Mother's Day
Rosa revisits Unova for an unexpectedly specific holiday after a long time of keeping away.
Timeline: Between Ultra Sun and Sword (less than a year after the events of US, about 8 years before Sword).
Setting: Unova
Notes: Violence/fighting, blood, injury, references to child abuse/child sexual abuse, references to/implied sex, semi-nudity, strong language, pokemon death, drama, hurt/comfort, mild spoilers for Ultra Sun (like… kinda? It vaguely references how Rosa plays a role in the story. But not much more than that).
This is a very LONG oneshot lol. To help alleviate the stress of trying to read this all at once, I've put in "INTERMISSION 1," "INTERMISSION 2," etc, at different points in the story, so you can "bookmark" where you are, so to speak, to continue reading later. Yeah idk man, this one just turned out to be a lot lmao.
Word of warning: I was working on this for like 3 weeks. While I did go through and reread it a few times, I kinda got tired of rereading it, and… don't want to anymore lol. If parts of it don't make a ton of sense or there are wonky errors, feel free to comment to let me know, but I THINK it should be okay. I do intend for this to be canon, but at the same time, it was also written to mostly be fun, and be very self-indulgent (so much drama and ACTION!).
Characters: Rosa, Hilbert (Hil), Nate (Nathan), Hilda, Rosa's parents, N, Amber Whitacre, Cheren, Colress, Shadow Triad (Quiet, Loud), Churchill (Church)
Prerequisite Reading: Black, Black 2, (and I recommend this but it's not necessary) Hidden Grottos (Whispers in the Dark: Our Machinations)
"This is so not how I intended to spend today," Cheren complained as he followed the trail of water leaking down the school's hallway. Of course, he didn't have much of a choice; he had been called when someone reported water flooding around the entrance to the school. He had to find the source of the flooding and call emergency maintenance to ensure the issue was fixed immediately, so the school could open again the next morning. What a mess. It was Mother's Day, and while his and Bianca's family had gotten together to prepare a lovely evening together for their entire extended family, he was stuck traipsing through water. Not that it was deep water, mind you, and he had mostly stepped in it on accident at first and just decided to let it be after realizing his socks were already soaked, but it still wasn't pleasant!
His Emboar was dutifully following but keeping distance enough away from the stream of water such that he didn't have to touch it. Cheren looked up at him and cracked a slight grin as he saw his old partner dubiously eyeing the water. "What, don't want to get your feet wet?" he teased as he stepped through some more of the puddling stream. Dryly, he added, "I promise it feels quite nice in my shoes, all over my socks…"
Unceremoniously, Emboar just snorted at him, the flames on his neck flaring briefly. Cheren laughed. "Yeah, you and me both," he muttered, grimacing as he finally came to the source. A water fountain near the back of the school, spraying water more like a broken fire hydrant than what one would have expected from a simple fountain. He frowned and put his hands on his hips. "Guess that answers that."
With that, he pulled his Xtransceiver free, and started to call the company he had a contract with for the school.
Rosa was in a normal outfit, devoid of her usual terrifying suit, and standing at the front of her parents' apartment on this unassuming Mother's Day. She lacked her usual buns and hair ties, a cascade of brown hair reaching to her lower back and past her elbows. She had to look so different from the last time they had seen her, considering it would have been years and years ago, and most sketches of her appearance floating about news stations and police departments included her in her suit. She had a pink and white bag tossed over her shoulder, in a surprisingly lazy fashion considering how heavy it was; one she fully intended to hold onto tightly even once she got inside. It held all her 'toys,' all her wildcards, all the pieces of her suit, to handle this situation if it grew rapidly out of control—including a jailbroken Ultra Ball that possessed her ultimate weapon. All courtesy of Dr. Colress, of course… as always.
Thankfully, nobody had spotted her yet, or if they had, they hadn't recognized her at least. So, taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door, and her mind swam with thoughts that had been bothering her since the day had begun. Maybe… maybe visiting home again wasn't such a terrible idea? It was Mother's Day. She had proven back in Alola she wasn't a blithely evil tyrant, like Ghetsis had been, for example. She hated Nathan for a tangled mess of reasons, yes, but her parents were innocent in all of this, weren't they? Besides, didn't they deserve to know the power she appreciated nowadays? To know how strong she had become? Their daughter was untouchable, successful beyond anything they could have ever imagined, outside of ways that could be measured in simple digits.
Yes… they deserved to know, and no, Rosa wasn't like Ghetsis. She reveled in her power, yes, but she didn't necessarily take pride or sadistic pleasure in pain and torment. It just so happened that those things often produced the highs she so cherished. It was the power she lusted over, not the gore, but she didn't mind if it came secondhand as a result.
It was her mother that answered the door, poetically enough.
She froze the second she opened the door, clearly recognizing Rosa instantly despite the dramatic change in her appearance. Rosa had similarly frozen, suddenly not sure what to say or do; her previous internal bravado evaporated in an instant. Her mother looked a lot smaller than she remembered. She was clearly scared out of her mind, too, based on the way she immediately began to tremble, and her eyes widened to saucers as soon as she recognized Rosa. Her dad, too, as he made an appearance. He halted mid-pace in the hall just beyond the front door, mouth agape.
Nobody said anything for what felt like a small eternity.
"Hi, Mom. Dad," Rosa finally broke the silence, her voice unusually nervous and wobbly. She pressed her lips to a thin line after. This is stupid. Why am I here? she thought immediately, beginning to fidget with her bag. Do I really miss them? I have everything I could ever want at my fingertips, yet I'm visiting these two. They're worthless to me now. If anything, they were holding me back! I've found my true power now! Who cares about them?!
Things were quiet in Nuvema Town, though Hil hadn't expected any different. He had intentionally cleared his schedule today to return to the town on this particular Sunday with the intention of visiting Amber. Despite everything that had happened between them, despite everything that had happened with Vince… Hil couldn't find it in himself to hate her. He avoided visiting her if he could, for sure; there were certainly days where he didn't want to so much as look at her. But… truth be told, pushing her away and maintaining that anger at her was just so hard. It felt like more effort than it was worth. Especially since she had become more accommodating as time drew on.
She was more softspoken, a lot less opinionated; she tended to sit back and let him talk. She was more supportive, opting to listen intently where she could. It was a nice change of pace, even if Hil did feel that it was too little, too late. Most of their time together was spent watching the TV and desperately ignoring the history between them, but maybe that was a compromise they both could live with. It wasn't like dragging out the past and talking more about it would have accomplished anything other than upsetting them both.
So, he had felt the least he could do was spend a few hours with her on Mother's Day. And there they were, seated together on that couch, watching some reality show (The Bachelorette, he believed it was called?), occasionally laughing, and talking over the jokes. Noodle was curled around the coffee table in the living room floor; apparently, the older Serperior found the cooling touch of its surface comforting. The rest of his pokémon, save for Reshiram (who was currently resting in her Light Stone in his bag at the end of the couch), were still at the Pokémon League, but Noodle went with him everywhere he went. Amber had a pet Liepard now, named Laika, but she always hid when Noodle was over. Arceus knew why, all Noodle did nowadays was sleep!
For the moment, lost watching a nonsensical, overdramatic show and enjoying the domesticity of the day, forgetting about the history that otherwise smothered his and Amber's relationship, Hil might have even thought it felt nice.
Squeezing her pale brown eyes shut as if to steel her own nerves, Rosa's mother hugged her. Rosa went stiff as a board and her mouth fell open slightly in disbelief. The unusual warmth and tightness of her hug was somehow foreign and familiar all at once, dimly reminding her of a time that felt so long ago now. She gritted her teeth, wanting to throw her mother off, but failing to find the motivation as she stared down at the top of her mother's head.
So much had happened in the years since she had left home… Still frozen in place, she almost shook her head as she mulled it all over. She had become the infamous Queen of Diamonds, she had murdered Nate's father, she had had Nate's son without telling him a word and left the child to an orphanage in the Galar region, she had killed countless people across the regions, she had experienced a rollercoaster of a relationship with Dr. Colress, and she had assisted in saving the world in Alola, she could do and had done anything she desired—and yet… for a moment…
Rosa's eyes welled with tears, and despite the voice in her head screaming at her to leave, to throw this woman off her, to forget her because this was pointless… she slowly moved to hug her mother back. For a moment, for just a moment… she felt the impossible weight of all those actions weigh on her shoulders. She felt seventeen again—lost, angry, and desperately craving some kind of power to regain control of the reigns in her own life. She had craved it so badly, she had been willing to throw away anything to get it, and indeed, she had thrown away so much. Her family, Nathan, her Emboar—the list could have gone on and on. In the past, whenever she started having inklings of thoughts such as these, she would tell herself she didn't care, she hated them anyway, and then she'd bury those feelings with sex, violence, or some other cheap high—but today… but today she didn't have any thoughts on how to bury this. Especially as she stood there embracing her mother on this particular Sunday.
"I'm sorry," Rosa whispered, almost growling, to her mother. She despised the words as they left her mouth but found it impossible to stop them. In fact, she clutched her tighter. What is wrong with me? I'm better than this! 'Sorry'—sorry for what? She paused, still just holding her mother, quivering slightly. …I don't… I don't know… Am I really sorry or am I just saying it? "I'm… I'm sorry. For everything…"
"I'm… I'm going to get some tea," she heard her father say, and then unsteady footsteps followed as he left for the kitchen.
Rosa's mother slowly unraveled from her, shut the door behind her, and then urged Rosa into the living room. Rosa moved almost like an automaton, stiff and disbelieving. This was wrong, this was so very wrong, she shouldn't have been there, shouldn't have been having this conversation—but she wasn't stopping herself. Why wasn't she stopping herself?
The living room looked so familiar, despite a few differences. The couch was new. The TV was new. The walls were devoid of family photographs that had once lined the home, though. She stared, gritting her teeth again, as she locked onto the empty fireplace mantle. In the past, a large, framed photograph of herself, her dad, and her mom once sat proudly at its center, surrounded by smaller photographs of them all.
Tentatively, her mother gestured for her to sit, and Rosa joined her after a second. It took some effort to draw her eyes away from the noticeably empty mantle.
"I'm… I'm so glad you came home, Rosa," her mother whispered.
Bewildered enough by what she had heard to be distracted from what she had noticed, Rosa just blinked at her. "You are?" she quietly asked, starting to feel numb. The alarmed thoughts telling her she shouldn't have been there were silenced at last, along with all other thoughts in her head. She wiped away the tears that had previously been welling in her eyes and uncomfortably held her bag in her lap.
Just in case.
"Yes, of course…" Her mother shook her head. Her eyes were still wide with fear, she was still trembling, and her voice warbled with the effort to speak, but she sounded so sincere. Or was it just that Rosa wanted to believe she sounded sincere? "…Honey, I don't know what happened out there… Those… those years ago… But you're still my daughter…" She sniffled, tears streaking down her face. "I hope, if nothing else, you know that. And… I… I still love you."
Averting her gaze, Rosa stared squarely at the bag in her lap. "You shouldn't," she whispered, barely audible. She dug her fingertips into the fabric of it. She repeated herself, but it sounded more like a growl this time, just barely hiding a seething rage. "You really, really shouldn't." I can't let them see me like this. I shouldn't have come here. I need to go. I need to go, go, go—go now.
But she didn't move.
"N-non… Nonsense," her mother insisted, reaching a shaking hand toward Rosa, and bravely resting it on Rosa's thigh. "You know this is still your home. You can always come back. Forget all of that ever happened…"
Now, Rosa was sure she was hearing things. She furrowed her brows and shook her head. "Mom, what are you talking about? Everything I've done? That can't just be forgiven! And…" She growled, looking away sharply. Goddamn it, Rosa, put an end to this already! Forget them! "It shouldn't be forgiven. And I don't want it to be forgiven!"
Her volume grew, until she was all but shrieking—but it was unclear just who she was trying to convince.
"Don't you have a mom to be visiting on Mother's Day, anyway?" Nathan asked, raising a questioning brow at her. He had his arms tucked behind his head, sprawled in a bed, with Hilda laying at his side.
"Could ask you the same question," she retorted with a snort of amusement, then cracked a devious grin, "but I didn't hear you complaining ten minutes ago, you know."
He flushed red at that remark despite the smirk pulling at his lips. Feigning a sour expression, he rolled his eyes. "Yeah. You could." Trust me, you don't want to know, though. "What about you, though?"
"Seriously?" she asked, sounding surprised. She sat up then, her silky, red spaghetti-strap top that had been bunched around her shoulders falling back into place as she did (not that it covered much, considering it stopped just below her chest, barely covering her breasts from his view). Her dark, brown hair was in a tangled mess rather than in her usual ponytail. She had a mane of it when it wasn't put up, and for as much as it got in the way, he loved how she pulled off the look. "Wait, you really wanna know?"
On this particular day, Nathan had offered to go with N to Driftveil City, because N wanted to visit Anthea and Concordia at the Silver Knights while Nathan had claimed he had some business to talk with Gym Leader Clay about the Pokémon World Tournament—but that had been a lie. Mother's Day was hardly a celebratory occasion for Nathan, and he had chosen the lie about Clay on purpose, because he knew the gym leader was away in Icirrus for the holiday and wouldn't be available to dispute his statement. Not that anybody would have bothered trying to dispute where he was anyway, of course, a tiny voice in the back of his mind nagged him. He just wasn't totally comfortable with admitting to the fact he was visiting Hilda for reasons outside of League battles now. He wasn't sure why; he liked her, and she clearly liked him, and Nathan had to admit… she was fun. In every sense of the word. Not to mention, it wasn't like he and Hilda had discussed keeping their relations a secret, so he was sure some people outside of them already knew. It just… Even if being with her felt so good in the moment, every time he parted ways with her, he was left feeling anxious and a tad guilty about his feelings.
"Sure," Nathan shrugged, eyeing her up and down. Everything was a game with her. He had learned long ago to challenge her on everything, because she would do the same to him, and he didn't want to ever give her the impression he wasn't up to her challenge, whatever it may be. "Go ahead. What's your big reason for avoiding good ole' Ma on Mother's Day?"
"Well, it's not my reason, really," she laughed, resting a hand on his bare thigh. He tensed. "It's my mom's." With that, she took a deep breath, and then mocked a stereotypical middle-aged woman's voice, complete with slacking her jaw slightly. "'We celebrate Mother's Day on Father's Day. Because men ain't shit. Your father never did anything worth celebrating anyway.'"
Blinking fervently, Nathan couldn't help the laughter that escaped him as he tossed his head back. He didn't know what he had been expecting, but that certainly hadn't been it! Through fitful gasps for breath, he panted, "W-wait, are you serious? She—she celebrates Mother's Day on Father's Day?"
She deadpanned, "Yes. I am not making that up. I am dead serious, Nathan."
Cackling more now, Nathan was open-mouthed grinning at her as he looked back up, shaking his head in disbelief. "What on Earth did that man do?"
"Well, to be fair," Hilda started with a giggle, "he did sleep with my aunt, so…"
Roaring now, Nathan planted a hand on his face and slapped the mattress with his other. "No!"
"Ohh, yeah, yeah he did!" Hilda was snickering. "…We should so not be laughing about thi—" she tried to say, cutting herself off with more laughter, shaking her head in resignation.
"Arceus on a fucking bike, that's amazing," Nathan breathed, his chest hurting and eyes stinging from all the laughter. "You know what, power move to your mom. So, how divorced was he after that?"
"Oh, so divorced. She dragged him to sign divorce papers like two days later. Also, my mom and aunt haven't spoken ever since Mom found out," Hilda explained further, a wild, knowing grin on her face. "I have a codeword to make my mom mad. I just say, 'Auntie Amara' three times and she starts spitting fire. It's like Bloody Mary, but funnier." She frowned and tilted her head. "Or maybe she's a pokémon, and 'Auntie Amara' is her nickname?"
"I admire the level of petty your mom is."
"Anyway, what about you? What's Mommy Dearest like?" Hilda pressed, lightly tapping her fingertips against his bare thigh.
