Hilda stood silently as her last Pokémon dropped after losing to N in his castle. Her Zekrom that she freed to become the hero of Unova to defeat Team Plasma and to save Pokémon failed... and she was to blame.
She foresaw everything that raced through her mind at what she's done. The only hope the world had to be saved was her, and she failed. She could only stare at N watching her with his Reshiram still standing.
"It's been decided" he said "now, there will be nothing to stand in my way to liberate Pokémon from foolish humans! Pokémon can finally be perfect beings!" He expected her to react, but her blank expression never changed.
"Perfect?" She finally spoke "There's no such thing as perfect, N" he observed her demeanor, questioning why she chose to behave like this after so much was depended on her. She wore no sense of defeat, sadness, anger, or worry. She was a blank state, seeming like she was looking at him, but also seemed like she was looking through him; at nothing in particular. It finally dawned to him that she was experiencing shock, maybe, but he wasn't certain.
"Congratulations, my son" Ghetsis came over to N's side. N eyed her taking out a Ultra Ball and placed it on the floor in front of her "You've taken care of the pesky brat ruining our hopes and dreams. We can finally set aside those differences and focus on fixing this world to its ideal state" N smiled, pleased to hear this, and turned back to Hilda off in space
"I've appreciated your hard work up until now, Hilda" he told her "but my dream has finally came true. No longer will Pokémon be trapped in those capsules. They can finally be free from any burden caused by humans"
"I admit you had me worried there" Ghetsis shook his head "Thinking to put your desire to the side to decide who was the hero. This girl..." he turned to Hilda "You have failed, and for that... I thank you. We can finally start making our dreams into reality and not waste any more time. What will you do now?" He noticed the Ultra ball on the floor in front of her, too "Why is that ball there? Is that the ball you've captured Zekrom in?"
"Yes" she said. N furrowed his brows, confused "It seemed that all my efforts were wasted. That's okay" she smiled, shocking N "Congratulations, N. You've got what you've always wanted, but is that really all it was?" She smashed the ultra ball, releasing Zekrom's capture and transformed it back into the dark stone that fell into her hands.
"W-What are you...?" N took a step back, not believing that she was so easily willing to release Zekrom so quickly "Hilda?" She offered the stone to him.
"I won't need this anymore" he looked at Ghetsis for answers, and even he was shocked to see how she was behaving. He finally turned to N and nodded to receive the stone from her. Unsure, he went anyway and carefully took the stone from her. No strings attached. Is this... really the person who awakened the legendary Pokémon that followed the hero; who sought ideals?
"Why...?" He asked her brushing herself off from the rubble that fell from the battle they had "This wasn't what I expected from you"
"Hilda!" Cheren and Alder ran into the crown room they were in. Cheren, out of breath, looked at Hilda smiling at him, knowing that it wasn't a good sign
"What happened..?" Alder asked, seeing N holding the dark stone Hilda collected to defeat N, but saw she failed. That only meant one thing...
"Team Plasma will prepare for the upcoming new beginnings for Unova" Ghetsis said "Your precious hero had failed you. She wasn't the hero after all, but that's no surprise. N is the perfect king" Hilda closed her eyes at those words "His truths are absolute! The preparations will take time to take place. If I were you, I'd take the time to say goodbye to those Pokémon you have. You won't be with them much longer" Cheren glared and looked at Hilda glancing to the side with a unreadable face even N noticed
"Hilda... Say it isn't so" Cheren begged
"It is" She frowned at him "I'm sorry I wasn't enough" N flinched at those words, reflecting on the thoughts he expected to have if he were to lose to her. He was so sure, that even if he poured his heart into his dream, that she would win. He thought she wanted to defeat them, but during their battle, she hardly seemed interested. He thought that his truths was just stronger than her ideals, but he had mix emotions
"I... I refuse to believe this" Cheren glared at N and took out a Pokéball "N! Battle me! I'll take you down!"
"Cheren..." Alder shook his head "Even Hilda couldn't defeat him"
"That doesn't matter! This must be a mistake! Come on, Hilda! I'll give you some revives so you can help me!"
"I don't have Zekrom anymore. It's useless" She told him "I did my best until I got here" N snapped his head at her
"Until you got here?" Did she imply that she didn't give it her all when facing him?
