Gengar slammed into the arena floor and burst into otherworldly flames. Hilbert held up an arm to shield his face as he was forced to step back by the frenetic spiritual energy that washed over him.
When the fires faded, Gengar's fists had elongated and started smoking like giant will-o-wisps. Much of their body had darkened, but red shading where it touched the floor reminded Hilbert of clothes soaked in blood. The spirit's ever-present grin had only grown wider as a phlegmy third eye opened horizontally on its forehead and its normal eyes settled into a frenzied glare. If the typical Gengar was formed of trickster-like menace, Fantina's had reforged itself with razor-sharp cruelty.
Hilbert lowered his fist and saw that Golett had done the same.
"Now that you truly see what you are facing, will you quit while you're ahead?" Fantina asked. "You can't possibly win! This is the truth!"
Was it?
Was it true that he could never go home? Was it true that he would never see his family again? Was it true that he could never have real friends again? Was it true that he couldn't save everyone?
Was it true that he had come so far for nothing?
He felt the flames of Truth lick at the walls of his spirit.
"You're wrong!" he barked. "I won't give up, there's no way in hell!"
Golett raised an arm. The stone bubbled and shifted like a sand dune until the tip of a gritty Fire Stone poked out of their palm.
"Let's go, Golett!"
The Lights in the Sky Are Thunderbolts - XXVII - The Best Of Me
Golett slid back as if they had fired a rifle as a pillar of fire, burning with the spiritual energy Golett filtered through the Fire Stone, shot out of their arm and towards Gengar.
Gengar's face split with a grin. In the blink of an eye, it was yards off to the side and safely out of the way as Golett's attack burned through empty air.
A cascade of glass-like shards fell to the floor, faintly orange like lingering cinders but entirely devoid of TE. Each of Golett's limbs shifted, bits of Water Stone coalescing at the end of each. Golett jetted forwards with a spray of water going up behind them.
Gengar burst into motion and dodged around Golett, the Ground-type going wide as they sped by.
A whirlpool rose up from the ground as Golett pivoted, their arms glowing with Water TE before they twisted and shot back towards Gengar. As their fist made contact with Gengar, it exploded into stone and a spray of water, pouring a cone outward and blowing away Gengar's smoking body.
Gengar reformed a few moments later, still grinning as if their poisonous pseudo-flesh hadn't been liquified and splattered against the psychic dome protecting the audience mere seconds before.
Golett jumped back, making the ground frictionless as they pushed off the fading spray of water. Their arms shifted again, becoming patterned like fossilized leaves. They coated their arms in spiritual energy and filtered the energy through the Leaf Stones, immersing themselves in Grass TE. Two glowing green lashes like vines lengthened and began slowly pooling on the ground like a pile of rope.
Come on, Hilbert's inner voice thrummed. There's got to be more than that.
He felt Shaymin distantly brush at the edge of his soul. Though he couldn't see exactly where it and its retainer sat, he felt their presence.
Just this once, Hilbert said, before trying to recall every time he had ever felt Gratitude. How hard his mother had worked to raise him on her own, how his childhood friends hadn't ditched him in his weird early teenager phase, how Hilda had bailed him out as a date for that one school dance, how Professor Rowan hadn't turned him away when he explained his situation, how Cheryl had called him a friend despite his failings, how even now, there were people willing to support him-
His vision swam with a sea of flowers and a tree that reached into the heavens.
Golett's eyes and the Leaf Stones across their surface flashed green. Roots thick like those of trees exploded out of their surface and cut into the ground with a rumble. Fissures cracked open as the roots raced towards Gengar like a swarm of Ekans.
Gengar partially dissipated, holes appearing in their body like cheese as the roots shot through it. The Ghost-type phased out of them and rose above the roots without ever making direct contact with them.
Hilbert winced. Thank you for helping me, he said silently.
The platinum earth in his soul shifted to accommodate the smugness-tinged Gratitude that flooded in and through to Golett.