In an instant, Nathan quit snickering and his breath hitched, all at the feeling of her hand on the sensitive skin on the inside of his thigh. He tensed again, grimacing without really realizing that was what he was doing. Right, he thought, recognizing this as another one of her 'challenges' he couldn't back down from, as his eyes darted across the hotel room. He swallowed hard. Truth be told, he hadn't really expected her to ask, or had maybe expected the topic would shift before it rounded back on him… Still cringing, he uncomfortably moved to try and sit upright, caught between wanting to retreat from her touch and being afraid to show this ingrained reaction to her, as if he somehow expected she wouldn't notice his shift in demeanor, if nothing else.
She tilted her head, her brows furrowing in concern. "Nathan…? You okay? You, uh… You… look a little pale…"
He opened his mouth, lips curled, ready to spit something nasty at her, but stopped himself before the bladed words flew. He had wanted to demand how she couldn't have already known, anyway—he had been vocal about his support of anti-abuse campaigns in the past, and his own history had been sensationalized in Unova despite his best efforts to keep it private—but he knew not everyone heard every piece of news that graced outlets. More than that, Hilda had spent much of her trainer life outside of Unova's borders anyway, and… and he didn't want to be so cruel to her.
Over his journey through Unova, through fighting Neo Plasma, through doing his part in leading Unova—Nathan had learned there was a time and place for his ferocity, and friendly fire was what the old him would have done. He cared for Hilda far, far too much to allow himself to slip up in such a way.
When he failed to respond, Hilda withdrew her hand from his thigh. "Nathan…?" she asked, softly.
"…My story is a lot less funny than yours," he choked out to her at last through an uncomfortable chuckle, forcing a strained smile in the end. "'Mommy Dearest' didn't do so much herself, but… that almost… makes it worse." He took a deep, shuddery breath, and hugged his knees close to himself, feeling uncomfortable in just his boxers now. "We, uh… don't have to talk about that, though," he whispered. He stared at the bed and inhaled sharply to bury the emotion building in his chest.
But when he looked up again, Hilda was holding out his shirt and shorts to him, and she had a gentle smile. "Hey. I know I fuck around a lot, but you can talk to me about serious stuff too, you know, right? If you want to, I'm here. And if you don't, hey… that's cool, too. I had… no idea it was a sore spot, you know? But… I don't want you to be uncomfortable around me… you know that, right?"
Unsteadily, Nathan reached out to take the clothes from her. He dropped them into his own lap for a moment as what she had said registered. When it did, he smiled warmly, and sniffled. For that moment, he didn't feel so guilty about showing such weakness in front of her. Oh, how he cared for her, indeed, even if he knew he could struggle to show it sometimes.
"Thanks, Hilda…"
INTERMISSION 1
"I'm not willing to let go of the power I have now! You don't understand!" Rosa jumped up, leaving her bag on the couch, starting to pace the length of the living room. Her thoughts started to return to her. She started feeling like she was in control of herself again. No, she wasn't the scared, sniveling seventeen-year-old anymore.
She was Rosa.
She was the goddamn Queen of fucking Diamonds!
She bared her teeth in a predatory grin as she locked eyes with her mother. "Don't you see? I'm stronger than I would have ever been normally! I can do anything I could ever want! I could save the world, or I could end it! They've been looking for me and Colress for years, and they can't touch us! And I didn't even need pokémon to do it!" She paused, taking a deep, shuddery breath. She had failed to realize she was starting to leak tears again, despite her doubling down on her pride. Yes, she was proud of what she had done! Weren't they proud? They needed to be proud! She… she needed them to be proud. "Yes, I have the Genesect, but it's hardly a pokémon, really. More like… a laser with a lot of settings and voice commands." She forced a cold chuckle at her own joke, then stomped a foot, that amusement gone in an instant. "I have it all! Aren't you proud? Look at what your daughter's accomplished!"
"…Of course, Rosa…" her mother strained to say, trying to grin, though it was more of a petrified grimace than anything. She nodded a tad erratically. Narrowing her eyes at her, Rosa curled a lip.
Her mother was scared.
After swallowing hard, her mother called out, "H-hey, hon…? What's taking so long with the tea…?"
"J-just a minute! I, um, am trying to find the tea bags!"
"Don't be silly, dear! There should be some already made! Hurry now!" her mother anxiously laughed in response.
Rosa's pride felt the sting of bitter disappointment as she realized they were terrified of her. Her mother had hardly sounded convincing, too, as she pressed her father over 'tea.' It all only served to frustrate her further. Did they think she was stupid?! What was wrong with them?!
"Why are you afraid of me?" Rosa demanded, taking a threatening step toward her and squaring her shoulders.
"Rosa…" her mother whimpered, cowering as Rosa stepped nearer. "Honey… calm down, I promise I'm—"
"You're not proud, are you?" Rosa pressed, sneering. She darted her eyes toward her bag, and before she moved, her mother dove for it. Rosa was faster, though. Years of working and moving in that suit Dr. Colress had developed for her had made her much more agile and capable than most believed her to be. She wrenched the bag away from her mother and stomped a foot in aggravation.
How dare she! Just who the fuck did this meaningless joker think she was, anyway? Oh, 'mother' or not, Rosa would teach her and Dad both! "Don't you dare touch it! Don't touch me!" Rosa snarled at her.
"Rosa!" she heard her father desperately call. When she turned to see where his voice had come from, she saw him leaned on the doorframe of the kitchen's entrance, panting for breath. Sweat was beaded on his forehead, and there was an Xtransceiver in his hand. "Honey, please, calm down… let's just talk about this…"
"What's that in your hand, Dad?" Rosa quietly asked, still glaring at the device.
They're afraid of me! They aren't proud at all! They don't want anything to do with me! They're calling for police or something already! They were lying to me from the moment I walked in the door! I can't believe I was crying for these people! I knew better! I'm better than them, anyway, they're just in. my. WAY!
Her father all but dropped the Xtransceiver, letting it clatter to the ground. "It's nothing, Rosa, I'm sorry! I just—I picked it up by habit when I passed it…"
Rosa was done listening to his lies.
She was already putting her helmet on and digging for her Genesect's Ultra Ball. She didn't have time to fully suit up, but she didn't need to. She tossed the strap of her bag over her shoulder, clutching the jailbroken Ultra Ball in her right hand.
"Fine!" Rosa snarled, seething as she whipped a hateful glare between both of her parents. She started to backpedal toward the front door, a wicked grimace pulling at her lips as she closed the helmet's visor over her face. Her vision darkened slightly due to the tint of the glass, but while she could still see, the view of her face was completely obscured to both her parents. All they could see now was the two white, eerie ovals that acted as her eyes while she wore that mask. Her voice was granted an off-beat, synthesized edge as well. "If you two want to turn me in so bad, I'll GIVE you a real reason to turn on me!"
"Rosa, please! Stop!" her mother begged.
"That's enough!" her father protectively snapped, running ahead of his wife. "Rosa, let us just talk! Please!"
Licking dry lips, Rosa just barely heard her mother whimper, "Rosa, please… you're still my daughter… I meant what I said…"
"I don't WANT your love!" Rosa screamed. "I want your PRIDE!"
Meanwhile, N was enjoying a jovial, relaxed day at the Silver Knights.
A year or two following the defeat of Neo Plasma, both Anthea and Concordia had shown up at the refuge in Driftveil City. Back then, N had only just received his glass eye to replace the one Ghetsis had destroyed in their confrontation in the Giant Chasm. Back then, N hadn't… known, everything there was to know about Anthea and Concordia. At least, not exactly.
When Hil had traveled with him to Driftveil the day they learned Anthea and Concordia had been taken in by the Silver Knights, Hil had been fidgety and anxious, far worse than normal even on his worst of days. As time drew on during their trip together on Reshiram's back, Hil had sighed, and told N everything he knew. The horrible, inexcusable truth that N had feared for so long.
Anthea and Concordia were not his sisters. Anthea was his mother, and Concordia was his aunt.
Of course… even if he hadn't known exactly why, N had always felt there was something strange between him and his 'sisters.' He remembered once, when he was much younger, Anthea reading him fictional stories, and whenever descriptions of how a mother would behave toward her children would come up, N would find himself inwardly frowning as he mulled over Anthea. She behaved much like a mother to him, as did Concordia, yet Ghetsis told him they were his sisters. He never dared to question it, of course, not back then—but he had always felt something was off.
He just… he had had no idea just how much was off; how much was wrong with that family image.
It had hurt, to discover the truth. It had hurt enough just to learn he was truly related to Ghetsis by blood; learning Anthea had been forced to bear him when she was so young had only rubbed salt deep into that wound. More than that, it hurt to think, just when N thought he would get his 'sisters' back, there was this new information to contend with. Would they have even wanted to see him? Or would N just remind them both of horrors they had finally escaped? Was it selfish then, for him to choose to still visit them? For a fleeting moment, N had even been frustrated with Hil, wondering how he could have known such information but chosen not to say anything for so long.
"How long have you known this?" N had quietly asked, clutching Reshiram's fur tightly in his grasp. I'm sorry, he apologized to her once he realized.
For what? I felt no pain, Reshiram had reassured him. This is a harsh truth to learn. Do what you need.
"…She and Concordia told me and Cheren back at the… the castle," Hil apologetically explained. "They both begged me to… to help you. Anthea in particular…"
There had been a brief, awkward silence.
"I'm sorry, N, I just… I didn't know… I didn't know how to bring it up, or… well, when I finally found you again, I admit it just… wasn't something I thought that much about…? It had been so long, and…" Hil had guiltily trailed off, and ultimately had just hung his head. "I'm sorry. I don't know… I never meant to lie, though, N…"
The frustration N had been feeling had melted away at that, as he guiltily remembered how he had avoided Hil for those two years after Hil had stopped Ghetsis the first time. "You're right," N had regretfully conceded. "It's… it's not your fault. I didn't exactly make it easy. I'm sorry."
And as it would turn out… despite all his fears, despite how guilty he felt for forcing himself on them both by showing up at the Silver Knights back then, Anthea had been thrilled to see him. Concordia, too. Of course, it hadn't all been rosy—N had been taken aback when he had first laid eyes on them again.
The first time he had stepped through the doors of the Silver Knights to see them, led by Sage Rood and Gym Leader Clay, it had taken everything in N's power not to gape in horror at Anthea. Something terrible had happened to her, indeed; she had been badly scarred, even if the wounds had appeared old and healed. Concordia had looked better, even if only marginally. N learned later that Ghetsis had tormented them with his Hydreigon before finally freeing them, prior to freezing Opelucid City. It had taken quite some time for the two of them to recover from their injuries and be willing to face their past.
"But I knew coming to the Silver Knights was the right thing to do," Anthea had confided in him, smiling gently despite a scar that stubbornly tugged part of her lips down. "…I'm just so happy you're doing better now, N. Away from that awful castle. You've done so much good, just as we knew you always would… I'm so proud of you."
Although both of them still found it too awkward to refer to one another as mother and son (and Concordia had humorously told him she'd pretend she didn't hear him if he ever dared call her 'aunt'), N still visited Anthea regularly. Concordia was more withdrawn nowadays, tending to keep to herself more, but N made sure to talk to her some when he visited, too.
Today had been no different. He, Anthea, and Concordia were sitting around the large dining room tucked into the back of the Silver Knights' building, talking idly. A few former grunts had joined them, too. Rood occasionally poked in and chatted, too. It didn't feel as surreal anymore as it had when N had first started visiting. He had found it difficult to speak so freely to them before, as if he had automatically snapped back to his princely persona the moment he saw them in these robes, but now… Now they spoke as friends, not colleagues.
Honestly… as much as a nagging voice deep inside of him felt it should have been wrong, he thought that it could be quite fun… He loved just relaxing and hanging out with them all. For as much as N loved pokémon, getting to spend time with people he cared for was so wonderful. Not to mention, whenever he visited, his pokémon were kept plenty busy by the numerous pokémon that still called the Silver Knights home. Indeed, even Zekrom enjoyed coming out of his Dark Stone and letting the young ones play with him. That made the place feel just that much warmer, too.
"Look at you! Look at that hair!" Sage Rood blustered at N, giving him a toothy grin, as he checked in on the group in the dining hall. "I see you still have no concept of a haircut, young man!"
"Those are big words for someone with a beard as long as yours," a former grunt beamed back at Rood, slamming an empty cup to the table as he had laughed. "I think Lancaster might have some beard-trimmers!"
"Yeah, it's called a razor," a woman snarked to his left. "Get rid of it."
"Oh, not likely!" Rood retorted immediately at that thought. "I'm not young enough to pull that clean-shaven look off, I'm afraid!"
N hadn't been able to help but laugh. "What, I like my hair longer…" he finally managed to reply, giving Rood a slight grin. Like Anthea and Concordia, many of the Sages had helped raise him, Rood included. Sure, they had focused primarily on educating him rather than anything else, but… guiltily, N had still felt as if they were family, too. It felt nice to be talking with Rood, too. Truthfully, he felt a little bad that they couldn't all have been there. Yes… all seven of them.
While laughter echoed around him, he sighed and briefly shut his eyes.
He was grateful—so, so grateful—for those that had seen through Ghetsis' lies and managed to do better despite it all, but there was still a hollow pain there that despite seeing how so many people had the propensity for change, Ghetsis had chosen to stick to his dark path. In fact, he had taken advantage of N's desire to see him change, and it had nearly cost Unova dearly.
He felt a hand on his shoulder, making him perk back up. "You know he didn't mean anything by it," Anthea giggled, "don't look so gloomy."
Blinking, N realized she thought he was upset over what Rood had said. He awkwardly laughed and shook his head. "Oh, no, I'm fine." Eyeing her and the others at the table, he wondered what Hil would do to get the uncomfortable stares off him, and he decided to give a shoddy attempt at a joke. Fluffing the long ponytail of his hair some, he dryly joked, "It's okay, I promise me and my mane are okay."
That earned him a few laughs and the discomfort in the air dissipated. Rood wagged a finger at him. "Good! Wouldn't want to insult the mane!"
Snorting, N shook his head. Okay, I admit that did feel pretty good, he thought to himself, rolling his eyes. Even if it did make me feel ridiculous.
Conversation carried on after that, with N an active participant. He really did enjoy these visits to the Silver Knights. It felt like… a do-over, with the people that he loved and cared for, and that loved and cared for him, from Team Plasma. An incidental kindness by the universe that made him feel just… that much more content with his life nowadays. It wasn't picture perfect, but it was… ideal. Enjoyable. Full of love and small joys.
He supposed that was the best he could ask for, wasn't it?
Scoffing, she curled a lip beneath her mask. "But no, you're afraid. You're cowards. You have no pride for me. You've got no pride in yourselves, either."
Her mother appeared to summon some courage. She inhaled sharply, then pleadingly cried, "Rosa, listen! Yes, you would have to take responsibility for everything that's happened… but I wasn't lying to you when I said things could always come home, or that we could forget it all happened. Things can still change!"
"What's the point of changing if I have to give up everything for some made up sense of justice?" Rosa sneered. "Forget it! We're done here!" I'm done with them! I'll kill them both, that way I never have another stupid moment of weakness like this again. I'll give them all a real reason to fear me!
With that, she tossed Genesect free. The beast took out a wall as it burst free of the Ultra Ball, and without Rosa even ordering it, it raised a cannon arm toward her parents, unfazed as insulation and crumbling pieces of the ceiling fell around them. Rosa started to pull out the rest of her suit and casually gear up in front of her cowering parents. Shouts and screams echoed from nearby apartments as they likely realized something was deeply wrong. She just smirked to herself once she was done suiting up.
"It's from the Blakelys' apartment! Call the police!"
"Fine, but let's get out of here first!"
Something was wrong alright, and they had no idea what was coming.
"That's right, RUN!" Rosa screamed at the crumbling wall, to the other apartment residents.
This was her favorite part. The high that came with holding power over other people—there was nothing like it. Nobody could hope to oppose her. Even in situations where she was overpowered, somehow, she could simply call the Shadow Triad or enable her suit's cloaking and disappear. She was a force of fucking nature at best and a phantom at worst, nothing anybody could hope to combat. The gore and the fear on her victims' faces were just part of the challenge, obstacles to the power she was after. She would have put herself through as much anger and sadness as needed as long as she got her fix of that power.
