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Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise 

Hilda woke up with a beaming smile

Today was the day! Today, she'd finally get her first starter pokemon from Professor Juniper and start on her pokemon journey. While Unova allowed children to start on their journey at 14, the father of her friend Bianca had refused to let her go until she finished her education. Not wanting to leave without her, Hilda and Cheren had decided to do the same thing. They were now done and ready to get their starter

There was a knock on the door and her mother walked in with a box in her hands. "Professor Juniper just delivered this. Said she'd be waiting for the three of you to come and get your Pokedex. I'm sure Bianca had Cheren will be here soon." She said and Hilda smiled at her as the wrapped box was put down on her desk. "Thanks mom." She said and her mother smiled back as she left the room so she could change

Quickly pulling on the clothes she had chosen out for today and checking her bag to make sure she had everything, Hilda waited for her friends to arrive. They had agreed to meet at 11 AM and it was now 10:55. She wasn't surprised when Cheren arrived right on time. He had always been extremely punctual even when they were younger. It also wasn't a surprise when Bianca arrived five minutes later as she had always been far more clumsy. Hilda liked to think that she was somewhere in-between the two, although there had been many times she had to be the peacekeeper

After gently scolding Bianca for being late on the day they'd get their Pokemon, Cheren told Hilda that she was allowed to choose first. This was her house after all and out of the three of them, she had turned 14 first years ago. "I wonder what they'll say." Bianca giggled, glancing at Hilda who gave her a look. It was a small secret that she had always been able to understand what pokemon were saying, often subtly helping when something was wrong

Hilda carefully opened the special box to see three pokeballs lying there, each with a different pokemon inside of them. She pressed the button on all three to see the pokemon. They were the grass-type pokemon Snivy, who looked around the room with a haughty sniff, the fire-type pokemon Tepig who was jumping up-and-down at the chance of meeting its new trainer and the water-type pokemon Oshawott, who was looking rather sad at the moment

"Hey, what's wrong, little buddy?" Hilda asked as she kneeled down next to it. "This is my third time meeting trainers and they never choose me." The pokemon muttered as it sat down and looked at its tiny little feet. It let out a startled little cry as she then carefully picked it up and held it against her chest. "Well, then. That's just their loss and my gain." She decided as she had already wanted Oshawott when she had first turned 14 and this just sealed that decision. Oshawott stared at her, before a beaming smile appeared and it hugged her tightly 

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." It repeated over and over again and she chuckled as she stood up with her new buddy in her arms. "You're very welcome." She replied as she stepped back to let her friends choose. Bianca chose the Tepig and Cheren chose the Snivy as his starter pokemon. Hilda didn't say it out loud as she was hugging her own pokemon, but she thought that these pokemon fitted her friends perfectly from what she could see.

Bianca then wanted to have her first Pokemon battle against Hilda there in the bedroom, but Hilda immediately knew her that mom was going to kill her if she made a mess, so she convinced her friend to do it outside in the garden. With her mom watching from the sidelines, Hilda and Bianca had their very first battle against each other. "Tepig, use tackle!" Bianca ordered. "Dodge it, Oshawott." Hilda called and her Pokemon jumped out of the way just in time

It was a very fun battle between them, but eventually Oshawott won with a final tackle of its own. "You did it, Oshawott!" Hilda cheered, her Pokemon immediately running towards her and jumping in her arms with a happy cry. She quickly caught it and rubbed its tiny head with a smile. At the sidelines, her mother was beaming in pride as she watched her daughter bond with her own pokemon. Seeing the mess they had made, Bianca realised that taking the battle put might have been the smarter idea, before Cheren took her place now that they were busy anyway.

This battle was just a bit harder as Snivy had the type advantage over Oshawott and Hilda had already had done one battle, but through sheer determination and wanting to make its new trainer proud, Oshawott fought even harder than before and managed to beat snivy with a newly learned water gun. Now that they had done their very first battles and after cleaning up the garden a tiny bit, they left to see Professor Juniper 

"Ah, there you are. How were your first minutes with your pokemon?" The woman asked them with a smile as they entered her lab. "It's been amazing. Thank you." Hilda gushed, holding her pokemon in her arms rather than in its pokeball. "I finally got my own trainer!" Oshawott happily shouted from her arms and she immediately chuckled. "That's amazing to hear." Professor Juniper stated as she grabbed three Pokedexes and held it out to them

Hilda checked her Oshawott with her Pokedex first and found out its moveset and the fact it was actually a girl. After asking them to fill up their Pokedex, Professor Juniper told them that if they wanted to, they could give their Pokemon a name. "What do you think, buddy? Do you want a name?" Hilda asked and Oshawott immediately nodded in answer. She hummed as she thought of a good name, thinking of what she knew about her pokemon already "Ilayda" She finally decided and the newly named Ilayda immediately let out a cry.

"I love it!" She stated and Hilda smiled as she hugged her pokemon tighter, laughing as she was hugged back as best as her Pokemon was capable to with her tiny arms. Bianca named her male Tepig Aidan and Cheren named his Snivy Silas. All their Pokemon were happy with their names. Hilda heard Snivy say I'll accept it," but she could feel that the Pokemon was happy. Professor Juniper told them to go to their parents and say goodbye before they left

"I hope Bianca's dad will finally agree to let her go now. She finished her education like he wanted her to when she was fourteen, so there shouldn't be any complaints this time." Hilda quietly muttered to Cheren as Bianca had already ran ahead. "I know what you mean. I hope so too." He immediately agreed, before he went to his home as well and Hilda went to hers. Her mother was already waiting for her in the living room

She had tears in her eyes as her daughter was going on her own journey. "Mom, don't cry please. You'll make me cry." Hilda begged, Ilayda immediately running to try and comfort her trainer's mother. "I can't help it sweetheart. It seems only yesterday that you were born and now, you're going on your own pokemon journey. I did get to see you for a few more years, but I know that you're just like your father." Her mother said as she kneeled down and picked the Pokemon up. Silence fell as both women remembering the man who had made them a family

He had been about to come home from a journey around the world about three years ago when the ship he had been on had been attacked and sunk into the ocean. No survivors or bodies were found and the police still didn't know who had attacked it. It was one of the few times Hilda regretted not going on her journey earlier as her father would never see her get her first pokemon, earn her first badge or even see her challenge the Pokemon League.

She still had the game console he had given her before he left as an early birthday, despite there having been several new versions having come out since then and she still remembered his last phone call, him promising to be home soon. The ship had been attacked the day after that and his promise had been broken.Hilda quickly joined the hug and tried not cry. This was supposed to be a happy day with her getting her own Pokemon, not a sad one.

A tear still rolled down and a tiny paw gently wiped it away, making her look at a concerned Ilayda. She gave her a tiny smile and took her over, hugging her tightly with one arm. Eventually, her mother pulled back and wiped both her and her daughter's tears away. "Just be very careful, okay?  Call me when you arrive in a new city." She said and Hilda nodded as she took a deep breath and hugged her mother again. She then pulled back and walked to the door with her bag and pokemon. Looking back one more time and getting a nod, she walked out to join her friends

"Are you alright?" Ilayda asked in worry. "I don't want to talk about it." She muttered and her Pokemon silently conceded for now. Cheren and Bianca were already waiting for her at the start of route 1, Bianca having managed to convince her dad to let her go, despite his incredible reluctance to let his only daughter go on her own journey. "Are you okay?" Cheren asked in concern at seeing her red eyes and seeing how Ilayda was looking at her in worry as well.

"I'm fine. I just... I just really wish my dad was here." Hilda muttered, rubbing her arm and looking down at the ground to avoid the sympathetic looks her friends were no doubt giving her right now at hearing this. After all, they had been right at her side at the memorial for the victims of the attack all those years ago and if it hadn't been for them, their own families and Professor Juniper, Hilda felt that she would've gone mad in the next three years.

Bianca walked forwards and gently grabbed her hand in support, Aidan following her every step. "Come on. We'll take our first steps together." She said and Cheren quickly took his place at her other side with Silas and together, they walked onto route 1. Hilda took a deep breath as she looked back at her hometown, not knowing when she'd see it again. She, Bianca and Cheren had all agreed to travel the routes together, but to split up every time they'd arrive in a town or city to explore. They'd wait for each other until they could continue on.

Normally, the professor would be waiting for them to explain how you caught a pokemon, but with them being older than trainers normally were and having seen many Pokedex battles in those years, she knew she didn't have to explain it to them. Walking further for several hours, they had their very first battles against wild pokemon, mostly patrats and lillipups. It helped Hilda with distracting herself from what she was missing in her life. 

Deciding to start up their camp once the sun was beginning to set, they had their first dinner while on their journey with their Pokemon. Going to bed once night had fallen and snuggling into their sleeping bags with their Pokemon lying nearby, Hilda found herself looking up at the stars, Ilayda already snoring next to her. She had no idea what would happen on this journey and it both excited and scared her as she took a deep breath and went to sleep

Still, she had a feeling it would be a journey to remember 

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise

After a few days of travelling, they arrived in Accumula Town

As they had already promised each other, they all split up to explore. Hilda and Ilayda immediately went to find the Pokemon center to heal Ilayda up after a nasty bite from a lillipup. Hilda carefully gave her Pokemon to Nurse Joy and she promised to take good care of her. "Behave yourself, alright?" Hilda asked, gently rubbing Ilayda on the head "I will. I will. Don't worry" Her Pokemon promised as an Audino quickly brought her to the back

Hilda took this time to call her mother and the older woman let out a sigh of relief at seeing her daughter appear on the screen. "Hello, sweetheart. Are you in the first town already?" She asked. "Uh-huh. We're in Accumula Town now. Bianca and Cheren are exploring around and Ilayda is getting healed." Hilda answer and her mother smiled at her. "Have you caught a Pokemon yet?" She asked then and Hilda shook her head in answer 

"Nah, wasn't really interested in patrats or lillipups." I'm more looking for a Pidove so it can fly me around once it evolves." She said with a thoughtful look and her mother conceded as they talked for a bit longer. "Hilda Black. Your Pokemon are completely healed up." They then heard over the intercom. "Have to pick Ilayda up. I'll call you again in the next town." She promised her mother. "Alright. Be careful on your journey sweetheart." She said, before the screen went blank as she hung up and Hilda did the same as she hurried to the front desk

"Here I am!" Ilayda cheered at seeing her and she laughed as she picked her up. "I can see that. Thank you, Nurse Joy and Audino." She said, looking at both the woman and the Pokemon who both smiled. "Of course. It was not a problem at all." Nurse Joy replied as Hilda also booked a room as it was starting to get dark. Just as she finished, Bianca walked in to have her Pokemon healed up. "Wow, this town sure is bigger than ours." She told Hilda 

"Any interesting spots?" Hilda asked as they waited. "There's this overlook where you have a beautiful view over the next route and there's a really lovely square nearby. I'll show you tomorrow." Bianca answered and her friend smiled. "I'd like that." She said and Bianca smiled back, before a worried look took over. "Ate you feeling any better now?" She asked and Hilda looked down at the ground as she cuddled Ilayda close to her

"I just wish he had been there to see us off on our journey. You know he'd just wrap me into a bear hug and playfully state he would not let me go at all." She said and Bianca immediately chuckled as that did sound like her friend's father. "He'd want you to do your best on your journey, no matter what. Let's make both him and your mother proud, alright? She asked and Hilda nodded as she wiped away a tear. "Thank you Bi." She said with a small smile. Despite being a walking disaster at times, Bianca was a really good friend when the need called for it

Cheren soon arrived as well around dinner time and they went to eat. "There were some rather strange people miling around the town's square. I'm not sure what exactly they were planning." He told the others as they ate. "Well, I'm sure it's not really our business." Hilda replied as she gently rubbed an already full Ilayda on the head. Her mother was already nervous enough as it was. She didn't want to worry her even more by interacting with strange people 

Cheren hummed, before they continued to eat and soon went to bed to be well-rested for more exploring the day after. A few hours later, Hilda was still awake and was currently looking up at the ceiling, Ilayda lying next to her and already asleep as she could hear from the small snores. "Dad. Wherever you are, I hope I'll make you proud." She muttered, before,gently grabbing Ilayda and snuggling with her. Closing her eyes, she finally fell into a dreamless sleep

The next day after breakfast, Bianca led her and Cheren to the square, only to see a lot of people standing around and some form of presentation ahead of them. "What's going on?" Hilda asked as she picked Ilayda up so she wouldn't lose her in the throng of people. They managed to get pretty close to the front and saw an offer man in a robe standing on a small stage with several people in weird outfits standing behind him. "I don't like him. He's scary." Ilayda said quietly as she burrowed back into her trainer's chest for comfort and Hilda had to agree. 

Something about that man just immediately gave her the creeps. He definitely didn't look like avery nice man. Unfortunately for them both, the strange man then started to talk to the gathered crowd. "My name is Ghetsis. I am here representing Team Plasma. Today, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to talk to you about Pokemon liberation." He began to say, a lot of people letting out confused murmurs as Hilda tightened her grip on her Pokemon 

Ignoring the mutterings he had caused with his word this Ghetsis guy continued "I'm sure most of you believe that we humans and Pokemon are partners that have come to live together because we want and need each other." He stated and both Ilayda and Hilda shared a look. The girl then noticed a young man with green hair standing nearby who seemed to listen to the man's every word. 'He's cute.' Her mind said before she could stop it

"However... Is that really the truth? Have you ever considered that perhaps we humans... only assume that this is the truth? Pokemon are subject to the selfish commands of trainers... They get pushed around when they are our "partners" at work... Can anyone say with confidence that there is no truth in what I'm saying?" Ghetsis went on and more muttering happened, people unsure what to think of it. "I have a bad feeling about this." Bianca muttered to her friends as she held onto Aidan as well. "Can I burn him?" Aidan asked with a scowl on his face

"Bianca, Aidan asked if he can burn the man." Hilda told her quietly. "No, you can not. We'll get in huge trouble and I don't want to begin our Pokemon journey with trouble." Bianca told her Pokemon sternly and Aidan settled down in her arms. "Now, ladies and gentlemen, Pokémon are different from humans. They are living beings that contain unknown potential. They are living beings from whom we humans have much to learn." Ghetsis said

"Tell me, what is our responsibility toward these wonderful beings called Pokemon?" He asked. "To love them?" Hilda asked her friends and they agreed, but some people seemed to consider liberation. "That's right! We must liberate the Pokemon! Then, and only then, will humans and Pokemon truly be equals. Everyone, I end my words here today by imploring you to consider the relationship between people and Pokemon and the correct way to proceed." He said

"We sincerely appreciate your attention." He finished with a small bow. The weird group then just up and left like it was no big deal what they had just said, the people in strange clothing surrounding Ghetsis as he walked away. The crowd slowly thinned out again now that it was over and the young man Hilda had noticed before walked near them. "Well, I'm not going anywhere just because one guy said so. I just found my trainer and I'm not leaving." Ilayda stated with a huff and Hilda smiled at her. "Thank you, Ilayda." She whispered, kissing the top of her head

The man had stopped walking as he now looked at the group and slowly approached them. "Your Pokemon... just now, it was saying..." He began,, before trailing off as if unable to believe a Pokemon wanted to stay with their trainer. The three of them and their Pokemon all looked at him in surprise. "Wait, you can hear Pokemon talking too?" Bianca blurted out before she could stop herself. "Too? Can you do it as well?" The man asked in surprise 

"No, I can't." Bianca quickly denied. "I.... I can." Hilda confessed, wondering what his reaction would be. Many people had called her a freak when they found out she could talk to Pokemon. He stared at her, looking her up-and-down and by Arceus. He really was handsome, even more so from up-and-close. "Then have you ever heard the cries of pain from Pokemon mistreated by their trainers?" He asked and she made a face in answer

"The biggest complaint I've heard was when their trainer forgot to brush their fur or something like that. Ilayda, do you have any complaints?" She asked her Pokemon. "Absolutely not! This is fun. Hilda chose me after three trainers didn't want me." Ilayda told the man. "I'm sorry that happened to you." He said as he carefully stroked her head. "Eh, it's fine. I got an amazing trainer out of it and together, we'll travel the whole entire world!" Ilayda exclaimed. "Woah, don't go too fast. Let's first do the Unova region before going any further." Hilda chuckled 

N watched the young woman in front of him with a mixture of curiosity and fascination as she talked to the Oshawott in her arms. Here was a trainer who could hear the voices of Pokemon as well, but didn't understand the suffering they were in under their trainer's care. His father had always shown how people hurt their Pokemon and how it was for the best that humans and Pokemon had to be separated from each other

He asked them what they were planning now and Cheren told him about the Pokedex "The Pokedex eh? So... You're going to confine many, many Pokémon in pokeballs for that, then. I'm a trainer too, but I can't help wondering... Are Pokémon really happy that way?" He asked. "Well, Hilda does leave her Pokemon out of her ball most of the time." Bianca said, but he wanted to know more about this strange trainer and her Pokemon

"Let me hear the voice of your pokemon again." He stated as he got ready for battle 

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise 

Realising he was serious, Hilda quickly put Ilayda down

Her Oshawott jumped forwards, ready for a fight while Cheren and Bianca quickly went to stand at the sidelines to make sure that they didn't get hurt in midst of the battle. N sent out a purrloin he had caught nearby the town to fight the water Pokemon. "Ilayda, use water gun!" Hilda immediately ordered. "On it!" Ilayda called back towards her trainer as she quickly shot a strong stream of water towards the purple Pokemon 

"More! Let me hear the voice of your Pokemon!" N called and after shooting a look with her friends as she'd never seen that reaction in a Pokemon battle before, even though she'd never met anyone who could talk to them either, Hilda focused herself on the battle again. "Purrloin, use scratch!" N then ordered. "Dodge it, Ilayda!" Hilda shouted and her Oshawott barely managed to jump out of the way, using water gun again at her order now it was so close

This went on for a few minutes and Ilayda took a few hits, but she eventually managed to defeat the Purrloin. "I did it, Hilda! I did it! We were amazing" She loudly cheered as she ran back to her trainer who quickly caught her and lifted her up. "Yes, you did. I'm so proud of you." She replied with a chuckle as she rubbed her Pokemon's head. She then looked back at N as he recalled his own Pokemon and walked towards him. "You and your Purrloin fought very well. You both certainly gave Ilayda a run for her money." She said as she held out a hand as was proper

He looked at it for a few seconds, before shaking her hand, looking at Ilayda who was gushing about how awesome she and her trainer were. "Never expected to hear Pokemon say such things." He muttered before shaking his head. "As long as Pokemon are confined in their pokeballs, they can never become perfect beings. I have to change the world because Pokemon are my friends." He said before starting to walk away without even saying goodbye

"Shouldn't you heal up your Pokemon first?!" Hilda called after him and he turned back. Hilda silently pointed at the Pokemon center and he let a rueful smile show as he instead walked towards the building. The group went with him as Ilayda needed to be healed up first and it was almost time for lunch anyway. Ilayda was happily talking to Silas and Aidan from her spot in Hilda's arms until she was given to Nurse Joy and her Audino with Purrloin 

"So, where are you from, N? I don't think I've ever seen you before" Bianca said curiously as they waited, already having asked his name on the way to the Pokemon center. "Natural Harmonia Gropius, but most people call me N." He had answered. To be completely honest, Hilda had almost snorted at hearing the name as she had never met anyone with that particular name, before seeing that he was completely serious and quickly swallowing the snort before it could escape. "The other side of Unova. I was homeschooled all my life." N replied vaguely 

Seeing that this was a sensitive subject as he hunched in on himself and suddenly looked very uncomfortable, Hilda silently made a cutting motion to Bianca and she thankfully got the hint as she changed the subject. "Which Pokemon do you hope to meet on your journey? Personally, I'd love to meet a Munna." She said, making her friends shake their heads with smiles as they were very aware of how much she loved that Pokemon 

N gave them a tiny smile as well. "I'd love to meet one the ancient Pokemon from the legends and he judged worthy of them. I feel like thrust could help me chase my ideals and reach my dream." He stated, before silence fell as none of them had expected that answer. "I'd love to have a sandile. I've always loved ground types, even if they'll be very easy to beat now I have Ilayda." Hilda slowly answered while Cheren wanted to catch a steel type Pokemon 

As they were talking, N looked around the room and saw many trainers looking after their pokemon, from a young child playing with his lillipup to an experienced trainer brushing the fur of his liepard. They all seemed content and happy, but he couldn't believe it as it went against everything he had been taught for years. They then changed the subject, until they heard that Ilayda and Purrloin were healed. "Hey N, want to eat lunch with us? We have room enough." Hilda said as she picked Ilayda up and he did the same to his Purrloin.

"Actually, I'm afraid I have to meet my friends outside of town and I've already made them wait by healing up Purrloin. Maybe another time in another town. I honestly feel like we'll see each other again." He said, before nodding at them in goodbye and walking away to the front doors ofthe pokemon centre. "Bit of a weirdo, isn't he?" Bianca asked once he was gone. "Bianca!!!" Both her friends hissed as they sat down to eat lunch

"Well, I will admit he's a bit of a motormouth and that bit about the ancient Pokemon was rather odd, but he seemed nice enough in his own strange way, but he seemed.... lonely. Until he mentioned he had to meet his friend, I didn't even think he had friends." Hilda admitted. "He also seemed to look around like he has never seen a Pokemon center before." Cheren commented, before they shared a look and shrugged, before they went to eat

None of them had no idea what N had been through in his life and it was not up to them to judge him after having only met him once for a few minutes. Afterthey had eaten lunch with their Pokemon, Hilda finally joined her friends in exploring the town. They already knew there was no gym in this town as the first gym was in the next city, but it was still a lot of fun to see what this town did have to offer. As the sun started to set in the sky, they returned to the Pokemon center for dinner and to stay for one more night before continuing on to the next town

Lying in bed that night, Hilda found her thoughts straying towards N as she wondered where he was now and if he had found a place to stay for the night. Something about him intrigued her as even with his strange talks about Pokemon needing to be perfect and free from their trainers, something she knew Ilayda would immediately protest, he seemed very nice for the most part. She sighed, before closing her eyes and falling asleep

The next day, the group started to leave town, ready to see what else was ahead of them. They were rather surprised about two days into their journey when a Purrloin approached them while they were having lunch. "Hello again." The purple Pokemon greeted them. "Again? Wait, are you the Purrloin I fought in Accumula Town?" Hilda asked and it nodded. "You mean N's pokemon?" Cheren asked in surprise and it nodded again

"What are you doing here, little one? Shouldn't you be with your trainer?" Bianca asked and Purrloin sat down, its tail drooping as it looked at the ground dejected. "He released me. Said I didn't deserve to be bound to him for the rest of my life and that I should be free to go where I want to go, but he was my trainer. I was already happy." It answered Hilda translating for her friends and they all looked at it in sympathy. "If you want, you can join us." Ilayda offered as if rubbed the Purrloin's back after looking at her trainer and getting a nod. "Really?" The Purrloin asked

"Really." Hilda confirmed, before asking who the Purrloin wanted as its new trainer and the Purrloin chose her. Holding out an empty pokeball, the Purrloin happily tapped it and let itself be caught. Opening the pokeball again, Hilda smiled at her newest Pokemon. "Welcome to the team  Purrloin." She said with a smile as Ilayda, Aidan and Silas welcomed the pokemon as well. Scanning it with her Pokedex, Hilda found out that it was a male

"Do you mind if I gave you a name? It's okay if you don't." She said. "I don't mind." Her new pokemon shrugged and she thought for a minute. "Balor." She eventually decided and the newly named Balor straightened up in pride. Hilda smiled at him, before quickly preparing a new batch of Pokemon food for the newest member of her team. Both she and Bianca cooed as Ilayda carefully dragged her own plate over to put it next to Balor's so they could chat

Yes, Balor would be fit in perfectly in Hilda's team

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise 

With their new teammate, they continued on

Balor soon proved himself to be a very capable fighter as he did his best to prove himself to his new trainer. It wasn't until a couple of days of him pushing himself to his limits during trainer battles that Hilda realised he was doing it so she wouldn't release him like N had done. "Balor, I'm not going to release you. You can take it easy." She promised her pokemon that evening and he looked up at her. "Promise?" He asked in an uncertain tone and she smiled

"I promise." She replied as she petted his head and Ilayda stepped up as well. "You're part of the family now and we're not gonna abandon family." She stated with a smile and Hilda chuckled as she stroked her starter's head. "Very well said, Ilayda." She said, before turning back to her new Purrloin. "Don't push yourself too hard, Balor. You're here to stay with us." She told him, before grunting as Balor tackled her into a hug, thanking her over and over

Once the surprise of the sudden hug was over, she immediately smiled down and hugged both her Pokemon close to her. They were a team now and that was not going to change. Letting go after a while, they went to eat dinner where Ilayda talked all about the things they were going go to together because Hilda was definitely not going to release either of them, telling how she hadn't been picked out by trainers several times until she came along and actually chose her as her starter. Balor was much more cheered up by the time dinner was over

Bianca actually had some brushes for Pokemon fur with her as she had planned to catch a Purrloin later as well and quickly gave it to Hilda to use it at seeing that Balor's fur was getting a bit dirty from fighting. After she explained what she wanted to do, Balor immediately curled up on her lap and she gently started to brush his fur, Ilayda sitting against her side and taking a small nap while she did so while Cheren and Bianca took care of their own Pokemon

Bianca had caught a lillipup on the route and was practically always cooing about how cute her Pokemon were, making her friends shake their heads in fond exasperation By the time Hilda was done brushing Balor's fur, the sun had almost set in the sky and after gathering some berries for tomorrow at breakfast, they decided to go to bed as they'd arrive in Striaton City the next day and especially Cheren and Hilda wanted to battle the gym

Balor and Ilayda were lying right next to their trainer after night had fallen, excitedly whispering about how they couldn't wait to battle their first gym and both of them wondering what kind of Pokemon they would meet from here on out. "Guys, go to sleep." A sleepy Hilda muttered to them as she could hear everything they were saying. "Sorry." Both her sheepish Pokemon muttered, before they fell quiet. Now they had fallen silent, the girl couldn't help but look at her new Purrloin. Why on earth would N catch him, only to release him very soon after?

It just didn't make sense to her, just like the words of Team Plasma didn't make any sense. Sure, there were some trainers who treated their Pokemon like nothing more than tools to win battles with, but those were only a miniscule fraction of the many trainers who were out there in the world and treated their Pokemon right. To be honest, the words of Team Plasma were worrying her a bit as she had no idea if they truly meant it or if they were just lying.

Besides, there was something about that Ghetsis guy that made very cold chills run down her spine at the mere thought of him. She sighed as she thought of N. He had looked so innocent and almost childlike, but also very determined in his beliefs about Pokemon and his dreams. Even she had to admit that meeting the legendary Pokemon was a huge dream for someone to have and she had absolutely no idea how exactly he was planning to do it

No one had seen or heard from the two legendary dragon Pokemon in several centuries. Many people honestly believed that they didn't exist anymore or had died a long time ago and here was this guy who wanted to meet them and be deemed worthy of them. She found herself wondering why he didn't have a starter. She obviously knew that not everyone chose to begin their journey with a starter, but he was about the same age and seemingly only started out. What had he been doing before that? Shaking her head, she rolled over and fell asleep

The next day, they climbed up a hill and saw Striaton City ahead in the distance. Excited for this new part in their journey, Bianca challenged Hilda to a battle to help her get stronger and she agreed. With Cheren acting as referee, they had a Pokemon battle right there on the hill, Balor and Ilayda vs Bianca's lillipup Victoria and Aidan. Hilda won after Ilayda defeated Aidan with water gun and her Oshawott immediately jumped in her arms as they all cheered

Arriving in the city, they first went to heal up their Pokemon and Hilda called her mother who was very happy to see her and meet Balor over the screen as the Purrloin jumped onto the counter at seeing his trainer talking to someone and practically hogged the screen as he had never seen anything like this before. "Balor, I can't see my mom." Hilda gently scolded him as she lifted him from the counter and held him while finishing the call

Once all their Pokemon had been healed, Bianca practically begged Hilda to come check out the Dreamyard with her. Having to admit she was actually rather curious about it, the other girl agreed and they went there while Cheren went to train a bit more for the upcoming gym battle after telling them he had met one of the gym leaders in the training school. The Striaton City gym was unique in that it had three leaders that were all specialised in one of the three starter types and would fight the trainer with the starter weak to their Pokemon 

If you had chosen Oshawott like Hilda, you would fight Cilan with his grass Pokemon Pansage. If you had chosen Snivy like Cheren, you would fight Chili with his Pansear and if you had chosen Tepig like Bianca, you would fight Cress with his Panpour. With Hilda not having a fire Pokemon yet, she really hoped to catch a Pokemon with an advantage over the Pansage as she was still worried Balor would push himself to his limits again

It turned out that she didn't have to worry as a kind woman gave her and Bianca a Pansear and Pansage respectively after hearing that they were trainers and wanted to battle the gym. While Bianca wasn't really interested in challenging the Pokemon league like Cheren and Hilda were, she did want to become stronger and be a trainer her Pokemon could be proud of, so getting the right type of Pokemon was a very big help to them both

Entering the Dreamyard, both girls perked up at hearing a Pokemon crying out in distress and a Munna flew towards them. It practically dove in Bianca's arms at seeing them, completely shaking in fear. "Hey, what's wrong?" She asked, her question being answered by a man and a woman in Team Plasma outfits suddenly appearing from the same direction as the Munna. "Give us that Munna! We want that precious dream mist!" One of them ordered and Bianca immediately tightened her grip on the pink Pokemon as she turned away from the two men

Hilda stepped in front of her friend. "You want it? You'll have to go through us." She stated as she crossed her arms, Balor and Ilayda jumping forwards with cries, ready to fight. "Get lost, you little brats!" The woman with him shouted as it tried to kick Ilayda, only for her to dodge it and for him to immediately get a water gun in his face from the pissed off Oshawott. "Hey! You don't see me kicking your Pokemon!" Hilda growled as she checked on Ilayda 

Bianca then asked if they weren't trainers too and the woman said that they actually fought to free Pokemon, which again didn't make sense to Hilda. "Think you're so great, huh? Prove it then!" The man stated as he threw out a pokeball with a Patrat. 'Yeah, I can see you're really liberating Pokemon, you hypocrits.' Hilda thought as she and her pokemon battled the Patrat and the woman's Purrloin as she followed the battle with one of her own.

However, they managed to beat them both easily and an apparition of Ghetsis appeared, teleporting all over the place while scolding the grunts for goofing off and they quickly fled. The image disappeared and a Musharna, the evolution of Munna appeared as well. "Mommy!" The Munna in Bianca's arms cried as it flew towards the bigger Pokemon. "It's the mother." Hilda quietly explained to her friend and Bianca nodded in understanding. "Are you alright?" Musharna asked. "I am, thanks to them." Munna answered, looking at the girls and Musharna did the same. 

"Thank you for saving my daughter." She said. "You're welcome." Hilda replied and she'd never get enough of the moments where Pokemon realised she could understand them. The Musharna thanked them again and the Munna nudged them both in her own way of thanking them, before the pair flew off into the distance, leaving a bit of dream mist as a present. "Ugh! I can't believe they tried to kick Ilayda. Are you okay?" Bianca asked in concern.

"I'm fine." Ilayda promised, Hilda translating as a woman joined them and asked if they were okay after hearing the ruckus. Her name was Fennel and with the dream mist the pokemon left behind, she could apparently finish some research she was working on, before she quickly left for her lab. In all the ruckus, Hilda realised she hadn't given her new Pansear a name and asked if she wanted one. She agreed and she hummed in thought

"Sylvaine." She decided and the Pokemon loved it.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise 

They eventually met the scientist again

She explained that she was using the dream mist for her experimentations, but to be completely honest, Hilda pretty much zoned her out after a few minutes as she realised professor Fennel was going to continue on for a while. Science had never been her strongest point. She preferred to be outside and see the world with her Pokemon right at her side, not stay inside and research hundreds of things. 

Managing to finally get out of the conversation that Bianca and the professor were having by stating that she wanted to train her pokemon, which wasn't even a lie, they let her go. Returning to the Dreamyard, she took a deep breath as she just closed her eyes and enjoyed the sunlight as well as the peace and quiet. "Hilda?" Ilayda asked in confusion at seeing her trainer just stand there and do nothing. 

"I'm just fine, sweetie. Don't worry about me. I'm honestly just enjoying the peace for a minute." She replied without even looking down as she spread her arms, her Oshawott slowly imitating her pose and doing the same for a few seconds. She let out a little cry as she relaxed like her trainer and Balor and Sylvaine enjoyed the sun as well, Hilda having let all her Pokemon out of their Pokeballs so that thei could just enjoy the day together. Especially Sylvaine as a fire type enjoyed the heat of the sun, before they went to train for the upcoming gym battle

"Ilayda, use water gun!" Hilda quickly ordered her starter as they battled a wild Patrat, her voice catching the attention of a certain passerby. N had been walking closer to inspect the ruined facility that was the Dreamyard when he had heard her voice. Looking around a tree, he saw her battling the Pokemon and frowned, thinking that she was no better than all the other trainers he had heard about growing up

That is, until the Patrat was defeated by a final tackle from Ilayda and she actually walked towards it, using a potion on it. "Did... did you just heal me?" The Pokemon asked, just as shocked as N felt. "Of course. You gave us a great battle and I wouldn't feel right if we just left you in that condition. It could take ages before you feel better." Hilda explained, her own Pokemon coming to see if the wild Pokemon was okay

"You sure gave me a challenge." Ilayda stated to cheer the Patrat up and the wild Pokemon smiled as it got up and thanked them, before running back into the forest. "Don't get into too much trouble. Not all trainers will do the same!" Hilda called after it and it briefly stopped and waved at them to show it had heard her, before disappearing into the tall grass. "What a sweet thing." She then commented and her pokemon agreed as they decided to take a small break. N decided to visit the Dreamyard another time and walked away, deep in thought

That evening, they returned to the Pokemon centre for the night and had dinner with Bianca, Cheren and their Pokemon. "You know, I could've sworn I saw N walking just an hour ago, but he was gone before I could look properly." Cheren commented and Hilda  looked down at Balor to see what his reaction was. "You're my trainer now. I can see what he was trying to do, but it doesn't hurt anymore." He told her at seeing the look

"Are you sure?" Hilda asked quietly and he nodded. "He did what he thought was right and even though it hurt at the time, I wouldn't have been part of your team if he hadn't released me." He said and she smiled as she petted his head, carefully telling the others what he had said. "I do wonder what N will say if he realises the Purrloin he released is now a member of your team instead and still a trainer's Pokemon." Bianca said. 

"Don't care." Balor immediately stated in a deadpan voice and Hilda snorted at hearing it. "He doesn't care." She muttered to explain to her friends and they both chuckled as well, before they finished their dinner and went to their rooms to rest after a pretty eventful day. Sitting on the edge of her bed and brushing Balor's fur again as he was taking a nap on her lap, Hilda was thinking of both the gym battle ahead of them and the fact that Cheren really might have seen N. Was she just going to run into him all the time in some way? 

