Pokegirl Origins - Unova

by SocomSeal

Pokegirls. Humanoid monstergirls who live to battle and need human contact to stay sane. In this world some use pokegirls as tools, but many form close bonds with their partners. This is the story of one tamer and his journey. Inspired by the Moemon Project. Generation 5 - In which the old faces off against the new.

13. Chapter 13 - Truth

WARNING

THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS CONTENT INAPPROPRIATE FOR READERS UNDER THE AGE OF 18

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Nicholas stood staring dumbly out the side of the broken tower.

N… was gone. Zekrom with him, and the legendary dragon had been unlike any legendary pokegirl he'd seen before. Not even Kyogre or Groudon, the sealed primal titans, had been so… so utterly monstrous. It almost reminded him of the forms that had forced their way into this world atop Mt. Coronet. The truly alien figures of the three that were responsible for creation.

He came back to his senses as thoughts rushed back in. Ryuko. The group of Plasma. The threat!

He turned and began hurrying back down the stairs, ears straining. They were still ringing a bit from the fury of Zekrom's roars so he couldn't hear much of anything at all. Or could he not hear anything because it was quiet? It was impossible to tell. Did he want it to be quiet? What would that mean?

He was so focused on straining to hear any signs of battle below that he nearly turned down the stairwell to slam straight into Reshiram. Luckily he managed to react in time, slipping to the side and catching himself on the remains of a railing before the two could collide.

Reshiram recoiled at first, just as he did to avoid the collision, but just as quickly she was lunging for him with her shrill screams assaulting his ears. "OUT! I WANT YOU OUT! Why our Lady has not struck you down already for this insult is beyond me! This place is not yours to do with as you please! OUT!"

Nicholas scowled and moved to slip by her but the woman kept getting in his way, her incessant ranting growing in volume the longer she had him in her sights. So much so that as Nicholas tried again to get around her he realized that it wasn't just her words targeting him anymore.

Some piece of this woman remembered, even if most of her did not. Remembered what she was. That was turned towards him now. A snarling, raging presence, weak, yes, and barely perceptible, but for the first time Nicholas could sense what the pale woman before him truly was. So he responded to it, almost without even thinking.

"I do not have the time to waste on you, 'keeper'," Nicholas snarled back, his eyes stretching as he fed his aura with draconic power and brought it swirling over the woman in front of him. "I have no time at all for a shade that does not even know who she is." He shoved past her, Reshiram having fallen silent as he spoke, with the woman only turning to stare after him a few minutes later. But as she did, something flickered behind her eyes.

Nicholas slid down Miyuki's ice and took in the scene on the bottom floor. Ryuko lay on one of the piles of rubble, most of her armor removed, while Cathy cradled her head to her chest. The wounds covering the Scizor's body were fading thanks to the Miltank's healing milk and Nicholas turned his attention to the others.

Miyuki and Lili were each standing completely still in the doorway. Ice crusted the frame around the Glaceon in her battle stance while Lili similarly held her body out to fill the space despite how close her Alpha's power swirled. Blocking the door completely, and behind them, the others clustered together.

"What's the situation." Only Midna and Nikki turned when Nicholas spoke, Nikki immediately scampering over to throw her arms around him in a big hug.

"We heard the roar and I was so worried-"

Nicholas gave her a gentle squeeze in return and looked past her jumping hair. "Midna?"

Midna slowly gestured at where Lili and Miyuki stood. "The enemy retreated. We did not win."

"No. They got what they came here for," Nicholas murmured. In the center of the room he could see Zinnia standing, her eyes most certainly not focused on anything around her. Not even Aster, the Salamence worriedly pawing at her frozen mate. "We were too late. Zekrom has awoken to N."

Nikki pulled away from him. "The roar she made, I…" she shivered. "Even if I forget everything else I could never forget that sound. It was the sound that echoed as the Vale burned."

Nicholas gave her a tight smile. "I know."

"Then what do we do now?" Midna asked, the usually quiet Absol forced to be the voice of every pokegirl present. "What do we do, Master?"

Nicholas bowed his head with a grimace. "I don't know." He thought for a few moments. "Kalmiya. The man in the robe, leading that group of Plasma. Did you manage to get a look at him?"

"I did, Master."

"I want to know who he is," Nicholas growled, "and I want to know why he was here. He must be important. The position he stood, the fact that he seemed to be leading that group when their 'King' was inside awakening Zekrom, he wasn't some random chump."

"'Who' is easy, Master," Kalmiya replied immediately. "That was most likely Ghetsis, known as one of the Seven Sages of Plasma – the public knows him as the leader of the movement."

"Since N is hidden away," Nicholas muttered. "Wait a second. Ghetsis. N mentioned him." He thought a moment before his eyes narrowed. "The ninja. From Nimbasa, who must have been fighting Ryuko. N said they were Ghetsis' servants or something. He said that the robed Plasma members were related to Ghetsis too, I think. I saw a bunch of them outside tonight. Those… those uniforms, they have to be uniforms, people in those uniforms have been kidnapping pokegirls, right? Separating them from their tamers… It fits Plasma's philosophy, just using violence instead of what I thought they preached." He growled under his breath. "Kalmiya, if Ghetsis is the public leader, then he probably gives speeches and stuff, right? I want to listen to the latest one he made."

Kalmiya materialized from his pokedex and brought it with her, walking over to place it on the rubble table before stepping back as the projector activated and Ghetsis appeared on a podium.

"I remember now," Nicholas murmured as he listened to the man speak. "I've seen him on TV before."

As Ghetsis' speech began growing more impassioned a shadow crossed over Nicholas' face. The words were outwardly righteous, detailing the abuses of humanity and making a call for tamers to release their pokegirls, but there was something else hiding underneath. In Ghetsis' choice of words. There was a call to action there. His other speeches must have been similar. In direct contrast to N's supposedly peaceful wishes Ghetsis was calling for war.

