Chapter 18: The Long Road
The more N thought about what Zekrom told him - how belief and doubt went hand-in-hand - the more he thought about what kind of world he wanted to create.
Obviously he wanted a world where all Pokemon could be happy. He grew up knowing nothing but Pokemon, to the point where he considered them more family than humans. His ability to hear their voices was a sign that he could bring great change to the Unova region, Ghetsis had told him this his entire life.
Hearing the voices of the Pokemon he's met since Ghetsis agreed to let him see the Unova region changed everything. It started with Hilbert's Oshawott saying that she liked her trainer on the day they met. Since then, he had met so many Pokemon that were happy with their Trainers. Not just Hilbert's Pokemon; it would be so simple if it was. It was obvious that Cheren and Bianca's Pokemon thought the world of their respective trainers, too. There were other Pokemon he met and other Trainers that doted on them, but those three were the catalyst. Clearly, those Pokeon were all happy with people, right?
On the other hand...Ghetsis had told him that he couldn't just ignore the cries of the Pokemon he met in his childhood. The Pokemon that suffered at the hands of evil humans...who had to watch their friends die because of human's recklessness or cruelty. He couldn't turn a blind eye to them, especially since he had listened to them for so long.
Thinking about those Pokemon steeled his resolve every time. While those Pokemon that loved their humans would be sad upon separation, they would surely understand if they understood the cruelty that humans were capable of. This is what was best for them, even if they didn't understand it yet.
The Pokemon League loomed ahead; the very pinnacle of everything N stood against. As much as he hated the idea of Pokemon fighting, it was a necessary evil; he would have to make it through this gauntlet if he was to stop these horrific battles for good.
This is the right course of action, he convinced himself as he stepped into the area. It has to be.
Cheren may have called the bet off, but that didn't mean Hilbert was going to catch every single Pokemon in Victory Road. Call him a completionist, but he was intent on just catching the first Pokemon he saw here; if for no other reason than the fact that there wouldn't be any new areas that had wild Pokemon after this place.
That said, he used a Repel when he first stepped into the caves. He wanted to save time by encountering as few wild Pokemon as possible, and Repels were the best way to do that. Besides, he did need to find and confront Terrakion, right? The more time and energy he saved, the better.
It would only be a matter of time before the Repel wore off, but Hilbert wasn't worried; at that time he was sitting on a boulder taking a small break. The Wild Pokemon were driven away, but the other Trainers weren't. They really gave them a run for their money!
Hilbert didn't think much about the little noises he heard as he looked through a map of the area. There was a gentle nudge on his leg too, but he didn't pay that much attention either - he knew Dodger was out of her PokeBall, it might be her. It was only when he felt something like teeth biting down on his leg that he jolted and finally looked down. He wasn't entirely sure how he felt about the fact that it was a Deino gnawing at his leg - on one hand, Hydreigon is a pseudo-legendary. Seeing as his mother had a Tyranitar on her team, he knew how powerful those could be.
On the other hand, pseudo-legendaries sometimes take years to fully evolve. Like...four or five at the most. If he had befriended this little guy way before the beginning of his journey, that'd be one thing. There wasn't a chance in the Distortion World that he could have a Hydreigon in his team, not with the time crunch he was on.
For another thing, it was biting his leg.
"O-Oi!" he exclaimed, trying to shake the Deino off his leg. The little guy let go in his surprise, and stumbled to the ground with a small cry. It managed to right itself, and...wait a minute. It was making these soft noises...almost like sobs. Was it crying?!
It was only then that Hilbert noticed the eggshells scattered across the ground. Eggshells that were suspiciously Deino-colored.
Was...Was this Deino newly-hatched?! He knew that Deino were blind, so was it possible it imprinted on him by biting his leg?! Did it think that Hilbert was his mother?!
"Oh, shite," Hilbert muttered. "U-Uh...Sorry. I wasn't paying attention."
...Could Deino understand what he was saying? What should he do?! Thinking on his feet, he grabbed his bag and looked for something that might be edible. He took out a pastry and held it out for Deino to smell. "Uh...do you want some food? Here you go."
Deino sniffed the pastry curiously before taking a big bite out of it. The little guy seemed to like it, because he scarfed down the rest of the pastry. Then he sniffed at Hilbert's hand a moment, nuzzling his fingers before gently biting down on his hand.