A rush of energy pulsed through the existing roots. They suddenly shot upwards, growing into tree trunks in a matter of seconds and sprawling out. The coursing Grass TE stabbed into Gengar, cutting through their body and draining their spiritual energy as it rooted them down.
Golett scattered the remaining Leaf Stones in a storm of pebbles before bringing a Sun Stone into their right hand and a Moon Stone into the left. They circled their hands around each other as if to carve a hole in space.
As the Sun and the Moon revolve, Hilbert prayed, feeling a distant pressure on his spirit.
The air cracked in front of Golett on a flat plane, dropping into a deep hole at the Pokémon's eye level. Lines traced onto the molecules in the air and caved inwards towards an invisible end point.
Golett stepped forwards and disappeared.
Gengar blinked their third eye rapidly, suddenly sliding to the right just before Golett appeared from the wormhole behind them.
Hilbert's brow furrowed. That wasn't simple intuition telling it that an unseen enemy would attempt to flank- that was almost precognition.
He watched as Gengar punched Golett with fists that caved their stone inwards with each blow, yet seemed to be as dense as clouds. The flow of spiritual energy was too smooth- Gengar would fill their fists with energy just as Golett attempted to open another wormhole.
As Gengar danced around Golett, he watched its third eye blink and their energy shift to block Golett's fist.
Can it see spiritual energy from the future? Hilbert had to fight to keep his jaw from dropping. That was why it only dodged certain attacks, it knew which ones it could take!
"They can see the future, Golett!" Hilbert yelled. "Make an attack that it can't dodge!"
Golett dropped into the floor from a wormhole.
Gengar looked around for a moment, blinking rapidly before looking up.
Golett fell from the very top of the dome of Psychic TE, bringing their arms together with a massive clump of Shiny Stones.
Hilbert closed his eyes but the flash still cut through his eyelids like the sun at high noon. He heard Fantina yelp and the crowd cry from the sudden burst of light. Blinking spots away, he watched Golett slam into the ground and Gengar stumble around dizzily, their spiritual energy scattered randomly throughout their body.
"Don't let up!" Hilbert shouted.
Golett gathered a Dawn Stone in their left arm and a Dusk Stone in their right. The arena became bathed in pale blue and burning orange light, destabilizing Gengar further. Golett pooled their reserves and imbued spiritual energy in the stones before tossing them towards Gengar. The stones continued to release the light of morning and evening stars, trapping Gengar in a daze
"One more!"
Golett clenched and unclenched their fist, revealing the Thunderstone embedded within.
Hilbert tried to push his spirit through their bond, but thunder refused to roll through the stormy skies of his soul.
The Dawn and Dusk Stones began fading. Gengar began to recover.
Come on, we need to win! Hilbert pleaded. Zekrom, help me out! This is the ideal outcome!
His soul darkened as if to refuse him and his expression followed suit.
"Fine. Freeze them, Golett!"
The Thunder Stone was replaced with Ice. A cone of slush-blue TE poured out of their palm and washed over Gengar like water.
Something tapped at the boundaries of his soul. A frosty breeze, a cascade of icicles, as if to remind him of his Limits.
Hilbert wrenched the reins away and took the domain into himself, his eyes flashing blue for a split second before his mind was split by a terrible headache. Even doubled over, he could see Golett's attack strengthen for a split second and freeze Gengar in place.
"Use the Thunder Stone!" Hilbert called, forcing the words through a pained growl. "Finish it off!"
We need to win, that's all that matters. Come on, Zekrom, help me! He begged silently. Why won't you work!?
He saw a trickle of electricity dance across Gengar, though it was almost like he had imagined it. He began to physically see the Ideals in everything around him, in Fantina, in Gengar, in the Kadabra protecting the audience, in every member of the audience themselves- a bolt of electricity dancing between all of them but leaving him black and cold.