"'Do not suffer the foolish and selfish'," Nicholas whispered as Ghetsis' image froze at the end of his speech. "'It is up to you to free them from their captivity'. 'As the day of judgement comes, be sure you stand with the righteous'." He gritted his teeth. "This is a goddamn Galactic situation all over again, only this time the leader seems terrifyingly grounded in reality."

Kalmiya nodded slightly. "It would appear, Master, that tonight's events were being planned for well in advance. Now that they have Zekrom at their command it is likely Ghetsis will make his move."

Nicholas was nodding when he heard a quiet noise behind him. Turning, he looked back up the stairs to see Reshiram standing at the top once again. Just as she had when they had first entered the tower that night. Only now she did not appear to be some faded specter. "You came to this place to seek its keepers," Reshiram said, her voice cool and most importantly without even a trace of the vapid air she had held before. "You came, you said, to seek me." Nicholas turned fully to face the woman as her eyes bore into him. "So too did the other. He claimed to be seeking… the other keeper." Reshiram's eyes narrowed slightly. "Why."

Nicholas' mouth thinned. Gone was the whimsical, regal maiden of the tower. An ancient intelligence now flickered within Reshiram's eyes. "I was searching for someone that I believed might be here."

"I am tired, of your half-truths, your deflecting words," Reshiram snarled, slowly walking down the stairs towards him. "I asked you a question, human."

Nicholas heard Nikki gasp softly behind him. "And?" he challenged back. "I gave you an answer."

"Your answers are worthless," Reshiram snapped. "Not one of them provides a resolution to my curiosity. They only bring more. You came seeking someone; you came not knowing who you would find; you came, and upon discovering who kept our Lady's sanctum, realized you sought me?" Her lips drew back as she screamed at him. "WHY ME! WHY SEEK ME! WHO AM I TO INTEREST YOU!" Her eyes widened and her jaw went slack in surprise as her own words echoed back to her. "Who… Who am I?"

Nicholas let out his breath. He'd done this, hadn't he. His presence was awakening Reshiram just as N's had done to Zekrom. Did he want that to happen? What would come if he returned this ancient fragment of the first dragon pokegirl to what she had once been?

Did he have a choice?

No, he realized with a silent sigh. He had no choice. Maybe he could fight against N – his harem but more importantly Kali, or Nikki, or maybe Zinnia, if she could bear it. Maybe they could fight against Zekrom. But nothing would ever be accomplished that way. What was about to be fought was more than just a pokegirl battle, regardless of the scale. It was a battle of ideologies. A battle for the future of the world. He had been challenged, perhaps just as the king's sons had challenged one another millennia ago, and the only way to meet N on this battlefield was to meet him as his ideological counterpart. To do that, he would need Reshiram on his side.

He hated it. This battle didn't need to happen, each of them fought for the same thing, and as the thoughts came his own eyes widened as realization came with them. The battle that had torn Tirakan apart, the battle between the two brothers, it hadn't needed to happen either. They had come to realize that, they must have, because over time Unova reunited into what it was today. Their conflict had caused senseless destruction to what they both wanted to protect and now, millennia later, he was poised to repeat their same mistakes. He, and N. Did he really need to awaken Reshiram, to fall into the same cycle of needless conflict?

Slowly Nicholas lifted his eyes to find the confused woman. Yes. He did need to awaken her. But not to fall into the same mistakes that surrounded her creation. To move past them. To change the cycle. Just as he sought to change the cycle of the world. Not by burning it down to create something new, as N sought to do – but by acting upon it from within, as he knew was right.

As he knew was true.

"You are Reshiram," Nicholas said, taking to the steps and approaching where Reshiram stood. "You are one part of Tirakan, the first dragon pokegirl, but you have forgotten who you are because your creation came at a terrible price. You only live, because Tirakan is no more." Nicholas nodded slowly when Reshiram's eyes widened slightly. "Hear the truth in my words. Your Lady is no more, but she is not gone. She lives on, through you. You are her, and you are what I sought within this tower. You, who understands the truth of creation. The other human who came here came for your counterpart, the other fragment of Tirakan's power, Zekrom. I am here," he finished, stopping on the stair below her and holding out his hand like N had done, "for you."

Reshiram's eyes slowly drifted down to his outstretched hand. The tower fell silent. Nicholas waited. This was it. He could feel Reshiram's consciousness stirring. His words, presence, and will were feeding the remnant standing before him. Now she would choose. Whether or not he was worthy to be her champion. The new hero of truth.

Reshiram's eyes rose back to match his. "I remember," she murmured. "I remember that I have waited for you for a long, long time." With that Reshiram daintily placed her hand in his.

Nicholas immediately felt a connection sear down his arm. It was so similar to what he knew from Zinnia, from Rayquaza, as his patron and whose blood ran through him as part of his power. It made perfect sense, of course, for this connection to feel similar. Fragment though she was, Reshiram was still a piece of Rayquaza's mother.

While the connection swelled Nicholas felt Reshiram pulling at his very soul, her depleted state forcing her to hungrily draw power from whatever substitute she could find for Tirakan's will. As Reshiram jerked and began to growl, her own transformation beginning just as he'd watched Zekrom's, Nicholas couldn't help but frown.

This… was only one half of what Tirakan was, he understood that. Zekrom was the form of Tirakan's yearning ideals, and Reshiram Tirakan's understanding of truth. Which is why the two had both been able to draw power from Tirakan's broken essence, at least until Nikki had sealed it away. They each had drawn what they needed, filtering Tirakan's balance into each distinct half. Zekrom would have drawn her new power from N's unshakeable ideals. Reshiram, then… she was drawing from his own accepting truth. But… That was not all that was within him, and yet Reshiram ignored everything else.

His eyes narrowed slightly as the scales began to spread, Reshiram's mouth opening in a screaming roar while her body swelled. If that was all she chose to draw from, or even if it was all she had the ability to, then she would become what she had been before. What Zekrom was now. A beast.

