Chapter 669: N's Doubt…
~Third POV~
[Unova Region, Nighttime, Nimbasa City – Hotel]
The sliding glass door of the luxury hotel suite clicked shut, sealing out the neon glare and distant carnival music of Nimbasa City. The room was warm, illuminated by the soft amber glow of desk lamps and smelling faintly of citrus room freshener and spilled Moomoo Milk.
"Azure! You're back!"
Black bounded across the carpeted floor with the explosive energy his signature cap slightly askew. He stopped short, thrusting a gleaming metallic badge into the air with a triumphant grin as he declared in a proud tone, "Look at this! The Bolt Badge! I totally crushed Elesa's electric circus in a high-voltage showdown! Nite evolved his strategy, Musha predicted her Dedenne's moves three turns ahead, and we blew the roof off the stadium!"
Azure chuckled, stepping further into the room and shrugging off his jacket. He said happily, "Congratulations, Black. Hard work pays off."
White chimed in from the kitchenette area, sitting at the small dining table with a cloth napkin tucked into her collar, "And look who's talking!"
She was carefully holding a baby bottle filled with warm Moomoo Milk up to Lavi—who was greedily sucking down the beverage with tiny, enthusiastic sounds. White looked up, beaming as she said, "Azure! Thank you so much for helping at the Pokémon Musical earlier today. The crowd went wild when Meloetta stepped on stage! The ticket sales for the BW Agency just spiked by four hundred percent!"
Azure said smoothly, "Happy to help, White."
He glanced toward the corner of the room where a standard Pokémon Center P.C. transfer unit hummed quietly. He said casually, shrugging his shoulders, "As for my Champion-tier teams... I've already sent them back to Professor Oak's ranch and my home estates. They deserve a break after the show was done."
Black's eyes suddenly widened as his gaze dropped downward. He blinked, staring intently at Azure's shoulder.
Black tilted his head, his intense, hyper-focused stare locking onto the small green Pokémon perched there. He then asked in a surprised tone, "Wait a minute… Is that... a Snivy? Where did you catch her, Azure? I didn't see you toss a Pokéball all afternoon!"
Snivy stiffened visibly at Black's loud, booming voice. With a haughty, aristocratic huff, she turned her head sharply away from Black, tucking her leaf-tail around her waist and giving him the absolute cold shoulder.
Azure offered a placid, knowing smile as he said calmly, "It's a long story, Black. Let's just say she decided to change employers."
*Bzzzt*
Rotom popped out of the Arc Phone screen, pointing a pixelated finger at the serpent. Rotom said in a mischievous tone, "Whoa, talk about a tsundere! Her attitude levels are reading over nine thousand!"
*Swoosh*
Before Black could press further, a dark, inky pool of shadows bubbled up from the corner of the room near the baseboard. The ambient temperature in the suite dropped by a few degrees as Darkrai rose silently from the floor, his tattered white-and-red collar swirling like mist.
The Mythical Pitch-Black Pokémon bowed his head slightly toward Azure. Darkrai's deep, telepathic voice resonated in the minds of everyone in the room: 'Master. I have completed the perimeter sweep. No hostile agents, spies, or overly zealous philosophers are within a half-mile radius. The girl and her companions are entirely safe.'
White gasped softly, clutching Lavi a little tighter against her chest, though she offered Darkrai a polite, slightly trembling nod. She said in a nervous and thankful tone, "U-Um... thank you, Darkrai."
Azure let out an audible sigh of relief. He said in a thankful tone, "Good work, Darkrai. Take a break. You can rest in my shadow for the night."
*Swoosh*
With a silent nod, Darkrai melted backward into the floorboards, leaving only a faint chill in his wake. Black muttered, rubbing the back of his neck, though his competitive spark quickly reignited, "Man, that guy always gives me the creeps. Anyway! Tomorrow is my rest day, but Azure, you're up against Elesa for your Unova Gym Badge, right? You better not lose! I want to be the first one to challenge you at the League!"
Azure replied calmly, already walking toward the kitchenette, "I don't intend to lose. And speaking of which, everyone must be starving. Let's make dinner."
The next 20 minutes were a blur of culinary efficiency. Azure moved through the small hotel kitchen with the practiced grace of someone who had cooked meals for literal gods, champions, and armies.
