A/N: Merry Christmas!
This chapter was once an independent piece, and went by "Unova Unchained". I have since abandoned that title and edited the prose to repost as the prologue to Grayscale—my attempt at novelizing my favourite Pokémon games: Black 2 and White 2.
Wishing you all a great 2024 and beyond.
— Ace.
Black and White
"From fear, I was born, and in fear, I pass,
But without fear… my dearest friend, my
Greatest foe,
A mere shell I would be, in Sunstroke, and
In Cold Snow.
Swing, pendulum, from dear foe to great friend,
All so I may feel you at my life's end,
When a shadow I remain, bury me,
Where dreams cross, and the future is set free.
Hear my prayer,
May thy son, this serpent, eat its own head."
The epitaph ends there. Alder feels the sunset upon his face; a chilling warmth. Before him stands an unmarked menhir, and beyond the cliff, a lush, misty forest.
"The future… It faces its greatest threat yet. A pure and true heart has turned the gods against us."
In the distance, a tower pierces the heavens, and the eye of chaos spirals at its peak. Divine lightning reborn. The rains churn amid storm clouds racing to ground zero of this cataclysm unfolding. Unova shakes.
Alder steps toward the grave, and places face-up a tome.
Compendium Harmonia.
"I'll be back for this, but right now… Unova needs its champion." Abandoning prayer, he clenches his fist. "I won't give the future up without one last fight."
A bridge of dreams leads into the fog of war, and Alder's steps grow distant as he is enveloped by his next battle.
=====#=====
At the core of this strange land, a single tree stands. Two barks spiral to make its trunk—one a deep black, and the other a vast white—intertwining to form a double helix. A lone man watches over it, and his wizened features darken as the tree begins to glow. The branches grow further, gouging deeper into the cloud barrier.
"Another turning point…" Beyond where the Champion once stood, the horizon calls his eyes. "I can only pray you succeed, Alder."
A high wind blows against the gravestone to flip open the aged tome.
=#=
The heavens plunge into war, casting a net of gales and thunderbolts. Banners of black and white fly in the wind, and blood stains the sand where man and beast tear into one another.
"For the Glory of Unova!"
Two titans war at starlight's frontier. They are proud djinns, enthroned by cloudburst. Their tails weave the elements into weapons of destruction. One bent wind into a storm of blades, while the other bent thunder into rays of death. Their collisions sunder the sepulchral skies, blotting out the horizon.
=#=
The pokémon of Pinwheel Forest scramble through the wildfire. Its canopy, once proud and thick, now stands razed by hellfire. Storming gales brought with them wickedly arced lightning strikes, flashing light upon the armour and carcasses that mingle into a desolate, grey landscape.
A horde of lilligant and whimsicott pave a path through the flames for their young when they see the wrath of gods smite a mighty oak. A poor petilil and its horrified family watch as wood falls upon them.
SWISH!
A whirlwind of slashes disintegrates the burning tree, and the earth faults to form a shield of pointed stones. Rays of pure light then shatter obstructive rocks and uneven terrain, flattening a path for the escape of all the wild pokémon.
Three heroes wielding legendary blades emerge from the inferno.
A bearded beast stood atop a waterfall, his azure hide glistening in the floating embers, and his golden gaze casting a lustre of dispassionate focus.
"Virizion, Terrakion… good work,"
From behind the old warrior, a bulkier beast leaps into the fray, crushing the spreading flames with the force of his tectonic hide. He lands before the pokémon of the forest with his mighty horns that carved canyons out of the Earth.
"Tch… so the humans finally crossed this line. Bloody devils…" Terrakion was fuming. "I'm gonna make them pay!"
"Focus on the task at hand, Terrakion. The time for rage will come later," Virizion replies, the autumn leaves falling behind her. "The forest needs our help right now."
Her step resonates with the forest, and her pace exudes the freshness of green grass. Unlike her manner, though, Virizion's eyes demand blood. "Cobalion, this is an uphill battle… all of Unova is burning. We have to attack the source to end this carnage."