She had to admit that she wouldn't really mind it as she still thought that he was rather handsome and while he was a bit odd in his interactions, she felt like he didn't mean any harm, but despite the words of Balor, she had to wonder if he would be upset to see his former Purrloin in her care instead. She shook her head. They'd cross that bridge when they got there. After taking care of all her Pokemon, she went to bed

The next two days were mostly spent exploring the city and training, before Hilda felt that she was ready to take on the gym. Cheren had already gone ahead and had told her it had been a real challenge for him, so she made sure that she was prepared for it as she battled Cheren himself first as a final preparation, before healing her pokemon and going towards the gym, both her friends going with with her for support

Standing in front or the doors, she took a deep breath and walked in, only to stare at seeing a restaurant inside. "Did we get the right place?" She quietly asked Cheren as whole she knew about the gym leaders, she didn't know much about the building itself and he immediately chuckled. "We did. The building is separated into two areas, this and the gym itself. Those three waiters over the are the gym leaders." He explained as he pointed at three men walking around. One of them eventually noticed them and walked closer

"Hey Cheren! Back for round two?" He asked and Cheren laughed. "Not this time, Cress, I'm afraid. My best friend Hilda over here actually wants to challenge the gym as well." He replied as he gestured to the girl. "Ah, say no more, my dear friend. What starter did you pick?" Cress asked her. "Oshawott." She replied. "Got it! Cilan, a battle order for you!" Cress called and another man quickly put down his tray

"Very well, brother. Come with me. Excuse me, everyone. I'm afraid duty calls." He apologised to the patrons of the restaurant with a theatrical bow and several teenage girls followed them, whispering and squealing among each other. "Someone has fans." Hilda muttered to her friends and they snorted. "It was the same when I challenged the gym. The three of them are pretty much celebrities here." Cheren replied

Hilda pulled a face as they went through a door and into an official arena. After wishing her luck, Bianca and Cheren went to sit on the stands with the girls as Hilda and Cilan went to stand on opposite sides of the field. The referee announced the match and told them they could begin. Cilan began with a Lillipup and Hilda sent out Ilayda so she could still fight in this battle and she let out a battle cry as she got ready. "Ilayda, use tail whip!" Hilda ordered and her oshawott immediately began to wag her tail in a cute way

"Use bite!" Cilan ordered and the Lillipup immediately charged forwards. "Dodge it!" Hilda called, Ilayda jumping out of the way just in time. "Use water gun!" The girl then continued, the water hitting the opposing Pokemon right in the face. "She certainly has grown quite a bit already." Bianca commented with a smile and Cheren immediately agreed with her as they watched her and Ilayda fight with all that they had

The Lillipup was eventually defeated by the Oshawott and now, the real challenge was coming as Cilan quickly sent out his Pansage out to fight next, it being his last pokemon too as it shouldn't be too difficult for new trainers. "Ilayda, come back!" Hilda then ordered her Pokemon and Ilayda immediately ran back to her as she sent out Sylvaine instead. Cilan only smiled at seeing the Pansear, before looking at the girl

"Very smart choice, my dear girl, but don't think I'll make it easy for you." He replied as he ordered his pokemon to use vine whip. "Incinerate!" Hilda then ordered her Pokemon in return and the Pansage cried out in pain as his the vines got burned by the flames. Hilda winced at seeing it as she knew that burn had to hurt the poor thing, before steeling herself and stubbornly continuing on as she knew she had to fight on if she wanted to win the badge. "Fury swipes!" She then called and her pansear scratched the Pansage all over.

Her training clearly paid off as only a few minutes later with a final incinerate attack, the Pansage fainted and she had won her first gym battle. "We did it!" Hilda cheered as her friends applauded her from the sidelines while the teenage girls groaned at seeing Cilan lose. To his credit, the gym leader only smiled and recalled his fainted Pokemon. Looking over, he saw that Hilda was busy congratulating her own Pokemon 

"You guys were absolutely amazing!" The girl quietly but proudly praised her Pokemon as she had kneeled down and petted them both. They immediately smiled up at her as Cilan walked towards them and she stood up. "You gave us an amazing battle." He commented and she smiled. "Thanks. You gave us quite a fight too." She replied as they shook each other's hands and he gave her her very first gym badge

"Will Lillipup and Pansage be okay?" She then asked in concern. "They'll be fine. One trip to the Pokemon centre and they'll be alright again." Cilan immediately reassured her, feeling rather touched that she was worried about his Pokemon. Bianca then tackled her friend into a hug. "You did it!  You were all amazing!" She cheered and Hilda laughed as she hugged her friend back. Cheren followed on a much more calm pace as he congratulated Hilda and her Pokemon on their victory as well, making them all smile at him

Going back to the Pokemon centre to celebrate Cheren and Hilda getting their badges, they weren't the only ones with business as the two grunts Hilda and Bianca had met were on their way to meet with their King. "Cannot believe we failed on our mission If it wasn't for that stupid girl and her Oshawott. I wish I had managed to kick that stupid Pokemon." The man said. "What did you say?" A low voice asked from behind them

They stiffened up as they turned to see N. "N-nothing, my liege. I was only kidding!" The grunt hastily replied, but N just narrowed his eyes. "What happened in the Dreamyard?" He asked and they told him. "We just wanted to get you dream mist." The female grunt tried to explain, but he told them to leave. Once they were gone, he rubbed his face as his thoughts once again went to Hilda as there was no doubt it had been her

"You really are something else, aren't you?" He asked, before deciding it was time to go to the next city and walking away

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise 

With their business in Stration city done, they went on

Bianca had caught an actual Munna in the Dreamyard and was in the seventh heaven. There was a man at the very beginning of the next route who checked if they had their badges and with Bianca being accompanied by two who did, they were allowed to travel further. The first thing on the route that they came across after a few days was a daycare centre and the children there immediately loved their starter Pokemon

The three friends decided to stay for a little bit at the request of the teacher, but his turned put to be a disaster. "A bit too tight!" Ilayda squealed as the children hugged her a bit too tight and Hilda quickly saved her Pokemon from them."Easy there, guys. Please don't smother my Ookemon to death." She told them as she held her Pokemon up in the air and out of their reach, before hearing Balor screaming in pain

Some other children pulled on his tail and didn't let go until she recalled him into his pokeball where he was safe. "Awww." The children whined at seeing their playmate disappear into his pokeball. "You were hurting my Pokemon. He is not a toy you can pull." Hilda scolded them and they lowered their heads. They eventually left the place again after the kids had apologised to the Purrloin for their actions at Hilda's urging. There was also a Pokemon daycare nearby where they briefly went to make sure their pokemon were okay after the rather overexcited children 

Balor's tail was still hurting a bit, but a simple potion was enough to remedy that. With them having spent much of the afternoon with the children in the daycare and with the Pokemon daycare also functioning as an inn for trainers, they decided to stay the night there and helped the rather frazzled looking owner of the daycare looking after the Lokemon for the evening at Bianca's urging at seeing how tired she looked

"Thank you. Thank you so much." The elder and  thankful owner stated once all the Pokemon were taking care of for the night and the three friends had helped her during the morning as well at seeing it was still busy. "Oh, it was nothing. You looked really tired." Bianca said with a smile as Hilda gave a Togepi its bottle of milk. "I still want to thank you for your help though. Oh! I know! Wait here." The owner said, before walking away

The three friends shared confused looks. "I wonder what she has." Ilayda commented, before the owner returned with a tray holding three filled egg containers. "We've had some trainers come by whose Pokemon had eggs during their absence, but refused to take them with them. I was hoping you could take them with you instead. I feel like they'll be taken care of with you and I don't think I can take care of three more pokemon." She explained and the three of them looked down at the eggs. "Poor things." Bianca commented in sympathy

Hilda kneeled down next to her Pokemon first. "What do you think? Should we get a new teammate?" She asked and all her Pokemon cheered in answer, making her smile as she stood up and allowed Bianca to choose first. "This was all your idea. You should be the one to choose your egg first." She stated, Cheren nodding in agreement as Bianca gave them a beaming smile with tears in her eyes as she hugged them

"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." She breathed over and over and over again and they chuckled as they hugged her back, before gently nudging their friend to go and pick out her egg. She chose a brown and cream coloured egg and held its container close to her chest with a smile. Hilda then told Cheren to choose second as she had been first to choose her starter and he chose a white egg with blue spots 

He immediately inspected the egg as he wondered what was inside it. Hilda then walked to the last remaining egg, which was a light and dark green colour as she carefully picked the container up and quickly kneeled down to show it to her other Pokemon, who immediately crowded around it to see it better. What do you think is in it?" She asked. "Maybe a Petlilli? You don't have a grass type yet." Ilayda mentioned. "I think such an egg would be smaller. It's quite a big one." Balor replied as he inspected the egg inside. 

"Well, whatever it is, I'm sure it will be an amazing teammate." Sylvaine immediately stated and the others agreed with her. "Do you actually want to know what Pokemon are inside?" The daycare owner asked. "No thanks, ma'am. I think I rather prefer it to be a surprise." Hilda replied, her friends both agreeing and the owner nodded. "Well, thank you for helping me so much and I wish you luck on your journey." She said

They happily thanked her, before they finally left the Pokemon daycare and continued on with their new eggs. "I cannot wait to find out what are in our eggs! I bet they'll be best friends with the others once they hatch." Bianca said with a happy smile as she hugged her container close to her chest. "I think so too and if there's anything wrong, I can immediately find out what it is and tell you" Hilda told them and the friends all laughed

A few days later, as they made camp for the next night, Cheren challenged Hilda for a battle as they both had the trio badge. Bianca watched the eggs while they fought each other. "Ilayda, use water gun!" Hilda ordered as they fought her friend's own Purrloin after Sylvaine had beaten his Snivy before. "On iiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttt." Ilayda cried as she started to both glow and grow. "Oh my Arceus! She's evolving already?!" Bianca gasped. "It seems that way." Cheren commented with a grin as his friend's Oshawott became a Dewott

With this evolution and Ilayda learning the move razor shell as well, the battle was quickly decided. "We did it!" Hilda cheered, before hugging her evolved Pokemon, the others quickly running towards them to celebrate the evolution and victory with them. "You're bigger than me now!" Balor exclaimed and they all laughed, before they heard a cry for help. Grabbing their things, they ran towards the sound.

They saw two Team Plasma grunts running away from a little girl. After asking what happened, they learned that the grunts had stolen her Pokemon. "Bianca, stay with the girl and our eggs. We'll go after them." Cheren ordered and Bianca nodded as Hilda and Cheren put their containers down and ran after the grunts. They found them hiding in a nearby cave and immediately demanded they returned the Pokemon 

The grunts immediately scoffed as of their demand was completely ridiculous. "Those Pokemon deserved to be released from their imprisonment and once we beat you, we will release your Pokemon from you as well." One of the grunts stated with a grin, before they initiated a double battle. Fighting side-by-side and having managed to heal up their teams, Cheren and Hilda managed to beat them and demanded the Pokemon returned again. With their teams defeated, the grunts reluctantly obeyed, before fleeing out of the cave.

"Bastards. Taking a little girl's Pokemon from her like that." Hilda growled to her friend in utter disgust and he agreed as they immediately returned to where they had left Bianca with said girl and their eggs. The sweet girl was overjoyed to have her Pokemon, a Hapiny, back with her and hearing the Pokemon talk about how it had been terrified it would never see its trainer again, Hilda knew that the feeling was mutual

"Keep taking good care of your partner, okay?" She asked gently and the girl nodded as she held onto her Pokemon and thanked them again, before returning home. "Be careful out there! You never know when these Plaza guys might show up again! Bianca called. "It's Plasma, Bianca." Cheren corrected her. "Eh, who cares?" Bianca shrugged before they returned to where they had been about to sent up their camp

Travelling to Nacrene city for Hilda and Cheren to get their second badge took at least another week, during which Bianca caught an Audino named Sophie and all three friends also caught a Pidove so that they could fly once the tiny bird Pokemon had grown big enough to carry them. Hilda would love to fly home and surprise her mother once it was possible. Thinking of her made her feel rather melancholy and it wasn't long before her friends noticed. "Are you okay?" Bianca asked in concern as even Cheren frowned and she sighed

"I'm just worried about mom. That's all. Now that I'm on my Pokemon journey, she's all alone and sure, she has Professor Juniper and your parents, but at the end of the day, she still has to return home to an empty house, set a table for one where there once were three and sleep in a cold and empty bed without having to expect me to crawl next to her in the middle of the night." She explained and both her friends sagged

"Never thought of that." Bianca confessed, again reminded that she had something Hilda didn't: both parents." Hilda's Pokemon went to comfort her. She smiled as she hugged them back. Her friends did their best to cheer her up during the last leg of the journey until their destination was in sight: Nacrene city. "Last one there is a heavy snorlax!" Bianca called as she ran ahead. "Hey! Wait up!" Hilda shouted as they ran after her

Little did Hilda know that she'd meet a rather familiar face in that city. 

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise 

Nacrene city was a city of artists and warehouses

The trio had fun exploring after healing up their Pokemon and getting a good night's rest. The three of them got their picture drawn with their pokemon for 200 dollars each and sent it home by pidove so their parents could see how much they were growing during their journey. Hilda's mother immediately loved it and happily called her daughter that evening to thank her, Hilda's Pokemon greeting her over the screen

Nacrene city was also the home of the next gym, but Hilda wanted to explore and train before she went to challenge it, telling Cheren to go when he wondered if he should go before her as she wanted to see everything that there was to be seen. There was a square with a special playground for Pokemon on it and Hilda's own Pokemon quickly went to play with their trainer's permission, soon finding many playmates.

Hilda watched them from a distance together with the other trainers of the Pokemon that were at the playground andchuckled at the sight of her Pokemon playing as Ilayda and Balor went down the slide with cheers and their little arms and paws in the air, before quickly being joined by Bianca's Pokemon as the blonde girl came back from some shopping for the road up ahead and simply for fun. "That's adorable!" Bianca squealed as Sylvaine shared a swing with another pokemon, an evolved Aidan pushing it as they squealed every time the swing went forwards.

Hilda eventually pulled out a camera she had bought at a local shop a few hours before as she wanted to always remember this journey and snapped some pictures of her Pokemon having so much fun with each other and the new friends they made. She then quickly made one of her and Bianca as they pulled funny faces. Laughing at the picture, they suddenly heard a street band starting up some lively music.

Knowing that their Pokemon could take care of themselves by now and that they themselves would be very nearby if anything happened while they were playing around, Hilda quickly pulled Bianca's in a little dance like she did when they were little and had little parties whenever they stayed over. She was pretty sure both their parents still had footage of those little dances hidden away somewhere in their home

She and Bianca giggled as some other people that had been watching at first, slowly started dance as well, it becoming a happy chaos as the minutes passed, especially when the Pokemon started to notice what their trainers were doing and wanted to join in as they jumped around their trainers and let out cries as those Pokemon who could clapped their hands on the music. Bianca eventually went to check on her Pokemon and go back to the Pokemon centre and Hilda danced on, only to trip over a Lillipup running past and starting to fall with a yelp 

However, two strong arms managed to catch her before she hit the ground. Looking up at her saviour, she was quite surprised to see N smiling at her. "We meet again." He stated. "N! What a surprise! I didn't think I'd see you here." She exclaimed as she straightened herself up again and let go of her instinctive grip on him from when he caught her, her face very red as she realised how close they were to each other

"Indeed. I must say that I'm happy to see you again though. How are your Pokemon?" He asked as he let her go as well, seeing that she was a bit uncomfortable. "On, they're good. I haven't heard a single, solitary complaint from them. They're over there playing at the playground right now." Hilda replied as she pointed at the playground, wincing after that as she remembered Balor had briefly been N's Pokemon 

While Balor had made his opinion about the matter very clear, there was no telling what N would say at seeing his former Pokemon now belonging to her. "I hope you don't mind if I want to see how they're doing." N said, thankfully not noticing her wincing. "Uhm, sure." She replied as the band started playing a different song. She then led him to the playground and whistled to call her pokemon. They all quickly came bounding towards her, still full of energy despite having played this whole time and she smiled as she's and N kneeled down.

"Hey guys. Ilayda, you remember N, right?" She asked as her starter had been the only Pokemon in her team last time they had met him, glancing at Balor and noticing him staying a bit behind at noticing his former trainer. "Sure do. Good to see you again!" Ilayda cheered as she waved at N, having noticed her trainer's glance and coming to the same conclusion about Balor, so she quickly distracted the young man

N immediately smiled and waved back at the Dewott. "Good to see you too, Ilayda. I see you have evolved Has Hilda taken good care of you?" He asked. "Oh, yes! She has been totally awesome and does her absolute best to take care of us. Just the other day....." Ilayda gushed, starting to talk about her trainer looked after her and her teammates as said trainer turned red and his her face behind her hand at the praise

N couldn't help but look at her in slight awe, but also a bit of confusion as well. He could sense that Ilayda was being genuine in her tales and in her admiration for her trainer, but that just went against everything he had learned in the past. He wanted to liberate Pokemon from their abusers, but he hadn't seen many trainers hurt their Pokemon apart from battling. He then looked at Hilda's other Pokemon as he wondered how she'd treated them. "Oh and these are Sylvaine, Balor and Apollo." Illayda then introduced the other Pokemon and they greeted him

"Nice to meet you all. Balor, was it? How does she treat you?" N asked him gently. "Well, she promised not to release me if I don't want to be released, so that's good." Balor quickly snarked in answer and Hilda could see the moment the young man realised this was the same Pokemon he let go as his ever-present smile fell from his face and he looked at her. "You caught my former Pokemon?" He asked, shock in his voice

"I asked if he wanted to join my team after coming across him in route 2 and he accepted, okay? Don't look at me like that." She defended herself at the hurt look in his eyes "It's true. I didn't feel at home back in the forest as all the other Purrloins thought I was weak. When you caught me, I thought I could get stronger, but you released me again even though I was already happier than before." Balor hurried to defend his trainer too. 

"I now have a much better family than I ever could have back there and I'm seeing much more as well. Before Hilda caught me, I never thought I'd see route 3, let alone this city and whatever is beyond this." He continued and N pinched the bridge of his nose. This was all so conflicting and confusing. He had always learned that Pokemon were unhappy with them being used by their trainers, but here ace this girl whose Pokemon spoke nothing but praise about and who had caught the Purrloin he had released for his own good and who was actually happier now

Seeing the look in his eyes, Hilda gently grabbed his free hand and led him to a nearby cafe with her Pokemon immediately following her, concerned about the man as well. "You okay? Take deep breaths." She encouraged as they sat down at an empty table. She had no idea what happened to make him look like he was in pain at just hearing that her Pokemon were happy with her, but it probably wasn't anything good

She tried to let go, but at feeling her pull back, he instinctively tightened his grip. For some reason, he didn't want her to let go. She stopped pulling and simply waited for him to calm down, flagging down a waiter with her free hand and ordering two glasses of water. "Back with me?" She asked once his breathing and face relaxed and he nodded. "What happened to make you look like you were in pain?" She asked

"I don't want to talk about it." Was all he said and she immediately accepted it as she knew everyone had their own past baggage. This was still only the second time they met after all and she wouldn't want to talk about things like what happened to her dad either if it was the same level of personal. She finally pulled back and simply watched him silently as she also ordered some snacks for the Pokemon as well. "Do you have new Pokemon now?" She asked as the snacks arrived and her Pokemon immediately dug in. He nodded and got them out

Hilda's Pokemon immediately made some room to let the Pidove, Tympole and Timburr eat with them and they happily made conversation between them, the two humans watching them from the table probably the only people in the world who could understand them. "Are you going to release these as well once you continue on?" Hilda asked quietly. "Depends. Are you going to catch them again?" He asked in return

She let out a snort. "I deserved that and no. I'm not going to catch every Pokemon you let go. I just don't really get why you do it like that. Don't you get lonely when you have released your Pokemon? I know Ilayda's chattering can keep me awake at night, but I honestly wouldn't know what to do without it." Hilda said, earning her a look from said pokemon. "Relax." She muttered and N smiled at the little interaction 

"I have friends I travel with, so I'm not alone even when I release them." He told her. "Fair enough, but don't you have a confidant? You can pretty much tell a Pokemon anything and unless they're someone like you and me, other people won't understand what they're saying. Team Plasma may think that trainers see Pokemon as tools but to me, they're just as lucky as my friends as Bianca and Cheren are." She replied as her Pidove Apollo landed on her shoulder and started to preen her hair, her stroking his chest feathers at the same time

N watched her with a smile as he saw that she meant it and that she did truly care about her Pokemon, only to let it fall at hearing her mention team Plasma with a pretty big amount of venom in her voice. If only she knew who he really was. Would she still want to see him? "You've met team Plasma again?" He asked. "Oh, I certainly did. Let me tell you what happened in the previous city." She muttered, before going to tell him

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise 

"Want to have another battle?" 

Hilda almost spat out her drink I'm surprise at hearing that unexpected question coming from her odd companion once she was done with her rant about Team Plasma. N had watched her the entire time, seeing that she was really passionate about this, but a bit hurt about the venom she had when taking about his people, before panicked as she coughed loudly. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you." He immediately apologised.

"It's fine. It's fine. I was just surprised. That's all." She quickly reassured him once she had calmed down as she gave him a tiny smile which he returned . She really was a mystery to him"Why do you want to battle?" She then asked. "I... want to see things no one can see. The truth of Pokemon inside their Pokeballs. The ideals of how Trainers should be. And a future where Pokémon have become perfect... Do you feel the same?" He asked her.

"Um, sure." She answered, not exactly sure how to answer that. N beamed at her nonetheless as he paid for their drinks and food. They then went to a different spot where they could have a battle with their Pokemon following. "I just think my friends and I have to test if you really see that future." He said as his three Pokemon let out cries. "Alright, but don't be surprised when my friends and I will fight with everything we've got." She replied in a determined tone. He chuckled as he got ready. "I wouldn't have it any other way." He replied as he sent out Pidove first

They had a pretty fun battle in the next few minutes, but Hilda eventually won as she didn't just have more Pokemon than he did, she had a few type advantages as well. "Are your Pokemon okay?" She asked in concern as she quickly walked forwards and looked them over after recalling Sylvaine. "We'll be fine. Just need a bit of rest." His Pidove answered as it panted from when Ilayda had hit it with a powerful razor shell

"If you release them now without going to the Pokemon centre first, I'll send a razor shell your way next." Hilda hissed to N, making sure the man's Pokemon didn't hear her talking about their trainer releasing them and he faces her a sheepish grin. "I wouldn't dare, Hilda. I promise you that." He assured her as he recalled his Pokemon as well. They walked to the Pokemon centre while talking about different things, laughing along the way

"Oh, hey N! I didn't know you were here." Bianca greeted him as she saw him and Hilda enter the building and he smiled at her. "I didn't expect to run into you here either. I expected you'd be much further along." He replied and Hilda gave him a grin. "Well, we always take a few days to explore the city first, then beat the gym if it has one and then, we continue onwards so it always takes us a bit to go on depending on how big the city is. The next one will probably take a week at the very least." She explained as she rubbed the back of her head

He chuckled at her words as they gave their Pokemon to nurse Joy to be healed and they sat down next to Bianca. "Are you going to release these Pokemon as well?" Bianca asked and he gave beter a rueful smile. "You're the second person to ask that to me today." He commented, Hilda giving them both a sheepish grin to confirm it was her. "It's for the best, though. They'll be much happier when they're out in the open world." He continued 

"Balor might quickly disagree on that one." Hilda couldn't help but say to him and N sighed as Bianca went to get her own Pokemon at hearing they were healed. "Some Pokemon might disagree, but I'm thinking of the sake of Pokemon in general. Right now, my friends aren't strong enough to save all Pokémon. Maybe I can't solve the equation that will change the world." He said, before looking up at the ceiling with a determined look.

"Now, I know what power I need. Zekrom, the legendary Pokemon that, along with the hero, created the Unova region. It's my turn to become that hero and them. you and I will be friends." He continued af he looked at Hilda and she frowned. "I thought we already were friends. Or acquaintances at least." She said and he looked at her in surprise, before giving her a smile. "Perhaps, but I hope that one day. You and I can be true friends." He replied. "Maybe if you travelled with us, that day would come much sooner." Hilda snarked, before covering her mouth in surprise

"Where on earth had that freaking line come from? Seeing the look on her face after being just as surprised by the offer as her, N let out a small laugh. "I'm incredibly touched, but I think it's best if I travel ahead. Although, I'm sure that I will run into you and your two friends again one day soon." He assured her and she smiled even as her face was still red from embarrassment, but she at least pulled her hand away from her mouth. 

They talked to each other for about another hour or so with Bianca joining them until they heard that their Pokemon were finally healed and went to get them back. By this point, it was almost dinner time and starting to get dark. Cheren joined them and talked about his gym battle and how the Watchog was very hard to beat. "Make sure your Pokemon are strong enough, Hilda. You're going to need it." He advised her and she nodded 

They then invited N to stay for dinner and after a bit of hesitation, he accepted. He had never really been part of a group before and even though he had only met the extraordinary trio twice now, not counting the time he had seen Hilda from a distance back in the previous city he was easily included in their conversation as if they had known him for much longer. He honest liked the feeling it gave him as Hilda sat next to him at the table with Bianca and Cheren sitting opposite them. As Hilda laughed at a joke Bianca told her, N glanced at her.

She really was something else to him. Something was truly different about her compared to other people and that intrigued him. The way she had commented about how she might see him as a friend either now or perhaps soon had really surprised him, but had touched him as well. He knew that he had rather surprised her last time by suddenly revealing he could talk to pokemon, but it seemed that she had forgiven him for that

By the time they were done, it was already dark and curfew was about to start. Hilda stood up and stretched herself. "I think I'm gonna do an early night. Have to be well-rested if I want to beat the gym." She stated with a smile, before looking at N. "If you're gone by tomorrow, then I hope to see you in the next city." She said and he gave her a smile. "I hope to see you soon." He replied as he grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles

Her face as red as Sylvaine's fur, she nodded and quickly retreated to her room with her Pokemon, leaning back against the door once she had closed it behind her and her team. "Oh, Arceus." She breathed as she put a hand over her fast-beating heart. "You like him, don't you?" Ilayda asked with a teasing grin as she saw her trainer's red face. "Oh, shut up. I barely know him." She hissed back and her entire team laughed. "Let's face it, Hilda. You like him and he likes you. I saw his face during dinner. You intrigue him." Balor agreed as he licked his paw

"Why on earth would I intrigue him? I'm just me." She immediately protested to them as she walked through them, sat down on her bed and started to change her clothing. "You're also perhaps the only other person alive apart from him who can talk to us and care about Pokemon even if they're not your own or even your competitor's He's interested in you and it just might turn into something unique." Balor told her and she groaned.

"We met twice. Can we have a friendship first?" She asked and her Pokemon quickly agreed as she went to bed. Lying in bed with her pokemon around, Hilda let out a deep breath as Balor's words kept repeating themselves in her head. It was nice to have someone who could talk to Pokemon too, but the way he talked about his dream and how they would be friends creeped her out. She let out another breath and closed her eyes

"Who are you, N?" She asked, before falling asleep

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise 

The next day, Hilda was ready

Entering the museum and first getting a tour of it from someone who turned out to be the gym leader's husband, Hilda and her friends were sent on to the library in the back of the building once they made it clear that she wanted to challenge the gym. It turned out that thrust had to find four different books to get to the gym and all four of those books were spread out through the library. "I bet you had no trouble with this," Hilda teased Cheren and he chuckled in answer

Finding the first three books and fighting a couple of gym trainers, Hilda was looking for the last one while muttering its title underneath her breath the entire time. "I do believe it's this one." She then heard a familiar voice say from behind her and turned around to see N pulling out a book. A click was heard and the bookcase started to move sideways to show a staircase. "N, what are you doing here? I thought you already left town." She said in surprise 

"Well, you were so incredibly excited for your gym battle yesterday that I could not help but get curious for it as well." He explained as Bianca and Cheren joined as well. Hikda couldn't help but smile at this. The four of them then went down and finally found the arena of the gym. A woman was waiting for them and asked which one of them wanted to battle her and Hilda stepped forwards in answer. "Very well." The woman named Lenora stated as she got ready and N, Cheren and Bianca quickly went to sit in the stands at the side to watch it

Lenora's first Pokemon was a Herdier and Hilda sent out Ilayda in answer. "What exactly is so fun about these battles?" N asked as he watched the fight between the two begin. "They're a really good way to see how much your Pokemon have grown during your journey. If they can beat the gym leader, then it means you've grown as a trainer as well." Cheren explained to him, thinking that the other man had to have been really sheltered if he didn't know that

"Yeah and if you don't take good care of your Pokemon, then you will never be able to beat the gym and your Pokemon might disobey you because you don't care about them, so why should they?." Bianca agreed as Ilayda eventually managed to beat the Herdier and Lenora sent out Watchog. This Pokemon was quite annoying to beat as it immediately used the move retaliate and Ilayda, who was already tired from the previous battle, fainted because of it

"You did well, Ilayda. Go and rest now." Hilda said gently as she recalled her Pokemon and sent out Sylvaine instead. N saw that she tried to make sure her Pokemon didn't suffer much injury and tried to use potions to heal them as well. Hilda eventually won thanks to her Pansear managing to put a burn on the Watchog with the move ember and it slowly wore it down until it finally fainted. "We did it!" Hilda cheered as Sylvaine jumped into her arms while cheering as well and she immediately hugged her with a laugh. 

N, Cheren and Bianca smiled at seeing how happy she was as Lenora congratulated her and gave her the second gym badge. "Congratulations, my friend. You have grown quite a bit if you managed to beat her." N said as he and the others walked towards her. "Thank you, N. And I'm not done growing by a long shot." Hilda said with a smile. "I'm afraid that I really have to go now. My friends will be waiting for me." He saidvand the others nodded, before he left

"Rather peculiar, isn't he?" Lenora asked with a tiny frown on her face as she watched him go. "A bit yes, but he is actually really nice when you get to know him." Bianca replied and Hilda couldn't help but smile. They talked for a few more minutes as the trio told the gym leader what they were planning to do next, before Lenora's husband ran in, stating that Team Plasma was in the museum and they immediately rushed out to see what they were doing here

It turned out they were there for the skull of a very old dragon fossil, using a smokescreen to get it and disappear again before the others could do anything. "I swear, will thrust ever not be douchebags?" Hilda asked with a growl as they ran out. A man walked up to them and greeted Lenora. It turned out he was the gym leader of the next city Castelia named Burgh. Lenora then ordered Bianca and Cheren to guard the gym in case they came back while Burgh and Hilda would check out Pinwheel forest up ahead and she would inspect route 3

She did heal up both her own and Hilda's Pokemon first, so they wouldn't have to go to the Pokemon centre first and waste time having to wait. "Be careful, Hilda. You don't know what these Plasma guys are planning." Cheren warned her and she nodded as she and Burgh quickly ran towards the forest. After splitting up having to battle a couple of twins, Hilda eventually found a Team Plasma member who sent out a Sandile which a ground type Pokemon.

With a bit of satisfaction, Hilda sent out Ilayda who had the type advantage over his Pokemon. The look on his face when he realised it brought her a lot of joy. Because of her Pokemon, the battle was over quickly and the Team Plasma member fled further into the forest after telling her that he actually didn't have the skull with him and Hilda immediately ran after him with her Pokemon. Fighting of several other members, she finally found the one who did have it

After beating his Patrat and Sandile, he finally gave her the skull right as an older man named Gorm joined them and asked the "fellow subject of their King" how things were going. Hilda scoffed when the man accused her of stealing the skull. "You stole it first! This belongs in a museum, not in your hands." She spat, Ilayda agreeing with her as she growled at the guy calling her trainer a thief. Gorm said the skull didn't matter as it apparently wasn't what they were looking for. When he threatened Hilda to stay out of their way, Burgh and Lenora arrived

Gorm stated that Ghetsis would liberate all Pokemon, before retreating with the Team Plasma members. Now the danger was over, Burgh returned to Castelia City after telling Hilda that he'd be waiting for her challenge. Once he was gone, Hilda immediately gave the skull back to Lenora now that they were gone and they returned to the museum to put it back where it belonged. "There we go. All back in its place." Bianca cheered once the fossil was back to normal 

Hilda smiled as well at seeing that her hard work had payed off, before frowning slightly. She heard something...a very soft voice...almost inaudible. "Who are you?" The voice asked in a whisper and she looked around, but didn't see anything or anyone as the museum had been closed after the theft. The voice kinda disappeared again, but Hilda wanted to know who it was. She walked through the museum again and stopped in front of a round, white stone on display.

It actually seemed rather abandoned compared to some of the other exhibits in the museum as it only had some robes in front of it to stop people from getting too close to it and that was all. "Sir, what's this?" She asked the curator and he quickly joined her "Oh, it's just an old stone we found in the desert. It's honestly not that interesting apart from its age, but it's pretty to look at." He explained, before going to check on the fossil again. "Hilda? What is it?" Ilayda asked in concern. "I'm not sure." She muttered as she found herself unconsciously reaching out to it

The stone flashed a very bright red for just a moment when her hand almost touched and she quickly pulled her arm back with a small gasp "You saw that too, right?" She asked and her Pokemon immediately confirmed it as they both stared at it in shock. Despite what the man thought about it, this was no ordinary stone at all. But what was it really? Hilda almost thought that she had felt a warm wave of air going over her during the flash, before dismissing it

Hearing her friends calling for her from all the way at the front as it was time for them to return to the Pokemon centre for the night now that everything was completely okay again, she and Ilayda gave the stone one final look, before walking away to join them and they left the museum. She silently decided not to tell anyone about the brief flash just yet as she had the feeling they wouldn't believe her or ask if she could do it again and nothing would happen 

Still, both the bright red flash coming from the stone as if it sensed her presence and the voice she had heard kept haunting her for the rest of the day as she wondered who that voice belonged to. It hadn't sounded like a human voice so perhaps a Pokemon then? She managed to keep her friends from suspecting anything was out of the ordinary, but she did to to bed early, stating that she was very tired after having to chase after Team Plasma and they immediately understood as they bid her goodnight and she went to her room

"I heard something back at the museum, Ilayda. I heard a voice asking me who I was, but I didn't see anyone. Do you think it could be that stone?" She asked her Pokemon quietly once in her room. "How can a stone ask you something?" Ilayda asked in confusion. "I have no idea. Maybe, there's a Pokemon inside." She guessed and Ilayda hadn't thought of that. "I don't know. Maybe I was just imagining things because of exhaustion." She muttered 

"Hey, I saw the flash too and I still have energy." Ilayda protested and Hilda chuckled as she petted her Pokemon on her head with a smile on her face. "I'm sure you do, but let's go to sleep anyway. We have to travel again tomorrow" She said and her Pokemon agreed as Hilda recalled her now that she was a bit too big to fit in her bed anymore. Climbing into the bed, Hilda thought of the mystery of N and the one of the stone. This journey sure wasn't ordinary 

"I wonder what will come after this." She muttered, before she fell asleep

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise 

The next day, they finally left Nacrene city behind

It had been a lot of fun to explore when first arriving there, but they had seen everything that it had to offer as well as battled all the trainers that were there and it was time to move on so they could go to Castelia City. Hilda still hadn't told anyone about the quiet and strange voice she had heard or the bright red flash she and Ilayda had briefly seen, but she resolved herself to go back someday once her Pokemon were strong enough to fly her there

Even though there was a road that cut right through the forest to the north, they decided to explore the forest first and now that she didn't have to chase after Team Plasma grunts, Hilda could really enjoy the nature around her. The foliage was very thick so there wasn't much sunlight and the Pokemon living there had clearly adapted to that as she caught a Venipede while Bianca caught a Petilil and several of their pokemon evolved in the days they spent there

However, the most exciting thing was when Bianca's egg hatched and it turned out to be an Eevee. Bianca was overjoyed. immediately cuddling her new Pokemon. "You're so cute!" She squealed. "Nice to meet you too." Eevee replied, slightly startled by the enthusiastic way it was greeted right after hatching and Hilda chuckled. "Bianca, let your Pokemon breathe for a moment, will you? It literally just hatched." She told her friend and the girl immediately put the Eevee back down as she apologised. "Hello, I'm Bianca. I'm your new trainer." She greeted it with a smile. 

"Awesome!" The Pokemon cheered in happiness now that it wasn't squeezed to death anymore. Hilda then quickly used her Pokedex to find out that the Eevee was a male and Bianca immediately called him Alaric, carrying him in her arms from that moment on. Aidan had evolved into Pignite by this point, so he was a bit too heavy for her to carry him now. Hilda joked that once he had evolved into Emboar, he could carry her instead and they had laughed about that.