Truth… was not alone in this world. Ideals held some part of all truth. For the strongest truth, an unshakeable truth, was one that could be believed in.

He understood that clearly.

Would she?

Reshiram's body was beginning to change when his hand tightened its grip on hers. Even as her fingers began twisting, claws growing in place of nails and piercing his skin, even as Reshiram's roar began to swell with fury and her expanding figure dug into the crumbling stone around them, he maintained his grip. His eyes locked on her until the changes began to slow. To mellow. Still returning Reshiram's draconic features, but unlike Zekrom, the shifting body did not consume the seemingly human woman that had once been. Instead, it began to show signs of it once again. Until Reshiram's neck tilted, her head turning down to gaze at him. A head that, while it had very clearly become a pokegirl's, covered as it was in scales and a sort of spiked fringe, was still that. A pokegirl's head. A pokegirl's face. A pokegirl's body, and limbs, and posture. The roar that had been rumbling from Reshiram's throat had changed, too. It was no longer a beast's roar, full of fury and wild, unconstrained might. It held… excitement. Laughter. Joy.

Nicholas felt himself thrown into the air when Reshiram tucked her shoulder and blasted through the wall beside them, pulling him with her due to her claws still being hooked into his hand. A yank, a flash of excruciating pain, and he suddenly found himself alone. Much further up than they had been a moment ago, standing on the first-floor stairs. In fact, the tower's peak sat in front of him. Below him, as his body oriented itself into the wind and he instinctively spread himself out to slow his fall. Reshiram had taken flight and dragged him along with her. But where was she?

The question had barely crossed his mind when it was answered. Massive white-feathered wings consumed his vision and he felt hands grabbing onto his body, arms wrapping around his chest as he was drawn into Reshiram's embrace.

"My champion," a voice breathed into his ear. It was nothing like any voice he had heard from Reshiram yet. Sultry, regal, gentle, it was everything Reshiram had been in her depleted form and yet everything more. "I had forgotten what it was like to live."

A blast of wind as she landed where Zekrom and N had been less than an hour before and Nicholas felt her hands release, letting him drop to the tower stone and take a few steps before turning to stare at the figure standing before him.

She had understood.

Reshiram stood as a pokegirl. Clearly and unmistakably feminine in her form, though despite being a fragment of the first dragon pokegirl, Reshiram seemed covered more by fur or feathers than by scales. The scales were certainly there, but they were more of an afterthought compared to the large volumes of hair sprouting from her body and cascading out behind her head.

"To live," Nicholas murmured as he stared at her. "You remember, then? What you are?"

"I remember," Reshiram replied just as quietly, lowering her arms, or wings, he couldn't quite tell how the structures interacted as they folded back and she stepped towards him. "But more importantly, I understand. I understand that it was better for us to have remained as we were than it was to awaken. For despite my satisfaction at having a champion again, I understand that there will be a terrible cost in return for my renewed life."

"Perhaps there would have been if you woke like Zekrom did," Nicholas replied firmly, reaching out to place his hand on her sternum. It was all he could reach easily, as even though Reshiram was in this pokegirl form she was still far taller than he was. "Perhaps then there would have been only destruction. But I refused to let you wake as what you remember once being. The unchecked, raging, broken fragment of Tirakan, knowing only her despair and her grief." He looked up and matched her eyes. "If there is one thing I know, it is that there is no room in this world for absolutes. Even the most ironclad truth must know how to bend."

Reshiram's lips slipped back to reveal two pairs of razor-sharp fangs framing her mouth as a hiss began whistling from her throat. "Mercy," Reshiram half whispered, half snarled. "You speak of mercy."

"An idealistic thing."

It was a smile, what Reshiram was doing, despite the ferocity of it. "A kernel of her ideals, to make my truth undeniable."

Nicholas nodded slightly. "You hold some amount of understanding of ideals. And you have awoken stronger because of it." He lowered his eyes with a quiet sigh. "For it to be this little, and you to still be like this… I wish I had been able to witness what Tirakan had been like." He glanced back up with a wry smile. "But you are not Tirakan. I don't believe you are even just a fragment of her anymore, Reshiram. You say you live again? I say that it sounds like you have awoken as a life all your own."

Reshiram's ferocious expression had slipped as he spoke and now she was staring down at him with a bit of a stunned look on her face. When he finished she blinked. "You are nothing like the one I sought before." Another blink and Nicholas jerked his hand back in surprise as Reshiram's body shrank to match his size. "No," she murmured, eyes burning while she slowly moved her face towards his. "You are something far more."

Nicholas let his eyes close as they kissed and he reached for Reshiram after a few moments, expecting to feel her scales or fluffy hair so when his fingers pressed into soft, delicate skin the surprise was enough to make his eyes snap back open.

It was the keeper who was kissing him. No longer wearing her gossamer garment but it hadn't done much to hide her body before anyways. When Reshiram heard and felt Nicholas' surprise she pulled back, smiling at the look on his face. "I believed it to be best if I was like you," she explained kindly. "It is because of the strength you, my champion, have granted me, that I even have this ability. I remember what I once was. I remember being stuck, unable and uncaring to even try to be anything more. But now," she said, her figure flickering as she swelled back into her pokegirl form and then even further, her body beginning to shift more towards what Nicholas would expect her to be if she had awoken like Zekrom but stopping before the transformation removed her ability to speak, "I am free."

"You… thought it best if you were like me, you said," Nicholas said as Reshiram shifted back towards her human form. "Human? Why?"

Reshiram laughed softly as her pokegirl features melted away once more and she draped her arms around his neck. "I believed it best for our embrace, and for what would follow."

Nicholas smiled slightly, Reshiram smiling back, and she was leaning in to resume their kiss when he lifted a hand in between them. Reshiram made a surprised noise when her lips met his fingers and Nicholas caressed her chin with his thumb for a moment before speaking. "I am flattered," he murmured, "that one such as you would do this for me. But you said you wished to be like me for what would come after the kiss?"

Reshiram pulled her head back slightly to give him a quizzical look. "Am I not?"

