Chapter 13: Taking a Stand

Hilbert hadn't noticed Whitlea, Cheren and Brycen approach the area until after he finished screaming. He didn't know how long they had even been there, but he couldn't bring himself to care. It was hard to put a proper label on what he was feeling - losing Jude was different than all the other times he lost a Pokemon. Whether that was because of how long he had been in the team, how violently or suddenly he died, or the fact that he didn't actually see what happened...he just couldn't say.

"Hilbert!" Whitlea exclaimed. Despite her urgent tone, she was careful as she approached her brother. "What happened?! Are you okay?"

"Did you see what flew off just now?" Cheren questioned. "And that N guy? Where did he go?"

"I-" Hilbert placed a hand over his face, in a desperate attempt to keep himself together. Normally he would need a little time to mourn the life that was lost, but there was an urgency to the situation that forced him to put that on hold...as much as he may not want to. "It was Zekrom."

The look on the other three's faces clearly expressed pure shock. Whitlea exclaimed, "It was what?!"

"You heard me! N actually summoned Zekrom!" Hilbert held up his hand, continuing, "He had this mark on his hand, said that was proof they chose him as a Hero. Then he flew off on Zekrom's back."

"How could this happen?!" Brycen exclaimed.

"He couldn't...really be Zekrom's Hero, could he?!" Cheren added. "And Hilbert, did I hear him saying something about the other legendary Pokemon?"

"Ah...yeah. N seems to think I can find Reshiram," he admitted. "Would've been nice if he had told me where to start, though."

"Talking here won't do anything," Brycen responded. "First, we go back down!"

At Brycen's words, Hilbert instantly remembered how he saw Jude down there. The thought of seeing that again caused more than a little bit of panic.

"Wait, no!" Hilbert shouted. The three turned to him, confusion clear on their faces.

"B-Back there...I-" he started. Shite. Why was this so hard? "My team and I...we were ambushed. Merlot carried me away to safety, but Jude..."

Hilbert wiped at his eyes in an attempt to clear the tears away, but the message seemed to get through to Whitlea pretty clearly. "So, that Krokorok we saw on our way up...that was-?!"

"Oh, no..." Cheren said. "Hilbert, I'm so sorry."

Hilbert nodded, unable to bring himself to say anything more. He was vaguely aware that his hesitance to go back down the Tower was because he would see that again. He already had a hard time getting the image of Jude lying in a puddle of blood out of his head, he was certain that seeing it again so soon would only make his mental state worse. Merlot seemed to be against it too; he floated close to Hilbert, as if getting ready to use Psychic again if he needed to.

Cheren glanced at Merlot for a second and blinked, as if an idea had just come to him. "I have an Elgyem in my party. I could ask her to Teleport us to Icirrus."

"Y-Yeah. I'd appreciate that." Despite what he was feeling, Hilbert managed a small smile. "Thanks."

Cheren nodded, unclipping a Heal Ball from his belt and summoning the Psychic-type. Not even the fact that the Elgyem was shiny caught Hilbert's attention for longer than a second. The teleportation process lasted no more than a few seconds - one moment he was on top of the Tower, the next he was on solid ground in front of the Pokemon Center. Hilbert took a few moments to breathe before he went inside.

He...He had to fill in his team. If he was going to find this 'Light Stone,' he may as well...have a full party...

This fucking sucked.

Out of all the places that this 'Light Stone' could be, why did it have to be Relic Castle?!

As if losing Jude the way he did wasn't bad enough! Going back to the place where Hilbert met him was only adding salt to the wound - the minute he stepped into the castle, he could just visualize the first time he met Jude. The memories of Carmen singing that song, that short conversaion the two of them shared and then Carmen finally giving Hilbert the green light to catch them suddenly became vivid in his mind.

Crap. Thinking about Carmen only made it worse. What could he even say to her?

Luckily, Hilbert hadn't gone farther than those few steps the last time he was here. That made the trip through the rest of the castle a little easier, but not by much. Merlot was a great support as well - the Musharna had burst out of his PokeBall as they arrived at the Desert Resort and insisted on not being returned yet. It was almost as if he knew that Hilbert would need some kind of emotional support as he pushed himself through the castle. Which he probably did, being a Psychic-type and all.

Because oh boy, did Hilbert need emotional support.

"If Arceus even exists," Hilbert muttered as the two made their way through the castle, "then they've got an absolute shit sense of humor."

