Chapter 41 Blind Ideals and Wicked Truths

It was finally over.

Or at least, his battle with N was finally over. Cheren and Ghetsis were squaring up a short distance away, but somehow, Hil felt nothing but faith in Cheren's ability to fend him off. Maybe it was blissfully ignorant hope. Truth be told, he had no idea what Ghetsis' team was like beyond the Hydreigon he had started with; he just didn't have the energy to worry about it. Wrenching his focus from Cheren and Ghetsis, Hil settled on N's defeated form. He was on his knees, arms slacked at his sides, face hidden beneath the visor of his black and silver ballcap.

"N?" Hil called as he gingerly shuffled forward. He took a seat in front of him on his knees as well. He could see beneath the visor once he was closer that N had bulging gray eyes locked onto the floor and every few seconds, he saw his throat move with the effort of swallowing all emotion away, his breathing ragged. Shock felt like an understatement to call the look on his face. "Hey, let's talk…"

"Emboar, Hammer Arm!" Cheren hollered distantly. It was not the usual monotone inflection Cheren battled with. This voice was uncontrolled and cracked.

"Hydreigon, Surf," Ghetsis contemptuously retorted. As the draconic pokémon hovered higher and higher in the air, spreading its jaws in preparation for an attack, Ghetsis sneered. "This Hydreigon and I go way back~"

Water shot in a powerful jet from the creature's maws. Emboar took the blast head-on, but marched through it, letting the downpour overcome it. Persevering despite the super-effective hit, Emboar coiled its powerful arms, and then uppercut the Hydreigon's main lower jaw. Flailing its wings to remain aloft, it rolled in midair until it caught its balance next to Ghetsis, who watched the entire exchange unflinchingly. Hil wanted to still be furious with Ghetsis, but he knew his energy was better spent trying to reach N.

"N… please," Hil pleaded. He reached a shaky hand like he was going to touch N's shoulder, but the hand hovered nervously over him without ever actually making contact. He was afraid actually touching him might tear N out of his stupor and into a blind panic. At his continued efforts, N only lowered his chin so his face could no longer be seen beneath the hat and clenched his fists. The defensive posture and lack of words made Hil furrow his brows worriedly. "N… I know today's been a lot…" Hil laughed brokenly as he thought over the day's events. The march through Victory Road felt like it had occurred lifetimes ago even though he knew it had been that very same morning. Then, he had nearly been sure an Elite Four member had died. There was also the time all the Sages ganged up on him and Cheren. Anthea and Concordia. N's room. He shook his head. "Trust me, I know… but—"

Ghetsis cut him off with a mocking, long laugh. "You'll never get through to a broken person like that, Hilbert," he jibed and Hil ground his teeth furiously at the use of his full name, "but keep wasting your breath. I love to hear it."

Hil clamped his hands to his knees and hung his head tiredly. He just wished Ghetsis would shut. up. He didn't have the energy to be angry, to handle all the vitriol he felt for the old man. Ghetsis had lost. His plans were foiled. His mockery was pathetic and theatrics at best. But Hil knew it still had the potential to affect N in big ways. He started to say something, but his shredded voice was drowned out by Cheren snapping at the Sage to pay attention to their battle. His Emboar landed another devastating Hammer Arm on the Hydreigon. Despite the destructive blows, the Hydreigon hardly looked injured, though…

"I'll talk to the freak without the human heart all I want," Ghetsis snarled back at Cheren. "If you think I have lost and Team Plasma is over, you are mistaken. I've guided N through his entire life and given him only what he needed to serve me. He knows nothing else and he's too feeble at heart to disobey me!" Ghetsis flaunted, gesturing to N with his left arm. "Just as I planned, he's my figurehead! He's the Champion of Unova! He has already won the hearts of many of my men. He'll continue to do so to the rest of the brainless populace!" Ghetsis then gestured to the Hydreigon hovering at his side. "You see this Hydreigon? I've had it since I was a boy and it was a mere Deino." Ghetsis smirked and with considerable effort, pulled his frailer right arm free of the yellow and blue cloak. "He did this to me when he disagreed with my training. He brought me within an inch of my life. And yet, I still got back up and put him back in his place, because he is a pokemon and I am the trainer." He shot the Hydreigon an eerily pleasant smile. It didn't react to his stare at all. "No matter what hardship I am brought through, I will always come out on top. As I've said before, you're either the strongest in the room, or you are nothing! There is nothing that can keep me down. Nothing!"