"Don't get me wrong," Nicholas chuckled. "Your faded, all but human form is incredibly beautiful. I would love to get you in a real bed and experience things as humans. But especially here, atop this tower?" Nicholas drew his lips back as he summoned his power and grinned at Reshiram, his own teeth beginning to glint as if they were like her fangs. "That form is not like what I am."

Reshiram's nostrils flared when she inhaled sharply at what she felt suffusing Nicholas' aura. "What are you?" she breathed, the words slipping out unconsciously in her surprise. When she realized what she had said she shook herself and stepped away from him, still in her human form, but Nicholas could feel what he wanted rising within her. She wanted to bond with her champion? Tame, as a pokegirl? Then he would demand that from her, and Reshiram's instincts were answering his call. "You are a dragon," she rumbled, eyes boring into him. "And… you are familiar to me. Beyond what you reminded me of before. What are you, human?"

"First, my name is Nicholas," Nicholas replied. "I'd prefer if you used that instead of calling me 'human'. It's less confusing and a bit more respectful, I think." He paused. "Do you have something you'd like me to call you, too?"

"Am I not Reshiram?"

Nicholas smirked slightly and shook his head. "No, I didn't mean like that. We'll talk later. Right now, you're far more interested in having your question answered." He pointed down. "Somewhere below us stands Tirakan's daughter, Rayquaza. She granted a human clan the power of her blood. It is that which flows through my veins, and is what you find familiar. I am a dragon human – but even beyond that, I am more." Nicholas stepped forwards. "I am more, because I remember what humanity was, and I hold that power. I am human. But I am a human beyond any you may have ever known." He grinned at her. "And because of that, if you wish to make good on your desire, Reshiram… I demand you match what I truly am."

Silence, but only for a moment. Then Reshiram blurred forwards, abandoning the human form in an instant so when she slammed into him and began hungrily pushing her tongue into his mouth it was as she had been the moment she had awoken and Nicholas immediately responded, matching her hunger as he pressed back and brought them to equilibrium. He finally could get a good feel for her now and he wasted no time, moving his hands across the body clinging to him and cataloging what they found. Her skin was pliable but firm, textured as he ran his fingers across her back and it seemed that Reshiram's scales were much smaller and softer than someone like Vika's tough armor. He could feel the heat emanating from her backside as well when his hands passed by, the ribbon of hair sprouting from the end of her bulbous tail beginning to flicker and dance. To him it was only warm, but he knew that the temperatures involved must have been immense because the thick mass of nearly metallic armor that covered most of Reshiram's tail was beginning to glow orange from her excitement.

That metallic armor could be seen ringing her neck as well, protecting the vulnerable area as she finally broke the kiss only to immediately lunge for him and begin shoving at his clothes. It was a good thing that he'd gotten a good look at her before because Reshiram had no intention of giving him one now, focused as she was on her ultimate goal. So Nicholas reminisced, putting touch alongside what he had seen as his pants finally came off and the two slammed into one another to begin struggling for who would end up on top.

Pressed against her he could clearly feel the softness that covered most of her torso and upper legs, what he had seen almost giving Reshiram the appearance of wearing a short strapless dress made of her fur. The fur that extended over her bust even covered that nicely, despite how large Reshiram's breasts actually were. He also, as he twisted away from her and tried to go for a hold on a wing or arm, managed to finally understand what it was exactly that Reshiram had. She had just two arms, but much like many of the Flying-type pokegirls Nicholas had seen, met, or brought into his harem, she had wings that sat as a part of them. Not fully incorporated, but her upper arms hung heavy with long feathers while two smaller claw-like growths decorated each elbow, from which an even larger cascade of feathers fell. Leaving Reshiram's forearms and hands free – free to grab him and send the man sprawling onto the floor. Nicholas was just shaking his head and attempting to get back to his feet when the legendary pounced, driving him back down as her continued laughter grew louder and her hands jumped from his shoulders to her own chest to her stomach and then groin, one hand disappearing into the thick bush before Reshiram positioned herself, hovering above his twitching erection as she spread her fingers both to reveal her pussy to him and to provide an unobstructed path when she dropped straight onto his cock.

Nicholas' hand snapped up to grab Reshiram's clawed fingers and rip them from his shoulder, attempting to rotate his body, but she was not having it. His length was buried inside of the legendary's cunt and she had no intentions of letting it slip out.

The moment Nicholas managed to turn himself even slightly, the first step in slipping from her pin, he felt himself flying through the air. Literally. A deafening boom and the two were flying, his dick still deep inside of Reshiram, as the two slammed into one of the remaining walls and remained there in defiance of gravity. Reshiram's tail armor was fully glowing at this point, flame popping as she propelled energy through it to create the force that now pinned Nicholas to the wall just as he'd originally been pinned to the floor.

"I am not letting my champion go that easily," Reshiram growled playfully, the fingers Nicholas had managed to dislodge now laced in between his own in a loving hold. "The more he struggles, the hornier I become."

Nicholas snarled back at her. "This dragon does not ever yield."

Reshiram's eyes brightened when he tensed against her. "I would expect no less from my champion!" With a euphoric cry her muscles tensed before she began to move her hips, the two constantly grappling even as they tamed.

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The sun had risen by the time they descended the tower again. Nicholas walked down the first-floor stairs, past the hole Reshiram had made the night before, to see all of his pokegirls scattered about. When he appeared Ryuko was the first to lunge to her feet, the Scizor seeming to teleport in her haste to wrap him in her embrace and validate that he was, indeed, still there. He gave her all the time she needed, murmuring soft affirmations to the trembling girl, until she finally let the tears drip from her eyes and pressed her lips to his. Only then did she let go and step back off the stairs, her wings buzzing to keep her hovering beside him as he finished his descent.

The others had straightened up by this point and it was Nikki who spoke first. "I, um, told them that… Things felt like they were going well," she said nervously. Zinnia seemed to have broken out of her stupor by now and was watching him silently. "That… That if that really was Leshi up there with you, you'd done something amazing."