Merlot hummed in response. If Hilbert didn't know any better, he would assume that was the equivalent of a chuckle. That made him wonder...did Merlot actually see what happened to Jude? Did anyone else in his team? Shit, was Merlot the only one who knew?

No Hilbert, he reminded himself. Don't focus on that. You got a Stone to find, and you're not gonna do that by standing around here.

So he trudged onward. He had to.

The bad news was that the Light Stone wasn't in Relic Castle after all.

Most would argue that this was good news (because it meant Ghetsis and Team Plasma couldn't get to it either), but Hilbert definitely wouldn't. If the Light Stone wasn't in Relic Castle, what was even the point of going there in the first place?! Ghetsis hadn't even said anything back there that he didn't already know - from N tasking him with finding Reshiram, to Alder losing his beloved Pokemon to a sickness, to what N was going to accomplish with Zekrom backing him. So, Hilbert basically put himself through hell for nothing!

It didn't really help his mood that there was a reason that N's words about a Light Stone rang a bell in his mind.

In hindsight, it made sense that the mysterious white stone in Nacrene City's museum was what they had been looking for the whole time - Hilbert hadn't forgotten that weird sensation he felt when passing it that one time. What was more, the voice he thought he heard...nobody else seemed to hear it either, not even Michelle. What else could that be but telepathy?

Besides, the location made it easier for him to revive the Fossil that Whitlea had given him in Icirrus. She did say that was in the museum in Nacrene, didn't she?

When he stepped out of the museum after dropping that Fossil off, Lenora and Alder weren't the only ones waiting for him. Cedric, Professor Juniper, and Bianca were there too.

He immediately noticed the stone in Lenora's hands - the same one from before.

"Could this really be a Dragon-type Pokemon?" Lenora questioned as she held the stone in her hands. "This is definitely news to me."

"It has to be!" Cedric responded. "Some of the elements I found in Dragonspiral Tower dates back to the same time as this stone!"

"I wonder what that says about Relic Castle," Professor Juniper mused. She must have noticed Hilbert flinch at the mention of the building, because she then continued, "...Sorry, Hilbert. But the Light Stone was found there, wasn't it?"

"But, you know...we lucked out when Team Plasma struck here, right?" Bianca asked. "Because, what if they had noticed the stone at that time?"

"That's a good point," Lenora mused, balancing the Light Stone in one hand. "The Skull they stole was of a dragon Pokemon. They were probably trying to see if they could revive the legendary Pokemon that way."

"So, what do we do with it?" Hilbert questioned, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Since N told me to find it, do you think I should hold on to it?"

"Hold on, Hilbert!" Alder responded. "If you do that, that means you'll be the one to fight N and Zekrom if anything happens to me. Are you really okay with that?"

Hilbert took a moment to think about it. Alder had said that he would fight back as best he could as Champion of the region, which was a great reassurance. But, how long had it been since Alder actually battled as the Champion? Zekrom was a terrifying presence - would Alder be prepared for that? Was Hilbert prepared for that? He had to be prepared for anything Team Plasma threw at him, now.

Besides, he wanted to avenge Jude, right? Accepting the Light Stone and facing N was his best chance of doing that.

"Yeah, I am," he responded, holding his hands out to accept the Stone. From Alder's expression, Hilbert couldn't help wondering if that was the answer he wanted to hear.

When the Stone was placed in his hands, Hilbert immediately noticed how warm it felt in his hands. He hadn't expected that - it was almost similar to Belle's fire, except a little gentler. It was almost like wearing a hoodie that just came out of the dryer.

"It's really warm," he said. "Was it like that when it was discovered?"

"Not that I recall," Lenora answered. "Hawes was the one that discovered it. I'll ask him when he's done reviving the fossil you dropped off, Hilbert."

"So, uh...that aside, how is Hilbert supposed to awaken Reshiram?" Cedric asked. "N didn't happen to tell Hilbert how he awakened Zekrom, did he?"

A long silence passed between the group, which served as answer enough for Cedric's questions.

"Maybe we don't know," Lenora finally said, "but we got those two."

The emphasis on 'those two' threw Hilbert and Bianca off, but Alder immediately seemed to get what she was implying.

"Oh yeah, those two!" he boomed. "Hilbert, you know the Gym Leader in Opelucid City specializes in Dragon-type Pokemon, right? I'll go ahead and tell him what's going on. I'll be waiting for you there!"

