When N and his father arrived in Nimbasa City, the six other sages besides Ghetsis awaited them. They stood in a line, shadowed figures clothed in voluminous robes intricately designed by swirling patterns. Behind them lay a city controlled almost entirely by Team Plasma.
Neon lights flickered and sparked from lack of maintenance. Broken glass littered the streets, blown outward from destroyed shop windows. Citizens had abandoned their cars at the sides of roads, and the doors of apartment complexes were sealed shut. A riot had gone out of control, Ghetsis said. The military, nor the police, had been able to contain it: they were busy dealing with their members defecting and taking Pokemon with them. The military relied heavily on the strength of Pokemon, and without them, they were not strong enough to contain the populace and the rebellions within their ranks simultaneously.
The world N had once envisioned was unfolding before his eyes. No longer did he wish for it to be so. Looking around at the destruction gave him a horrible taste in his mouth that would not go away, no matter how many times he swallowed.
It was all his fault. It did not seem to matter what he did in life; it always was the wrong choice. He was a horrible person. A murderer. He could not save the woman he loved, and he had been too naive to see the truth of the relationship between Pokemon and person, and all of Unova was paying for it. He did not know who he was anymore, where he should go or what to do with himself. He did not know.
Ghetsis stopped in front of the other sages, and N did the same. Gorm was glancing furtively in his direction, even as the six of them bowed to Ghetsis in unison, arms wrapped in their sleeves. Gorm had always been a bit odd, and N chalked his behavior to that. His thoughts never returned to it twice.
"I trust everything is going according to plan," Ghetsis said, speaking to none of them in particular, though Rood nodded.
"Indeed, My Lord Ghetsis," he said. "Your genius has not failed us."
Ghetsis nodded. "We will talk over there."
His father moved, and the Sages shuffled after. When N turned to follow, Ghetsis held out a hand to stop him, and so he stayed where he was. He shouldn't have tried to go in the first place. He didn't care what they had to say, not truly. He no longer considered himself a member of Team Plasma, no matter what Ghetsis said or ordered him to do.
Surreptitiously, after checking to make sure that none were looking his way, even Gorm, he pulled his Pokeball out from its hiding place, holding it where the others could not see. He stroked the surface with his thumb. Somewhere in the ostensibly deserted city, once so full of life, was the Nimbasa gym leader. If she were not dead already, then she most likely would be in hiding. Though he didn't know her personally, of course, N hoped she would have been able to make it out of the city. No more gym leaders needed to die, and without a doubt, the gym, along with the houses of any who owned Pokemon, had been the riot's first targets.
The Sages were busy, huddled among themselves, and so N began to look around. Piles of trash tumbled over the sidewalks, pushed by a wind that groaned as it blew through buildings with broken windows and doors busted open. Gray, faceless clouds swirled, blocking the sun and the sky from view. Although there was no one in the immediate vicinity, members of Team Plasma from across Unova were gathering. Ghetsis said the purpose was to assemble in the hopes of creating the largest rally yet; one N was to be a part of. Should he plan to go along with his father's wishes, doing as he said? Or follow what his heart was telling him, and try to put a stop to it all? He could not think of an answer.
A flicker of movement caught his attention. Gorm was approaching him, licking his lips, looking from side to side, wringing his hands. N turned toward him.
"M-my Lord, ah, N."
"Gorm."
"There is-is not, ah, much time. Your father, My Lord. Your father, he has, ah, allowed me to come g-greet you."
N frowned. Gorm continued to shift on his feet; the man was incredibly nervous. "Is something the matter, Gorm? I do not think I can help, but it's obvious something is bothering you."
Suddenly, Gorm grabbed him by the shoulders; eyelids peeled back from red eyes. Ghetsis turned to look at them. "There is no time! I must, ah, I must t-tell you!"
His father began to walk toward them. N's eyebrows furrowed together. "Tell me what, Gorm?"
"I cannot do t-this any-any longer, Lord N! I c-cannot! I never thought we would begin, ah, begin to, ah, start killing people! Lord N, I…"
Ghetsis broke into a jog, robe swishing. Gorm's grip on his shoulders tightened.