"I'll smash them to pieces!" Terrakion roars. "And don't you dare try and stop me!"
Cobalion stands his ground, pushing back his fury. "You will stay your blades. Both of you… For the heart of this war is well beyond our realm."
"Pah! I carved out Eastern Unova on my own! Let me at those punk princes, and I'll crush them!"
"It is hardly that simple. If mere power could overcome this, things would never have escalated to this point."
"With all due respect," Virizion snarls. "They are but human. Flesh and bones."
"You're starting to sound like Terrakion, sister…" Cobalion sighs. "This war has split the force that forged these lands. It is spiritual. A battle of beliefs where we have no place. Our blades will not reach the royal family."
Cobalion's speech ends on a descending thunderbolt. The three swords look skyward, where from the two djinns clashing, tearing land from sky.
Terrakion's lips twisted into a malicious smile. "Fine, then… I'm gonna rock those two clowns instead!"
"Seconded," Virizion nods.
As the two set forth, Cobalion gazes upon their student. A trembling, blue-furred colt who stood behind him, "Keldeo… you've never seen war before, have you?"
Keldeo ruffles his mane to shed fear from his eyes. "No, master… it's… I can't describe it."
"There will be time for you to find your words… later." Cobalion says. "You already brandish the Sacred Sword with heart. Wield that training with ardent resolution."
Terrakion crashes into the ground, his footing strong, but his glare now stabbing the two djinns. They brandish contempt in their looming gazes, but get slashed apart by a whirlwind of leaves. Terrakion stomps into the ground, shooting jagged pillars of stone with mad strength. Then, his horns ignite with crimson light, calling forth the martial form signature to the three swords.
Cobalion's gaze pierces the world, and he gives Keldeo the order: "Defend Unova and the pokémon… with your life!"
=====#=====
Revenant thunderclaps boom over the heart of Unova, its luscious beauty stained by platoons of corpses. At the mountain's peak, black clouds swirl and plasmatic sparks dance. Two men cross swords, igniting the steelbound oils of dead legions.
Black and White, their armour and souls are borne in wrath.
"It seems even our snake of a father could utter some truth in the end… We truly are irreconcilable."
"Like the clash of seasons," the black swordsman spat. "Let the dead rest, brother. Your lies are what led us to this point."
The white knight severed the air, before spitting aside a blood-soaked tooth. "The flames of rebellion have consumed you… You've forced the outcome of this battle."
"You speak as always, with your tongue forked." A black blade rises between them. "The reality is simple: This is war! The answer to your treachery!"
His booming voice manifests blue lightning, a defiance of the sweltering heat haze. Two spheres of starburst blind the mountain with shadow.
The younger prince's ideal, an electric storm, forms Zekrom's deep black shadow. His roar rattles the earth, and his power shocks the air into a yearlong lightning storm.
In response, the elder prince's truth manifests a quasar, as hope approaches its explosive death. Within Reshiram's tail, the smouldering flames illuminate his vast white mane, and his howl sends forth six seasons of drought.
Their clash fathers waves of immanent godfire. The day of wrath paints the dead land upon the world of the living, and its rivers of bone surge to the pale horse's gallop.
"Let's settle this."
"BLUE FLARE!"
"BOLT STRIKE!"
=#=
KRAKAKOOM!
Twin dragons collide, unleashing a burst stream in their unchallenged skyward ascent. From the bottom of the League, where the Champions' mausoleum looms, to the towering colossus that is N's Castle, the Unova League is left in pieces.
"Marvellous… simply marvellous." Natural Harmonia rides atop Zekrom. "Never did I imagine such a formula coming to life. After thousands of years, these two pokémon are allowed their grand battle once more!"
His eyes affix upon his enemy.
"Your arrival here before me… I foresaw it. All the way back at Dragonspiral Tower, when Zekrom awakened, your eyes said it all. What we have here is a turning point… a break in this accursed, infinite loop."
