstorm had blown in, stronger than Route Four's usual inclement weather, and he was very glad he had been close to landing when the Unfezant began to spiral out of control. They hit the ground on their sides, half-burying themselves in the sand from the force of impact. Groaning, Hil dazedly tried to sit up and idly dig at the sand surrounding Bianca's Unfezant. It lashed out sharp talons in attempts to right itself and ripped a hole clean through Hil's jacket. Cursing, Hil scrambled away from it, limping, and shielding his eyes with a hand. He was relieved when he saw Cheren and Bianca land on his male Unfezant nearby.

"Hil!" Cheren exclaimed as he jumped off and clumsily made his way over to his friend. "What happened? Are you and the Unfezant okay?"

Hil swallowed and panicked when he didn't understand what Cheren had said. He had heard him, but the words were… meaningless… He shook his head and clutched it with both hands, clenching his eyes shut. "…What?"

Bianca darted past him over to the downed Unfezant and helped it to its feet. It began to madly pick at its dull gray and brown feathers, fluffing itself against the sandstorm. Hil guiltily waved at it. He hadn't meant to hurt it… That was a reason he hadn't really wanted to fly here anyway… Of course, Alder had made it sound as if they had no choice. Bitterly, he remembered how they had lost Alder during the flight. His Volcarona was simply so much faster than the Unfezant, and he had traveled Unova for years and years. He just knew the route better and probably expected them to catch up. He probably hadn't accounted for the fact Hil had never ridden a Flying-type in his life.

Hil jumped when some people seemed to materialize from the sandstorm. They wore thick, various sets of cloth and goggles to protect their eyes. They introduced themselves as archaeologists and asked if they needed help, citing that none of them were dressed appropriately for the harsh weather of Route Four. Hil was relieved when their words made sense; thankfully, he hadn't hit his head that hard. "We're trying to find Relic Castle," Hil spluttered above the noise. He gagged and covered his mouth when sand immediately blew in.

Cheren put a hand on his shoulder. "We don't have time to discuss why we're dressed the way we are. We're supposed to meet Champion Alder at Relic Castle. Where's the entrance?"

"Normally, it's off-limits to anyone that's not in the archaeology group or on a tour!" one of the desert workers shouted. He had a cloth covering his mouth. Smart. "But we've got problems! We've got intruders that have run us all out. I don't know what you guys and Alder are doing over here, but could you clear them out while you're at it? We'll let you guys have full run of the place while you're there."

"Wait, Alder's already here?" Hil blurted. He gagged at yet another assault of sand. Route Four. Was. The. Worst.

"Yeah! Showed up a few minutes ago and ran inside!"

"Alright, thank you," Cheren puffed at the man that had explained the situation to them. "Bianca! Is Unfezant okay?"

"Yeah, she's just rattled," Bianca called back as she returned the Unfezant to its Poké Ball. Joining up at her friends' sides, she worriedly glanced at Hil. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just hit my head I think," Hil mumbled. He was so glad he managed to convince Noodle to go back in his Poké Ball prior to that flight… Had the Servine been looped around his neck as he normally was, well… he didn't want to think about how that crash-landing might have ended otherwise.

The group of three dressed in desert clothes corralled Hil and his friends to a corroded sandstone structure. Two half-broken pillars, smoothed from Arceus-knows-how-long of getting battered by the weather, stood weakly around it. Three short, crude walls protected a narrow, stuffy stairwell that led deeper into the structure. Hil blinked in shock. "That… that's the Relic Castle?"

"It's all underground!" he was told. "Head on down, watch your step! There are some restored stairs that lead between the floors inside but be mindful of sinkholes! I'd go in, but Team Plasma's in there, they seem right pissed off, and all I got is my working team!"

"I'll stay up here in case any Team Plasma members get any ideas and head back out here," Bianca called above the howling of the wind. "Cheren, Hil, you two go ahead! Be careful!"

Cheren gave her a curt nod and briefly squeezed her hand. With that, he turned his attention back to Hil. "Let's go!"