"I don't care! I m-must say it!" Gorm shouted, spittle spraying on to N's face.
"Your father! Your father is the one who killed-"
Suddenly Ghetsis was behind him. With a flourish of his robe, his hands wrapped around Gorm's chin and head. The color drained from the Sage's face. N opened his mouth.
There was a snap. Gorm crumpled.
Ghetsis, panting, stared at Gorm's dead body. He composed himself and looked at N. They met each other's gaze.
"What was Gorm going to say, father?" N whispered. He did not need an answer, for he already knew it. Someone that Ghetsis did not want N to realize he had killed. A secret that he would kill Gorm to hide.
The thump of N's heart pounded in his ears. His blood boiled, raged through his body. His fingernails sunk into the skin of his palm, his jaw clenched as hard as a vice, teeth grinding. Something inside N shattered. The veil through which he saw Ghetsis. His vision blurred until it seemed as though he was looking at his father through a tunnel.
N had known all along that it was him, but he had not been willing to admit it. Not prepared to face the truth.
"You killed her, didn't you?" N spat. "You killed her!"
"I should never have trusted that fool," Ghetsis said. N could barely hear him.
"No," N said, his voice cracked, shaky. "You shouldn't have."
He cracked a fist against Ghetsis' nose. Blood spurted onto N's knuckles as Ghetsis fell back, crying out.
The other Sages were at his side in an instant, helping him to a stand. He wiped the blood from his nose with a sleeve, shaking his head.
"You're right, boy. I killed that insipid girl."
N roared. He released haxorus.
His thoughts were a blur, a churning mass inside his head. Father killed Luna. Father killed Luna. Father killed Luna.
The Sages stumbled as haxorus reeled her head back, a roar to match N's. She could feel his anger, his sorrow, the feeling of betrayal that raked his heart.
A maniacal laugh erupted from Ghetsis. "You have a Pokemon, boy? How ironic!"
Ghetsis put a hand into his robe, and when he took it out again, an Ultraball sat in his palm. N stared at it as if it were a poisonous ekans.
His father was a trainer.
N screamed in outrage as Ghetsis released a hydreigon. The five other Sages summoned Pokemon as well. Haxorus bellowed at them all.
A battle ensued. An impact threw N back, hard pain shooting through his shoulder blades, as beams of energy blasted, breaking holes into concrete, disintegrating parts of buildings. Glass shattered. Haxorus fought with every ounce of her being, but she could not beat six other Pokemon. Not alone. Wounds appeared on her body. Exhaustion began to overtake her.
Go, N! He heard in his mind. Go! I will not lose another one of my trainers!
A Hyper Beam threw her back, white light blinding N's vision. He pulled himself onto shaky legs, blinking. "I will not run away again! I will not!"
He bolted forward. Haxorus screamed in his mind, but he could not hear her. Ghetsis regarded him with a sneer. His father would pay. Pay for what he had done to Luna.
His feet slapped against the concrete. Closer. Closer. I'll kill him! I'll kill him!
An excadrill was suddenly before him, reeling back a steel arm. N screamed, charging it. The claw flew toward his stomach.
A figure crashed into excadrill, throwing it to the side. A bouffalant.
N stumbled to a halt. Bouffalant nodded at him. This man, this Ghetsis, killed Gorm. We will fight.
Four empty Pokeballs tumbled from Gorm's dead body. Four Pokemon stood facing the Sages.
N, you must go! Haxorus called to him. There is nothing you can do here! Live! Live to fight another day!
The Sages were releasing more of their Pokemon. Seven, eight, nine, ten of them.
N turned and ran. Hot tears made trails down his cheeks as he sprinted away. Explosions echoed behind him.
He cried for haxorus; that he had to leave her to fight with only Gorm's Pokemon to aid her. He cried for Luna. He cried because his father had killed her. That he hadn't faced the truth sooner, and brave Gorm had needed to sacrifice himself to make N see.
See that his father was not a man at all, but a monster.
Haxorus would fight and come find N later. He was sure of it. In the meantime, N needed someone. Someone that could help him stop his father.
Anyone.