"N… You're making a mistake." Across from him, his opponent stands atop Reshiram. The cold determination in his eyes burns away all that obstructs his path to truth. "You can't break that loop! You're just playing into it! You're repeating history all over again, and thousands are gonna suffer for that!"
"That's just it, isn't it…? Thousands have suffered. The thousands and thousands of pokémon, subjugated, abused, broken… What of them? Are they to be written off to your so-called 'history'?" Contempt boils over as tears in his eyes, streaking down his face. "If history is to be written by the victors, then the victors of the past failed! It is they who brought forth this oppressive world! The world where my precious friends are exploited and tormented, dominated with whips and chains in the name of some vile sport! What are you going to say to them?"
In solemn silence, the boy lowered his head.
N scoffs.
"You speak of dialogue… of coming together to find the truth… and there was a time you almost reached me. A time you almost deceived me… But now, I've finally reached it." His words cut like knives. "The other side, Hilbert… the conclusion to this cruel formula—the result of locking down its variables. It was simple from the very beginning. My ideal is one that will split creation in two! A paradise for my friends, and a festering cesspool for their tormentors… where they are free to eat each other like the monsters they've proven themselves to be… time, and time, and time again!"
Hilbert holds his cap as his jacket billows in the storm. "You've been hurt… led astray by that bastard to peddle this warped worldview. It's a shame things have to be this way."
"The real shame is your pathetic stalling. The time for words has long passed… Come! Let us put an end to this generational battle of the ages! Your 'Truth' against my Ideal!"
"Alright… Let's stuff the chit-chat, then." Hilbert's vorpal gaze spears the sky between them. "I'm gonna drive you into the ground, now."
Reshiram's howl echoes through Unova, and his torch-like tail fills the air with the burning truth of his trainer's resolve. Reversal Mountain erupts, and the snow storms across the Moor of Icirrus melt away.
—Turboblaze—
Zekrom responds in kind, calling forth divine thunderbolts with his generator tail. Clashing gales birth tornadoes and trigger landslides across the girth of Victory Road. Route 10 is buried under the rubble.
—Teravolt—
N's eyes gleam. "Let your 'heat of battle' speak then. You and your pokémon… What are you striving for?"
=====#=====
Cheren always dreamt of toppling the Elite Four and stepping into the Champions' mausoleum… but not like this.
"Alder! What happened here?"
Unova's Champion, Alder, is on his knees. His team lies sprawled across the parched earth, twitching with azure sparks, and his eyes are glazed over. The Champion—the embodiment of the word 'power'—has tasted defeat.
"Ah, Cheren…" Alder holds a resigned smile. "You made it."
"You're hurt!" Cheren rushes to his side to support him. "The Elite Four were completely off their rockers, and when I reach you, I find this! What happened?"
Alder looked to the sky, where gods wage war, "It's not obvious? I lost."
Cheren freezes in terror.
"My pokémon and I put up the greatest fight we could, but…" Alder shakes his head "That boy, N… He's the real deal. He is Zekrom's chosen hero"
"… So what?" Cheren grits his teeth. "You're the Champion! Unova's strongest trainer! You can't have—"
Alder sympathises with the boy's denial. "We put everything on the line in our battle, and I lost. At the critical moment, I crumbled… I wavered… I began to wonder if he had a point… and there, I lost the right to call myself 'Champion'." A hollow declaration; he is resigned to his fate, and that of what he protected. "I have no other choice… The burden of Unova's fate is now on his shoulders. I can only pray that his back is tougher than mine."
The words choke at Cheren's throat. Manifest before his very eyes is the worst possible outcome. This is where the prayer dies on deaf ears, and dreams are hung at the stake.
=====#=====
Victory Road has crumbled, and Reshiram stands tall, his foot upon Zekrom's neck. Their battle has opened a bottomless gorge, scarring the Earth irreparably. But it is finally over.
Truth prevails.
Reshiram glowers at his fallen counterpart, and draconic energies spiral into the energy core primed over his gaping maw.
"Reshiram, that's enough," Hilbert dusts himself off with a sigh, and his dragon calms that primal impulse. "It's over."