Hil hardly had a chance to respond before Cheren hurried down the stairwell into Relic Castle's depths. He sped after him and was so relieved upon entering the buried structure. It was still stifling inside, and he still felt as if he were breathing in sand constantly, but at least it didn't blow into his mouth every time he so much as parted his lips. He rubbed his bleary eyes to get rid of the dust that had annoyingly obstructed them. Temporarily blinded by the ministrations, he walked into Cheren and both boys stumbled. When he blinked and his sight returned, Hil realized why Cheren had paused so abruptly.

A line of Team Plasma—mostly grunts along with a single Sage—were there. They each had their hands clasped behind their backs. Hil didn't recognize any of these members. They had sullen expressions and none of them made a move toward Hil or Cheren. It was the Sage who spoke and broke the eerie silence that dragged on between them.

"Lord Ghetsis has appreciated you giving our King a stronger drive," he wearily said. His voice sounded old and worn, like a CD that had been played too much and was starting to skip. "But we simply cannot risk you actually getting in the way of our King's plan. The world is not so kind and straightforward as our King believes. Should you win, New Hero of Truths, it would be a fluke. An accident. But our King would see it as Fate itself speaking to him."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Cheren frustratedly demanded. He threw out a protective hand in front of Hil and pushed him back slightly. Hil obeyed but glared mutinously after him. Once, he would have appreciated the gesture, even felt comforted by it. These days it just felt insulting… As did how the Sage was speaking to Cheren as if Hil didn't even exist. "What do you mean?"

"Team Plasma is searching for the Light Stone so that you may not awaken the Ancient Dragon of Unova, Reshiram," the Sage answered dutifully. The grunts lined up beside him all put a hand over their hearts and chanted something. Long live Team Plasma. The frightening display of loyalty was disillusioning; Hil hadn't believed them to be good before then, of course, but the sheer, undying belief these people had for their organization… for this cult… He shook his head in disbelief as the Sage drew on. "I suspect Lord Ghetsis has already located it. We know we cannot defeat you ourselves. You have highly trained teams of pokémon while we merely have pokémon we have confiscated from careless trainers. Battling you with them would only hurt them. I, Sage Ryoku, will let you through, but you are too late."

"I'll be the judge of that," Cheren snapped at him.

But indeed, the wall of Team Plasma members split, and the men stood to either side of the hall to allow them entry. Cheren and Hil slunk past, shooting them unconvinced, quick glances as they passed. It felt like a trap… but this is where they had to be, was it not? Hil shared a look with Cheren and found his face was taut with stress. Before Hil had a chance to ask him anything, Cheren waved at Hil, gesturing for him to follow as he darted for a crumbling stairwell that led deeper into the sand-filled castle. Hil just swallowed whatever he had been wanting to say and followed… he always was the one to follow. This was Cheren's adventure and he was along for the ride. He got the feeling that he was less wanted because he was helpful at this point and more because he was simply… there. Recognizing the thoughts were toxic and completely unhelpful to the situation at hand, Hil did his best to buck them, but that was a lot easier said than done. The idea that he was merely Cheren's bumbling sidekick was always an arm's length from his present thoughts.

As they pressed deeper and deeper into the castle, it became harder to breathe, and it became more unsettling that there was nobody else. Not even the odd Team Plasma grunt. Each floor was just this… yawning, empty cavity, half-filled with sand and dribbling sand from the floor above. Occasionally, walls were cracked, or a pillar lay broken against the floor, also half-consumed by the dunes within the ancient castle's walls. Hil became acutely aware, the deeper they traveled into the castle, that although he knew Relic Castle was important to Unova's history, he knew almost nothing of it. Fitting then, was it, that it was buried as it were? As buried as Unova's history… After all, Ghetsis was abusing a prophecy that most had likely never even heard of.