Glaring back at her parents, Rosa took a deep breath, focusing. The tears she had been shedding earlier—Arceus himself could have only known why—finally coming to a stop. I don't need them. I don't want them. And I dare anyone to stop me! She raised an arm and gestured to their cowering forms. "Genesect! Destroy them!" Following that order, she sprung onto its back, situating herself such that she sat on its shoulder. "Bring this fucking building down!"
She could see the terror in their eyes as the realization dawned on them that they were about to die and there was nothing they could do about it—and Rosa was only infuriated by how conflicted she felt about it. On one hand, she lavished the power that came with knowing she held their lives in the palm of her hands and she was about to snuff it out; on the other, there was a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, similar to what she had felt just after she had murdered Nate's father, even if more of a dull ache now than it had been back then.
Of course, she didn't have long to think about it. As Genesect's cannon blasted away half the building, engulfing where they had been standing with a bright blue beam, Rosa shut her eyes. Then, as the apartment building started to come down around them and shrieks and howls rang out in the air of Aspertia City, Rosa herself screamed. She clenched her fists, bent her knees, and mindlessly screamed, even as the floor buckled beneath them.
It should have felt GOOD!
They should have been PROUD!
SHE SHOULD HAVE BEEN PROUD OF HERSELF FOR THIS!
Before the floor caved beneath their feet, Genesect took them both to safety just outside the crumbling building. Together, they watched as the building collapsed to rubble, and as the people that had managed to escape fled. While most shrieked and ran for their lives, some others looked on, dumbstruck and perhaps frozen in shocked horror, holding hands up to block the blast of air that came as the building leveled, at the carnage that had suddenly struck their city. Rosa was further incensed by the sight of those traumatized civilians looking at her in such a way. When some lingered too close to her for a little too long, Rosa barked at them, "Get lost or I'll kill you, too!" Scoffing, she growled, "Not that it matters either way. It's just a matter of time."
Indeed, people started running every which way, fleeing the city. She saw police officers assisting in evacuations. Curling her lip, she wondered where she should go next. She'd kill every person she found in this city until she'd forgotten why she had ever come here, until she felt good again. To hell with Dr. Colress asking her to keep low, to hell with showing restraint. She'd show them all.
Cheren had come running from the Trainers' School the moment he heard the blast. He had come skidding out the front door, panting for breath, just in time to see the Aspertia Apartments just across the street come crashing to the ground. People fled wildly, those that had managed to escape, and he gaped in horror, a hand pressed over his mouth. Just a moment ago, he had been joking with a repairman about how soon he could get to Aspertia, and now… he was watching Arceus-himself-could-only-know how many people die.
Vivid memories violently surged to the surface of his mind of what he had seen in Opelucid City all those years ago, as part of the cleanup crew following Neo Plasma's terrorist attack on the city, and he thought he might be ill as he shakily reached for his Xtransceiver. He was shivering so bad, he feared that he wouldn't be able to punch in Hil's number, but he knew he had to. He could see police already beginning to evacuate the fleeing civilians, clearly having been drawn to the scene by the commotion, so they were already alerted, but Hil had to call others for military support. A building didn't just crash to the ground for no reason, after all.
Of course, while he was still struggling to type the number, he saw her just out the corner of his eye. More specifically, he saw her beastly pokémon, the Genesect he had seen plastered on reports again and again. His mouth ran dry as he realized, invariably, she had to be the cause of the attack. Rosa Blakely. The Queen of Diamonds.
It felt almost surreal to think he had briefly seen her on her gym challenge alongside Nathan those years ago.
Trying to shake away his fear, Cheren realized this was a much more dire situation than he had realized. Rosa's MO was unpredictability; there was no telling what else she would do. Technically, nobody was even supposed to engage her if they saw her aside from Nathan, Hil, N, Interpol, or anybody they authorized to do so—but… if she had brought down the Aspertia Apartments so easily, with who knows how many people inside, what else could she do before help arrived?
He swallowed hard. No. He couldn't let her run rampant in Aspertia. He had to stall her, at least until help arrived. There were fearful butterflies in his stomach, but while the Xtransceiver was still ringing for Hil, Cheren was already running across the pavement to meet Rosa.
The crashing and rumbling from the caving apartment building ended and Rosa heard footsteps on the asphalt behind her. She whirled in place, Genesect following suit. Rosa almost laughed when she saw Cheren standing there, arms trembling as he held up a Poké Ball with one hand and an Xtransceiver to his ear with the other, his slate eyes drawn wide with uncertainty. This useless gym leader. She had seen him before—a Normal-type trainer, a big name at the Trainers' School. He spent his days preaching softly at kids and battling fledgling trainers that hardly knew type advantages yet.
Yet, he thought he had a chance against her? It was enough to make her laugh. She shook her head, giggling at first, before breaking into full-on, hysterical laughter.
"Rosa," Cheren tensely tried to interrupt her, slipping his Xtransceiver back into his pocket, "that's enough."
"What are you going to do?" Rosa savagely snarked at him, instantly turning off her laughter. Sensing Rosa's malice, Genesect raised its cannon arm again, fixing it on Cheren's face. He visibly flinched, squeezing his eyes shut and quivering, which only served to send Rosa into another fit of laughter. Mockingly, she roared in amusement, "'Oh, don't worry everyone, I've got it covered! I'll send my Lillipup after the Queen of Diamonds! Too bad I'll have my eyes closed the whole time!'"
Cheren, apparently realizing he hadn't been blasted away as he might have expected, set his jaw, and pitched the Poké Ball he was holding. Rosa's amusement faded immediately as the Emboar lumbered out of the red light of the ball, the flames around its neck flaring to life as it pounded its fists together in anticipation of battles yet to come. If Rosa hadn't been wearing her visor, it might have looked like she'd seen a ghost. Genesect's cannon arm pointed at the Emboar instead.
"You're right, Rosa," Cheren said, forcing a cool tone despite still wearing his terror plainly on his face. "I'm not a match for you, and I know it. But I'm not going to let you terrorize this city. I don't really need to beat you."
Rosa was still glaring at the Emboar. Slowly, she clenched her hands to fists, and with a vigorous shake of her head, wrenched her eyes off the pokémon at last.
Everyone was just fucking bound and determined to get on her nerves today, weren't they! Well, FINE! FINE THEN! She glowered past it, narrowing her digital, soulless eyes right at Cheren. "You might waste my time, but it'll be the last thing you do," she seethed. She backpedaled and shot Genesect a sideways glance. "Kill that Emboar, now! Leave Cheren for me! I'LL deal with him!"
She had lost it today, but truth be told, she didn't… know what 'it' was.
Suddenly, Hil's Xtransceiver started ringing. Frowning, he got up from his comfy spot on the couch, and pulled the device out of his pocket, holding it out just in front of his face. It was Cheren, based on the Caller ID, but there was no video feed, and as soon as Hil answered the call, he was assailed with interference and noise from the line. Immediately concerned, Hil glanced at Amber, then brought the device closer to his face. "Cheren? What's going on?" Hil pressed urgently.
"It's—it's Rosa, I think, in Aspertia! I was here to check something at the school while it was closed for the weekend, but—but then the Aspertia Apartments came down, and I'm looking at her Genesect!"
Hil's jaw fell open. "'Came down?' What do you mean 'came down?'" Alarmed, he yelped, "Wait, what're you going to do?"
"Just get help, get here now," Cheren hissed at him, abruptly much quieter, though annoyance still seeped through his tone. "I'll keep her busy 'til then. Okay?"
"Cheren!" Hil fearfully curled his lips and spat, feeling his heart start to pound, "Don't you fucking dare go anywhere near her, you know bet—"
The line went dead before he could finish.
"What's going on…?" Amber softly asked, standing up from her couch with her hands tucked close to her chest.
Hil, however, was already tossing on his jacket and calling for Noodle to return. "Rosa," was all he said to Amber as he dug in his bag, leaned against the end of the couch, for Reshiram's Light Stone.
'I'll keep her busy'—is Cheren insane? Hil was preoccupied, thinking. I'll have to call Nathan and N on the way over there… I don't know if Cheren's managed to talk to them yet… And if he hasn't, then that means Interpol hasn't been notified either… I'll have to do that on my way over as well… Finding the Light Stone, Hil shouldered his bag on and darted to the door. I just hope Cheren'll be alright… And… and why would she randomly attack Aspertia?! I know she hates Nathan, if anything, I'd expect her to go after him… He's in Driftveil! With N! What the hell is she after in Aspertia?!
"Hil, wait!" Amber cried. Hil halted in the doorway and shot her an impatient look.
"What?" he panted. I have to go!
"Please… be careful," she said quietly, grimacing. "You… you mean the Queen of Diamonds, right, with Rosa?"
"Don't give her the satisfaction," Hil sternly said. That was something they had been trying to combat for a while now—getting people to simply refer to her as Rosa, by her name, rather than the flashy nickname she paraded for herself. They worried it fed into her ego and helped fuel her violence. "Rosa's her name. But… yeah." Uncomfortably, he sighed. "I'll be fine, Mom. But I have to go, now."
"Right… I love you, Hil."
"…Yeah. You too, Mom."
With that, he pitched the Light Stone, and Reshiram unfurled in a show of flames, wind, and that otherworldly roar. When she was done, Hil climbed onto her back, and then they were gone.
Cheren sucked in a fast, fearful breath as he saw the beastly pokémon at Rosa's side shift in place, the light on its cannon arm and its eyes shifting to a bright, cerulean blue. He thought to grab for his other pokémon and toss them free, expecting he'd need all of the strength his team could muster, but before he had even finished the thought, he had the wind knocked out of him as his back hit the pavement and a bolt of pain shot up his spine, spreading like fire through his chest. Gasping for air—it had all happened so fast! How had she even hit him?!—in the aftermath of the blow, he instinctively scrabbled for a hold against the asphalt, and stared blankly at the silhouetted figure of Rosa's suited body above him. It felt as if he couldn't get enough air all of a sudden. She had her boot on his chest now, and he was vaguely aware of a flourish of neon blue light behind her as she pressed the toe of her boot harder into him.
"This looks familiar," Rosa darkly commented, narrowing the white eyes of her mask to slits at him. "Oh, yes… I think—"
Red light flashed around them, telling him that somehow, his pokémon had burst free of their confines to come to his rescue. Just like that, his Stoutland headbutted Rosa off his chest. Having caught her completely off guard, she grunted in surprise, knocked to her side. Trembling, the pokémon turned its head to look at Cheren with wide eyes, her ears pressed flat to her skull. Still gasping wildly for breath, Cheren didn't have time to think too hard about how clearly terrified she was, or what might have happened to his Emboar while he was down—he needed to get up.
Yet, when he tried to turn over and stand up by pressing a palm to the pavement and giving a push, that scorching pain flared in his back and chest again, and he cried out, his limbs giving out under him. He collapsed on his stomach and saw stars, staring dazedly out across the ground ahead of him as his chin rested on the back of one of his hands. Breathing heavily, he gritted his teeth in frustration, and tried to move, to force his knees underneath himself again. He whimpered and winced as he heard the sounds of battle echoing around him, growls and snarls from pokémon, the skidding of claws on asphalt, shouts from Rosa. Lights strobed around him, from her Genesect, no doubt.
Was one lousy blow from her really enough to take me out? Cheren thought, grunting with the effort to try and get back on his feet, sweat rolling down his forehead now. I don't even know what she did! I think she maybe kicked me down by my chest? Kneed me in it, maybe, and I hit the pavement hard on my back? I don't know what she did, but I can't… get… up!
Pain blinded him when he had just nearly gotten to his feet, and he fell down again. This time, though, when his vision cleared and he looked ahead of him, he saw his Stoutland collapse to the ground in a furry heap, smoke wafting off her newly blackened, burned fur. He froze as he saw that, digging his nails into the grit of the pavement. Shuddering, he called her name. "B—…Barley! No—mmph, ow, shit!"
The steel toe of Rosa's boot clipped his ribs, and she had kicked him so hard, he was thrown onto his back—and then he screamed at the pain that blossomed throughout his body. Deliriously eyeing the blue sky just above Rosa's silhouette, he wracked his brain for what to do, wondering if Hil or Nathan or N or anyone was anywhere near Aspertia. It couldn't have been that long since he had gotten near Rosa, could it? For all he knew, they were still miles away. He was truly alone in this one, wasn't he? One of his pokémon had already paid the price for his attempt at buying them time to arrive and for police to evacuate the city. In what had felt like seconds, she had taken him down, rendered him completely immobile and helpless, smoked one of his partners, too.
Poor Barley. She hadn't had a clue what she had been up against. Despite the fear that had made her eyes widen so much that her sclerae were visible, she had bravely headbutted Rosa off him to save his life. In a way, he was almost glad she wasn't still around to see that it had been for nothing, because there wasn't much stopping Rosa from finishing him now. Oh, Cheren had stared down death more than his share of times, but this time, he somehow felt… this was it. He wondered what he would have told Bianca in that moment, or his daughter, Jessica. He wondered if either of them would have known he was buying everyone else time, or if they would assume he had attacked Rosa out of arrogance. The thought made his chest ache. He wanted to live to tell them the truth, to see them again; Jessica was too young to deal with something so horrific, anyway!
…He had seen what losing Vince had done to Hil, after all…
Above him, Rosa's chest was heaving as she watched him, her digital eyes glowering at him with as much hate as that visor could hope to communicate at him. Or… was that really it? Or maybe she was studying him? Was she just drinking in the gruesome sight of his demise?
Still reeling from the feeling of the pain in his ribs, Cheren looked around, trying to gather as much about what was going on around him as he could before Rosa inevitably struck him and had him paralyzed with pain again.
He was relieved to see his Emboar still standing, though he was bleeding from various cuts and scrapes, as well as a bad, craterous wound on his shoulder where it looked as if her Genesect had perhaps struck him with its cannon. His Watchog, Pidove, and Cinccino stood at its side, though they cowered in fear as Rosa's Genesect towered over them. They looked less scuffed than his Emboar did… He felt a rush of emotion that swelled in his throat, then passed with a simple gasp of air. He hadn't been expecting to battle that day. He never in a thousand years would have expected a Pidove, for example, to hold a candle to Rosa's Genesect, but this was just the hand they had been given, it seemed. It had been a day off for them all. It should have been a quiet, gentle day, spent at home with family.
"Emboar, get them out of here!" Cheren abruptly shouted at his pokémon. "G-go!" We've bought all the time we can, friend. You guys won't do any good dying to her here, so go!
Shadow fell over his face as the pressure of her boot returned to his chest, and he yelped, jerking his head to look back up at her. "Genesect, kill them all," Rosa growled to her pokémon without ever taking her eyes off Cheren's face. She leaned more weight onto his chest, making him groan and scrabble at her calf, trying to weakly shove her off. He tried to kick at her, too, but the pain flaring up his back flattened his legs back to the ground immediately whenever he lifted them.
Frustrated and gripped by fear as he felt her slowly pushing the air out of his lungs, Cheren whimpered, wondering if this was truly the way he wanted to go. He wondered if sniveling in pain under her shoe was how he wanted to be remembered.
INTERMISSION 2
N wasn't sure just how long they had been sitting around that table, laughing and chatting away with his old family, by the time he felt his Xtransceiver start to ring.
"Who's that?" Anthea asked, tilting her head curiously at him.
"Is it Hil?! When're you gonna bring him back 'round here?" Rood started, feigning excitement as he leaned comically over the table, part of his robes almost falling into someone's drink (they groaned and jerked the glass away from his dangling sleeve). "I haven't gotten a chance to properly embarrass you around him yet!"
"As long as it's not Hugh," a former grunt dryly remarked. At the looks he received, he shrugged. "What? Yeah, yeah, he's a gym leader now, and it's been a long time, but Arceus. That dude packs a punch."
"Oh, he's not that bad anymore!" another silver-robed man laughed, elbowing the former.