Hil deliriously shook his head, covering his face with his hands. His foggy mind was rejecting everything Ghetsis said. "The only freak without a human heart here is you," Hil exerted himself to shoot back at Ghetsis. After a few seconds, he moved his fingers from over his eyes to survey N, to see if he reacted to what Ghetsis had said at all. He was still as unmoving as a statue.

"Are you going to battle or what?" Cheren scathingly hissed at Ghetsis.

"Do find some patience, Cheren," Ghetsis chided with a huff, "I'm humoring you right now, really. I don't even understand why you feel the need to battle me. I'll defeat you, and then I'll tear apart what remains of your stupid little friend's team, N's is all fainted… I'll eliminate you and Hilbert over there, and there will be nothing left of your side of the story. Everyone will believe whatever I tell N to say. And he'll say it because he doesn't have enough of a spine to say otherwise." Ghetsis curled his lip. "I am the one on top!"

"And yet, nobody wants to help you," Cheren fired back impatiently. He shrugged and adopted a wicked grin. "Funny, I want to help Hil, and he didn't have to threaten to kill me or raise me from a baby in isolation to get me to do that. Shocking, isn't it?"

"Hydreigon, Surf again!" Ghetsis bellowed. "We're going to put this nobody in his place!"

Making a conscious effort to ignore Cheren and Ghetsis' heated battle, Hil was silently grateful for Cheren's support. He was sure he wouldn't have been able to face Ghetsis on his own following everything he'd been through that day… Cheren had really come through in a clutch. Focusing on N again, Hil tried to clear his burning throat and said, "N, do you still think humans and pokémon should be separated?"

He hoped the question would defuse the situation, bring it back to basics, pull N out of whatever mental loops he was doing following everything Ghetsis had said. N opened his mouth to say something, and after a few seconds of silence, he finally murmured, hardly audible above the noise, "Didn't you hear Ghetsis?" He tugged at his hat, pulling it farther down on his head. "I'm a freak without a human heart."

Hil's mouth fell open slightly, and desperately tried to think of what to say. "N… no… you're not. Think… Why would Zekrom awaken for you if you were bad at heart…?" Hil took a deep breath. "Listen to me… The people in Opelucid said that Reshiram and Zekrom had complete control over who they awakened for. And out of anyone that could have eventually busted into that tower and picked up the Dark Stone… it reacted to you. It chose you right away. Even came out of the stone form…"

"But that's not how it works!" N exclaimed, voice raw and pained. Hil clenched his eyes fiercely against the fresh sting of tears. It was so hard to listen to N sound like that… It reminded him a lot of his own hopeless tirades to Cheren and Bianca following Vince's accident. He had hoped to never hear that tone of voice ever again. Hearing it in someone else's vocals was so much worse, though… "But I… I don't…" N touched the planetary necklace around his neck with his right hand, turning the pendant over and over in his palm. "But I don't… I never really understood it to begin with…"

Hil glanced helplessly to Reshiram, and then to Noodle. Both pokémon nodded at him encouragingly to continue, so continue he did. "N… you were used… It's not your fault you didn't understand…" He thought about Anthea and Concordia's revelations. A piece of him wanted to divulge that information to N, but his better judgment wearily warned him that doing so could be dangerous to someone in such a fragile spot as N. Guiltily, he listened to the warning in his head, deciding that such information wouldn't exactly be conducive to the situation at hand. He might have been called the Hero of Truths, but it wasn't like there was a law telling him he had to be completely honest…

"Then I have no right to be the Hero!" N wailed. He balled a fist around that necklace, and his free hand found the golden cube that dangled from his pants, rapidly thumbing it. "So many people believed in what I believed in… so many other people were hurt on my behalf…" N's voice broke and trailed off. Hil finally lowered his hand to touch N's shoulder comfortingly. He thought he was making headway, but he supposed his bleary mind was playing tricks on him. N bristled at his touch and scrambled away, shooting him a hateful, stormy glare. "You couldn't possibly understand! Don't try to console me like that! My entire life up until this point has been a lie! For all I know, nothing I was taught was true at all!"