It didn't take much to coax the little guy into a Great Ball, but not before he was finally able to get him to hold some Mail without eating it. He knew that Professor Juniper or his mother would be the one to see the little guy's arrival, so he wrote this for them to see: 'This is Noir. I saw eggshells not far from where I found him, so I think he just hatched? I think he thinks I'm his mother? HELP?'
Yes, he knew that Noir wouldn't be the only baby Pokemon that he had in his roster. But a baby Tirtouga was one thing; a newly-hatched baby Deino was a whole other thing.
When Hilbert told her that he'd need her help with something, Molly hadn't expected to keep an eye on Carmen. Not just her, but the rest of the Pokemon in his Storage System.
Granted, it was pretty logical of him to ask. Since Hilbert was still a minor, primary management of his Storage System account went to his parents anyway. She'd have done that even without Hilbert's request. She didn't have any issue with taking care of Hilbert's Pokemon while he threw himself into the League. In fact, most of Hilbert's Pokemon were pretty well-behaved. Carmen seemed to explain the situation to them well enough, so they were pretty cooperative.
No, the issue Molly faced was her own mind. Overthinking just about everything was a habit that she had yet to break from her days as a Champion - one that served her well when it came to anticipating what an opponent might do, but not so much when it came to a non-battling lifestyle.
She was absolutely proud of Hilbert for standing up to Team Plasma the way he did. On the other hand, the fact that he was thrust into this region-wide spotlight for it was just fucked up.
Not to mention the possibility of how Carmen could be targeted because she spoke out against Team Plasma. While she knew that there were Plasma Grunts that were oblivious to what they had really done (like Wesley and Sasha), that only meant that the Plasma members that were willing to kill Jude would stop at nothing to get to Carmen.
In the back of her mind, Molly found herself wishing she had a Porygon-Z like Richard did. That whole line dealt with cyberspace stuff, right? Even that would give her some peace of mind for the days to come.
Speaking of which...was Richard still in Alola for that commission? She knew her former husband could be absorbed in his work in tracking down shinies - knowing him, it'd be possible that he completely missed the viral video and the news about Team Plasma. He probably needed to know, so he wouldn't be blindsided like Molly was.
So, she took out her phone and dialed Richard's number. Hopefully, the fact that she was actually calling his phone would grab his attention - she usually preferred texts when it came to this kind of thing. She never called unless it was urgent.
Carmen seemed to notice Molly's silence, and hopped over.
"Hey, Miz Hilbert's Mom?" Carmen questioned. "Who are you callin'?"
"Hilbert's dad," Molly responded, making sure to put the phone on speaker. "I wanna make sure he gets up to speed with what's happenin' with Hilbert. He's got control over Hilbert's storage system too, so he should be just as involved in this as me."
Thankfully, her ploy worked; the phone rang four times before they heard, "Molly?! You never call, what's the occasion?"
"Hey, Rich," she greeted. "It's a long story, but I gotta ask; when's the last time you checked the news in Unova?"
"Um...when I asked Whitlea to pick you up from the airport," he responded. "She told me about how these Team Plasma punks that have been spouting stuff about liberation and things like that. That was...a week or so ago, I think? Why, did something happen?!"
"Miz Hilbert's Mom? I think that was before Jude died," Carmen interjected. Molly gave Carmen a gentle pat on the head as Richard spoke up again; "Who said that? And when they said Jude, they don't mean-?!"
"Yer not gonna believe this if I just tell you," Molly responded. "So lemme just send you a video that's gone viral recently. That should tell you everythin' you need to know, alright? Call me back when you finish watchin'. I go' an idea, and I need yer help to see if it's possible."
"Okay..."
Once she sent the video to Richard, all Molly had to do was wait. After a few minutes, she got a call from Richard. When she picked up and put it on speaker again, Richard's voice was immediately heard; "That kid! I have no idea if I'm proud of him for standing up to Team Plasma like this or furious that he didn't let me know! Did you know?!"
"I had no clue, and I already chewed him out enough for both of us," Molly responded, setting her phone to the side as she looked over Hilbert's storage again. Huh, there was a Deino in there now. And a Throh caught in a Master Ball?! "And by the way; Carmen's with me right now. Hilbert's gettin' ready to challenge the League while I'm keepin' an eye on his Storage."
"Uh...hi, Mr. Hilbert's Dad," Carmen greeted. "I'm Carmen. Hilbert wanted Miz Hilbert's Mom to keep an eye on me."