"Plasma! Take these three away!" Ghetsis told some Team Plasma grunts walking into the room to escort out the opposing team. Cheren fought against the grunt larger than him, Alder was too defeated to fight back, and the grunt that was supposed to take Hilda looked too uncomfortable to touch her. She only smiled at the grunt and looked back at N
"Thank you for... the battle" she smiled as if she was happy, and followed the grunt out the door before N pulled her back, demanding answers.
"Did you do this on purpose..?" He said low enough so only she could hear. She only stared at him "What are you planning?" She put on a smile again.
"My mission was assigned to me a long time ago for this very moment, but I wasn't given instructions for the moment we battled"
"What are you talking about? Are you saying you were only doing this because someone told you too?"
"What? Don't act so surprised. You fell victim to the same thing with Ghetsis" Ghetsis came between them and slapped her across the face, sending her flying and made her halfway unconscious.
"Father!" N gasped.
"Don't listen to her. You were raised to become a hero to seek out the truth to awaken the legendary Pokémon and title you the true hero. You've worked hard for this moment" N shakily stared at Hilda sitting up, not seeming bothered that she was slapped, and only held her cheek "Decide now what you want to do with her. You are king, and whatever you say, goes. If you want, you can take her as your play thing for all I care"
"Take her..?" N gulped "Alright" he didn't know what he was going to do, but it might've been best to decide her fate later while he clears out his mind after everything that's happened for the last few hours since he battled Hilda "Plasma. Take her to my room and strip her from her Pokémon. Report them to Anthea and Concordia before I give a proper release" the plasma grunt nodded and hesitatingly grabbed Hilda's wrist to pull her up and forced her to follow him. She wouldn't even fight back. Not even to look back at N.
Hilda was pushed into N's bedroom and locked in immediately, preventing her from attempting to escape through the front door. She looked at the closed door, observing how tall it was, before looking around the child-like room with a skateboard ramp, some puzzles, bouncing balls to throw into a basketball hoop on the wall, and a train moving back and forth from broken train tracks.
"I failed..." she walked up to the train tracks to fix and watch it finally moving forward again, making her smile "It's okay. I've done everything I could. Now I have nothing..." she patted her belt, feeling how empty it was after the grunt took her companions away from her "They're going to be released. It's better this way... they shouldn't be with someone like me" she felt someone's presence behind her, but she continued to talk to herself "I did everything I could to be perfect... perfect" she looked down "I'm supposed to be perfect... perfect" she stared at drops of water dropping to the floor coming from her eyes "I'm not perfect... anymore" she chuckled and looked at the two girls behind her, frowning at Hilda talking to herself "I can't be perfect. I have nothing. All I can do is nothing. That's all I'm good for" she smiled at the girls growing worried "Good evening"
"Good evening..." the two looked at each other, not knowing what to say to everything they heard her say.
They waited for her to say something again, but she only sat quiet and obedient "Um..." Concordia started "You will be given a new chamber soon, but in the meantime... please stay here until it's prepared."
"Lord N has decided to keep you around with an order as a soon to be king of Unova, finally. Until that happens, you will stay here until that order is absolute" Hilda smiled and nodded.
"Okay" she went back to watching the train.
"Do you know what this means?" Anthea pushed, expecting to see a different reaction "This means you aren't allowed to leave!"
"Okay" Hilda looked back at them "I understand" the girls grew more worried.
"You don't mind..?" Concordia asked.
"I don't"
"Why..?" Anthea asked.
"I did everything I was supposed to do until I battled N. I deserved what I caused. They would never accept me back" she smiled "I can't fight back. I'm as good as dead" the girls didn't say anything, watching Hilda enjoy watching the train, and left to prepare her new room N ordered for.
The new world N dreamt of had finally came to a reality. Influenced or forced, people released their Pokémon to the wild or to Team Plasma to prepare them for the wild if they weren't able to do so after being sheltered for most of their life.
N felt refreshed through his new order and after so many meetings with region officials, he was finally able to take some time to himself while Ghetsis and the other sages handled the rest of the work. After all this time, instead of putting all his attention on his success, he wondered how Hilda was doing.
"My lord" Anthea and Concordia greeted N with a curtsy once turning the hallway, meeting him coincidentally "congratulations on your success. The world will finally be peaceful for Pokémon" N nodded, somehow not feeling good about it.
"Thank you" he gulped "How's Hilda?" The girls looked at each other before seeming uneasy.
"She's still in your playroom, my lord" Anthea looked down, gulping.
"What's wrong?" N asked.
