Nicholas stared out over the city below them. What would the streets be like? Had the situation grown even worse?

In the hours after Ghetsis' ultimatum uniformed Plasma agitators had risen in every major city across the region. Tamers were being assaulted en masse, their pokeballs stolen – even pokecenters were not safe as most were forced to barricade themselves shut or risk being stormed by a Plasma mob. Police forces were overwhelmed. Make an arrest, and two more reports seemed to flood in. It didn't help that they were fighting an opposition force that blended into the populace. Or that the general public was already panicked and distrusting. A few rumors were circling that Plasma sympathizers in the Unovan police force had stolen supplies and suppression gear to pass to their allies. Prison bolts to lock pokeballs. Activation jammers. Riot gear. Nobody was keen to open their door for the uniformed officer when it could just be a trick.

It was chaos. Anyone who seemed to be against Plasma's ideology was being targeted. Pokegirl and human separation – by force.

Even Pokestar Studios hadn't been spared, though the few Plasma members who seemed to have infiltrated were swiftly dealt with by the large independent pokegirl population working and living on the studio grounds. In the hours after they'd returned Nicholas had sent the vast majority of his harem to defend Sabrina at her movie shoot, as he wasn't taking any chances on his fiancé's safety even if Kali had told him that everything there seemed normal. According to her the cast and crew had seen Ghetsis' broadcast, and filming was paused as they decided what to do, but so far there hadn't been any incidents – something he was very thankful for. As for why, maybe there weren't any of the fanatical sympathizers in the relatively small group on site. Or it may have been due to Kali's presence. Ever since she'd faced off against Victini on the ferry she was drawing more attention than the woman she guarded.

As was he, but he'd kept himself out of the public eye for the last few weeks. It was mostly just an increase of mail for Kalmiya to filter through.

Nicholas shook his head with a small sigh. He was getting distracted. "Are we ready to keep flying?" he called to the pokegirls around him. "I want to be at the Pokegirl League before the sun goes down. Just in case." He glanced around, trying to spot Celine. She'd declined to join his group properly, but hadn't gone with the others, either. He understood why. What was about to happen would be the most significant event for a long, long time. Her purpose was to observe it.

Zinnia rose to her feet. "I'm fine to continue."

"I know you are. Nikki? Reshiram?" Nicholas called. It was just the three legendaries around him right now – besides them only Ryuko and Sera had come along from the main harem, Ryuko both because he was sure she would not let him go without her, and also to placate Cathy so that she would accept the duty he'd given her to protect his 'herd' instead of himself. Truthfully he'd wanted to send her with the harem because the grounded Miltank would just be a liability in what would come. If he and N came to blows, the battle would be fought in the air.

Beyond those two reasons he knew she was here for a third, as was Sera. Sera and Ryuko were his 'ninja' – Sera having eventually satisfied Ryuko over the years to stand as his 'second blade', or more commonly heard from the Scizor whenever she spoke about the Crobat, his 'night blade'. N's assault on the Pokegirl League was the most likely place for Ghetsis to be. That meant it was the most likely place to find Ghetsis' own ninja. Nicholas' were not planning to let them act unopposed.

"Just a moment, Master," Nikki called in a distracted voice. "Leshi wanted to show me something."

Nicholas grunted and turned to Zinnia. "Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked her yet again, the two having held this conversation half a dozen times in the past day. "If you're there with me, I'll be expecting you at your fullest, without hesitation. Can you really promise me you will stand against Zekrom?"

Zinnia closed her eyes with a quiet sigh. "Constantly questioning me will not change my answer, Nicholas. The… thing… I heard roar at the top of that tower was not my mother. It was a mockery of her." When Zinnia's eyes opened they were firm. "This one that you have awakened, Reshiram, she is what pains me. Because she is agonizingly similar. A reflection, not a mockery. I will have no problem striking out against the mocking thing we go to fight."

Nicholas gave her a sad smile. "Okay. I think this might be the last chance you have to change your mind."

"I won't."

Nicholas nodded slightly. He didn't want to say what he was thinking. How, if he could somehow guarantee what the outcome of this battle would be, he would see Zekrom become just as Reshiram was now. It all came down to N, and thus to him. If he could just make the other man understand.

Suddenly he heard Nikki yelp, a strange burping, crackling sound coming from her direction, and as he turned to see what was going on he saw an explosion of blue flame painting the sky.

Reshiram was laughing hard while Nikki fanned her mouth, trying in vain to put out the wisps of blue fire that stuck to her fur. "THIS STUFF SUCKS!" she squealed, beginning to grab each flickering ember individually until all the blue had been extinguished. "LESHI! You're sure you're supposed to spit it!?"

"I always did!" Reshiram laughed. "Though," she said, her laughter fading a bit, "that was… back then." She frowned slightly. "How do you normally channel your innate fire?"

"Easy! Strike a pose, focus on my ears, and-" Nikki was beginning to take her victory pose, the flames of her hair siphoning onto her proudly standing ears when Nicholas managed to reach her and drag her into a stifling hug to interrupt the charging energy. "-eep!"

"Are you trying to burn down the countryside?" Nicholas growled while he fought the squirming pokegirl. "I don't know what you just spat out but is this really the place to be letting loose full-powered techniques?"

"Oh, I would have aimed for the sky, honest!" Nikki cried. "Leshi showed me her big attack so I wanted to show her mine!"

"Like a pair of-" Nicholas started to growl to himself before he shook his head and found Reshiram. "Are you done, at least? Can we go?"

Reshiram gave him a sheepish nod. "Yes, my champion. I was just teaching Victini how I channel my strongest flames. I believed doing so would be an excellent token of our friendship."

"-two children spitting nukes," Nicholas finished under his breath with a silent curse. "It was a good thought," he said normally. "The problem is that either of you could probably raze Unova to the ground. Let's not be launching that amount of power willy-nilly, okay?" He looked down as Nikki finally managed to wiggle free and spun from his arms. "Please?"