Hil just slightly flinched at his display of anger. He should have known better. Patiently, Hil admitted, "You're right. I can't really understand. I've got a lot I'm still figuring out about my life, but I can't say that all of it from start to finish has been as big a lie as this. But, N…" Hil paused for breath, "That's all Ghetsis' fault. None of this is your fault… well, at least, none of it is as long as you look to the future and think about what you can do to be better… Better for yourself, that is. You've spent so long trying to help others, pokémon," Hil laughed faintly, "you need to focus on you for a while… You still have Zekrom for a friend, as well as your, uh… what was it… Zoroark? Yeah. Your Zoroark. You said it's been with you since you were left to the woods…" Hil smiled gently. "Why not think about what you, Zekrom, Zoroark, and any other pokémon friends of yours are gonna do now?"

N's expression softened as he listened.

"The point of the Twin Heroes was not to fight," Hil rasped, encouraged by N relaxing slightly. "The Ancient Dragons don't like to fight… Maybe we can learn from them and come to our own conclusions. Learn from each other."

The ambience of Cheren and Ghetsis' battle sounded so far away as the silence stretched on. N averted his gaze, staring at his shoes temporarily, and then at last he eyed Hil again. His shoulders sagged and his voice was trembling, but he said, "Okay… I think… I think you're right…" He gave a small smile and whimpered, "I really… really don't like to fight, either…"

"It's over, Ghetsis!" Cheren howled across the room. Hil slowly turned to look at him and Ghetsis. Cheren had his Gigalith at his side. "Face it, you've lost."

Ghetsis was shaking with rage. He pounded a foot repeatedly against the floor. "I created Team Plasma with my own hands. I'm absolutely perfect! I AM PERFECTION! I am the perfect ruler of a perfect new world!" he screamed.

Cheren, bewildered, recalled his Gigalith and screwed his face up disdainfully at the shouting Sage. He smirked slightly. "This is really unbecoming of you, y'know," Cheren mocked mercilessly. Hil had a bad feeling and internally wished Cheren wouldn't be so cocky… even if he had won… Cheren started to walk away. As he turned around, though, Hil's fears were realized when Ghetsis lunged forward with swiftness unseen by most men his age, and wrapped both of his hands around Cheren's neck. Both hit the floor in a writhing mass of flailing arms and legs.

"Cheren!" Hil yelped, leaping to his full height. His knees protested and gave out right away, sending him crashing to his side again. He couldn't even think in words as the blind panic consumed him. N was frozen in shock as he watched Ghetsis wrestle with Cheren against the glossy tiles.

It felt like slow motion to Hil as he watched in abject terror as Reshiram took flight and sailed overhead. It lowered its jaws and carefully snatched Ghetsis' cloak in its fangs, then beat its wings hard against the air, ripping Ghetsis free of Cheren when his weak right hand lost its grip on the other's throat. Cheren, gasping and gulping down air, was raised a few inches off the ground before he hit his head against the floor and fell still.

Reshiram then growled, a deep, hateful sound. Ghetsis screamed and slammed his good fist against the vast white pokémon's chest again and again. Growing weary of his pathetic strikes, Reshiram reared its head back as if it were going to toss him across the room unceremoniously like a sack of potatoes. Just as it was poised to launch him, N begged, "Wait!" Reshiram jolted its head to stare at him with its bright blue eyes. N's hands were shaking as he held them up in a 'stop' gesture. "Wait… Please don't hurt him…"

Hil finally succeeded in hobbling to his feet and half-dragged himself over to Cheren. When he reached him, he found Cheren was unconscious, but he could see the rise and fall of his chest telling him he was still very much alive. His throat was bruised with splotchy reds and blues and seeing them made Hil's skin crawl, made that sick feeling in his stomach come flooding back. Disturbed by N's defense of Ghetsis, Hil guardedly glanced at him.