With that, Alder released a Braviary from his PokeBall and took off. As he did, Professor Juniper realized; "Oh, that's right! Drayden probably would know something about the legend!"

"Drayden's very knowledgable when it comes to the legend, I don't doubt that he would," Cedric responded with a grin. "In the meantime, we better do our own research! If we find anything important, we'll let you know right away!"

Professor Juniper nodded, and she walked in the direction of Route 3 with her father. Lenora nodded and said, "I better get started too. Here, let me register your number in case I find something."

As Hilbert and Lenora exchanged numbers on the X-Transeiver, Hawes rushed out of the museum with a PokeBall in hand.

"Oh good, I didn't miss you!" he exclaimed, approaching Hilbert and handing over the PokeBall. "Here's the Fossil we revived."

Lenora smiled, wrapping an arm around her husband's shoulders. "Dedicated as ever, honey! You got that done in record time!"

"W-Well, the Pokemon was really young. Maybe the process is quicker depending on how old the Pokemon was when they became a fossil," Hawes said with a sheepish chuckle. He gave Lenora a kiss on the cheek before addressing Hilbert; "In any case, I'd be really gentle with her if I were you. Tirtouga and Carracosta are known for being very sturdy Pokemon in ancient times, but baby Tirtouga are pretty vulnerable."

Oh...a baby fossil Pokemon? That was a twist he didn't expect, but one he would welcome all the same.

He didn't get a lot of time to know the newly dubbed Charlie, but he had enough time to know that she was a sturdy little thing. If she wasn't so young, Hilbert would definitely be considering having her as backup for Michelle and Admiral. For now though, he'd let her live life in peace. If she wanted to fight as she got older, Hilbert would welcome that.

But he needed to stop N and Team Plasma before he could even consider that.

Ghetsis liked Tubeline Bridge. There was no particular reason for it, other than the view and the close proximity to Opelucid City. So, until the Shadow Triad brought that Black City whelp to him, the Sage contented himself with watching the scenery. The sight of Pokemon and humans having fun with each other was sickening, but it wouldn't be very long until all of his hard work would come to fruition.

The boy's loud protests heralded his arrival. Ghetsis turned to see him struggling against the Shadow Triad's hold (although he noted that Hilbert had his arms wrapped around his middle this time around). As the two members released the boy, the third member took the Light Stone from the boy's bag and held it up. Ghetsis approached and took the Stone within his hands. Of course he heard that the Stone had been in Nacrene the whole time, and it had irritated him that they had missed it during their previous operations there. There could be a number of reasons why.

Reshiram hadn't awoken, though. If it hadn't even woken up while Hilbert was in close proximity with it before...

"I see you've obtained the Light Stone," he said, handing the stone back to Hilbert. "Congratulations on a job well-done."

The boy took it in his hands almost protectively (a sight that amused the Plasma Sage). "You're not trying to take it from me?"

"Why would I? I told you before in Relic Castle, it is our lord N's wish that you awaken Reshiram. That you two would put your beliefs on the line and strive to find out which is stronger - our lord's ideals or your truth."

Ghetsis shook his head and chuckled, "Not that any of this is necessary. I have provided him with the education he needed to become the hero of legend - the king that Unova needs! For my efforts, he has been acknowledged by Zekrom as their Hero of Ideals - the first in two millennia! With that said...I can only imagine why he chose you to be his opponent."

In fairness, Ghetsis might have chosen the boy as well. Power was all that mattered when it came to Pokemon, and he had to admit that Hilbert had a good amount of it. It meant he could put up a good fight. It was the boy's sentimentality that held him back - after everything the boy had done to interfere with his plans, seeing him fall to despair would only serve him right.

"You ever think that might backfire on him?" Hilbert responded. "What if I actually am able to beat him?"

Anger flared through Ghetsis at the boy's quip, but he managed to hold himself back. If he killed the boy now, N would start asking annoying questions and that would blow his cover.

"That won't happen unless you awaken Reshiram. Have you made any progress with that?"

Hilbert was silent.

With a smirk, Ghetsis continued, "If you cannot, then nothing will stop me - stop Team Plasma - from achieving our goal! When our lord takes his spot as Champion with Zekrom by his side, people will slowly but surely liberate their Pokemon. First a few weak-hearted Trainers like your little friend Bianca will release their Pokemon...and as time goes on, not even the Gym Leaders and Elite Four will be able to resist the social pressure to release their Pokemon! That is the kind of world we will create with Zekrom's power!"