What do they have that I don't! He roared in his spirit, shouting at the dark clouds within him.
Memories were brought to the forefront of his mind like a series of lightning strikes. His childish assurances that he would become the Pokémon League Champion back in Unova. The promise between the four of them to stay together and conquer their doubts no matter what. That belief that praying to Landorus over the recently departed would give their souls some kind of peace. His hope that when all was said and done, the world would be safe and he could finally go home.
The Ideal he aspired to…
He looked around him. Cheering crowds- no, not just crowds. Each one of them was a person too, with their own hopes and dreams. With Fantina showing off as she did, it must have made them feel invincible.
"These people were hoping for a show, garcon! It simply must go on! I do hope you are not considering surrender!" Fantina said to great cheers from the audience.
Hilbert rose to his full height. "It's hope, isn't it?"
"Hm? What was that?" Fantina pushed.
"That's why you battle, do things the way you do. It gives people hope. It makes them feel safe, protected. It teaches them to aspire to something greater," Hilbert said. "They want hope and you give it to them."
Fantina smirked. "But of course. I'm a performer! What kind of performer would I be if I didn't want to give people hope?"
Hilbert and Golett froze in time. The iceberg encasing Gengar began to splinter and crack.
And that's why her Pokémon were with her, he realized. That even if they didn't fight like he did, or like any of his Pokémon did, she had given them some kind of hope. Banette, even angry as he could tell they were, must have had some kind of love for the woman. Dusknoir must have seen a soul worth protecting and aiding in achieving her dreams. Drifblim must have had their reasons for sticking with her throughout the years. Mismagius may have been a trickster, but they must have had a reason to remain by her side while away from the stage. Jellicent couldn't have traveled so far from home for nothing; Hilbert knew that he hadn't. And Gengar… that wasn't the forced, maddening Mega Evolution he had seen in Jubilife City. It was the real deal.
Zekrom struck at the barrier of his soul. A warning shot, but also a confirmation.
Hilbert faltered, sagging slightly. He closed his eyes and shut his doubts away.
Alright, then, Hilbert agreed. I give up. The tension in the back of his mind went slack and broke down into threads of electricity.
"Fine!" Hilbert forced himself to declare. He crossed his arms and plastered a stupid grin across his face before he threw his head back and laughed. "You're a worthy opponent- I've changed my mind! You're worthy of this title. But you know that I can't stop here!"
"That I do, garcon," Fantina said, her smirk visible across the battered and broken battlefield. "Well?"
"Just who in the hell do you think we are?" he called, one eyebrow touching his hairline. He puffed out and threw around his chest to make each word that much more impactful. "The reputation of Team Black echoes far and wide! When they're talking about its ace, they ain't talking about Fuego or Machamp- they're talking about the 'mon that unites Heaven and Earth!" Hilbert threw his fist towards Golett, a wide grin on his face. "Golett!" he yelled. "Let's give 'em something to hope for!"
His pupils were no longer seas of oil. Blue electricity began dancing across the field around him and Golett. The Ground-type's surface became reflective like reforged platinum and began taking in the voltage of Ideals before making the conversion into spiritual energy.
Gengar shattered the ice around them, scattering it across the field as they regained their footing.
His heart pulsed.
"Finishing move!" he called.
The electricity pouring out of him and Golett redoubled and crossed the rest of the field, lancing up onto Gengar even as they tried to dodge by floating away. Levitating just above the ground, Gengar was paralyzed and frozen again in mid-air.
"Giga…"
The world around them flickered. Gone was the stage in a sea of lights beneath the watchful eyes of the audience. The world was rendered in black and white, with an oil-like sea crashing down against the edges of the stage, ash choking the sky as thunder rumbled, and an ever present rain washing away what was left of the earth.
And as quickly as it was there, it was gone, but something had changed in reality. The island within his soul was not composed of dirt, no. Nothing could grow in soil that was made of clumps of shattered platinum.