"I spent a lot of my life making mistakes…" N offered nervously when he realized all eyes were on him. "Maybe…"

Hil gritted his teeth and looked away. There was no way for Ghetsis to redeem himself. He was too far gone. As much as he wanted to shout that, to tell N he was being ridiculous, he knew better. N had just been through so much and even if he had learned Ghetsis had been using him, Hil knew you couldn't just turn off feelings for someone. He likely still cared for Ghetsis even if he desperately didn't want to. The truth fucking sucks sometimes, Hil thought frustratedly. But even in his angry thoughts, Hil concluded that he didn't exactly want to watch anyone get splattered against a wall, even if it was Ghetsis. Banishing the thoughts, Hil shook Cheren, trying to wake him up.

"Reshiram… please just hold him there… I gotta… call the police, or something…" Hil dizzily called to Reshiram. The massive pokémon nodded at Hil and hilariously suspended Ghetsis in air by his cloak, just far enough that he couldn't hit Reshiram anymore, unbothered by the vulgarities Ghetsis hurled its way.

N half-fell into a seated position next to Hil and everything seemed to calm down. Ghetsis' voice began to falter, and he coughed again and again, until he finally shut up altogether. Hil was so glad for that.

Trying to reach someone on his Xtransceiver as well as occasionally shaking Cheren to try to wake him, Hil was surprised when he heard footsteps and saw Alder and a tall man in a brown, leather jacket enter the Throne Room. Both halted and lurched in shock at the sight before them. Cheren stirred at that same point, gagging, and touching at his neck. Concerned, Hil looked him over and asked him if he was alright.

"Fine, neck and back of my head is just killing me," he answered hoarsely with a grimace.

"What the hell happened in here?" the man in leather asked breathlessly. He seemed to only then notice Reshiram, and Hil swore he jumped out of his skin like a scared Purrloin. "Oh, my Arceus! Is that…?"

Ghetsis, still dangling precariously from Reshiram's jaws, held up a middle finger at him. "Write that in your report," he coughed.

"Welcome to the party," Hil chimed in with his slurred speech. It dawned on him then that the guy in leather was a policeman of some sort, likely a detective. "Sorry, you missed all the fun stuff."

Alder rolled his eyes at Hil's remarks, briskly making his way over to them while the policeman dealt with Ghetsis. With Reshiram's assistance, he was able to put the old man in handcuffs and start leading him out the castle. "You haven't won!" Ghetsis started to holler again. "I am perfect! I am PERFECT! There is no way for me to lose! I'll never stop!" Reshiram growled again after him as he went out of earshot.

Alder planted his hands on his hips and overlooked N, Cheren, Hil, Noodle, and even cast Reshiram a curious look. He did a double take at N and pointed a finger at him. "So, what about him? Still intending to separate pokémon and humans?" Alder demanded hotly.

"Alder," Hil growled as he remembered why he didn't like the man, "shut up. He's been through enough."

"It's okay," N interjected before Alder had a chance to reply. He surreptitiously smoothed his hair and adjusted his ballcap. "Alder… Champion, Alder… I don't want your title."

Alder jolted in surprise. "You… don't?"

"No," N mumbled quietly. "You can keep it. I reject the title. Someone more understanding of Unova and its needs should replace you."

Alder didn't seem to know what to say. Instead, he muttered, "Well… police have the Pokémon Center just outside the League secured. The Elite Four are helping guard it. I've told them to wait for you two. I'll tell them to expect three of you instead… You three look like you got dragged backwards through hell. Stop there and rest once you finish talking…"

"N's not in trouble with the police?" Hil asked distractedly.

"The only ones we have any solid evidence against right now are the Seven Sages," Alder said bitterly. "We can't even prove the Shadow Triad exists and the whole uniform thing the grunts did made it hard to pin them down. And technically, N here did nothing wrong. He ascended the League as expected. He didn't exactly raise the castle himself, so…" He sighed. "Of course, something could come up, but from what I understand, N did everything by the book."