"Fiiiiiine," Nikki whined. "It was super cool, though, Leshi," she said, forgetting him already as she grinned at Reshiram. "Super beautiful with the way you posed, too! Back then, your flames were nothing like that. They were just roaring burning things, but these ones are GREAT!"

"…Please get us in the air so they're forced to follow," Nicholas pleaded to Zinnia.

With a laugh Zinnia leapt into the air. "It is not often that those like us gather together. It takes a common interest, like you have been, Nicholas, or sometimes something different." Her eyes twinkled as she gazed down at Nikki. "Something we can relate to that makes us forget the weight of our duties. An aspect of freedom, perhaps." With a grin she twisted, leaning into her wing strokes so the only option Nikki and Reshiram had to keep up was to immediately follow. Reshiram paused only long enough for Nicholas to jump onto her back before the four were just three specks powering through the sky.

.

.

Nicholas peered over Reshiram's shoulder at the buildings appearing in the alpine desert landscape below. They'd been climbing in elevation for the last few hours now, the forests and greenery of the foothills giving way to stiff grasses and brown land. Trailing down one side of the large hilly bump that the approaching buildings sat upon was a wide trail, rough but distinct enough to be seen even at this distance. A part of Unova's Victory Road, he assumed. This far north and far from any city, there was only one thing these buildings could be.

Nicholas picked out the design of the League as they got closer. An open castle of some sort, really just four large towers circling a central courtyard, and behind them an intricate temple in much the same style as the train station in Nimbasa. It was quite unique to what he'd seen from a Pokegirl League so far. Iris would be here, wouldn't she? To defend it from N? Would she welcome his presence, or-

Suddenly Zinnia was wheeling, Nikki's flaming path tumbling from the sky as she, too, worked to avoid something and then it was Reshiram's turn to begin growling as a number of flying shapes appeared on an intercept course. Nicholas quickly got a better hold before Reshiram's wings snapped out, stopping her momentum as flame began licking from her jaws and she focused on the closest threat.

Before she could fire the incoming pokegirls split apart onto distinct vectors faster than Nicholas could track, forcing Reshiram to choose which of the three to turn to. The maneuver had the desired effect. She wasted too much time making that decision and when Reshiram turned, finally, to prepare a blast at the closest shadow Nicholas turned his head to see an avian pokegirl covered in brilliant white feathers slipping in behind, the blue feathered structures covering her stomach, chest, and groin beginning to glow as she charged an attack.

Pokegirls that didn't seem native to the area – and they were defending the League? "NO!" Nicholas squeezed Reshiram desperately. "DISENGAGE! FRIENDLY!"

Reshiram immediately folded her wings and dropped, swallowing her flames as blades of air sliced from the white-feathered pokegirl through the space they had been occupying just moments before. All three opposing pokegirls immediately gave chase when Reshiram dove for the League buildings, Zinnia and Nikki angling back at first before they, too, were avoiding pursuers as attacks sought the three legendaries.

"Stupid!" Nicholas cursed to himself. "They're on alert for a man riding a dragon pokegirl and here I come waltzing in unannounced! Kalmiya!" He hung grimly on as Reshiram leveled out near the ground and blasted past the League in an attempt to use the building itself to foul her pursuers. "Are you picking up any devices nearby? Anything you can use to find who's here and get them to call off their pokegirls?"

"Drop me in the courtyard!" Kalmiya cried back. "The pokedex will survive the fall. I'm not picking up any signals to piggyback!"

"You'll be attacked-"

"The courtyard?" Reshiram snarled before they banked and whipped around one of the towers so tightly that for a split second the wall in front of Nicholas seemed like it stood still. Then they were clear, Reshiram aiming directly for the very center of the courtyard in the middle of the Pokegirl League where a tall statue of some sort stood. Nicholas could see a number of forms all around the area now. "I have a better idea as to who should land in it, my champion."

Dozens of pokegirls swarmed Reshiram when she slammed into the ground but, before any more attacks could fly, Nicholas felt her shake him off. He was sent tumbling into the dust and Reshiram spread both wings before unleashing an ear shattering roar, her body starting to grow.

Every single figure there involuntarily froze. Even Nicholas, Nikki, and Zinnia, the other two legendaries pulling up despite being right in the middle of an aerial dogfight. None of them had seen Reshiram's 'beast' form, as even when she had first awoken Nicholas had kept her from taking it. Now it was being revealed.

Many general aspects were the same between Reshiram's 'pokegirl' form and this one – her white fur and feathers remained, her tail was the same general shape, and she retained the regal elegance of her posture. Only now, there was no sexuality in her beauty. Only forceful strength. Her head had shifted into an elongated dragon's skull, her wings and arms fully fusing together and growing into two massive structures that stretched more than twice as wide as before, and as her roar shifted with her body it was… different, from what Zekrom's had been. There was some anger in it, from Reshiram's annoyance at the situation, but that was it. It did not threaten like Zekrom's. It was not wild. It was firmly, precisely, terrifyingly controlled in its fury. It commanded attention, and from every single person there it got it.

When Reshiram finally let her wings relax slightly and her roar began to fade Nicholas quickly found the closest pokegirl, some kind of equine girl with jagged stripes of white and black covering her body, and held up his hands pleadingly. "WAIT! I'm Champion Nicholas! I'm here to help!" He threw a hand towards where Nikki and Zinnia hovered, gesturing between them and Reshiram. "Stand down, please!"

His voice brought life back into the crowd and for a few moments it seemed like the pokegirls were listening to him, but they were just getting their bearings. Soon enough the girl in front of him had focused on where he stood, electricity beginning to spark and arc across her skin until a booming voice crashed over the courtyard.

"HOLD! LEADERS OF UNOVA, HOLD!"

Nicholas breathed a sigh of relief as the pokegirls finally began breaking off, a half dozen or so voices calling names and orders to stand down while he looked for the source of the original command.