Once the other Pokemon had all welcomed the Eevee to the family, they decided it was time to go to Castelia City so that Hilda and Cheren could challenge Burgh for their third badge. It did still take a few days as they were pretty deep into the forest and had to go all the way back to reach the road that crossed the forest, but both Hilda and Cheren used this to train Sylvaine and Tranquills as they would be their biggest assets against the bug type gym

Finding the road and quickly using it to find the exit of the forest, they took a small second to enjoy the sun again.... only to immediately jump in surprise as a truck rode past very nearby. Apparently, Pinwheel forest was right next a very busy road, but they had managed to make it so that it didn't create much nuisance for the people walking through the forest as well as the Pokemon living in it. Climbing a set of stairs, they then crossed the biggest bridge any of them had ever seen in their lives, with pillars rising high in the sky and trucks riding underneath them. 

Whoah!" Ilayda breathed from where she walked next to her trainer and Hilda immediately nodded as she petted her partner's head as she looked around. "We sure are very far from our hometown now." She said and everyone agreed with that as they looked around. About halfway over the bridge, they stopped and turned to look out over the ocean. Their town was rather near the ocean as well, but nothing like this. Hilda closed her eyes and spread her arms

"This is nice." She commented as Bianca and Ilayda imitated her and enjoyed the breeze as well, Alaric now travelling on top of Bianca's head. "It sure is." The other woman agreed as Cheren watched them with a smile. "I've never seen so much water before and the smell is really nice." Alaric commented as he closed his eye es as well and Hilda snorted. "You literally just hatched. Of course, you haven't seen something like this in your life." She laughed

Her human friends immediately laughed as well at hearing what Alaric had said about seeing the ocean for the very first time, before they continued on to make it to the city before it became dark and they missed curfew. Seeing the skyline in the distance after at least half an hour of walking with many trucks still riding underneath them, they stopped once more as they really saw how big it was compared to the towns and cities they had been to before now. "Well, here goes nothing." Hilda muttered as she started to walk again and the others followed.

"We're going to need at least two weeks to just explore this city." Bianca commented and they laughed as they agreed. Entering the city, they were in luck as the red roof of the Pokemon centre stuck out like a sore thumb amidst all the grey skyscrapers. "I don't like it. It's all grey and stone." Ilayda muttered as she stayed close by her trainer's side and Hilda petted her head. "I know, sweetie. It's very different from the places we've been through." She said

Seeing the confused looks from her friends, she explained that Ilayda didn't like how the city was all buildings and roads, barely any green to be found anywhere. "I'm sure they have a nice park somewhere like the playground in Nacrene City." Bianca said as she petted Ilayda's head as well. "I hope so." Ilayda replied with a sigh and Hilda translated it for her friends as they entered the Pokemon centre for the night, utterly exhausted after a full day walking.

"At least, this is still the same as everywhere." Cheren commented and they all agreed as they booked a room and went to put their stuff in it. Going back downstairs, Cheren and Hilda both checked on their eggs. "What do you think we'll get?" Hilda asked. "I have no idea. I am hoping for some kind of steel or fighting type Pokemon." Cheren replied. "There were Timburr living right outside Nacrene city." Bianca commented with a frown as she wondered why he hadn't caught one back then. "Yes, I know, but I never really liked those." Cheren said

"Fair enough." Hilda muttered. "What type of Pokemon do you wish your egg to be, Hilda?" Ilayda asked and Hilda thought for a minute. "I'd freaking love to have a dragon Pokemon or something like that." She stated. "Awesome." Bianca commented and they all laughed, before they relaxed. Hilda saw a map of the city hanging on the wall and went to check it out. "Ilayda, come here for a minute." She called a few minutes later and her Dewott hurried to her

"Look right over here. A very big park right in the middle of the city. There's still green to be found here." She told her Pokemon as she pointed at a green part of the map and Ilayda cheered. "Can we go there tomorrow?" She asked. "Of course. We just need to find where the gym is first on the map. We're right here, so where is..." Hilda muttered as she first pointed at the dot for the Pokemon centre, before looking over the map again to try and find the gym. 

"There!" Ilayda suddenly exclaimed from where she was looking alongside her trainer as she put her little paw on a gym symbol that was at the other side of the city. "Good job." Hilda immediately praised her Pokemon and her Dewott beamed at her before returning to the others. "Okay, guys. God news, we found out there's a very big park in the middle of the city as well as where the gym is." Hilda told her friends. "Is there also bad news?" Cheren asked. "A bit. The gym is at the other side of the city." Hilda mentioned with a small wince and a tilt of her head

"Okay, so we should probably first explore the area of the city nearest the Pokemon centre before we either constantly have to walk back-and-forth between two sides of this enormous city or we get completely lost in this maze of streets. Maybe we can find paper maps lying around here somewhere that we can take with us" Cheren hummed in thought and the girls immediately agreed with that idea as neither of them wanted to get lost in this huge city. 

They went to bed early and Hilda first opened her window for a bit of fresh air, before immediately closing it again at hearing the sounds of cars and other things outside. "Okay, this really is different than before." She muttered as she went to change. Yes, there had been noise in the previous cities but not as bad as here and for someone who was used to a quiet town and waking up to pidoves chirping outside her window, this was quite a change 

Looking at her egg container on her bedside table, she sighed as she picked it up and looked at it, a small droplet of water falling on the glass soon after. "Hilda? Are you okay?" Ilayda asked in concern as she sat down at her trainer's feet. "I'm fine, Ilayda. It's just... when I was a girl, I already wanted to hatch a Pokemon egg. Not to train the Pokemon within it, but simply to play with whenever Cheren or Bianca were busy with other things. My father told me that he'd be there to see my very first egg hatch, but he won't." Hilda muttered as she wiped the tear away

Ilayda immediately leaned against her trainer's legs to try and comfort her to the best of her abilities and Hilda petted her head. "Not a day goes by where I don't miss him, Ilayda. I just wish that he was here with me. Do you think he'd be proud of me?" She asked as she carefully put the container back on the bedside table. He was your dad. Of course, he would be incredibly proud of you." Ilayda immediately stated with a determined nod and her trainer smiled. 

"Besides, you've got your mother, Cheren, Bianca, all of us and their Pokemon and maybe even N." Ilayda then continued and Hilda scoffed. "When he stops being so freaking odd." She muttered. "I like him and how many other people can understand us?" Her Pokemon asked. "None as far as I know." Hilda said. "So, maybe it was meant to be." Ilayda teased. "Oh, shut up." Hilda muttered as she recalled her laughing Pokemon into her pokeball and went to bed

She was out like a light within a few minutes 

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise 

The next day.

"Come on, Hilda! Wakey, wakey! Time to explore the big city" Ilayda shouted the next morning as she let herself out of her Pokeball, making her trainer almost fall out of her bed as her Dewott startled her. "Sweet Arceus! Was that really necessary?" She asked as she groaned. "I could've used a water gun in your face, but I didn't want the people of the Pokemon centre to have to clean up wet sheets." Her starter replied with a grin

Glaring at her way-too-chipper Pokemon at this time of day after such a long journey, Hilda groaned again as she put her pillow over her head. "It's still early, Ilayda. Let me sleep for a bit more." She muttered, her voice muffled underneath it. "Oh, come on. I want to see the park." Ilayda whined as she pulled on Hilda's nightclothes. "We'll be here for quite a while. Have you seen how big it is? We have time enough." Her trainer sighed

Pulling the pillow up a bit at feeling Ilayda continued shakes and seeing the Lillipup eyes her Pokemon was giving her, she sighed and sat up, groaning again as she stretched herself. "Alright. I'm up, but you're letting me sleep in tomorrow." She stated with a very put-upon sigh and her pokemon immediately agreed as she jumped up and down in excitement while her trainer stood up from her bed. Getting dressed for the day ahead and making sure she had all her Pokemon were with her, including her egg, she and Ilayda went downstairs to get breakfast

"I'm surprised you're up so early." Cheren commented in surprise as he was reading a book about things to see and do while in Castelia City. "Not by choice." Hilda muttered as she gave her starter a glare, Ilayda giving her a sheepish grin. Her friend chuckled as he understood that Ilayda was to blame for her being up so early. She surely had changed from the sad little Oshawott they had met back in their hometown

Finally getting a trainer who immediately treated her like a true partner to fight and train alongside herself and could actually understand everything today she was saying had definitely helped cheer the Pokemon up and get more confidence in herself. And that was a very great thing to see every day they were travelling, no matter what the members of Team Plasma said about how they were better off without trainers

Sliding over a paper map of the city he had found at the desk to Hilda as she sat down once she had let out all her Pokemon for food, they both quietly ate breakfast with all their Pokemon that weren't currently in eggs as Hilda quietly tried to figure out the best and most importantly the shortest way to get to the park from the Pokemon centre so that she wouldn't get pulled over by an overexcited Ilayda. Falling and having to tell people or was because her pokemon pulled too hard was not something she wanted to do

Wishing Cheren a lot of fun in the city once she and her Pokemon were done eating, she recalled most of them except for Ilayda and went out. Bianca was still in bed, but that didn't really surprise either out them as her Pokemon probably didn't wake her up early in the morning to go to the park. On the way to the park, they briefly stopped at a bookstore. "You woke me up early, you can wait until I found a book." Hilda told Ilayda 

Her starter Pokemon quickly conceded at that and patiently waited until her trainer had found an interesting book to read. Finding one with a very interesting premise, she bought it and finally took Ilayda to the park. It was still rather quiet as it was early in the morning, but that gave the two plenty of time to explore pretty much the entire park before it eased noon and it was a lot more busy with both people and pokemon. 

Finding a nice spot underneath a tree in a field that went on for quite a while and where several families were already having picnics, Hilda let out her Pokemon. "Alright, everyone. Go and play, but stay nearby and make sure you don't disturb other people." She told them. They all agreed as most of them ran onto the grass. Only Balor stayed nearby as he laid down with his head in his trainer's lap, one hand gently petting him while she held her new book with the other and started to read it, vaguely hearing her Pokemon meet other Pokemon in the distance

After a couple of hours, a shadow fell over them and it wasn't that of a Pokemon. "Fancy seeing you here." A familiar voice commented and both trainer and Pokemon quickly looked up to see a smiling N. "Oh, hey N. Good to see you." Hilda greeted him with a genuine smile as Balor moved to her other side and N sat down on the newly vacated spot. Hilda desperately tried not to focus on how close he was sitting right now

"Shouldn't you be keeping an eye on your friends?" He asked as he looked at what he knew were her Pokemon nearby. They were playing with other Pokemon right now and seemed to be having a lot of fun, but what if someone came and hurt them. "I trust them not to get themselves into trouble and to come and get me if anything happens. I'm their trainer, not their warden." She replied as she kept reading, smiling at hearing him snort

 "Fair enough. Good book?" He asked. "It's pretty good. An ordinary girl meets a man with opposite beliefs about things at school and despite their constant bickering and arguing about different subjects, she slowly starts to fall for him, only to find out he's actually a Prince undercover as a normal student. The question is if she'll stay at his side or leave him after the many lies he told." She explained. "What would you do?" N asked curiously. "Depends on the situation, I guess. I mean, imagine if you were a member of Team Plasma." She scoffed 

As she was focused on the book, she didn't notice his face paling but Balor did. "What would you do if I were?" He asked slowly and after giving him a look, she shrugged in reply. "I'd be very hurt. You know my opinion of those jerks, so if I were to find out you were with them... that would really hurt my feelings to know you kept continuing to interact with me, despite belonging to those I'm really starting to despise." She answered 

He looked down at hearing this answer, a strange feeling he had never felt before filling him from the inside. Was this.... guilt? He had been lying to her even though she had not done anything to warrant it. Maybe, he should tell her the truth. She'd definitely be angry with him, but perhaps she'd be willing to hear him out later once she had calmed down "Hil-" He becam to say, before they heard a child squeal loudly near them

"Daddy, look! It's so pretty" A little girl shouted at she pointed at Balor's purple fur. "Sofia, it's very rude to point!" Her father scolded her, before turning to Hilda. "I'm so sorry. I hope we didn't ruin your date?" He apologised and before Hilda could say they were not on a date, N already answered the man before her. "That's quite alright. No harm done." He said. "Speak for yourself. I'm not an it and I'm definitely not "pretty." I'm cool at the very least. Balor huffed and both Hilda and N gave him an amused look as the former flicked his ear

The father then told Sophia to apologise as well and she did, before he lifted her up in his arms and carried her away. N looked back at Hilda to contact what he had been saying, before noticing her rather sad expression. "What is it?" He asked in concern. "I was originally supposed to go on my Pokemon journey when I turned fourteen, but Bianca's dad wanted her to continue her education for when her journey was over." Hilda began

"To make sure that she wouldn't stay behind on her own, Cheren and I decided to do the same thing so that we could still go together. Now, a part of me wishes I had still gone when I was fourteen." She continued. "Why?" He asked curiously. "My father went onto a business trip with his company about three years ago. He called us on the ship back to say he'd be home soon, but his ship never arrived in the harbour." She told him

His eyes widened as she closed the book and clutched it tightly to her chest. "The police never found any wreckage or anything, but after at least a year of searching, they gave the people on the ship up for dead. If I had gone at fourteen, then my father would've seen me get my first Pokemon, my first and last badge and so much more, but now... he won't see any of it." She breathed with tears in her eyes as Balor sat up and rubbed his head against her chin to try and comfort her. "I'm sorry. What was the ship's name?" N asked

"The maiden of steel." Hilda answered after she took a deep breath, once again not noticing N stiffening up at hearing that name, before he suddenly wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close to him. "It's going to be okay, Hilda. It's going to be okay.' He whispered as she turned into his chest and started to cry. Even after all these years, her father's disappearance still hurt enough to make her cry

There was still so much she wanted to say to him, so many times that she wanted to hug him, but he wasn't there. It had broken her heart during her graduation ceremony when she only had her mother and Professor Juniper cheering her on instead of both her parents. Yes, both the parents of Cheren as well as the parents of Bianca had cheered for all three of them when their names were called, but it still wasn't the same

N simply held her as she cried, hearing the pain and suffering that she carried with her because of her father's disappearance and it completely broke his heart to see and feel it so profoundly. "Sssshhhhh, breathe. You'll be fine." He soothed her as he took the book and put it away, repeating the words his sisters always told him when he was upset or hurt. Either hearing or sensing that their trainer was in distress, Hilda's Pokemon quickly came running back, all of them incredibly concerned about her as Ilayda took Balor's spot and hugged her as much as she could

Eventually, Hilda's sobs turned into hiccups and sniffles as her pokemon had hidden her from sight. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to start crying on you. Even after all these years, I'm still such a mess about it." She muttered as she wiped her nose with the back of her hand and he gave her a cloth handkerchief. "It's quite alright. You were clearly close to your father and it's most understandable to be upset after such a tragedy." He told her

She gave him a very tiny and shaky smile od gratitude and he quickly smiled back at her as he wiped the final tears from he face while she blowed her nose. "You'll get it back once I have it cleaned." She told him and he chuckled. "Keep it. I have enough." He replied and she smiled again, which he returned. Once she focused herself on her Pokemon, his smile quickly fell. No, he couldn't tell her his true identity now. Not after what she told him

After all, he knew the name of the ship very well

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise 

It took a while before Hilda calmed down

N took a handkerchief out of his pocket and held it out to her. She took it over with a grateful smile and blew her nose as Ilayda patted her shoulder to try and comfort her trainer. "We'll help you in any way we can." She stated as the other Pokemon agreed with her and N silently agreed as well as he vowed to change something as soon as he was out of the city, but not now. He found that Hilda's happiness was more important to him now

He didn't know what it was, but every time he saw her lately, he found his heartbeat fasten and he found him longing to see her again whenever they went their separate ways. He didn't talk about it to his father and sisters, but he did wonder what it was. He rubbed her back to try and comfort her as well and she leaned against him, closing her eyes. "I wish he was here with me." She muttered and he hummed as he pulled her close despite not feeling worthy now

"I may not know him personally, but I'm sure that if he was here, he'd hug you so hard that your bones would pop. He'd be so incredibly proud of you, Hilda." N quietly told her and she smiled up at him. "Speaking from experience?" She asked. "Not really. My father never gave me hugs." He replied with an uncomfortable shrug and she widened her eyes. "Never? Like never ever?" She asked in horror and he shook his head. "Not really. My sisters were the only ones who would hug me." He said and sympathy filled her gaze as she carefully hugged him from the side

"Well, you can count me among those hugging you now." She muttered and he let out a chuckle as he carefully hugged her back, completely aware that his Team Plasma was responsible for her sorrow and that she had a full team of Pokemon willing to fight for her if he made a single wrong move. 'She will definitely hate me once I tell her the truth.' He thought and for some reason, that image of her glaring at him with eyes full of hate broke his heart

That's why he didn't say anything yet. He just wanted this one day with her before that friendship she felt for him turned into hatred. "So, if your dad didn't hug you, then what did he do? And I don't mind if you don't want to tell me." She hastily added at the end and he took a deep breath. "Not here." He muttered as he stood up and she immediately followed with her Pokemon as they walked through the park, eventually finding a quiet spot at the water's edge

Ilayda immediately jumped in and started to swim with some other Pokemon that lived in the water, but she made sure to stay near her trainer. Sitting down, N took another deep breath as he slowly started to talk about living in the forest with Pokemon, about how a man had found him one day out of the blue and had taken him in, claiming to be his father. About how he hadn't been allowed to go outside and how he had always met Pokemon who had been mistreated by their trainers and why he had been so surprised to hear Ilayda singing Hilda's praises

"N... I really don't want to say much, but that doesn't sound like a healthy upbringing at all. Not being able to go outside? Only seeing maltreated Pokemon? Did your father want you to grow up with a pessimistic view on the world? The world isn't just made up on Pokemon abusing bastards. There are good people too. "Nurse Joy heals our Pokemon at the centre right?" Hilda asked and he looked down. "But he did take me in." He protested, albeit very quietly 

"I know and I can see that you care about him, but if you ever had a child, would you raise them the way you were raised?" Hilda asked carefully with a small frown. "I.... I don't know." He admitted as he curled into himself and she leaned against him again, trying to comfort him as much as she could like he had comforted her just before. "You're an amazing man N, but to truly see the world for what it is, you must stop seeing it in black and white." She told him

He briefly looked at her at hearing this, before looking down again and sighing as he rested his arms on top of his knees and put his head on top of them as he looked out over the water without saying anything else. She didn't say anything either, although she giggled as Ilayda made a very dramatic jump out of the water to make them laugh and even N smiled at seeing it, but his mind was clearly somewhere else. To try and cheer him up, Hilda told a funny story that she heard about a kid from Kanto sleeping late on the day he was supposed to get a starter

"From what I heard, he eventually got a Pikachu who immediately shocked him at least twice before they even set out on their journey in the first place" She told him as she stroked Balor's head again as get Pokemon were relaxing around them both and even he snorted at the story, which she counted as a success compared to his solemn mood from just now. She just had to make sure to stay away from subjects that made them both sad

"N?" She began and he hummed. "Do you think I'll be powerful enough to beat the Elite Four one day?" She asked and he looked down at her. "I have no doubt that you will." He replied and she beamed at him, before realising how close their faces were now and looking away, moving back slightly. "Did I do something wrong?" He asked with a small frown and she immediately tried to assure him that he wasn't the one at fault here, not wanting him to feel worse. 

"No, it's just really warm." She muttered with a grin and he relaxed again. "The water's right there." He said as he pointed at where Ilayda was still happily swimming. She snorted at that and gently shoved him in return, immediately making him laugh loudly as well. "You're hilarious, but last time I checked, I'm not Ilayda." She said and he smiled at her just as the sun shone on him from behind. 'Oh Arceus. He really is handsome.' She thought to herself as she tried not to make her face go too red just so he wouldn't notice it. Why did he have to be so cute? 

After a while of quietly sitting there enjoying the peace and once Ilayda had gotten out of the water and dried herself up a bit, they went to explore the city a bit further after leaving the park once they had seen everything that was in it. Hilda recalled most of her Pokemon once they finally left the park as she didn't want any of them to get lost or even get hit by traffic in the very busy city. That was a horrible scenario she really didn't want to think about

Only Ilayda stayed out of her pokeball on the condition that she stayed right next to them and she agreed with that. Because of the massive throng of people in some places, Hilda had to hold onto N's arm at times, their sides touching in the busy streets of Castelia City and he found that he really liked the feeling as it made him feel trusted by her. She was trusting him enough to hold onto him and believe he wasn't going to let them get separated by anyone 

This was something that he knew would completely disappear once she knew who he really was and would likely never come back after that. And it made him really want to enjoy this day to the fullest of his abilities before he lost his new friend forever. He knew not telling her was an option, but he couldn't do that to her and he had the feeling that one day, they would be on opposite sides. The question was simply when it would happen. He looked down at hearing a rumble and chuckled at seeing Hilda's red face at her growling stomach 

"Let's get something to eat, shall we?" He asked and she immediately nodded while still red in the face. They found a nearby restaurant that still had a table for two free. Sitting down after Hilda recalled Ilayda as well as there wasn't enough room for the Pokemon to sit, they quickly ordered lunch after N insisted to be the one to pay. "Here you go. Food and drinks for the lovely couple." The waitress said as she put their orders down and Hilda looked up at her

"We're not a couple. We're just friends." She protested. "Oh. Well, if I were you, honey, I'd change that quickly before any else does." The waitress told her in a quiet whisper before walking away to her next order and Hilda immediately hid her very red face in utter embarrassment. "I'm so sorry." She whispered, only to hear a small chuckle. "It's okay, Hilda. I don't mind what she said. Don't worry about it." N told her with a smile and she slowly peeped out of her hands.

"You don't?" She asked and he shook his head. While a part of him loved the image of them ruling Team Plasma together, a bigger part had already realised that it would never happen. Hilda loathed his team with all her heart and after what she had told, he could understand why even if he didn't like it. Even though she didn't know it, they were responsible for the disappearance of her father, even if he was planning to change that as soon as she knew who he was. It probably wouldn't be enough to redeem him to her, but it hopefully would make her feel better

They ate their lunch in companionable silence, before N paid as promised and they left. Hilda's arms wound themselves around N's left one almost instinctively at this point and he smiled at the feeling again, before showing her some shops he thought she would like. He also showed her the shortest way to the gym from the Pokemon centre, before looking up at the slowly darkening sky. "It's time for me to go." He stated and she looked up in surprise.

"Already?" She asked. "I'm afraid I have things to do. Changes I have to make." He said, before kissing her knuckles. "Thank you for giving me this day." He told her, before he walked away. She watched him go, before walking the last few feet to the gym. Her eyes widened at seeing an upset Bianca crying as Burgh and another woman tried to comfort her. "Hilda! It's terrible!" Bianca shouted at seeing her. "Bi? What happened?" She asked as she ran to her

"Team Plasma stole my Pokemon." Bianca cried

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise 

Hilda was pissed

Pissed at Team Plasma for taking her friend's Pokemon and pissed that they had the nerve to say it was for the good of Pokemon. She and Burgh went after the group, while the purple-haired girl named Iris looked after Bianca. Soon finding Team Plasma in an office building and being joined by Iris and Bianca, they went in and Hilda immediately had to suppress the snarl wanting to show itself on her face at seeing Ghetsis standing there with two others

Something about the man rubbed her in the way and she didn't know why. "So, what would you say is the guiding principle of Team Plasma anyway? "Take what you want from people?"" Burgh immediately snarked when Ghetsis greeted him and Hilda snorted as she and Iris had their arms around Bianca for support. That snort turned info a scoff when one of the man's companions said he'd thought it a good idea to make their headquarters near the gym

"Clearly, I was mistaken." The man continued. "Clearly." Hilda muttered and Ghetsis glared at her. She simply looked back at him. Ghetsis then went into a speech about the legend about the founding of Unova and about the legendary dragon Pokemon. To be completely honest, Hilda  zoned him out as she looked around to see if she could see who had her friend's Pokemon. "We shall bring back the hero and that Pokemon to Unova once again! If we can win people's hearts and minds, we can easily create the world that I--I mean, Team Plasma--desires!" He stated

Hilda could barely suppress another scoff at hearing this as it was very clear to her what Ghetsis wanted: power. She then realised that if people except for those in Team Plasma liberated their Pokemon, then Team Plasma would be able to do anything they wanted and no one would be able to stop them. Not something that she really wanted to think about, especially if they actually managed to find the legendary Pokemon and make it ally itself with them

Ghetsis then ordered one of the grunts to give Bianca her Pokemon back and the grunt quickly obeyed as it released the Munna Bianca had caught and the Pokemon immediately went back to her trainer who quickly held her in her arms and started to thank Team Plasma for giving her back, before Iris and Hilda stopped her as they had still been the ones who had stolen Munna in the first place, Hilda standing in front of her friend for protection 

Team Plasma then started to leave the building, but not before Hilda subtly stuck her foot out and made Ghetsis trip over it, pulling her foot back again before it was spotted and putting up her best innocent face when Ghetsis's companions demanded to know who was responsible for it. Getting no answer, Ghetsis stated he'd find out before leaving and Iris immediately demanded to know of Burgh why he let them go. Burgh said they didn't have proof they had stolen even more Pokemon and Bianca was already happy that she had her Munna back with her

Still, it had been a bit too much of an emotional and turbulent day for Hilda so she quickly went back to the Pokemon centre to rest. Sitting down on her bed after putting her pokeballs on the bedside table, the young woman tiredly rubbed her face for a moment before looking up as she heard one of her Pokemon letting itself out. It was Balor and he looked rather hesitant like someone with bad news. "What's wrong, Balor?" She asked as she petted his head

"When you were with N earlier in the park and you mentioned the name of the ship your father was on when he disappeared... I saw how his face changed just briefly and he stiffened up.... like he recognised the name." Balor explained slowly and Hilda immediately frowned at hearing this as she looked down at her hands. She hadn't noticed either of these things, but she knew her Pokemon wouldn't lie to her either. Still, it didn't make any sense to her

"How on earth would he possibly know the name?" She asked and Balor couldn't answer her as he instead rested his head on her leg to comfort her and she gently petted him on the head. Rubbing her own temple as all the events of the day were starting to give her a headache, she decided to lie down for a while after letting out her other Pokemon and they quickly followed her example. Ilayda sitting with her back against the side of the bed, Sylvaine lying at the feet end, Apollo roosting on the bedpost and Balor lying on the rug in front of the bed

Waking up in time for dinner and spending the next couple of days training her team for the next few battles that were ahead of them, especially Sylvaine and Apollo as Burgh was a bug-type gym leader so they'd be in the advantage, she eventually went in and managed to breeze through it. Arriving at where Burgh was waiting for her, Cheren and Bianca going to watch the man smiled at her and thanked her for her help, before they started the battle

He gave her a bit of a challenge, but with her having two Pokemon in the advantage compared to his, she managed to win anyway and get her third badge already. "We did it!" Hilda cheered as she jumped into the air, Sylvaine running towards her and jumping into her arms with a small cheer of her own, her trainer laughing as she hugged the Pokemon while her friends cheered and applauded as well. Thanking Burgh for the battle and badge, they left again

Not long after that and after they had felt they had explored the city enough, they went north to the next city after making preparations. Right as they reached the city limits, Bianca challenged Hilda to a battle as she wanted to make herself stronger so her Pokemon wouldn't be stolen again. Hilda won, but her friend thanked her for the battle anyway as they walked through the gate that led out of the city and immediately got into a sandstorm as Castelia city was right next to a big desert. Hike and Bianca quickly held onto their hats as they all recalled their Pokemon 

Covering their faces, they tried to get through the desert as fast as possible while protecting themselves from the heat and the sun, even though Cheren and Hilda both managed to catch a Sandile and had to battle a few trainers on the way. Eventually managing to reach the next city in what thankfully was only three days after staying the two nights in their hastily built tents with their Pokemon, it was a huge relief for them to see civilization in the distance 

They rushed the last feet, happy that it was over and the lady overseeing the gate chuckled as she saw this reaction often and welcomed them after giving them free bottles of water. Nimbasa City definitely was warm and humid, but not as much as the desert. "I'm not going back south after this until Apollo can fly me there so I won't have to cross that again." Hilda panted as she wiped her face from the sweat as she never wanted to go back there again

Her friends immediately agreed with her on that front as they went to the Pokemon centre. Resting for the rest of the day to recover from the desert and letting their Pokemon be healed from the ordeal, the trio already made plans for the next few days while they were in the city. "I heard the amusement park has a Ferris wheel that many couples use for their first date. Wouldn't that be so very romantic?" Bianca sighed and Hilda smiled as even though she had never had a relationship before, it did sound like a nice idea so she took her friend's word for it

She then looked at the other things that were also in the city, including a huge theatre where several plays were being held with Pokemon as the lead and a gym. The gym leader was Elesa who specialised in electric type Pokemon, hence why both Cheren and Hilda had caught the ground type Pokemon Sandile. Eating their dinner in the Pokemon centre, Hilda and her friend were unaware of a certain green haired man watching them from outside.

N had immediately stiffened up at seeing them in the Pokemon centre, before pulling his cap over his face to hide it and walking away before he was spotted. Not now. He couldn't tell her the truth now. She was having fun with her friend and he couldn't ruin that.  He didn't want to admit it, but a part of the reason why he didn't tell her then was because whenever he thought of the bad reaction she'd most certainly have, he felt his heart breaking 

The next day, Hilda was dragged over to the theatre by Bianca where they were allowed to let their Pokemon play. Ilayda volunteered and her trainer dressed her up. The musical was a success and Ilayda got a lot of praise. Going outside and having a meeting with Bianca's father as he checked up on her, Hilda saw two Plasma grunts harassing someone. "Hey!" She called and they ran away at seeing her. She ran after them, only to bump into someone. "Hello there." N said with a smile. "Hi, N. Sorry, but I don't have time." Hilda said as she tried to go past him

You're looking for Team Plasma, right? They ran into the amusement park. Come with me." He said and while she'd later call herself an idiot, she agreed as she joined him as they walked to the park. They were nowhere to be found until they reached the Ferris wheel  "They're not here. Let's ride the Ferris wheel and see if we can spot them." N suggested and while turning a bit red in the face as she remembered what Bianca had said Hilda agreed

Getting in and going up slowly, N looked around. "I love Ferris wheels. The circular motion, the mechanics. They're like collections of elegant formulas." He stated and she smiled, before he took a deep breath "Hilda, I must tell you something. I've kept it from you until now and I just can't keep it a secret anymore." He said. "What is it?" She asked in concern. "I am the king of Team Plasma." He confessed and Hilda felt all blood leave her face at hearing this

"What?!"

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise 

Hilda could barely believe it

N was the King of Team Plasma?! After all the shit they had been through because of that group and after she continuously ranted to him about how much she hated them to him, he just came out and told her he was their leader in one way or another. "Hilda?" N asked in a small tone at seeing her stare into nothing and when she slowly lifted her eyes to look at him, he flinched at seeing the cold rage in them. "I'm sorry." He whispered 

Hilda then let out a harsh laugh at those words. "Sorry?! Sorry?! What on earth could you possibly be sorry for, hmm? For lying to me? For keeping that little secret from me even though you knew very well what I thought about Team Plasma? For actually being associated with those Pokemon stealing assholes? Tell me, Natural. What exactly are you sorry for?" She asked in a slightly hysterical voice and he flinched once more

She had never used his full name before and to hear it in such a cold tone after having heard her calling him N with nothing but kindness hurt. Looking into her eyes once more, he saw what he had already predicted back in Castelia City when he knew he had to tell her: all traces of kindness and friendship were gone and in its place were anger, pain and hatred. He felt a stabbing pain in his chest like he had never felt before when he noticed she was on the verge of tears. He wanted to reach out and comfort her like he had done back in the park in Castelia City

However, he also knew that she would immediately push him away now and that thought hurt him even more as he lowered his head, knowing he had likely lost her friendship forever "Everything." He simply answered as he looked down, knowing he had no excuse. He had started this journey convinced he was doing the right thing and he still felt like that, so why did Hilda's anger and tears hurt him so as if it was his own pain? 

The rest of the ride was completely silent and when they got out, a group of Team Plasma hurried towards them, asking N if he was alright and calling him their King. This simply confirmed he was telling the truth to Hilda and she looked away. N saw this and he felt the stabbing pain in his chest again, before he shook his head. He had a mission to fulfil and his father had been very clear that he had to succeed in it

He then immediately challenged her to a battle to let the Team Plasma members get away and immediately noticed how angry her Pokemon fought his while the members of his team ran away. It was clear that they had heard every word he had said and were pissed for their trainer's sake, refusing to go back into their Pokeballs once Hilda had won was they made a physical wall between her and N. Knowing that even though the three members had run away, there were always others watching, N took a deep breath as he said his next words with huge reluctance 

You have become quite strong. I'll immediately give you that. But I have a future that I must change. And, for that future... I'll defeat the champion and become unbeatable, unlike any other before me! I'll make all Trainers free their Pokemon! Just try and stop me! If you want to be together with Pokemon, your only hope is to collect the Badges from each area and head for the Pokemon League! Try and stop me there, if you dare!" He stated

"If your conviction isn't strong enough, you'll never be able to defeat me." He continued. Hilda and her Pokemon glared at him as the latter group all told him to leave, Tranquill flying up and beating its wings to chase him away from its beloved trainer and he turned his head from them as his chest just wouldn't stop hurting at seeing the betrayed look in her eyes. Perhaps, he was sick. "I'm sorry, Hilda." He whispered, before walking away

Hilda watched him go, before covering her mouth as she felt sick. She ran to the nearest trashcan and threw up in it, Ilayda and Slyvaine quickly holding her hair back as much as their could with their little paws as Sylvaine jumped on her shoulder to help while all her pokemon surrounded her in concern. Only her new Sandile didn't fully understand what was going on, but Balor quietly told him that Hilda had considered N to be a good friend, maybe even more only for him to reveal this. It made the ground Pokemon wish he had bitten the man while he had the chance

Sinking down on a nearby wooden bench, Hilda then pulled her knees up to her chest and buried her face in the gap, her shoulders starting to shake as the reality finally sank in. A man she considered her friend and had even started to grow a small crush on, even if she had tried to deny it to herself was the King of the group she had fought multiple times, who had stolen the pokemon of an innocent little girl and Bianca's Munna.

Ilayda sat down next to her and rubbed her back as her Pokemon all sat down around her. A few minutes later, they heard Bianca and Cheren calling Hilda's name and at Ilayda's little gesture, Balor ran towards them. "Ah, Balor. There you are. Where's Hilda?" Bianca asked and Balor quickly led the way. Ther moment they saw their crying friend, both Bianca and Cheren immediately ran towards her, the Pokemon letting them through

They gently asked their friend what was wrong and after a few minutes of trying to calm herself, Hilda took a deep breath as she straightened up and wiped her face. "It's N. He took me on a ride on the ferris wheel a few minutes ago.... and told me that he was actually the King of Team Plasma." She muttered and Bianca, who at first had looked very excited at hearing about her friend being taken on a ride used exclusively for dates, covered her mouth in shock and even Cheren stared at her, not having seen that coming. Bianca then quickly hugged her friend tightly 

"I'm so sorry, Hilda." She breathed quietly as Cheren squeezed Hilda's shoulder and together, they comforted her until she felt slightly better. "Come on. Let's go back to the Pokemon centre and get an early night." Bianca then said and they all agreed with that as she and Cheren gently supported Hilda after thanking her Pokemon for looking after them until they had gotten there and recalling them into their Pokeballs except for Ilayda

The Dewott continuously dodged the beam from her pokeball and talked as she shook her head. "She wants to stay outside her Pokeball and be with me." Hilda translated quietly, biting her lip as the happiness she had felt at realising there was someone who could also talk to pokemon had now become bitterness as well. Cheren and Bianca quickly understood and they went to the Pokemon Centre, Ilayda walking next to her trainer

Sitting down on the bed in her room after thanking her friends for helping her getting there as she felt like her knees could fail her any moment, Hilda rested her face in her hands and groaned loudly at her rotten luck. She finally met a cute boy and he immediately was part of the organisation she had been butting heads with ever since she had started the journey. At least, now she knew why he had been at the presentation in Accumula Town werken they first met each other "How could I be so incredibly stupid?" She muttered quietly as Ilayda patted her knee to try and console her

She also quickly reminded her dearest trainer that she couldn't have possibly known N's true identity before today and she sighed very deeply. "You're right. I couldn't have." She muttered as she petted her starter on the head and Ilayda preened. Hilda then took a deep breath as she straightened up. "Fine then, N. You want me to become strong enough to beat you? Then I will become exactly that. You'll see." She muttered determinedly 

Far away from the city, N was walking through the ship Team Plasma had acquired a couple of years ago, looking through a list of names until he found one that he recognised and he stiffened up as his fears were confirmed. Quickly walking to the logistics department, he talked to the commander and soon had another man join him for a private conversation. "Can you tell me your name before we begin?" He asked and the man gulped.