The rich, savory aroma of seared Oran-berry-glazed steak mixed with steamed Apricorn rice filled the suite, making Black's stomach emit a loud, comical rumble that caused White to giggle behind her hand.
Plates were set out across the table. Black and White dug into their meals with gusto, while Azure's various partners materialized around the room: Zoroark leaned against the wall with a lazy, canine grin; a Shiny Alpha Larvesta nibbled happily on a leaf; and a small, perfectly proportioned bowl was placed gently on the floor near Azure's chair.
Inside the bowl was a specially prepared mixture of finely minced herbs, bitter medicinal roots, and high-grade protein paste. Knowing Snivy's careful nature, Azure had deliberately avoided anything sweet or overly dry, balancing the exact flavor profile to appeal to a sophisticated, refined palate.
Snivy blinked, stepping down from the chair and walking cautiously toward the bowl. She lowered her snout, sniffing the contents.
*Gasp*
Her eyes instantly widened. The bitter, complex notes of the herbs hit her tongue, perfectly counterbalanced by the savory richness of the meal. It was nothing like the raw, bland berries N used to hand her in the forest—food meant to be eaten simply for survival.
This was art.
Snivy dove into the bowl, eating with rapid, graceful dabs of her head, maintaining her absolute dignity even as her tail wagged with unabashed delight. Azure chuckled softly. Kneeling beside her, he gently placed two fingers against her head, letting a steady, warm pulse of Viridian Force wash over her scales.
*Hummm*
Azure thought softly, his telepathic nudge wrapping around her mind like a warm blanket, 'Good girl. Eat your fill. You're safe here.'
Snivy paused mid-bite, looking up at him with utter devotion shining in her eyes. For the first time in her life, she knew she had made the right choice.
"Hey!"
A cheerful, high-pitched squeak interrupted the quiet domestic scene. Gigi, White's enthusiastic Tepig, waddled over on her short little legs, her curly tail wagging furiously as she stared down at the green serpent.
Gigi blurted out, her big eyes sparkling with recognition, "Are you... Are you that Snivy? The one who ran away from Professor Juniper's dad's lab with that weird guy who kept talking about liberation?"
Snivy froze. Her ears twitched, and a distinct flush of embarrassment crossed her jade cheeks. She deliberately turned her head away, crossing her front vines over her chest with an exaggerated, haughty huff.
Gigi bounced up and down on her front hooves. She exclaimed happily, "It is you! Oh, wow! It's so cool to meet a fellow labbie!"
Rotom buzzed from the Arc Phone, projecting a floating dictionary definition next to its screen as it thought to itself, 'A labbie? Let's see search engine… Bing! Labbie: Slang term used by Wild Pokémon for Pokémon distributed by regional laboratories!'
Snivy stomped one foot against the carpet, letting out a sharp, indignant hiss of 'Hmph!' that clearly translated to: 'I am not some common laboratory subject! I am an elite partner of discerning tastes!'
White blinked, looking back and forth between Gigi and the fiercely proud starter Pokémon. She asked curiously, "Wait... you two know each other? Azure, did you know Gigi met your Snivy before?"
Azure simply smiled, taking a sip of his water as he leaned back in his chair. He replied dismissively, not revealing the origin, "Secrets make life interesting, White. Eat your dinner. I have a Gym to conquer tomorrow."
As the laughter and chatter filled the warm hotel suite, Azure looked down at Snivy, who was now nibbling on her meal with renewed dignity, occasionally glancing up at him with a soft, content gleam in her eye.
The Unova League awaited. The storm was coming. But tonight, within the quiet sanctuary of Nimbasa City, all was at peace.
/////
[Unova Region, Meanwhile, Team Plasma Castle]
The high, vaulted ceilings of Team Plasma Castle always felt less like architectural grandeur and more like a mausoleum carved out of black basalt and frozen ambition. Standing within its cavernous corridors, N felt the oppressive chill of the Unovan night seep through the stone, wrapping around his shoulders like a shroud.
"So, are you our enemy, N?"
Their voice—calm, unyielding, and ringing with a quiet certainty that had unmoored everything N thought he knew—echoed relentlessly inside his skull. Those words had bounced off the inner walls of his mind, clashing violently with the teachings etched into his soul by Ghetsis.
He had spent sleepless nights pacing across the Persian rugs of his sprawling, toy-strewn bedroom, clutching his head as he tried to reconcile two completely opposing realities. He had seen Azure's Pokémon. He had listened to them.