Finally, they reached the lowest recesses of the castle, or so Hil thought based on the openness of the floor and the fact there were no more stairwells that led further down. Even if it wasn't, it didn't matter, because standing at the back of the room, Alder and Ghetsis were deep in conversation. Cheren and Hil bolted over to them and flanked Alder on either side. The sight of Ghetsis alone was revolting to Hil at this point. Truly, he felt the world would have been better off without him. What kind of man could stand behind a person as innocent as N—his own son!—and use him like such a pawn in his plans? His plans for what? What could possibly be worth the brainwashing Ghetsis had done to N? With a pang of fright, Hil realized he didn't even know! Nobody did…

With his left hand, Ghetsis strained to fiddle with the instrument he had covering his right eye. It briefly fell from his face and Hil, Cheren, and Alder each visibly pulled back by the sight beneath. An angry red scar circled the eye and snaked up the side of his face in a thin line. Although the scar was horrific, that was hardly what had caused everyone to jump back. The eyeball hidden by the device was a solid, milky white, and did not appear to move with his other. There was not even a hint of a pupil or crimson iris to be had. Hil rubbed his sweating palms against his pants. He couldn't even imagine what sort of injury could have caused such horrendous scars…

"Well then, it looks like everyone is here," Ghetsis mused as he secured the device over his eye. He looked less then amused by their reactions. "You three are working hard to find that Light Stone. I bet you haven't stopped for so much as a bite to eat. You three will run yourselves ragged like that. Champion Alder, I did hope you'd have learned to not be so careless after all this time…" Although his voice was laced with concern, his lips curled up in a gleeful grin on the left side.

"Don't talk to us about self-care in the middle of all of this!" Cheren growled waspishly. He squared his shoulders and pushed ahead of the group slightly. "Where's the Light Stone?"

"It's not here," Ghetsis answered simply with a half-shrug. "But congratulations are in order! So, you're the Hero that Lord N has chosen?" Ghetsis scanned Cheren up and down and then nodded as if he were satisfied. "Well! If you truly desire to keep the world as it is, where pokémon live alongside people, you must find that Light Stone and engage in battle with our King at the Pokémon League. Otherwise, Team Plasma will steal every pokémon from every person in Unova and release them all. I suggest you get a move on. As I said, it's not here."

Alder clamped a hand over Cheren's shoulder and shook his head at him. Cheren begrudgingly fell back. Hil just watched the scenario play out irritably. His thoughts wandered back to how upset he had been that N had declared he couldn't be the Hero he sought. How he had never been given a chance. Guiltily, he mentally chided himself; he shouldn't have been jealous. It was an exercise in pride to be jealous. Cheren was involved in something nobody should have wanted to be involved in. Team Plasma had shown their propensity for violence before in attacking the Munna, in stealing it again from Bianca in Castelia, in destroying an ancient building to awaken Zekrom for N… It should have been so frightening that most would have given up long ago. So, why did he feel so jealous? Of course, he knew why. He wanted to save N. But why did he want to so badly that he felt anger at Cheren for having fit the bill of 'Hero?' Wouldn't N be saved either way…? He sighed. Again, it all just circled back to his own ego, didn't it…? He wanted to be the one to save N…

He didn't know. He shook away the thoughts as Alder spoke.

"Release them?" Alder scoffed. "Do the pokémon who live with their trainers really want that, Ghetsis? Or is this liberation you speak of really just taking pokémon from people?"

Ghetsis' smile fell. He wolfishly curled his lips and began to circle the group. He had such an awful limp on his right side… "What's this, Champion Alder?" he started with a sneer, "Even though illness took the pokémon that had been your partner for many years, and you haven't had a serious battle in all that time… Even you, who ordered the Elite Four to guard the Pokémon League so you could uselessly wander Unova alone… A disgraceful Champion like you that turned his back to his region now wants to protect the world where pokémon and people live together in harmony?" At the final words, he stepped forward and jabbed his left hand at Alder's chest.

Hil and Cheren both blinked in shock and fell back. Alder backed against a wall.

"Our King will show the people of Unova he is stronger than a vagabond Champion who keeps pokémon bound!" Ghetsis spat at last. His voice gave out slightly at the effort.

