Chapter 12: Flight

After another night of being cuddled together, N and Touko got up early and ate quietly and quickly. They were to meet Bianca where they had been training and travel north by air, but since Bianca didn't have a flying type Pokémon, they would need to take breaks often to let their Pokémon rest since neither Touko's Swobat, Batgirl, nor N's Archeops were used to more than one person riding them at a time.

Their travel towards Nacrene City was uneventful. They landed behind the gym and were greeted by Hawes, Lenora's husband, there. He led them into the back of the gym and took a seat at the desk where Lenora did her museum duties.

"Please, sit down," he said brightly to the three trainers. "Lenora told me that you would be getting here around this time. I hope your journey has been uneventful so far."

Touko and her friends sat down. "Yeah… so far so good. Have you heard from Lenora about the meeting of the gym leaders?"

Hawes shook his head. "Sadly, all I have heard is that everyone has made it safely to Opelucid. I was hoping she would tell me more." He looked away from the group.

Touko followed his gaze. There was a picture of Hawes and Lenora standing together in front of the museum, looking like they were very happy and very much in love. Touko smiled. He really was a loving husband.

"If only I was a gym leader, too, then I could have gone with her," Hawes said, more to himself than to anyone else. He turned back to the three trainers, a shadow of a smile appearing on his face. "Well, it doesn't matter right now. You are the best of the best, and Lenora wanted me to make sure you had food for the road north. Or should I say flight north."

Hawes handed over three boxed lunches that had the insignia of the café next door.

N smiled, feeling a bit guilty. "Thank you very much for your hospitality."

Hawes smiled brightly at N. "Don't worry about it. Just make sure my wife comes home safely."

Bianca stood up. "Don't worry, Mr. Hawes, Lenora will be safe. You can count on us."

Touko, Bianca, and N waved goodbye to Hawes as they got onto their flying Pokémon and continued north. They ate in the air in silence. No one really wanted to talk about what they were about to do. Fear had started to creep into their thoughts and no one wanted to acknowledge it. No one wanted to admit they could fail, but they were all feeling it. What if they did fail? What would happen then?

By the time they were over the desert of Route 4, it was late in the afternoon. Touko looked down into the desert and was surprised to see that there was some construction towards the edge of the route that was right outside of Nimbasa City. She did not remember it being there before, but there was no time to ask questions about it.

They flew into Nimbasa as the sun began to set over the city, light shimmering off the stadiums and Gear Station, and the Musical Hall, which was normally brightly lit from a rainbow of lights, was pitch black, and quickly they made their way to the Pokémon Center. The town was crawling with Plasma grunts. N kept his hair tucked under his hat and his eyes shielded. The outfit he wore was nothing like his old attire: green camo-print cargo shorts, gray t-shirt, and black fishing vest; only his hat and shoes remained unchanged. Touko and Bianca also wore outfits much different than their normal ones, keeping more in line with dull colors and hiking clothes, vests included in both. The grunts never even noticed them.

Once inside the Center, Bianca made her way to the counter to talk to Nurse Joy, leaving N and Touko seated in the corner. N and Touko did not say anything. They looked at one another for a long moment. N opened his mouth to say something when someone sat down and turned on the TV. It was the evening news. The reporter at the desk seemed to be finishing a report.

"… And that is what's happening at the annual meeting of the Unova Pokémon League. No news yet on whether the international committee will step in yet. Now onto our field reporter, Yancy."

"Thanks, Curtis!" The shot changed from the studio to outside of the Opelucid City gym. A young woman stood there. "As you can see, all is quiet here. All the gym leaders have arrived and they are waiting for the members of elite four to join them. Though, with Alder still unaccounted for, there is unrest. I have spoken with residents of the city and they fear that Team Plasma may start targeting them if…"

N's fist clenched as he listened to the report. Touko placed a hand on his arm. He looked over at her and the frustration in his eyes faded. He was angry. After all this time, N now understood something. He would never be the king he was meant to be. There was now no hope for Team Plasma. This had been Ghetsis' goal, to make people fear him and Team Plasma. All N had wanted was freedom for abused Pokémon, but now Team Plasma stood for destruction and fear. At least he had Touko now.

The pair jumped as someone cleared their throat behind them. They looked up to see Bianca standing there.

"Nurse Joy gave us a room upstairs in the trainer quarters," Bianca said, holding a key in her hands. "She said that we are the only people staying here."

Touko and N exchanged looks. They did not like that fact.

Touko stood up. "I guess we should see where we are going to be sleeping, then."

N nodded and stood.

The three of them went upstairs. The hallway was relatively dark and very quiet. Touko had a sinking feeling in her stomach that something was going to go wrong. She gripped N's hand tightly as Bianca led them upstairs.

They stopped in front of a locked door. Bianca turned the key and led them inside. There were two bunk beds in the room. Touko had a small urge to let out Retto or Sakura, but thought better of it. It was bad enough that they had flown into town, but if someone saw their Pokémon… Touko shivered at the thought.

Bianca started pulling things out of her bag. "Well, I'm going to take a shower. Who knows when I will have another chance." She held a small bag of toiletries in one hand and a large towel over the other arm.

Touko frowned. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

N nodded in agreement. "You'll be alone…"

Bianca smiled. "Like I said, who knows when I will have another chance to shower. And if something does happen, I am sure you two will save me."

Touko and N exchanged looks. "Still…" Touko said before sighing. "Alright… but I'm going to stay outside the locker room."