"Well, I haven't forgotten!" the first retorted. Muttering under his breath, he added, "Man broke my nose…"
But even if N laughed at their exchange, he shook his head, and stepped a few feet away to answer the Xtransceiver. It was Hil—and the second he answered the call, he was somewhat confused by the fact Hil was just using the audio call feature and not the full video call. That was unusual. "Hil—"
His greeting was cut short by Hil yelling through the line, "N! I need you to get Nathan and head to Aspertia, near the Trainers' School, there's trouble with Rosa there! I tried calling him, but he didn't answer. Hurry! I already sent a report to Interpol, they'll send people to help soon, but I need help keeping her contained and from hurting more people there!"
The color drained from N's face, and he felt his mouth go dry. "Who all is at Aspertia now?" he questioned quickly, words coming rapidly now.
It apparently took Hil a second to parse N's speech, but when he did, he said, "As far as I know, just Cheren from the League. Police, of course, evacuating people, but yeah. Look, I'm almost there, I'll talk once you're here, okay? I love you."
Sputtering, N yelped, "I love you too, but—Hil!" The line cut out. "You can't be there alone!" he hissed fruitlessly at the empty line, having reverted to a more literal pokémon's voice in his stress. He and Hil had practiced telepathy, but… at such distances, with them so far apart, it just didn't work.
Oh, N had thanked his lucky stars more than enough times that Hil had somehow managed to pull that win over him those years ago back at his castle, but N had always known that Hil was hardly a battler. Unless Reshiram was involved, he floundered in matches—and although he knew Hil had her with him today, it was still an anxiety-inducing thought, that Hil would go and oppose Rosa alone. His hands were shaking as he shoved the Xtransceiver back into his pocket. N had never interacted with her himself, but he knew all about her and had read about more than a few of her and Colress' globetrotting schemes. He had heard Nathan angrily talk about her. He had heard her referred to as "a new Ghetsis."
N didn't know if that was true, but he didn't intend to find out. Steeling his nerves, he told everyone at the table of the Silver Knights he had to go, and with a quick hug shared with Anthea and Rood, he left, starting to dial for Nathan on his Xtransceiver.
If it came down to it, N wouldn't make the same mistakes with this Rosa as he had with Ghetsis.
Clenching his eyes shut again, Cheren screamed incoherently, then finally found his words. No. Absolutely not. She would have enjoyed watching him to go so savagely.
"Y-you're no better th—… than Ghetsis!" he spat, tears started to sting his eyes. "Y-you're just… t-taking your time… watching us all… s-suffer… f-for wh—what…? Ch-chasing the ghost of… a dead man!" He forced his eyes open again as he felt her shift all her weight to that boot on his chest. He barely had any air left, and the motion forced a moan of pain from his lips, but he still dared to add, narrowing his slate eyes at her fiercely. "You just… like to watch… the moment when someone loses all hope… don't you?!"
"Shut your fucking mouth!" Rosa snarled, lifting her leg off him. He took the opportunity to suck in gulps of air, though he braced himself for what he knew would come next, what with her leg raised like that dangerously above him. Yet, what came next sounded more like a desperate wail than her previous fury. "I'M NOT LIKE HIM!"
Yet, the crushing blow from her boot never came, as above him, Cheren heard an ethereal roar and an all-too familiar voice snarl, "No! Leave him alone!"
In his state, all Cheren saw was a whirl of white wings and blue fire as Rosa was hauled off him.
Hil… Cheren heaved for breath as he tossed his head back, staring at the blue sky above again. He flopped his arm over his forehead, grimacing at the cold sweat. Still staring at the sky, he gave a delirious grin. Looks like I was wrong, we did hold out long enough… Oh, thank Arceus. Looks like Shaymin isn't coming for us today after all…
Of course, he couldn't say the same about Barley. He just sniffled and wished he could have told her how grateful he was for her buying him enough time for Hil to arrive. Taking a shallow breath, he turned his head with some effort to get a good look at his friend, to see Hil astride Reshiram's shoulders. His hands and eyes both glowed that fiery, flickering blue he'd seen so very rarely on him before, despite an eerily calm expression on his face, as Reshiram held Rosa suspended by her suit. Her Genesect had started over to them before they even landed, dutifully following its master, its cannon arm poised to strike already.
He smiled, a wave of relief crashing over his beaten, adrenaline-ravaged body. He'd done his part, and everything would be fine now.
Reshiram had started swooping for Rosa even before Hil had said anything to her about it, but when he did, he only involuntary shouted, "No! Leave him alone!"
The sound had been guttural and instinctive, drawn out of him by the sight of her raising a steel boot over Cheren's chest, ready to take him out with a single, cruel blow. Hil's old friend was sprawled on his back, clearly gasping for breath, blood leaking from the corner of his mouth and from wounds on his sides. Blood stained the pavement around them, telling him there easily could have been worse injuries. A fainted Stoutland lay heaped on the ground just a foot or so away from him, and the rest of his pokémon were bruised and beaten, huddling nearby and braced for an attack that could have come at any time from Rosa's looming Genesect.
Despite it feeling as if time had stopped as Hil watched her raise that boot, he was relieved when Reshiram reached Rosa at last, snatching her by the chest of her suit. Fangs hooked on the metallic mesh, Reshiram landed a short distance away from Cheren. Yet, despite Reshiram's growling and the unspoken threat to clearly do worse than merely grab her, she didn't get the opportunity. Before Hil even had the chance to finish processing what all was happening, a beam of blue energy struck Reshiram square in her jaw, and with a spray of red, hot blood that landed on Hil's cheek and a pained howl, she was forced to drop Rosa. Hil just dug his hands into Reshiram's fur and clung on tight.
What happened?! Hil desperately tried to ask Reshiram.
The… the mechanical pokémon! It struck me… Reshiram responded, shaking out her head and grunting in pain. I'm fine. I was surprised, more than anything.
Finally looking up, Hil panted as he stared blankly at Rosa. Her Genesect had joined her, standing dutifully at her side. At least it wasn't towering over Cheren or his pokémon anymore, Hil thought bitterly, setting his jaw. He didn't know it, but his eyes had traded their usual soft brown for a bright, piercing blue that matched Reshiram's gaze, the kind that came about whenever a situation reached its boiling point. His hands felt warm, and they were smoldering with blue flame, too, but still, Hil didn't notice. Reshiram growled at Genesect, pulling her dark lips back to bare her fangs to the mechanical pokémon.
"Cheap shot!" Rosa spat, chest heaving, as she glowered up at Hil, meeting his blazing eyes with her cold, digital ones. Her Genesect still had its cannon arm raised, poised to strike Reshiram again at a moment's notice. Yet, it seemed after a moment, Rosa's conviction began to waver, and she took a step backward. Even so, she tried to maintain her pride. Her arrogance. "Why, hello there, Consul Hil!" she called out to him.
Shaking from the adrenaline, Hil looked past her, at Cheren. His pokémon had all rushed to him now that Rosa and her Genesect were away, but Cheren wasn't standing up. What was he doing? Come on, get up, get out of here, I'm here now! Hil thought impatiently, unwilling to give merit to uncomfortable thoughts that wanted to explain why Cheren might have been having trouble getting up. He gritted his teeth. You've got to be well enough to get up and get out of here!
Looking down, Hil winced at the sight of Reshiram bleeding from the cannon blast she had suffered. The fur was burned away, revealing flesh beneath, blood dribbling down her muzzle. He had never seen anything damage her that easily before… He frantically checked on Cheren again, still seeing he hadn't quite stood up yet, before his attention was called back to Rosa by her drawling something at him.
"You look like you've seen a ghost," she dryly commented, her digital eyes upturned in amusement, despite the quiver in her knees. "You're so rude, though. You interrupted right before I got to finish with Cheren. Can't you wait your turn?"
Hil set his jaw, staring intently at her, and then took a deep, deep breath. I can't fight her directly, I'll lose that, Hil thought decisively. As much as I hate to admit it… I think I'll lose that. If Genesect did that to Reshiram… then Reshiram can't take too many of those. If she goes down, we're all sitting Ducklett, because I'm not throwing Noodle at her. He continued to stare at her digital eyes, wracking his brain for what to do now. But… I don't know how long it'll be before help gets here, either. Yet, the more he stared… the more he wondered… Would fighting her have really the way to go, even if it had been an option?
Despite how tense he was, despite the anger that wanted to boil his blood after seeing what she had done to Cheren, he tried to soften his expression. Closing his eyes for just a second, he took a shuddery breath. …I hope this works… I hope this buys us time, at the least, but if I'm lucky, it calms her down and stops this for now.
"Rosa… why are you here?" he candidly asked, trying to dispel all the judgment and fury that wanted to seize his voice. Oh, it took so much to get him angry, and he knew it wouldn't quite help him in this situation, but as he looked over her, he had a hard time keeping it in check. Yet, despite it all, he succeeded in quelling his feelings. He might have even sounded gentle. Because no—fighting her wasn't really what he was there to do. His goal was to hold her off until authorities from Interpol could arrive that could help apprehend her. Escalating the situation unnecessarily was quite possibly the worst course of action.
He just needed… he just needed her to talk. He needed to calm her down.
His question visibly disarmed her. She lurched in place, blinking. "Wh—what am I doing here?" she echoed, her confusion evident despite the synthesizer altering her voice.
Nodding, Hil briefly looked past her. He saw Cheren shakily hauling himself to his feet, heavily leaning against his Emboar for support, as if he couldn't support any real weight on his own. Thank Arceus, he's up. I hope he's not hurt too bad… Before Rosa noticed him being distracted, Hil answered her directly. "…Yeah. I'm just—I'm just curious," he softly replied. Forcing a concerned look, he dared to press, "Just… how are you, today…?"
"'How are you'—what game are you playing? I'm here to blast you, you idiot!" she incredulously shot back at him, though her voice quivered slightly. "Pay attention!"
Swallowing hard, Hil shook his head at Rosa, trying to steady his racing heart. Despite his best efforts at calming himself down, though, the glow of his eyes and the smoldering of his palms never faltered, and Reshiram continued to growl at Rosa and Genesect both. "I got here after you. You couldn't have been here to hurt me…" Gingerly, he reframed his question. "What did you come here to Aspertia for, first? Maybe… maybe I can help?"
Growling in frustration, Rosa clicked a button on her helmet, the diamond-shaped visor popping up to reveal the human face below. "What do you think you're doing?" she demanded, lip curled. "Whatever it is, it won't work. I was here to see… to see some people. So, what? Is your plan to bore me with chatter until I let you handcuff me?"
"No, it isn't," he answered her honestly, exhaling some of his stress. With an awkwardly forced half-grin, he explained, "I… don't even have handcuffs with me. That's not really what I do. That's more Nathan's and the police's job than mine." (Technically, he did have the authority to force an arrest. But it wasn't power he had ever used, nor ever planned to use. It was true he didn't have handcuffs or anything of the sort on him.) "Anyway… Did something happen with them? The people you came to see?"
"…But, well. Rosa killed him, while we were all still on the gym challenge. So, it became a lot harder to talk about what happened to me," Nathan was finishing his explanation, licking his clammy lips. He'd told her everything. Rosa, his father, his mother, all of it, and despite the discomforting memories at the forefront of his mind, back in his clothes, he hadn't minded it when Hilda had gingerly threaded her fingers in his dark, messy hair. In a way, it had even… felt nice… "When I became Champion after everything was said and done, I advocated for a lot of anti-abuse campaigns a couple years after. Tried talking to some kids in shitty situations. I just kept ignoring my mother. I had no idea what else to say to her. Eventually, my story got out, as people started piecing together things I'd said here and there. It was kind of a… mess." He sighed.
Silent still, Hilda just sympathetically leaned her head against his, her fingers still looped in his split ends.
He shut his eyes, and let the words keep flowing. "My mother had to go under special protection. People were pissed she was still free. And you know, so was I, but what could I have done? I had my shitty memories of that house, my hunches that maybe she knew and didn't want to acknowledge it or knew and was afraid of the social consequences. Those aren't exactly great evidence. Sure, I could've flexed my power, thrust her in jail, thrown away the key. But the facts are just… she didn't do it. She made a fucking sick decision to ignore it, and maybe that helped him get away with it, but she didn't do it. And if I make exceptions to the rules and rights that protect Unovans to get rid of people I don't like… what would that have made me?" He licked his lips, opening his eyes again. Anger was welling in his chest as he talked about this part. Unlike the sickening, deep-seated fear that could come from memories of his father and that house, this part just plain pissed him off. He scoffed, barely keeping the trembling rage from leaking into his tone. "I'm not like Rosa. I don't just flick my wrist and decide to take people away. I protect people, but I'm not some arrogant fucking vigilante."
He paused, letting the weight of those words sink in for a moment. When the heaviness in the air started to feel oppressive, he cleared his throat to speak again. "Well, you know, it's not totally honest I ignored my mother forever after I cut ties with her. I did tell her that if I ever found out she had another kid living with her, I'd drag her through every court in Unova until I found a reason to take them away from her and whatever new shithead boyfriend she had. But yeah… That's, uh… that's the story."
"I had… no idea," Hilda quietly responded, barely audible. "I had heard some things through the news, yeah, about, uh… R-Rosa, under her name 'Queen of Diamonds,' but… The rest of it…" She slowly withdrew her hand from his head, lifting hers away from him, and looked up at him sorrowfully. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out, and she ultimately just shook her head. That made Nathan's eyes widen as he internally panicked, fearing he may have overdone it despite her repeated assurances she had wanted him to keep talking. Yet, in the end, she just said, "I can't… believe you still held onto yourself through all that."
He blinked. "What?"
"That's the kind of stuff that destroys a person," she answered, "but… you survived and not only that, held onto yourself enough to recognize you couldn't just play judge, jury, and executioner with your mother. That's incredible. Personally?" She swallowed, her voice dropping an octave. "I wouldn't have blamed you if you had pulled some strings to get rid of her. Personally, I don't know if a lot of other people under those same circumstances wouldn't have done it. That's pretty commendable, you know…" She gave a weak laugh. "I knew you were a good guy, even if you could be a dick. But now I really understand why you have three of the Swords of Justice at your side."
"I didn't do it alone," he was quick to correct her. I wasn't always as… 'understanding,' he thought with a pang of regret, remembering the viciousness he treated Hugh with in his youth. Before he could clarify on that, though, Nathan heard his Xtransceiver start to ring again, and he growled in frustration as he glared at it.
"I told them I was busy!" he spat irritably. Yet, he saw the name displaying on the screen was none other than N. Previously, Hil had tried to call him a couple of times. While it wasn't unheard of for Hil to call him over less than dire manners, N almost never called him directly—in fact, the two of them rarely talked directly about much of anything. They shared a deep respect and understanding of one another, but it wasn't the kind that led to discussion. It was more a quiet reverence as they passed one another, relying on each other in the system they worked within.
So, to have a call from him was much, much more worrying than a call from Hil. Casting Hilda a fleeting, apologetic glance, Nathan scooted off the bed to pick the Xtransceiver up from the nearby table. He pointed the device away from Hilda so his camera wouldn't catch her in the background and then answered.
N's camera was off. Weird. Frowning, Nathan brought the Xtransceiver a little closer to his face, turning his own camera off. "N? What's—"
"Nathan! We need to get to Aspertia City, now, Rosa's there with Hil and Cheren! Interpol's been alerted but we need help until they arrive!" N cut him off immediately. "Meet me at the Trainers' School!"
Nathan's blood ran cold, but he managed to snap out of it enough to adopt the sternness usually associated with his voice as he barked, "Yes. I'm on my way!"
"What's going on?" Hilda asked, having stood up now as well. She was still in nothing but her white panties and that red tank. "Did he say Rosa? What's happening in Aspertia…?"
"Thank you!" N breathlessly puffed through the Xtransceiver before the line went dead.
Shooting Hilda a look, Nathan shook his head at her as he started to gather his bag. "Stay here, I've got to go, okay?"
"What?" she blinked. "Everything you just told me, and you can't let me in on this now? Is she—is she in that… suit? Or with that… that—machine, pokémon of hers?" Suddenly alarmed, she pressed, "Wait, are you going there to fight her? You can't go there by yourself!"