A shock of orange and red hair caught his eye and Nicholas' eyebrows rose in surprise when he saw Alder making his way through the pokegirls to him.

"Champion Alder?" Nicholas asked. "What are you doing here? Where's Iris?"

"Champion Nicholas," Alder replied in a growl. "I'll answer those questions once you answer mine. Why are you here – and who… what in the name of the creator is that?"

Nicholas turned back to look at where Reshiram stood. "I think you made your point," he called to her. "You don't have to remain in that form."

Reshiram's head bent down and as her eye fixed on him Nicholas felt her presence sear through his mind. "I can feel it," her voice said to him. "I do – because she is near."

Nicholas glanced back at Alder. "She… says she needs to remain like that. Sorry. Um, that is Reshiram. The legendary pokegirl, and fragment of Tirakan known as the dragon of truth."

"You rode here on her back?" Alder asked quietly.

"Yeah… I did."

Alder slowly turned to look at where Nikki and Zinnia still hovered above them. "Do I see… I had heard the rumor, seen the photos, but I had not truly believed that Victini had appeared before you as well."

"That's her, yes," Nicholas replied.

Alder closed his eyes. "Then I suppose I know why you're here."

"Do you?"

Alder opened his eyes again. "The madman spoke of their king, how he returns as the fabled hero of ideals. On the eve of his arrival what do I see but the hero of truth appearing to oppose him, just as he did thousands of years ago?"

Nicholas glanced around. The gathered pokegirls were beginning to drift away. "I guess you do know why I'm here."

"Mm." Alder turned. "Come. We should explain to the others."

Nicholas left Reshiram in the courtyard, Nikki and Zinnia landing to join her as the crowd of pokegirls all retreated into the shelter of the buildings to return to their vigil. "The others? I heard you yell something about leaders."

"Yes. The Gym Leaders are here."

Nicholas smiled when they entered a smaller building and he saw a dozen figures clustered around. "Skyla! Brycen!" He turned and began chuckling at what he saw. "Clay, good to see you again."

The miner king was scowling heavily. "Topolski! Yer a goddamn menace. First you upset my tournament, now you pull this? Who in hell do you think you are?"

"The up-and-coming World Champion," Nicholas replied with a challenging glint to his eye before anyone else could speak. "But now isn't the time for that. You're all here to defend the Pokegirl League? Why isn't Iris here?"

"Our Champion is defending the Unovan chambers," a soft voice replied. Nicholas looked for the speaker to find a woman dressed in a modest white long-sleeved top and long pink skirt seated daintily in midair. She was surrounded by her soft, voluminous blonde hair as it levitated with her and the leading edges were held up by what appeared to be two butterflies formed of psychic energy. As she saw him turn to face her she smiled, an arm raising in greeting that caught the gossamer pink shawl hanging over her shoulders and down past the bow of the wide white cloth belt that joined her top and skirt together. "Greetings, Nicholas Topolski. Cynthia has told me all about you."

"Cynthia…?" Nicholas murmured before he blinked. "Oh, then you must be Caitlin, of the Elite Four."

Caitlin giggled. "That's me."

"Defending the chambers, huh?" Nicholas mused. "Like, the actual government?"

"That's right."

"Even though this is where Plasma will attack first?"

"What if they don't?" another voice asked. Nicholas turned to see a dark-skinned man in a sky-blue vest and orange baggy martial arts pants with a black belt tied around his waist cracking his knuckles. "Sure, that's what that man said – but why trust him? We's more than enough to hold the fort here. It's much better to cover the options so we don't get got."

Nicholas inclined his head slightly in greeting. "You are…?"

"Marshal," the man replied. "Master Alder's finest apprentice an' sorta the leader of the Four, I guess. At least I represented the League while the Master was travellin'." Marshal shrugged. "Nowadays though it's all Champion Iris' show, so who knows."

"Makes sense to me, Marshal," Nicholas replied and looked around at the other new faces. "I'd ask for more introductions, but that's a bit rude with how I made my entrance. I should probably explain what I'm doing here first."

"Here to help, right?" Skyla called. "And you brought some interesting backup, my girls tell me."

Nicholas nodded at her. "Of course it was your harem that met us in the sky."

Skyla flashed a grin. "Naturally."

"Yeah, I'm here to help. But more specifically, I'm here to match N," Nicholas explained. "N is the only thing I know to call the man Plasma claims as their king. The one they say is on his way here alongside Zekrom." He took a deep breath. "To do that, I sought out Reshiram. Now she stands in the courtyard outside."

"I believe I speak for us all when we say that we've heard the rumors, Champion Nicholas," Alder said quietly. "Witnessed you even here. Your hand in the events in Hoenn a few years ago. The ultimate purpose of your time in Sinnoh last year, once all was said and done." He straightened. "And now you stand where the first king once did. Alongside Victini, alongside Reshiram. Alongside the legendaries, as no human has in thousands of years. The world is waking. Changing. You seem to stand at the center of it all."

Nicholas just nodded.

"Well then." Alder cracked a smile. "Then I think I once again speak for all of us here when I say, 'We're glad you're on our side'."

"And I'm glad I got here in time," Nicholas replied, reaching out to take Alder's hand in a firm shake. "If my vision of the future is to come to pass, if all humanity is to join me in remembering what we once were, our relationships with pokegirls must be preserved. For whatever our ultimate reasons may be, we all stand here ready to fight for that cause."

It was Alder's turn to give him a slight nod.

"Right!" Nicholas released Alder and turned to grin at the rest of the assembled tamers. "Could we do introductions? I'm afraid I only know half of you."

.

.

Nicholas sat staring out over the pale landscape.