"She's strange..." Concordia said. Strange? "Forgive me for saying this, but I would think for someone who was forced to stay here for over three weeks would be more upset, but she seems fine"
"What?" N was taken back.
"She's playing with your toys without a care in the world" Anthea frowned "She may be ill in the head, my lord"
"Don't say that!" He raised his voice. They bowed their heads, apologizing "How..?" How can a girl he got to know as a confident and well-spoken person who loved her Pokémon more than anything, behave this way? "She must still be in shock..." he suggested.
"We figured that at the start as well, but after so long... I don't think that's the case..." Concordia frowned "She admitted to it out loud in her sleep"
"What does she say?" The girls looked at each other uncomfortably before telling him.
"She always says 'I failed. I failed. I'm as good as dead. They will never accept me back. It doesn't matter. I'm as good as dead' is what she'd say" N shook his head and rushed pass them to head to his playroom to see for himself.
He opened the door to his playroom and saw Hilda brushing through her hair with her fingers, trying to undo the knots taking over. The room smelled awful, and Hilda looked visibly uncomfortable, as if she hadn't slept or taken a shower for awhile. She still had the same clothes she had when they battled three weeks ago.
"Anthea! Concordia!" N shouted "Why is she like this?!" The girls stood beside him.
"The chambers have only been recently made after the workers assigned to prepare it returned from duty. We were on the way to take her now..." Many of the Plasma workers were busy attending riots to control protests or guarding the sages, N, and even the castle, so they didn't have time to do any work within the premises.
Anthea sighed worriedly "this room only has access to a small bathroom with only a toilet and sink... Lord N, shall we move her to her new chambers now?" N frowned at Hilda still playing with her oily hair, not paying any mind to everyone watching her.
"Please..." he finally said "Get her showered and properly cleaned. Have her join me for dinner when it's ready" the girls bowed.
"Yes, my lord" the girl's used their psychic type Pokémon to teleport them to a new location. N waved away the sour smell and looked at the train moving straight in the train tracks. What's happened to the girl he thought he used to know..?
Hilda was dropped to a new location; a room with a spectacular view and a large bed at the end of it. The girls looked down at Hilda slowly standing up to admire everything.
"This is pretty" she smiled at them "What's going to happen?"
"We're going to prepare you for dinner with Lord N" Anthea said. Hilda nodded and followed her to the bathroom while Concordia watched her not even putting up a fight. She looked too willing to be here.
Hilda was told to take a shower before she should enter her bath. Anthea washed her hair while Hilda hummed a song as she washed her body with a beautiful smelling soap.
"This smells good" she told Anthea. Anthea was too nervous to respond "where is it from?"
"We have Team Plasma make things that are crudity free..." Hilda was pleased with the answer and finished her shower so she could relax in the bath. Concordia came into the bathroom with some clothes in hand.
"You will be wearing these for dinner" She said.
"Okay!" Hilda smiled, playing with the bubbles.
"Milady..." Anthea gulped, finally finding the courage to properly speak to her "Are you okay?"
"What do you mean?"
"You're strangely very willing to accept what's happened since you lost to lord N" Concordia said, joining in.
"There's not really much I can do" Hilda shrugged "for whatever reason you need me, I'm willing to be part of it"
"What? Even if we ask you to be part of Team Plasma? The organization you fought so long to stop?" Anthea frowned.
"...Yes" the girls couldn't wrap their mind around her reason. They finished preparing Hilda with no more questions and brought her to the dining hall where N was waiting, staring outside the large window to look at the view.
The guards surrounding the dinning hall were uncomfortable, waiting for the girl that almost ruined their plans, but also knew she was a unique character they didn't want to deal with after having to deal with her through battle and the aftermath.
"Plasma?" N questioned the closest grunt near him, making him jump and turn to his king to kneel.
"Yes, my lord?"
"Why does everyone look uneasy?" N noticed everyone's uncomfortable faces quickly forcing a poker face to stop worrying him "it's okay, you can tell me" unlike Ghetsis, the grunts are aware of N's kind and curious nature, so the grunt was more than willing to express his reason for being uncomfortable.
"W-Well... my lord?" N listened "It's the guest you chose to keep around"
"You mean Hilda?"
"Yes!"
"Why does she make you uncomfortable? Is it because she was almost the hero who ruined our plans-?"