They hadn't sounded like broken things suffering under the yoke of servitude. They had radiated a profound, incandescent love for their trainer. They spoke of battles not as cruel exploitation, but as a mutual dance of trust and growth, an unbreakable bond forged in the fires of shared hardship.
It couldn't have been a lie. Pokémon could not fake the resonance of their hearts; their voices were pure, stripped of human deception.
So what did that mean?
If Azure's Pokémon were genuinely happy, was Ghetsis wrong?
Was the foundational truth of Team Plasma—the absolute dogma that all Pokémon training was inherently abusive—flawed?
Or was Azure, along with his formidable roster of champions and mythical companions, merely a rare, glittering exception to a grim rule?
The agonizing weight of uncertainty tore at N's chest. He felt like a boy standing on a crumbling precipice, staring down into a fog where up and down had lost all meaning. Incapable of resolving the dissonance on his own, desperate for the steadying anchor of the man he viewed as his father, N finally made up his mind.
He walked the silent, gothic halls until he reached Ghetsis's private study, lifting a trembling hand to knock upon the heavy oak door.
Came the cold, dismissive command from within: "Enter."
N pushed the door open, stepping into a room lit only by the flickering amber glow of oil lamps and the pale moonlight spilling through stained-glass windows. Ghetsis was seated at his massive mahogany desk, surrounded by towering stacks of parchment, strategy maps, and intelligence reports regarding Azure's meteoric rise through the Unova League and Interpol. Ghetsis didn't look up, his quill scratching furiously across a document.
He said dismissively, "What do you want, N?"
He never liked being disturbed when he was plotting, but N's patience had evaporated. The knot in his stomach was too tight to bear any longer.
N stated, his voice unusually thin, "I have a question—about the cause that we've dedicated ourselves to."
Ghetsis sighed, a sharp edge of annoyance clipping his words as he continued to scan over the financial logs of the Seven Sages, "And what about it?"
N asked tentatively, the words tasting like ash on his tongue, "It's just that… are we on the right path? I mean… are we doing the right thing? Truly?"
Ghetsis's head snapped up like a whip. The quill froze against the parchment. The man N had revered as a savior, a prophet, and a father glared at him with a sudden, blazing fury that stole the breath right from N's lungs.
Ghetsis roared furiously, standing up so abruptly his chair scraped screeching against the stone floor, "And what makes you think that?! What kind of corruption has been spreading around in your head, you fool? Is this from the time that you ventured outside? I warned you that the outside world was nothing but poison! This is why you need to listen to me!"
N admitted, flinching back instinctively from the sheer venom in the tone, "It was. But that's not the point—"
Ghetsis interrupted, his voice echoing off the vaulted stone in an angry tone, "No, the point was that you did not listen to me! What have I told you multiple times over? That you shall be our savior and guide all Pokémon into a paradise of our own creation! But that is your role. My role is to make sure that the message is spread to as many people as possible, and for you to be able to save all of us! Do you know how hard that is?!"
N shook his head miserably, shrinking inward.
Ghetsis scoffed, crossing his arms and looking down his nose at the younger man with undisguised contempt. He shouted angrily, "Exactly! So, leave the thinking to me, N. You're still young. So, you can still sit around and continue being as naïve as you want to be. But leave dealing with reality to me."
Normally, a dressing-down of this magnitude would have marked the absolute end of the conversation. N loved Ghetsis deeply; he knew that questioning his elder was a grave disrespect, a sin against the man who had pulled him from the wilderness and raised him among the abandoned Pokémon of the forest.
He despised seeing Ghetsis, his father, upset, especially when that anger was directed at him. His instinct was always to fold, to apologize, to retreat into the comforting silence of his room.
Yet, driven by the phantom echoes of Azure's Pokémon—by the terrifying, beautiful truth he had heard with his own ears—N found himself doing something he had never done before. He pushed past the icy spike of fear piercing his spine.
He refused to let the question die in the dark. N asked slowly, his voice shaking, "…But are you sure that what we're doing is the right thing?"
He was already bracing for the inevitable tempest, yet he forced the words forward. N continued, "I spoke to a few Pokémon when I went outside… and all they tell me is that they love being with their trainer and fighting alongside them. They tell me of the unbreakable bonds between them, and how they would never separate themselves from their trainer. After hearing all of this, how can I believe that what we're doing is right?"