The moon was full tonight, the sky without clouds and the early fall air bringing a slight chill. By its light he could see the pokegirls below him, the various harems of every Unovan Gym Leader, Elite Four, and one previous Champion. Well, not quite every Gym Leader. There were only seven here – Lenora, the recently retired gym leader of Nacrene City, hadn't yet chosen her replacement and had not managed to make it to the League herself. Still, including him, that meant that there were thirteen powerful tamers waiting for Plasma's attack. A number some would consider unlucky. To Nicholas it was just a measure of the strength Plasma would have to overcome.

He tilted his head slightly. "Yes, Sera?"

The shadow beneath him let out a petulant whine. "Masterrr!"

Nicholas grinned as the Crobat unfolded her wings to reveal her position hanging underneath the lip of the pillar he had climbed. "You were silent, I'll give you that. I only knew because I saw your cute little toes appear on the edge."

With a huff Sera released her grip and flapped up to hover next to him. "Well then pick a place to sit with better perches next time, Master Nicholas."

"Or maybe you should get better at hanging by using your claws on the wall instead of needing a ledge of some kind," Nicholas teased.

Sera rolled her eyes. "I'm not a Gliscor, Master Nicholas. I hang, I don't cling."

"Fine, fine," Nicholas replied. "What brings you to me? Is it time?"

Sera nodded slightly. "Ten minutes to midnight."

"The others?" Nicholas asked, slipping over the edge and grabbing the twisted length of cloth he'd wrapped around the pillar. Once he'd gotten it loosened back up he began sliding down, letting the friction slow his descent while Sera flapped down after him. "I noticed quite a few pokegirls are resting."

"Taking shifts," Sera replied. "Champion Alder is still awake. I think he's expecting the same thing you are."

Nicholas landed on the ground and yanked the cloth free so he had something for his hands to fidget with as he began walking towards the center courtyard. "I'd hope all of them would. Three days, Ghetsis said – in just a few minutes the third day will be up."

"It's still a proper strategy to get rest," Sera pointed out as she followed him to where Reshiram still sat. The legendary dragon had settled down, still in her beast form, without moving from where she'd landed that afternoon. Her eyes seemed locked on the temple at the back of the League. "Perhaps they want us to think N will appear right at midnight. Then he actually appears a few hours later, when we've grown tired and aren't expecting it."

"N wouldn't pull something like that," Nicholas murmured. "Ghetsis might. But not N." He smiled when they got close and Reshiram lifted her head. "Still feeling her nearby, Reshiram?"

Reshiram's eyes blinked. "Where she has been since the last time you asked."

"I really don't like that," Nicholas growled. "Skyla says there's nobody in the area but us, and neither Zinnia nor Sera could spot anything on their recon flights throughout the day, either. How are you feeling Zekrom nearby. Where is she?"

"What about the caves I saw, Master?" Sera asked.

"Didn't you say that the opening was just large enough for a normal sized pokegirl or human to pass through comfortably?" When Sera nodded Nicholas rubbed his face. "Probably just something a feral dug out that links to the caverns of the Unovan Victory Road. And that, the big main entrance isn't exactly guarded, but it's miles away and I'd think the Elite Four and Champion would know if there was another, larger entrance." He stopped, his eyes moving to stare out over the nearly featureless terrain that surrounded them. "But… If not above, or around, yet near… Where else could they be?"

"Two minutes, Master," Kalmiya said in his ear.

Nicholas quickly turned. "Sera. Get ready with the others. Reshiram, I'll be right back." The Crobat nodded and flapped into the dark while Nicholas hurried towards where the other tamers had been earlier.

Now, when he stepped into the small building, there was only one there. Two figures, though. Alder and his Volcarona were seated together and conversing quietly. When Nicholas entered they both turned to him and fell silent until Alder rose and raised a hand in greeting. "Champion Nicholas."

"Champion Alder," Nicholas replied. "It's nearly midnight."

"I know," Alder said softly. "I was just preparing to head for the Hall of Fame. I'm sure it will be Plasma's priority target."

"The temple thing?" Nicholas asked.

"The temple holds the Champion's room," Alder explained. "The Hall of Fame sits beneath it. Were you intending on joining me?"

Nicholas sighed. "Maybe. Even though I'm Reshiram's new hero that doesn't mean I necessarily control her. I'm sure that I'll be wherever N and Zekrom appear. If they target the Hall of Fame, then I'll be joining you. If they don't…"

"I understand," Alder said. "Even if they don't, I know I'll be busy defending it. There is no way what approaches us tonight will be limited to one man and one pokegirl, no matter who she may be."

"I know," Nicholas replied just as softly as Alder.

The two men gazed at each other for a bit before Alder's Volcarona's wings began to buzz and she lifted into the air. "We should get moving," Alder said as the two passed Nicholas. "Midnight is upon us."

Nicholas stepped back out into the night while the two vanished down a worn staircase nearby that led to the Champion's temple. Midnight was upon them. No sign of Plasma yet. Maybe it was too much to assume that the attack would come right at the stroke of twelve.

Shaking his head, Nicholas headed back to the courtyard to rejoin Reshiram. His other pokegirls had gone to their own positions and as he reached the legendary dragon he glanced around at the assortment of girls loosely spread around the area. Nearly the full might of the Unovan Pokegirl League stood assembled here today.

He was just preparing to settle down when Reshiram stiffened. Then she was rising to her feet, her wings spreading as her jaw slid open and a bellowing roar echoed over the mountains.

Nicholas quickly shook himself. "What is it? Do you sense-?" His questions were cut off by a tremble. From the earth beneath his feet.

Suddenly the entire area was vibrating and Nicholas had to grab Reshiram to keep himself upright. Every defender came awake, the tamers stumbling from where they'd been resting as the rest of their pokegirls ran to join their sisters. The quaking was getting worse and worse until Nicholas heard a thunderous cracking shatter the peaceful night.

"RESHIRAM!" Nicholas threw himself onto the legendary's back and found a good hold. "GET US IN THE AIR!"