Cheren clasped a hand to Hil's shoulder suddenly. Hil looked up at him and saw his eyes were bloodshot and the bruising on his neck was even darker than before. He gave Hil a slackjawed grin and rasped, "It's been real, Hero of Truths," he chuckled, wincing in pain, "but I feel like I got hit by a truck. I'm gonna head back to rest… and probably see a doctor. You should, too. You're not looking so good yourself, you know."

Hil hung his head. "You have no idea. I'll go to sleep right here on this floor. I don't even care anymore, man. What year is it? When did we walk into this castle?"

"It's three AM," Alder yawned as if to emphasize his point.

"Way past my bedtime," Hil mumbled under his breath as Cheren stood up and followed Alder, lagging a good distance behind him. With a single fleeting look over his shoulder, Cheren waved goodbye at Hil and left him and N alone together in the Throne Room. Of course, they weren't truly alone. Reshiram and Noodle were still present in case things somehow went south again.

Hil heaved a momentous sigh. Somehow, against all the odds, he had done it. With Cheren's help, he'd faced N and proven to him the truth behind Ghetsis. Hil had saved him and he was even still in one piece, to boot (well, for the most part). Hil shyly smiled at N and then gestured after where Cheren and Alder had gone. Reshiram shuffled closer to them and curled up at Hil's side, eyeing N softly. "N," Hil started, "won't you please come with us? I know you've been thinking in a lot of black and white all your life… All-or-nothing mentality… But you don't have to do this alone, you know. We can help."

"I do really appreciate the help," N said softly. He closed his eyes and looked away from Hil, though, his lips pressed to a thin line. He took a shuddery breath. "But I have so much to think about… I've realized I don't understand humans anywhere near as well as I thought. And I never believed I knew them that well to begin with." He sounded like he was trying to make a joke but didn't have the heart to follow through. "I've spent so long being manipulated…" N dared to look at Hil again. Before he even said anything, Hil's heart sank as he braced himself for what he just knew was coming next. "I… am grateful for your help… but I don't know if I can trust you, or your friends… I think the next best step for me is to listen to myself… and only myself."

Hil put his face in his hands. He had internally reprimanded himself before for the stupid hope he had of N suddenly being his best friend once all this was said and done with, but the internal berating couldn't ever have hoped to shame him this much. He knew he was going to get burned even if he succeeded in saving N. He had come to terms with that long before he entered even the Pokémon League. He still wanted to save N regardless, his desire to help him was not rooted in his desperate desire to be friends with him, but it still just… hurt. Why did it hurt so badly? Why did he immediately start to cry, the stress of it all overwhelming him right away? Wanting N to remain at his side as a friend was selfish, anyway. Because N was right. He had been used for so long. It made perfect sense for him to need time alone to get to know himself. For Arceus' sake, his entire world had been upended, and Hil was weeping like he was at a funeral. Of course, he knew N's words weren't the sole cause; he was stressed, tired, hungry… he craved sleep so badly right then. He missed Church's bed and how comfortable it had been to rest his chin against his shoulder…

But he knew N needed time. Deep down, Hil knew he needed time, too. He hadn't been lying when he had said he couldn't understand what N was going through. He couldn't even begin to fathom the trauma N had undergone beneath Ghetsis' control.

He heard N awkwardly shuffle away from him as he fought the sobs. "I'm sorry…" N offered pathetically. "Um… I don't know if it helps, but… back in Accumula Town. You remember when I approached you there, yes?"

Yes, he remembered it clear as day. Hil nodded stiffly, wiping his face furiously to try to suspend his knee-jerk reaction. "Yeah…"

"I was shocked that day. I was shocked by what your Snivy had said. I had come there to save it from you, and it told me that it… liked you. That it wanted to be with you."