Nathan was fighting to get his shoes on. "It's technically breaking a lot of confidentiality if I tell you a lot of that stuff, you know, and…" He shook his head. "I won't be alone, Hil and N are going to be there, as will agents from Interpol. I think he said Cheren was there, too. We'll have it under control." I hope.
Yet, Hilda was throwing on her clothes now, too.
With his shoes now on, Nathan locked eyes on her and groaned. Still in that commanding, Champion-of-Unova tone, he declared, "You're not going!"
"Yeah, yeah," Hilda waved him off, clearly not taking him seriously in the slightest.
He shook his head, eyes rounding with disbelief. Had she not been listening when he had talked about Rosa?! She wasn't some run-of-the-mill violent criminal! She killed for fun! She snuffed out life if it pleased her for even just a single, cheap moment! She didn't do pokémon battles like most people; she used her Genesect to keep her opponent's pokémon busy, and attacked the person directly, letting her fists and boots do the talking! And he…
He didn't want her to have a chance at taking away Hilda, and the pressure of ensuring she remained safe as well as performing his job accurately felt crushing. Worst of all, he didn't know where to go for support on this one. He was the Champion, the protector, the guardian, the iron-willed first in command. Strangely, despite how long he had worn such a title, he… couldn't remember a time he had felt so alone on something. He usually had Hugh, or Church, or… or someone to advise him, to help him make decisions. The messy question of how involved Hilda could be, should be, would be—that was a far more complex matter, even further complicated by the fact he didn't have time on his side.
…He supposed he just had to figure it out.
Rosa seemed surprised by his honesty. With an internal, bleak flicker of amusement against all his anxiety and suppressed anger, Hil supposed that was good. She wasn't trying to put holes in him and Reshiram again yet, so that was a victory as far as he was concerned. Flicking his gaze just past her as she answered him, he bit back a sigh of relief as he saw Cheren's Emboar helping walk him away at last… until he noticed the Stoutland was still laying in the same heap of fur it had been before. Hil realized with a sickening, sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that it wasn't fainted.
"Yeah," Rosa started, hesitating. "Yeah. Something did happen. They were both people I should've been able to trust. Who should have been proud of me." She raised her chin challengingly at him and a dark grin pulled at the corners of her lips. With a deliberate glance back at the rubble behind her, she sighed almost wistfully—but her voice wavered ever so slightly as she spoke. "It's too bad, really. This of all days to have to get my hands dirty…"
This of all days…? Hil swallowed. It's Mother's Day, but… that can't be what she's talking about, is it?
"What's special about today?" Hil chanced asking, his tone coming out more bitter than he'd have liked. He finally realized his eyes were glowing blue when everything around him took on a slightly azure sheen, and his vision rippled. The glow had brightened, and the blue flames smoldering his palms stood taller now, yet he still felt nothing but a pleasant warmth from them. He felt Reshiram shift uneasily just beneath him as he tried to keep his cool, keep his attention focused on her—but he found it difficult to ignore the lifeless Stoutland laying so agonizingly still behind her, or the crumbled building that must have concealed so much untold carnage to her side.
Where are you going with this? Why are we just talking? Reshiram questioned him telepathically, growling louder as she stared squarely at Genesect. The mechanical pokémon she has with her—it's strong, and its cannon shot certainly hurt, but it is especially weak to Fire-type attacks. The facts are that she could easily be overpowered by us if we play it carefully. Cheren is out of harm's way now as well, there is no reason to fear her. I can tell you understand that she has to be dealt with, too, Hil. You're angry. Let us use it.
No… I don't think it's smart not to fear her. Hil answered, locking his gaze onto Rosa. I only have you and Noodle with me, and Genesect already did a number on your muzzle. I need to buy us time until Nathan and Interpol get here, and we can put an end to this once and for all. I need her to trust me and talk to me, to calm down… He inhaled sharply. …You're right. I am angry. As hard as it is to just talk to her like this… I can't just lose my head, Reshiram.
"What do you care?" Rosa fiercely snapped at him in answer to his question, trembling despite the malice in her words. Hil could see the reflection of his fire on her helmet. He wondered if she was staring at it, and if she was… was she afraid of it? "What do you care what's so special about today?"
"I just want to… understand," Hil said, choosing his words carefully. "That's all. I know stuff about you others have told me. But I've never actually spoken to you before. Never heard your side of the story. If you'd give me the chance"—he paused, swallowing hard before continuing—"I'd like to hear what you have to say."
Despite his concentration on keeping her calm and still, right where she was, so they could potentially apprehend her that day, Hil had to admit, he was morbidly curious as to what could drive a person to do the things Rosa had done. The broken building beside them and the crumpled Stoutland behind her disgusted him, filled him with the sick, hollow anger he had only felt for Ghetsis in the past, but somewhere in there was a morbid fascination. The same, frustrated wonder that demanded to know how people could do such terrible things. How could she wrench lives away so coldly? How had Ghetsis been able to sleep at night after the lifetime of atrocities he'd led? What exactly had driven Vince to resigning himself to the short barrel of a pistol—his mother, Ghetsis, Alder, something else entirely, a mix of it all? What had led Amber to believe her scathing beratement of Vince was deserved?
Like so many others, Rosa herself was a question Hil feared might never be answered, and so, in that moment, he just wondered if he could make any sense of it, while he still had the energy to fuel his concentration and quell his anger.
Yet, at what he had said, her muscles slacked, and her mouth fell open slightly. "You… you just want to know… m-my—my side of the story…?"
Flatly, he responded, "Yeah. Just… talk."
There was a long, long pause, interjected only by the sound of her Genesect shifting its weight as it awaited orders. "Talk…" Rosa echoed him, as if tasting something for the first time, briefly shutting her eyes. "That sounds so easy… so nice. But I'm afraid I have to disappoint you, Consul Hil… I can't."
That took him by surprise. He jolted in place and Reshiram snapped her teeth in annoyance at Rosa. "What do you mean you can't?" he asked her, perhaps a little too sharply.
Rosa glared at him, shaking all over now. She jabbed a button and her visor swiftly shut over her face as she turned to face him, then screamed brokenly as she pointed at the helmet on her head, "I CAN'T! Are you deaf?"
Digging his fingertips into Reshiram's fur, Hil finally felt the anger he'd been holding back come flowing forward, and he missed the detail of her pointing at her helmet. What the hell does she mean, 'she can't?' Everything she's done, she can't even bother talking about it?!
Reshiram spread her wings and Hil felt the heat rolling off of her tail from behind them, telling him her Turboblaze had kicked into effect. Talking to her is pointless, she telepathed, glowering at Genesect now. The time for talk is over. We fight until the others arrive! Together, we are a team, Hil, never forget this! We lend one another strength!
Before anyone could make a move, though, a bright, red light washed over them all, and Hil hung on tightly to Reshiram instinctively as she took flight with a beat of her massive, feathery wings. They hovered in the air as a ball of crackling, scarlet electricity landed close enough to Rosa and her Genesect to swallow them in its angry glow. As it hit the pavement, the electricity dissipated in a shower of scarlet sparks—and when the glow faded, it revealed that Genesect had protected Rosa from the blast by hugging her close to its body and curling around her.
Looking around wildly, Hil gave a relieved grin as he spotted Zekrom hovering just to his right. N was astride his shoulders, staring at where the Fusion Bolt had fired below. Oh this confrontation was far from over, but he was so glad N had arrived. Despite the adrenaline that had compelled him to resign to fighting Rosa as Reshiram had wished, truthfully, fighting her alone was the last thing he wanted to do.
I got into contact with Nathan, he should be here soon, N's voice filtered into his mind, as if he were speaking clearly right next to him.
Hil nodded to nobody in particular. Good. We should try and keep her busy until then, but we need to be careful, if she calls the Shadow Triad—
Are you hurt?
The question threw Hil, halting his thoughts. No, I'm fine, he answered slowly, feeling keenly aware of the present again. He was suddenly much more… aware, aware that N was with him, aware that Reshiram was just below him, aware of the flames on his hands and the blue warping his vision as he stared down at Rosa below. Nervously licking clammy lips, Hil realized that his anger, in all its exhausting, fiery glory, had managed to cloud his judgment, and he inwardly cursed himself for letting it get the better of him—but more than that, he was so, so grateful that N had arrived before he had been given time to make a mistake in such a state.
Okay… I'm sorry, I just wanted to check. You scared me to death, coming out here alone and in such a rush, N growled in his mind, making Hil laugh uneasily to himself. Now what were you saying?
"Hey! Pay attention, idiots! I'M STILL HERE!" Rosa screamed at them from below, cutting Hil off before he'd even had the chance to answer N.
He ground his teeth, doing his best to ignore the flaring anger in his chest, and tried to focus on responding to N anyway—but then Reshiram gave a lurch and a roar of pain that more resembled a shriek. He flattened himself to her back, digging his fingertips into her fur to hold on, as she flailed her wings to stay aloft.
Somehow, Hil knew that Genesect must have struck her again while they were briefly distracted, and at the realization, his vision flickered pure blue for a moment. His body felt like it was on fire. His apprehension at his earlier anger faded, snuffed out like a candle, in an instant, and he felt his knuckles strain as his nails dug through Reshiram's fur and down to her scaly skin. He didn't know where this rage, where the fluttering in his chest, where the heat in his veins was coming from—it felt like someone else's, someone long lost to time—but none of that mattered. He just knew he had to do something!
Indeed, Genesect had shot a beam straight at Reshiram's thigh, a plasma ray that hit her so fast she hadn't had a hope of dodging it. It singed away her fur and feathers in an instant, pierced her hide like a knife through hot butter, leaving a gaping wound and her leg hanging slack.
Blinded with blue light, feeling that foreign righteous anger and conviction as if it were part of him now, Hil declared to N in a furious, inhuman roar, Come, let's keep her busy, now!
Hil was lost in a blue, blind rage; N had reacted, too, at the sight of Genesect striking Reshiram. Yet, despite the crackles of red electricity arcing around his hands and the glow starting around his eyes that indicated his own rising anger at the sight of Reshiram's gruesome, profusely bleeding wound, there was something intimidating about the way Hil's voice roared in his head after that, gruff and draconic in nature.
It alarmed him, made the hair on his arms and legs stand on end. It had sounded almost like Reshiram, yet had clearly still been Hil's voice—yet, somehow, it reminded him of neither of them. No, he didn't understand it; he just knew it didn't sound like the Hil he knew, and that was almost more frightening than the maniacal woman sizing them up from below.
INTERMISSION 3
Nathan had flown there as fast as he could, begrudgingly having made better time thanks to Hilda's Staraptor. Those birds were known for their strength and sheer size for a reason. Of course, the entire flight over, however short it was, Nathan had been deathly quiet, his mouth dry as cotton.
He didn't want her to come. She knew that, too—they had argued about it before leaving the hotel room, but it had gotten neither of them anywhere. Ultimately, Nathan had given up, not having time to waste, and knowing she would have just followed him with her Staraptor if he left on his Unfezant anyway. So, together they had flown, both clinging to the back of that bulky Staraptor and silent as ever, across Unova's hinterland and urbanities, toward the southwestern city of Aspertia.
When they arrived at the city, they had been treated to the sight of Rosa's Genesect holding its own against Reshiram and Zekrom both just to the west side of where the Aspertia Apartments would have been, had they still been standing. There was too much kicked up dust, too many strobing lights, too much movement to make out where any of the trainers were, but Nathan was sure they were just riding their pokémon. Still, he had felt Hilda tense, and he swallowed painfully against a lump in his throat as he gawked at the crumbled building.
There was no telling how many had died in that little gesture of Rosa's.
He shook his head. He genuinely had no idea how to guarantee Hilda would be safe during this confrontation, and that put the fear of Arceus in his heart. There were no guarantees when it came to certain people, and Rosa was one of them.
"Oh, fuck, Nathan! Look!" Hilda pulled him out of his stupor, grabbing his shoulder suddenly. She pointed a finger at the Trainers' School just below them and Nathan winced as he saw Cheren collapsed awkwardly against the front wall, his Emboar and a few other pokémon dutifully watching over him.
Sucking in a fast breath, Nathan told her to take them down, and Hilda listened. She landed the Staraptor close to Cheren's battered frame and they both stepped off. She ran over to the gym leader and gently shook his shoulders. Her voice was hard to hear amid the sounds of roaring, clashing, and fighting behind them. "Gym Leader Cheren? You there?"
Cheren stirred, grunted, but didn't wake up; even so, Nathan let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. He was alive, even if he was hurt.
"I think he just got beat up," Nathan announced, unsure if he was trying to convince himself or Hilda, his heart starting to pound. Okay. So, I can tell her to stay here with Cheren. That works out perfect, then. She'll stay here, we'll deal with Rosa, everything's fine… He reached for a couple of Poké Balls and tossed them, releasing Cobalion, Terrakion, and Zeshi all at once. As they spilled out in their beams of red, Cobalion immediately stood to attention, narrowing his eyes at the fight going down further within Aspertia; Terrakion scuffed his hooves against the earth, bristling; Zeshi, however, gave Nathan a knowing look and tilted her head.
Taking a knee in front of the Zoroark, Nathan cupped her face, giving her a rare, frighteningly desperate look. One that she hadn't seen but a handful of times before, one that looked so, so very out of place on his face. "Zeshi, listen to me," he whispered to her, flicking his gaze to Hilda, to where she was distractedly checking over Cheren's pokémon, "I need you to keep Hilda out of harm's way. Okay? Away from Rosa, away from us. Can you do that for me? Please? I know what Rosa will do to her if she gets a chance. I don't want her to get that chance. I'm going to leave Cobalion with you, too."
Zeshi licked her lips and flicked an ear, the seriousness in his tone dawning on her. Yeah, her voice weakly sounded in his mind, her blue eyes widening. You're… you're really worried about her, aren't you? You're really going to leave Cobalion…? Nathan, he's—you shouldn't leave him…
"Terrakion and Virizion should be more than enough, anyway," he firmly reassured her, shaking his head. "Please?"
Taking a deep breath, he stroked the side of Zeshi's neck gently. She licked her lips again and nodded anxiously. Yes… of course, I'll keep her out of it, if I can.
Just like that, Nathan started to let go of her, relief making his arms feel heavy. "…Thank you, Zeshi," he murmured.
With that, he patted her shoulder, and stood up again. "Hilda?"
She turned to face him expectantly.
"Can you keep an eye on Cheren here?" he asked. "I'm going to leave Cobalion and Zeshi with you." Her eyes flashed and she curled her lip to say something, but he immediately shook his head, practically begging her, "Hilda, please. He's out of it, he can't move—he needs someone to keep an eye on him and I need to go. Can I trust you with that?"
That gave her some pause. "…Yeah," she sighed in the end, looking away from him. "Yeah, I can do that."
After asking an indignant Cobalion to stay behind (which took some effort—unlike Zeshi, Cobalion wasn't nearly as easily swayed until Nathan raised his voice some) to help protect them should they need it, Nathan climbed onto Terrakion's stocky, muscular back, and with one last glance at Hilda, told the pokémon to head for the battle. Terrakion didn't hesitate after Nathan gave him the order, kicking up dust and pebbles in his wake, clearly having been anticipating running into battle the entire time.
At least now he felt like he could focus on the task at hand. Poising himself on Terrakion's back, Nathan clutched the pokémon's horns, and narrowed his eyes at the action ahead, trying to pick out what was happening.
If Rosa wanted to play some games, then they'd let her play games! They'd show her, the same as they had any other day. The fact she hadn't run off yet with the Shadow Triad was intriguing, too; was something wrong with them, or was she simply toying with them again, and she hadn't gotten bored yet?
That last thought made him so fucking angry.
If that was the case, if she had come and caused so much heartache for a cheap thrill, he'd make her regret being so damn arrogant.
"Terrakion, stop," Nathan hissed at him once they had gotten closer to the fight. He wanted to take a moment to evaluate what was happening, and how best to assist. The pokémon skidded to a halt, and Nathan looked up—and he was shocked at what he saw.
