Chapter 21:

N's Secret

Location: Nimbasa City

"I'll be fine, I hope," Bianca said as we made our way to the Gym. I tell you; it was weird seeing Bianca not cheery. But she had a lot of pressure put on her, so I understood. The make it or break it Gym battle; she couldn't just come back and try again like I did with Lenora.


We walked through Pokéland. Around us, rollercoasters, merry go rounds and rides that spun so fast that I felt queasy just by looking at them made the current situation a little less tense. The two star attractions though were the Ferris Wheel and the Gym. The Gym was glowing purple with neon lights, fitting into the ambience of the theme park.

"Well, this is it" Bianca said. She gulped, then hugged me. She needed encouragement, but my mind was elsewhere. I put my arms around her than gave her a supportive pat on the back. Just then, in front of the Ferris Wheel, I could see the familiar long green hair of N.

"Bianca, I need to go now," I told her, loosening my grip.

Bianca caught eyes with the mysterious man; she knew what was about to go down.

"I can't promise I'll win, but I promise that I'll try my best!" With that, she went into the Gym whilst I made my way to the Ferris Wheel.


N saw me. I nervously waved my hand slightly.

"Come," N said. "Into the Ferris Wheel. We have much to discuss."

I got out my wallet, but N insisted he would pay for both of us. What a generous man, was he?


We were lifted into the sky and got a wonderful view from our blue capsule. Not just of Nimbasa City, but we could also see Castelia City's tall buildings in the distance passed the desert of Route 4. To the right we saw the port city of Driftveil and to the left the longest bridge in Unova, Marvellous Bridge, it's blue supports blending in with the river below.

"First, I must tell you," N said. "I. am the king. OF TEAM PLASMA!"

My jaw dropped. This man, who I had bumped into twice beforehand, was behind all of Team Plasma's evil doings?

"N," I said, tears in my eyes. "I thought you were my friend."

"Were we ever?" he replied. "Ghetsis asked me to be his assistant in Pokémon liberation, but then you and your friends came along. Even a promise couldn't keep you away from Team Plasma's schemes."

I shook my head, still coming to terms with the situation. "N. Why do you do this? Leave, join me, Cheren and Bianca on our journey! Be a rival that I don't want to hate!"

"Well, you can't ignore a father's wishes, can you?"

Talk about one big reveal after another. Before meeting N, I had more questions than answers. Now it seemed everything was coming full circle. No, really. Our round on the Ferris Wheel was almost complete.


I came out panting. That was the tamest ride in the park, and I felt like I had been on one of the rollercoasters. N didn't even try to attack; despite being the king of my mortal enemies, he would never do that.

"Lord N!"

Two Team Plasma Grunts ran up to N and knelt to him. "Lord N, what are you doing with this fool?"

The fact that they were referring to N with such a high title was too much to handle. It felt like an entire journey had happened all in the span of the five minutes from getting into the Ferris Wheel to this very moment.

"N" I said. "Enough nonsense. I challenge you to a battle! Plasma or no Plasma, promise or no promise, you're still my rival, and rivals battle!"

N stopped for a minute, then turned to the Plasma Grunts. "I'll deal with him. You should get out of here."

The Grunts saluted. "Yes, my lord. Plasma will prevail."

As the two crooks ran off, N took out a Pokéball. "So, let's see how my friends compare to your friends."


Hilbert Vs. Team Plasma N

"Sandile, go!" N shouted as his Ground Type entered the field.

"I choose Scraggy!" I yelled. "Let's start off with…" Scraggy lifted its hand and started running. "Well, let's start with a new move then. Scraggy, Brick Break attack!" Scraggy chopped Sandile for tons of damage. It was almost down. Good timing!

"Sandile, Sand Tomb!" Sandile created a tomb of sand that trapped Scraggy; it couldn't escape.

"Faint Attack!" Scraggy came up to Scraggy and hit it, delivering the final blow.

"No, my friend!" N shouted, returning Sandile. "Don't worry. You've set up what we need to do. Sigilyph, come out my friend!" So, I would usually describe a new Pokémon, but this one was, weird. It was colourful with stick like yellow wings? Err, one eye? You know what, look it up on Serebii or something because it's not an easy one to detail.