"Jonathan White, sir." He answered and N hummed, before asking him a few questions

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise 

The first thing Hilda did the next day was beating the gym. 

They couldn't exactly continue on without the badge and after everything that had happened since they first arrived here, she understandably wanted to get out of the city and continue on to the next one as soon as possible. Cheren, Bianca and her Pokemon constantly kept an eye on her to see if she was okay but she ignored them for the most part, only showing her true feelings when back in her room at the Pokemon centre. 

Ilayda and the rest of her Pokemon did her best to cheer her up, but it was not easy to forget what N had done to her. Here was someone she thought she could and had confided in, someone she thought was a kindred spirit and who was likely the only other person who had the same ability as her and he turned out to be the enemy. Just her rotten luck. She didn't know if she was feeling more angry or hurt every time she thought about it. 

Apparently, her current mood was more visible than she had expected as the gym leader commented on her rather aggressive fighting style compared to the previous times she had earned her gym badges, even if she still made sure not to hurt her Pokemon if she could help it. Her sandile couldn't help she was in a rotten mood. She refused to comment on the remark and just focused on winning the match, eventually winning by defeating the final Pokemon, an Emolga with help from Sylvaine as her sandile's attacks couldn't reach the Pokemon.

Since Cheren already had his battle before Hilda had, they left the city that afternoon once they had bought several supplies again, Elesa going with them to give the order to lower the drawbridge that connected Nimbasa City to Driftveil city as the route next to the city wasn't all that big. The largest walk was the bridge itself and they already reached their destination as the sun started to set in the sky, only to receive a rather cold welcome.

The gym leader Clay suddenly accused them of helping some Team Plasma escape in the ruckus caused by the bridge lowering and he said it was their fault. Hilda didn't exactly understand the logic of it, but the moment she heard that name, she immediately straightened up. "If we manage to find and catch those grunts, will that prove our innocence?" She asked and Clay agreed with that while her friends shot her worried looks.

"Hilda, I get that you hate them and rightfully so after everything they have done to people and Pokemon alike and that you still feel angry about N lying to you and keeping his true identity a secret, but you can't just walk into possible danger headfirst all on your own." Cheren told her as they walked into the city to try and find Team Plasma. Hilda immediately and flippantly replied that she wasn't alone since she had her friends and her Pokemon at her side. Cheren and Bianca shared a look, but knew that they wouldn't leave their friend alone now. 

Unlike normally where they would immediately split up to explore the city as much as possible, they stuck together the whole time and despite the late hour, they still went to look for clues about any possible locations. They quickly narrowed it down to the harbour as night fell and Cheren and Bianca managed to convince Hilda to do the rest the next morning and she reluctantly agreed when even Ilayda agreed they needed to get some rest. 

Going back to the city's Pokemon centre after warning the guards at the harbour that some criminals may be hiding there so they'd keep a lookout for the night and getting a room there to rest, Hilda sighed as she sat down on her bed. "Every minute we wait, the more chance Team Plasma will have to escape." She muttered and Ilayda patted her on the leg in concern as she saw that her trainer was starting to change and she didn't like it.

It was incredibly clear to the Dewott that N's betrayal had hurt her trainer deeper than Cheren and Bianca knew even with what Hilda had told them. They sympathised with her obviously and were hurt and angry for Hilda's sake, but they didn't fully understand how deep it had cut her trainer. For several weeks, Hilda had finally thought she had someone who understood her and who had the same ability as she did, not to mention that she definitely thought he was handsome and for all his huge faults, Ilayda had seen that he at least felt something for her. 

He seemed regretful about lying to her when they battled, but he should have thought of that earlierand the only thing Ilayda and the others could do now was to be there for their trainer and kick both N's ass for lying and being part of Team Plasma and also kick Team Plasma's ass for existing.  And then, there was what Balor had noticed back in Castelia City, which was that N somehow recognised the name of the boat Hilda's father had been on.

She and Balor had silently agreed not to say a word to Hilda about this considering their trainer could understand what they were saying, but they were going to keep an eye out on the situation as the entire team all felt that things were going to get much worse from here on out. Hilda eventually recalled her into get pokeball and she reluctantly went in without immediately complaining about wanting to stay out as her trainer needed her rest.

The next day, some actually good news came from Cheren as his egg had finally hatched and he now officially had a Riolu. "Seems you've got the fighting type you really wanted. Mine still refuses to come out, although Ilayda says she did hear movement within the other night." Hilda said with a chuckle as she introduced herself to the baby Pokemon and he happily gave her a high-five when she asked for one. His face when he realised she could understand what he was saying was pretty funny, but she did explain that not everyone had that ability.

Bianca was trying to evolve her Eevee into an umbreon so she'd have a dark type Pokemon for coverage, especially with Aidan going to be weak to psychic types, but right now, her Pokemon was still the same cute little Eevee she'd been ever since Pinwheel Forest and Bianca could cuddle her when she wanted. Once breakfast was over, Hilda and Cheren went back to the harbour to find clues about where Team Plasma could be.

Bianca was going to search north of the town just in case. They didn't find any clues as but they did find something better after entering a cold storage and having Pokemon battles with the employees working there and used battles to keep themselves warm: a whole bunch of Team Plasma grunts and one of the leaders: the Sage Zinzolin who was complaining about having to hide there because he couldn't handle the low temperature 

Hilda and Cheren walked into the container he was hiding in right as he was saying that and Cheren scoffed, pulling the attention of the grunts surrounding Zinzolin for warmth. "Whatever. I can't believe you were really hiding. It's a bother, but if you really can't take it, shall we show you outside?" Cheren snarked dryly and Hilda let out a snort as she got Ilayda's pokeball ready, remembering why she was friends with him. Zinzolin ordered the grunts to fight them, but with Hilda taking on half of the grunts and Cheren taking care of the other half, they quickly won.

Ilayda and the others on Hilda's team fought extra hard once they saw it was Team Plasma they were fighting this time around and got quite a bit stronger in the process as well as they ignored the cold. Hilda still made sure to immediately recall them into their pokeballs as she didn't want them to catch a cold. Right as they were done, Clay arrived with both the police and the employees of the storage and arrested the grunts and Zinzolin.

Like he had promised when he first sent them to find Team Plasma now that they had proven themselves, Clay told them they'd be allowed to challenge the gym and considering he used ground types, Hilda already knew who would be her ace on her team. She was still going to make sure she had coverage for everything that the gym leader could throw at her, however. He wasn't the fifth gym leader for nothing after all.

That made her realise they were technically already over halfway through on their journey. After Clay came just three more gym leaders and after that, they could finally challenge both the Elite Four and Champion. Hilda promised herself to call her mother as soon as possible as she realised she hadn't done so since they had been about to leave Castelia city. She was probably really worried right now. Going outside the storage, they got a call from Bianca that something was going on where she was and that"the creepy guy from Accumola Town was there."

Hurrying to the gym where a lot of ruckus was, they saw Ghetsis talking to Clay and asking him to get Zinzolin and the others back with Clay only reluctantly agreeing as he couldn't prove they were actually stealing Pokemon on the condition that Ghetsis and his followers got out of the city immediately. Zinzolin thanked Ghetsis. "Think nothing of it. We're both servants of the King." Ghetsis replied and Hilda stiffened up at hearing that

Funny how just a few days ago, that sentence would have meant nothing to her and now filled her with the sting of betrayal once more. Ghetsis and Zinzolin then left with at least a dozen grunts. As he walked away, his and Hilda's eyes briefly locked and he looked her up-and-down for a second, before letting out a scoff and walking further. Cheren asked what that was about. "I really don't know." Hilda replied, but she did know one thing. 

She did not like the look in his eyes. 

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise 

They did challenge the gym eventually.

They didn't explore the city as much as they did the others as they had seen most of it while searching for Team Plasma and apart from few key places like the Market where Bianca bought some incense for Aidan to hold, the pignite immediately loving it and a small park where they had a few small battles against each other to train their Pokemon and make sure Bianca didn't fall behind in strength, they challenged Clay rather quickly.

Unlike other gyms, Cheren let Hilda go first in challenging the gym leader as he knew how much she wanted to become stronger and beat Team Plasma once and for all. He was right and meeting that creepy man Ghetsis again had only strengthened that resolve. She had the feeling no one in the world would be safe if he actually took over power in the Unova region and she really didn't like that thought and neither did her Pokemon.

Ilayda really was her ace Pokemon while challenging everyone as they fought some of the gym trainers together on their way to fight Clay as the man really hadn't wanted his challenge to be easy and as the fifth gym in the region, Hilda thought that was honestly more than fair. She was often helped by Apollo as the rest cheered them all on from the sidelines where they watched with Cheren and Bianca. Clay eventually walked up himself and commented how he wanted to see exactly why Elesa had praises her strength so very much.

Well, she, Ilayda and Apollo quickly showed him indeed as they fought his Krokorok, the evolution of Sandile, his Palpitoad and his Excadrill, the latter being the only one who actually gave them some trouble as it was incredibly strong and knocked Apollo out of the sky and he fainted thanks to the hit. Hilda quickly recalled her, having used this time to heal up Ilayda and the Dewott was all ready to finish the job and get revenge for Apollo's defeat.

She actually learned water pulse during the battle, confusing the Excadrill during one such attack and ensuring their victory. "We did it!" Hilda cheered as Ilayda quickly ran back and hugged her in happiness at having won the battle. Hilda immediately hugged her back and patted her head "You and Apollo were amazing." She praised her Pokemon and Ilayda beamed at her as the others came to congratulate them as well. 

It was Cheren's turn to challenge the gym about an hour later so that Clay and the gym trainers working for him could fully rest their Pokemon and were ready for round two and so was Cheren as they had had lunch in the meantime. Like Hilda, his starter was his strongest Pokemon in his team for this battle as he calculated his attacks with a precision only he could do. Bianca would honestly just try her best and Hilda would attack with the first move that actually did something to her opponent's Pokemon as neither really had the mind for such strategies.

Cheren beat the gym even faster than she did as Clay's Palpitoad was twice as weak against grass types. Clay gave them their badges and was about to give the TM that came with beating the gym, only to take his words back and tell them there was a situation at Chargestone Cave that was very near the city and that they needed to go through in order to go to the next city so he told them to meet him there the next day, before walking out. 

"Hey, that's not fair! Cheren and Hilda beat you and you just walk off?!" Bianca demanded to know as he walked out but he ignored her even as Hilda told her it was okay. They would just have to go to the cave and get the TM there. Going outside and healing their Pokemon at the Pokemon centre, they ate dinner and went to bed early as they heard that route six was a pretty large one and they'd have to get up early to reach the cave in one day.

Doing exactly that and finally saying goodbye to Driftveil city after buying a few more items that would likely be needed for the road ahead towards Mistralton city, they walked onto the route and set a steady pace north towards Chargestone Cave. "Man, they really weren't kidding when they said that it was a very large route. We've been walking for hours and it feels like we haven't even made it halfway there." Bianca muttered with a small groan after several hours of walking and her friends silently agreed with her, before Hilda suddenly heard something.

"HELP!!!" A small voice cried out in distress and she completely forgot what they were supposed to do as she ran into the direction of the cry instead with Ilayda immediately running after her. "Hey! Hilda! where are you going?! Wait up!" Bianca called after her as she and Cheren had to quickly follow her as well. They soon found the source of the cry: a Deerling whose paw was stuck in a thorned branch. It squealed in fear at seeing them. 

"It's okay. It's okay. We're here to help you. That branch looks like it really hurts. We can help you get out of it. I promise." Hilda whispered as she held up her hands to show she didn't mean any harm, Ilayda, Aidan and Silas trying to reassure it in their own language as well. "I-it hurts." The Deerling whimpered and Hilda gave it a very sympathetic smile as she had the feeling this deerling was still just a baby and it was the first time it had gotten hurt. 

"I know. I know it hurts, little one, but we can help with that." She promised and the Deerling finally allowed them close. "Ilayda, do you think you can cut the branch with your shell but without hurting the paw?" Hilda asked as she got several potions out of her bag, Bianca and Cheren deciding to stay back and not crowd the little thing and Ilayda nodded as she grabbed one of her shells and started to carefully hack away at the branch. Once it was loose, she then used the shell to get it off the Deerling's paw without getting cut herself and Hilda kicked it away

"Okay, this will likely sting a bit, but you will feel better soon after." Hilda whispered as she sprayed some hyper potion on the wounds that the branch left behind and the Deerling whimpered in pain even as she tried to comfort the poor thing. They then heard something approaching them fast and Bianca nervously called out Hilda's name at seeing a whole herd of Sawsbuck and Deerling appear out of the woods and none looked happy. 

"What do you think you're doing, human!" One of the Sawsbuck, likely the leader demanded to know as it stomped with one of its paws to try and intimidate them, but Hilda didn't give an inch as she immediately replied she was simply healing the little Deerling. The herd fell silent at hearing she could understand them and she used that that to get the Deerling on her feet with her and Ilayda supporting it as it slowly walked back towards the herd. 

At seeing the Deerling really was alright and hearing the full situation from it as well, the Sawsbuck relaxed and apologised for thinking they were harming it. "Honestly, it's no problem. I would have done the same, but Uhm.... you wouldn't happen to know the fastest way to Chargestone Cave from here would you? We kinda got lost when I heard Deerling cry." Hilda said and the Sawsbuck did them one better by offering to take them there in gratitude fir helping the Deerling. Once Hilda explained it to her friends, they all agreed and recalled their Pokemon.

Climbing on the backs of three of the strongest Sawsbuck while the others took the formally injured Deerling and the other Deerling back to where the humans assumed their den was, Hilda told it to be more careful in the future and it promised it would before the Sawsbuck started to run towards the cave. They had to hold on for dear life as they rushed through the trees and cut down a journey that would have taken his to mere minutes.

A very surprised Clay was already waiting for them and stared at them with open mouth once they arrived and got off the Pokemon's backs, thanking them for the ride and waving at them as they ran back into the forests. Sawsbuck were known to mostly stay away from humans, so how had they managed to convince them to give them all a ride. "I helped one of the Deerling in their herd." Hilda replied with a shrug at seeing him staring.

Deciding to leave it there, he showed them the entrance to the cave was blocked by a Galvantula nest and used his Krokorok to destroy it. He then finally gave Cheren and Hilda the TM for the move Bulldoze and left. "He couldn't have done that earlier?" Bianca muttered and Hilda chuckled as they went into the cave. However, they had only taken a few steps when three men appeared out of nowhere and took them further into the cave where a familiar face was waiting for them: N. They immediately glared at them as Bianca demanded to know who those men were. 

" That was the Shadow Triad. Ghetsis enlisted them in Team Plasma. They were the ones who made the Galvantula nest" He said before looking around "Chargestone Cave. I like this place. Formulas express electricity and its connection to Pokémon. If people did not exist, this would be an ideal place. You have been chosen, you know. Does it surprise you I said that?" He asked and they again had to think about what he said.

He really said things fast. Still, Hilda nodded in answer as she had no idea what he meant with that she had been chosen and N chuckled "Of course. Such news should be a surprise." He said, before sighing and getting serious as he looked at Hilda. "I told Ghetsis about you and your friends. After I did, he apparently used the Shadow Triad to find out about you." He said as he really hadn't known he'd do that until it was too late.

This of course didn't help his case as Hilda's glare got even harsher. If Ghetsis did anything to hurt her mother or the others back in Nuvema Town, she wouldn't rest until Team Plasma was completely destroyed. N then looked at her friends. "Cheren is completely pursuing the ideal of strength and poor Bianca has faced the sad truth that not everyone can become stronger." He said and Bianca growled at hearing this as Cheren actually had to hold her back before she tackled the man. "You know, you're really not helping your case right now!" She bit at him. 

N closed his eyes as he was aware of that, but he had to make sure Hilda stayed far away from him before she got more hurt than she already was by his betrayal. He then looked at the young woman herself. "And you are not swayed either way, more of a neutral presence. Which is a good thing. Team Plasma will be waiting for you ahead. Ghetsis wants to see what kind of Pokémon Trainer you really are." He said, before walking away. 

"Can you believe the nerve of him?! Because I certainly can't!" Bianca huffed once he was out of sight and Cheren tried to calm her down before she did anything stupid, before noticing that Hilda hadn't said a word during the entire conversation. "Hilda?" Bianca asked as she noticed the same thing. The thing was that Hilda's had noticed the conflict in his eyes, showing that something was going on in his mind, but she didn't know what.

Professor Juniper then came across them and explained that her father had sent her there. As Bianca stayed back to tell the professor all she had missed, Hilda and Cheren went ahead. Fighting trainers as well as some Team Plasma grunts by working together, they eventually came across N again near the exit of the cave. "N... tell me the truth. What's going on? Why did you lie to me! Why are you working with Team Plasma?" Hilda asked as she really wanted to know why someone she had thought as so sweet was apparently the leader of such a vile organisation.

N looked down at this. "Many different values mix together, and the world becomes gray. That is unforgivable! I will separate Pokémon and people and black and white will be clearly distinct! Only then will Pokémon become perfect beings! Yes, that is my dream! That is the dream I must fulfill!" He said, but to Hilda, it sounded more like he'd been made to think that was his dream and she could think of someone who would definitely do that: Ghetsis

N then looked right at her. "Hilda, do you have a dream of your own?" He asked and she slowly nodded. Her dream had always been to become the champion, but recently, it had slowly shifted into beating Team Plasma once and for all, even though she didn't say that out loud. N smiled at her and despite the fact that they were enemies now, Hilda's heart still skipped a beat like she was a silly schoolgirl having her first crush.

"You have a dream... That's absolutely wonderful to hear. I'll learn just what kind of dream you have in battle!" N stated as he held out a pokeball to show he really meant it and Hilda silently told Cheren she'd take him on by herself and her friend backed up as N first sent out the rock type Pokemon Boldore to fight and she quickly sent out Ilayda in return who quickly fought with all that she had and, to the surprise of everyone, actually evolved into Samurott during the battle, immediately beating her opponent right after that with her grown strength.

N's next Pokemon was the grass and steel type Ferroseed and Hilda recalled Ilayda to send Sylvaine as the Pokemon had a double weakness against fire and the battle was over fast. Sylvaine also took care of N's joltik and Klink and Hilda officially won the battle. N groaned once it was over. "Ugh!  Why? Is it impossible for me to win while feeling bad about being a Trainer?" He asked himself and both Cheren and Hilda looked at him in concern

"As if I could pursue my ideals with something as meaningless as a battle! As if that could make me worthy to become friends with the legendary Pokemon." He muttered and Hilda was about to say something when Bianca and Professor Juniper arrived. N looked at the latter with actual disgust on his face. "Professor Juniper, what are you thinking? You appear to have no qualms about the relationship between Pokémon and people." He said

"You put Pokémon into categories using arbitrary rules and think you can understand them like that... The very idea of a Pokédex revolts me. What do you have to say for yourself?" He demanded to know and professor Juniper was quite taken aback by his question. "Oh, my. Looks like you're not my biggest fan. Your opinion is understandable. It happens to be different from mine, which is equally understandable. How about if all people get to decide for themselves how to relate to Pokémon?" She offered but that wasn't enough for N as he huffed.

"You're saying I should allow people to think whatever they want and treat Pokémon however they want, no matter whether the Pokémon suffer? I refuse to tolerate the existence of a world like that!" He stated as he turned to leave, before hesitating. "Hilda, for what it's worth, I really am sorry for breaking your trust and telling Ghetsis about you. I know you'll likely never forgive me but I left something in the next Pokemon centre for you." He said

After that, he walked away and after sharing a look, the trio and Professor Juniper went out of the cave. Hurrying to the Pokemon centre while prepared for anything, they asked nurse Joy if anything had been left for Hilda and she nodded as she directed them to one of the rooms upstairs. Opening the door, they saw a man sitting there who stared at seeing one of them in particular. "Hilda?" He breathed and the woman stared as well. 

"Daddy?" She whispered, before running into his open arms.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise 

"Daddy, daddy, daddy!"

"Oh, my sweet Hilda." Jonathan White breathed in utter relief and happiness as he held his daughter for the first time in years. He had no idea why this N guy snuck him out of the base he had been held in, until he had seen her walk into the room he had been asked/told to stay in and despite how much his daughter had grown, he had immediately recognised her. How could he not? She was still his little girl, no matter what.

Looking over his daughter's shoulders, he saw Bianca, Cheren and professor Juniper in several varying stages of shock at seeing him as Cheren's lower jaw was practically on the floor and both women were covering their mouths with Bianca doing it with both hands and the Pokemon Professor doing it with one. "Professor Juniper, Bianca, Cheren. Thank you for looking after her and being there when I couldn't be." He said.

"It was more than our pleasure, Mr. White." Bianca squeaked as she tried to get past the shock of seeing her friend's father again after having presumed he was dead for several years, a Samurott he had never seen and who could barely fit into the room stepping forward and saying something, making Hilda laugh. "Yes, Ilayda. You have looked after me as well." She said in a slightly broken voice from crying, briefly petting her on the head without looking away before hugging her father again and he kissed the top of her head in response as he then looked at the Pokemon.

"You must be her starter. Thank you as well." He said and Ilayda puffed her chest out before Jonathan carefully pulled Hilda back to get a proper look at her. Cupping her face as Professor Juniper wisely decided to give them some privacy and closed the door, he smiled at seeing the strong young woman his little Hilda had become. "Let me look at you. I haven't seen you for so long. An eternity and here you are." He whispered. 

Hilda only cried harder as she clung onto his wrists and he chuckled tearfully as he couldn't keep himself in anymore either. "Oh, my sweet little Hilda." He said with a small laugh despite the tears rolling down his cheeks as he pulled her back into a hug as even his daughter's Pokemon recalled herself back into her pokeball to leave them alone for a bit. They stayed like that for quite a while until Hilda's growling stomach made them pull back.

Calling the others to tell them all they were done hugging for now and going to the centre's restaurant, Jonathan quietly told them about how he and his colleagues had actually been captured by Team Plasma and had been forced to work for them with their families under threat. Hilda could barely keep her anger in at hearing those bastards had already started to hurt her, her friends and many people in her town just for their own plans. That was all that they cared about and everyone else could go to the reverse world fire as far as they were concerned.

She did look down at hearing N had been the one to get him out? Why had he done that? He said he was sorry for lying, but she wasn't sure if this was enough for being the leader of the people she hated more than anyone. But was he really the leader or just a puppet who was led to believe one thing and was now learning that the world wasn't as black and white as he had always thought it was? The conflict in his eyes suggested the latter

"We should probably tell your mother about this. The question is how. If we take him back to Nuvema Town, everyone will talk about this and Team Plasma might find out he has escaped." Professor Juniper muttered as she thought for a moment and Hilda suggested inviting her to come and watch her sixth gym battle as she was slowly finishing up her Pokemon journey and everyone agreed that was probably the best idea. 

After dinner Hilda went outside to show both her Pokemon and her badges to her father and her Pokemon greeted him happily after staring at him in shock at realising that this was their Trainer's father. Jonathan smiled in pride at seeing the strong team his daughter had and the amount of badges she had already won, but there was a bit of sadness as well as he had missed so much of her life. He should have been there to see her get her starter and see her off on he journey. Still, at least he could be there to see her finish her journey instead.

As they walked back into the Pokemon centre and hilda went to call her mother to hopefully invite her to the city, Bianca quickly walked up to him and actually showed him a video she had made of when they had first met their starter Pokemon and he smiled at seeing her literally pick Ilayda by gently picking her up as Bianca quietly explained the then oshawott had been skipped over at least twice before and he smiled.

It wasn't the same as actually being there in person when she got her starter, but it was something at the very least. Bianca then showed him several pictures and clips she had made over the course of their journey like their first night camping, Cheren's and Hilda's gym battles and several others. He smiled at seeing all of them and how much fun Hilda was clearly having. The pictures stopped after the theatre in Nimbasa.

"The Team Plasma problem grew rather large after that so we either didn't have time to make pictures or forgot about it." Bianca sheepishly explained and he thanked her anyway as she had given him something he'd wanted to have in at least some ways. Hilda then returned from calling her mother and said she'd be here tomorrow afternoon and that she and Jonathan would go shopping the next morning so he'd look a bit decent before meeting her again. Jonathan agreed, even if his nerves were going through the roof at realising his wife was coming 

The next morning, Hilda got her father out of bed early and went shopping. While Mistralton city was far more industrial than several of the other cities they'd visited, they thankfully still had shops and barbers that Hilda used to get her father new clothes and a new haircut. They were thankfully ready before noon and nervously waited for her mother to arrive in the city, Professor Juniper eventually calling to tell them she'd arrived. 

Jonathan quickly went to his room so he wouldn't immediately overwhelm her while Hilda went to greet her mother. Catherine White immediately wrapped her arms around her and pulled her into a tight hug the moment she was close enough. "Oh, sweetheart. Look at you. You've grown so much and Ilayda, you've grown a lot too. Have you been taking care of my little girl?" She asked the Pokemon and the Samurott puffed her chest as she nodded. 

"Mom!" Hilda whined and her mother chuckled as she pulled back and asked her why she'd been invited to watch this match while for her, it would have made more sense to invite her for the last gym or the Pokemon League. Sharing a look with her Pokemon, Hilda took a deep breath. "I need to show you something." She muttered as she grabbed her mother's hand and led her upstairs after switching Ilayda for Balor. Once they were standing in front of the door to Jonathan's room, she turned to her mother again. "Just don't... don't freak out. I'll explain everything." She said. 

Her mother frowned as she started to grow concerned now. Hilda knocked on the door before walking in and taking her mother with her. Jonathan was reading a book and looked up when they came in, making Catherine stop walking in utter shock. "It can't be.... that's impossible." She breathed as she looked at her daughter who smiled at her and told her how Jonathan hadn't died, but had been captured by an evil organisation.

Jonathan carefully stood up and slowly walked closer until he was standing right in front of his wife. Catherine slowly reached out and cupped his face, him leaning into her touch. At feeling he was really there, her knees buckled and she almost fell to the floor if not for Hilda and Balor supporting her and her husband quickly helped as he gently lowered her to the ground as she started to cry while still cupping his face and looking him over. 

She couldn't believe he really was there. This all seemed like a beautiful dream, one that she had been having for so long about her husband still being alive and coming home to both her and Hilda. But this was actually real as she carefully pinched herself just in case, making Jonathan laugh as he reassured her this was real. A beaming Hilda and Balor were standing a bit back and watched as the couple finally reunited with each other as well, Hilda eventually turning around when they started kissing and her pokemon quickly followed her example.

"Hilda." She eventually heard her father say from behind her and she turned back around to see him reaching out to her. "Come here." He breathed, but him and her mother smiling at her and after asking her Pokemon if she minded going back into his pokeball and recalling him after getting permission, she quickly joined them on the floor and her parents immediately wrapped their arms around her as they shared their first family hug in years. 

As they sat there while simply holding onto each other and she buried her face in her father's chest while her mother stroked her hair, Hilda had one thought that she honestly wouldn't have expected to have ever since Nimbasa City. It was a thought that in the past few weeks, she would've scoffed at. Still, as she sat there with her reunited family and knew that they would not be torn apart again, she couldn't help but think one thing. 

'Thank you, N.'

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise 

After at least half an hour of hugging, Hilda left her parents alone.

They deserved to catch up with each other and have some privacy of their own. Walking through the very large city with Balor at her side and eventually reaching the northern outskirts, she suddenly saw very familiar green hair. "N!" She called before she could stop herself and he turned around. She quickly ran over with Balor running right next to her and standing right in front of her when he thought she was close enough to the man

"N... thank you for giving dad back to me, but why did you do it? Why did you give him back to me?" She asked. He sighed as a part of him wasn't sure either. He remembered her crying in Castelia City and felt uncomfortable at the thought of her living with the pain of thinking her father was dead while he could actually do something about it. He didn't say anything of it though and Hilda sighed. "Why do you hate Pokemon battles?" She then asked.

He scoffed in answer. "They may say it is for understanding one another better, but what Trainers use battles for is to compete and they hurt each others' Pokemon! Am I the only one who finds this terribly painful?" He asked and Hilda was silent. "Whatever, I'm going to talk to your Pokemon. I've been living with them since I was born, so it's easier for me to talk with them than with people." He said, Hilda asking him why. "Because Pokémon never tell lies." He stated bluntly, before turning to the liepard. "Hey, Balor. Would you tell me what kind of Trainer she is?" He asked.

After looking at him in suspicion and seeing he was genuinely curious and getting a nod from Hilda when he looked at her, Balor slowly began to speak and told N about his trainer, making sure to praise her the whole time and tell him she always made sure they were patched up even if they got hurt and Hilda turned bright red in the face, making N smile as he heard how much Balor cared about her. If only more trainers cared so much

"Okay, okay. I got it. So, she was born in Nuvema Town, lives with her mother and I guess her father again too now and was given the Pokédex to start off a journey to see the world. Still, Balor trusts you for some reason. That's good! If every person and Pokémon cared about one another like you two do, I could watch over the future of people and Pokémon without having to liberate Pokémon from people who just use them." He said. 

"Ghetsis is using Team Plasma to search for some special stones--the Light Stone and the Dark Stone. These stones hold the essence of two legendary Pokémon. It is said that when they lost their physical form, they fell into a slumber and were transformed. Now, they patiently wait for the hero's arrival. I shall resurrect a legendary Dragon type Pokémon from one of these stones, and become its friend. That will show the world that I am the new hero. Everyone will follow what I say!" He said loudly, much to Hilda's shock as she stared at him with Balor 

Seeing that he scared her a bit with this declaration, N took a deep breath to calm himself down at least a bit. "My personal vision is to change the world without using force. Trying to change the world by force will just make others resist. If people resist, the ones that will be hurt the most during the fighting are the innocent Pokemon used by foolish Trainers. You understand, don't you. Pokemon are not just tools for people to use." He stated.

"As a result... Pokemon and Trainers who actually care about one another, like you and your Pokémon, will be separated. And that does break my heart a little." He stated and Balor let out a very loud "I won't!" in answer as he snapped his teeth at the young man. No matter what anyone would do or say, even if they broke his pokeball, he was not going to leave Hilda for as long as he lived and he knew the others felt the same way.

No one would be able to take them away from their trainer. Hilda patted his head to try and calm him down, even if she felt very uncomfortable and even a bit scared at the thought of having to live without her Pokemon for the rest of her life, even if she knew her Pokemon wouldn't leave her willingly and honestly, that made her feel worse considering Team Plasma was clearly not above stealing Pokemon. "And where do I fit in this world? Just one of Team Plasma's subjects? Your subjects?" She asked with just the smallest of sneers on her face.

He winced at once again hearing the disgust she had for Team Plasma and to be completely honest, a part of him started to see why even if he tried to deny it. He'd seen some of the members take someone's Pokemon by force and the devastation by the Trainers when it happened, even though it was the last thing he wanted. If he had to be even more honest with himself, he'd confess he had pictured Hilda at his side in the new world.

However, he knew it would never happen with how much she hated Team Plasma and if he said he didn't feel a stabbing pain in the chest at the thought of them forever being enemies, he'd be lying. Every time he looked at her, he felt a strange... sensation going through him like not even being with his sisters or Pokemon could give him. A feeling of a pleasant warmth and that made him want to stay at her side for as long as possible.

The idea of having to lose that feeling until the end of his days honestly made him feel like a small and scared child again. He took a deep breath and slowly walked closer to Hilda, once again having to ignore the stabbing pain in his chest when she took a step back and Balor jumped in front of her, growling at him to keep away from his trainer. Lifting his hand to show he didn't mean her harm, he then gently cupped her face. "Be careful from now on, I don't know what Ghetsis is planning with you but I will try to make sure that he won't hurt your family again." He said.

She tilted her head and he smiled, before grabbing her hand and kissing her knuckles. Holding onto her hand for as long as possible, he lowered his head. "I'm sorry... for everything." He breathed, before letting go and turning around. He then walked away, ignoring her calling after him as the sky darkened and started to rumble with the promise of a storm and Balor gently nudged Hilda to go back to the Pokemon centre before it hit. 

They managed to get inside just as it began to rain, having to run the last few feet as it came out heavily. Shaking out her hair as Balor shook out his fur, Hilda first went to dry the two of them off and change her clothing before they went to the restaurant for lunch. Putting down Pokemon food for everyone as her parents had already eaten and she had no idea where Cheren, Bianca or professor Juniper were, she smiled at seeing them dig in.

She then looked out the window and remembered the clear look on N's face when she asked about where her place would be in this new world of his. It had looked physically pained like he a part of him knew she'd be devastated if she was forcefully separated from her Pokemon, but trying to hold onto whatever it was that he'd learned from what was likely a very young age: that Pokemon couldn't be happy as long as there were trainers who used them. Yes, there were those who treated them wrong, but there were many more who treated them as friends and family.

She honestly suspected that N had seen many good trainers on his journey too, despite his belief trainers only hurt their Pokemon by making them battle each other and that was why he asked Balor about her and what she was like.. He wanted to know if she belonged to the good trainers. Balor had immediately started to sing her praises and she had seen just the slightest slump of relief at hearing how well she treated her Pokemon

Then again, she'd also seen sadness in his eyes at the idea she would eventually have to say goodbye to them if Team Plasma had it their way. Perhaps that would be one of the things that would eventually make him change his mind about everything, but she doubted it. He'd started to change slightly, there was no doubt about it, but she had the feeling it was going to take a lot more for him to finally stop seeing things as black and white

"Hilda?" She then heard Balor ask quietly after a few minutes of silence and she was snapped out of her thoughts. She immediately  looked up to see all her Pokemon all staring at her with very nervous looks on their faces and their food only half-finished as the question they wanted to ask clearly couldn't wait from her starter to her Krokorok. "You're not going to let us go, right?" Balor asked her, his tail hanging  between his legs at the thought and she smiled at them as she fully turned to face them. Reaching out, she gently petted her liepard on the head.

"If I ever made you think that I would release you for any reason whatsoever, then I honestly should call myself an absolutly worthless trainer from now on. To me, you are just as much my family as my parents, Bianca and Cheren are and no one is going to change that no matter what they try to do and say about the matter, not even Team Plasma with their stupid ideas and I'm not going to let them take you away." She told them

They immediately relaxed at hearing her say this as they then crowded around her as much as possible with her sitting at a table and all and told her they all loved her. "I love you guys too." She said with a chuckle as she petted them all on the head and back as they immediately preened at her touch, before they went back to eating. Watching them eating and listening to them talking to each other,  Hilda then silently made a promise to herself.

No one was going to take her family away from her ever again.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise 

Battling Skyla was a lot of fun for Hilda. 

Not only was her gym actually rather challenging as Hilda didn't really have a Pokemon with the type advantage apart from Balor's dark type who defeated the leader's Swoobat as it was part psychic type, but her parents were actually there to cheer her on, something she had thought would never happen in her life after her father went missing. She did manage to beat her and cheered together with Balor as she jumped in the air.