Hilbert took a heaving breath as he drew directly from his soul, bringing part of it into reality, never to return. Pokémon were wells of endless energy, and Zekrom was a freshwater spring thanks to the unlimited nature of Ideals, but humans weren't built to act as Pokémon did. That was why he drew from his Ideals or from Golett. Human spirits were finite, no matter how much they wanted to believe that they could accomplish anything they wanted through their individual strengths alone."
"Drill…"
He sacrificed that bit of himself and as he did so, a pillar of platinum ore grew out of Golett's wrist, exploding outwards as if straining against the bounds of reality. It warped and solidified, leaving the realm of the metaphysical behind as it took on the sheerly physical form of a drill.
Hilbert raised his right fist in sync with Golett, who leveled the drill at the static Gengar. With his other hand, he swiped the air with just next to his arm. Golett did the same, dragging their tiny palm across the drill with a droning creak before there was a burst of motion. The drill whirred to life, the indents carved in its surface beginning to blur together as it started shining with a faint purple glow. The sound of its internal grinding was like an avalanche and a chainsaw mixed into one, but as it spun faster and faster, Golett still held it perfectly aloft.
Electricity poured out of Hilbert's eyes.
"BREAAAAAAAK!"
It is tradition in the Japanese regions, some say, for towers to be built in honor of the dead rather than extensive graveyards. This is generally true, though it underplays the large factor of superstition. Lonely ghosts are more likely to go mad, the belief goes.
In these Pokémon towers, the older dead come first and remain on the bottom floor. As more dead are placed, more floors are constructed on top. This has had the effect of ensuring the old have their respects paid, but indirectly that the recently deceased and predisposed to holding grudges are hidden away.
Multiple graves, on multiple floors of these towers and in multiple regions, cracked as a wave of indescribable spiritual energy crashed against them.
Of the humans:
There were channelers- more commonly called mediums- which claimed to have felt lightning strike their very souls. It was found, upon closer inspection, that static clung to their clothing without any knowing where it had come from. The particularly sensitive discovered rashes like electrical burns on their breasts.
Elite Four Agatha in Kanto felt her heart skip a beat and fell into a coughing fit. Gym Leader Morty in Johto, in the middle of a gym challenge of his own, stumbled as he felt a sudden vision-blurring headache. Elite Four Phoebe in Hoenn was struck by a dizzy spell and erratic spasms.
And of the Pokémon:
As the sun dipped over Solaceon Town, restless spirits rolled among the town's plains of grass and wheat. The mounts of warriors that once called the region home were called for yet another struggle. The leader of the Wild Hunt- their fur black and their mane shimmering with the purple of solidified spirit- reared its head.
Deep within the Great Marsh, past the ancient trees and miles of mud, an ancient beast removed itself from its meal, their mouth small but no less dangerous. It swiveled in the air, its fluttering mane waving behind it, and smirked before returning to the carcass on which it fed.
At the right hand Within its Pokéball and its state of half-awareness, a conglomeration of one hundred and eight spirits began broiling with rage borne of contradiction.
2/108.
The guardian of Snowpoint Temple shifted towards Hearthome City, the flame along its blade burning brighter as the eye embedded its hilt felt narrowed. It registered a type of shock that, after hundreds, maybe thousands of years, it had forgotten the meaning of. Around it and in front of it was the nevermelting ice that the temple was built on all those years ago, when the land had ceased being known as Ransei. Behind it, inside the barrier that it had been set to guard, an endless garden was laid out in which its ward could roam.
Even through the established, icy limits, the flaming sword that had been placed there felt the earth shake at Regigigas' stirring.
And of those that could be called human or Pokémon, both and perhaps neither:
A fire within Hilda flared as her patron felt their opposite's power manifest from half the world away. A direction revealed itself to her, only giving her part of the Truth which she could comprehend.
And then there is Candice, who felt the power of Nobunaga and his Ideals reawaken. Sitting upon her throne of ice, her dark pupils turned a pale blue and began glittering with the falling frost of Limits.