With another roar Reshiram did so, blasting from the courtyard and starting to circle overhead. This time… This time, as Nicholas stared down at the yawning ravine that was beginning to form a horseshoe around the buildings of the Pokegirl League, he heard the response. He heard Zekrom answer. The roar echoing from deep within the earth.

"Holy shit," he breathed.

There wasn't anything else he could say. Something was rising from the depths. From the entirety of the ravine that had formed, nearly encircling the whole area. Worked stone. A castle. As large as the ancient Sword of the Vale. It just kept coming, rising and rising until it towered over even the tallest point of the Pokegirl League. Surrounding it on all sides.

"I'd heard a mention of a Plasma castle, but this…" Nicholas whispered. "How is this possible? To move this much stone, to hide it underneath the Pokegirl League, to lift it now… Pokegirls were involved. They had to have been."

The earth shook when the castle came to a halt. Then sections broke free, long stone ramps unlatching and beginning to plummet inwards. Pokegirls scattered as the ramps smashed into the ground around them, but the highest concentration was on the Champion's temple. Nearly a dozen landed there, the one right in the center coming a bit too close and cleaving a massive gash in the wall of the building.

"WHEN THE WAY IS FORGOTTEN, DUTY AND JUSTICE APPEAR!"

Nicholas turned. An older man in a plain yet stately cloak had appeared on one of the seven castle segments. Then more figures joined him. Plasma members in the uniform Nicholas had grown to recognize far too well.

"THOSE IN ACCORD WITH FATE ARE PRESERVED, AND THOSE WHO REBEL AGAINST FATE PERISH!"

Another booming shout. As Nicholas turned to follow the voices he could see a similarly dressed figure appearing at the balcony of each castle segment, each in a differently colored cloak. On all, but the very center. "SUPERIOR MEN UNDERSTAND WHAT IS RIGHT! INFERIOR MEN UNDERSTAND ONLY WHAT WILL SELL!" one of the figures next to the central segment roared, as across from him another figure stepped forwards.

"THERE ARE NOT TWO SUNS IN THE SKY!" the sixth cried, "NOR TWO SOVEREIGNS OVER THE PEOPLE! BEHOLD! KING HARMONIA!"

High above the Pokegirl League, right in the middle of the curved castle, lightning arced. Reshiram hissed when Zekrom emerged from the castle, the other dragon perching on the stonework around the main balcony and releasing a snarling growl back as N appeared staring down towards the Pokegirl League.

"Let the King's words resound from these heights to all below!" N called, projecting his voice as easily as the others had yelled yet without seeming to raise it at all. "Champion Iris of the Unovan League! I invite you to my castle. Come prove if you are truly the hero of the people – or surrender, and bow to your King! For after today, never again will pokegirls be made to suffer or be held captive by humans!" Nicholas scowled. From his position atop Reshiram he could see a man in the shadows behind N – a man in a gaudy, regal robe. Ghetsis.

Below them Alder stepped from the Champion's temple to stand on the bottom of the ramp that had broken the wall. The one that led to just below where N stood now. "Champion Iris is regretfully unable to accept your invitation," Alder called, his voice echoing from the castle walls and sounding almost small compared to the Plasma members high atop the structure. "She entrusted this place to me."

"Champion Alder," N replied thoughtfully. "So be it. If you are to be the defender of this institution, then step forwards. I await you inside. Do not make your King wait long."

Nicholas grimaced when N swept back out of sight, Ghetsis having already vanished and Zekrom giving Reshiram one last snarl before she, too, disappeared. He could feel Reshiram trembling under him and he bent down with a low growl. "There are enough enemies here to give even you some trouble," he said quietly. "You had an army to deal with theirs all those years ago, didn't you? The two of us are nearly alone. We wouldn't want interference while facing her, would we?"

Reshiram's teeth snapped. "No."

"Then I think we need to play along. For now," Nicholas murmured. "Can you bring us back to the ground? Near Alder."

Alder inclined his head slightly when Reshiram swooped in and Nicholas slid from her back. "Champion."

"Champion," Nicholas mirrored. "What do you plan to do?"

Alder sighed and turned his eyes up the ramp. "That was the man you called N, I assume."

"It was."

"Plasma's King. Descendant of the Unovan royal line." Alder shook his head. "What else can I do? He stands beside Zekrom. If I decline N's invitation she will no doubt join the fight that is about to happen."

Nicholas blinked. "Fight?" His eyes flicked to the six figures still standing on the castle walls and the hundreds of Plasma members around them. "Oh. Ghetsis."

"I fully believe that N will honor the challenge he has made to me as the defending Unovan Champion," Alder agreed. "But I do not believe for a moment that N is anything more than a figurehead. Why else has he never been seen before leading Plasma? He's just an innocent young man, a tool. The true control is in the hands of Ghetsis, the self-proclaimed leader of Plasma's Seven Sages. That's them up there now. Until now, they were seen as the paragons of Plasma's movement. Drumming up support wherever Ghetsis wasn't, even leading marches and protests while Ghetsis never did more than give speeches. But now… If they're here, then they were never as righteous as they claimed."

Nicholas turned to look again at the force amassed against them. "You might be right. But I don't think we should write all of them off that easily. Did you hear what they were spouting?"

"Yes, I heard their lip service."

"I don't think it was," Nicholas replied. "At least not all of it. Some of those lines sounded real."

"Real or not, you and I both know what's going to happen as soon as I step into that castle," Alder growled.

Nicholas sighed. "Ghetsis came here today to destroy the Pokegirl League. He won't move against you if you accept N's invitation – even if N is just a puppet king for Ghetsis his image and opinion will still hold real weight. That's the entire point. So Ghetsis won't overtly go against N's desires. But N made no promises. It's implied, of course, that he's here to defeat the standing Champion and thus symbolically abolish the current order, but this castle can't be easy to move. If it's here… Nothing else is meant to be."

"Precisely."

"You'll be leaving things in the hands of the Gym Leaders and Elite Four, then?" Nicholas asked softly.