"Ch-Champion Alder… what's he talking about?" Cheren questioned in a rare moment of uncertainty. It fed Hil's anxiety and made him pick at his fingers. Despite the nervousness, though, he had the gumption to glare at Ghetsis spitefully. He was sure there was a reasonable explanation for everything he had just revealed about Alder. He could tell right away that Ghetsis' words had been chosen carefully to throw the champion off his train of thought. Deflection at its finest, he thought angrily.

"Now's not the time," Alder answered desperately. Practically baring his teeth at Ghetsis, he snarled, "I won't lose! I don't care what you think about me, but I will fight for all trainers who love their pokémon, and pokémon who believe in their trainers!"

Ghetsis snorted and took a few steps back. He forced a frown. "Our King has no interest in you," he said as if it were the most obvious observation in the world. "You are but a steppingstone in his plan. He is convinced victory against you is assured, unless you have the opposing Ancient Dragon hidden in that gaudy burlap sack you use as an excuse for clothing."

"How dare you!" Alder raised a fist and lunged forward. Hil flinched even though he was not the target, but Ghetsis didn't even blink. It seemed he somehow knew Alder wouldn't follow through with the visual threat. "So, what? You stayed behind just to tell me this? Make a fool of me?"

"Oh, no," Ghetsis shook his head and waved his left hand at Alder, pushing the raised fist away. Alder's hand slumped back to his side. "I'm doing this out of kindness!"

Everyone seemed to scoff in collective disbelief.

"Yes, kindness," Ghetsis continued despite their interruption. "I'm making sure Unova's Champion Alder doesn't get hurt for no reason." He tilted his head slightly. "Nobody says that you have to go face N. After all, you've been gone for so long… if you simply didn't show, it wouldn't surprise anyone. After a week of you failing to show, well… you know how it goes. You'd be declared missing in action and your spot automatically abdicated for N."

"I'd never let that happen, I wouldn't give up on my region like that," Alder shook his head.

"Of course, even if you don't heed my warning…" Ghetsis leaned in close again, "That moment when someone loses all hope… I really do love to watch that moment. And you're looking mighty lost right now, Champion of Unova."

"How can you be so messed up?" Hil finally blurted, unable to hold back any longer. He darted to put himself between the Sage and the crumbling stairs that led out of Relic Castle, since it appeared Ghetsis was about to leave. Ignoring Cheren and Alder's calls for him to fall back, he wagged an accusatory finger at Ghetsis. "You're so vile to everyone! You're a liar! You're using N! And for what? What do you even have to gain by doing all of this?"

"I'm sorry," Ghetsis frowned, "but who are you? What was it N called you?"

Hil clenched his fists. "I'm Hil! Hil Whitacre!"

"Ah, now I know!" Ghetsis grinned delightedly. Hil realized his mistake a little too late. "Why didn't you just say so? You're Hilbert Black Whitacre. The son of that poor man from Castelia. Oh, what was his name? Vincent Whitacre, that's it… Poor Vincent. I understand my motives must be hard for a fatherless child to comprehend." Ghetsis put his left hand over his heart. "My heart bleeds for you, it really does. You must feel so at fault for it. You desperately want to feel useful and feel like you're never letting anyone down ever again."

"Shut up!" Hil barked furiously… he hated how right Ghetsis was. He hated how brilliantly this man could weaponize words. It was like playing a mental game of Chess and everyone knew who was going to win long before the match was over.

"Hil, leave him alone," Cheren called. "It's not worth it, he's just gonna upset you…"

"Your friend is wise for his age," Ghetsis commented dryly. "Farewell, Hilbert Whitacre—"

"My name is HIL!" Hil cut him off aggressively. He took a step forward and held up a Poké Ball. He was elated when Ghetsis fell stumbled back a little in surprise. "Let's battle. Right here!"

"Hil!" Cheren hissed.