Nicholas chuckled to himself. "Leshi? You mean Reshiram? Do you just nickname everyone you meet?"

"…I haven't considered one for Zekrom yet," Nikki replied. "And, I didn't think of one for Reshiram either. Not until today."

Nicholas raised an eyebrow at her. "Only those you care about get one."

Nikki's eyes darted around the room as she gave the other pokegirls a sheepish look. "I wouldn't say only…"

Nicholas smiled. "It's something special for you. A name you share with your friends, and those you want to be your friends. A name that holds meaning. Isn't that right, Nikki?"

Nikki turned back to him and nodded. "Yeah. That's right."

"Well I'm glad I was able to awaken Reshiram in a way that means you want her to be your friend," Nicholas replied, turning to hold his hand towards the second floor. "Come on down, Reshiram. Everyone seems calm enough."

The assembled pokegirls watched as Reshiram plodded down the stairs after him in her pokegirl form. "I feel as if I should know some of you," she said, peering at Nikki in particular. "You especially, flaming one."

"That's Nikki," Nicholas explained. "She has another name, but I'll let her reveal it to you. Behind her, with the emerald wings, is Zinnia. Tirakan's daughter."

Reshiram's eyes moved off of Nikki at that to focus on where Zinnia stared at her. "Zinnia. I do not recognize that name."

"I… I am Rayquaza," Zinnia stammered, her voice hoarse. "I'm… I'm your daughter."

Reshiram's brow furrowed. "No. Aren't you Tirakan's daughter?"

"Aren't you her?" Zinnia asked in a strangled whisper.

Reshiram's confusion vanished and she let out a sympathetic sigh. "Oh, dear. I can not lie to you. I am not Tirakan any longer, even if through my champion I remember much of what I used to be. I do not even remember you, at least not that form of yours. I do remember Rayquaza. The emerald dragon. Some amount of Tirakan's memories are here within me, and the ones she had of you are filled with her pride."

Nicholas winced when Zinnia's face twisted in grief. Being here had really shaken her, hadn't it. Coming to terms with Tirakan's death and her own solitude must have taken her quite some time, only for him to now bring her face to face with a being who, if he hadn't intervened, would have just been a sad reminder of what Zinnia had lost. Instead she had become a pale mimicry of the original dragon. Close enough to Zinnia's mother to break open old pain, and so undeniably different that she was forced to come to terms with her loss all over again.

He hadn't noticed but Reshiram had leapt from the staircase when she saw Zinnia's expression. Aster rose as the other legendary approached but she didn't get in the way, letting Reshiram draw Zinnia into her embrace as the action completely broke Zinnia's wavering composure and a heart wrenching wail echoed through the tower from beneath Reshiram's wings.

The others shifted about while the two legendary dragons remained where they stood. "So, it did go well, right?" Nikki muttered under her breath.

Nicholas chuckled quietly. "It did. I might need some of Cathy's milk for breakfast, though." When Nikki gave him a quizzical look he pulled down the neck of the shirt he'd put back on to reveal four symmetrical points framing his collarbone. "I squirm too much when I'm on the bottom, she says."

Nikki's face had gone purple as she drew the proper conclusion. "She bit you?"

"Hey, all's fair," Nicholas chuckled. "Besides, I bit her first."

"What in the-"

"That's not even the worst little mark from last night," Nicholas interrupted before Nikki could more than splutter. "At some point I did finally manage to get free of her grip and went for a rear shot. Turns out there IS a limit to how much heat I can comfortably handle from one of you before I get burned. Her tail is like a jet engine."

"I-!"

"So she's a new part of the harem, Weyrleader?" Lili interrupted to leave Nikki completely incoherent. "Must I deal with another dragon beyond my weyr?"

"I'm not sure yet if she's going to actually join the harem," Nicholas replied as he sat on Cathy's leg and reached up to give the humming Miltank a greeting kiss. "She's definitely joining WITH me for a bit, though. That much is certain."

Zinnia and Reshiram took hours. Hours of the two standing together, only the occasional murmur coming loud enough to be heard beyond their wings. They stood together for so long that Nicholas was starting to plan for lunch when Reshiram's wings finally moved again.

She folded them away, Zinnia's own slowly returning to rest behind her as the two continued gazing into each other's eyes. Finally Reshiram spoke, her words barely a whisper. "I will look forward to that."

Zinnia just nodded back before throwing her arms around Reshiram again, only this time it was just a normal hug with a tender kiss mixed in that got Aster grumbling. She let go, though. Let go and turned away from Reshiram as the alabaster dragon similarly turned to take another look around the room.

Nicholas and the others had formed a semicircle of seats along one wall and he waved at Reshiram when she turned to them, Aster rising from her spot to throw her arms around Zinnia. "We were just thinking about figuring out lunch," he called. "While you two talked we've been discussing… your other half."

Reshiram blinked slowly. "Zekrom. Where is she? Did she accept the other human as her own champion, as I have you?"

"From what I saw. N flew off on her back." Nicholas gestured Reshiram over. "Come on, join us. I've got some snacks but you'd be the one who knows the best way to get a real meal out here."

Reshiram was shaking her head as she walked over. "What I was before you came did not require sustenance. It did not eat, or sleep, or do anything besides exist. Thousands of years, existing as nothing more than a shadow."

"Well that ruins that idea," Nicholas grumbled. "I guess the closest civilization is Eindoak? I'm not about to waltz back in there, especially not with Reshiram, so we'd need to figure something out. What if-"

"I still feel no need for sustenance," Reshiram interrupted. "You were discussing Zekrom, you said." She settled onto a seat. "Where has she gone?"