Alder grunted and rolled his shoulders back. "I'm an old man. Retired. I left things in their hands years ago. I'll do my damndest to make my star pupil proud."

Nicholas snickered to himself as Alder began to ascend the ramp with his Alpha. "Marshal?"

"Please, that man's barely my student," Alder snorted without turning back. "The most he ever got from me was while I was sitting Champion. I mean the woman you'll find blocking your path one day." Now he glanced back. "Iris."

Nicholas gave Alder a slight nod before the other man turned back to the ramp and continued to climb.

"He will lose."

"Probably," Nicholas murmured under his breath so Alder wouldn't hear. "But for humans, that doesn't matter."

Reshiram shifted. "We should assist him. He is a strange human, but worthy in his own right."

"I don't know if we can," Nicholas replied. "If we follow him that would break N's challenge, wouldn't it? Alder's trying to buy us all time." He watched Alder vanish into the castle unopposed. "We-"

"Members of the Unovan Pokegirl League!" Nicholas' words were drowned out when a new voice resounded over the buildings. "Our King's invitation extends to only the Champion. The rest of you," Ghetsis said, having emerged where N stood just minutes before, "are not welcome here."

"…Well that didn't take long at all," Nicholas snarled. The Plasma members around the castle were beginning to move for their ramps. "At least a bunch of humans shouldn't be the worst to deal with…?"

Red painted the walls.

"…Fuck."

The ends justify the means. That was the only rationale Nicholas could imagine for what he was seeing. That, or Plasma's movement had never been about what they preached. Hundreds of pokegirls were streaming down the ramps in front of what had to be their tamers. Behind him, back towards the courtyard, Nicholas heard the yells as the tamers there coordinated their defenses. Above it all, Ghetsis smiled.

Flame was beginning to leak from between Reshiram's jaws and a great rumbling could be heard deep within her chest. "My champion."

"They've broken the peace first," Nicholas growled back. "I don't care anymore. We're breaking through. Breaking through and finding N."

In response Reshiram reared back, her wings flapping as she unleashed a maelstrom of blue flame across the sky.

.

.

"Ha! On your left, Champion!"

Nicholas whirled, ducking low at the warning and sweeping his leg to send a Plasma member crashing to the dirt before the woman had been able to ambush him. "Thanks, Brycen!"

"It's Brycen-MAN, you uncultured swine!" Brycen roared back, parrying a punch from another man and striking back with an open-palmed hit that sent the enemy tamer blasting away, only to be replaced by another charging man who was ready to throw a massive haymaker. Before Nicholas could blink Brycen had leapt, his leg shooting out in a strong side kick that sent the second Plasma member to the ground.

"Brycen-MAN knows kung-fu, I see," Nicholas replied with a laugh. "Should stay grounded, though! Aerial kicks have much less power behind them."

"Ah, that's bad for the image, baby!" Brycen laughed back, dancing away as the man he'd kicked began picking himself up, his pokegirl moving up beside him. "Callissa! Get that Gigalith outta here!"

With a roar a wall of fur stampeded forwards and wrapped a thick hand around the stone golem-like pokegirl's face. With a panicked cry the enemy pokegirl was sent flying when Callissa picked her up and flung her back towards the ramp she'd come down, the Rock-type pokegirl's solid body smashing into the stone and breaking a massive hole clean through to strand a good number of shouting Plasma reinforcements farther up.

Nicholas grinned when the Beartic turned to slip back behind her tamer. Quite the pokegirl. He was starting to hope Brycen was still around by the time he challenged the gyms here in Unova.

Above him Skyla's pokegirls flew alongside Zinnia, her energy joined by the white-feathered Swanna and a Braviary who wove between the flying attacks to close with the runic automata-like girls that had floated down from the castle. Energy connected the Plasma pokegirls' fragmented clay wings but the small parts were just targets for Skyla's Braviary as she shredded her way through as many as she could. One of the same pokegirls hovered behind Caitlin – the single cyclopean eye on her face as unblinking as the two false eye patterns that covered her breasts. Beams of psychic power were emanating from all three as the girl took potshots at whatever targets she could identify.

Every part of the battleground was covered. Clay and Drayden, with their brawling Ground and Dragon-types respectively, pushed back waves of insectoid and snakelike pokegirls. Some bugs were on their side too, a Leavanny like the seamstress back at Pokestar studios moving perfectly in sync with her tamer Burgh as they danced through the horde and humans and pokegirls alike fell in their wake. Electricity raced across the area from Elesa's Zebstrika as she blitzed wherever she could find a soft target and the woman herself stood tall, commanding a pair of cheerful rodent pokegirls who dove in and out of the fray using the leathery membranes between their limbs to glide like the Gliscor Nicholas had faced back in Sinnoh. And above it all, above the roars and clashing pokegirls, music invigorated the defenders. An energetic bass line blasted from where a young woman in a punk outfit was rocking out on her guitar, Clay's Seismitoad standing next to her and acting as an amplifier while Roxie's own pokegirls created areal denial with their poisonous smog to keep their mistress perfectly safe to continue the music.

"Didn't you have somewhere you were planning to be, Champion?" Brycen yelled as he flipped through another cluster of Plasma tamers. "Go on! You're just distracting me down here!"

Nicholas looked around. The battle was truly stalled. The Gym Leaders and Elite Four were decimating the Plasma forces but their sheer numbers kept them coming. He wasn't doing anything here. Reshiram couldn't use her most powerful flames for fear of hitting an ally, though he had a feeling that was something new to the legendary dragon. He could feel her confusion at her own hesitance. When she had first formed, her mindless rage must have led her to hold no regard for friendly fire.

Then, the best course of action was to leave their allies behind. Brycen was right. They had somewhere to be.

"Nikki! Help Roxie, add your power to her music and make sure these pokegirls do not fall!" he cried, trusting Kalmiya to relay his words to the legendary wherever she was. "RESHIRAM! TO ME!"

