Chapter 668: Am I the Villain?
~Third POV~
[Unova Region, Nimbasa City – Amusement Park]
N gasped for air, his lungs feeling as though they were filled with lead. He muttered, "I... I... I thought I was saving them."
The realization was a sickening wave.
If Azure was right, then Team Plasma wasn't a group of liberators.
They were kidnappers.
They were home-wreckers.
They were the very villains they claimed to fight.
Then a chilling question entered his mind: 'Am I the villain?'
The question echoed in the hollow chambers of his mind. He looked at Azure. The Champion didn't look triumphant. He looked sad. He looked like a man watching a child realize the moon isn't made of cheese.
Azure said softly, "The world isn't a textbook, N."
Suddenly, the suffocating pressure evaporated.
Azure raised a hand, a gentle, dismissive gesture. He said calmly, "That's enough, everyone. Stand down. N isn't our enemy. He's just someone trying to find the truth, and I think he understands your feelings now."
*Chirr-click*
One by one, the massive Pokémon vanished in beams of red light. The alleyway felt cavernous and empty once the veterans were gone. Azure's Pikachu hopped back onto his shoulder, and Eevee yawned, settling back into its nest of hair.
Azure looked down at N, who remained on his knees, staring at the ground as if searching for the pieces of his shattered worldview. Azure said calmly, "I'll leave you to your thoughts, N. But remember: a voice is only true if you're willing to hear the answer, even if it's not the one you wanted."
Azure turned to walk away, his boots clicking rhythmically against the stone.
N's mind was a storm of static. He mentally tried to deny it in a desperate tone: 'No. No, this can't be everything…'
Ghetsis's voice, cold and commanding, hissed in the back of his brain, 'He is an anomaly, N. A silver-tongued devil who has brainwashed even the strongest of creatures. Think of the thousands of others! Think of the Sewaddle kicked in the streets! Think of the Patrat worked to death in the mines!'
Hearing his father's words, N shook his head as he thought in denial, 'Yes. That was it. Azure Sky was a singular exception. A golden boy in a world of lead.'
N's fingers gripped the pavement as he thought in a determined tone, 'I cannot let one beautiful lie blind me to a million ugly truths. I must stay the course. I must become the Hero. I must seize the power of the Legendary Dragon and force the world to be kind, even if the world doesn't want to be.'
His resolve, brittle and jagged, reformed around the core of his trauma.
He would still defeat Azure.
He had to.
For the ones who weren't loved.
N gritted his teeth, forcing the doubt down.
He had to be right.
If he wasn't right, then his entire life—his childhood in the castle, his crowning, his very purpose—was a joke.
N muttered, his voice cracking in his delusion, denying, "Azure's bond... it is beautiful. But it is a needle in a haystack. I cannot let the happiness of your team blind me to the suffering of the masses! I will still save them. I will become the Hero of Ideals, and I will break the chains of this world!"
He needed validation.
He needed to know he wasn't alone in his truth.
He turned to the Snivy that had been his constant companion in this journey.
Seeking an anchor, a sliver of validation to stop his heart from aching, N looked down at the Snivy that had been his constant companion since he started this journey. N whispered, his voice trembling as he reached out a hand to stroke its head in need of assurance, "You understand, don't you, Snivy? You know that even if they are happy, we must fight for the ones who aren't? You're with me, right?"
The Snivy didn't move toward his hand...
*Tmp*
Instead, the Grass-type took a deliberate, slow step backward. It looked up at N, and for the first time, N felt the full weight of the Pokémon's gaze. It wasn't the gaze of a loyal friend. It was a look of profound, soul-deep disappointment.
The Snivy had heard the voices. It had felt the warmth of the Tyranitar's memory and the fierce pride of the Pikachu. It had seen N face the truth—and then it had seen N deliberately turn his back on it to embrace a lie.
N heard Snivy's voice, but it wasn't a roar like Pikachu's; it was a quiet, heartbreaking whisper as she said, "You are not listening. You claim to hear us, but you only hear what you want. You don't want us to be free. You want us to be yours!"
The Pokémon turned its back on N.
With a graceful, determined stride, the Snivy walked across the alleyway. It stopped at Azure's boots, looking up at the Champion with an expression of clear, unwavering intent. It sat down, its tail curling neatly around its feet, positioning itself firmly on Azure's side of the line. N's hand stopped...