"Far from that!" The grunt gulped "forgive me, my lord. Miss Hilda is just..." he hesitated to continue for a moment "aggressive"
"Aggressive?" N held his chin to think back "I see... she was always very bold and never looked afraid to say what she means. Was she mean to you?" The grunt sweat dropped
"I wouldn't say mean... but at the same time... maybe?" Before N could question him more, he heard Hilda coming into the room.
"I'm here!" Hilda exclaimed, causing everyone to jump, including the grunt who was bowing to N jump back. He looked scared enough that he left his post without permission. N reached out to him to stop.
"Where are you going?" He must've needed to go to the bathroom..? He thought.
Hilda jogged over to N to show off the dress she was given "How do I look?" She smiled. N, despite knowing that she was aware that she was kidnapped and kept here against her will, smiled and brushed away any guilt he was holding while he watched her smile unlike how he's ever seen before. She was a ray of sunshine and almost childlike, opposite of what he used to know.
"You look great" he chuckled, staring at the long sleeved pink dress that reached down to her ankles like a princess "Why are you wearing long sleeve in the middle of summer?" He looked over at Anthea and Concordia for an answer.
"I thought it was best that she wore it..." Anthea cleared her throat.
"For... reasons" Concordia continued, thinking back at what they noticed while Hilda was bathing.
"Alright" N offered Hilda his hand. She stopped playing with her dress and looked at his hand "Come and have a seat" she smiled happily and took his hand to be escorted to the end of the table before he sat on the other "I must say, I'm a bit surprised that you are so excited to accompany me tonight"
"I'm especially excited to have something better to eat" she laughed "All I've ate were different kinds of sandwiches, not that I really mind it"
"Forgive me. We had to get the hang of our new system, so we were only able to provide sandwiches for everybody. I'm pleased to say that Team Plasma can finally benefit from all this trouble they went through. Their hard work is very appreciated" the staff finally came with their dinner "Dinner is served!"
"Yes!" Hilda cheered and placed a napkin on her collar to start eating. N glanced at the goddesses looking as uncomfortable as the rest of the plasmas around them.
"Do you like your new room, Hilda?" N asked, eating his food, finally.
"It's beautiful" Hilda smiled
"If there's anything you'd like, I'll be happy to provide" she nodded "How are you feeling?"
"I think I'm happy" she started kicking her feet playfully "it's been a long time since I had a proper meal. Living off ramen and food trucks isn't exactly the healthiest, but I'm okay"
"Being a trainer is tough" he sighed "walking around this world was tiring, but I'm happy to admit that I've learned a lot about people" he stared at Hilda barely seeming like she was listening "I'm sure you think that being forced here must be terrible, but I promise it's worth the wait. If you ever want to visit your friends or family, you can when everything is ready"
"Okay" she smiled. N started feeling uneasy at her happy going behavior. As much as he wished for her happiness after she helped him during his journey so much, he would think to be happy to see her this way, but something is still off.
"Hilda..?" He couldn't ignore it anymore "What's wrong?"
"Nothing is wrong. Why would anything be wrong?"
"This isn't the Hilda I know. I know all this is shocking, but..." he took a deep breath "I want to provide you everything you want to make you happy. I just want you to be happy here... with me. There's nobody out there like you, and to make sure you're protected and hold a unique bond with Pokémon, I can't let you go. If there's anything you need, I'll give it to you"
"Thank you" her expression never changed.
"Do you need anything?"
"I have everything I need here" she hummed "I don't have a family to go back to" N gasped a bit.
"You don't have a family?"
"Well, if you count my caretakers as family, then I guess I do... but they told me that if I become a failure, I might as well never return"
"How can they say that..? You might have failed, but you've worked hard-"
"That doesn't mean anything to my caretakers" she frowned "If I'm not perfect, I'm nothing. If you never took me in, I would've been homeless and good for nothing but to be a sex worker" the girls cupped her mouths in shock. N was too stunned to speak "I'm happy to be here" she smiled again
"That's awful! What about your friends?"
"Friends? I happen to run into them a lot on our journey. I've known them since I was little, but I never got to know them well enough to be considered their friend" she held her chin to think "I remember they always try to be my friend, but my caretakers always told me to ignore them. I have to be perfect. I can't be perfect with people like them... I was taught to be polite, strong, bold, patient, smart, perfect... I am not perfect, and knowing that, I no longer have a home to go back too."
"How could they be so cruel?"
"N..." she looked down "Don't act like you don't understand"
"Sorry?"