For a good long while, after the cheering and jeering faded into the background, the only sounds Marley could hear were of her own footsteps, the rustle of Shaymin's basket against her back, and Hilbert walking just ahead of her.
Where they passed by an open air sports bar- the kind that would be built in Hearthome, the kind that served children crayons alongside drinks for their parents- there were a few waves and catcalls directed at Hilbert. He gave half of a wave and seemed to grin, though from her position following behind and perhaps by a trick of the light, it looked more like a grimace.
As they entered the hotel, the silence became even more deafening. Tile made each click of her boots' heels more punctual, each squeak from his ragged sneakers more like a snippet of a shriek. The whirring of the elevator and the ding of the button echoed in her mind, if not reality. She chanced a glance at Hilbert. The elevator must have been rumbling more than she initially noticed, as he seemed to be shaking.
Hilbert unlocked the door, pushed it open and lumbered over to his bed (though in effect, it was his Froslass' bed). He quickly dropped his bag but as he shrugged off his jacket, he paused a few seconds before taking it off and throwing it over the desk's chair without looking back. He sat on the edge of his bed, seemed to stare at the wall for a few seconds, and then put his head in his hands.
"I need a minute," he said, muffled. His voice sounded wet, though given the changing season, the room may just have grown a bit humid. "You should go to Amity Square with your Pokémon."
Marley was standing just inside the room, one hand on the doorknob. She considered his request for a brief moment, remembering everything that had occurred since she met Hilbert and some of what occurred before.
She remembered leaving home and finding Gratitude, finding Shaymin. The pulse of Gratitude towards a hero that had washed over the two of them, a faint signal from across the region but one that Shaymin was able to divine the source of. She remembered how she had been faintly surprised when meeting Hilbert, a boy that didn't seem to care what people thought of him, if they were grateful towards him, or even if he got a reward. He did what he thought was right.
And that didn't make sense to Marley. People didn't act without an incentive, she learned that well from her childhood. Did he simply enjoy the feeling of doing what he thought was good? Was he hoping to impress someone that she wasn't aware of or gain their approval? Was there more to it than just bad dreams?
Perhaps she could figure it out. She could possibly help him figure it out as well.
She pulled the door shut, carefully sat down Shaymin's basket, and sat down next to Hilbert. The plush of the bed rose in the space between them, though her weight had little effect on the mattress springs.
Something came from behind Hilbert's hands. It was like a roll of thunder just cut short, dewy like grass after a heavy rain. A sob? No, that wasn't possible. Hilbert didn't cry.
He coughed and turned away. "I told you to leave," he said.
"Talking about your problems is an effective way of processing them," she said, facing toward the wall with her hands clasped in her lap. She would only prod him further if it became necessary.
She felt the boy's shudder through the mattress. "I… am not… good. I'm not doing well. I feel bad."
Marley hummed in acknowledgement.
"I think," he placed one hand to his forehead and let the other hand loosely over his knee. "It's not just about Fanitna. It's everything and it's all hitting me again. I'm not over having to leave everyone behind. I'm not over having to put all of this on my back. I'm not over the fact that I'm going to die."
"Are you?"
Hilbert gave an amused huff, but it sounded weak and scratchy. "Probably. But we're all going to die some day, so I'll have to make my life count. What's it called, abandonment issues. Maybe I've got that."
"Your family…?"
"No." His brow furrowed. "No, he didn't mean to. My dad was a good man, he had to be. But he's dead and gone and we abandoned him. We ran. Mom didn't want to get drafted and get forced to leave me on my own. I was a kid, back then. I still was, even in Nuvema. And then all of this started and I wanted something out of my life and," he wiped his face, "I wanted to do something never been done before or see something that no one would believe. And I died. Golett killed me." His heart spiked out of his chest, though the room remained stable. "I abandoned my mom and my friends for years and then I had to leave and come here."