"You poor child," Ghetsis cooed. "I'm truly sorry N hasn't made room for you in his plans and that you have become the real Hero's sidekick. It must be such an unpleasant position… being just outside of power." Ghetsis' red eye seemed to glaze over. "In this world, unless you're the one on top, you're worthless," he added in such a soft tone, Hil briefly wondered if Ghetsis had said it at all. Hil's hand faltered and he lowered the Poké Ball. Ghetsis shook his head abruptly, as if tearing himself from a stupor, and then marched past Hil. "Farewell, Hil. I will not be battling you. I do not participate in such barbaric practice."

Hil's arm fell slack against his side and he let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. Alder and Cheren rushed to his side and the latter grabbed his wrists and shook him. "What on Earth was that for?" Cheren demanded. "You just watched him belittle the Champion, and you thought you could take him down a notch?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hil snapped as he ripped his hands free of Cheren's grasp. "What, that I'm just, so broken I couldn't hope to stand up to him? I'm too fragile?"

"That's not what I meant, Hil," Cheren shook his head sadly.

"And what about you?" Hil whipped to face Alder. "What did he mean by all that? Death of a pokémon? You abandoning the League and making the Elite Four 'guard' it?"

"Let's please discuss this elsewhere," Alder begged, deflated.

"Like outside in the raging sandstorm?" Hil bristled.

"Let's meet up at Nacrene and take a moment to calm down, get something to eat, and I'll explain everything," Alder insisted. "Then we can catch up with the Junipers and see what they've found. Please."

"Great, another Unfezant ride," Hil stuffed both of his hands in his hoodie's pockets and groaned when he instead found his right hand plunged through a gaping hole in the front of it. He'd forgotten all about that. "Great… Need a new hoodie…" He was burning alive in the desert, but at least the jacket had offered a reprieve against the onslaught of sand outside of the castle's confines. Despite his complaints, Cheren and Alder led Hil back outside, and after catching Bianca up on current events, they headed for Nacrene.

Thinking of Nacrene always brought memories of Church to mind. It was comforting to think that, perhaps in the middle of all this chaos, he might be able to see him again in person. Maybe it was time he caught Church up on what was going on with N… he was always so helpful and friendly… and it felt so agonizingly lonely to keep his thoughts on the situation with Team Plasma to himself. He knew Cheren didn't really care about N, only about the pokémon, and that was understandable, Hil cared, too… but this was a human problem as much as it was a pokémon problem. Neither Cheren nor Bianca seemed to realize that.

Maybe Church would understand…

They had settled on a quaint restaurant in Nacrene. Due to the city's focus on personal expression and the myriad studio apartments, the dining selection was rather lackluster, but Alder had insisted it was the best place in town. Bitingly, Hil had thought that it would make sense for Alder to know, after all. Once everyone was in the booth—Cheren and Bianca on one side, Hil uncomfortably close to the champion himself—Alder had leaned forward and put his elbows on the table. It looked like whatever he was about to explain would take a while. And it did. Their food came while Alder was still talking.

"Now, I want to explain what Ghetsis said," Alder sighed. "Starting with my pokémon that became ill. That was my first Volcarona. That was actually my starter pokémon… a gift from an old Elite Four member, actually. She trained Fire-types and bred Larvesta. She was a good friend of my mom's and offered a Larvesta to me after getting permission from my parents. I had that pokémon from the time I was ten until I was twenty-two. I had been champion for a year and I was feeling pretty good about myself. I planned to travel Unova again with just my champion team to try to build up our strength even more. Volcarona was one of 'em, of course. She'd been sick for a while, but I figured it was just a stomach bug, it'd pass. A friend of mine kept tryin' to tell me there was this deadlier bug goin' around for pokémon and I should have her checked out." Alder closed his eyes. "I didn't. I went out anyway. I was as lost as could be in Twist Mountain when she crashed. I couldn't get back to a Pokémon Center in time. She was my only pokémon that knew Fly or anything like that."

"Did she…?" Bianca squeaked. She hadn't been present for Ghetsis' speech, so her desperate hope was understandable, even if it made everyone else at the table wince. Alder just nodded.