Touko followed Bianca out into the hallway, leaving N alone in the room. He looked around the place, his senses tense. He moved to the window. Looking down, he saw Nurse Joy standing with two grunts. From his vantage point he could see the nurse was clearly destressed, fidgeting and looking up towards the window N was tucked beside. N's heart began to race a mile a minute. They were trapped here, he just knew it. He watched as the two grunts marched into the Center and he saw Nurse Joy's face; even from this distance he could tell she was upset, tears streaming down her face. Still, N was angry. He pulled out a Pokéball from his belt. "Zoroark, I need you."

Zoroark growled and looked at N. "What is it that you need of me?"

N's eyes were cold and hard. "I need you to transform into me and lead the grunts away."

Zoroark raised an eyebrow. "But they are your men; your people."

N shook his head "No, they aren't… not anymore."

Zoroark looked at N for a moment then transformed into him. "Where are you going?"

N sighed. "I am heading back to the castle. There is something I need to do there."

Zoroark nodded. "I shall find you there, then. In due time."

N watched as Zoroark raced down the hallway and he heard a shout. After a moment, he turned back to the room and grabbed both Touko and Bianca's bags. He then ran down the hall towards where Touko and Bianca were supposed to be.

Touko was sitting on the floor, Retto at her side. She jumped to her feet when she saw N running towards her. "N, what…?"

"No time. We need to go…"

At that very moment, they heard a scream from inside the locker room. They stared at each other for a for a fraction of second, then ran inside.

"Bianca!" Touko cried.

Bianca, who was only wearing a towel, was being held by the Shadow Triad. "Touko, help!"

"Vanilluxe, Hail!" N called, letting a Pokéball fly.

The Shadow Triad dropped Bianca, giving Touko the chance to grab her friend. They then ran to the window.

"Retto, Razor Shell!"

The window shattered. The two girls ran towards the window, N right behind them.

The Triad reached for N, but Vanilluxe floated in their way. N watched as his two traveling companions stopped at the windowsill and Touko threw out her Swobat. The two girls jumped from the window and landed on the bat Pokémon's back.

N stopped at the sill and turned. The Triad were nearly on top of him. He had no time to call on his Pokémon. Without hesitation, N jumped out the window. He felt something hard, long, and thick strike him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. He grasped at it, realizing that a branch had stopped his fall. Vanilluxe floated out the window, still creating the hailstorm in its wake. N coughed and felt around his belt for a Pokéball. He tossed it into the air and Archeops flew out.

N dropped down from the tree branch and landed on his ancient bird Pokémon. He tensed, knowing he still needed to fly north. But as he looked back at the window, he saw the three members of the Shadow Triad staring at him. Angry, he gripped his ancient bird Pokémon and flew off, praying that he and Touko would head north in opposite directions.

Touko and Bianca flew straight north. Touko clutched Bianca while Bianca clutched the two bags that N had thrown at them. Bianca was crying.

"Shhh… Bianca, it's okay. We're okay," Touko said, stroking Bianca's wet head.

"Touko… I'm…" Bianca wailed quietly.

Touko continued to stroke Bianca's head. "It's alright, Bianca. Really, we're alright."

"Touko I… N…"

Touko's face took on a stony nature. "I'm sure he is fine, too," she said flatly.

That did not make Bianca feel any better. She continued to cry.

Touko looked away, her gut twisting inside of her. It was only the two of them, and Touko had no idea if N had managed to get away from the Triad or not. She felt guilty for leaving him behind, but there had been nothing she could do. Touko watched the scenery ahead of her. Ahead was a cliff with a forest on top of it. From what Touko could see, the only way to get up there was either by flying or climbing the impossible cliff face. Touko guided Batgirl up to the top of the cliff and landed her in a patch of dirt.

Touko helped Bianca off of Batgirl. Bianca was still shaking and crying. Touko pulled off her vest and wrapped it around Bianca's shoulders. After a few minutes, Touko was able to get Bianca into a seated position and started rummaging through their bags.

"Here." Touko said, handing Bianca a change of clothes. Bianca took it without saying a word and changed into them.

After a few minutes of Bianca letting out her last few sniffles while Touko started a small fire with Lumiar, her Lampent, Bianca finally spoke.

"I should have never taken that shower. It's my fault this happened."

Touko turned to Bianca. "It's not your fault. It just happened, that's all. We should have made camp outside of Nimbasa."

Bianca did not look convinced by Touko's comments. "But still… I should have been more careful, now N…" She couldn't finish her sentence.

Touko looked away. "I'm sure he got away. He's good at things like that." Touko's stomach knotted tightly. She felt sick enough to throw up if there had been any food left in her stomach; their midday meal had long since left her system.

Bianca sat next to Touko by the fire and wrapped her arms around her best friend's shoulder. "Yeah… I guess you're right."

They sat in silence for a while, watching the fire burn through the night.

"Master Ghetsis," the leader of the Shadow Triad said into the Xtransceiver. "We can report that N and his companions are indeed traveling north towards the castle. There have been two separate sightings of N, one east, one west, but both heading northward. Sadly, though, we lost sight of his two traveling companions in Nimbasa."

Ghetsis stroked his chin. He was annoyed to hear that they had all got away after finding out that they were, in fact, on the move, but the fact still remained: his son and that girl (along with someone else) were coming back to the castle. This made his life that much easier.

"Keep me informed on if there are more sightings of N. I want to know his movements. If you can capture him unharmed all the better, but it is not necessary. He is coming home, after all."

The Triad leader nodded "Yes, Master Ghetsis." The screen went black.

Ghetsis leaned back in his office chair and smiled. He picked up his goblet filled with deep red wine. He watched the screens before him that showed the girls in their room, the two prisoners in the dungeon, the corridors filled with grunts, and a room full of sages. Everything was going so well; it was simply perfect, just the way it should be.

End of Chapter