Reshiram was badly injured, bleeding from multiple wounds on her legs, muzzle, and chest. Zekrom had a part of his wing chipped, and for all Nathan knew, he was just as badly injured—it was difficult to tell thanks to his deep, black body that hid any blood. Rosa's Genesect, however, dodged their powerful Fusion Flares and Fusion Bolts as if they were nothing, as if it could follow the trajectories of the blasts exactly the moment they fired off. All Hil and N were succeeding in doing was scorching the pavement, sending blasts of wickedly hot air across the city, and exhausting their partners. As Nathan was still taking in the desperate nature of the situation, Reshiram and Zekrom landed on the ground, as if they needed a breather, and Rosa brought her Genesect to stand just in front of them. Then, he heard her start to laugh as the dust began to settle.
He narrowed his eyes, watching as Rosa jumped down from her Genesect's shoulder. There you are, he thought, tensing on Terrakion's back. Now, what's everyone doing? I don't want to mess things up if Hil and N have a plan… Then again, would they be that battered if they had a plan? And if they don't, she's standing open right now. She hasn't noticed me yet… This could be the perfect chance to knock her out!
"You're both pathetic!" Rosa scathingly spat at Hil and N as they sat astride their respective legendaries' shoulders. Reshiram had her left leg raised and was using her wings to help support herself as she stood on the ground, but the effort to do so was clearly taking a toll on her, based on the way she trembled with the effort. Blood was steadily pooling below her injured leg. Zekrom was heaving for air, his tail flickering oddly. "What will it take for you two to realize? Your blasts don't mean anything! Genesect can tell where they're going to land the second your dragons open their mouths! You're not fast enough to do anything else, either! Your dragons are too big and heavy! And you two? You yourselves are nothing! Your little light tricks on your eyes don't scare me! We could have killed you at any time! We've just been having FUN toying with you! When your dragons lay dead at my feet, I'll crush your skulls under my boots!" She heaved for breath. "Hah… Maybe I'll make you kiss my boots first, actually. I wonder how Nathan would feel to know your last moments were spent groveling at my feet?"
Hil banged his fists on the back of Reshiram's neck, on the heavy brace that protected it, the flames on his hands burning bright, bright blue for a moment. "Shut up!" he roared at her in an uncharacteristically deep, guttural voice. "This isn't how we will let this end!"
Yet, Reshiram grimaced at Hil's blows. What normally wouldn't have even fazed her had her swaying unsteadily below him. She looked as if she might fall, and Nathan realized how dire the situation was. They didn't have a plan at all—everything Rosa was saying was likely true! Nathan swallowed as he noticed N worriedly shooting glances between Hil and Rosa both, directing Zekrom protectively closer to Reshiram.
Rosa just scoffed. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, Consul Hil. Honestly, I'm surprised. I heard you were all soft and good-hearted, but you've been raving like a lunatic during this fight. No matter. I'll put you out of your misery soon enough…~"
"You'll do no such thing!" N snarled at her, sounding more Zoroark than man.
…They don't have any of those attacks left, they're barely keeping up, that's why they landed, Nathan thought with a bolt of alarm. Panicking, he realized he had to do something. Shit, shit— "Terrakion, go, run into her, now! Full speed!" he hissed in the pokémon's ear, then held on tight. "Knock her down!"
Wasting no time, Terrakion leapt forward into a sprint, aiming straight for Rosa's back. Neither her nor her Genesect had noticed them still. Yet, as they closed the distance over what felt like a small eternity, gunning across the asphalt for her, Nathan saw her point at Reshiram.
"Hmm… What to finish you with, though?" he just barely heard Rosa say, then start to cackle.
Reshiram's eyes widened, and she immediately flared her wings, beating them against the air to try to haul herself off the ground, but her body was sluggish. When she moved her wings, she lost her balance, too. She started to fall, Hil going with her. Zekrom hobbled in front of them, and N defensively yelled at Rosa to back off, though Nathan could hear the edge of fear in his voice.
"Can you at least tell me why?" N asked her, breath coming raggedly. "I… These days, at least I sort of know what my father was after, even if I don't understand why he wanted it. He wanted to control Unova. What do you, Rosa, have to gain from destroying this city, from hurting us?"
"Shut up! You wouldn't understand it, even if I told you!" Rosa shouted at him. "It makes me feel better! Is that a good enough answer for you? Now, stand over him if you want, it'll just mean it only takes one good blow to kill all four of you. Makes it really easy. Now, Genesect…!"
Nathan gripped Terrakion's horns tighter, and leaned forward, putting a little pressure on his head to point the horns down. He dug his ankles in to the pokémon's flanks. Without uttering a word, he was urging him to speed up, to strike her as hard as he could, to make it count. Suddenly, he wasn't thinking in terms of just disabling her, of apprehending her; he wasn't thinking about Interpol, or Hilda, or anything else. All he was thinking about was closing the distance between himself and her and stopping her from ordering that monster at her side from killing his friends. From destroying the peace they had brought to Unova so far.
Yet…
When Terrakion was just feet away from her, when it would have been so easy to keep quiet and let him gore her and throw her to the ground, silencing her once and for all… He felt a sharp bolt of visceral fear in his chest. Or, at least, he supposed it had to have been fear; he wasn't sure what else he could have called that gripping, violent feeling that ripped through him like a shot of lightning. Alarm bells sounded in his head as he realized if Terrakion struck her this hard, from this speed, he would most likely kill her. In an instant, his mind's eye flashed with images of him goring her, or breaking her back, or something else just as horrendous.
More terrifyingly, in that split-second, he realized how he still hated that thought. After all this time, after everything she had done, despite all the people she had killed and maimed, despite the urgency of this moment, despite all she had done to him, even, the thought of taking her life made him sick to his stomach and made that bolt of fear painfully tear through him all over again. Suddenly, all he could think of was that morning they had shared back in the Pokémon Center the day of the battle at the Plasma Frigate and Giant Chasm, or all the small talk they had shared as kids, how she had been his friend despite his thorny and biting exterior while he lived at home with his awful father. No matter how much he lashed out, no matter how much he put up walls around himself—she was there.
The conversation he'd had with her when she declared herself his enemy replayed in his mind, fighting with the blood roaring in his ears to be heard.
"Fine! Then just kill me and get it over with!"
"What? Why would I kill you? Rosa, what happened? I've known you for years! When…? When did you start working for them, what… what happened?"
…
"…I'm not like you, Rosa. I'm not here to just torment and kill someone because I feel like it."
Just as they got close enough to have ended it all and put an end to this would-be tragic tale of two friends, one turned villain and one turned hero, Nathan cried out. He clenched his eyes shut, jerked Terrakion's horns to the side, and yelped out, like a whimpering, terrified child more than the man he knew himself to be. "Watch—watch it, watch out!"
He didn't see, because he was too busy panting for breath and holding his eyes shut, terrified to see the consequences of his failure to follow through, but Rosa had whirled around when he had yelled out, bewilderedly gawking at him as Terrakion came to a screeching halt, sparks flying from the friction of his hooves on the asphalt. The pokémon shook his head violently to free his horns of Nathan's grasp, huffing in aggravation, clearly just as confused at what Nathan had done as Rosa. There was a moment where it was silent as the dust settled and everyone—Hil, Reshiram, N, Zekrom, Rosa, Genesect, Terrakion—just stared at Nathan… until he dared to look up.
"Then you're an idiot. I just tried to kill you. What makes you think I won't do it again?"
"So… you are here," Rosa whispered, the malice from earlier gone from her tone. She clicked the button on her helmet to make her diamond-shaped visor pop up, revealing her face. Her eyes were round. "You… what were you…?" She paused, blinking fervently, before continuing. "…Why… why did you… warn me?"
"I guess I am an idiot. I won't hurt you. But I'm not helping you, either."
"I didn't warn you! I'm not helping you!" Nathan contemptuously retorted immediately, even if he sounded unconvincing, least of all to himself. Shakily, he took hold of Terrakion's horns again, and narrowed his eyes at her. He panted, trying to summon the hate he had felt for her only moments ago. Where was all that resolve to stop her from hurting his friends?! No, 'hurting' was too gentle a word—killing. She had wanted to kill them. So, why did he all of a sudden have such cold feet?! Hell, she had already tried, given Reshiram and Zekrom's states! He had to do BETTER! "Terrakion—!"
"Yes, you did warn me!" Rose screamed at him, an almost juvenile frustration creeping into her tone. She curled her lip at him as she snarled, "Why are you lying? Answer me! Why did you warn me?"
"What the hell does it matter to you, Rosa? Even if I did?" Nathan defensively spat, dodging her question yet again. Yet… he swallowed hard afterward, against a lump rising in his throat, feeling his hands tremble even worse as he clung to Terrakion. …I did warn her. Oh, my Arceus, I warned her… I betrayed everyone with that… Why did I do that…?
"What would you have had to gain from warning me?" Rosa pressed, gaze uncomfortably fixed on him, in a way that made him think of a predator staring down its prey.
For once… Nathan was at a loss for words. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. Just past Rosa, he saw that N was checking up on Hil and their dragons, but Hil was staring back at Nathan, giving him a blank, unreadable look that nestled a seed of guilt deep in Nathan's heart.
"No… you have nothing to gain," Rosa finally admitted when the silence drew on between them all for too long. She pulled her lips into a cruel, wicked smile that more resembled a grimace. "You just have everything to lose, don't you?"
"What do you have to gain from this, Rosa?" Nathan shot her question back at her. "Tell me. What do you have to gain?"
"You never fucking learn, Nathan," Rosa growled, her lower lip trembling. Her visor clicked shut over her face again, those ghostly, soulless white eyes illuminating on the helmet immediately. "I have everything to gain from all you have to lose." She shifted her weight and took a deliberate, slow, threatening step toward him. Her voice, synthesized by her helmet, sounded so much more commanding and ruthless now. "Wherever you go, whatever you accomplish, whoever you think you're protecting… I'll be there to wrench it all away, Nathan—and I'm going to love every second of it."
Nathan was shaking his head before she had even finished. "Rosa…"
"Get away from him!" Nathan heard Hil roar in a strained voice, but nobody paid him any attention.
Rosa raised a hand, pointing a finger at Nathan… then lowering it until it was pointed at Terrakion's forehead. "Genesect, Plasma Beam!"
He hadn't a moment to react before Genesect had dutifully raised its cannon arm at him, and he stared at the barrel of its arm as the blue light charged, then struck Terrakion point blank. A loud, ear-shattering boom sounded as it hit, then Nathan's ears rang, and he saw white as he hit the ground, his skull colliding brutally with the asphalt. Pain billowed in his skull, and then his left leg as Terrakion landed on top of it, bowled over from the force of the blast.
Eyes dazedly rolling in his skull from it all, he tried to howl out, but he just coughed and choked at a sudden rush of warm, tangy fluid in his mouth instead. When he finally spat it out, blood pooled around his lips, and he found it so, so difficult to breathe. More blood dribbled from his nose. Gasping for air in between whimpers of pain, Nathan instinctively tried to move, to get up and evaluate what had happened, but the moment he tried to move his trapped leg, pain shot like a bolt of lightning through his body, and he screamed. He barely heard it, thanks to his still-ringing ears, but he did—he screamed a piercing howl.
The scream eventually gave way to whimpers, which gave way to grunts of mixed pain and anger, and when his vision wasn't so blurred and whited out with pain, Nathan shakily raised a fist. He struck the pavement again and again until he felt the sting of the grit in his palm, saw blood surfacing on the skin, and he started to lose consciousness.
Why couldn't I just fucking HIT HER? he thought, furious despite his delirium. FUCK HER! I shouldn't care about her! Next time—next time I won't falter! Next time—next time I'll fucking—I'll kill her! That's it! I have to! The Rosa I knew—she's gone! If I get this chance again—if I find I can kill her in the future—I… I HAVE to do it.
No matter what it takes.
"Now!" Hil yelled while Rosa and Genesect had their backs turned. It had been hard to watch Terrakion and Nathan go down like that, but with Rosa and her pokémon finally distracted, he and N had the opportunity they needed. Whatever had happened to Nathan and Terrakion had already happened; they just had to stop this, now.
So, Reshiram and Zekrom summoned the last of their energy into a final, combined Fusion Flare and Fusion Bolt—which struck Genesect in the back, lighting the creature up in flames. Sparks shot out from its every limb, and it crumpled forward, smoke wafting off its crackling and smoldering body. Whatever had just transpired with Nathan and Rosa, Hil hoped Nathan and Terrakion would be okay, but he felt so, so grateful that they had managed to eliminate the threat of Genesect at long last.
Rosa had yelped and jumped away from the attacks, shielding her helmeted face with her arms. When the blasts dissipated, she stared for a second at her Genesect's broken, smoldering body, then lifted an Ultra Ball to recall it. "Damn it!" she shrieked, stamping one of her steel boots on the pavement. "God-fucking-damn it!"
Glaring at Terrakion and Nathan's unmoving forms, she raised her shoulders, and Hil realized she had turned her aggression to them. "You're always getting in my FUCKING HEAD!" she screamed at Nathan's motionless frame. "FUCK YOU, Nathan fucking Daniels!"
Yet… just as Hil's blood ran cold and he thought that he and N, exhausted and beaten as they were, would watch Rosa snuff out Nathan before their very eyes, before she got to him or Terrakion, someone new cried out.
"Ic—Icy Wind!"
A gust of snow blew across Rosa's form, and she incoherently yelled out as the frigidity seized her muscles, her arms crossed in front of her face. Icy crystals formed on her suit, frosting over her joints, seemingly holding her in place. Something about the cold seemed to especially bother her, as she grunted and yelped at every attempt to move. Hil jerked his head to follow the source of the attack, to see just who had interjected, and found Hilda standing just a few feet away. A Kingdra hovered beside her, and while it stared unknowingly at Rosa's chilled form, Hilda's eyes were round as saucers, her hands shaking violently. Her knees were threatening to buckle as she started to slowly backpedal. Cobalion rushed from behind her over to the fallen Nathan and Terrakion, and a warping shadow materialized beside Hilda as Nathan's Zoroark revealed herself.
"St-stay where you are!" Hilda tried to order Rosa, her voice cracking halfway through. With that, she tripped over her own feet as she tried to rush to Nathan's aid, half-stumbling to him more than anything. "Oh… Nathan…" Hilda's words devolved to incoherency as she struggled with her Xtransceiver to call for help that Hil knew would fall on deaf ears until he or N declared it safe for emergency personnel to approach the city again.
Zeshi took her former place, baring her teeth until her gums were visible as she growled threateningly at Rosa. The message was clear to Hil: You stay right where you are.
Hil felt a surreal sense of disbelief as he looked over Rosa's stilled form. Had a simple Icy Wind freezing her suit to her body finally stopped her? Was this really it? Was… was it over? He looked up at the sky they had just been fighting in, at Hilda hunched over Nathan and the fallen Terrakion, then over at N and the breathlessly puffing Zekrom. N, thankfully, was fine, even if Zekrom was badly scuffed and scraped. (Reshiram had stayed on the ground after she had lost her balance, but at least now she was laying more comfortably.)
When N noticed Hil staring, he locked eyes with Hil for a moment, as if studying him. Are you sure you're feeling alright? he heard N ask him telepathically.
…Yeah, I am, Hil responded, looking back over at Rosa. The blue that had blinded him while in the air had all but dissipated now, and his hands weren't even warm anymore. I just… He took an uneasy breath. Is it really over…? Can we cuff her and call the all-clear? Why isn't she calling the Shadow Triad…?
They may not be… available, for her to call… N answered, clearly uncomfortable with the suggestion. When Hil didn't say anything in response, N just said that he was going to check on Nathan to retrieve some handcuffs, so they could hold her until Interpol arrived to take her into custody.
Yet, as N went to pass Rosa, casting her an uncomfortable glance over his shoulder, Zeshi's fur abruptly bristled and stood on end. The Zoroark barked a high-pitched, yelping sound, leaping away from Rosa, her warning clear: Watch out, get away from her!
Hil's breath hitched, his alarm at Zeshi's warning never getting the chance to manifest as words, and N didn't manage to heed the warning in time, either. A blue forcefield sprung up around Rosa, catching some of N's hair as he passed, cleaving a few strands clean off his ponytail. He yelped in shock and jumped away, scrambling back over to Hil's side, eyes wide and chest heaving, as they both looked on to see what was happening now.