"You're Carmen?" Richard was clearly surprised. Did he not expect to be put on speaker? "Um, hey! I wish we could've met under better circumstances. I'm sorry about your friend. You're very brave for speaking up against them like that."
"It wasn't just me!" Carmen insisted. "Hilbert's doing the best he can too! I don't know if he's awakened Reshiram yet, but-"
"That's okay. It looks like a lot of people believe that he can do it," Richard responded. "Hilbert always did have a pretty strong sense of justice. I guess I should've expected something like this from him. So Molly, what is it you need me to do?"
"I'll get to the point. Hilbert wants me to manage the Pokemon in his PC Storage Unit, but I...I don't know if I can do this myself. I got Whitlea to worry about, too."
"Whitlea, too?! She told me she fought them off once, she didn't say anything about-!"
"She's no' goin' up against them like Hilbert is," Molly answered. "But Whitlea's our kid too - and his sister. I'm worried that Team Plasma is gonna stop at nothin' to get back at Hilbert for tankin' their reputation, so I wanna make sure that all my bases are covered. We may have been rubbish with the whole 'husband-and-wife' deal, but that's no' stoppin' me from thinkin' of the best way to protect the kids."
"Fair enough," Richard admitted. "I actually was thinking about dropping that commission. I could head over to Unova on the next flight home."
"You sure about that?" Molly questioned. "They wanted you to find a Salandit, aye?"
"A female Salandit. I've already found, like...five shiny males. I got a clause about Pokemon with that specific gender ratio, so I'm off the hook."
"Thanks, Rich. Yer the best."
"Aw, love ya too Molls."
When Richard hung up, Molly realized that maybe she should talk to Amanita. She didn't know what was and wasn't possible when it came to the Storage System, but maybe Amanita could shed more light on things.
Before that, though...she had to know. Why did Hilbert use the Master Ball on a Throh, of all things?!
When it came down to it, finding Terrakion was a lot easier than Hilbert had anticipated. It turned out that he could be found very close to where the Pokemon League was.
For Merlot, the perplexing part came when Merlot was summoned against Terrakion. The legendary assessed the situation before him and told Merlot; (Cobalion and Virizion tell me that your human had two of his companions face them. I should like to be faced with the same odds.)
(I'm aware of that,) Merlot responded. (Can I ask why you're bringing this up?)
(Cobalion has witnessed your resolve. Virizion has tested your teamwork. I wish to assess your ability to overcome adversity,) Terrakion declared. (So, I have a stipulation for my trial. The teammate that fights alongside you must be at a disadvantage against my power.)
(A disadvantage?) Merlot repeated. It was easy to see that coming; the Musharna did wonder why Virizion's trial was so different from Cobalion's. So they had been testing Hilbert back then? (Can I ask what you mean by disadvantage? Because I could argue that your strength as a legendary puts our entire team at a disadvantage against you.)
Terrakion snorted at the Musharna's comment. (Fine, I will be more specific. I've heard from the Pokemon living here that your human has befriended a rather rowdy Excadrill. See if he's willing to fight alongside you.)
Merlot stared, unable to believe what he was hearing. Roger had told him that his finicky ways would get him and the team in trouble one day, so he really should've anticipated something like this happening eventually. Not that Garfield wasn't a strong fighter; in fact, he's fit into the team very nicely. He would just be lying if he said he wasn't worried about losing another member of his team so close to the finish line, so to speak.
Then he remembered; the Swords of Justice were a trio that protected Pokemon, right? So they wouldn't actually do anything that would cause a casualty, right? Accidents did happen in battle, but perhaps...
(Fine. I accept your stipulation.) With that, Merlot used a little bit of his Psychic power to unclip Garfield's PokeBall from Hilbert's belt. Hilbert's surprised yelp was drowned out by the sound of the PokeBall opening, summoning the Excadrill into existence.
"Merlot! Next time ask me if you're gonna do that!" Hilbert shouted. While he was confused about why Merlot helped summoned his Excadrill, Merlot knew that he expected some kind of explanation. Which he was going to get; "Sorry, Hilbert. Terrakion wanted whoever fought him alongside me to be at a disadvantage against him. Garfield fit the bill perfectly."
"What the-" Merlot didn't have to be a Psychic-type to know that Hilbert was very conflicted about this. And for the same reasons that Merlot had been. That was why the Musharna continued, "Don't worry. I'll make sure Garfield's okay."