"Ghetsis is no different. He used you... He's just like my caretakers" her expression turned serious this time "If you were to lose in our battle, Ghetsis would had treated you the same as my caretakers treated me"
"W-Why would you say that?" I stood up "I know all this is difficult to accept, but you can't make assumptions-" she stood up from her chair to lean on the table
"That room I stayed in..." N froze at the eyes he started recognizing as the ones he knew before "Is similar to mine back home"
"What?"
"The only difference is that I didn't have any toys. You were fortunate enough to have them. Similar to you, I grew up with Pokémon who took care of me. They are the reason I'm alive... I might've seemed like I was fine with you releasing them, but in reality... You released my only family. I'm alone now more than ever" she grabbed a cup of juice to drink, but her hands were shaking violently "I am nothing now. I can only listen to any order somebody gave me. Because of that, I've been bullied and taken advantage of my entire life. I don't care what you do to or for me. I am only waiting for the day when I finally get what I deserve" the cup in her hands shattered and cut the entirety of her hand. The goddesses rushed to aid her while N was frozen on his feet.
"Hilda..." his voice was shaking, too low to speak out and too shock to learn exactly why she was the way she was. She only saw herself as an object and nothing more.
"My lord..?" Concordia called. N felt nauseous and excused himself to his room, but not before he ran into Ghetsis in the hallway. N figured he wanted to talk about politics even if he's supposed to be off for the day
"Father, how can I help you-?"
"My king" Ghetsis interrupted "I advice you to let that girl go"
"What? But you said-"
"I know what I said. I've been thinking for some time. Having someone like that around you might end up poisoning your mind. Whatever she says might convince you to think what you worked so hard for was wrong. I can't have that" N couldn't say anything. He imagined what Hilda told him earlier about Ghetsis being the type of person her caretakers were if N were to lose, but how could this be when Ghetsis had done nothing but support him?
"I assure you that that won't happen" N said "I want to keep her here, despite what you think. She won't poison my mind. I know what is right, and no one can change that" Ghetsis nodded.
"Very well. I only warn you for your sake, but if you have any problems, let me know right away" N imagined the look on Hilda's face every time she talked about Ghetsis. When comparing him to her caretakers and accusing him, she brings back the personality he used to know, but in the state she's in, was who he knew actually her?
"I will" N said "thank you, father" Ghetsis nodded and walked away. N stared at the empty hallway and instead of heading to his room, he hurried to the throne room to meet with his legendary. The magestic beast looked down at him, wondering what was the matter.
"I'm sorry to bring you out here out of the blue, but I can't wrap my head around all this. Why..? Why did she release Zekrom so easily without hesitation? Did it make a mistake to choose her? I mean... she seem like she doesn't care at all" Reshiram watched him thinking it over "the black orb is in our possession, but it means nothing. I made my dream a reality. I am the hero... I changed the world. If that's the case, why am I having second thoughts?" He rubbed his face "I still believe in what I worked so hard to do, but she never even tried to battle me with all her power. I wonder..." N walked to his throne where the black orb rested "Zekrom... why did you choose her?" He didn't get an answer "She was only doing what she was told to do. Does that really mean she's the hero you were looking for?" He looked back at Reshiram "It may not be spirit you were drawn too, but only her ability. Is that all it was?" He sighed "Reshiram, please help me understand" the white dragon watched its master sulking before answering
"Would you prefer things to be different?" N flinched at the question "You question Zekrom's choice. It means you don't believe in me"
"T-That's not true!"
"I chose you as my hero. Zekrom chose that girl. It believes in her, even now. If you want a true battle, you must demand it" a large thunder clap roared loudly from outside, shaking the castle violently to the point where bricks started falling from the patched hole Reshiram went through to enter the throne room a long time ago "Zekrom chose its hero the same way I have. Through your heart" N held his chest and spotted flashbacks on Hilda's determined eyes each time he met with her during his journey. He wants to see those eyes again...
"Hilda..." he gulped "I've worked so hard to get what I want, yet it seems like Ghetsis was right. Is she poisoning my mind?" He thought of her face again when she talks about Ghetsis, a face of fear, disgust, and hatred "there's more than meets the eye... I must find out for myself" he sat down on this chair for a while to think. Reshiram stood with him for some time until it was alerted.
"There's something wrong..." Reshiram said, looking at the black orb. N looked at the black orb on the side of the chair. Unable to think clearly, he rushed out the throne room without a second thought
"Something has happened to Zekrom's chosen one" Reshiram said "Only the truth will set you free"