Zekrom and Reshiram both growled warningly at the strange, blue forcefield, despite Hil and N both knowing all too well neither of them had anything left to give. They weren't left in suspense for too long, however; within seconds, a familiar man materialized within the forcefield, flanked by two dark-clad figures with white, thinning hair.
"So, they are alive…" N whispered, shakily examining where the forcefield had cut his hair, no doubt wondering if it would have done the same to any other part of him.
The mere thought of that made Hil's teeth grind as he looked over Dr. Colress and the two Shadow Triad members. "It's over!" Hil snarled at him, a tad more fiercely than what sounded normal on him. Reshiram managed to use some of her remaining strength to balance on the knuckles of her wings and her one good leg, all to unsteadily stand on the side of Hil that N wasn't occupying. Then, she lowered her head until it was parallel with Hil's and bared her fangs at Dr. Colress and the two Shadow Triad brothers.
Unknown to Hil, N was staring at him again. His voice had taken on that unusually guttural cadence once more, and his eyes were starting to flare that ferocious, fiery blue.
"You're right, it is over, Mr. Whitacre," Dr. Colress announced from within the safety of the forcefield he had summoned around them. The flick of blue hair—which, Hil knew was not really hair at all, but nonetheless, that was what it looked like—that circled his head flashed with sparks on occasion as he spoke. "None of this ever should have happened. We will leave now." After that, he swallowed hard, and cast a nervous glance at Rosa. Under different circumstances, Hil might have noticed how stressed Dr. Colress looked; the lines etched in his face as he evaluated Rosa's frozen form spoke volumes.
"Wait!" N called out, interrupting Dr. Colress just as he had opened his mouth to say something else, no doubt to request the Shadow Triad take them elsewhere. After a brief pause, where N flicked his gaze from one of the dark-clad brothers to the other, he said in a strangled tone, "…Please. Stay, for a moment, Quiet, Loud…"
The two remaining brothers of the Shadow Triad went rigid when N called them those names. Dr. Colress blinked, glancing between the both of them, but then shook his head vigorously. "Never mind him!" the scientist barked. "Shadow Triad, take us home. This is enough excitement for one day…"
Yet, they went nowhere, and Hil let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding as he stared at N. Is he… is he actually going to manage to negotiate with them?
"Quiet, Loud… Dr. Colress and Rosa have done a lot of painful things," N continued, his speech picking up in speed in his anxiety. He took a step toward the forcefield, though he was careful not to get too close, having gotten a taste earlier of what that metaphysical blue barrier could do. He shook his head. "I know you feel you… you have to be loyal to them, but it's just not true. I know there is more to the both of you than that…" He paused. "Unova is beautiful, and I want you both to see that, too. There is more to the world than simply obeying someone. So many of us that lived in that castle have discovered that, you know… This could all end today. Quiet, Loud… Please—"
"No, Lord N."
"We cannot do that."
N stopped dead in his tracks, as if surprised by the finality in their voices.
"We have orders," the first brother elaborated, "and we must fulfil them."
"And why is it we should listen to you beyond who we are loyal to?" the other Shadow Triad brother explained his own reasoning, somewhat defiantly, clearly thinking very differently from his counterpart. Yet, when Hil took his eyes off N and actually looked at the brother speaking, he realized the brother wasn't looking at N at all. His dark eyes were squarely locked onto Hil, and his lips twitched as he spoke. "To speak candidly, Lord N, all people seem to do things that cause pain. Even the one you find yourself standing beside so much. I think you are happy, N, and I think my brother and I appreciate that, but this is the last time we will call you Lord, N. There is no reason for us to obey you beyond Dr. Colress and Miss Rosa."
Wincing, the anger Hil had felt resurfacing just a moment ago started to fade. Reshiram turned her head to face him, a curious look in her eyes, as if asking him what was going on. He swallowed against a tongue of sandpaper. It's me, Hil thought as he looked down at the asphalt below his feet, wondering how Reshiram hadn't pieced it together yet. Because… because of what Reshiram did to their brother on the Frigate…
"I apologize for today," Dr. Colress quietly said once the brothers had said their piece, which had left N speechless. "We'll go now."
Truthfully, Hil had wanted to demand what he meant by 'apologize' or by the empty sorries he had given earlier, but he suddenly felt utterly drained and didn't have it in him to be angry anymore. Tears stung at his eyes, and he felt a fierce wave of nausea that threatened to bring him to his knees. He only looked up in time to watch Dr. Colress, Rosa, and the two Shadow Triad brothers disappear all at once.
Whatever fearsome high Hil had been riding for the duration of the battle had come crashing down the moment they left, leaving him bitterly aware that despite the struggle, despite the loss of life… they were no closer to apprehending Rosa than they had been the day she had revealed herself to be part of Neo Plasma. Once again, she had run circles around them, leaving just a few words of hers echoing in his head.
"That sounds so easy… and yet… I can't."
INTERMISSION 4
Thankfully, Terrakion had just been knocked cold by the blast from Genesect's 'Plasma Beam' ("Tch, bet she thinks that move name is real clever," Nathan had venomously remarked when Hil and N had first come to speak to him after he had been stabilized, so they were all on the same page about what had happened. "I didn't take the bitch for the type for puns.") rather than killed, despite it having struck him point-blank on the face. Nathan had bitterly supposed that was a better outcome than what he had expected, considering the way Terrakion had limply flopped over on his leg after had made him almost certain she had killed him.
Beyond that, Cheren was okay, too—he had suffered an injury to his back, which had left him in pain as staff came up with a treatment plan, but he would be okay, and he was walking again. Hil and N had only had superficial injuries, and a trip to a Pokémon Center and a few days of rest was all Reshiram and Zekrom required. Nathan himself had suffered several fractures in his left leg thanks to Terrakion's full weight crashing onto him among a few other problems that had been quickly addressed, but he would be fine as well. Miraculously, he had somehow avoided a concussion or skull fracture despite how hard his head had hit the ground.
Of course, knowing they were all fine left a bittersweet taste in Nathan's mouth, as he knew the people in the Aspertia Apartments weren't as lucky as they all were, knew they had deserved better.
Bizarrely, Rosa had apparently come to visit her parents, but her father had managed to phone police before things spiraled out of control. Evacuations had already begun before she brought the building down, and while her father's actions undoubtedly saved the lives of most of his neighbors, a dozen or so had ultimately succumbed to injuries related to the collapse—including Rosa's parents themselves. (Of course, as sick as it made Nathan to acknowledge, their fate had been decided from the moment they had opened the door for her; all Unovan police and other public servants were on a Do-Not-Engage Order, or DNEO, when it came to Rosa and Dr. Colress, unless otherwise permitted by Nathan himself or the Consuls. He had done that for their own safety after she had slaughtered dozens of officers and community aids in places outside of Unova, and he had implored other regions to do the same, to just call Interpol agents in as necessary for her.)
More than those who had lost their lives, hundreds of people had lost their homes and belongings in the senseless attack, their lives gone in a metaphorical sense if not literally.
That's what it all was.
Senseless.
So, as Nathan lay there, recuperating in the hospital bed with his left leg bandaged like a fragile item (possibly more heavily bandaged than necessary after his numerous annoyed attempts at leaving before the staff were ready to discharge him), he had been allowed to stew over his inability to perform his job that day, been left to stew over the knowledge he now had that Rosa intended to continue tormenting him, and everyone and every thing, that he loved, every single opportunity that she got.
It was unacceptable that it had taken them all so long to get there, get the situation under control—pfft, as if they'd even gotten it under control in the end—and then it was unacceptable that he had choked when others had been depending on him to stop Rosa, by any means necessary. It was unacceptable that Rosa could brush aside their past friendship so easily, to the point she had threatened all he loved and stood for, but he couldn't separate the monster she was from the friend she had once been.
Sure, he could have sat there, feeling sorry for himself—but he knew it wouldn't have changed anything. No matter how hollow his chest felt after all that had happened, no matter how badly he wished to let the wounded feeling consume him and pull him under for a while, he knew it was his job to push that aside and protect Unova, as he had once vowed to do. He had already started to handle some of the reasons things had gone so terribly wrong that day.
To begin, Interpol's closest facility to Unova was quite the distance away, well off the northwestern coast of Sinnoh, deep in its snowy, mountainous ranges. He had called alongside N and Hil to chew them out on why they needed them to have agents stationed closer to Unova (which meant, really, that N and Hil had provided their permission for Nathan to speak on their behalf, and he had laid into them with his wickedly sharp tongue, as neither of the Consuls had the heart to do it themselves—but oh, after the recent week he'd endured, Nathan did).
More than that, he had requested help from some more technologically gifted folks working in the League to come up with a rapid, secure communication system that exclusively included high-ranking League officials, so that if anything like that happened again, they weren't relying on just Xtransceivers and spotty text messages. The new system would be software that installed on Xtransceivers, as well as standard cell phones, but would stand out from its normal communication abilities in that the notifications for emergencies would be impossible to silence and the networks it ran on would be given high priority by Unova's telephone towers and Internet lines. If hell broke loose again as it had that day, every gym leader and Elite Four member would know at once, as well as himself, N, Hil, and any select others they decided were authorized for it.
Yet, that didn't solve all of it. There was one more problem: himself. Ensuring that he didn't fail to act in a similar situation in the future.
The entire ordeal had just left his head spinning, left him so bitterly angry at himself in a way he hadn't felt in a long, long time. It was a worst-case scenario come true; a bad dream that had taken on life—that day in Aspertia should not have happened. Rosa shouldn't have been allowed to get anywhere near the apartments, she shouldn't have been able to run circles around the two strongest pokémon in the Unovan Pokémon League, yes, but most importantly: Nathan should not have let that fear that had ripped through him cost them their chance at capturing or stopping Rosa once and for all.
He had felt terror before, more times than he cared to acknowledge, so why had that time been different? When she was violently parading through a city full of civilian homes and lives, with two badly injured League members and their equally as weak pokémon at her mercy, the last thing anyone needed was for him to be suffering an internal war of morals. If his failure to follow through had led to Rosa murdering Hil or N, or… or even Hilda (who he had been told had come to their rescue, likely the only reason he was even alive now)… He swallowed. If his failure had led to that… truthfully, he didn't know what he would have done to pick up the pieces.
Of course, despite all his bitter frustration with himself, Nathan knew exactly why he had choked. A tiny voice in the back of his mind reminded him that despite all she had become… when he had been so dreadfully alone, enduring his father's inflicted 'love,' Rosa had possibly been the only person in the world that had given him passive, consensual love. It had been an innocent, puppyish love—the simple love one finds in everyday mundanities. But there were days where he had avoided her, and she hadn't punished him for it; there had also been days where he actively sought her out, spoke with her for hours over the phone, and she accommodated him all the same.
In his years as Champion, Nathan had learned to fight, and fight to the fierce, bitter end, for what he loved—and it had never occurred to him that there would come a day where he had to choose between loves. That day in Aspertia had asked him to choose between the passively comforting friend he had once appreciated, that had once so gently loved him at a time when he was shattered, and then the region, the friends, that had helped put him back together as a teenager—that had shown him enough love to do so, and that he loved, too.
Choosing between those he loved had turned out to be a much more horrific dilemma than he cared to admit, and so, Nathan tried to tell himself that he didn't love Rosa. At least, he didn't love who she had become. No, this new Rosa had made it clear to him with her declaration of war at the end of their encounter that when it came to her, he couldn't afford to hold onto those feelings. She wasn't his old friend. That girl, whoever she had been, was long, long gone. This Rosa, the monster without an endgame, who attacked on whims and gut feelings and sported a suit that could put most sci-fi movies to shame, was not who he had once loved.
Though, he supposed it wasn't entirely honest to say she didn't have an endgame—he knew that she hated him, even if only Arceus himself could have understood why, but more than that, she had told him quite plainly of her intent to make him suffer. That seemed to be her one and only goal: to ensure he suffered, and she would destroy or hurt anyone else she could get her hands on to make sure of that.
That was where his thoughts had led him that day, lying absentmindedly in the hospital bed, Zeshi draped across his lap, asleep. (The doctors had chided him more than a few times about letting her so near his leg, but he had irritably shot back at them that he would move her if he needed to.) All of his thoughts funneled him back to the same conclusion he had deliriously reached moments before he had passed out from the pain and blood loss during his encounter with Rosa that day: that if he got the chance again, he could not falter; no matter what he felt, no matter who he thought he was, he couldn't allow his moral panic to cloud his judgment.
He did not love this monster she had become, and as such, he would end her.
Idly rubbing Zeshi's ears, trying to dispel those unpleasantly tense thoughts, his heart sank when he heard the door to his room open, refusing to look over at it. He already knew who it was. When his touch grew rougher as his anxiety climbed, Zeshi sleepily opened her eyes, flicking an ear against his fingers.
"Hey… How are you feeling today?" Hilda asked quietly. He could hear her shoes squeaking slightly on the floor as she shuffled further into the room, then clicked the door shut behind herself.
Realizing he had to choose between Rosa and his region, however, was not the only dilemma Nathan had come to acknowledge.
Hilda came and saw him every day, and the truth was, he was so, so grateful for it—it had felt so completely, unexpectedly kind and loving for her to check up on him as she did, and his heart ached with how much he wanted to just accept her gestures. But… he couldn't, and it killed him, knowing that. It just wouldn't have been right, not after Rosa's declaration at the end of their confrontation. He knew, from what Hil and N had explained, that the reason everyone had walked away from that Mother's Day alive was because of Hilda's brave actions in attacking Rosa while she was distracted, followed by Dr. Colress bizarrely calling Rosa off the offensive in the end, but knowing all of that didn't quell the fear Nathan felt. That terrible Sunday would not be the last of Rosa, she had assured him of that much, and by attacking her, Hilda had almost guaranteed Rosa knew about her now—and as such, Nathan had every reason to believe Rosa intended to use Hilda against him, seeing her as little more than a card in her vile game, to discard whenever she saw fit.
With all of that on his mind, the thought of Hilda being so close to him was, truthfully, terrifying. Yet, even knowing that… Nathan had been unable to broach the subject with Hilda so far. Every time she came to see him, he would tense and look away, go utterly silent as everything he wanted to say refused to surpass his lips. This wasn't a battle he could just fight and have it over with; this was something that would hurt, hurt both of them, and that would take patience and discipline to see through. He knew Hilda would be upset about it, too—and that part about killed him, too. Knowing he had to push her away, and knowing it would hurt her, even if he felt it ultimately was for her own good.
This time, he was choosing between his protective love, the fierce, combative love that wished to keep her safe… and then the yearning, gentle love that made him enjoy her company, made him want to sneak away to see her in his every free moment, that made him want to hold her close and never let go. Unlike with Rosa, he couldn't convince himself not to care about one side of this dilemma; he had to choose—and he had decided that it was in her best interest to stay as far away from him as she could. As much as it pained him, it would have been selfish to put her in danger just so he could love her more in the way of the latter of the options.
"Nathan…" Hilda softly said, and he got the sense she was standing right beside him. "Please… can you talk to me?"
All at once, it had come bursting out of his lips as he turned to face her, whatever had been damming his words breaking at last. He supposed he had found his willpower in the end. "Hilda, I don't think we should see each other anymore," he had hoarsely whispered to her without quite meeting her gaze.
For a long, long moment, she stared at him, flexing her jaws but never uttering a word. He could read in her eyes, as if they were a book spread before him, that she was searching frantically for something to say to such a sudden, harsh statement. In the end, it seemed all the words in the Galarish failed her except for a simple, strangled, "…What?"
Zeshi gave a soft whine, lifting her head. Nathan… her voice echoed in his mind, you don't have to do this, you know… I really don't think it's a good idea…
Much like her, Nathan wracked his brain for something, anything, to explain, but he felt as if there were no words he knew that could carry the weight of all he wanted to say to Hilda. So, instead, he lamely averted his gaze, resting his hands on Zeshi's fluffy chest and shoulders, rubbing her anxiously, unsure if he was comforting the Zoroark or himself anymore. For so long, he had believed himself to be fierce, had prided himself on his severity—but a dilemma of the heart like this felt as if it were ripping him apart from the inside out. This was far more brutal than any battle he had ever endured.