Merlot was sure he wasn't going to be the only one to ensure Garfield's safety. But he knew that Hilbert would trust his word over Terrakion's.
For his part, Garfield was pumped. Hilbert wouldn't have the heart to refuse, seeing how excited he got at the prospect of facing a legendary.
Sure enough, Hilbert nodded. Good, there wasn't going to be an argument.
With that settled, Merlot turned towards Garfield. (Well? Ready to test your skill before we challenge the League?)
Garfield grinned. (Absolutely ready!)
(Good,) Terrakion boomed as he practically launched himself at the two. (Then let's begin!)
Hours later, Hilbert practically stumbled out of Victory Road for the second time. Letting Garfield fight Terrakion was a stress-test, but he managed! They all managed, really; Hilbert managed to keep his cool, Garfield and Merlot managed to survive. That was such a relief.
It was a really good thing that there was a Pokemon Center right where the League was. That gave him a little time to fully restore his party, and buy supplies for the gauntlet ahead. He couldn't go back to Center once he entered, so he needed to buy all the Full Restores, Full Heals and Max Potions that he could.
Once he was finally ready, he didn't waste time in approaching the League. He didn't know if N had already challenged the League yet, but he didn't exactly have the luxury to train now.
"Hey, I'm here to challenge the League!" Hilbert told the Veteran trainer hanging around the entrance. "Could you tell me where I can get registered?"
"I can do that for you," the sentry responded, handing over a piece of paper. "Before we start, though, I'm gonna need you to look over these papers and sign this waiver."
Hilbert nodded and scanned the list of rules, which read as follows:
Pokemon League Guidelines
1.) The challenger MAY NOT return to the Pokemon Center once the challenge begins. Any healing must be done in-between battles with items such as Potions, Ethers, Berries, etc.
2.) X Items are permitted, but a trainer must only use one per battle.
3.) The challengers party MUST hold the same item throughout the entire challenge. An exception can be made in the case of single-use items such as Berries or Gems, but the Pokemon in question may not hold any other kind of item once that single use expires.
4.) The challenger MAY switch out their Pokemon at any point in battle.
5.) By signing the waiver, the challenger acknowledges the possibility of injury and/or death for their Pokemon, and emotional damage to themself or their Pokemon.
Hilbert took a moment before signing the waiver and handing it over to the warden. "So, uh. You want this set of rules too?"
"No, you keep that one," he responded. "Never hurts to have a little more paper, right? Let's see your party and I'll get them registered right here."
With that, the warden led Hilbert to a machine designed similarly to the ones in the Pokemon Center. Hilbert put each PokeBall into the slots and entered the information on himself and his team.
CHALLENGER REGISTRATION
Name: Hilbert Dean Bailey
Trainer ID: 51554
Birthplace: Black City, Unova
Hometown: Nuvema Town, Unova
PARTY REGISTRATION
Michelle
Female Samurott
Jolly, quick-tempered
Ability: Torrent
Held Item: Expert Belt
Aqua Jet, Revenge, Razor Shell, Aerial Ace
Roger
Male Stoutland
Lax, often scatters things
Ability: Intimidate
Held Item: Rocky Helmet
Crunch, Ice Fang, Work Up, Last Resort
Merlot
Male Musharna
Modest, very finicky
Ability: Synchronize
Held Item: Amulet Coin
Psychic, Shadow Ball, Calm Mind, Hypnosis
Dodger
Female Galvantula
Ability: Compound Eyes
Modest, often dozes off
Held Item: Scope Lens
Volt Switch, Electro Ball, Eectroweb, Signal Beam
Belle
Female Chandelure
Ability: Flash Fire
Modest, capable of taking hits
Held Item: Charcoal
Hex, Will-O-Wisp, Flame Burst, Shadow Ball
Garfield
Male Excadrill
Ability: Sand Force
Hardy, quick tempered
Held Item: Soft Sand
Earthquake, Swords Dance, Slash, Sandstorm
Once Hilbert put the last bit of information in, the warden nodded.
"Everything's in order, you're good to go," he told Hilbert. The boy nodded and moved to enter the League when the warden spoke up again; "Hey...good luck, kid. You got a lot of people rootin' for you."
Hilbert nodded and gave the Warden a small smile. "I appreciate that. Thanks a lot."
Turning on his heel, he took his first steps into the League.
New Additions
Noir / Deino / Male / Gentle / Highly curious / Hustle / Met in Victory Road