He whispered, "Snivy...?"
The Pokémon didn't look back. It had chosen a trainer who saw it as a partner, over a 'King' who saw it as a symbol.
Azure paused, looking down at the little green Pokémon. He looked back at N, his expression pained.
Azure looked surprised. He looked at N, then back at the Snivy as he said calmly, "She's making her choice, N."
N didn't want to believe it. N whispered in a desperate tone, "No... Snivy, please... I am your King! I am the one who understands you!"
Azure said quietly, the neon lights of Nimbasa casting long, dancing shadows behind him, "It seems that even your own heart knows when it's being lied to."
Azure reached down, and the Snivy leaned into his touch, closing its eyes in a way it never had with N. Gengar whispered, appearing for a brief second, "Ouch… That's gotta sting being abandoned…"
Meloetta's voice floated through the air, though her tone was softer now, 'Be quiet, Gengar. That was just rude.'
Azure reached into his pocket and pulled out a standard, vacant Pokéball.
He didn't throw it.
He didn't even click it.
He simply knelt and held it out in his open palm.
Azure said softly to Snivy, eyeing her, "If you want to stay with me, it's your choice. But know that I won't treat you like a subject. I'll treat you like a partner. We'll fight, we'll grow, and we'll face the truth together. No lies. No shadows."
Snivy didn't hesitate.
She stepped forward and tapped the center button with her snout.
*Click*
The red light enveloped her.
The ball sat in Azure's palm, perfectly still.
No shaking.
No struggle.
No resistance.
The capture was instantaneous because the soul within was willing.
Azure smiled, grasping Snivy's Poké Ball.
He checked her status screen as N stood there blankly, wondering what had just transpired, with a pained expression.
[Snivy the Grass Snake Pokémon. It has a large, palmate leaf with three prongs on the end of its tail. This tail can perform photosynthesis, allowing Snivy to move more quickly and adding an edge to its moves.
However, the tail will begin to droop when Snivy loses energy. Snivy can use its vines with incredible adaptability and dexterity to make up for having short arms. This Pokémon has a calm, collected demeanor and is very intelligent. Snivy prefers to be alone and avoid groups whenever it can.]
|Name: Snivy (Grass Snake Pokémon)
|Type: Grass
|Tera: Grass
|Level: 40
|Gender: Female
|Held Item: None
|Ability: Overgrow
|Nature: Careful
|Moves: Protect, Leer, Growth, Leech Seed, Coil, Gastro Acid, Glare, Attract, Synthesis, Vine Whip, Leaf Tornado, Mega Drain, Leaf Blade, Leaf Storm, Energy Ball, Slam, Wrap, Wring Out, Pursuit, Twister, Iron Tail, Aqua Tail, Cut (HM), Natural Gift (EM) (2 moves left to learn)
Azure blinked at the surprising moveset Snivy had on her with an impressed expression. He thought, stunned, 'This Snivy is not bad at all. And at a very high level too, but why hasn't she evolved yet, or rather…'
*Hummm*
Using his Viridian Force to briefly glow the Poké Ball containing Snivy, Azure peeked to understand why. When he saw from Snivy's POV why she hadn't evolved under N witnessing Team Plasma's rotten actions…
He understood why immediately, following Snivy's perspective. He frowned mentally as he realized, in a disappointed tone, 'So that's why… she doesn't feel safe to show her real strength she'd been holding back. And her growth was this slow because N didn't want her fighting a lot in Trainer battles…'
Azure could only sigh at Snivy's predicament but was glad to have her on the team. Azure stood up, clipping the ball to his belt. He looked at N, who was still on his knees, looking like a man who had just seen his entire world burn to ash.
Azure said, his voice carrying the weight of the leagues he had won and the worlds he had saved, "A Pokéball isn't a cage unless the person holding it chooses to make it one, N. You want to change the world, but you're refusing to look at the living truth right in front of you. If you force a separation on everyone, you won't be liberating them. You'll be tearing families apart. You'll be the very monster you claim to fight."
Azure turned to walk away, his boots echoing against the alley walls—
*Thump-thump-thump*
Azure called out over his shoulder, his silhouette framed by the distant neon lights of the Ferris wheel, "I'll be waiting at the Pokémon League. And if you still choose to face me as an enemy... if you still choose Ghetsis's lies over the voices of your friends... then my team and I will show you exactly what a real bond can do. We won't just defeat you, N. We'll shatter your delusions once and for all."