Anger faded as Hil listened to Alder's story. He had calmed himself down with the self-assurance that Alder had a reasonable explanation, but he hadn't expected something so… awful… That pokémon had been Alder's starter, and he'd received it when he was even younger than Hil had been when he received Noodle… He shivered and cursed his own empathy as he imagined himself stuck in the mountain range with the lifeless form of his friend. It was such a surreal feeling. He, Cheren, and Bianca had spent their time at Twist Mountain, following Cheren's outburst, having a good time. He had watched Noodle play with Cheren's pokémon and… it had been such a pleasant experience. He could only imagine for Alder, Twist Mountain was something straight out of a horror story now. Yet, Alder had been there when he and his friends had started journeying through it…

"I was real torn up after that. I let pursuit of power get between me and my friend," Alder smiled sadly, and he looked at Cheren. "That's why I took what you said so seriously. It's a slippery slope, that pursuit of power. I think so, anyway. It's why I travel around now and try to teach everyone about how to love pokémon rather than just… how to use them better in battle."

"But what was that about instructing the Elite Four to guard the Pokémon League?" Cheren asked sharply. Hil realized he'd all but forgotten about that remark.

"It's exactly what it sounds like," Alder shrugged. "I told them to stop holding back. Keep everyone away from that champion position. Ghetsis was right that if you're not there to battle within a week, your position as reigning champion can be forcefully taken away… Since I wasn't around much, I didn't want that to happen. If someone was gonna replace me as reigning champion of Unova, I wanted it to be someone good, someone I knew first and had talked to a lot."

"You… were never even planning to let someone else take the champion position then," Cheren said hauntedly. He was as white as a sheet. "I was training so hard for that and… I never even had a chance to begin with?"

"Now, I didn't say that." Alder shook his head. "Why do you think I get to know so many people and travel around as much as I do? Why do you think I tried to get to know you?"

"But I was one of the people you'd have never given a chance!" Cheren exclaimed. "I was in it for… for getting stronger!"

"Cheren," Alder sighed in exasperation, "listen to me. Why did I talk to you so much? To try to change your mind?"

Cheren paused and then his face flushed red. Bianca had clasped her hand to his. "O-oh."

"Yeah. I was trying to convince you to see differently so that when someone called me to tell me you were coming to challenge the League, I'd want to come back and face you," Alder said at last. He crossed his arms. "I know. It's not the most orthodox method… and a lot of people are mad at me for it."

Hil didn't know what to say to any parts of this conversation. Too difficult to fault Alder after the story of what had happened to his Volcarona, but too easy to forgive him when Hil knew, from his rudimentary understanding, that Alder's actions had significantly stunted Unova's Pokémon League. It explained why so few challengers even tried. It explained why so few could now get through the Unovan Elite Four. He vaguely remembered his father telling him fantastical tales of when he had challenged the Elite Four as a younger trainer, before Hil was born, and had all but dominated two of the members… but he also recalled that not long before he had left to train beneath Burgh, he had come back complaining that the Elite Four had really upped their game. As a painful thought surfaced in his mind, he was ignorant to the rest of Alder and Cheren's conversation, even as they were interrupted when Alder's Xtransceiver went off and he was told by an anxious Professor Juniper to get everyone over to the Nacrene City Museum.

Was Champion Alder's extended absence from the Pokémon League the reason his father had felt so bad at battling when he had tried to return to the life of a trainer? Was that what had pushed him to train under a gym so that he could 'get better?' That had driven him to get a new team of pokémon, since he couldn't use his traditional team anymore, and that had set him back even farther. Hil looked Alder over in a new light, as if he were seeing a villain that had taken off its mask. He felt sick. Even when Alder and Cheren both jumped up and urged Hil to follow them, he wasn't sure if he'd heard them properly.

"Hil, come on!" Cheren groaned. "You okay? You hit your head pretty hard back at Relic Castle…"

"I'm fine," Hil snapped at him as he got up from the booth and hobbled after them unsteadily. "Just fine."