The energy dissipates.
Across from them, N rises to his feet, his head hanging low, with long shadows cast by dishevelled bangs.
Hilbert approaches him without care, chuckling as he extends his hand. "I did say we'd drive you into the ground. Now, how about we end this properly?"
"... Why?" N clenches his fists. "You've won. What is left to settle…?"
"Yeah, I won the battle… But just because you suck at battles, doesn't mean you're wrong about everything. If the truth were as easy to find as winning a fight, we'd have solved all the world's problems already."
N's mouth hangs agape, his eyes filled with a phantom fear—of his dreams being crushed with a sledgehammer. But that is not what happens.
"Easy, pal. I've done my share of the travelling now. I know as well as you do; we could really work on ourselves, us lowly mortals…" His distant eyes affix once more on the man before him, weaving a smile with a glimmer. "But that doesn't mean we're all rotten. For every abusive bastard, there's a human-pokémon pair where they complete each other and make life worth living. Tearing them apart for wrongs they never committed… that, to me, is what's really wrong. That's why I stopped you."
Every word Hilbert says sinks into N's consciousness for the first time. He beholds it unfold before his very eyes. The truth behind Hilbert's words hits…
… A little slowly, to the boy's chagrin. "Come on, man! You really gonna leave me hanging? Put 'er there, already—my arm's getting tired!"
"… Right. Sorry." N sighs.
It is a familiar resignation, but one that puts him at ease. He can bear witness, and be the guiding hand, to the moment black melts into white. To the moment history takes a turn towards the light.
A new formula. A different path forward.
He lets out a shaky breath. "After everything I've done, you'd put a hand to me rather than raise your fist… Truly… you are one man far beyond comprehension."
But he leaves Hilbert hanging no longer.
=====#=====
Across the ravine of Victory Road, Ghetsis Harmonia Gropius' face contorts with pure fury. A single boy had upended years of meticulous planning, and whisked away his puppet monarch in one fell swoop. Countless hours toiling, all in vain—lost to the tides of egoism.
His hand grips his staff, and the hollow of his right eye burns.
"I… refuse to lose!"
His staff pounds into the concrete.
"I am perfect! Infallible! My schemes… my conquest… they will not be buried by a mere child!" His voice booms in command. "Shadow Triad! Restrain N!"
Three men in black emerged from the shadows, locking N in a painful armbar. The third simply glared at Hilbert. Ghetsis roared in laughter and descended upon the weary warriors atop a six-winged monster with three heads.
"Hydreigon, Dragon Pulse!"
Hydreigon's soulless eyes lock on to the barely standing Reshiram, before three bursts of draconic energy pierce wings and windpipe. The Dragon of Truth's pained howl is gagged short, for the evil energy eats away at his core like acid.
"RESHIRA— Hngg—!" Hilbert's stomach collapses under a toxic fist… as a Zoroark materialises from illusory air. A claw laced with Sludge Bomb makes the boy sink to his knees and lurch, blowing chunks with a splatter.
The third shadow grasps Hilbert's collar. "You love the beast so much…? Then you can join it."
Reshiram cries out before his essence collapses inwards. His body burns a bright blue—the death throes of a star approaching supernova. On Ghetsis' cue, the shadow hurls Hilbert towards the dragon. His eyes wide, his mouth open, the sound of silence swallows the scene… leaving in that spot nothing, but a sphere of vast white.
Ghetsis dismounts his wicked dragon, scowling as the void within him only deepens with each passing moment of vengeance.
"Stay gone... whelp!" He stomps upon the Light Stone with unfathomable contempt before kicking it into the ravine. N could only watch, horrified as Cheren and Alder approach.
"HILBERT! NO—!" Cheren cries, only for a saddened Alder to hold him back.
The look in Ghetsis' crazed eyes says it all. None here can stand against the patriarch Harmonia. N, still processing what had occurred, sinks to his knees upon his release, only for Ghetsis to spit upon his face.