"FINALLY!" Reshiram roared, taking flight from where she had been menacing the front line and wheeling around to blast towards him. She only braked enough for him to make a desperate grab at her fur before she was off again, leaving Nicholas to flap like a discarded flag from her side as he struggled to pull himself onto her back. As she turned towards the center of the castle a cry went up from the Plasma forces, a few attacks shooting past them before Reshiram tucked her head, lifted her legs, and her tail flashed the air to plasma.

She was smashing through the castle doors in an instant. The inside was empty, all the people who might have been there having long funneled out onto the battlefield. Reshiram slammed to a halt in the resplendent entry hall which sent Nicholas slinging forwards and he lost his grip at the sudden change – thankfully this was not the tower where he had first found her, but was full of slightly softer things than solid stone and he ended up tangled up in a number of draperies before slamming into the wall. Hard enough to see stars, but the cloth wrapped around him had slowed his flight so the impact didn't cause any real damage.

"Get me-" Nicholas started to snarl before giving up on extricating himself and reaching completely for his aura. Blue light flashed from the tangled pile before Nicholas rose, the aura cloaking him tearing the cloth to shreds as it expanded. "Was that really necessary?" he sniped at the draconic form watching him. "I'm starting to really not like this form of yours. You act like she does."

Reshiram's eyes flashed and she lunged for him with her teeth gnashing. "DO NOT COMPARE ME TO-"

Reshiram had slammed to a halt once again. This time, not entirely of her own will. Nicholas had lifted a hand and caught her outstretched head, his fingers wrapped over the elongated snout this form had and gripping it tightly. "Hm. It's influencing you. This form… is without balance." Reshiram's entire body shuddered as Nicholas' aura began creeping up her head and down her neck towards where her wings connected. "Enough of it. You took it to prove a point, and it's captured you because of Zekrom's presence." His aura flared as it accelerated until he and Reshiram were each covered in a glowing blue film. "I am not satisfied championing a beast."

Reshiram reared back, breaking his hold on her head as her jaw popped open in a soundless roar, but Nicholas' hand remained outstretched and the aura linking them did not break. Reshiram took two staggering steps back before her body melted, rapidly returning to her pokegirl form before she slammed to her hands and knees, panting.

"That's much better," Nicholas said softly, finally lowering his hand and breaking the aura between them as he did. Reshiram remained on her hands and knees as the blue surrounding her began to fade away. "Well? Are you ready to act better than her?"

Reshiram slowly pushed herself back to her feet. As she finally rose to a standing position Nicholas could see her eyes absolutely consumed in fury and focused wholly on him. "What did you just do to me?" she hissed through clenched teeth.

"Simple," Nicholas replied calmly. "I reminded you of what is true." He raised an eyebrow. "Well?"

Reshiram slunk back slightly with another, lower growl. "Without the power of that body-"

"Wrong," Nicholas interrupted. "That body, and the one Zekrom holds now, are what you took ages ago. Who won that battle between you, Reshiram?"

Slowly Reshiram's fury faded from her eyes. "Nobody."

"Precisely."

Reshiram still snorted angrily as she jerked her head away and began stomping for the nearest flight of stairs. "My champion now is far greater than King Harmonia's foolish son."

"Which is why you have become something of your own, and are not just the beast spawned of Tirakan," Nicholas replied as he followed. Reshiram just made another angry snort and didn't respond.

They climbed two floors, inspecting the halls but continuing ever upwards, towards where Alder had climbed. The castle remained silent. Waiting.

The two were walking down another empty hallway when a shadow moved. Suddenly Nicholas was spinning around, falling into a defensive posture with one of the masked ninja having appeared behind him. He heard Reshiram make a startled snarl and assumed she'd also been accosted by one. "You-!"

"Our lord N expected you," the man said. All around them Nicholas could see feminine forms emerging from wherever they'd been concealed, most very similar to Ryuko in glinting metallic armor and silver blades curving from their bodies, but there was one he could see, one who stood closest to what must be her tamer. A pokegirl he recognized, and one that made him very worried. An Absol. Her darkness suffusing her white fur and no hint of pity in the black orbs that were her eyes. It seemed Midna was not the only Absol who rejected her nature.

"Expected us, huh." Nicholas risked a glance towards Reshiram. It wasn't just one ninja and some pokegirls stopping her – it was two ninja and at least a dozen pokegirls. More of the armored girl and two unique ones that he didn't have the time to identify before he turned his attention back to the man in front of him. "But are you here on his orders, or another's?"

The man didn't outwardly react to Nicholas' jab. "From the day Ghetsis saved our lives, we have sworn to be loyal to him," he said evenly. None of this man's words had changed inflection, actually. "Fear not. Our orders are to follow our lord N's wishes."

"And that is?"

The man turned slightly. "Come."

Nicholas looked back to get Reshiram's attention. "I'd rather not test this battle if we have the choice," he said quietly.

Reshiram clenched her jaws to stifle the flames that had begun leaking out. "…I am not used to letting my enemies do as they please."

"The eternal are not the gods so many humans see them as," Nicholas replied. "You are pokegirls. Powerful, but mortal." He glanced around at the silent crowd surrounding them. "I think it's best to respect these enemies. They are not foolish enough to take a fight they have no hope to win."

The ninja who had been speaking to Nicholas was waiting at one of the grand arching doorways and Nicholas followed, Reshiram jerking after him after a moment while the rest of the pokegirls and the two other ninja melted back into the shadows.

"…It is our lord N's wish that you be moved to the innermost part of this castle," the man said as they walked. "You will find our lord N in his throne room. You will not enter until summoned."

"I take it Alder is still fighting."

"A battle between you and our lord N will reveal which is the right hero," the man said, seemingly ignoring Nicholas' statement as he turned around next to another grand archway. "It will also reveal the strength of your conviction in this world. Where humans exist alongside pokegirls."