Silence fell over the study. It was a heavy, suffocating quiet.
Ghetsis did not shout this time. Instead, he simply stared down at N with a stern, profoundly disappointed frown, his eyes boring a hole straight through N's chest. The weight of that gaze felt heavier than any physical blow.
Ghetsis demanded coldly with a disappointed expression, letting the silence stretch until N felt entirely hollowed out, "…Are you done spouting your nonsense? Did you not listen to a single word I just said? You must not have—if you can vomit such filth in my face. I taught you better than this, N."
Ghetsis stepped out from behind the desk, pacing slowly toward him like a predator closing on wounded prey.
Ghetsis lectured, his voice dropping to a harsh, hypnotic whisper, "The world is a cruel and harsh place, made even worse due to the sick and disgusting treatment of Pokémon perpetrated by human beings. Pokémon 'battling' and 'training' are nothing less than servitude disguised as kindness. But I was able to see through these lies—to see the horrible truth of the world that the masses ignored. I was the one to teach you to see through that as well. I was the one to build you this safe environment, where you were safe from the corruption of the outside world."
*Gulp*
N swallowed hard, his throat dry as dust.
Ghetsis suddenly roared, his composure cracking back into righteous fury, "And yet, by asking this very question—I know that you have betrayed all that I have done for you! You proved that you have been tainted! You have proved to be a disappointment! So, I will say it again—do not listen to anything else but what I tell you!"
Ghetsis loomed over him, a towering monolith of absolute certainty. "You may be able to understand what Pokémon are saying, but you do not have the wisdom I do to understand the pain and suffering that they hide from you! You simply take their words at face value like the naïve simpleton that you are. Their words may sound beautiful, but underneath that they are secretly crying for help—to finally be given their freedom away from their cruel masters. And you were too blind to see it, N. You utter fool."
Despite bracing for the wrath, the cruel words stung worse than physical lashes. N's head drooped heavily toward the stone floor, his spirit collapsing inward under the crushing avalanche of Ghetsis's disappointment.
A desperate, frantic voice whispered in the back of N's mind, 'He's right. He must be right. I am just a simpleton. I let a human trainer like Azure trick me with superficial parlor tricks. Ghetsis knows the grand design. Ghetsis carries the burden of the world.'
Sensing N's utter defeat, Ghetsis let out a long, exhausted sigh, softening his tone just enough to reel him back in. Ghetsis said, placing a heavy, paternal hand on N's trembling shoulder, "Listen, N. You made a mistake."
The touch felt cold, yet N instinctively leaned into it, desperate for validation. Ghetsis continued, "But it's important to not let your mistakes affect your actions. So do away with those stupid and nonsensical thoughts, and put your trust in me. Trust in my judgment, for unlike the rest of you, I do not make mistakes. I can see clearly. So, I shall guide the world, and shape it to my vision. You just need to play your part, N."
*Gulp*
N swallowed the lump in his throat, blinking rapidly to force back the stinging moisture in his eyes. He nodded dutifully, a small, hollow gesture of complete submission. N murmured, his voice barely audible, "Yes… I understand."
Eager to escape before Ghetsis's mood soured any further, N turned on his heel and made a quick, stumbling retreat from the study, hurrying down the labyrinthine corridors until he reached the sanctuary of his bedroom.
*SLAM*
He slammed the heavy door shut, locking it behind him, and threw himself face-first onto his sprawling mattress. He buried his face in the plush pillows, letting the tears he had held back finally spill over, soaking the fabric in quiet misery.
*Sniff-sniff*
Yet, sleep refused to claim him. As hours ticked by in the castle's suffocating darkness, he lay awake, staring blankly at the ceiling. Repeatedly, Ghetsis's authoritative reprimands clashed violently in his memory with the crystal-clear, joyful notes of Azure's Pokémon.
N repeated to himself like a desperate prayer, trying to hammer down the doubts threatening to tear his mind apart, 'Ghetsis could do no wrong. He is my father. He is the savior. He does not make mistakes. Right?'
Outside, the winds of Unova howled against the castle's jagged spires, carrying the chill of an uncertain dawn, and the final, haunting question remained unanswered in the dark.
/////
A/n: Hope you like the chapter!