Ghetsis thought the boy would be silent after that speech. Maybe he could cause Hilbert to realize that fighting was pointless, and that he'd release his Pokemon and any claim to the Light Stone. But no - when Ghetsis looked back at Hilbert's face, he saw something that angered him further: defiance.

"Don't give me that 'social pressure' crap! You think I'm not aware that Team Plasma's willin' to resort to murder to get what they want?! Your minions killed my friend!" the boy demanded. "If you really want to separate Pokemon from people, why don't you start with releasing your Pokemon?!"

Oh? One of his so-called 'friends' had been killed? Seeing how shaken the whelp was in Relic Castle, Ghetsis could only assume that it was the talking one that he had targeted. Maractus were commonly found in that area, weren't they?

Good. A Pokemon that achieved that impossible feat needed to be put down, for Team Plasma's plan - for his plan - to work.

With that said...Hilbert's question caused his eyes to narrow. He couldn't have figured him out. The boy must be saying the first thing that came to mind, but that didn't mean Ghetsis wouldn't try to derail the conversation. And he knew the perfect way to do that.

"As I'm sure you're aware, N and I have tasked the Shadow Triad to keep tabs on you and your friends. Although, it was easier than expected to get information on you - after all, Molly Williams is your mother. Having a Champion for a parent - even if they were from another region - does put a spotlight on you."

Hilbert stilled at the mention of his mother. While Ghetsis wasn't entirely aware of Hilbert's relationship with her, he didn't need to. Every boy Hilbert's age would want to live up to the legacy of his parents, after all.

"What does my mom have to do with me awakening Reshiram?" he demanded.

"In the grand scheme of things...nothing," Ghetsis admitted with a nod. "I just wonder...had Ms. Williams been the one to discover the Light Stone, surely she would have had an easier time awakening Reshiram. I'm sure you wouldn't want to be a disgrace to her legacy, am I correct?"

Hilbert made a valiant effort to not show he was rattled by Ghetsis' words, but he knew all the same. The boy really was too honest for his own good; that made it easy for Ghetsis to learn what his weaknesses were.

"You may have the Light Stone now, Hilbert," Ghetsis said as he turned around. "But don't think that means that Reshiram will accept you as its Hero. I won't wish you luck in your endeavor to awaken them - you clearly have more than enough, with your...unique approach to capturing Pokemon. So instead I recommend you find some courage - you're going to need it!"

With that, Ghetsis walked away with a smirk. Whether Hilbert actually went through with his fool's endeavor or not, Ghetsis was able to get some joy in dampening his spirit.

It made him sick, how Hilbert pushed through despite everything Team Plasma threw at him. If denting the boy's spirits gave Ghetsis some joy now, he couldn't wait to see the look on his face when he's truly lost all hope.

Carmen didn't say a word as she and Hilbert watched Team Plasma's speech in Opelucid. The crowd hid her well, so she couldn't actually see what was going on, but she recognized the Team Plasma uniforms well enough. She heard a lot about Team Plasma from Hilbert and her teammates, but this was the second time that she actually saw them for herself. The first time was in Chargestone Cave, when she had been stolen. N had saved her at that point, which did confuse her for a while - if Team Plasma were the bad guys, then N wouldn't have saved her, right?

While it still confused her that N would side with them, there was something about how righteous Ghetsis acted - after Jude's death, after she overheard the Sage taunting Hilbert - that infuriated her. Hilbert seemed to feel the same - as Ghetsis spoke, Alder had to hold him back to keep him from climbing up there and starting a fight.

Then she heard the crowd's murmurs as Ghetsis and Team Plasma walked off towards Route 10.

"Is it really true? Have we been making Pokemon suffer?"

"No, we haven't! Without Pokemon, I'd be lonely and sad!"

"Maybe we should release them, though?"

Hearing those words, something within the Maractus snapped. She screamed, getting the attention of everyone in the area. Even Hilbert and Alder had stopped their struggle to look over at the Maractus. Hilbert extracted himself out of the other's grip and stepped towards Carmen.

"Carmen, what are you-?!" Hilbert started, before the Maractus turned towards him.

"I can't believe Team Plasma's still acting like they're the good guys in all this!" she shouted, tears in her eyes. "If they really wanted to let Pokemon live happy lives like they say they do, then why is N siding with them?! Why are they trying to force us to separate?! Why did they kill Jude?! They're not the good guys! We're the good guys!"