The shared hug she got from both her parents right after the match made everything even better as her father told her how proud they were of her while her mother planted dozens of kisses on the top of her head. Normally, she'd be much more embarrassed by this, but she was way too happy about her parents actually being there to complain about it as she closed her eyes and enjoyed the fact that both her parents were there.

Cheren, Bianca, Professor Juniper, Skyla and Balor all happily smiled at the sight as especially Hilda's childhood friends and the Pokemon professor knew how incredibly hard it had been for mother and daughter to be separated from Jonathan and they could only imagine the fear and stress the man had been going through in the past few years as he had no idea how his family was. The man himself took a deep breath as he gently kissed the top of his daughter's head as well, sometimes having trouble believing this was real and that he was free.

In the past few days as his daughter quickly trained for the gym battles ahead, he'd wake up thinking he was still in the Team Plasma headquarters like he had been for years, only to find his wife lying next to him and realise that he really was free. He still had so much to make up for. So many birthdays that he had missed and now, his daughter was already on her own journey of independence and he had missed several precious years.

He was never getting that time back ever, nor was Hilda likely going to get any siblings like he and his wife had been planning for years without success apart from their daughter as his wife was now too old to have a child, but that meant he better enjoy the days he did have with his family to the fullest. Pulling back so Hilda could get her badge, they went back to the Pokemon centre to celebrate Hilda getting her third to last badge. 

Jonathan was soon sitting right in-between his wife and daughter as they ate dinner and discussed what they were supposed to do now. Until Team Plasma was defeated once and for all, it wasn't completely safe for Jonathan to go back home right now in case someone spotted him arriving or in their home and news got around about a supposed dead man being alive after all. Hilda immediately shuddered at the idea of N getting into trouble for getting her father out. Despite the lying and the betrayal, a big part of her really didn't want to see him hurt.

It was eventually decided that while Hilda and her friends went on with their journey, her parents would go to Nimbasa City, both to make sure that no one back home saw them until it was safe and to give them both some time to catch up with each other and calm down after some rather hectic days. With their permission,  Professor Juniper would contact the champion, elite four and the gym leaders to explain the situation.

This way, they'd be on the lookout more than they already were as well and Team Plasma could hopefully be caught even faster. With both Cheren and Hilda now having beat the gym, it was honestly time for the trio to continue on with their travels and Hilda had to say goodbye to her parents. Both Jonathan and Catherine hugged her tightly and she immediately returned the favour as she clung onto them with all her strength.

"Be very careful, alright? With this Team Plasma still around in the region, you never know what they're up to." Jonathan whispered as he stroked his daughter's hair with one hand while having his other arm wrapped around his wife's waist and she immediately promised as she buried her face in his chest, feeling her mother kiss her temple as she insisted that Hilda called her every time they arrived in a new city now more than ever, dreading to think what could happen to her precious daughter now that she had come across Team Plasma several times already.

Hilda promised she'd do that as well, Professor Juniper promising she'd look after the couple in her absence and Hilda thanked her before she reluctantly pulled back and looked at her parents. Jonathan stroked her hair one last time and kissed her forehead, followed by her mother as she did the same before Hilda went to join her friends at the entrance of the route and they waved at the three adults as they continued their journey.

"You know, Hilda? This is what you should have had at the beginning of our journey: both parents waving you out, but I'm glad you still got it." Bianca commented and Cheren and Hilda herself immediately agreed with this as they walked through the high grass and battled many Pokemon along the way as they made their way north. Briefly visiting Celestial Tower to pay their respects to Pokemon who had passed away, they went on

Going through the maze like Twist Mountain where Hilda quickly caught the fighting type Pokemon Gurdurr to use for the next gym together with Sylvaine, having sent her scolipede to Professor Juniper's lab beforehand, they soon found themselves in Iccirus City. By now, it had become winter and the whole city was covered in white snow, children happily skating around on the nearby lake. Having bought new and warm clothing in Mistralton, the trio was thankfully prepared for this and quickly hurried towards the nearest Pokemon centre as they'd gotten hungry. 

After calling her parents who were now in Nimbasa City to tell them she had arrived safely, much to their relief, Hilda went to brush Balor to get rid of the wetness the snow had caused. Now that Ilayda was a Samurott, she didn't move as fast or easy on land like she used to do before her evolution, so she had decided to let Balor be their Trainer's companion from now on and the liepard took this duty very seriously indeed.  

Eventually challenging the gym after doing her usual thing of exploring the city, Hilda and Sylvaine had fun sliding around the ice as they made their way past the trainers and to the leader Brycen, much to the amusement of her friends. Once she'd reached him and with the help of Sylvaine and her new Gurdurr, she managed to beat him with ease and got her second to last badge. One more and she could challenge the elite four.

They'd already met the champion Alder in Twist Mountain after Cheren had challenged Hilda to another battle and had lost, so she was very curious about what kind of battle he'd give her if she reached him. Walking outside the gym, they were suddenly followed by Brycen who demanded someone to show themselves, the Shadow Triad appearing out of nowhere. "Not again!" Bianca growled as they got ready for a fight, only for the trio to deliver a message to Hilda. She needed to come to Dragonspiral Tower north of the city. After that, they vanished again. 

Sharing a look and with Brycen going on ahead after ordering one of his employees to tell the other gym leaders and the elite four about how Team Plasma was doing something in his city, having already heard about the kidnapping situation from Professor Juniper, the trio knew they had no choice but to go there as well and ran after him. Climbing many stairs they eventually came across dozens of Team Plasma grunts.

Brycen was already dealing with some of them and after sharing a look and a nod, Bianca and Cheren went to do the same as they let out their Pokemon and told Hilda to go on ahead. "They clearly asked for you for a reason. Go on ahead and find out what that reason is." Cheren told her and she nodded as she ran further with Balor at her side, still having to fight some grunts, but nothing as bad as her friends were dealing with. 

Getting two floors higher, the whole tower suddenly shook on its vestiges and they heard a ferocious cry from even higher, Hilda having to hold onto Balor to keep herself from falling over. Going a bit further, they were ambushed by one of the Seven Sages and had to battle four grunts in a row as they surrounded her, Balor keeping them at a distance and helping his trainer beat them. Once they were done and Hilda had made sure all her Pokemon were completely healed again, they walked further and climbed the last staircase, having no idea what to expect.

Arriving at the highest point, Hilda and Balor both stared at seeing N standing in front of a magnificent black dragon Pokemon, red eyes glowing in the slight mist that surrounded it from being so high up. The young woman couldn't believe she was actually seeing one of her region's legendaries and slowly walked further, her footsteps announcing her presence to N and he quickly turned around, instinctively smiling at seeing her. 

He knew despite all the grunts waiting, she'd get here. "What do you think, Hilda? How do you like the powerful form of the Pokémon who appears before and fights beside the hero that will lead the way to a new world? Now, Zekrom and I will head to the Pokemon League and defeat the Champion! This will be the last of the Pokemon battles that hurt Pokemon so. A world for Pokemon alone... It's finally going to be a reality." He said

Hilda didn't say anything as she was still staring at Zekrom and N chuckled. "If you want to stop me, you must become a hero as well! When Zekrom's counterpart, Reshiram recognizes you, we will finally be even, and then you can try to stop us. Well, what will you do? My prediction... If the future that I see is true, you will meet Reshiram. The Pokémon with you believe in you so strongly. Will you be the one who interferes with my formula for changing the world?" He asked as he walked a bit closer and caressed her cheek, giving her a tiny smile as she looked at him.

He once had the foolish dream of them ruling a perfect world side-by-side, but it seemed they were destined to fight each other instead. "If you want to protect the bonds between Pokemon and people, you must search for Reshiram! I'm sure it is waiting for you in the form of the Light Stone." He told her before stepping back.Once he said that, Zekrom started to fly up and out of the hole in the wall behind him, N jumping on its back.

Hilda ran over and saw them flying away as Cheren, Bianca and Brycen arrived. The gym leader realised this was bad as Team Plasma now had the might of a legendary behind them and told the trio to regroup as he and Hilda's friends left, but she stayed for just a bit longer. 'A Light Stone.... why does that sound so familiar?' She thought to herself. A memory of an odd stone glowing red flashed through her mind and she gasped.

She had the feeling she knew exactly where this stone was. 

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise 

The next gym had to wait.

They heard that Team Plasma was moving south to the buried Relic castle in the desert to find the Light Stone and Alder arrived after hearing the message from Bryce. He asked if the trio wanted to come with him to stop the team and Bianca declined. As much as she tried to keep up with Cheren and Hilda, she was aware that she wasn't as strong as her friends and after the last time in the desert, she really didn't want to return.

Neither did Hilda, but she manned herself and joined Alder and Cheren south on Apollo as they flew south to the desert resort while Bianca actually flew somewhere else at Hilda's suggestion. Quickly hurrying down, they lost Alder as the man had clearly been there before and went ahead while they were stopped by Team Plasma grunts as one of the Sages told Hilda that Ghetsis wanted to test her. Ghetsis was really getting on her nerves.

Still, they did their best to work together and defeated many grunts on their way deeper into the ruins, using the sand pits to get further down until they eventually found Alder talking to Ghetsis on the lowest level. "It looks like everyone is here. It seems you are working hard to resurrect Reshiram, the other Dragon-type Pokemon, aren't you? But it appears the Light stone you seek is not here." The despicable man said and Hilda bit her lip as she knew the reason she came here was not for the stone, but to kick their asses. However, she was not going to say it

"Well then, congratulations are in order! Hilda, you were chosen by our king. If you truly desire to keep the world as it is, where Pokémon live alongside people, you must bring the other Dragon-type Pokémon spoken of in legend and battle with our king. Otherwise, Team Plasma will steal every Pokémon from every person in the world and them all!" Ghetsis cackled and Hilda balled her hand to a fist at hearing him mentioning N

There was no doubt in her mind that he was the reason N believed there was no other way for Pokemon and people to live in harmony apart from being separated from each other forever. Alder protested his words and Ghetsis seemed surprised. "What's this? Champion Alder, even though illness took the Pokemon that had been your partner for many years, and you haven't had a serious battle in all that time?" He asked in a mocking tone

Both Cheren and Hilda looked at the Champion who looked both ashamed and furious at the same time. "Even you, who ordered the Elite Four to protect the Pokémon League and left to wander the Unova region alone... Even a Champion like you now wants to protect a world where Pokémon and people live together? Team Plasma's king will show the people of Unova that he is stronger than a Champion who keeps Pokémon bound! And just like the hero who founded Unova, he will be accompanied by the legendary Pokémon." Ghetsis continued.

Like you care about anything N does. He's nothing more than your puppet.' Hilda thought. "He will give this order! 'Trainers, release your Pokémon!' For this, we have prepared a suitable castle for the legendary Zekrom and our king!" Ghetsis shouted, Alder protesting again. "Our king has no interest in you. He has already determined that victory against you is assured." He continued, looking at the Champion like he was dirt under his shoe

Alder asked if he was telling this to make a fool out of him. "Of course not. I'm doing this out of kindness. I'm making sure the Champion doesn't get hurt for no reason. Granted, the moment when someone loses all hope... I really do love to watch that moment. Well then, farewell." Ghetsis cackled, before walking away. Hilda glared at the man's back before Alder asked where the Light Stone could be. "I may have an idea." She said.

Calling professor Juniper, it turned out she was already in Nacrene City after Bianca had called her as well, having informed Lenora about the situation at her friend's suggestion. Hilda and Cheren went there with Alder. Arriving at the museum, they were awaited by Professor Juniper and her father, Bianca as well as Lenora and her husband, the gym leader holding the same stone that Hilda had noticed last time in the city. "Is this is?" She asked and Hilda nodded as she was about to take it when Alder asked if she was absolutely sure she wanted to take the stone

Taking the stone would would mean she'd have to battle N. Hilda looked down at this as she was aware of this. While she and N had battled before, this was going to be about the future of Unova. Still, she knew that she had to do this so she accepted the stone from Lenora, it briefly glowing red once more as everyone around her gasped. "Extraordinary." The father of Professor Juniper breathed, before Alder told Hilda to go to Opelucid city

The gym leader would be able to help them with info about the legendary Pokemon. He left for the Pokemon League while Professor Juniper and her father went back to Nuvema Town. After a few parting words from Lenora while Hilda carefully put the stone in her back next to her egg container, the egg having started to move which meant that it would hatch soon, the trio shared looks and got on their Pokemon to fly back to Iccirus.

Going further east now that they were done with everything in Iccirus after telling their parents they were moving on for the next city, Bianca eventually challenged Hilda to another battle to make herself stronger. She lost quite quickly, but her Pokemon had gotten some experience. Crossing the Tubeline bridge, they jumped as the Shadow Triad suddenly appeared and took them to see a waiting and smirking Ghetsis. "Excellent. It seems that you have obtained the Light Stone. I congratulate you on a job well done." He said, the trio immediately glaring at him

"It is my lord N's thought that the two holders of the legendary Pokémon should put their beliefs on the line and strive to find which is the true hero. This is not necessary, however. From his infancy, I provided him with the education required to become the hero of legend. Indeed, he has been so acknowledged by the legendary Pokemon. ...Such purity of purpose is his." Ghetsis continued as he paced, completely ignoring the glares

"The liberation of Pokemon of which I... Of which Team Plasma speaks is the separation of Pokemon from foolish people! That's the truth! All trainers will become helpless to resist us! We alone will be able to use Pokemon! The preparations are complete! When my perfect plan is set in motion, first a few gullible Pokémon trainers who are unable to resist Team Plasma will release their Pokémon." He stated with a manic grin

Hilda made sure she had the stone in her bag in case one of the Triad tried to steal it. "Then that number will become a hundred, then a thousand. In no time, even the Gym Leaders and the Champion will become unable to fight us. Having a Pokémon will be considered a bad thing! Even people like you, the sad little Bianca, whose Pokémon was stolen in Castelia, will be unable to face public opinion and will release their Pokémon  That's the kind of world we'll make!"" He continued as he pointed at Hilda's friend who was quickly pulled back by Cheren 

You may have the Stone, but there's no chance whatsoever that the legendary Pokémon will ever accept you as the hero. So, if you're not willing to hand over your precious Pokemon, I suggest you search for some courage-- because you're going to need it!" He laughed, before disappearing with the Triad. The trio growled as he and the Shadow Triad vanished before continuing on as the sun was going down and they needed to set up camp.

They arrived in Opelucid City a couple of days later, seeing it in the distance just when a bright white glow suddenly came out of Hilda's bag. "Oh, my egg! It's finally hatching!" She exclaimed as she quickly took the container out of her bag and kneeled next to it as Bianca and Cheren backed up to give it space. "Where..... am I?" The newly hatched and very confused Axew asked as it slowly opened its eyes to see Hilda in front of it. 

"Welcome to the world, Axew." She said as she introduced herself and Balor, before letting out her other Pokemon. The Axew was frightened by the new faces but they reassured it they meant no harm as Hilda used her Pokédex to find out it was male. She decided to name him Maél after a story she loved as a child. Carefully lifting him up in her arms after recalling her Pokemon, she introduced him to Bianca and Cheren. Continuing on time the city, they arrived just as evening fell. Calling her parents at the Pokemon centre, they were delighted to meet the new Axew.

He greeted them after hearing they were family. Once her parents were assured she was alright, Hilda sat down in the lobby with her Pokemon while Cheren and Bianca went to book their rooms. Looking in her bag and seeing the light stone, she let out a deep breath as she knew she had to fight N, but also reminded herself what Team Plasma had done to her and her family. "I will not rest until Team Plasma is defeated." She muttered 

"Are you sure about that, young lady?" An unfamiliar voice suddenly asked from behind her and she immediately turned to face the speaker, her Pokemon growling at him as well. It was a middle-aged man with grey streaked hair and a brown trench coat. He seemed very stern and serious and Hilda quickly grabbed both her bag and Maél and held them close. "Who are you?" She asked, not really trusting him and he smiled a bit. 

"My name is Looker. I'm from the International Police." He introduced himself

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise 

After Looker introduced himself, he met with Hilda, Cheren and Bianca in private. 

There, after he proved that he really was from the international police, they told him everything they knew about Team Plasma and he wrote everything down in a notepad. Their Pokemon and especially Balor had their own things to say about the organisation and how they hurt their trainers. Not wanting Looker to know they she could actually understand Pokemon, Hilda pretended that what they said were her own comments.

Once he had written everything down, Looker thanked them for their help in his investigation before giving them a card with his number on it and asked they called him if they found out anything else. They immediately promised and he left, the three of them shared a look. "Do you think Team Plasma can be arrested now? They have literally stolen the Pokemon of people before." Bianca commented quietly and Cheren replied that he wasn't sure.

"Team Plasma can be extremely slippery if they wanted to be, not to mention that we don't know how many members there actually are out there who are likely completely loyal to Ghetsis or to N and unless they're lured into some kind of trap somehow, I wouldn't be surprised if Ghetsis used that Shadow Triad to escape justice." He commented thoughtfully and as much as they hated it, both Bianca and Hilda knew that he was right, before they went to their own rooms to rest from the long trip they had taken from Iccirus to Opelucid 

Unfortunately, their unwanted meetings with Ghetsis definitely weren't over yet as the next morning, they walked out of the Pokemon centre to see some kind of commotion going on on the main square, going to check it out, they groaned at seeing Ghetsis again and decided to stay out of sight as they really didn't want to be noticed by him. He seemed to be in the middle of some kind of speech like back in Accumula Town 

"That's correct! Our lord N has combined his power with the legendary Pokemon and intends to create a new world. We herald the return of the hero of Unova, founder of this region. Pokémon are different from people. They are living beings who contain unknown potential! They arebeings from whom we humans have much to learn. They are beings whose greatness we should acknowledge! Beings who should be freed from our oppression!" He said

To the concern of the trio, people actually seemed quite a bit more willing to take his words in than they were during his first speech "We, Team Plasma, invite you to join us! We all want to create a new world where people and Pokémon are both free! Ladies and gentlemen, I ask you now... Please, release your Pokémon. And so I end my plea to you today. Thank you one and all for your attention." He finished as he bowed and he and his cronies left, thankfully without seeing them as Hilda felt like she was going to scream if she had to talk to him one more time

Slowly getting out of their hiding spot once they were gone, they found an older man discussing the speech with Alder and none other than Iris who they had met in Castelia City. "Ah, Hilda! Perfect timing. Drayden, Iris this is the trainer I was telling you about. The one with the white stone." Alder introduced her to the two people he was with and she quickly introduced her friends as well as she didn't l like she was the only one mentioned.

Iris happily greeted them and talked to Bianca about her Pokemon while Drayden carefully inspected the light stone from where it was in Hilda's bag and told them to meet him at his house so they could talk in private. Alder truly went to the Pokemon League this time and wished them all the best of luck in finishing their journey. They followed Drayden to his house where he and Iris told them everything they knew about the legendary Pokemon. 

The trio refused to look at each other when Drayden said Pokemon couldn't speak as they all knew very well that they did speak and only people like Hilda and N could understand what they said. Unfortunately, they only knew the backstory of Reshiram and Zekrom and nothing about how they were supposed to get Reshiram to reveal itself and despite getting a nice history lesson, they ultimately didn't learn much that could help them defeat Team Plasma. Drayden did welcome them to challenge the gym whenever they wanted since he was the gym leader.

Cheren and Hilda had trained for this and while Maél was too young to take place in the gym battle as he'd be knocked quick, he was allowed to watch from Bianca's lap as his trainer fought the gym, her, Cheren and an arrived Jonathan and Catherine watching from the sidelines as the girl took on her final gym challenge. It was hard as Drayden had a very powerful team but with help from Ilayda's newly learned ice beam, she eventually won.

She jumped up-and-down in happiness when the last Pokemon was knocked out, quickly hugging her just as ecstatic partner around her neck as her friends, parents and baby Pokemon cheered for her. Ilayda gently nudged her trainer with her head, mindful of the huge horn she now had on her head. Once she had let go, Hilda was immediately engulfed into a hug by her very proud parents and she immediately melted into their embrace.

This had been what she had wanted for so very long: both parents hugging her after winning her final gym battle and here it was."You've done so well, sweetheart. We're so incredibly proud of you and all that you have achieved until now." Jonathan whispered and he meant every word. His daughter had done so well even without him being there to guide her. Hilda beamed at hearing this as she tightened her grip on both her parents. Pulling back and getting hugged by her friends as well, Hilda officially received her final badge and let out another laugh.

She quickly jumped into the air with it as she cheered once, her Pokemon jumping with her. She then hugged both Ilayda and Maél, her first and newest partners as she couldn't have done it without them. Yes,  Team Plasma had definitely put a domper on the journey, but she had finally managed to do what she had first set out on her journey: get all eight badges. Now they just had to make it to the elite four and hopefully Alder.

Drayden eventually congratulated her on earning her final gym badge as she stood back up with Maél in her arms and she thanked him in return, before she recalled Ilayda so she could rest and gave Drayden a hand. They left the gym after that as Cheren already had his gym battle and went to a nearby restaurant to celebrate. "Woohoo! All eight badges gone and done! Now, it's up to the Pokemon League!" A very happy Bianca cheered loudly

A slightly embarrassed Cheren hushed her at seeing people staring at them at her loud words and she apologised, Hilda chuckling and shaking her head at their antics as she held Maél, her mother playing peekaboo with him from across the table and he giggled every time she did it, making his trainer smile. These were her friends and family they'd stood with her through thick and thin. She wouldn't want to have it any other way

Outside, a certain green haired man was unconsciously smiling at the sight of her laughing at something Bianca had said, happy that despite everything going on around had, she could still have a smile on her face. He hadn't meant to come across her or her family. He was just on his way north when he spotted her, her hair and hat being almost as recognisable as she would probably consider his and he had quickly hidden around the corner before she could spot him, keeping an eye on her from a small distance just to make sure nothing happened to her.

He knew Ghetsis had been here just a few days ago and around the same time she had likely arrived as well. He didn't want anything to happen to her and he didn't want his father to focus even more attention on her than he already hae. At the very least, no one had noticed the disappearance of Mr. White and if they had, they hadn't said anything. Still, he hoped Hilda wouldn't get hurt until their fight. Because that's what he wanted, right?

To have a final battle to prove who was right and who was wrong? It was the only way to be absolutely sure who had the right truths and ideals, so why did he feel scared when the thought of actually fighting Hilda with Zekrom entered his mind?  This was all so confusing for him and he didn't know what to do. Perhaps his sisters could help him with this Still, seeing her happy did make him feel better as he turned and walked away.

He had a mission to fulfill.... no matter how much his heart twisted at the thought.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise 

Hilda took a deep breath as they reached Victory Road

After leaving Opelucid City once they were ready and saying goodbye to her parents, they had to travel north over the rather overgrown route 10, very different than the rather neat and orderly route 1 where they started. It was a rather gruelling hike as they slowly climbed the mountain that housed Victory Road and the Elite Four. A guard stopped them at the gates leading them to the famous part of the trainer's journey. 

He explained that the next few sections would check if they had the appropriate badges and even though Bianca didn't have any, she could still continue once they explained she was not here to fight the Elite Four and was simply there to spectate and cheer her friends on and as long as she had her friends to help her. They were allowed further and came to the first gate where another guard scanned Hilda and Cheren for their badges.

At seeing they had their badges and Bianca holding up a note the first guard had given her to indicate she was not here for the challenge but to support her friends, they were allowed further and entered a small park with a tiny stream dividing it in two with a bridge over it. "This was not what I expected." Hilda muttered as she petted Balor's head to try and keep herself calm as she realised they not only had reached the final part of their journey, but also that N was likely waiting for her at the end and the liepard agreed with her comment as he pushed his head into her hand.

Like their trainer, he and the rest of her team were very aware that N would almost certainly be waiting for them to have a final fight between the two of them and with the white stone still completely dormant after that red flash and not waking up anytime soon for as far as they could see, so they had no one who could match Zekrom in power. They were certainly strong, but Zekrom was a legendary Pokémon for a reason

The next guard carefully checked for their second badges and so on, every gate being opened to reveal a completely different section. "Woah!" Cheren exclaimed in surprise as they walked past the checkpoint for the jet badge and over a bridge that crossed a very deep canyon with wind constantly blowing up, not hard enough to be dangerous but enough to be noticeable, their pokemon shouting in surprise too.

They quickly crossed it before their hair and fur was all messed up because of the wind and sighed in relief once they were at the other side. Going through the last few gates after the last checks with Bianca's note helping, they reached the very high mountain wall that housed Victory Road, the three of them sharing looks as they realised this was it. All the training and fighting that they and especially Hilda and Cheren had done and all the trials and tribulations they had gone through would almost be paid off if they managed to get through this and reach the Elite Four.

They then entered the cave and started climbing, fighting strong Pokémon and trainers and needing to take breaks every now and again when their legs were burning. Taking a lunch break in a corner out of the way, Hilda pulled out the light stone and looked it over, trying to see if there was any sign of it waking up like when an egg moved and sounds were heard when it was about to hatch but absolutely nothing.

"Do you think that you can actually wake it up?" Bianca asked quietly as she ate her sandwich and Hilda shrugged in answer, Balor eventually abandoning his food to sit next to her and look down at the stone as well until she told him to continue eating. Once her liepard was eating again, she looked down at it too as this situation was slowly driving her mad. This was not at all what she had imagined her journey to look like.

At the end of lunch, once they had cleaned up all their stuff they recalled the Pokémon accompanying them so they could rest for any battles ahead. Continuing on after that, they eventually managed to reach the summit right as the sun started to set and Cheren turned to Hilda. "My friend, we both know that the Elite Four invite one trainer each day and I feel that in this situation, that will very likely be you so let me battle you one more time to give you extra experience." He stated, knowing that Hilda was stronger than him and having accepted that.  Hilda quickly nodded in answer.

Getting ready, Cheren threw out his team of unfezant, simipour, liepard and of course, Silas and as hard as they fought to try and beat Hilda's team, the young woman was still stronger and won after half an hour of fighting. Despite being defeated, Cheren chuckled as he recalled silas after Hilda's own unfezant Apollo had defeated him with a powerful aerial ace. "You'll be fine, my friend." He stated and Hilda smiled in return.

Reaching the building of the Elite Four and going to the Pokémon centre, the trio stiffened up at seeing the four trainers themselves standing there. "You must be Hilda, Cheren and Bianca. Alder warned us that you'd be coming. He has already allowed another trainer named N to challenge him tomorrow and for us to challenge the one who carries the Light Stone." One of them, Shauntal, told them as she walked over.

Cheren let out a quiet "told you" and his friends chuckled as Hilda walked forwards to show that she was the one holding it and Shauntal nodded. "Better rest well and prepare, young one. Alder told us a huge battle is waiting for you one way or another if you beat us." She stated and Hilda nodded before the four members left and she let out a deep breath. Walking to the counter, nurse Joy explained that since this was a very special situation, their rooms had already been reserved with no extra costs by the Elite Four and they thanked her as they went upstairs to drop their things off. 

Going back downstairs for dinner, it was a very quiet affair as both humans and Pokémon felt the tension in the air and they knew that tomorrow might just change everything. Hilda had already sent her axew to Professor Juniper for his own safety as he was far too young and weak for what was ahead after giving him a kiss on the top of his head and reassurance that she still loved him, getting her Krookodile in return.

Going outside for a few minutes, she let out her whole team: samurott, liepard, unfezant, krookodile, zebstrika and a Pokémon she had traded her scolipede for in back in Opelucid City: Reuniculus. "Tomorrow is the big day, everyone. It will likely not be how we had expected it to be when we first started, but one way or another, we will have the fight off a lifetime. Can i count on you?" She asked despite knowing the answer already.

They all immediately nodded and confirmed it and she smiled as she opened her arms and her Pokémon immediately surrounded her to hug her back, making her smile even as she was almost crushed in the middle. As long as she had her team and her friends, she knew she could take anything tomorrow might bring. Pulling back after a few seconds and slowly recalling her Pokémon again, she went back inside and to bed as she had to get up bright and early the next day. Lying in bed, she wondered if N had already arrived, before she turned on her side and closed her eyes.

The next day, with Cheren and Bianca right at her side, Hilda announced her presence at the gates leading to the Elite Four building after eating breakfast and making the final preparations. The guard at the gate warned her that once she walked in, she was not allowed to walk out until she either won from the champion or lost and she nodded in understanding as they were allowed in and the gates closed behind them. 

The entire Elite Four were already waiting for them with Caitlin being the one to step forwards now. "Alder and the trainer have already gone on to his chamber. He told us that since this is not a normal situation, you are allowed to choose in which order to fight us." She explained and after looking them all over, Hilda decided time fight Shauntal first as her type was ghost and she had two dark types that were resistant to them. 

Going to sit at the side with Cheren and the other three trainers, Bianca got an idea and quickly used her transceiver to let Jonathan, Catherine and Professor Juniper watch along and hearing their voices cheering her on over the connection made Hilda straighten up as she knew she couldn't lose. Shauntal threw out her first Pokémon with was the pure ghost type cofagrigus and Hilda sent out Balor, the liepard using its speed to attack first and enduring the shadow balls he got in return. Only the burn he got from one of the attacks hurt him a bit, but Hilda had him soon healed. 

It didn't take very long before cofagrigus was defeated and the next Pokémon was the water/ghost type jellicent. "Balor, return." Hilda ordered as she wanted her liepard to take a small break for the next battle and Balor returned to her side as she sent out her zebstrika instead. This fight was over even faster as Hilda had taught her Pokémon electro ball, an attack that was more powerful the faster the Pokémon was. 

With Hilda's Pokémon thankfully being much faster as it had almost double the speed compared to the jellicent, it let out a lot of powerful attacks with the jellicent being unable to do much damage and her opponent had soon fainted again. "Well done!" Hilda loudly cheered with both her Pokémon happily cheering back. Seeing the next Pokémon was golurk, a rock/ghost Pokémon, Hilda immediately sent out Ilayda instead

With her starter right at her side and obeying her every order immediately, Hilda beat both the golurk and Shauntal's final Pokémon chandelure very quickly as it was part fire type and therefore in the disadvantage as well. She immediately cheered in happiness despite the situation as she ran to her starter and tackled her into a hug in utter relief of winning this battle. Illayda immediately nudged her head in response as Hilda's friends and family over the transceiver loudly cheered as well, Bianca somehow managing to keep her arm mostly steady during her cheering.

Giving Hilda ten minutes to let her team rest and heal for a bit, the young woman chose Caitlin next to fight and the woman began by sending out a Reuniculus of her own. Once again, Balor was a huge help together with Krookodile as they defeated the Reuniculus, followed by musharna, sigilyph and gothitelle in record time as especially the latter Pokémon had no attacks that were effective to the ground/dark type. 

With that, half of the Elite Four were already defeated within an hour or so and after another short break, the dark type trainer Grimsley was next to fight her. Krookodile was a very huge help here in this fight as well as Hilda had taught him the fighting move brick break before she went into the fights, which was super effective against all of the four Pokémon: scrafty, another Krookodile, another liepard and a bisharp.

The fighting type trainer Marshal was last and apart from his throh as it had one dark type move that Reuniculus was weak to, the other Pokémon which were sawk, mienshao and conkeldurr were not that much of a challenge apart from them having the move retaliate as it would deal double the damage if a teammate had fainted before that as Hilda had to order her Pokémon to dodge more attacks than in the previous battles. Everyone waited tensely for the end and it finally happened when with a final psychic attack, conkeldurr fainted and Hilda had officially won. 

Despite Cheren and Bianca being only the only two people in the audience who were actually and physically there apart from the other three trainers since the other three important spectators of the match had watched it over the transceiver, they still cheered as loudly as possible while the rest of the Elite Four applauded Hilda as well as the young woman immediately hugged her Pokémon as much as possible

Marshall eventually walked over to her after recalling his own Pokémon with a warm smile and genuinely thanking it for having done its best for him. "Very well done, Hilda. You are more than ready to face Alder now. Although, he should have been done by now." Marshall said as he wondered what was taking Alder as he would usually return once he was done. "Can you go and see if everything is okay?" He asked

After sharing a very brief look with Bianca and Cheren and seeing them nod as they knew she could handle whatever was coming next, she resolutely nodded in answer as well but not before talking to her parents first as she didn't want to leave we she just knew that N was waiting for her in the champion's chamber. "You've done so well, sweetheart. We're so incredibly proud of you for beating the Elite Four." Her mother immediately gushed over the transceiver in utter pride and Hilda instinctively blushed in response even as her friends snickered at seeing her embarrassment. 

Her father then told her to be careful as like his daughter, he had the feeling that something big was about to happen and she was going to be right in the middle of it. He had known that Hilda was going to face this N ever since they had explained the situation, but despite knowing that she was now eighteen years old and had a strong team at her side,she was still his little girl and he had already missed so much time with her.

"I promise, dad. Bianca, Cheren, go with the Elite Four and warn the gym leaders. Something is about to blow." Hilda said and they nodded as she hugged them both, said goodbye to her parents and Professor Juniper and Shauntal led her to the elevator leading to the champion's chamber once she was ready and her team was rested, wishing her luck and walking away. Hilda took a deep breath and pushed the button to go down. 

There was no going back now. 

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise

Hilda heard the sounds of battle the moment the elevator landed 

She immediately ran up the stairs to the building and inside just as N defeated Alder's last Pokémon. "It's over! Never again will Pokémon be made to suffer or be held captive by humans. It's all thanks to my friend Zekrom You may have the title of Champion… But you can't stop me with just a title. Your soft heart has left you weak. Years ago, you lost your Pokémon, your partner, to sickness." N said with a scoff

"In order to forget the pain in your heart, you wandered Unova… Who knows how long it's been since you've had to fight with your full strength? I actually kind of like that about you, though. As a Trainer who far outmatches the Champion, I shall issue an order across Unova: Trainers of the world, free your Pokémon!" He shouted, ignoring Alder's pleas to listen and that humans and Pokémon needed each other

Hilda briefly stopped walking as she noticed N wincing and grabbing his head before manning himself, something she had seen him do more often ever since he had revealed he was the King of Team Plasma. It was like two sides were warring with each other inside of him, the things he had been taught for years in conflict with what he had learned on his journey....and maybe even from her in the short time they had known each other before he had revealed the truth."You and I both put our beliefs on the line and fought with all our strength. And I won. Do not say another word." He said

"N!" She then shouted as she ran quickly up the stairs before it could continue. Reshiram or no Reshiram, she had to stop him before Team Plasma's ideas were realised. He looked at her as she came closer and immediately gave her the same soft smile he always did when he saw her, but this time, it was even more marred with sadness and regret than before as he knew a fight between them was inevitable 

"There you are, beautiful Hilda. I've been waiting. In the future I envisioned, you obtained a stone. And, indeed, you have. That Light Stone. Zekrom is responding to it." He said and Hilda began to open her bag to get it "Stop. This is not suitable for the legendary dragons! From the ground, rise up! The castle of Team Plasma! Surround the Pokémon League!" He shouted and the ground immediately began to shake in response.

Hilda immediately had to cling onto the nearest pillar for support and Alder did the same, the young woman being glad that all her Pokémon were safe in their pokéballs where nothing could harm them and hoping her friends and the Elite Four were safe as a huge castle somehow came up from the ground and did indeed surround the Pokémon League. Staircases then extended out of the castle and into the Pokémon League, one such staircase breaking through the wall and nearly hitting Hilda who jumped out of the way. "What. Just. Happened?" She asked slowly

"What has just appeared is Team Plasma's castle. The king's words will resound from the heights to all below. You must come to the castle, as well. Everything will be decided there. Whether Pokémon will be liberated from people, or whether Pokémon and people will live together… We will see whose belief is stronger... And our result will change the world." N replied as he helped her up, before he walked up the staircase.

Cheren suddenly cane running in and frantically asked if they gith were alright. "I'm fine." Hilda replied even as she coughed from the dust that the chaos had caused. "And you and Bianca? Are you alright?" She then asked and Cheren nodded as he explained Bianca had been frantically calling Burgh from Castelia city when he left her and the Elite Four and Hilda sighed in relief at hearing both her friends were okay. 