"Why would you say that?"
Despite her quivering voice, he still didn't dare look up at her. A lump started to form in his throat and his eyes stung.
"…You're not going to answer, are you?"
…No, because if I look at you, I'm pretty sure I'm going to start crying. I don't want that to be what you remember from me.
"Nathan… Look. I heard you warn Rosa, and I saw you stop Terrakion, before you got to her."
He winced at that, and clenched his eyes shut.
"And I'm not mad! I'm not upset! You told me about everything, remember? Trust me, I get it! I'm not… I'm not upset with you because you c-couldn't"—she scoffed—"seriously injure your childhood friend, you know? I promise…"
Swallowing hard against that painful lump in his throat, Nathan shook his head more and more as she spoke. "That's not it, Hilda," he all but whimpered once she was done. Finally daring to meet her gaze with a tormented look, he whispered, "It's not that at all. I… I know you're not mad. If you were, you wouldn't keep coming to see me. That's not the point. The point is, Hilda, she told me that she plans to do whatever she can to hurt me—and after that day, she's got to know about you. If you're with me, she's going to hurt you. Do you understand that?"
His eyes started to well with tears, and he saw Hilda's grow glassy as she responded. "W-well, like you said, she already knows about me, so how do you think this even fixes anything? That she won't just try to hurt me, anyway?"
Giving a shuddery sigh, Nathan shook his head. "I'm going to put you in on a new communications network we're setting up. If she goes after you anyway, we'll all know in a heartbeat. Hilda—"
"That's not the point, Nathan!" she interrupted him, stamping a foot in defeated frustration and erupting into tears all at once. "And you know it!"
"Hilda!" Nathan forced himself to look at her, despite how seeing her so upset shredded his heart more, made his own tears start to leak free. Zeshi nudged one of his hands with her muzzle, trying to offer her silent support. "Listen to me! I know what your point is. I don't… I don't really want this either, you understand that, right? But—but Hilda… I choked," he whimpered. "Hilda. You—you know me. I'm not afraid of much, but… do you know how terrifying it is to know that, if you're with me, and something like that happens again… that there's a chance I could choke again, and you end up seriously hurt because of it? Rosa"—he cut himself off, grimacing against the sound of her name on his tongue—"that… that person that she is now. She doesn't take prisoners, Hilda. She will hurt you. She will kill you, given the chance. I don't… I don't want to take that chance, Hilda. Please." He was pleading now, voice raw as he begged her. "Please don't make me take that chance, Hilda. Please…"
"Why do you get to decide?" Hilda retorted, almost cutting him off. Her glassy eyes hardened as she glared down at him, starting to pace along the length of his hospital bed. "Why do you get to decide if I take that chance? I knew there would be danger when I went with you that day to Aspertia, Nathan! I still chose to go!"
Unrelenting, Nathan just begged again. "Please."
"Unbelievable. I've ran away from danger all my life, Nathan! Did you know that?" Hilda spat at him, her voice cracking under her emotions about halfway through. "I ran from Unova when everything with Team Plasma started getting scary, I ran from every other region at the first sign of trouble, and I only came back when I knew things were safe again. Did you know that? Despite how much of a c-… coward I've always been, though, Nathan, I chose to go with you. I chose to attack a person that frightens me more than I can put into words because I wanted to help you. All of that… means nothing to you?"
"Of course it doesn't mean 'nothing' to me," Nathan softly replied, shaking his head at her. He sniffled and brushed a hand over his face, trying to clear some of the tears that had accumulated. "I promise you that this isn't arrogance…" He inhaled sharply, then rasped through a choked voice, "I just can't bear the thought of her targeting you because of me… I can't bear how selfish it would feel to behave as if nothing changed, to put your safety at risk, just so I can be with you, Hilda." Stifling a sob that wanted to grip his entire body, Nathan's gaze defeatedly fell to her shoes, finding it too difficult to look her in the eyes now, all before he just shook his head and all but mewled, "Hilda, I love you. I'm… I'm sorry if I never made that clear before, but… I do, and I promise you, this hurts. Hilda, please… don't make us take the chance."
Shuffling told him that Hilda had shifted closer to him, as did the slight shadow that fell over him. He froze as she leaned down and hugged him, his only movement being his fitful gasps for breath as he quelled sobs, waiting for what she had to say on the matter. Yet, it seemed that this hug was what she had to say… at least, for now. As the silence stretched on, Nathan shakily wrapped his arms around her as best he could, given his limited range of motion in that hospital bed, and buried his face between her chest and arm.
"I love you too, Nathan," she finally responded, her fingers running through some of his messy, dark hair. "…I still d-don't like it, and I… I think this is a mistake. But… okay."
He clung to her tighter, painfully aware that when he let go, they would be over.
"But this can't last forever. You know that, right?" she whispered in his ear, her voice taking on a steely determination. "She can't terrorize Unova, can't terrorize you, and us, forever. One day, this'll end. And when that happens, promise me you'll be there. Okay? Because I know I will be."
Giving a sad, small snicker, Nathan patted her back, nestling his face further into her clothes. "I promise," he choked out, muffled by her body. "I promise, Hilda. I'm—one way or another, I'm going to stop this." More fiercely, he emphasized, "I can promise you that."
Gently pushing on his shoulders, making him reluctantly unravel his arms from her at last, she smiled down at him with glassy eyes. "I know."
As Hilda left the room, Zeshi inched her way further up his bed, and Nathan just hugged the Zoroark. He had no idea how long they sat like that, his arms coiled tightly around the thick, fluffy fur of her chest, his face buried under her chin and eyes clenched shut, only that he held her like that until exhaustion pulled him to sleep again.
Weeks and weeks later, long after Aspertia had recovered, long after Nathan's leg had healed, all was quiet in Unova. In fact, all was quiet the globe over as far as Rosa and Dr. Colress were concerned. Nathan had been keeping open communication with the other regions' leaders, but nobody had so much as seen a glimpse of them since the attack in Aspertia—and to be completely honest, that pissed Nathan off. It was so unbelievably frustrating to know that she was lurking out there, ready to strike at a moment's notice, and he just had to sit and wait, thanks to the Shadow Triad making it a fool's endeavor to track them down.
In recent weeks, to bury the frustration and pain of all that had transpired, Nathan had thrown himself into his work, even more than before. He hadn't spoken to Hilda in the last two weeks, he had successfully negotiated with Interpol to place agents in Unova, the new communications network was up and running for the League and other officials—they had made leaps and bounds of progress in such a short period of time. Yet, he still felt like it wasn't enough, like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. He felt bad for repeatedly pushing away N's, Hil's, Hugh's, and even Church's attempts to talk to him, to simply hang out with him and relax—but how could he relax? How could they relax? He knew N and Hil knew about him having warned Hilda that day in Aspertia. Shouldn't they have felt ill at ease, knowing that when it came down to the wire, he—despite his position as Champion—could have failed them?!
Wandering the remnants of the Team Plasma castle in some of the condemned passages surrounding the Unovan Pokémon League that day, Nathan sighed and came to a stop at the end of a ruined, crumbled set of stairs. He plopped down on a flat, gray rock. Zeshi, who had been trailing behind him as he walked to gather his thoughts, dutifully curled up beside him. Although Nathan worked well with the Swords of Justice, and they had chosen him, their partnership was best expressed on the battlefield—it was Zeshi and Spacey that served as his primary companionship in day-to-day life. As his Samurott had grown older, though, and her joints weren't as mobile as they once were, she had started enjoying longer rests in her Poké Ball, and so it was often Zeshi that joined him at the hip nowadays.
Perhaps he didn't tell her enough, but he appreciated her quiet, loyal comfort. She had come such a long way from the hyper kit he had bonded with on his journey. She still had that mischievous, playful streak about her, but she had grown in maturity, capable of reading the room and his mood so well… A little too well. Sometimes, he guiltily feared that his severe personality dampened her liveliness, and wondered if she would do better with someone less serious than he, but Zeshi had always been fast to put those worries to ease.
It was her lifting her head to look at something that caught Nathan's attention first, and he traced her line of sight until he spotted Church standing at the mouth of the passage's entryway. The redhead stood with his hands behind his head, giving a slight dip of his chin as Nathan looked at him. "Hey, Nathan. What're you doing out here?"
"Needed to think," was Nathan's cagy response as he stiffened his shoulders and sharply looked down. "That's all."
Footsteps echoed across the cavern as Church made his way closer. Once he was close enough for Nathan to see his shadow, he sighed. "I've seen you coming out here a lot, you know. Hugh said you've been ignoring him."
Groaning, Nathan buried his face in his hands. "Church—"
"—Hilda said you broke up with her."
Wincing, Nathan felt a deep, resounding pang of pain in his chest. In a moment of weakness, he shot a glare at Church and spat, "What's it to you, huh? I'm an adult, I'm also the Champion, I can go where I want. Let me be for a while, 'kay?"
Raising a brow at him, Church tilted his head slightly, his expression souring. "I've never heard you pull the 'I'm the Champion' card before. Status starting to get to your head, Nathan?"
Realizing how arrogant what he had said sounded, Nathan floundered for something to say, but ultimately just groaned and jerked his head to look away from Church altogether.
"Come on. Is this about you beating yourself up because you warned Rosa, because you couldn't hit her?" Church pressed, and Nathan heard shuffling, making him quite sure Church had sat down near him. At his stinging question, Nathan hugged his arms closer to himself, squaring his shoulders. That seemed to tell Church all he needed to know. "It is, isn't it? Is that why you pushed Hilda away?"
"You know, you usually have a little more tact than this," Nathan defensively remarked, side-eyeing Church. "That new kid of yours starting to wear on your saintly patience at last?"
Rolling his eyes, Church shook his head, then scoffed. "No, Dakota's an angel." He paused. "…A loud angel, that's stressing Lacey out a lot, but an angel," he corrected himself with a laugh. "No, listen, I just… This isn't like you. You can be a hard ass, and you're not easy to get to know in the first place, I'm not going to lie about that, but you don't usually push people away after they're close to you. I figured you needed time to figure stuff out with Hilda, that's why you hadn't told us much about you and her, but we all knew you two were really close. I knew you were seeing her. You two seemed happy from what I saw, you know."
"Church…" Nathan whined, his voice trailing off as he closed his eyes. I really, really, really don't want to talk about this… but… are people really upset that I'm pushing them away…? He sighed. I don't want to push everyone away… and I guess they don't want it, either… Of course, for most of them it doesn't matter, they're in the League and so they're a target anyway, regardless of whether they hang out with me or not, but… not Hilda. I still can't be close to her. Then, nearly inaudible, he whispered, "I know… and we were."
"Nathan… nobody blames you for what happened with Rosa. You know that, right?" Church softly started after a brief pause to think. "Not Hilda. Not N, not Hil. Certainly not me, based on what they said happened."
"They should," was all Nathan had to say about that. "She could have killed us all that day, and it would have been my fault, you know. All because—"
"But she didn't," Church cut him off firmly, voice rising slightly. He shook his head. "Nathan, everyone's okay. You've taken steps to improve things since then, right? With the stuff with Interpol, and the new hotline… You're doing everything you can do."
"But it's still not enough!" Nathan finally exploded, jumping to his feet. He started to pace. "What if I do that again? Choke when I'm well and truly needed? Even if I solve this problem—"
"—Hey, hey, hey, listen to me," Church was shaking his head as he hopped up to his feet and grabbed Nathan by his wrists, forcing him to stop pacing, staring him in the eyes. "You might be the Champion of Unova, you might be"—he scoffed—"'tough as nails' Nathan Daniels, but you're still human. You're not a machine, you're not going to be able to turn off feelings on a whim. Okay? And that's a good thing."
Nathan was already shaking his head. "I've already decided that if it comes down to it again, if I get the chance, I won't fail like I did before again," he growled. "A-as much as… as much as it hurts, I can't let her go again. That's not my friend, that's not Rosa. That's the Queen of Diamonds. One way or another, I will stop her. I will."
Green eyes round with concern, Church furrowed his brows. "Whatever you feel you need to do, Nathan, just keep in mind that we're all here, okay?" he eventually whispered, loosening his grip on his friend's wrists. "Don't push us away. Let us help. We're all your friends, and we're worried about you. And…" He trailed off, taking a shuddery breath. "And I know the goal is to catch Rosa without k—… hurting, her…" His voice dropped to a whisper. "If it comes to that, Nathan, you know that we'll all understand. I trust you to not resort to anything like that unless absolutely necessary."
Swallowing hard, Nathan nodded slowly. He didn't understand it, but Church just had a way of soothing anyone's troubles. Sometimes, he wondered where such a sickeningly good guy could have come from. The painful memory of Rosa warning him that she would rip away all he held dear echoed in the back of his mind and made him wonder, in the manner of a few seconds, what he would do if Rosa ever did something to Church—wondered how anyone could want to hurt somebody so unrelentingly kind. "Thank you, Church," Nathan finally choked out, inhaling shakily. "…Thanks, man… You're… you're right. I can't keep pushing you all away… I never meant to do that."
Well… all except for one. While Church, N, Hil, Hugh, and plenty of his other fringe friends all were in the League, and so already had a target on their back for Rosa's bloodthirst no matter what he did, Hilda was just an ordinary, everyday trainer, even if a well-traveled and experienced one. It would still have been too far great a risk to start seeing her again. So, as grateful as Nathan was for Church's comfort that day, as Church talked him into coming with him to go fishing to relax for the rest of the day… He couldn't help but find it to be a bittersweet, hollow comfort.
He missed her so, so much.
You know we can't stay unbound from our spheres without Hil or N for very long, Zekrom, Reshiram growled as her counterpart led her into a field of grass, beneath a moonlit sky. It was late in the night; Hil and N were still sleeping peacefully back at their home, nestled within the Unovan Pokémon League, blissfully unaware of their dragons sneaking away for a midnight chat. Whatever this is, I hope it's important.
Landing heavily on his broad, stocky feet, Zekrom narrowed his red eyes onto Reshiram. During the fight with the Queen of Diamonds. You and Hil were both behaving strangely.
One tends to act strangely when angry, scared, or stressed, Reshiram retorted irritably, shaking out some of her fur. Of which, myself and Hil were all three.
That doesn't explain why Hil sounded like him, Zekrom growled, taking a deliberate step forward, baring his fangs at her. His tail started to crackle with electricity. Tell me, why after a couple thousand years, was I hearing the voice of that wayward brother?
Eyes flashing blue with anger briefly, Reshiram bared her sharp, massive fangs back at her counterpart, her own tail illuminating a bright, fearsome red-orange with flames. To what end does it concern you if you hear his voice or not? she snarled at him. He is long dead, Zekrom, you helped ensure of that. I hope you're not thinking of picking a fight, brother—I thought we buried this hatchet a long time ago.
Me as well, Zekrom shot back. But you're the one being aggressive here, sister. If he is dead, how can I hear his voice? The king I once served alongside, all that time before N, is long dead as well, and there is no way for me to hear his voice in this day. You are hiding something from me, Reshiram—from Hil, too. What is it?
I am hiding nothing that endangers anybody, Reshiram carefully chose her words, pulling her lips further back, until the gums behind her fangs were visible, and her chest rattled with the force of her growling. My secrets are mine to keep, do you understand? You have no right to force me to explain anything. While you concern yourself with hopes and dreams, I concern myself with our ensured survival. If it threatened that, I promise you, I would tell you. She snorted, blowing a puff of angry, black smoke. I can't believe I once wished we could be whole again, once missed you, once felt sorrow for the battles we endured, when you come and distrust me so readily. What a naïve beast I was.
There was a long, quiet moment where the two dragons tensely stared one another down, before Zekrom admitted, You know, so was I.
With that, he beat his wings, and took off into the skies—headed back for the Pokémon League. After giving herself a moment to calm down, Reshiram took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. She would follow him in just a moment, but first, she wanted a moment to soothe her nerves.
Regardless of Zekrom's distrust, she wouldn't let him intimidate her out of holding onto the last shred of her old friend that she had left.