"Did you?" Marley asked.
Hilbert smiled, but the way the sides of his eyes dipped revealed his feelings. "Didn't have a choice. Not even in sleep or death. 'Course, Shaymin can probably tell those spirits to screw off when the dreams get to be too much, so you wouldn't understand that."
She was silent; that was the case. Shaymin had made her aware of their dreams but they still slept soundly. If it truly was a spiritual phenomenon, then it made sense that Hilbert was so much more vulnerable.
Hilbert turned away, staring into space again. "I used to have friends," he said, his voice cracking on the last word. "I don't think I can call them that anymore. They waited for me to come back to them and I never did. Some friend I am." He looked off to the side. "And then there's all the lab trainers. They're good kids."
"Young?"
"Our age." There was something tragic about that statement, Marley felt, even if she couldn't tell exactly why. "And there's this other girl, hopefully she ran into them. It sounded like I was the first friend she's ever had and I had to leave her too."
"You had a disagreement?"
"There was a difference in responsibility. I can't associate with normal people for too long. Not after…" he trailed off, then seemed to get that thousand-meter stare again. "They get hurt. That's my responsibility, to keep people safe." His voice grew bitter and sharper. "My job. Yeah, the kid from Unova that got himself killed is supposed to save Sinnoh, fight off angry spirits, and stop the end of the world. Not the gym leaders. Not Fantina. Who cares if that's their job, their responsibility is to make people happy. I don't get that- to do that." He ran a hand through his hand and grabbed a handful, tugging at it before he seemed to realize what he was doing and slumping. "Hope. Is that what you were talking about?"
Marley leaned away, caught slightly off-guard. "What do you mean?"
"During the tournament," Hilbert said, now staring her dead in the eye. "We were on a break and you said I shouldn't talk about hope." He turned away, though it seemed incidental rather than caused by self-consciousness. "Maybe you're right. I.. get that giving people hope is the best way to make them find and follow Ideals. I understand that, it just took me until today to put it together. But does it have to be me? Why do I have to give up everything and take all of the problems here on my back while she gets to go around and play hero?"
Marley didn't answer. The boy didn't seem to be looking for one.
"I don't think she can actually see spirits. Maybe she's a good person and that's why her gimmick worked out for her. Spirits commune a little bit with everything around them, they could probably tell. I can. It's just me and Golett. That's how it's going to be for the rest of my life."
"And myself," Marley added. "And Shaymin."
Hilbert shook his head. "No. You're not there when I die. You get to live. Or you get to die at the same time as everybody else." He shrugged limply. "In my dreams, it's just me and Golett. Sometimes Zekrom. Mount Coronet will be covered in blackened dreams and shattered platinum. Space-time is going to turn inside out but I can't see the spirits that will make that happen. I don't know how we'll get there, but we will. Maybe Golett will take me and them if they ever evolve." He rubbed the stone sticking out of his chest as a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth before he grimaced and dropped his hands to his knees. "Until then, I'm going to follow my Ideals and save as many people as I can. Yeah, it might be pointless in the end and… what did that Dusknoir call it? A fool's errand. I'll still do it because it's the right thing to do, not just because it gives me strength. And then, I'll die. Maybe there will be a heaven out there waiting for me. Maybe not. I'm stuck on Earth till I find out."
Marley placed a hand on his back, just above where his shoulder blades met. She could swear that she felt the cool, pulsating stone through his shirt and skin. "I am here for you."
Hilbert smiled and glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "No, you're not." He suddenly pushed himself to his feet and began working through a series of stretches. "But that's fine. I get it. I don't have a problem with that anymore. You're here for the Gratitude. You've got a purpose, and that's a whole lot more than the people who have nothing at all. You have nothing else, but that's fine too."