She would have had an even harder time keeping her temper in against Team Plasma if Bianca and Cheren got hurt because of them. Alder bemoaned the fact that he had lost despite being the champion, before asking Hilda to try and make N see sense in that Pokémon and humans needed each other and couldn't live apart and after sharing a look with Cheren and getting a nod, she nodded as well and began to climb the staircase herself. Looking down at her bag, she still didn't feel any difference in the Light Stone and wondered if it would ever wake up in time.

Walking into the castle, she was immediately stopped by six older men who talked about how those who were there to stop fate had to be stopped themselves and how they couldn't let her ruin Ghetsis's plan and she growled at the name. "So N is really just the puppet king, hmm? It's really Ghetsis who is the true power behind the throne and has confused N so much, he doesn't know which way to turn." She spat in disgust. 

One of the men immediately told her to be quiet as she would have to beat all six of them in battle if she wanted to proceed, only for almost all of the gym leaders to arrive in the nick of time and challenge them instead. Only Cilan, Chili and Cress were missing which was because they were too far away as Bianca later learned and because they had their restaurant while the others had been completely ready to spring into action. 

With their encouragement, Hilda ran further while they kept the sages busy. She ran deeper into the castle, only to be waylaid again. This time, it was by one of the Shadow Triad who told her that she could heal her Pokémon in a nearby room as N apparently wanted to have as much of an even fight as possible. Walking in, she came across Anthea and Concordia who had grown up with N and had been taken in by Ghetsis as well. Anthea healed her Pokémon from any remaining exhaustion and wounds, but when Hilda began to leave to find N, she was stopped by Concordia

N has been separated from people since he was young. He was brought up with Pokémon... Pokémon that were betrayed, mistreated and hurt by bad people... Ghetsis deliberately brought only those poor Pokémon closer to N. He was touched by their plight, and started pursuing ideals thinking only of Pokémon. N's heart is pure and innocent. But there is nothing more beautiful and terrifying than innocence." She stated

"He has told us about you in the past few months, about how wonderful you are and how you are different from other trainers and we think that you are the only one who can set him from this course because we fear that if he continues on..... it will be his death one way or another. Please try to make him change his mind before it's too late" Anthea continued and Hilda gave them both a brief nod before she walked out.

Continuing on through the castle and being led by another one of the Shadow Triad, Hilda eventually found herself in what had to be N's childhood bedroom where she noticed some of the children's toys that were lying all over the floor had recently been played with even though N was pretty much about the same age as her. "Oh, N. You never got the decent upbringing you should have had, did you? I'm so sorry, my friend." She whispered, calling him her friend again for the first time since Nimbasa city as she then walked out again ad this room made her just feel depressed 

Eventually standing in front on the entrance to what had to be the throne room where N was waiting for her, she took a deep breath. Balor had let himself out halfway there and she shared a look with the liepard. "Here we go." She whispered and he straightened up as he stated they could do this. She began to walk in, only to be stopped once again. This time, both she and Balor let out a growl at seeing Ghetsis standing there. 

"Welcome, holder of the Light Stone.The castle that appeared as if it were enveloping the Pokémon League is a symbol. It means Unova will change. The king of this castle is the strongest Trainer in the world. He is accompanied by the legendary Pokémon. He has defeated the Champion. Added to all that, his heart burns with the desire to improve the world. If that's not what makes a hero, what more do you need?" He asked

"Now that the stage is set, we can seize people's minds and hearts. We can bring into being the world that I--no, that Team Plasma--desires more easily than you can imagine! We and only we will use Pokémon, and we shall rule the powerless populace! I've been waiting so long for this! I've kept my silence so no one could piece together what I planned. Now, those painful days are at an end! Go! Onward! Discover whether you have what it takes to be a hero! Go! Holder of the Light Stone! In this room, you can learn whether you, too, can be a hero!" He shouted and Hilda crossed her arms.

"You know you're barely fooling anyone, right? Anyone with a working brain can hear that this is all just a ruse for you to get more power and you abused, manipulated and gaslit an innocent young man to do your bidding and made him think this world is ugly when there is so much beauty. You are the most pathetic, disgusting little man I've met in my entire life." She spat, uncaring of the ferocious glare she was getting. 

Neither of them noticed a red glow coming from her bag as the Light Stone reacted to her standing up for her truth, before disappearing. "Mark my words, Ghetsis. One way or another, I'm going to make sure this ends today." Hilda continued as she then walked past the man and purposefully shoved him to the side to get in. "Nice purple colour you've got on your skin there. You almost look like me." Balor taunted him as he followed.

Walking in, she saw N sitting on a throne and he smiled at seeing her. "What I desire is a world for Pokémon, and Pokémon alone. I will separate Pokémon from people, so Pokémon can regain their original power. It's time to settle this once and for all! My determination is absolute! I will prove the value of my beliefs even if it means my Pokémon friends get hurt! Since you've come this far, I believe you are equally determined. If that's so, prove it to me! Show me the depth of your determination!" He stated and Hilda slowly walked forwards, trying to ignore the pain in her chest at seeing him like this

It was clear he was desperately clinging on what he had been brought up to believe as a last resort because he would break into tiny pieces of he didn't. N hummed as he walked close as well until they were standing across from each other. "You came all this way to battle me… But Reshiram is not responding. You haven't yet been recognized as the hero, have you?" He asked and she looked down in slight embarrassment 

"How disappointing. I actually kind of liked you a little. Through our many battles, I got the feeling that you might be a Trainer who truly cares for Pokémon!" N said and Hilda looked up at hearing that he had actually liked you, even as Balor tried to defend her and said she did care about them just as much as many other trainers did. N shook his head in disappointment, not listening to what the liepard said.

"But I was kidding myself. The idea of Trainers getting to know each other through battles is ridiculous! You have two options. Challenge me to a fight you can't win, or leave this place and watch the birth of a new world where Pokémon are free of people! ZekromB/ReshiramW! Come to me!" He shoutedand the back wall was soon broken by a ball of electricpower that opened to reveal Zekrom and this time, the red glow coming from her bag was impossible to miss. N took a step back in surprise. "Your Light Stone is… I mean, Reshiram is…" He stuttered as Hilda got the stone out.

It lifted itself out of her hands and began to spin around, the red glow growing and changing into pure fire until a similar ball of light was hovering in the air, N, Hilda, Zekrom and Balor having to back away until the light disappeared to reveal a magnificent white dragon Pokémon: Reshiram. It immediately looked at Hilda as it slowly lowered itself back to the ground and let out a loud cry that seemed to shake the room. 

"You, Trainer. You have shown that you live according to your truths, but I need you to prove yourself worthy by battling me. Show me that you are worthy of the title "Champion of truth."" It stated and at realising that she was going to have to fight the legendary Pokémon, Hilda shared a nervous look with Balor, before recalling him and sending out Ilayda instead and even the samurott was shaking just a bit at seeing the situation.

"We can do this, illayda. I believe in you." Hilda stated and her starter looked at her, before straightening up and giving her a nod as she turned back towards Reshiram. Her trainer was counting on her and she was not going to let her down. "Use waterfall!" Hilda ordered and Ilayda immediately hit Reshiram with the attack, which worked because it was part fire type, but it immediately hit back with hyper beam. Ilayda then quickly attacked again at her trainer's command and endured most of the attacks she got in return until she almost collapsed and Hilda recalled her. 

"You did good, sweetheart. You can rest." She whispered as she then sent out zebstrika instead to paralyze the legendary Pokémon. At seeing it weakened, she decided to risk it and threw an ultra ball. Reshiram went in and after a few seconds of tense silence, it clicked and Reshiram was officially Hilda's Pokémon. "We did it!" Hilda dhered, net Pokémon cheering right alongside her. N couldn't fully stop his smile as he watched them

"Ah, I see. Reshiram, who is said to lend its power to the hero who searches for truth has recognized your power and agrees to stand by your side." He said and Hilda asked if he was ready for their battle now. "Hold on. Your Pokémon are hurt. There is no triumph to be gained in battling a weakened opponent." He said as he healed her Pokémon. "Now, I will create the future I desire! I shall sweep you before me!" He stated as they both got ready.

It was now or never. 

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise 

"Zekrom, show me your power!"

Zekrom immediately let out a roar that shook the entire room and Reshiram quickly sent itself out in response. Hilda would have preferred to use Krookodile as that Pokémon had moves advantage, but she understood why the white dragon insisted on fighting its opposite as she ordered it to use fusion flare and Zekrom cried out in pain as it was hit, before sending out its own signature move Fusion Bolt at Reshiram.

Reshiram quickly dodged the attack, only to belatedly realise that it wasn't alone anymore and the attack was now flying towards its new trainer. "Hilda!" N shouted in fear at seeing it rushing to her and she barely managed to jump out of the way, grunting as she landed rather harshly on the ground. N didn't care to order another attack until he knew for certain that she was okay as she slowly got back on her feet again. 

After a few hits in-between the two with Reshiram making sure not to leave its trainer undefended again as it reminded itself that a human could not take on such a hit, Hilda asked for it to be recalled so that Krookodile could take over and finish the job. Reshiram allowed itself to be put back in its pokeball for now as it knew that its trainer was in charge from now on and Krookodile defeated the black dragon in two turns. With the next Pokémon being the ice Pokémon Vanilluxe, Reshiram was sent back out and had it defeated very quickly, both N and Hilda chuckling at hearing it mutter how easy it was. 

N's next Pokémon was the water/rock type Carracosta, Reshiram was quickly recalled again as it was weak to water and Zebstrika was immediately sent out instead and N couldn't help but smile a tiny bit as he could see that Hilda's Pokémon pushed themselves to their limits just to make sure she was proud of them and she never failed to give them compliments, cheering them on when they did a lot of damage. 

Despite its best efforts, Carracosta was quickly defeated too and the next Pokémon seemed to be Klinklang, but a single hit from zebstrika got rid of the illusion to reveal zoroark. Zebstrika was recalled and Krookodile put back in the fight. With the move brick break, he did quite a bit of damage before being defeated and Hilda recalled him with a smile. "Thank you my friend. You can rest now." She whispered.

Balor was immediately sent out to finish the job and had it quickly beaten in just one move after that. The actual Klinklang who came out after that was beaten by Reshiram and the last Pokémon, Archeon was beaten, rather fittingly, by Ilayda as it meant that the final battle between N and Hilda ended almost the same way the first one began, albeit with a different Pokémon on N's side and the purrloin he used during that now on Hilda's side.N stared out in front of him as he recalled Archeon, and realised he had lost once again from this extraordinary woman 

"Zekrom and I were beaten. Your truth… Your feelings… They were stronger than mine, it seems… Reshiram and Zekrom… Each of them choosing a different hero… Is that even possible? Two heroes living at the same time— one that pursues truth and one that pursues ideals. Could… could they both be right? I don't know." He muttered as he sank to his knees and Hilda walked over with a smile on her face as Ilayda followed her.

"If everyone else rejected anything new and different all the time, the whole entire world would never change and remain stagnant forever. Pokémon aren't the only ones who can grow and evolve over time, my friend. You can do so too and it is time you look to the future, my friend." She stated as she kneeled down next to him and after a few seconds of contemplating, she saw understanding finally crossing his face. 

"You're right like you always were. It's not by rejecting different ideas, but by being willing to be accepting to different ideas that the world creates a chemical reaction. This is truly the formula for changing the world slowly over time." He said and she immediately beamed at him as she pulled him into a hug with Ilayda watching with her own smile on her face as she could see that Hilda had forgiven N for everything, so she supposed that she could do so too . None of them had noticed the footsteps walking into the room until they heard Ghetsis's cold voice echoing through it

"After all of that, do you think you're still worthy of sharing the name Harmonia with me? You good-for-nothing boy!" He hissed and Hilda felt N flinch as she tightened her grip and Ilayda stood in front of them with a growl. "I spurred N into pursuing ideals. The reason we reawakened the legendary Pokémon now was to give MY Team Plasma more power! Power to control the fearful masses! That at least was well done." Ghetsis continued 

N  immediately scrambled to stand up in an instinctive fear that Hilda recognised from scared Pokémon who had been hurt before and Ghetsis walked towards him with a disgusted look on his face as if N was nothing more than Pidove poop underneath his shoes "After saying you had to put your beliefs on the line and battle to see which one chosen by the legendary Pokémon was the true hero... You lost to an ordinary Trainer!" He spat

There is such a thing as being too stupid! Add it up, and you are nothing more than a warped, defective boy who knows nothing but Pokémon..." He hissed in utter disgust  and fury as he moved his hand as if to backhand N across the face and the young man already closed his eyes in anticipation of it but Hilda immediately pushed him out of the way and took the hit instead, being sent flying a few feet by the force of the slap. 

"Hilda!" N screamed in horror as he watched her fall and rushed over with Ilayda just as Adler and Cheren walked in, the both of them looking on in horror too. Reaching Hilda, N lifted her up in his arms. She had a split lip and was definitely going to have a bruised cheek, but she was still awake. "Hilda, I'm so sorry." He whispered as he had failed to protect her again, just like he had been unable to stop Ghetsis from finding out everything about her and she smiled at him as she said that it wasn't his fault. Cheren ran over with Silas who quickly healed her until she was better again.

"Hilda, I never would have thought the legendary Pokémon would choose an ordinary Trainer like you! It caught me completely off guard, but doesn't change my goal. My plans have not been disturbed! In order to rule this world utterly, in order to manipulate the hearts of people who know nothing." Ghetsis continued as if he didn't care he'd just hit someone and he likely didn't. Hilda growled as N and Cheren helped her sit back up slowly 

I will have N be the king of Team Plasma. But, for that to work, you-- since you know the truth-- You must be eliminated!" He shouted, only for N to suddenly glare at him and say that he was never going to listen to him again now that Hilda had been injured again because of him. "You actually choose a girl you barely know over me after everything I've done for you?" Ghetsis scoffed and N tightened his grip on her in answer 

Cheren then asked what happened to the idea of letting everyone free their Pokémon, making the older man scoff once more. "That was just nothing more than a convenient lie that I needed to create Team Plasma. Use your head. What's to be gained from letting go of useful things like Pokémon? Certainly, manipulating Pokémon helps people expand their possibilities. That much, I can agree with. So it naturally follows that only I should be able to use Pokémon!" He said, Alder immediately protesting that Pokémon and humans needed each other, but he didn't care. 

"You can say whatever you want. A Pokémon, even if it's revered as a deity, is still just a Pokémon. Hilda, so what if it chose you! That doesn't mean you're a threat. Come on! Now you'll face ME in battle! I can't wait to see the look on your face when you've lost all hope!I won't allow anyone to stop me! No matter who does what!" He screamed and Hilda slowly stood up with help from Cheren and N as Adler healed her Pokémon.

"Do your absolute worst, you disgusting bastard." She hissed in an anger she had rarely felt before as she wiped the remaining blood of her face. She heard N starting to protest by calling out her name as he grabbed her hand and she briefly looked over her shoulder and smiled at him as she told herself that she was going to make sure that Ghetsis would never be able to get close to N ever again. She then glared back at Ghetsis.

"You are nothing more than a sad, pathetic man who acts like a little child who doesn't want to share his toys with anyone else. Not to mention that you're a giant coward, hiding behind an innocent man to fulfill your own plans. Exactly how many lives are you going to wreck, just to try and make yourself feel better than others? Actually, it doesn't matter as this ends right here and now, Ghetsis and I don't care what I have to do to beat you." She hissed and Ghetsis's face once again got a nice purple colour in his fury as he sent his cofagrigus out to battle and Balor was sent out to fight 

The liepard had already heard the words Ghetsis had spat at his former trainer, the man his current trainer clearly had feelings for and had also sensed the hit that Hilda had gotten right after from inside his pokeball, so he was incredibly furious at the disgusting man and fought extra hard in response, beating the ghost Pokémon in just a few turns. Ghetsis simply recalled the Pokémon while calling it weak and a failure.

He then sent out Hydreigon instead. Hilda recalled Balor and sent out Ilayda, who had briefly been returned to her pokeball by Adler so he could heal her as well. The samurott loudly growled at both Ghetsis and his Pokémon in true anger, using three ice beams after another at her trainer's command and dodging the three dragon pulses that Hydreigon sent her in return despite her size and difficulty to move on dry land.

Even when she did get hit by one, she toughed it out and if anything, her glare grew even fiercer as she sent out another powerful ice beam and the Hydreigon fainted. The enraged look in Ghetsis's eye grew even more as they later found out that Hydreigon was his strongest Pokémon and Ilayda had it beaten just like that. At seeing that his next Pokémon was the electric type Eelektross, Hilda quickly recalled the panting Ilayda.

"Thank you so much, sweetheart. You did so very well in battle. Rest now while you can." She whispered and her starter's pokeball immediately wiggled up and down a bit as if the samurott was nodding in answer. She smiled at seeing it and briefly gave it a kiss, before she sent out Krookodile instead to battle it, only to pull out her pokedex as she realised that some of these Pokémon were immune to ground type attacks,

At seeing that this Pokémon had the ability "levitate" which did indeed render it immune to ground type attacks and making a face as that made things a lot harder for her, she simply used her Pokémon's dark and fight type moves and still did some damage until it was knocked out and she recalled him, sending out Reshiram instead and the white dragon had it soon beaten as well with not many scratches on it. Ironically enough, the Pokémon that came next, Seismitoad, was the one who caused the most trouble as Hilda didn't have any Pokémon that had the advantage over it

Instead, she let Reshiram take a hit for the team while she healed up Balor and sent him out instead to chip away at its health, before he was knocked out by the Seismitoad's earthquake and Ilayda finished it off as well as the next Pokémon Bouffelan, but she did collapse once that one was defeated and Hilda recalled her for the final time as she thanked her, sending out Reshiram once more at seeing the last Pokémon was bisharp 

During the whole battle, N couldn't stop himself from looking at Hilda in utter awe while Reshiram used fusion flare on the bisharp as he had never seen anyone standing up to Ghetsis like this. There was one huge difference between the two of them though as Hilda had raised most of her Pokémon with love and care, always looking after them and cheering them on while Ghetsis mainly controlled his Pokémon through fear

As his final Pokémon quite quickly lost the fight to Reshiram, so too did Ghetsis absolutely lose it as well. "What?! I created Team Plasma with my own hands. I'm absolutely perfect! I AM PERFECTION! I am the perfect ruler of a perfect new world!" He screamed and Alder asked N if he still believed humans and Pokémon had to be separated. N couldn't answer as everything he had thought he knew had turned upside-down and Ghetsis cackled at seeing this. "Since I couldn't become the hero and obtain the legendary Pokémon myself... I prepared someone for that purpose: N!" He laughed 

"He's nothing more than a freak without a human heart. Do you think you're going to get through to a warped person like that?!" He asked, before groaning in pain and falling to his knees.  It turned out Bianca of all people had snuck up from behind and kicked him in-between the legs, making Cheren and Hilda laugh hysterically. Cheren eventually calmed down and said the only one without a human heart was Ghetsis himself.

Alder agreed and said that he was truly pitiful, before looking at N and saying that he was not to blame for everything that had happened and that he was following his heart and that was why Zekrom showed itself to him. "But…I have no right to be the hero!" N protested as he looked at Hilda. He had been unable to protect her against Ghetsis and his actions so many times and she had gotten hurt in several ways because of that. 

She had lost her father for a few years, who had lost precious time with his family because of Team Plasma, she had her trust betrayed by him when he revealed who he was and now, she had taken a hit meant for him. Alder said that there was no right or wrong in an argument and they people could learn from each other's beliefs if they opened their minds and N huffed. "Acting like you understand… Up till now, we've been fighting each other over our beliefs! Yet, despite that… Why?!" He asked and Hilda walked over after she had healed all her Pokémon again with Ilayda out of her Pokéball again

"N, you are the most wonderful man I have ever met in my life and if Zekrom has shown himself to you, then it is clear it agrees with me. You have already shown there is so much good in your heart that it almost overflows. I forgive you for everything I have ever blamed you for." She whispered as she gently wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her forehead against his, Alder, Bianca and Cheren keeping an eye on Ghetsis.

The three of them then pulled Ghetsis out of the room and the two heroes watched before N turned to Hilda. "I want to talk to you about something." He said as he led her to the hole in the wall. "It's about when I first met you in Accumula Town. I was shocked when I heard what Ilayda was saying. I was shocked because she said it liked you. It said it wanted to be with you." He said as he looked at said Pokémon in question. 

Ilayda immediately smiled at him and he smiled back, before focusing on Hilda again and grabbing her hand "I just couldn't understand it for the life of me. I couldn't believe there were Pokémon that actually liked people. Because, up until that moment, I'd never known a Pokémon like that thanks to Ghetsis only allowing me to interact with Pokémon who had been abused by their trainers. The longer my journey continued, the more unsure I became. All I kept meeting were Pokémon and people who communicated with one another and helped one another." N continued 

"That was why I needed to confirm my beliefs by battling with you. I wanted to confront you hero-to-hero and see who was right. I needed that more than anything."There's no way a person like me, someone who understands only Pokémon— No, actually… I didn't understand them, either. No way could I measure up to you, when you had met so many Pokémon and were surrounded by friends…" He said in a self-deprecating tone. 

She immediately frowned in concern at hearing the tone and gently cupped his face, making him smile at her to show he was okay. "The Champion has forgiven me, and… What I should do now is something I'll have to decide for myself." He said and she asked what he meant as they reached the hole and he fully turned to face her, taking in every detail about her as he didn't know when they would see each other again

"I need to truly find myself and not just what Ghetsis wanted me to be to the world. I need to see what the world truly is beyond the warped picture that he has shown me all my life, but I need to do it on my own with only my Pokémon at my side. You are needed here with your friends and family around you and I have absolutely no doubt that as the two heroes of Reshiram and Zekrom, we will see each other again soon." He stated as he looked into her eyes to see her reaction. She widened said eyes for a brief second, before closing them and taking a deep breath.

When she opened them again, they were filled with quiet acceptance as she gave him a tiny smile and he smiled back as he knew she'd understand as he gave her a kiss on the forehead as he had heard that was how people showed affection. "Hilda, you said you have a dream… That dream… Make it come true! Make your wonderful dream a reality, and it will become your truth! If anyone can, it's you! Well, then… Farewell!" He whispered.

He then let out a healed Zekrom out of its pokeball and began to climb on its back, only for Hilda to grab his hand as she suddenly realised that he was truly leaving and that she would not know when they would see each other again. He smiled at her and brought up her hand to kiss her knuckles, his eyes reassuring her that he would be okay. She slowly let him go and he climbed on Zekrom's back, flying out into the sky.

After a few seconds, he turned around and saw her waving at him with Ilayda coming up to stand next to her, the sun shining on her fur and reflected in the tears rolling down Hilda's cheeks as she was going to miss him. Feeling his heart break at the sight of her tears, he turned back around and flew away before he regretted his choice and went back to her. Once he was out of sight, Hilda immediately hugged her starter around the neck, burying her face in the blue fur with Ilayda gently nudging her. "You'll see each other again, Hilda. I'm sure of it." The samurott whispered.

Bianca and Cheren returned once Ghetsis was in custody and noticed N was gone with Bianca asking where he was. "He's gone to travel the world so he can truly see what it's like." Hilda explained and they both hummed as Alder walked in as well and said that with all of Team Plasma caught, they should go home. Letting out Apollo from where she had put it away to make place for Reshiram, they thanked him and flew away.

Landing in Nuvema town where it all began and saying goodbye to her friends, Hilda recalled Apollo and walked to her home, professor Juniper having already sent her a message that her parents were home and they would spread the story of what had happened over the next few weeks, some members of the international police having gone to find the other captives. Arriving at the front door, she looked up at the sky.

"Good luck, N. Wherever you go." She whispered, before going inside

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise 

It had been a few weeks since N had left.

Hilda had spent most of that time finally catching up with her parents and especially her father after all these years apart from each other while members of the international police freed the other scientists who had been captured by Team Plasma that day and the newspapers and sites were filled with articles about families being reunited again and how one trainer had caught one of the legendary Pokémon Reshiram.

To give her parents a bit of peace, Hilda allowed herself to be put in the spotlight as she did a few interviews with Cheren and Bianca as well as her Pokémon at her side and battled whichever trainer wanted to battle her to try and see Reshiram but she rarely let him (she had asked if he had a gender and he had said it was male) out as she knew he would not appreciate being called out just to be stared at.

She did miss N and hoped that he was okay. A few days after the battle at the castle, Anthea and Concordia visited her at her home for a short while. She still had no idea how exactly they knew where she lived, but she supposed that if Ghetsis had gone to find out everything there was to know about her, they would be able to find out her residence. They didn't overstay their welcome as they were very aware that anything Team Plasma related probably wasn't welcome in the White household, but they did drop a few things off that had belonged to N that they felt like he'd wanted her to have them. 

This included some of his toys which the two women explained were for if she ever had any children of her own. She thanked them with a smile, but honestly doubted that she would give her children anything that was likely given to N by either Ghetsis or his followers. Anthea and Concordia also told her that they were going to go into hiding as they knew Ghetsis well enough to know that he wouldn't be imprisoned for long. 

That fear was eventually confirmed not even two months later when Looker visited and explained a remainder of Team Plasma, led by a blonde man in a white coat and glasses, had managed to break Ghetsis and several others of the Seven Sages out of prison and they were lying low for now while likely waiting for the news to die down or for Hilda to lower her guard so they could get revenge on her for ruining their plans.

Hilda  gulped in slight fear as she instinctively grabbed her father's hand at hearing this as she had seen Ghetsis cruelty both indirectly in how N acted during her journey and especially around the man and directly as despite Silas healing her, her cheek had still smarted for days afterwards from the hit. Her father quickly squeezed her hand while her mother rubbed her back even as Looker solemnly promised that the international police would secure protection for them and for all the other families who had been separated so that Team Plasma would not be able to get them again.

Hilda slowly relaxed at this as Looker then gave her a pager for her to use if she ever came across one of the Seven Sages once she started travelling again as she still had to beat the champion. Only one of them, Rood was still in custody as there had been too little time for the remainder of Team Plasma to break him out too. Hilda took it over and promised to keep an eye out. Looker nodded and left soon after that.

After receiving that news, Hilda immediately trained even harder than she already had before for a few weeks as she, with the approval and encouragement of her parents went to parts of the region that she had not been before. After getting her ass thoroughly beaten by a blonde woman named Cynthia in Undella Town, who she later was the champion of Sinnoh which explained a lot, she trained for a bit more until she felt ready. 

Going to the now restored Pokémon League with her parents and friends, the castle having vanished in the mountain, challenging the Elite Four once again and beating them too even with them having a stronger team than last time much to the pride of her audience, she was eventually allowed to challenge Alder. "Let's hope it goes better than last time." She muttered as she, her parents, Cheren and Bianca took the elevator down once more with Balor at her side like always and her liepard agreed as they reached the bottom and slowly walked up the stairs to the building where Alder was.

Hilda briefly stopped to hear if she heard sounds of battle like last time she was here, but there was only silence. Taking a deep breath, she walked in and saw Alder waiting for her, the man immediately smiling at seeing that she was the one to challenge him as her parents and friends immediately went to sit on the side so they wouldn't get in the way with Jonathan and Catherine holding onto each other's hand.

"I am grateful for what you did about N. I don't know what he's thinking now, but I'm sure he realizes that different people and Pokémon have their own paths to follow. Say now, how about a match with the strongest Trainer in the Unova region?" He asked as he walked forwards. She immediately nodded in answer as she got ready for the fight and he sent out his first Pokémon Accelgor and Hilda sent out Apollo.

She had sent zebstrika to Professor Juniper before she challenged the Elite Four invite so there would be space on her team. None of the moves the bug Pokémon had really affected the unfezant and it honestly didn't take long before Alder was down one Pokémon and he sent out Bouffelant next with Hilda sending out Krookodile to fight it and to her slight surprise, this battle was a bit harder as the Bouffelant knew a bug type move as well and with Krookodile being part ground type, it was weak to said move and that meant she actually had to work quickly to beat this one.

Kroo defeated it with a final brick break, but collapsed on the verge of fainting right after. Hilda recalled him and smiled at the pokeball. "You did amazing, my friend. Go and rest now." She whispered as Adler sent out the dragon type Pokémon Druddigon and Ilayda was sent out to fight it with ice beam. The only move that really hurt the Samurott was the move Outrage and her opponent confused itself once it was done.

This allowed the now hurt Ilayda to finish it off after Hilda had quickly healed her a bit. Vanilluxe was next and Reshiram was sent out to fight it with it beating the ice type very quickly as well as the next Pokémon Escavalier as that one was bug and steel type, making fire type moves four times as effective. "Why does he have so many bug types?" The dragon Pokémon asked as he had heard the cries of other Pokémon.

Hilda thought that was a pretty good question as other champions she had heard of, including Cynthia as she and her team had experienced, usually had more variation in their teams. Still, she was not comp as she defeated Escavalier and let the final Pokémon, Volcorona be defeated by a completely healed Krookodile and Alder was soon all out of Pokémon, meaning Hilda had won and after a second of silence as the young woman herself, her Pokémon, parents, friends and Alder took this in, Catherine, Jonathan, Cheren and Bianca immediately started cheering as loud as possible.

"We did it." Hilda breathed quietly, before letting out a disbelieving laugh as she realised she had finally achieved the goal she and Cheren had set out to accomplish so many months ago when her starter was a tiny Oshawott who had been skipped over twice before and she didn't know anything about Team Plasma: beat the champion and become the next one. "We did it!" She shouted as Krookodile ran back towards her.

She immediately hugged the ground and dark type, whispering about how well he had done as her parents, Cheren and Bianca hurried over to congratulate her with Jonathan and Catherine hugging her as well as they were filled with utter pride. After a few minutes, Alder walked to her as well. "Well done! You certainly are an unmatched talent! Come with me!" He said as he started to lead her to a warp pad.

Hilda briefly looked at the others and they all encouraged her to go, saying they would be waiting outside. Recalling Krookodile, she followed the now former champion and was warped away, landing in another room in the building. "This room is the Hall of Fame. It exists to commemorate the Trainers and Pokémon who have demonstrated their stellar strength and kindness of heart." Alder explained once she had gotten her bearings and Hilda looked around as she saw countless names engraved in the walls of the many trainers and their Pokémon who had made it this far.

Alder then led her to a machine at the back of the room. "Well, now, Hilda. With your skill and persistence, you have earned your place in this Hall of Fame. Your name, the account of your journey, and the history of your battles will all be recorded here. I hope all of this becomes a support to you and helps you grow stronger. Now, Trainer, you and the Pokémon who fought by your side will be recorded in this machine!" He explained.

Putting all of her Pokéballs in the machine as well as her trainer card in a special slot and watching as both got scanned to record her name and the Pokémon, she had a funny thought. "Can you imagine hundreds of years from now, people will wonder how one champion had Reshiram on her team." She asked and Alder let out a loud burst of laughter as he replied he'd love to see their faces and she giggled as well.

Once the machine was done scanning and a beautiful stone plate was carefully engraved through a laser with the names of her and her Pokémon to be hung onto the wall, Hilda was allowed to get the pokeballs and her card back, before they went back and Alder as the now former champion, officially introduced Hilda as the new champion to the Elite Four who immediately cheered for her as well. Hilda smiled and bowed to them before Bianca dragged her and Cheren with her to celebrate, Jonathan, Catherine and the others all laughing at seeing her enthusiasm.

And that was how Hilda officially became the brand-new Pokémon champion of the entire Unova region with her still being allowed to travel to her heart's desire and not be stuck at the league the whole time like she had thought when she was younger. She just had to always be on call for the moment that one trainer beat the third member of the Elite Four so she had time to fly north in case the fourth was beaten as well.

Bianca eventually came to her one day, almost jumping up and down in excitement as she showed her friend her new Pokémon: Virizion. Hilda immediately beamed in pride at her friend having managed to catch one of the elusive Swords of Justice. "Take good care of her, alright? She has the tendency go get into trouble," she asked the Pokémon and it promised with a chuckle even as Bianca pouted at them both. 

However, with one thing solved, it seemed that the other thing only got worse as Team Plasma had seemed to vanish overnight in the wake of her becoming champion. Normal people would likely think they they had given up, but Hilda knew better as she had the feeling they were lying low and when she discussed this with Cheren and Bianca, they both immediately agreed. "They likely won't dare to do much with the current champion having been the one to beat them, not to mention that you have Reshiram at your side, so they're waiting until you either leave or get defeated." Cheren said.

"So, we need to draw them out so they can be arrested once and for all?" Bianca asked as she bit her lip and Cheren rather sarcastically asked how they were supposed to do that as they were as easy to find as a shiny Pokémon. Bianca didn't have an answer for that and the three friends split up once more with Bianca studying under Professor Juniper and cheren planning to move west of the region in a few months

Hilda eventually went home as she kept thinking of the fact that Team Plasma was still out there. Her heart froze at the thought of N returning to the region, only for his abuser to be out and about. She had to find a way to protect him, but how? An idea eventually began to form in her head, but it was incredibly risky and dangerous, but she was willing to take it if it meant that she could protect N from Ghetsis's future plans.

'I hope everyone will forgive me' She thought, before falling asleep 

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise 

Three years later

Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town in the region of Kanto was traveling on a ship that was nearing a new port with his friends Cilan and Iris after being given an invitation from professor Juniper's father to help him guard a very special treasure hidden in the White Ruins. He was playing with his pikachu while they were waiting for the ship to leave again when he saw a man with green hair smiling at him. 

"Is that.... N?" Iris asked in shock at seeing him, Ash looking at her and asking if she knew him at hearing the surprise in her voice. "Only heard of him from an old friend as he left the region years ago to discover his own identity, but he fits the description perfectly." She explained and when they looked again, he had vanished. While they were looking to see where he had gone to, other people were looking at them. 

Team Rocket was once again planning to steal Pikachu from Ash and since they were on a ship, the boy had nowhere to go. Going to an arena that was in the middle of the ship, Ash and Iris were about to have a Pokémon battle between the two of them with Cilan as the referee when Pikachu suddenly noticed the man from before and jumped from his trainer's shoulders as the man walked forwards and gently stroked the mouse Pokemon's cheek, much to Pikachu's approval." You are really sweet." He commented and Ash immediately agreed.

As they talked about how both the man and Ash saw Pokémon as their friends, Iris simply knew that she had to find out if it really was who she thought it was. "Excuse me, but are you N?" She asked and after looking at her in surprise, he nodded as he asked how she knew his name. "Hilda told me about you. Asked me to keep an eye out for you if you ever returned. Here." She muttered as she got an old toy train out of her bag. 

Hilda had given it to her so she could show N that she was a friend. N slowly took it over after staring at it for a few seconds, before his brain caught up to something else she had said. "Wait, you know Hilda? Do you know where she is?  I've only just returned to the region, but I would love to see her again." He stated and Iris immediately winced slightly and shared a look with Cilan as Ash curiously asked who Hilda was. 

"Hilda was a very powerful Pokemon trainer who came from Nuvema Town. She and defeated the Pokémon champion Alder about three years ago and even managed to win the trust of the legendary Pokémon Reshiram who fought at her side against Team Plasma, but she started out like every other trainer, albeit a bit later than most people here in Unova. In fact, I was the one who gave her first gym badge." Cilan explained with a smile as he remembered how he never would have thought the young woman he fought would do such great things. 

"No way! That's awesome! I want to meet her!" Ash exclaimed in utter excitement at getting to see another legendary Pokemon with an agreeing "Pika, Pika!" coming from his partner and Iris slowly started to lead the group inside to the ship's restaurant. At seeing the solemn looks on her and Cilan's faces, N felt his blood beginning to grow cold in fear at the thought of something having happened to Hilda while he was gone.