"…Well, we're not quite sure about that," Nicholas replied. "This N guy, Plasma, it's all pretty vague to me. I never really gave them much thought since I always had something better to worry about." He sighed. "I'm sure if I'd cared to pay more attention this wouldn't have all come out of left field, but I didn't. Kalmiya says that reports of kidnappings and missing pokegirls have been rising steadily across Unova the last few months, and through it all that Ghetsis guy has been making his speeches. Ostensibly because it's an election year and he's rallying support to Plasma's claims of political power, since Unova actually elects a lot of public offices instead of going by a league council, but those reports aren't scattered. They're concentrated into hotspots of activity, and in the center of each one was one of those speeches. I'm honestly shocked there isn't some Unovan government investigation into him yet. Or even a team from the International Police, they were all over Cyrus."

"There is nothing to say the International Police isn't working here in Unova, Master," Kalmiya said. "Would you like me to find out?"

"No, despite your abilities their Porygon would undoubtedly notice your snooping if nothing else," Nicholas sighed. "I'd rather not have anyone thinking you're a threat to be neutralized."

"But I am," Kalmiya whined.

"Yeah, yeah," Nicholas grumbled. "I'd rather not have anyone make an attempt to neutralize you, how about that? It's just really not worth the headache."

"You never let me have fun," Kalmiya said sullenly.

"That's a lie and you know it," Nicholas shot right back. "You're just trying to guilt me."

"Maybe," Kalmiya muttered to herself.

"Look, whether or not they're here isn't important. What's important is that despite Unova's aversion to it, Ghetsis is very deliberately riling up the more… fanatical? Is that the right word? Reactionary? He's keeping the public image of Plasma as clean as possible while simultaneously picking out the people who agree with Plasma's goal and are easy to manipulate into violence, and then inducting them in his super-secret Plasma club that kidnaps pokegirls and does crime. All in the name of pokegirl liberation, of course." He massaged his face. "I bet most of them would claim they're in the right, too. If they're hurting people in the name of their cause, then suddenly everything is justified. Idiots. All of them."

Lili grunted. "I'm sure some are following Ghetsis' ideology because they want to be violent and are happy to hide behind their excuse."

"Oh, I have no doubt there's a number of those members," Nicholas replied immediately. "It's always the same with these… these cults. A cult of personality this time, or I guess more ideology? Instead of religion, like in Hoenn." He returned to rubbing his face tiredly. "I'm just so done with human stupidity." After a few moments he lowered his hands. "But human stupidity will never go away. The most that can be done is limiting those who would seek to abuse it."

Reshiram inclined her head slightly. "You are wise."

"No, just unbelievably weary of it all," Nicholas replied. "Well, I guess I should be focusing more of my energy on limiting this latest megalomaniac and less on bitching about what will never change. Ghetsis. Plasma." His brow furrowed. "What's their goal, their target? Where will N fly?" He blinked. "Last night… N gave me a little speech. I think he mentioned the Unovan seat of power?"

"The League?" Midna asked.

"It would make sense," Nicholas mused. "N liked to talk to me about how he hates the way humans have pokegirls fight for them. Also, if he's trying to make a demonstration so the people of Unova fall behind him as the new hero and rightful heir to the old throne then dismantling the Pokegirl League would be incredibly symbolic. Not to mention how it would abolish the greatest forum of power related to battling in Unova."

Miyuki frowned. "Didn't you say politicians in Unova were elected, and the league is not run by a Pokegirl League council?"

Nicholas shrugged at her. "I'm just saying what makes the most sense to me. I don't think Plasma, Ghetsis or N, is interested in trying for a coup. They want legitimacy. To get that they'll target the people, and the people's champion is – well, the Pokegirl League Champion. Hence, the League."

"Then we go there first," Reshiram growled. "When Zekrom arrives I will be there to meet her."

"Probably the safest bet, honestly," Nicholas said. "Kalmiya, where's the actual Pokegirl League building? The Elite Four and all that."

"In the wilderness at the northeastern border of Unova," Kalmiya replied.

"Northeast." Nicholas cocked his head as he oriented himself. "We're up near the northwest border, right?" He scowled. "Fuck, I didn't pay attention to the direction N and Zekrom flew. That might have been useful to know."

"I think," Kalmiya soothed, "that we have a good guess as to what that might have been. You talked about lunch a lot, Master. We should take a short break. Food will be good for your brain."

"Yeah, sure," Nicholas muttered. "I was only still going because of Reshiram."

He ended up seated right next to the legendary dragon anyways after the others had shuffled about while getting their light meal. Trail food was all it really was. At least he'd packed a bunch of jerky.

Nicholas let his thoughts drift as he ate. He could feel the low heat emanating from the figure beside him and glanced over, contemplating Reshiram's tail while he thought about everything he knew about her. About Zekrom, and about what drove the two fragments of Tirakan.

"Zekrom, and N… we're not so different, you know," he said quietly. "N and I both want to change the world, to empower pokegirls. You and Zekrom both want to find a human who will empower the world. Right? Do I understand that about your motivation, Reshiram?"

Reshiram growled low. "What I want is nothing like what Zekrom wants. I want truth. I want a world clean of avarice, a strong world grounded in what is real, while she would see the world consumed by uncontrollable… foolishness. She would see the world fall into vapid nonsense, where it is better to deny reality and live in illusions!"

"Well now, I think that way of describing what Zekrom wants is a bit harsh," Nicholas replied. "Besides, I wasn't asking for you to give me an argument about which of you is right. I knew what you would say to that. I just asked if you wanted to find a human like me who wished to empower the world."

Reshiram snorted and glanced at him. "Of course I did. I have longed for a champion such as you, a human who wants to make this world see truth."

"Just as the prince did?"

Reshiram frowned slightly at the question. "What I was then… the prince did, I remember, seek truth. Absolute truth. There would be no allowance for Zekrom's folly in the kingdom he sought to rule."

"And is that what I want, Reshiram?" Nicholas asked. "Look at me and say that it is. Look at me and tell your champion that he is no different from the human who shattered Tirakan and created the ravening beast you once were."

Reshiram matched his eyes at first, but before long they were flicking away as she fought to find a proper response. "You seek what is true," she finally managed. "I would not have woken to you otherwise."