Sigilyph (シンボラー)

067

Psychic/Flying Type

Avianoid Pokémon

4'07" (1.4 m)

30.9 lbs (14 kg)

The guardians of an ancient city, they use their psychic power to attack enemies that invade their territory.

Sigilyph has no known evolutions.


"Sigilyph, Air Cutter!" Sigilyph fired streaks of air at Scraggy. It was a Super Effective Critical hit and took it down.

"No!" I yelled. It was a clever strategy to put it frankly. I recalled Scraggy and sent out Dewott.

"Sigilyph, Psybeam!" Sigilyph fired a pink beam at Dewott. Dewott thankfully wasn't confused.

"Use Razor Shell!" Dewott sliced Sigilyph with its shells. Sigilyph's Defense was also lowered.

"Air Cutter!" More steaks were fired and Dewott was almost down.

"Another Razor Shell!" Dewott sliced Sigilyph one more time. It was down.

"Darumaka, go!" N shouted as the round orange Fire Type came out.

"Razor Shell!" This one did a lot of damage on the round red Pocket Monster.

"Darumaka, Headbutt!" Darumaka headbutted Dewott, finishing it.

"Drilbur, you're up!" I said. "Use Metal Claw!" Drilbur slashed Darumaka. It wasn't effective, but it was enough to knock it out.

"Impressive. Come out Maractus!" Well this one was much easier to describe. It was green, had yellow spikes all over it and two pink flowers on the end of its spiky ears. As it waved about, it made a shaking sound like a maraca.


Maractus (マラカツチ)

062

Grass Type

Cactus Pokémon

3'03" (1 m)

61.7 lbs (28 kg)

It uses an up-tempo song and dance to drive away the bird Pokémon that prey on its flower seeds.

Maractus has no known evolutions.


"Do you want me to switch into Tranquill?" I asked Drilbur. Drilbur shook its head, and started sharpening its claws. "What's that move?" I asked Drilbur.

"Hone Claws!" Cheren shouted running up to us to watch the battle. "It raises Attack and Accuracy, use it to your advantage."

"Maractus, Mega Drain!" Maractus fired a beam at Drilbur, who took a lot of damage from it. It's a Grass Type move after all.

"Rock Smash!" Drilbur punched Maractus. Its Defense was lowered.

"Mega Drain again!" Maractus fired another beam, fainting Drilbur.

At this point, I was as tense as Bianca probably was in her Gym battle. "Tranquill, go!" I said. "Quick Attack!" Tranquill dashed into Maractus. It was a Critical Hit and knocked it out.

"I have one more friend, Scraggy!" N said as he sent out a Pokémon I think we all know about.

"Use Air Cutter!" With a mixture of Super Luck and Air Cutter's high Crit rate, this move finished Scraggy off in one.

"My friend!" N yelled.


"N, nice to see you again" Cheren said.

"Quite," N replied. He recalled Scraggy. "Thank you my friend. Well, I should go. Team Plasma needs me."

He walked away.

"Hilbert," Cheren asked, worried. "What did he mean by that?"

"I'll tell you back at the Pokémon Center," I said. "Once Bianca has finished her Gym battle of course. We have much to discuss."


Location: Nimbasa City Pokémon Center

"I'm back on the road!" Bianca said, showing us her latest Badge. It looked like a thunderbolt.

"That's great!" I said.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Bianca's Father said. "You're a great Trainer, and a great daughter. I should probably leave you now."

Before he walked out, Bianca and her Father shared a big hug. "Thanks," she said.

"Bianca," I said. "We need to have a talk. Come to my room upstairs, this is important. You're not in trouble."


"NO WAY!" both my friends shouted.

"I'm still trying to comprehend it" I said. "Honestly, I wasn't sure if N was my friend or not. I know I said it, but still." I slammed my first on the bed I was sitting on. "The promise is off. N is my rival, and I want to keep it that way as does he."

Cheren looked out the window, to see the bright lights of Nimbasa City. "I knew there was something about that guy. But you're still rivals! You can still try and beat him!"


Well, today was a rollercoaster ride. I found out what the deal with N was. It seems my path with Team Plasma is far from over, but my Badge isn't! I had a message from Elesa saying she'll challenge me tomorrow! Halfway point, here I come!