Sitting down in the restaurant, both Cilan and Iris sighed. "Well, I'm afraid that you're a bit out of luck, Ash. After about a year of being champion, Hilda gave the title back to Alder without a fuss and left the region, saying she was going to look for an old friend. No one has heard from her since." Cilan said and N froze. Hilda had left? Why? Why would she leave the Unova region without its strongest protector? It didn't make any sense to him.

"I'm still in contact with one of Hilda's childhood friends Bianca, remember her? The woman that we came across in Nimbasa City quite a few months back? Anyway, she once told me that neither she, nor Hilda's other friend Cheren or even her parents have heard from her since." Iris piped up, completely serious about this, before turning to N. "I think you were the friend she went to look for. A few weeks after the fight at the castle, a remnant of Team Plasma broke Ghetsis out of jail and she might have feared they'd find you." She continued.

If N had felt his blood starting to run cold before, it completely froze over at hearing this. Not only was Ghetsis free and out there somewhere likely waiting to get his revenge, but Hilda had left the region to find him only for him to return while she was gone with no way of contacting her. He had let Zekrom go to fly free when he arrived in the region to prevent gaining any attention, but now he wondered if that was such a good idea.

"So... no one has heard from her for the past two years?" He asked quietly and both Cilan and Iris silently shook their heads in answer as they felt sympathy for him. They had seen how excited he was at the idea of seeing Hilda again as he had immediately lit up at hearing that Iris knew her. Perhaps, the only reason why he had even come back was to see her once more, only to hear that no one had seen our heard from her in years. 

"And Team Plasma? Have they returned?" N then asked as he lowered his head until his cap hid the upper part of his face down he tried not to let his disappointment show, even if it was rather obvious and Cilan quietly confirmed that there had been reports of the group returning and that it was very likely that they were coming back now that Hilda had been gone for two years. "Excuse me, I'm going to take a walk." N then muttered as he stood up and walked away, leaving the trio to watch him go with frowns on their faces.

"Man, he must have been really close to this Hilda to be this upset." Ash commented as he watched N go and Pikachu quietly agreed with him Iris replied that Bianca had told her there might even have been romantic feelings between the two by the time they split up. To try and get their minds off of the rather depressing subject, he and Iris went to get ready for the Pokémon battle they were planning to have before meeting N

Unfortunately, it was during the battle that Team Rocket decided to strike and managed to catch Pikachu by first luring Iris's Axew away with berries as they knew that Pikachu often acted as a big brother for the other Pokémon and if one of them went out on their own out of nowhere, Pikachu would often be close behind and locking him in an electricity proof box and Axew quickly let out a cry of alarm to notify Ash, Iris and Cilan.

As the trio arrived, Team Rocket shed their disguises and climbed into their balloon that somehow happened to be there ready without anyone else on the ship apparently noticing and when Ash tried to stop them with help from his Snivy, Jessie sent out her Frillish to use Shadow Ball on both Snivy and Axew, only for N to suddenly jump in-between and take the hit. "Are you both okay?" He asked and the Pokémon nodded as he stood up straight and called Team Rocket a bunch of fools. He also asked why Meowth spoke the language of humans. 

Thanks to N interfering, Ash had managed to come up with a plan as he then recalled Snivy and sent out his Unfezant instead, the bird Pokémon being able to break the upper part of Pikachu's cage with Aerial Ace and while Pikachu managed to escape, the Amoongus of James managed to poison him with its spores before unfezant sent them blasting off again. Getting an idea, N led Ash and the others to the front of the ship.

Using his ability to talk to Pokémon, he called on two Alomomola to heal Pikachu and the yellow Pokémon felt better quickly and N gave him an oran Berry to get his strength back and Pikachu soon was back to normal as a very grateful Ash thanked his mysterious new friend and Iris then turned to him as well. "N, if we hear any news from our about Hilda, I promise that we will tell you as soon as possible." She said and he thanked her as well.

Thanking the Alomomola as well for healing Pikachu for him, N and the group eventually separated at the next port with N leaving the ship and Ash and Co sailing on as they promised they'd see each other again very soon and talk more about Pokémon. "Hey Ash, shouldn't you have told N that you met Zekrom when you first arrived in Nuvema Town?" Cilan asked and Ash sheepishly admitted that he had completely forgotten about that, Iris immediately calling him a child like she did so often as they continued on their journey 

As the ship began to shrink in the distance and knowing that Ash, Iris and Cilan were unable to see him anymore, N sighed deeply as he quickly turned around and walked into the city. He ooked up at the sky as the sun started to slowly lower itself into the sea. "Hilda, where did you go?" He muttered before walking further. He hoped that she was okay and they would see each other again soon. He wanted to see if she was alright.

Far away, Hilda was reading through newspaper articles from Unova to see if something happened in her absence and one headline caught her eye "MYSTERIOUS STORM OVER NUVEMA TOWN!" It said and in the picture, she saw a vague outline of a Pokémon in the middle of the storm. Her eyes widened at recognising it. 'Zekrom. He's back' She thought, before she realised what it meant and panicked as she jumped up and ran away.

N was in danger.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise 

Two Team Plasma members were moving a captive Braviary

They had been given explicit orders by Aldith, their commander after Ghetsis and Colress and she had made it very clear it was important they got it to headquarters. Driving over a mountainous road, their way was blocked by some thick branches and as they got out and wondered how these got here, a certain someone snuck behind the truck: N. He used a gadget to open the door and got the Braviary out. 

Unfortunately, he got eventually spotted by the grunts who attacked him with their Pokémon. He got harshly hit in the back by one attack and fell down the cliff with the Braviary. "Blast! He's gotten away! We need to call headquarters to tell them we're late!" One of them said and while his companion did just that, he checked on the tracker he had put in the Pokémon's neck that told him exactly where it was

Reaching the bottom of the cliff, N groaned in pain and got up as his only priority was the safety and freedom of the injured Braviary. It had been a few weeks since he had come back in Unova and he had been trying to find where Hilda had gone to.He had been completely unable to find anything about her ever since she had left the region to find him as no one knew where she had gone to. There had been some rumours and articles about possible sightings in different regions, but nothing substantial much to his frustration as he had often rested his face in his hands with a groan.

Eventually giving up on finding anything about Hilda's whereabouts, he had instead focused on trying to sabotage the new version of Team Plasma and find out exactly what they were planning and he didn't care if he got hurt in the process. Supporting the Braviary, he stumbled on. By pure coincidence, he came across Ash, Iris and Cilan who immediately helped him get the Braviary to the nearest Pokémon centre to get it healed.

As they watched Nurse Joy take very good care of the Pokémon through a window from the hallway while they waited to see if it would be alright, N bit his lip as he wondered if Hilda knew that Team Plasma had completely returned once more in her absence and what they were doing. He missed her so much and hoped that despite them still being apart now, that she was okay wherever in the world she currently was

Once she was completely done and the Pokémon was finally resting with its wing bandaged tightly, Nurse Joy walked out in the hallway to where they were standing and told them Braviary was going to be just fine despite its previous predicament. Its wing would have to heal for a while longer, but it would be okay in the morning. The quartet went to check up on it and Ash carefully asked N what had exactly happened to the Braviary, pikachu wanting to know too. "Well, it is all the fault of Team Plasma." N explained and the trio gasped as they had their own meetings with those people.

A few weeks ago, they had been in a nearby city where a man named Colress had used a devious machine to drive Pokémon in and around the city crazy and it had even worked on Meowth from Team Rocket despite its higher intelligence. Telling N about this, the young man could only look down as the situation was even worse than he had realised. Nurse Joy then gently nudged them outside so the Braviary could rest.

Outside, the two grunts had followed the tracker's signal to the Pokémon centre and were currently busy trying to cut the power. "So, this is where you two are at." A female voice said and they jumped as they whirled around to see a female Team Plasma member standing there. It was Aldith herself and she looked very unamused as she crossed her arms with a furrowed brow and the two quickly stood at attention.

One of them did ask what she was doing there as they had thougnt she was back at headquarters. "The description you gave us of the young man who stole the Braviary sounds like someone who is very important to Lord Ghetsis's future plans, so I came here to confirm my suspicions about him. However, I better not be wasting my time because of your incompetence." She replied and they quickly let out a dutiful "yes, ma'am" as they went back to work, very much aware of note harsh Aldith could be when displeased. It was why she was so high in rank after all.

Aldith kept a very close eye on their actions from behind them, her stance not relaxing for even a moment as they cut the power and the entire centre immediately went dark. The two grunts were then sent in by Aldith to try and minimise their failure and went to the room where the sick Pokémon were held, only to find that the Braviary was gone. Using the tracking device, they saw the dot moving away from the centre.

Running out at realising the man from before had taken the Pokémon before they could do so and informing Aldith about the current situation, they immediately followed the dot to where N was slowly walking away with what seemed to be the Braviary. The grunts used their Pokémon to attack him and he cried out in pain. However, it turned out he had been holding blankets in similar colours as the Braviary with the tracking chip.

When the lights had gone out, he had noticed the tracking chip in Braviary's neck and had taken the Pokémon to the room of Ash Iris and Cilan. He had told them about the situation, so they were currently leaving the Pokémon centre with the real Braviary while N was using himself and the tracker as bait, "Go find the real subject! Go!" Aldith ordered the grunts and they ran off as she turned to N and hummed at seeing. "Lord Ghetsis has been looking for you, N. He wants you to come home where you belong." She said and he glared at her as he said he was never going back.

He then demanded to know if they were holding Hilda somewhere as that was a fear that had cropped up in his mind ever since he had been unable to find anything about her since it wouldn't be the first time Team Plasma was holding someone of her family hostage. Aldith simply chuckled and threw out her Liepard without answering the question and N backed up a bit at seeing this, very aware he didn't have any Pokémon.

"We are aware of what your little girlfriend has hidden in the White Ruins and we will get it no matter what." She stated with her Liepard agreeing. N was about to say something after looking at the Pokémon at hearing its conviction, before an air slash hit the two as the Braviary returned, having refused to fly away without helping N. "You stupid beast. You should have fled while you could." Aldith growled as she prepared to attack. 

"Pikaaaaaaaaa.....CHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU" The furious voice of a certain yellow mouse suddenly cried and Aldith and Liepard both immediately screamed in pain as the thunderbolt hit them dead on, both collapsing to the ground and twitching once it was done as Ash called N and Braviary from a distance and the two quickly followed the trio away from the Team Plasma commander. The two grunts arrived just as they disappeared and immediately panicked as they helped Aldith up, the woman recalling her Pokémon as one of the grunts asked if they should go after them.

"No, it's not worth the trouble. We can always catch a new one and I'm sure that Lord Ghetsis will forgive us for this once we tell him we have found someone more important. Let's go back to HQ and report in immediately." Aldith stated and the grunts straightened as they went back to the truck. Aldith briefly looked back. "We'll see each other again, N. You can be certain of that." She muttered, before walking away. 

Near a lake, Ash, Iris, Cilan and N finally released the Braviary back to the wild where it belonged and it gently nudged the latter with its head before flying off, its hurt wing completely healed once again. As they all waved at it, Iris briefly glanced over at N to see him looking rather melancholy. 'He must still be missing Hilda.' She thought with a sympathetic smile on her face as she could only imagine what he was going through.

He had finally returned back home after a few years of travelling, very likely wanting to see her again if what she had heard of their romantic feelings for each other were true, only to hear that she had disappeared and no one knew where she was. Bianca had briefly called her not too long ago to tell her that he had still shown up in Nuvema town and had actually stayed over at Hilda's house where her parents had offered to let him stay until Hilda returned whenever that was, but he had immediately refused as he couldn't sit still while team Plasma was still out there.

"Hey, N? You could travel with us for a while if you'd like." She offered as she had the feeling he shouldn't be alone right now, not while Team Plasma was out there as she knew they had history and not while he was likely worried about Hilda as it could distract him. Ash and Cilan immediately agreed with that offer with a lot of enthusiasm and N eventually agreed after a bit of thinking before they returned to the Pokémon centre.

Lying in bed and looking up at the ceiling once they were back, Nurse Joy having managed to fix the electricity, N took a deep breath as he knew  Team Plasma was planning something again, Aldith's words echoing in his head. Hilda had actually hidden something in the White Ruins and his former allies wanted it. 'What could be so impor-' N thought before he sat up straight in his bed, his eyes wide and his heartbeat increasing.

He knew exactly what she had hidden there and it wasn't good

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise 

Somewhere in a Team Plasma base, Dr. Colress was planning a new experiment.

With Aldith standing next to him and Ghetsis watching through a screen, he shot a beam at a scolipede at the other side of a barrier and the Pokémon immediately turned mad and began to attack the barrier with attacks that were even more powerful than normal, much to the fear of a poor Deerlinb and Maractus that were inside the walled of part of the room. Even Aldith flinched back, but Colress just laughed at seeing it.

"Mr. Ghetsis, I hope you witnessed that." He said after disabling the beam and the scolipede turned back to normal and Ghetsis gave a nod. He didn't dare show himself in public yet in case that blasted girl showed up, but nothing seemed to indicate she was aware of Team Plasma returning and he was certain that if things continued at the speed it was now, Hilda would return to a Unova ruled by the people she once sought to destroy.

Aldith had reported N's return to the region to him and he thought the boy was extremely foolish to return to the region without his precious Hilda to protect him this time. The girl had even been stupid enough to put her most powerful asset in an abandoned ruins instead of taking it with her. How stupid could she get? Granted, he had made sure to let his followers check everything to see if there were any traps or something like that, but there weren't. Only professor Juniper's father and some of his acquaintances were guarding and researching it. 

He would reluctantly admit that it had taken them a while to find it and he had to give it to her about that as it hadn't been an obvious location, but soon enough once the time was right, that asset would finally be in his clutches and with Colress's new machine, it would be completely under his control. Colress then began to dive into the scientific parts of his machines and what it did to certain parts of a Pokemon's brain.

Before, it affected all Pokémon in the area, but they could now focus it on one Pokémon specifically and it affected pretty much any kind of Pokémon no matter the power and strength it had "Colress, cut to the chase and tell me what it does." Ghetsis ordered after a few secondsas he had no time to listen to him to on and on about his inventions. Aldith silently thanked him as she was about to become confused too.

In more simple terms after calming down from his ranting at remembering not everyone had his brain, Colress explained that his beam turned off parts of a Pokémon's brain that kept them back from using all their power. It was like how in a horror movie, zombies could bite or rip a whole limb off from someone. Normal humans could technically do it to, but a part of the brain always stops them from doing so as it knows its wrong. His machine turned that part off and increase stress in its body so that the Pokémon would immediately go on a rampage.

"It's brilliant, Dr. Colress." Aldith breathed in awe and Colress chuckled again, his ego being stroked by the comment. He and Aldith then quickly walked out of the room to prepare for their next mission at Ghetsis's orders, the man himself checking on other teams spread out through the region. They had gotten their orders and they knew it was not a good idea to anger the master of Team Plasma after his breakdown years ago

Not too long after that, Ash, Iris, Cilan and N were still travelling together and they had done some adventures already since N had joined them after the situation with Braviary, including meeting Ash's Charizard after sending Unfezant to Professor Oak and the fire Pokémon had immediately started a rivalry with Iris's Dragonite. Walking to the edge of the city, they suddenly saw a lot of commotion and heard a lot of shouting.

Going over to see what was going on, they learned that a Haxorus was going on a rampage in the centre of the city and the whole centre was being blocked off because of that. Despite officer Jenny ordering to stay away, they didn't listen and found a way to sneak into the city to check up on the Haxorus by using a boat to cross the water surrounding the city's centre as especially Iris wanted to help it calm down again. They were not the only ones there as Team Rocket was following them and once they were there, they met none other than Looker.

Seeing Looker glancing at N, Cilan introduced him to the detective. "It's a pleasure." Looker said with a polite smile on his face, but he was conflicted on the inside as he knew Team Plasma was currently looking for this young man. He was taking a great risk simply by being here. They then continued on to try and find this Haxorus. In the meantime, Team Rocket had noticed Team Plasma and had realised they were behind it all.

"We conquered this city with just one Haxorus. Very impressive, Dr. Colress. Let's report this to Lord Ghetsis immediately." Aldith commented, but the scientist said he doubted this would be enough to satisfy him. Yes, it was a successful experiment taking over the city, but he had a hunch that Ghetsis wanted more. "What do you mean?" Aldith asked as she was rather confused, but Colress waved her of by saying it was just a guess.

"I think that soon, I may need to come up with a device that's capable of controlling a much more powerful Pokémon than even Haxorus. Hahaha. I can hardly wait." He said as he began to laugh in excitement with Aldith being even more confused than she already was before. She had absolutely no idea what was going inside that man's head at times. She then noticed Ash's group and pointed them out to Colress so when Iris sent out Dragonite to try and fight Haxorus, Colress simply aimed the beam at that Pokémon as well, driving it crazy too.

Ash and the group all gasped in shock at seeing this happen. They already had close calls with the Haxorus when Iris tried to ask why it was acting this way and it simply went to use Shadow Claw on her with N barely able to tackle her out of the way. N was growing more and more concerned by the second as he couldn't hear the Pokémon's voice and asked why he couldn't understand it. Looker realised it was the EM waves in the air.

They realised Team Plasma was controlling the Haxorus with N glaring at the mention of them. Looker tried to use a device that created a shield around it to block the waves, but they were too strong and the shield broke within seconds. Haxorus's trainer arrived and tried to stop it as well, but even he was unable to get through and no matter what he tried, it wouldn't calm down. N tried communicating with it, but it was no use.

He then realised that if Haxorus continued on like this, it would utterly exhaust itself. Ash ordered Pikachu to use thunderbolt, but it barely did anything so Iris got out her Dragonite and after a failed ice beam attack, Dragonite began to rampage as well as Colress used the machine on it. Iris tried to make it go back to its pokeball, but it dodged out of the way. Ash sent out Charizard to fight while Cilan focused on the Haxorus with Crustle. N gritted his teeth at seeing this. 'Is this the world you wanted to have, Hilda? You should never have left.' He thought. 

"We need to secure N. Lord Ghetsis is expecting him." Aldith said at realising they would likely not get another chance like this again in a while and the other Team Plasma members nodded as they wheeled the machine onto the helicopter and flew towards the street with Ash and the group wondering what was happening now at seeing them land and Aldith and the others getting out. "N, Lord Ghetsis is looking for you." Aldith stated.

"I don't care. Leave me alone!" N immediately spat back as he glared at all of them with Ash wondering how exactly they knew each other and Cilan and Iris silently sharing a look as they knew exactly how Team Plasma knew N and vice versa. Aldith stated that N had to present himself to Lord Ghetsis. "I'm through listening to him or any of you. Now you tell me what you've done to these Pokémon." The young man demanded to know.

'If only Hilda was here. She would be so incredibly proud of him at hearing him say this.' Iris thought with a small smile as Hilda had told her what kind of grip Ghetsis and his ideas had on N throughout pretty much the whole journey she and her friends had done until the very end. While she thought this, Aldith scoffed at N's foolishness while Colress said that they were helping the Pokémon by letting them use 120% of their power and that the power they now had normally went unused, acting like it was for the Pokémon's benefit much to N's disgust.

"What have you done to make them act like that?" He asked and Colress smirked as he said he'd leave that to his imagination. "You shouldn't artificially manipulate Pokémon! No, I won't allow it!" N then growled and the scientist replied he'd already seen the results and the power for himself, ignoring N's protest that none of the power was real as he shot back that it was real as he had only brought out the power they already had. 

About to fight as Ash demanded they stopped what they were doing, Team Plasma suddenly noticed Team Rocket trying to fly away with the helicopter and tried to stop them. Using the distraction that the trio had caused, Looker went to find the machine and found it in the hold while Ash and Cilan went to calm Dragonite and Haxorus down while Team Rocket was thrown in front of Aldith who demanded to know who they were.

When Jessie and James began to do their usual motto, Aldith very slowly turned to Colress and briefly pointed at them as if silently asking "are they actually serious right now?" Colress could only shrug in answer, before the commander got out her liepard and attacked them mid-spiel. "Hey, we weren't finished!" Jessie protested and Aldith replied that she was finished with them as she ordered her Pokémon to attack again and Jessie and James sent out their own Pokémon while Meowth used how claws on one of the other Team Plasma members.

In the meantime, Haxorus and Dragonite were still going crazy and N realised they'd be severely injured if they continued, before going to do something incredibly reckless as he ran forward. "Stop it! Stop! For your own good, stop attacking!" He pleaded, only for them to turn on him and hit him with two powerful attacks, blasting him back and knocking him out. "N, no!" Ash, Iris and Cilan all shouted in horror at seeing him fall.

"Use Shadow Ball!" Aldith ordered her liepard, not noticing what was going on and her Pokémon obeyed as it shot a shadow ball at Jessie's Woobat and James's Amoongus, but they dodged out of the way and it hit the helicopter instead, accidentally making the machine overload. It exploded, shocking Looker and finally making Dragonite and Haxorus go back to normal, their trainers immediately recalling them.

Realising their plan had failed thanks to her own Pokémon's attack and they had to retreat before they could be arrested, Aldith immediately recalled her own Pokémon and they got into the still functional helicopter and quickly flew away. Colress was satisfied enough with the results the Haxorus and Dragonite had given him as it had been proven that he could use the invention while out in the field and that was enough for him. "Lord Ghetsis, sir. We have found N." Aldith reported from where she was steering the helicopter back to base

"Good work. Secure him with force if you have to, but make sure he's ours." Ghetsis ordered and they nodded as they flew away. In the meantime, Ash, Iris and Cilan were checking on the unconscious N when a heavy mist suddenly surrounded them and two women appeared, one having a Gardevoir and the other a Gothitelle who used physic on N to make him float in the air. The women then began to walk away without any explanation

The trio quickly went after them, but when Team Rocket tried to follow to try and catch Pikachu now that Team Plasma and their machine were gone, they found themselves lost in the forest with no sign of the "twerps." Ash, Iris and Cilan found themselves in a different part of the forest where the two women carefully put N in a pond of water and began to heal him as the trio looked at the women and all wondered one thing:

Who were they? 

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise 

Thankfully, it did not take long for N to wake up once the water had healed him. 

Greeting his sisters at seeing them again, they sighed in relief at seeing he was okay before harshly ordering Ash and Co to leave as they were not welcome there, but N stopped them as he said that Ash and his friends had strong connections with their Pokémon, it being quickly confirmed by both Pikachu and Axew as Anthea and Concordia could understand Pokémon as well like him and Hilda. 

As he was helped up by his sisters, N invited them into their hidden place as he had met his sisters in-between first meeting Ash and his group and saving Braviary and led them inside. As they walked through the moss-covered hallways, Ash used his Pokédex on the Gardevoir that accompanied them to learn more about it, only to give a very sheepish smile when he got a death glare from said Pokémon.

A Pidove happily greeted N, but slapped Iris's hand with its wing when she tried to pet it "Hey! That's not very nice!" N heard Axew scold it in anger and the Pidove told them both to leave it alone as it flew away and he apologised to Iris as he explained all the Pokémon that lived there had been abused by humans in one way or another, so they didn't trust anyone who wasn't him or his sisters. Showing them a room where Anthea and Concordia were treating injured Pokémon, Ash and Co were all amazed at how they did it. 

Ash then asked why he wanted to help Pokémon and if it was because of Team Plasma's return and Hilda and Iris quickly wanted to know too as it seemed he was constantly facing danger, even as Cilan said that they'd understand if it was too personal for him. "They both have to do with it, yes. But it's a very long story." N replied with a sigh at the mention of Hilda as he still missed her every single day.

He had always imagined that she would still be the reigning champion when he returned and he could surprise her by challenging the Elite Four and then her. He'd lose on purpose as he wouldn't want to take her title from her, but to hear that she had completely vanished into thin air really worried him. He would have to talk to Anthea and Concordia later to see if they knew anything more about the situation 

Sitting down in what was once this house's living room, N explained his history with Team Plasma and especially Ghetsis and how he had met Hilda and her friends on his Pokémon journey, how he had been shocked and amazed at hearing her starter talk about how she wanted to stay with her trainer forever as he had only been allowed to meet abused Pokémon before and how the way she treated Pokémon around her had constantly confused him. He told them about how he had pretty much broken her trust by saying he was part of Team Plasma.

He then spoke of their fight in the old castle and how she had protected him from Ghetsis's rage and how he had eventually left to find himself and how she had disappeared in his absence. He then turned to Anthea and Concordia. "Is there anything you can tell me about where she went? If you have heard of her?" He then asked desperately and the two women looked at each other for a second

"All we know is that her official explanation of going to find you is only half the truth about why she left. A few days before she left, her unfezant somehow managed to find us with a letter in its beak in where she told us that she might have found a way to protect you from Team Plasma once and for all, but she didn't dare to tell us in case her Pokémon or we were caught by them." Anthea eventually said.

"She also told us to look out for you if you came back before her plan had worked out and to tell you that if you did return, to say she was sorry for not being there to greet you and making you worry. From what we have been able to figure out, she is definitely planning something to catch Ghetsis and his followers. Most of the escaped sages have already been caught by the international police in the past couple of years and sent to unknown prisons so that a repeat of them being broken out won't happen again." Concordia continued.

N looked down at this as his hand curled into a fist while Ash and his friends all shared a worried look. "Do you think she's alright?" Cilan asked, not wanting the sweet eighteen year old he met, fought and gave her first badge to to be in danger and Anthea admitted that they didn't know. Hilda had left the region just a few days after the letter had arrived and even they had not heard anything about her since. 

"Hilda is an extremely powerful trainer even before she got Reshiram, but from what we've heard, she's very impulsive as well when she sees Pokémon or those she cares about getting hurt and N is definitely a weak spot for her after everything they went through. If she had been there at the city today, I don't think anyone of Team Plasma would have survived after N was hit." Concordia said.

The two women then stated that despite N vouching for them, they would still have to leave the next day as they didn't want any strangers in their refuge. The trio looked down as they went outside. "Did you see the look on poor N's face? He looked so worried about Hilda." Iris said with a sad look on her own face, Axew quietly agreeing from his usual spot and her friends agreed too as Ash commented about how this Ghetsis guy had to be very dangerous if Hilda had to leave the region to protect N from him and both Cilan and Iris nodded. 

Speaking of Ghetsis, he was not pleased at all. "You let N get away?!" He furiously demanded of a very sheepish and slightly scared Aldith over the video connection, who immediately apologised for her failure and begged his forgiveness as Dr. Colress commented on how he didn't really understand why exactly Ghetsis needed to know N's whereabouts so badly, even with his ability to talk to Pokémon.

Ghetsis told Colress that it was none of his business and to just to as he was told and Colress told him he was almost finished and that he would be very pleased. Ghetsis nodded at hearing this and broke the connection, before huffing at the thought his pawns could just question him. They weren't there that day, they not see how much that ungrateful freak and that bitch Hilda care about each other.

If they managed to get both him and Reshiram before she returned to the region she so foolishly left behind to find that freak, even she would not be able to stop them as they would hold N's life as leverage over her head to make her fall in line. She would do anything to keep him safe, even sacrifice her own freedom. They just needed to find N first and they would finally have all the pieces in place. He could not wait to see that ungrateful brat and make him pay for his disobedience. Once he was done with him, N would never dare to stand up to him ever again.

The next day, a very down Ash muttered about how he knew there were bad people around in the world, but that it should not mean that Anthea and Concordia could just give up on humans in general, before stating in a very determined tone that he wanted to be the best friend to any Pokémon and his friends all chuckled, before Axew noticed a Deerling and Pidove watching them from a distance.

With encouragement from him, Pikachu and Oshawott, the Deerling and Pidove slowly came closer and allowed the trio to interact with them. The pidove was the same one from the day before and this time, it allowed itself to perch on Iris's arm. They were unaware of Anthea and Concordia watching them and the women in turn were not aware of N smiling at hearing the fun they were having while he wrote a letter.

Unfortunately, Team Plasma happened to find them right after and the women suspected Ash and his friends despite the fact they had nothing to do with it as they had been playing with Pokémon and N said this was not the time to argue before they were shot at by mud balls and Anthea's and Concordia's pokemon quickly shielded them. Three Plasma grunts appeared with a Muk and one of them ordered N to come along with them quietly, before stating that if he didn't, they would just have to take him by force as he threw out a Magnezone. 

Seeing the Magnezone's magnet bomb almost hit the terrified Pokémon they were looking after, N quickly ordered Gardevoir to get the others to safety while we was ready to give himself to Team Plasma to save everyone else from getting hurt, but at seeing that the grunts were not going to let them get away as one sent out a liepard, Ash, Cilan and Iris jumped into the fray with their own Pokémon 

Ash immediately told N to leave since he was the one they were after as he would fight the grunts to give him, Anthea and Concordia time to flee this place. "What do you think Hilda would say if she came back to see her efforts to protect you were for nothing because Team Plasma managed to get you anyway?" He asked and N realised he was right  After thanking them, N left with the two women and the Pokémon

Ash and Co kept Team Plasma from following them and after taking one final look at what had been their safe place for months, they disappeared into the forest. In the meantime, Ash demanded to know from Team Plasma what exactly they were planning and why they needed to have N in their clutches so badly, but they refused to say anything. Working together with their Pokémon, Ash, Cilan and Iris managed to defeat them and a mist descended around them once again. Realising they could use this, the trio fled and soon came across N, Anthea and Concordia again.

They thanked them for helping them get the Pokémon to safety, before Golgitha made the fog thicker and they disappeared. "Ash, Iris, Cilan. If you see Hilda, tell her to be safe. Thank you for everything. Goodbye." N said, before they disappeared and when the fog around them lifted, they found themselves in a completely different spot as if they had never been at the house in the first place

In the meantime, the grunts had been transported to a swamp and one of them had to call Aldith to explain N had escaped again "You utter idiot! If Lord Ghetsis hears about this, you better believe that I will make sure it was your fault this time! I will not be punished because of your incompetence!" She raged at him and he immediately apologised as they retreated, unaware of Team Rocket following them

A few days later, a very large shadow flew over the now abandoned house and maedow and a Pokémon landed next to the building, the ground shaking from the impact of it landing and a lone figure jumping down from its back as they looked at the empty house. "Are you absolutely sure the scent came from here?" They asked and it nodded. "Fine, fine. Wait here and stay on guard." They ordered as they quickly went inside and it nodded again as it turned its back to the house and scanned its surroundings for any threat to its temporary trainer

Looking around the building, they didn't find anything important at first apart from the medical supplies Anthea and Concordia had used and they put it in their bag for later use if it was needed and put their hands in their sides with a sigh. "Well, if he really was here, then he clearly isn't anymore." They muttered. Looking further, they found the letter N had left behind and picked it up.

"Hilda. If you read this, then it means you are finally back and have managed to find this place, but I'm not there anymore because of Team Plasma. I do not know if you have heard it, but they are back, my dearest friend and they want Reshiram and me, likely to both take over Unova and get revenge on you. Please be careful, my friend and don't do anything stupid. I await the day we can finally see each other again. N" It read.

"That's what I feared." Hilda sighed, before her phone rang and after checking to see who it was, she picked it up. "Yes? No, there's no trace of N to be found here, but he has definitely been here not too long ago as he has left a letter to me saying that Team Plasma is looking for him and Reshiram to get their revenge on me. You need to go undercover at the White Ruins until I can get there. Be careful as I have no doubt they are keeping an eye on Professor Juniper and his research team. I will join you as soon as I can." She said, before she hung up.

Looking back at the letter, she smiled and briefly pressed it against her lips and closed her eyes. "It's just like you to worry about me when you are the one in danger." She muttered in an affectionate tone, before she went back outside. Zekrom turned around at seeing her walking out, having come to find her the minute that he sensed her, even if she still didn't know how he had known it was her.

She shook her head to tell him N wasn't there anymore as she quickly climbed up on his back and they flew off to where she had been staying since she had arrived back in the region. Holding onto the letter in one hand, Hilda silently prayed to Arceus that N would be okay and stay safe out of the clutched of Team Plasma. She had the feeling that one way or another, things would soon be over.

She just hoped they would all be okay when the time came

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise 

A few days after the incident, Ash and his friends were still on their way.

A car honked from behind and a guy with glasses and a beard drove up, asking if they were friends with Professor Juniper and Ash asked which one he meant since they were friends with both the Pokémon professor Juniper and her father. "It is easy to get confused with both of them being professors, right. I happen to be the elder Professor Juniper's assistant and he's waiting for you at the White Ruins." The man said.

Happily accepting the lift to the ruins, none of the trio noticed the car with Team Plasma's logo immediately following them as they were too excited to see the ruins. They were not the only ones heading that way as Team Rocket wanted revenge on Team Plasma, Pikachu like usual and the Light stone. Driving to the ruins, the trio marveled at the size of the ruins as Timburr, Conkeldurr and Golurk all helped the humans.

Ash commented on how he wished N could have seen this, missing the glance he got from the assistant before the man told them all they had to move along to meet Professor Juniper in the centre of the ruins. Walking through a maze of hallways, the assistant explained they hadn't excavated all of the ruins yet, but it definitely was the biggest find yet, even as Iris worried about getting lost in there. Eventually finding Professor Juniper just as he was busy inspecting a rather strange door, they immediately greeted him happily and waved.

"No! Stay there! Don't take another step!" The man shouted, startling the trio and his assistant."... if there were any danger." Professor Juniper continued, having a habit of not finishing his sentences and pausing at the worst possible moment that made people think he meant one thing, only to mean the complete opposite and the four fell down in both exasperation and relief at realising there was no danger.

In his defense, Professor Juniper had long since told them to wait until he was finished speaking, but they had forgotten as they got up and the man greeted them happily and thanked them for coming all this way. He explained that behind the strange door he had been inspecting, there might actually be something related to Reshiram and both Cilan and Iris talked about how utterly powerful the legendary Pokémon was.

"Well, we won't learn anything until we first get beyond this door. From my research so far, I've learned that the door was sealed was sealed by a specific method and I'm happy to say I've already figured out a way to break the seal." Professor Juniper told them and they all gasped in amazement as the man's assistant immediately complimented him on this. "That is, if it works." He continued, making them fall down again as Ash reminded himself to listen until the end. "But I'm ready to give it a try, so please, observe!" The professor then said.

He carefully moved the different square shaped rocks that made the door almost like solving a puzzle. Getting it right after a few minutes, a final block slid into the last remaining space as the symbols on through rocks glowed so brightly they had to cover their eyes. When the glow was gone, the door had disappeared to reveal a whole new hallway and they immediately walked further to see what was to find there.

They entered a large space that seemed to have been built in the remnants of a dormant volcano and in the middle of it was a small pillar with a familiar white stone lying on it. "The Light stone." Professor Juniper gasped, which was repeated by the trio. "Or it's just a round rock." He continued, not even responding to the bumps of the trio falling down yet again as Ash asked Iris if she knew what the Light stone was. 

Iris quickly explained that some people said it was Reshiram transformed into a different shape and both Ash and Cilan got excited when they realised they could be looking at Reshiram itself at that very moment. Professor Juniper began to approach the stone and reached out to take it from the pillar, but seemed to hesitate for a second. "You can do it, professor. Think of what today could mean for the world." His assistant encouraged him and that steeled his resolve as he took a deep breath and lifted the Light stone up from its resting place

It immediately began to glow red and shot out a flame straight up and out of the former volcano mouth, the flame being seen from far away by N. "So, that's where Hilda has hidden you, Reshiram." He muttered as he knew he had to get there and keep Reshiram safe while Hilda was gone. A part of him still didn't understand why she hadn't taken it with her, but he supposed she hadn't expected Team Plasma to recover so quickly 

Thanking the Sawbuck that had brought him there and telling it to return to the forest as it could be dangerous, he laughed when it licked his cheek first. He wasn't the only one who had seen it as Team Plasma was staring at it as well. "Aldith, what do you think that means?" Aldith's second in command, Barret, asked as he turned towards her and she hummed in thought as she crossed her arms and closed her eyes. 