"Yes. I seek what is true in this world," Nicholas replied. "But I do not blindly accept absolute truth. I question it, Reshiram. Just as I question you now. That is why you have woken, not as the beast the prince caused to form from Tirakan's broken essence, but as what you are now – truly your own pokegirl, and elevated well above the absolutes that shackled you before." He turned fully to face her and leaned closer. "I spoke to you before of 'mercy'. Mercy, is flexible. It does not follow absolute truth. It is willing to bend truth to fit what is right. What is just." He scowled. "And in this world, Reshiram, what is true… is wrong. So I seek what is true. But I also seek to change truth to be right."

Reshiram was snarling to herself and she squeezed her eyes shut as he finished speaking. "You speak of holding an ideal," she hissed. "So why do I feel even more strongly of your worth as my champion? Your words anger me, but none of it seems turned towards you."

"Because you are stronger than what you were then," Nicholas growled back. "You are stronger because you awakened by feeding on the truth within me. That truth, Reshiram, is strong. It has never been absolute, despite your attempts at first to filter it. I forced you to take all of the strength of my will. That strength comes from tempering my truth with my ideal. For at its strongest, ideals and truth will always hold some kernel of the other. I spoke to you of this already, when we discussed mercy. In that moment you saw it only as you wanted to – twisting Zekrom's aspect to make yours undeniable, I believe you said. I did not argue then. I am correcting you now." He stood and stepped right into her space to push his face next to hers. "True power is in balance, Reshiram. Perhaps I lean towards one side – perhaps I am a human of truth, as you are the aspect of the same. It doesn't matter. Without balance, without an understanding and respect for what lies on the other side, you will remain weak."

In the silence that followed his biting speech a soft thud could be heard from nearby. Nikki had been so engrossed in staring at Nicholas that she had slipped off her chair and fallen on her back, the only thing left of the legendary sticking up above the rubble her occasionally twitching legs. Nicholas just closed his eyes in resignation when he realized what was going on. If she acted the same as the night he'd first tamed her, then-

With a piercing squeal Nikki's legs shot straight up before she scrambled back over the rubble, drops of liquid scattering as she scrambled towards where he and Reshiram were. "MASTER!"

Nicholas quickly turned to intercept her before Nikki could slam into his side and absorbed the excited legendary's impact without budging from his position right next to Reshiram. "I would certainly hope those words reminded you of the old king," he murmured to her. "While I'm not sure if Tirakan would take to me as well as Reshiram has, I'd like to at least imagine that I'm doing my best."

Nikki didn't bother responding with words. Instead she shoved her lips to his and began grinding her naked body against him.

Reshiram had remained silent after Nicholas' speech but now she spoke. "I had been wondering why this one felt familiar." Even though Nicholas could still feel her attention on him he glanced up to see Reshiram's face hovering past his to stare directly down at the top of Nikki's head. "It's you."

Nikki's hungry kisses froze as her eyes flicked up to see Reshiram's position above her. "O-Oh," she stammered, shrinking back slightly and away from Nicholas' face. "Uh, h-hi… Leshi…?"

"My champion has caused me to feel a great rage," Reshiram snarled back. "I had not known where to direct it. Until now."

"It should be directed inwards, where it belongs," Nicholas interrupted before Reshiram could do more than let her lips slip back over her fangs. Nikki squeaked when he broke her grasp and turned, pushing back to squarely stand between her and Reshiram. "Your anger, Reshiram, comes because you know that I am right. Because you are not chained by an absolute anymore. You, through me, can see the truth of balance, and it angers you because it goes against everything you thought you stood for."

The others were drifting back from Nicholas and the two legendaries, or most of them were – Cathy and Ryuko each seemed indecisive about whether they should intervene or get out of the way. For now though they remained undecided and that let the scene play out without interference. Reshiram's bared teeth cracked apart, a furious rumble echoing from her chest as she fixed Nicholas in her gaze. "This is VICTINI! The one who reduced me to the shade you discovered here! Who CURSED ME to exist as almost NOTHING for thousands of years!"

"So be angry with her for what she did," Nicholas spat back, never letting his own gaze waver from hers for even an instant. "But you will not turn her into your own personal scapegoat. Your failings are YOURS alone, Reshiram. Even if they are a product of your nature, they are still YOURS to take responsibility for."

"I will have her answer for her actions against me!"

"Then take what you believe you deserve." Nicholas spread his arms, still without looking away from the legendary dragon. "I stand as Victini's Master. Her sins are my own. Exact your price from me."

Reshiram's head reared back, her clawed hand coming up, and almost looked like she was about to take him up on his words before she abruptly recoiled. "You had nothing to do with it. It is Victini's crime, not yours."

"It is not Victini's either," Nicholas replied evenly. "The one who is to blame for the sealing of Tirakan's energy was King Harmonia. It was by his order Victini took action."

"Her action!"

"Her Master's order," Nicholas replied without raising his voice. "I stand as her Master now. If you refuse to exact your price from Victini's Master, then you have no right to exact it from the one who simply did as she had to do."

Reshiram scowled. "You are not the human who gave that order. You hold no guilt. He is long dead, so my anger would be wasted on him. All I have left is the one who ultimately caused me to waste away."

"You were so close," Nicholas whispered. "I say again, I take full responsibility as Victini's Master for the order given, Reshiram. Your anger would not be wasted. Her Master stands before you now."

Reshiram grimaced before releasing a frustrated roar. "RARGH! I cannot move against you. Fine, then. Shoulder that human's guilt. You cannot protect Victini from the guilt of her actions."

"So be angry with her for what she did," Nicholas repeated quietly. "Be angry at her for how her actions caused you to suffer. But do not dare turn anything more towards her. And especially," he snarled, "do not dare project your own guilt on another." He pushed his head towards her slightly. "Do not lie about the guilt you hold. Now, or all those years ago."