Nicholas snorted under his breath. "Don't lie to me. If you are sworn to Ghetsis then you have no wish to see N's ideals become reality."

That, finally, got something from the ninja. The slightest of movements as the man's eyebrow lifted. Then he was gesturing again. "Enter. You may rest in here."

Nicholas just shot him a look before pushing open the heavy wooden doors and stepping inside.

He entered into a tidy sitting room decorated with flowers. As Reshiram plodded in behind him he realized there were already two figures seated on the chairs inside. "Hello?"

Both rose simultaneously to reveal two women with amber eyes and each gave him and Reshiram a courteous bow. "Welcome, hero of truth," the pink-haired one said. "Please. Before you go to confront my lord N, be seated. Take a moment to rest."

Nicholas made his way over to a seat and settled into it as the two women similarly returned to theirs. "And you are?"

"I am Anthea," the pink-haired woman replied kindly.

"And I am Concordia," the blonde added. "We are N's sisters."

"Biological, or…?"

Anthea let out a delicate laugh. "We are not siblings by blood, but by our shared plight. We were all once orphans, taken in by Ghetsis."

"We have tried to give him peace and comfort," Concordia explained. "N has been separated from most people since he was young. He was brought up only alongside pokegirls – pokegirls that were betrayed, mistreated, and hurt by bad people… Ghetsis deliberately brought only those poor pokegirls closer to N. N was touched by their plight, and embraced the mantle Ghetsis laid before him. To become the hero of ideals. To become Unova's king."

Nicholas looked between the two. "Why are you freely telling me this?"

"Because unlike the Shadow Triad, we hold no loyalty to Ghetsis," Anthea said. "We are no less the victims of that man's schemes than N himself."

"N thinks only of pokegirls, his heart pure, and innocent," Concordia said. "But there is nothing more beautiful and terrifying than innocence."

"You, hero of truth, are our final hope," Anthea explained. "You are the greatest example of the humans N was never allowed to meet. You, who live and fight beside your pokegirls not to hurt them, or exploit them, but practice your skills together, to grow in experience. You have finally broken a crack in the conditioning Ghetsis has placed on N. Deep down, my lord N is beginning to realize the truth… but he has spent too much painful time here in this castle to admit it."

Nicholas leaned closer to the two women. "You mean that?" he asked in a hushed voice. "I'm getting through to him."

Anthea clasped her hands together with a radiant smile. "You are," she whispered back. "I had hoped beyond hope that what had been done had not been by accident."

"I… don't understand N's pure, innocent ideals," Concordia confessed. "But I will be very happy if he can figure out his own path."

Nicholas breathed out a sigh as he settled back into his seat. He'd been right, then. There was a faction within Ghetsis' scheme that truly believed in N's ideals. It wasn't much of a stretch to believe some of the sages could as well. "What is Ghetsis' plan?" he asked Anthea. "I've come to realize that N is just Ghetsis' tool and puppet, and I have seen how Ghetsis' forces seem to hold no qualms in using pokegirls in the way Plasma claims to be against, but what is the goal?"

"What else?" Anthea asked. "Ghetsis intends to separate humans and pokegirls, except for his own. Power. Control. Who will be left to oppose him, if he is the only one with pokegirls at his side?"

Nicholas blinked at her. "It's… really that simple?" he asked. "That's his big goal? But if N and Zekrom stand together…"

"You said it yourself," Concordia murmured. "Ghetsis sees N as nothing more than a tool. One to be used. And ultimately… discarded." She raised her head. "Oh. I didn't think they'd be returning for you. And so soon? We were meant to take you to the throne room." She turned to look Nicholas dead in the eyes. "N loves Ghetsis as his father. I pray you can show him the truth."

Before another word could be spoken the ninja were appearing around them. "Come," the leader said. "Your rest is to be cut short. It is time."

Nicholas ignored the three to give Anthea and Concordia a smile. "There is truth in even the most immutable ideal."

Concordia glanced at where Reshiram was bristling at the three ninja. "And ideals in every truth. They make each other more beautiful than when they stand alone."

Reshiram blinked and glanced over to see the blonde woman gazing at her. After a moment she grunted and awkwardly rustled her wings. "Thank you."

Nicholas couldn't hide his grin as he rose and turned to the ninja leader. "Let's go, then," he said.

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Celebrity Profile Overview

Ryuko – Scizor

It is rare to see a Scizor in a tamer's harem. Rarer still for that Scizor to have been evolved from a Scyther that same tamer once tamed. While the method for a Scyther's evolution is hard to achieve, it is known, and the reason for the Scizor's rarity does not have to do with how it evolves. Instead, it is because, without fail, for a Scizor to accept a tamer they must be someone the pokegirl can truly respect. It is then no surprise to see such a pokegirl in Nicholas Topolski's harem. Rumors of espionage and more swirl around Ryuko, but one thing is clear. This Scizor would do anything for her Master.

Sera – Crobat

The Zubat. A ubiquitous pokegirl breed across the world. It is nearly impossible to enter a cave system without encountering one. Then, if Zubat are so common, why is it that they are relatively rare within combat harems? Because, much like other 'swarm' pokegirl breeds, which are infamous for flooding entire ecosystems, an individual Zubat or Golbat are not the most powerful of pokegirls. They are designed to function on the overwhelming numbers of their pack. But sometimes, a tamer will put in the effort to raise their Golbat to the level of a more proper combat breed. The effort required to do so is much, much more than most are willing to put in, but for an elite tamer that effort is just the price to pay for the Crobat that will result. Sera entered Nicholas Topolski's harem during his time as Champion of Indigo, and quickly proved herself to be a standout Zubat. Nicholas Topolski recognized this, and now Sera stands as a Crobat, known to slip between the shadows as she stalks her Master's enemies. Perhaps not the strongest of pokegirls – but certainly strong enough to make her opponents regret underestimating her.