"It means that the Light stone has been found and if we don't hurry, it will disappear for good. Contact both Dr. Colress and Lord Ghetsis and tell them of this development. I have almost no doubt that N will respond to seeing this as well and that we may awaken Reshiram this day thanks to the new invention of Dr. Colress. The rest of you, head over there now" She ordered and everyone obeyed as they rushed over to the ruins to get there as quickly as possible as Barret and Aldith got in one of the cars and sped away to the old volcano.

Walking out with the stone once it had stopped the flame but was still glowing a very bright red like flames were dancing under the surface, Professor Juniper fell back with his assistant as the trio happily talked about this new development. "I don't like this. They're far too young for this, even with Cilan being a gym leader. Ash is just a child and anything can go wrong from here on out." He muttered behind his hand.

His assistant sighed deeply as he didn't like it either, but it was too late to back out now. They needed the extra support for what was about to happen and they couldn't ask the other gym leaders. "Remember, we have been told about them. They have won from Team Plasma every time they came across them and that even with Dr. Colress and his new machine, they will be fine. Now, keep quiet before they hear you." He replied.

Once outside, the assistant briefly left as he went to get the analysis equipment while professor Juniper inspected the stone more closely after having put it in a case to carry it. Holding it up from the case while some members of Team Plasma arrived as well, the professor talked about the myth of Reshiram and how it would choose a hero. "But that hero is not you." A cold voice interrupted and they turned around to see N standing nearby, glaring at the professor as he was still holding the stone. "Give it to me. It does not belong to you." He ordered. 

Hidden behind a wall, Barret messaged Aldith, who had gone to scour the perimeter to make sure there were no intruders, that N had arrived and she contacted Ghetsis. "I promise you that this time, N will be secured." She swore and he told her that she better make sure he was. He then hung up on her and asked Colress what the status of his now completed device was and the scientist said there was no trouble whatsoever.

Back at the ruins, Ash asked what N was doing there. "I detected suspicious activity by Team Plasma and I saw the flame. Now, I'll say it again, give the Light Stone to me. I'll keep it safe until the rightful hero returns. Hilda put the stone in the ruins to keep it safe and out of Team Plasma's hands and now, you've taken it out of its hiding spot and there is no doubt that they have seen it too." N replied in a monotone voice.

"Now, wait a second. We all want to keep Reshiram safe too. We have also heard reports that Team Plasma had found this place so we're moving it to safer location before it can get stolen. You've got it all wrong, young man." Professor Juniper tried to say, but N didn't believe him as he stole the case with the stone inside and ran away with it, determined to keep it away from Team Plasma as Ash ran after him and asked why he was doing this and he said he couldn't take the risk of Team Plasma getting their hands on it, not while Hilda was still gone.

"If they get it, they'll be able to take over the entire region and leave everything Hilda has fought so hard for two years ago all for nought. I refuse to let that happen to her and the longer we talk, the bigger the chance that they'll get it." N stated as he himself knew better than almost anyone the power that Reshiram and Zekrom possessed. He then continued to run with Ash right behind him, only for the ground to collapse underneath their feet. 

The shockwave the collapse made was so big that even Aldith felt it, still checking the perimeter with two of her Pokémon. Whirling around at feeling it to see some dust rising up into the air and deciding if couldn't mean anything good and she had to return to take control of the situation, she looked at her Pokémon. "Go. You know what to do." She ordered and they nodded as they rushed away and she hurried to the site.

She had to make sure everything was perfect once Ghetsis arrived 

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise 

Both N and Ash had fallen into a very deep hole underneath the ruins

While Iris, Cilan and professor Juniper were briefly distracted, Team Plasma used this to capture them with other grunts holding the workers hostage as Aldith returned and ordered Barret to report. "N and one of that annoying trio have fallen down that hole after the ground collapsed under the latter's feet. N tried to save him, but they both fell down into the hole. We will need to find a way to get them both out." He said.

Aldith covered her eyes with her hand and dragged it down as she let out a groan. "Lord Ghetsis will be furious if he arrives before N is secured, so get to it or it will be our heads that roll!" She ordered and the grunts immediately obeyed when those who weren't keeping the workers and Pokémon in check rushed to find a way to locate the two. None of them noticed the one set red and one set of blue eyes watching them from the forest.

As Iris, Cilan and professor Juniper were about to be secured, Aldith found herself being grabbed by professor Juniper's assistant as he ordered her not to move and Barret demanded to know who he was as she was shoved against a wall and had a metal pipe held against her face with the threat of being hit clear "I wasn't going to reveal my true identity until Ghetsis arrived, but I have no choice." The assistant said as he pulled off what turned out to be a mask to reveal none other than Looker and Cilan had to admit it had been a very good disguise. 

With his superior under threat and some Golurk arriving to help, Barret couldn't do anything and despite the threat to herself, Aldith let out a laugh as she asked if Looker thought he could defeat a whole unit alone. "Whenever I make a move, the whole International Police moves with me, so rest assured that back-up is on the way and will be here in less than half-an-hour." Looker told her, only for another voice to speak up: Dr. Colress.

The good guys could only stare in horror as with one touch of a button, the scientist took immediately the two ghost/rock Pokémon under his control as well, with Axew quickly hiding himself in Iris's hair before he got hit too. Barret quickly grabbed Aldit and one controlled Golurk used telekinesis to bring them up the cliff and to safety. Iris and Cilan tried to fight the Golurk with Crustle and Dragonite, but it was no use.

Quickly manning herself now that she was completely safe again with her Liepard now standing right at her side as it refused to leave her now that she had been in danger, although she did slowly rub her temple for a bit as if fighting a growing headache, Aldith coldly ordered the team to get rid of the "pests" and several other Liepards used hyper beam to attack them as Dragonite and Crustle were eventually hit by an attack by one of the Golurk and fell out of the sky after Dragonite had tried to save Golurk from being crushed, only to fall out of the sky.

In the meantime and at first unaware of the chaos that was going down above them, N and Ash had begun to talk and bond together as Ash asked what had drawn him to Hilda and he thought for a mine. "For one, her kindness to Pokémon. It didn't matter if they were hers, someone else's or wild, she'd treat them all like they were her best friends. It was so fascinating to witness after only seeing abused Pokémon." He said.

"She once healed a patrat she had fought to train her Pokémon so that it wouldn't get in trouble after she left while it was still weak from the fight. Her utter determination was also a sight to behold as once she had put her mind to something, she would try and see it through no matter what she had to do to achieve it." He continued with a small smile on his face as he rem the young woman he had fallen in love with

Both Ash and Pikachu immediately smiled as well at seeing how much he clearly admired and respected Hilda was they wished they could meet her. N then let out a deep sigh as his smile fell and he looked down. "This is also why I'm now incredibly worried about her. I'm scared that in her determination to protect me from Ghetsis and Team Plasma, she might not look after herself properly and do something incredibly reckless to try and stop them once she returns. It's only the fact that she's not in the region that calms me down." He said.

Ash and Pikachu hummed as they understood, before N heard the cries of the Pokémon above them and realised Team Plasma was doing something and they immediately resolved to find a way out. Hearing the situation get even worse when Team Plasma took the Timburr and Conkeldurr of the workers under their control even as Iris and Cilan recalled their Pokémon just in time, they searched even faster only to find nothing.

Ash had an idea after a bit of thinking. Using his pokemon, they dug their way out with Oshawott making the sand softer. Krookodile dug through it as Charizard used his tail till make the hol bigger with Pignite and Snivy using their claws and vines to remove the sand. Pikachu used iron trail to help and Ash eventually doing the same with his bare hands. N stared in surprise as Ash reminded him of Hilda, before he joined them too.

Above them, the situation had only got worse as with their line of defense being recalled, Iris, Cilan and professor Juniper had been captured with thick, metal bands being wrapped around their arms and torsos. Looker valiantly tried to destroy Dr. Colress's machine with his pipe but Aldith's Liepard harshly tackled him before he could make it. "Did you really think a metal pipe would be more than enough to stop the machine? Only the power of a legendary Pokémon can destroy it now." Aldith scoffed as some grunts took Looker captive as well.

"And of course, we would not have known the machine needed to be tougher if your Liepard hadn't managed to destroy the previous machine with just a single shadow ball." Dr. Colress commented with an actually sheepish Aldith apologising for that. "Oh, don't be sorry. It was a very valuable lesson." The scientist waved it off as a small hole then appeared in the ground and N, Ash and his Pokémon jumped out with the stone. 

Things immediately became even worse then as Dr. Colress used his machine on Pikachu after Ash managed to recall most of his Pokémon even after they fought the controlled Pokémon and Team Plasma's army of Liepards, but couldn't reach Pikachu in time and even his close bond with his partner couldn't get through as he was shocked by his own Pokémon's thunderbolt several times until even professor Juniper worried about his injuries

Ash still refused to give up as he grabbed and held onto Pikachu no matter what even as he was knocked out. "Stop it, right now! Do you want me to destroy the Light Stone?!" N then demanded to know as he held up the case with it inside and Looker asked what on earth he was planning and even Aldith let out a shocked "N?!" Her voice a bit higher than normal in her surprise. "This is what you want: the Light Stone and me too. Undo Pikachu's mind control and we're both yours. But if got refuse me..." N threatened as he held the stone up in his hand.

Barret asked Aldith what they were supposed to do and she briefly closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again. "Getting the Light Stone is our primary objective." She said as she put her hands in her side and Barret understood as they agreed to the conditions and Pikachu went back to normal and at seeing he had knocked out his partner while being controlled, he closed his eyes in guilt as well.

N thanked them both for teaching him so much more about the bonds between Pokémon and humans as he willingly gave himself to Team Plasma and was bound as well. Barret asked if Aldith was okay at seeing her rub her temple once more. "Don't worry about me. We need to prepare for Lord Ghetsis's arrival." She dismissed and he nodded as they went down to where N was currently being bound in a metal band as well

"Liepard, guard him silently." Aldith ordered and her Liepard hurried over as a helicopter flew over and landed as Ghetsis had finally arrived. Both Barrett and Aldith bowed to him the moment he stepped out of the helicopter. "Sir, we have secured the Light Stone. We've captured N as well." Aldith reported to him and the man was very pleased with their accomplishments as he walked over to his former adoptive son and grabbed him by the chin even as N kept a furious glare on his face despite the fear coursing through his veins at being so close to Ghetsis again. 

"Not so powerful now without your precious girlfriend at your side are you, you little freak? You should never have returned if you knew what she good for you. Fist, I'll take over the Unova region with the Pokémon that brat foolishly left behind and then, I'll make sure you will regret standing up against me for the rest of your life, which will not be very long. Don't worry, I'll make sure your hero joins you soon after." Ghetsis sneered.

N growled at him threatening Hilda. "Sir, the preparations for the ceremony to wake Reshiram are complete. We await your orders." Aldith reported. Ghetsis pulled back as the stone was brought to a ruined altar and N was dragged over there as well, getting thrown to the ground with the Liepard standing over him to make sure he didn't do anything stupid. As Ghetsis focused on the altar, N closed his eyes and thought just one thing.

'Hilda, where are you?'

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise 

As the ceremony was about to begin, everyone was tense.

"Ghetsis, do you really think Reshiram will listen to you after what happened in the castle?! Do you really think it will obey after you hurt Hilda?!" N demanded to know and an unrepentant Ghetsis said it wouldn't matter if Reshiram would obey or not since they had Dr. Colress and his device to control it, so what it wanted didn't matter. When N went to protest, he hissed in pain as Liepard scratched his back as a warning.

"Liepard, we do not damage the goods." Aldith scolded her Pokémon and it nodded even as N threw a furious glare at her over his shoulder. Team Plasma had set up a circle of torches that lit up one by one as Ghetsis then used his staff and manipulated the flames to hit a certain part on the floor. A ritual circle then appeared and grew larger and larger every few seconds until it covered the entire ground in front of the altar.

Ghetsis then called on Reshiram to come forth and ignite his flames like it had when Hilda first summoned it, but now under his control instead as ever since N and Ash had fallen into the hole, the stone was now glowing a literal fiery red. "Don't do it, Reshiram! It's not Hilda who's calling you! It's Ghetsis! You mustn't appear for your own good! You must stay in the shape of the Light Stone no matter what!" N shouted even as Barett tried to subdue him and punched him in the face and Aldith's Liepard growled as N almost fell on it because of the punch.

Unfortunately, the stone only began to glow brighter as it seemed that Reshiram was about to come out, only for a fog to descend on the entire place. "Where did this fog come from? Liepard, to my side!" Aldith ordered and her Pokémon hurried back to her, going to stand behind her as it looked around. A psybeam then hit both Aldith and Barret, blasting him back and a magical leaf attack broke the band holding N captive rather easily.

He immediately sagged slightly  in relief at being free as Ash, Iris and Cilan realised Anthea and Concordia were behind it. They then heard the women's voices from the mist, asking N why on earth he was doing this and N said that Team Plasma was trying to awaken Reshiram and that he couldn't let that happen. Two grunts tried to subdue him again, but he threw them off as he pleaded for them to help him with this.

The eyes of both Gardevoir and Golgothia suddenly appeared in the mist, but this unfortunately gave Dr. Colress the opportunity to put them under his control as well as they lifted the mist and attacked their now horrified trainers. Ghetsis scoffed as he said they were nothing but fools and no one heard the almost silent scoff echoing through the air as they were focused on the Pokémon as Anthea and Concordia were blasted back from where they were standing by their own Pokémon and were quickly surrounded by four Liepards to keep them there.

With that out of the way, Ghetsis ordered Reshiram to reveal itself and the stone's glow grew brighter, before vanishing completely as the stone went back to normal, much to his shock as he asked what happened. "Maybe Lord Ghetsis needs to give some kind of command." Aldith theorised as she pulled her hand out of her pocket, Barret asking what she meant. "To show Reshiram who is truly in charge from this moment on." She elaborated.

"An admittedly interesting theory, Aldith. Perhaps, since I'm not its hero like that brat, that's the way I have to do it. Do you have any suggestions about what that order would be?" He asked and Aldith hummed in thought as she turned and looked at the captive Looker, who gave her the smallest of nods as he had felt his badge buzz, indicating his colleagues were less than five minutes away from their position.

Aldith closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she straightened up. "It has to be something powerful and destructive to show the world who will soon rule it. Something like.... Reshiram, use Fusion Flare on Dr. Colress's machine!" She shouted as she pointed at said machine and in the forest surrounding the ruins, a certain pokemon lifted its head. She then turned back to Ghetsis who was looking very amused at her fake order and clearing her throat. "Something like that, sir." She added as she and Liepard walked a bit away from the machine.

Colress chuckled as well. "Very interesting theory indeed, Aldith, but I'm afraid Reshiram won't listen to-" He began, before bright, orange light appeared from his side. Looking up, even the usually calm scientist panicked at seeing a huge fireball heading his way as he jumped away from his machine seconds before it was destroyed and a white dragon Pokémon landed on top of it as it let out a loud roar: Reshiram itself.

"Oh, would you look at that. He listened." Aldith commented, acting like it was the most normal thing ever and Barret gasped as he realised this had been her plan as he demanded to know if she had betrayed them and readied his pokeball, only for Liepard to knock him down as Aldith chuckled. "Don't be ridiculous, Barret. For me to betray you, I would've had to be on your side in the first place." She sneered as she took his Pokéballs

With the destruction of the machine, the Pokémon went back to normal and immediately went to subdue the members Team Plasma as Ghetsis demanded to know from Aldith what was happening. "Something that I have been waiting years for, Ghetsis. The day that you finally get what you deserve after everything you've done. You may have escaped before, but not this time." She growled as she went to stand next to N and Ghetsis immediately realised that she had been the one to betray his plans and locations to the International Police over the past couple of years

"You!" He hissed at her in utter rage as he began to storm towards her and N. Aldith immediately grabbed N's wrist and pulled him behind her as her Liepard jumped in front of them and readied a shadow ball, but Ghetsis couldn't get any further than just a few feet before he heard something big hit the ground behind him, a very large shadow fell over his body and claws grabbed him from behind. Looking up, he saw blood red eyes glaring at him

The black dragon Pokémon growled loudly at him and everyone stared at having both the legendary Pokémon in one place. "Thank you, Zekrom." Aldith said as helicopters flew over and landed all around. "Oh, look at that. Right on time." She said as members of the international police streamed out and arrested all the Team Plasma members on site. "Liepard, free the others." She then ordered and he nodded. 

A few iron claws later, Iris, Cilan, professor Juniper and Looker were free and they sighed in relief as Ghetsis was quickly taken over from Zekrom. "I don't understand! How could you do this to me?! I am your leader and you stab me in the back?!" The man raged and Aldith gave him a glare as she told the officers to wait. She then walked over and whispered something in Ghetsis's ear. Iris, Cilan, a newly-arrived Ash and N all watched as his face fell in shock as Aldith pulled back. Looking at her, his face went purple with rage as he opened his mouth.

They would never learn what he was going to say as Aldith pulled her arm back and punched him so hard, he was knocked out. With a gesture from her, the man was then carried away and she bent over in relief. "Oh, I've been waiting for over three years to do that! It felt so good! " She cheered as she then jumped up-and-down a few times, before joining the others again as Looker and professor Juniper chuckled.

Iris asked if she really had never been on Team Plasma's side and Aldith immediately confirmed it as Looker cleared his throat. "Everyone, may I introduce you to our secret informant. This is the person who has been working with me to bring Team Plasma down once and for all." He stated as Aldith bowed to them all, before asking if Looker really had to be so rough with her before as she moved her shoulder a bit.

"I apologise for that, my friend. However, it was necessary to sell the ruse and tell you backup was on the way." He apologised. Iris and Cilan let out sounds of understanding as they realised that conversation had been code to tell Aldith things were almost over. "Over the past few years, she has given us information that we have used to arrest important members of Team Plasma after one of the sages who turned over a new leaf installed her rather high in the hierarchy." Looker explained and the trio, plus N, Anthea and Concordia all stared at her in awe.

"Speaking of which..." Aldith said, before she harshly cuffed N on the back of his head and Ash, his friends and Anthea and Concordia glared at her as Ash asked what that was for. "For two years, I risked my life every day, doing things I swore to never do and having to obey Ghetsis to try and keep you safe and you just... give yourself to them without thinking. Have you lost your mind?!" She shouted at N. Reshiram then grumbled a bit.

"Yes, he is an utter idiot." Aldith agreed and they stared at realising she could understand it as Ash asked how and why it had listened to her. She sighed as she removed the mask in front of her face, pulled off the hat and then revealed the hair to be a wig as she pulled that off as well to reveal dark brown hair. "Simple. I'm his actual trainer." She said as Iris, Cilan and N all widened their eyes in shock and shouted one thing in unison. 

"Hilda!"

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise 

"Hilda!!!"

"Did you miss me?" Hilda asked with a laugh as Iris and Cilan hugged her tightly. Hugging them back, Hilda looked over to see N staring at her in utter shock as he clearly couldn't believe his eyes. Letting her old friends go with a smile, she walked over as she removed her gloves and gently cupped his face. "Hello, N." She whispered and he let out a shaky breath as he covered her hand with his and leaned into his touch.

"Hilda.... I'm so sorry for worrying so much. I only did what I thought was right." He quickly apologised as he held onto her hand and she smiled at him as she knew he had done so, but he had still been an utter idiot who could have gotten himself killed if she truly had been out of the region. He then finally beamed at her as he realised she truly was there as he pulled her closer to him and wrapped his arms around her.

"I missed you so very much. I thought of you every minute of every day. I feared the absolute worst when I heard that Team Plasma was going after the Light Stone." He whispered as he held her incredibly close to him and she cheekily asked who exactly had told him they were watching the White Ruins. After a few seconds, he laughed at remembering that it had been "Aldith." In other words, she had literally told him about what Team Plasma was planning. In the meantime, Looker and Professor Juniper were telling Ash, Iris and Cilan about the trap they had set.

This included a fake Light Stone with a button at the underside that shot the flame up, which had been the signal for everyone that the plan would start. A remote with a turn-able button Looker and Hilda had in their pockets made it look like flames were dancing underneath the surface that grew brighter and dimmer. "Hey, uhm... Hilda? I'm really sorry for shocking you with Pikachu." Ash sheepishly muttered, Pikachu apologising too.

"That's okay. You were just trying to protect N and you had no idea I had absolutely no intention of actually hurting him." Hilda chuckled in answer while still holding onto N just as Zekrom let out a quiet rumble as it floated over to them with Reshiram. "Oh, Zekrom also wants to apologise to you for accidentally stealing your Pikachu's electricity a few months ago as it had been rather in a hurry" She explained, Iris asking why 

"I was stationed around Nuvema Town back then to look for N's arrival when he sensed me there and showed itself in such a way to basically tell me: "N is back in Unova and he has released me, so he's on his own now, Please make sure he's okay before he does something stupid." I managed to get him to come to me in private without anyone realising and he said that he had accidentally taken Pikachu's electricity and I quickly sent him back so he could give said electricity back." Hilda explained as she pulled away just a bit from N and looked at the trio.

"But... you yourself come from Nuvema Town." Iris commented quietly and Hilda immediately confirmed that it had been absolute hell to be forced to hide from her friends and family while disguised as someone they'd attack on sight because of everything Team Plasma had done and everyone shared looks with each other as they fully realised what Hilda had sacrificed to stop her old enemies for good and keep N safe.

She had to spend at least two years working with people she had already stopped before and work for the man she despised more than anyone, unable to have any contact with anyone she knew apart from Looker and maybe professor Juniper Sr. Her family and friends had all been kept in the dark to keep them safe from Ghetsis's eyes since as long as he believed they didn't know anything, they were of no importance to him. 

"Wait a second, your Liepard was the one who destroyed the machine controlling Haxorus and Dragonite." Iris suddenly remembered with a gasp and Hilda quickly grinned as she said it had been her pleasure as she had seen N get hurt in the corner of her eyes, immediately giving the sheepish man himself another shove at remembering how reckless he had been. She then frowned and looked around as she remembered Team Rocket had been around, but the trio had quickly fled the moment they realised the Light Stone was fake and the International Police had arrived.

Looker then gave her three Pokéballs and she immediately clutched them to her chest for a second with tears of happiness in her eyes before quickly throwing them into the air. A Samurott, Krookodile and Zebstrika appeared and they all immediately tackled her into a hug. Since Team Plasma only used a limited amount of Pokémon, she had been forced to keep most of her partners with Looker to keep them safe.

"Oh, I missed you, Ilayda. I missed you so much." She whispered as she gently held her starter's head in both her hands and rested her forehead against the furry blue forehead of her Samurott, tears rolling down her cheeks as she then hugged Ilayda around her neck while everyone else around her smiled at seeing her reuniting with her beloved Pokémon before Zekrom then let out another grumble after a few minutes had passed. 

Hilda quietly sniffed at hearing it talking to her, wiped her nose and pulled back while N was already chuckling at what he said. "I hear you, Zekrom. I hear you. Don't worry about me not hearing you." She said as she grabbed Zekrom's Pokéball and Ash immediately asked her what Zekrom had said to her. "That I give his pokeball back to N and make sure he never releases him again." She replied and they all laughed as N took it over and solemnly promised that he would not release it again as he then recalled it and Zekrom accepted him as his trainer once more. 

Ash then began to gush over both Hilda and Reshiram and the young woman was a bit surprised at hearing that he thought she was freaking awesome as N wrapped his arm around her. "Well, you really are awesome, my friend. You have gained the trust of a legendary Pokémon and defeated Team Plasma twice now. You deserve to be praised and awed at." He whispered as he carefully kissed her temple.

Ash then said that he really wanted to have a Pokémon battle with her as he truly wanted to see how incredibly strong she was now. "Normally I would definitely love to battle you, Ash, but I have just gotten most of my Pokémon back once more after over two years and I really want to spend a bit of time with them before I battle literally anyone with them." She explained and he conceded at that, a bit disappointed but understanding as well. 

"Tell you what: after this, I'm finally going back home to Nuvema Town and I will definitely stay there for a few weeks at the very least to catch up with my both parents and my friends. Come and see me when you're done with your journey before you go home and I'll be happy to battle you." She offered as she leaned against N and Ash was more than happy to agree with that. Looker then had to leave with the international police and Hilda shook his hand as she thanked the man for all his help in taking Team Plasma down once and for all.

"Don't sell yourself short, my friend. It was your bravery and cunning that really struck the final blow to Ghetsis and his plans. It was an honour to work with you." Looker told her with a warm smile, before he had to leave and professor Juniper left to continue his research now that the danger was over. As the sun started to set, it was time for Ash and Co as well as Hilda, N, Anthea and Concordia to split ways too.

Ash asked if N was going with Hilda and he nodded in answer. "After so long, I don't think I'll let her out of my sight for a while. We have a lot to discuss about everything that has happened in the past few years as well, so it's better if I go with her." He said, before seeing Anthea and Concordia looking sad. "Don't worry. We'll be sure to visit you often, right Hilda?" He asked and she nodded, making them smile again.

Splitting up from both Ash and his friends after thanking them for their help as well as Anthea and Concordia, the two let out their legendary Pokémon and flew over to Nuvema Town where Hilda already knew she would have a lot to explain, especially since she was still wearing the Team Plasma uniform. With Bianca being who she is, that was almost definitely the first thing she was going to notice. Seeing her deep in thought, N quickly made Zekrom fly next to Reshiram and carefully grabbed her hand, making her smile as they flew on.

They landed in Nuvema Town after dark, which was just as well as there were less people around to see the black and white dragon Pokémon landing and the two climbing off and recalling them with whispered words of gratitude. Walking to her home and hearing the voices of her parents as well as Cheren and Bianca inside, Hilda stiffened up until N nudged her forwards and she took a deep breath, before knocking on the door.

Her mother opened it and it seemed like it took her a few seconds before she realised who the woman at her door was. "Oh, Hilda!" She cried, her voice breaking as she dropped the book she was holding and immediately pulled her only daughter into a tight hug, rocking her back-and-forth. Hilda instinctively sagged at feeling her mother's arms around her as she heard her name being cried by her father and best friends.

Her father quickly ran over to her as well after he peeked around the corner and saw his daughter really was home once more. He joined the hug without even asking for permission as he clung onto his wife and daughter with Hilda closing her eyes at finally getting to be with her parents again after so long, taking a deep breath and letting it out very slowly as she then heard Bianca and Cheren greet N in shock as well. Seemed like they didn't hear he was back in the region, but she didn't care about that right now as she held onto her parents even tighter.

Smelling her mother's perfume and feeling her and her father's arms around her once again made her feel like the past couple of years had been nothing more than a bad dream and with N finally back with her, she guessed it kinda had been that and that from now on, she could truly start living as Catherine eventually pulled back and cupped her face. "Oh, look at you. You've grown so much! Where have you been?" She asked.

"And why are you wearing Team Plasma's uniform? I thought you were out of the region." Bianca commented like her friend had expected and Hilda chuckled as she first hugged them and her parents wiped their eyes and tried to calm down, her father thanking N for bringing her back to them and N saying she had done that all on her own as they went inside and sat down on the couch, Jonathan and Catherine still holding onto their daughter.

"It's a long story...." Hilda began to say

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise 

Several years later.

Hilda took a deep breath as she relaxed against a tree, a Cinccin resting in her lap as she stroked its soft fur, thinking back on everything that had happened. It had been quite a few years since the whole situation with Team Plasma was finally resolved and she and N could talk properly about their feelings and everything they had gone through once Hilda had explained everything to her parents and friends. 

They had not exactly been very amused to find out that she had risked her life in such a way, spending over two years working door the same organisation she defeated before. If she had slipped even once or if someone had suspected even the slightest thing was off, she would have been screwed even when she had Reshiram and later on Zekrom attached to her belt even if they didn't know it. 

Especially Catherine had been torn between fussing over her daughter at realising she could have been in so much danger if she had made even the tiniest mistake or let her mask slip even once. "Hey, until a certain someone arrived and started acting reckless, my mask was impeccable and even then, the actual mask of the team clothing hid half of my face so I was still able to hide my reactions most of the time. The only time I genuinely almost screwed up was when this idiot gave himself up to Team Plasma." She said as she nudged N

The others all chuckled while N blushed in slight embarrassment. "It's honestly a good thing Colress was completely focused on you and the stone as i was so shocked by you doing that I even forgot to disguise my voice for a second. If it had been any other situation, he definitely would have picked up on it and i would have been in massive trouble." She continued and the others all smiled.

Ash did return to Nuvema Town a few weeks later and as promised, Hilda held a Pokémon battle with him, her Pokémon obeying her commands just as well as they had two years ago despite her long absence. She won the battle, but Ash had definitely proven his strength, especially with Pikachu and Charizard. She smiled at him and told him he'd go far as long as he treated his Pokémon well.

Ash had immediately promised to do so and Hilda had then focused on Pikachu. "You look after him, okay? And if you ever return to Unova, tell me all about the things you've seen." She told the yellow mouse and he promised as well. A few days later, Ash had to return again to Kanto and both N and Hilda waved him out as he left, N putting an arm around her waist and making her smile at him as she gently leaned against his chest, closing her eyes as she reminded herself that he was there with her again and he'd never leave again

Having a lot of talks together and eventually agreeing to become more than just friends as Hilda guided him in many things he still had to learn about life, including what it's like to be in a relationship as they eventually started a reserve for hurt and mistreated Pokémon that was inspired by the little hideaway he, Anthea and Concordia had, the two women soon happily joining them in this.

The press soon tried to make a whole deal about it: the former champion returned to the region and saving abused Pokémon, but Reshiram and Zekrom quickly chased them away when they tried to interview their trainers and the sisters as their presence disturbed and scared those seeking refuge with the four. Even the press knew better than to try their luck with the legendary Pokémon. 

Keeping very private lives, even with Hilda getting another job at the Pokémon League with help from Alder and later Iris to support the four of them, they just quietly tried to help as many Pokémon as possible. "Don't you ever regret giving up your title? You were the most powerful person in the whole region, you reached the goal and dream you had and you just... let that go to protect me." N said one evening as they were cuddled on the couch of their home and Hilda hummed as she shook her head and shuffled even closer to him. 

"I knew Team Plasma wouldn't dare to come out of hiding while I was still in the region, so once Looker and I created this plan with help from Professor Juniper Sr, I gave the title back to Alder and publicly left the region, only to secretly return by boat the next week. One of the sages then planted me inside of Team Plasma with the excuse that he was spying on the International Police for them.

"It was nice to be the champion. I'll freely admit that, but it was very stressful too. Especially since we didn't know where Ghetsis and his minions were or what they were planning. A part of me honestly did want to go out and find you, but with the world being so big, I knew it was practically impossible, so I decided to focus on dismantling Team Plasma one piece at a time." She continued.

N hummed at hearing this as he then held Hilda even tighter to his chest, a part of him still unable to believe she had been willing to risk so much just for him. No one had ever done that for him, not even his sisters. "Thank you." He whispered as he buried his face in her hair and she smiled as she replied that he was very welcome, one hand coming up to gently card through his hair. N slowly closed his eyes at the touch as he started to fall asleep right then and there. Hilda quickly noticed this, but didn't say anything as she let him sleep on her shoulder.

About three years after the situation with the fake light stone, Hilda and N now being in their mid twenties, a nervous N went around to Hilda's friends and family to ask them something. He got permission from everyone and both Catherine and Bianca helped him buy a very special something. Inviting Hilda out for a picnic soon after that, the young woman immediately noticed something was off

Not only did N look very uncomfortable, he was talking even faster than usual and going off random tangents. Eventually having enough, she gently cupped his face and made him focus "Hey, what's going on? You're acting very unlike yourself and I'm starting to worry." She whispered and he looked down as he took a deep breath and kissed her palm as he held onto her wrist.

"It's just that.... you mean so very much to me, Hilda. More than you can possibly ever know. Every day that we spent together, you have shown me that there is so much more to life than Ghetsis wanted me to believe. You saved me time and again from my former father, my former allies and even my own beliefs. I will always be grateful to whoever put you in my path as you have shown me a different way to live and i do not want to ever forget that." He said as he pulled out a small box of of the picnic basket that he had hidden in the last minute. 

Hilda's eyes quickly widened in utter shock as she sovered her mouth, tears already appearing in her eyes at realising what was going on. "Hilda, will you marry me?" He asked and she immediately nodded in answer as she almost tackled him into a hug. He sighed in relief as he hugged her back, burying his face in her hair as she clung onto his neck. "Thank you." He whispered as he held her even tighter.

Everyone was immediately overjoyed at hearing the news of their engagement as Hilda's parents and friends tackled her into a hug. Preparations were made for a small and simple wedding held on the beach near Nuvema Town where Hilda had come often as a kid. She had played with the idea of doing the wedding at the square where she had first met N, before deciding it was too public.

Despite the public trying to put their two cents into everything, the ceremony had been simple with just Jonathan, Catherine, Bianca, Cheren, Anthea, Concordia, both the professors Juniper and their Pokémon in attendance. Looker had sent his best wishes, but was unable to come. Something about a situation in Kalos he had to handle and how he was about to be sent there. Seeing Hilda walking towards him in her wedding dress at the arms of both her parents a one of the very few times N was completely struck speechless.

"Mama!" A voice suddenly calling her snapped Hilda out of her thoughts as footsteps hurried over to her and the Cinccino quickly jumped away from her lap before a small body crashed into her. "Oof! Easy there, sweetheart. You're getting too big for this." She chuckled as she instinctively wrapped her arms around her eight year old son Chris. The boy immediately giggled in response.

It had been quite a surprise to find out that she was pregnant a couple of years after their wedding. Poor N had been completely stressed out because he had no idea how to be a father since Ghetsis had been anything but a good role model giant him, but Hilda had gently reminded him that he'd never be like Ghetsis in his life and that she would be at his side every step of the way.

That didn't stop him from purchasing dozens of parenting books and reading through all of them in the next nine months while also talking to Jonathan, Catherine and Professor Juniper Sr and preparing their little home for the upcoming arrival and when Hilda was so far in her pregnancy that she had trouble moving, he was always ready to get something for her with help of her Pokémon as especially Ilayda and Balor barely went into their pokeballs during those months. Both Chris and their three year old daughter Lucina were their pride and joy.

"Where's your father, sweetheart?" Hilda asked and Chris looked over to where N was walking over to them, a tiny smile on his face, Lucina in his arms and an emolga on his shoulder. Seeing the look on his face, she quickly got up and walked over to him with their son. "Hey, what's wrong?" She asked in a whisper as she cupped his face and he let out a sigh as she really knew him far too well.

"Anthea just came to me as we apparently missed a call from the international police while we were outside with our children and told me what they told her. He died in prison last night." He said and Hilda immediately knew who he was talking about and letting out a deep breath as well. She was relieved Ghetsis was finally dead for good, but she knew it was still a bit difficult for N 

Chris curiously asked rhythm who had died but his parents immediately said that he'd learn about thay when he was older, his father briefly letting go of his sister with one arm to ruffle through the brown hair both children had inherited from their mother, although Lucina had instead inherited his eye colour and hairstyle while Chris had almost the same face shape as him. Hilda kept cupping her husband's face and he gave her a tiny smile as his arm went back to support Lucina, before they went to sit under the tree together. 

While Chris went to play with a couple of Deerling while always staying in sight and Lucina napped in her father's lap, Hilda gave N a look and he sighed as he held onto his daughter. "I'm glad that he's gone. That he'll never be able to hurt our children like he hurt me, but for so very long, he and Team Plasma were all I knew. I'm happy that he's finally dead, but a part of me hates that i am." He whispered.

"You're such a good man, N. Don't be ashamed of that. Now that he's gone, you can look to the future without fear of the past catching up and we will be here every day." Hilda promised as a tired Chris came back to take a nap as well, resting against his mother's side and it didn't take long before mother, daugher and son were all resting and N smiled at his precious family before joining them. 

After many years of trouble and hardship, they had found their peace in a world that wasn't black or white, but a beautiful grey