As Azure vanished around the corner, the silence of the alleyway crashed down on N. It was a hollow, ringing silence. N stared at the empty space where Snivy had stood. The horror of it began to seep into his bones, a cold, numbing realization.
His own Pokémon—the creature he had spoken to for months, the one he thought shared his soul—had chosen a 'prison' over him.
N whispered to the shadows, "Was it all a lie?"
A tear hit the concrete, dark and wet.
The lights of Nimbasa City flickered, bright and garish, but for the first time in his life, the King of Team Plasma felt like he was standing in total, absolute darkness. He had been promised a kingdom of liberation, but as he knelt in the dirt, he realized he was just a lonely boy in an empty alley, abandoned by the very truth he claimed to serve.
The sounds of the amusement park—the screams of joy, the mechanical whirring, the distant music—continued unabated. But for N, the King of a world that didn't exist, the silence was deafening.
He remained on his knees, a broken king in a city of lights, realizing that the liberation he sought had already begun—but he was the one being left behind. N couldn't help but repeat the same question: 'Am I... the villain?'
The question had no answer, only the distant, mocking laughter of the wind through the amusement park's steel beams. He whispered, a phantom plea to a father who had lied to him, "No... It can't be... they're just... they're just exceptions."
A soft, mournful cry drew his attention: "Zorua!"
From the shifting shadows, a small, dark form materialized. It was his Zorua, its illusory coat flickering as it sensed its trainer's emotional turbulence. It nuzzled against N's trembling hand, its fur soft and comforting.
N buried his face in the creature's neck, his shoulders heaving. He clutched the Zorua tightly, his fingers digging into its mane. As the sounds of the Nimbasa City carnival drifted over the wall—the distant mechanical music, the laughter of children, the screech of roller coasters—N felt the crushing weight of isolation.
He had to get to the Castle. He had to hide. He had to convince himself that he was right, because if he wasn't, then everything he had done—every life he had disrupted, every truth he had twisted—was a tragedy of his own making.
N whispered to the Zorua, his voice hollow and broken, "We have to go…"
As they stood and began to retreat into the deeper, darker parts of the city, the ghost of the conversation remained behind. The 'Uncrowned Champion' was long gone, but the truth he had left behind—a truth as sharp as a blade and as heavy as a mountain—remained, waiting for N at the end of the road. In the distance, an unseen Rotom giggled to itself from within the folds of the city's power grid. Rotom asked, curiously eyeing N, "He's going to need a lot of therapy, isn't he, Partner?"
Azure, walking toward the Ferris wheel, checked his Arc Phone with a thoughtful expression. Then he replied calmly, "Maybe. But everyone deserves a chance to see that the world isn't just black and white, Rotom. Even a King."
He looked up at the stars above Nimbasa, his team moving in perfect synchronization around him. He knew the road ahead was violent. He knew that when he reached the League, N wouldn't come as a friend, but as a storm.
But as he felt his team's pulse—Pikachu on his shoulder, the collective warmth of his partners—he knew one thing for certain. He wasn't fighting for a regime. He was fighting for the family that chose him. And in the heat of a battle born from love, no amount of manufactured ideology would ever be enough to break them.
/////
A/n: Hope you like the chapter!
Also, I hope you readers liked how the MC's Ideals challenged N's ideals, causing him to nearly have a mental breakdown, realizing that the MC's bonds have terrified him, even with his own Snivy switching to the MC's side. Even after listening to the MC's Pokémon and his words, it isn't easy for N to discard his own ideals after years of living with Ghetsis conditioning him, but it does trouble his mind with doubt moving forward.
It shows as in the story Snivy should've already evolved into Servine in the Manga. But here she didn't because of the MC and N's reactions. Hence, instead of White breaking down here, it was N in this case whose Snivy voluntarily switched sides, causing N to genuinely doubt his own ideals, which leads to his mental breakdown. Gotta remember N's personality.
N is emotionally and socially stunted as a child. While he possesses high intelligence and analytical/mathematical skill, his emotional maturity is that of an isolated child. He lacks the life experience that Azure has plenty of to truly break free from his innocence.
But what are your guys' thoughts about this chapter?