"Carmen-!"

"So what if N managed to befriend Zekrom?! Merlot told me that won't matter once you wake Reshiram up! I don't care what Get-hit thinks! I know you can do it, Hilbert!"

It was only then that Hilbert and Carmen noticed; the crowd that had once been focused on Ghetsis' speech was now focused on them.

"Did that Maractus just…talk?"

"Hold up, did she say kill?"

"No way…would Team Plasma really go there?"

"That aside, what was that she said about Reshiram?"

"Hey, Maractus! Your name's Carmen, right? Why don't you tell us more?"

A moment passed where Carmen and Hilbert looked at the crowd, and then at each other. Carmen then grabbed Hilbert's hand and dragged him to the spot where Ghetsis and Team Plasma had just been. The crowd let them through with relatively few issues.

Once they reached their destination, Carmen released Hilbert's hand and addressed the crowd; "Y-Yeah! My name's Carmen! I can talk, and I got a lot to say about Team Plasma, so uh…please listen to me!"

"Oh please, tell me you're recording this."

"Don't worry babe, I gotcha."

"I've been traveling with my trainer here for a while, and along the way we've encountered Team Plasma a lot of times!" the Maractus continued. "They even tried to steal me one time. It was only because of N that I got reunited with Hilbert, but I'm starting to wonder now if I got lucky. I'm not even the first time Team Plasma's tried something like that!"

She hopped in place (tears starting to form in her eyes) as she said, "And yeah - I did say kill! My bestest buddy from the wild - Jude the Krokorok - is dead because of Team Plasma! While they invaded Dragonspiral Tower - they ambushed my friends and managed to kill Jude! If Merlot hadn't dragged Hilbert away, he and the rest of my friends would've gotten killed too!"

"That happened in Dragonspiral Tower?! Holy shit!"

"Who the heck is Mer-lot?"

"I told you! I fuckin' told you they'd stoop this low, but did you believe me?!"

"N-No way! They wouldn't, this has to be a lie!"

"Idiot, Pokemon can't lie! What reason would a Maractus have to lie about something like this?!"

"I know Zekrom picked N, but they're not the only legendary dragon! My trainer managed to find its counterpoint, Reshiram! Well. He found its stone form, anyway," Carmen said, turning towards Hilbert. "Come on Hilbert, show them!"

Unable to bring himself to refuse, Hilbert slowly took the stone out of his bag to show the crowd. Was it his imagination, or had it gotten warmer since he accepted it in Nacrene?

"Does that mean this kid's gonna stand up against N and Zekrom?"

"Counterpoint...doesn't she mean 'counterpart'?"

"That does look like it could be the Light Stone…I wonder where it's been the whole time."

"What I wanna know is…why did Zekrom choose N in the first place?"

Carmen heard that last one and responded; "I don't know why Zekrom picked N. He did save me from Team Plasma, so maybe he does have good intentions for Pokemon. But it's clear to me that the rest of Team Plasma doesn't! They don't know what Pokemon really think about people!"

Tears started pouring from her eyes as she continued, "B-Because…before Jude and I met Hilbert, all we wanted was to go on an adventure and have fun! We c-couldn't do that by ourselves, though. Especially Jude, he...he didn't have a lot of stamina compared to most Sandiles. Hilbert's the one that helped make our dream come true! And we were having so much fun on our adventure until Team Plasma took that away from us! I've met a lot of other Pokemon that were hurt by Team Plasma's actions, too! Their actions make Pokemon suffer more than they make them happy!"

She wiped the tears from her eyes as she concluded, "S-So…you need to at least talk to your Pokemon! I can help translate if you're having a tough time understanding them, but I'm willing to bet that they're happy where they are right now, and don't wanna go to the wild! Because, even after everything that's happened, I never want to go back to living in the Desert Resort!"

After that, there were a few people that approached Hilbert and Carmen for translation reasons. Those instances only proved Carmen right - every Pokemon that approached them expressed a desire to stay with the people they cared about. With every instance, they heard less and less support for Team Plasma's goal. Some people even vowed that they'd fight to stay with their friends to the bitter end.

That day, Carmen exposed Team Plasma's lies to a whole city.

The next day, hashtags like #Justice4Jude and #TeamPlasmaGetsHit began to trend on Unovan social media.

New Additions

Charlie / Tirtouga / Female / Hardy / Likes to thrash about / Sturdy