Nikki swallowed when he stepped to the side to grant Reshiram unblocked access to her. "Um…"

Emotion warred across Reshiram's face. "You… sealed me," she managed to get out haltingly. "You turned against me."

"I did what had to be done," Nikki whispered. "I did not want to seal Tirie's energy, but everything she loved would have turned to dust if I hadn't." Her eyes were beginning to water. "Everything… Everything he loved. You loved."

Reshiram's face twisted. "You betrayed me."

"I did," Nikki replied in a very small voice. "There was nothing else I could do. You… You were so angry. So unbelievably angry. Whenever I tried to reason with you you just tried to kill me."

Reshiram's expression wavered. "I… did?"

"You both did," Nikki barely whispered. "There was nothing left of Tirie in you back then. Nothing that would listen to me, at least. Tirakan had died."

Reshiram shuddered, her tension slipping away. "I…"

"But now, I can feel her again," Nikki pleaded. "You're not the thing I couldn't reason with. I know, if you had been like this back then, we would have found a solution together. We… We could have remained friends."

Reshiram stumbled back, her legs giving out as she sank onto one of the makeshift chairs. "Victini…"

"Please," Nikki all but sobbed, her tears creeping down her cheeks. "I brought Master here not knowing what we'd find, but because of him I've found my friend again. I thought I'd lost you forever. Please." She stumbled forwards, reaching out to the staring dragon with a wail. "Forgive me!"

Reshiram raised her arms almost unconsciously as the other legendary stumbled into her embrace and nestled her crying face into Reshiram's chest. "I…" she stammered again. "Victini, I…"

Nicholas took a step closer to them before squatting down to be closer to Reshiram's eye level. "There she is," he said quietly. "The one who sealed you. Who caused you to drift, all but dead, for millennia. She's in your grasp. What are you going to do?"

Reshiram was staring down at Nikki as she cried. Slowly, very slowly, her head came down to rest between Nikki's ears and her eyes slid shut. "Tirakan could never be angry with you," Reshiram breathed as Victini's flaming hair flowed around her face. "She loved you, and despite everything, I… I can't help but love you too." Her head tilted to give Victini a soft kiss. "I forgive you." As Nikki began to wail Reshiram glanced back up to find where Nicholas was crouching. "You did what you had to do. The only one left to blame is me."

Nicholas just inclined his head slightly and straightened back up to let Reshiram get back to what was more important. He walked over to where the other pokegirls were sitting, except for Zinnia and Aster, the two also having found their own place to cuddle and talk while all this was going on. "A legendary pokegirl who acts like she's just a human teen, and a legendary pokegirl who technically was just born today, yet holds the memories of her ancient past," he mused. "I feel like I'm going to have my hands full dealing with those two."

"…I never thought I'd say this, but I miss Kali," Lili grumbled. "I can at least understand her."

Nicholas chuckled at that. "Kali herself used to be something quite different to what she is today. Goes to show that even the mystical 'eternal ones' are not immune to the things that make them pokegirls. Even they are not immune to change."

"I know you're trying to make us feel better but my instincts are still screaming at me to run away from them," Lili replied. "Bah. Why am I scared? I bet I could give either of them a good fight. Zinnia or Kali too."

Nicholas burst out laughing at how Lili was posturing. "And I know you're just trying to put on a brave face to fool your instincts, but you're not wrong. Through incredible hard work you stand, maybe not above or even, but absolutely with the eternal." He glanced around at the others, lingering on Miyuki and Ryuko especially. "All of you do. As I promised you would."

Ryuko responded to his words by sinking into a deep bow. "By your grace, Master."

"Aye. And your own perseverance," Nicholas replied. "Right. Well, I'm going to grab some more jerky and then-"

"Master!" Nicholas quieted when Kalmiya jerked from her seat and dove for where his pokedex was sitting next to his bag, the Porygon-Z uncharacteristically fumbling with the device before she managed to fling it and herself in his direction. Nicholas managed to catch her but before he could ask what was going on Kalmiya was recovering and shoved the pokedex into the air between them all. "It's… It's begun."

The holographic projector crackled to life to display Ghetsis on a podium, mid-speech. "…a new world!" the man was crying. "We herald the return of the hero of Unova, founder of this region! No more will foolish humans keep pokegirls bound! Unova! We, Plasma, invite you to join us! Free your pokegirls! Stand with the righteous, or stand against us… We will give you three days to make your choice. In three days, the hero of Unova will return on the wings of the legendary dragon, and her lightning will scour the land of those without righteousness in their hearts! I implore you – stand with us, and enter into the new world, a world where both humans and pokegirls are free. In three days, the Unovan League's oppression will crumble, and the rightful king will take his throne." His eyes drilled into the camera. "Not even your Champion will be enough to stop what will come. Your Pokegirl League will be the first to fall." As the broadcast began to be filled with the sound of shouting and screaming people Ghetsis turned from the podium and vanished from the camera's view.

Kalmiya cut the connection and the feed vanished. Nobody spoke. There were no words to be had.

Not until Reshiram opened her eyes. Nikki had quieted by now but she was still snuggled into the dragon's arms as she stood and walked over to where Nicholas and the others sat, stunned. "My champion." When Nicholas turned to her Reshiram bowed her head. "We know where we must go."

"…We do," Nicholas replied after a few moments. "Three days."

"We should probably gather the harem," Miyuki muttered.

"…It won't do any good," Nicholas replied. "I need you all to do something else for me. While Reshiram and I go to face N."

Cathy growled. "I will not leave your side."

Nicholas rolled his eyes. "We'll talk about that. Most importantly, I need the harem to stand as one, Miyuki." He gave the Glaceon a tight smile. "I'm going to need to know she's safe."

Miyuki immediately sank into a deep bow. "Understood, Nicholas. Then we should all return to the others immediately."

"Yeah," Nicholas whispered, his eyes wandering back to find Reshiram. "We don't have any time to lose."

.

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Stuff end chapter. "Error: News service unreachable"?

Maybe do victini