Her expression shrunk. "That's not-"
"It is," Hilbert said, still facing away from her. "This is the case: I'm going to abandon you, or you're gonna abandon me when the going gets tough. That's the future I've staked my entire life on. I'm going to fight on until the end of the world, and then I am going to die." He shrugged, though she saw what was undeniably a quiver in his shoulders. "It's as simple as that. Don't pretend to be my friend. Don't try to trick me into thinking that's a possibility. Just… stop, Marley. I don't want your faked sympathy, so don't give it to me."
"Is that so wrong?" she asked, standing to reach him. "If the effect is the same as real sympathy, then does it really matter?"
"IT IS!" Hilbert roared, his fists clenching and slamming into his sides as Marley took a few steps back. "It is wrong and it does matter and you would know that if you were still human! But you're not! You gave up your humanity, and for what? Because you had a bad home life? What went so wrong in your life that you chose willingly to give it all up and chase Gratitude, of all things? What could possibly mess you up so badly that the only thing you value and want out of life is people being grateful?"
Marley's mouth moved without sound for several seconds. Her mind raced as she tried to formulate the words she needed to say. Syllables and vowels formed silently on her lips. She paused and inhaled slowly before speaking.
"My father committed suicide." Marley stared at Hilbert's eye level, even if he was still facing away. "We found his shoes on one of the beaches of Route 229 with a note inside. He wrote that he couldn't go on living in a world that didn't care for him. He was a composer before the Conflict- some of his piano pieces were commissioned by the Sinnoh Pokémon League. He was conscripted and transferred to the Black Parade, one of the regimentary bands. He wrote that he saw too much destruction and not enough grace to go on. It wasn't a popular war."
Hilbert took a few moments to respond. "No, it wasn't."
"When he came back, he was hated. Called a killer by some for participating, called a coward by others for coming back alive. He wrote that he was never thanked for what he did, that soldiers were never thanked for what they did. When he was discharged, it was by form letter. My family is well off, I will not deny this. It was how he was able to afford the alcohol he drowned himself in while he was still alive. Would you like to know what my mother said when she read that letter?"
Hilbert tensed.
"Gratitude shouldn't matter. Doing his duty should have been enough for him." Marley stared at him. "That was an opinion shared by much of my family, even as they butchered his pensions and savings without a single prayer of thanks. If that is family, I do not want it."
"So you left," he said.
"So I left. When you ask me why Gratitude is so important to me, that is what you are questioning. I need to find what my father was missing. If Shaymin and I are able to spread Gratitude across the region, to allow it to prosper like a nurtured plant, then that is what we will do."
Hilbert tilted his head up curiously. "You want to save people?"
"I want nothing like what happened to my father and to my family to happen again. Gratitude is the vehicle I have chosen."
"Your father," Hilbert began, "Was he a good man?"
"Yes."
Hilbert inclined his head slightly. "That's good. It sounds like he deserved better."
Marley's voice faltered as she spoke. "I know."
Hilbert looked towards the window. "You should leave," he said, before taking a deep breath. "Get some fresh air, maybe come back in a few hours. We'll figure something out for dinner then."
"You're not…?"
"I am," he said. "But it's not your fault. It can't really be helped that we're both messed up."
Marley nodded, which he seemed to notice even with his back turned, before gathering up Shaymin (who had been strangely quiet), their basket, and her bag and stepping out into the hallway. After shutting the door, she paused for a few minutes and leaned against the wall.
Through the thick door and walls, the sound of Hilbert's anguish sounded almost like a ghost's whisper.
AN:
This is the end of this arc, though they're not leaving Hearthome quite yet. Next chapter or two is interlude stuff. This recent set of chapters killed me because of the pacing the battle required. Ah, for the plagiarism bit, Yuki's bit was Fate Gilgamesh's Gate of Babylon, Fuego is still Kamen Rider Build, and Golett is officially the entirety of Gurren Lagann- not that Hilbert knows that. The anime bullshit is strong with this one. Read and review as always, I love seeing what people think about my work and how the story is developing. Thanks for reading!