"You stupid… demented… good for nothing brat. After all that… do you think you're still worthy of sharing the name Harmonia with me?"
"F-Father…"
"Shut up! Shut up Shut up Shut up! I raised you from nothing! I put you on the path of ideals, the path that led to your heroism in the eyes of that piece of trash Dragon! The reason we reawakened the legendary Pokémon now was to give MY Team Plasma more power! Power to control the fearful masses!" he was shaking with fury. "After saying you had to put your beliefs on the line and battle to see which one chosen by the legendary Pokémon was the true hero... You lost to an ordinary trainer!"
"Father—"
"I'm not done!" Ghetsis spat. "You freak! There is such a thing as being too stupid! You're warped! Defective! You know nothing but pokémon!"
N's world shatters.
Ghetsis fumes, and the void behind the shards deepens. "You're… nothing… but a freak… without a human heart…! Die!"
Ghetsis whacks N across the jaw.
Zekrom's electric eyes open to his devastated trainer, plummeting into the abyss. His rising roar horrifies Ghetsis, but he stakes devotion over vengeance, and jumps after his master. The dragon of ideals cradles N, wrapping them both in a burst of power before rocketing into the horizon.
"You… Get back here!" Ghetsis swings his staff in madness. "I'LL KILL YOU! YOU HEAR ME?" his voice turns low. Bestial. "I'll end you, boy… Show your face again, and I'll throw you back into the very abyss I dragged you out of…"
The shadow triad noted the attention garnered by the scene. "Lord Ghetsis. The Gym Leaders are on their way. We need to leave."
"Yes… of course…" Ghetsis backed away, breathing fury. The sight of the gawking paupers that had borne witness to his atrocity then helps him compose himself, their lament and despair fuelling his mad, malicious grin. "It is quite unbecoming of the Champion, is it not? To lean upon a child?"
Alder hangs his head in shame, and Cheren glares on the verge of tears.
"Nothing to say? Of course not… You're the loser here, after all." Ghetsis laughs. "Don't you worry that wrinkled old head of yours, Alder… I am far from done! In time, I will revive Team Plasma. A stronger, smarter Team Plasma. A thousand heroes may rise, and a thousand may fall… but I will not be denied my divine right… I will rule."
A shadow places his hand upon Ghetsis' shoulder, and the four warp away without a trace.
That chilling declaration lingers like an acidic mist.
=====#=====
From atop the ravaged land, a lone man had watched this play out. His lab coat billows in the breeze, and his blond locks arc around his head, dyed an angelic blue. Data races across the tablet in his hand.
"Such fascinating results," he says. "It appears our research is far from complete."
Beside him is a creature from beyond—from terracotta skin to soulless green eyes, sporting multicoloured fingers. Its head tilts at the crimson horizon, before loosing communicative beeps.
"Of course, I will begin observing the trainers of Unova immediately," the scientist smiles. "To think, Beheeyem, that a mere child from a backwater town could bring out the legendary power of Reshiram… this is all too exciting to pass up."
Beheeyem beeps, and its trainer hums dismissively.
"Listen to them talk… ideals, truth… such a monochrome world is far too dull," his eyes narrow. "Ambition counteracts ambition… and power sleeps in the infinity between black and white."
The tablet shuts in his hand, and he turns to leave.
"It is this power that builds worlds out of the dead land… and it is ours to claim."
=====#=====
Interpol Investigation Log.
Year XX00
October 31st
Ghetsis Harmonia Gropius escaped in the wake of Team Plasma's defeat.
Natural Harmonia Gropius, the King of Team Plasma, escaped in the wake of Team Plasma's defeat.
Team Plasma was officially disbanded, and the State of Unova froze and seized its assets. Their forces were arrested and detained, but a sizeable force escaped capture and custody.
The International Police has updated their Wanted List with the Seven Sages of Team Plasma, who are at large and in the wind. Officer Black, codename: "Looker", was assigned to capture them.
Alder stepped down from the position of Unova League Champion.
Hilbert Grant disappeared from the Pokémon League. His whereabouts are unknown.