Noodle slithered up to Hil and stretched his head across Hil's lap. He nudged his trainer's arm until Hil started to stroke him with soft, ginger pets. Hil leaned down and kissed the top of the pokémon's head as he thought of the fond memories of receiving Noodle. He cracked a distracted half-smile as he remembered his name had started as a joke. Noodle was anything but a joke, he thought amusedly. It felt like forever ago even though it had just been a few short months at most…

N had more to say. "That was the first day I'd been allowed to leave the Castle in fourteen years. I had been given explicit orders to take your pokémon. Back then, I just thought Fath…" N took a shaky breath as he corrected himself, "Ghetsis… wanted me to save some innocent pokémon. With today's… reveals… I think he really just wanted to have those pokémon for himself. Tepig, Snivy, and Oshawott lines are highly sought-after by trainers and they're rarer because of it… Anyway, the point is… I couldn't believe it. Before then, I'd never heard a pokémon say it liked people. Ever."

Finally managing to control his waterworks somewhat, Hil chanced a look at N. "Never…?"

"Never," N confirmed. "Ghetsis… brought me so many beaten and injured pokémon, asking me to heal them, or at least to get a good, long look at them…" N's voice choked. "All the while, he had his own that he himself abused… So many of those pokémon had their hearts shut so tightly, I couldn't speak to them at all… that Hydreigon included…" There was a long silence. "And either I didn't know, or I didn't want to know… and I ignored it… The more I traveled, the more unsure I became. And every time I met you, I really, really became unsure… I didn't want to be unsure." N touched a hand to the planetary necklace around his neck again. "So, I got upset… and I know I've hurt you… I never intended to hurt anybody… For that, I'm really sorry."

"It's okay," Hil said numbly, instinctively. It didn't feel okay. It felt bittersweet and unfair, but he was still here to help N. This was all for N. What he felt on the matter just wasn't important right then.

Another long pause. "But you did save me," N offered almost wistfully. Hil watched a broad, even if sad, grin cross his face. "I had no idea what Ghetsis was doing to me… and now, the Champion has forgiven me, and…" N met Hil's eyes. "What I have to do now is something I'll need to decide for myself. There is no way that I, someone who only understands pokémon, and even then I fell short by losing touch with them at the last second…" N reached into his pocket and pulled out the Dark Stone, turned it over in his palm, and sighed at it, "There was no way for me to measure up to you when you had such deep bonds with your pokémon and such good friends at your side…"

Hil felt a few tears escape him despite his best efforts. "I… I understand, N. You should do what's best for you…" Hil scratched Noodle's head lovingly. "If you ever decide to come join us again… Well, I'm headed back to Nuvema after this. I think I've adventured enough to last me a lifetime, heh. Maybe I'll see you again?"

N took a few steps away from him. "Maybe… I don't really know how friends work among humans," he said skittishly, "but maybe… I can consider you a friend, now?"

Hil's hand fell still on top of Noodle's head and he laughed out loud. It was so hard to be upset when N's innocence was so comedic without even intending to be. "Yeah, man. I consider you a friend. Why not?"

"We're friends, then," N beamed.

The joyous reprieve was over when N waved inelegantly and clumsily stumbled away toward the stairs leading up to his throne. He summoned Zekrom again from the Dark Stone and he and Zekrom shared a moment. N glanced back at Hil occasionally, and the last time, he raised a fist into the air and cried, conviction in his voice, "Hil! Dream your dream! Follow the path of truth to make that dream a reality, and someday you will achieve all that you dreamed of! I'm sure of it!"

Hil couldn't help but well up at his inspiring words. It was such a bittersweet goodbye… but at least the emphasis was on the sweet.

"Until then… farewell!"

Just like that, Zekrom blasted a hole into the castle's exterior walls and N straddled Zekrom's shoulders. In the blink of an eye, they were gone, and Hil was left alone with Noodle and Reshiram. Reshiram purred an almost mournful sound after where N and Zekrom went, and then nudged Hil's chest with its broad, white muzzle. Without any warning, Reshiram reverted to the Light Stone form, rolling into Noodle's side. The Serperior picked it up with some vines and handed it back to Hil. Hil cupped the stone in his grasp and leaned into Noodle's massive body.

He knew he should have hauled himself out of that room and headed for the Pokémon Center Alder had told him about, but he couldn't find the energy or the willpower, and he passed out at Noodle's side. Instead of trying to wake him, Noodle only huffed and coiled his body protectively around his trainer, doing his best to offer what meager warmth he could.