Pokemon Darkness: Chapter 12

Pokémon Darkness

Part 1: Unova

Chapter 12: VS Shadow Lord Greevil

The moment that Darkrai let out its disturbing static-like cry, White's vision became eerily distorted. Colors seemed to fade and blend together, and the outside of the palace became pitch black. A bright flash filled her sight, and N, Cheren, and Claire were reduced to crumpled, bleeding heaps on the icy stone floor. The darkness closed in around her, leaving only the length of ground on which her friends lay visible. Greevil's unsettling smile floated around in the darkness, and White could not tell if its maniacal laugh was her imagination or not.

She frantically struggled to do something for her apparently dying friends, but her feet seemed to be stuck to the floor. She waved her arms at them, almost reaching Claire, but Greevil's masklike face was abruptly inches from hers, and the echoing laughter grew even louder.

"Gah! Leave me alone!" White shouted, throwing a punch at the disembodied face. Her hand merely traveled through it, however, and the cackling amplified further.

White was contemplating suicide by the time the warm light reached her and made the horrific vision falter. The images of her dead friends, of the face of Greevil, and of the crushing darkness faded to barely-noticeable shadows of true existence. She turned dazedly to her left, seeking the source of the light that freed her.

And caught sight of Claire being literally kicked out of the temple by a Genesect.

The blazing rage that ignited in her heart dispelled the last of the darkness. N and Cheren and Claire dying, the tormenting mask, none of that was real. The Genesect kicking Claire on Greevil's orders, that was. Very real. White abruptly seized N's hand on one side and Cheren's on the other, and, on an impulse, pulled them over to her and smashed their foreheads together.

"Ow!" Cheren shouted irritatedly, as he and N stumbled backwards, shaking their heads. White quickly took a hold of both of their hands again, hoping that she could somehow channel the light she suspected came from Februa into them and keep them tethered to earth and out of the Dark Void attack.

"N! Cheren!" she shouted at them. "Stay with me! We need to fight!"

"Wh-what?" N stammered.

"N, go check on Claire! Greevil's Genesect just kicked her down the frickin stairs!"

"I- what?" N asked, the shock rapidly waking him up. He turned to run without waiting for a response, but a huge steel wall rose around the palace, cutting off the light of the moon and stars, so that only the torches lit the room.

"Oh, I don't think so," Greevil snickered. "She'll be perfectly safe between those electric barriers I built for intruders until I retrieve her. Now, I don't know what that infernal worm has done this time, but it seems that it's given you resistance to Darkrai's power. No matter. We will simply crush you now!"

Genesect swiftly flipped in front of his master, while Darkrai ceased actively using his power and floated in front of his own. Ardos then quickly sent out Kyurem, and the three Shadow legendaries stared down the three trainers who could claim the title of the Champion of Unova.

"Blue Flare on the Genesect, Reshiram!" White shouted, releasing her yang dragon.

"Freeze Shock them all, Kyurem!" Ardos shouted to the wuji dragon.

"Dragon Claw Kyurem, Zekrom!" N yelled, completing the trio with his yin dragon.

"Brick Break the Darkrai!" Cheren ordered his Haxorus, taking the last target.

"Genesect, Cyro Blasts all around," Greevil cackled. "You see, little trainers, we have designed a Drive for Genesect that can serve as any of the four types, and-"

"Darkrai, use Dark Void," Eldes interrupted calmly.

Each command rang out at roughly the same time, and White was a bit surprised to see that none of the Pokémon had been at all thrown off by this. Genesect moved first, fire frigid Techno Blast attacks rapidly across the room. These struck each of the three opposing dragons twice before Reshiram enveloped the Paleozoic Pokémon with brilliant cobalt flames. Cheren's Haxorus leapt up and smashed the levitating Darkrai to the ground before it could initiate its Dark Void again, but was then blasted against the wall by a bolt of ice energy from Kyurem. The boundary dragon continued to fire stray blasts of electrified ice until Zekrom charged forward and slashed it across the face. Just then, though, Darkrai managed to glide over to Zekrom and cast its dark sleep on him, who was then susceptible to repeated ice blasts from Kyurem.

"Reshiram, Dragon Pulse Kyurem!" White hastened to shout.

"Haxorus, follow that up with Outrage!" Cheren added.

Reshiram and Haxorus quickly came to their fellow Dragon-type's aid. As Haxorus leapt in the way of an Ice Burn attack and furiously slashed at Kyurem, who was then thrown backwards with Reshiram's mighty draconic aura. Evidently of its own accord, Darkrai began unleashing howling Blizzards, badly wounding the three dragons. In this chaotic struggle, the badly burned Genesect was nearly forgotten, until Greevil issued his next command.

"Genesect, why don't you use Explosion on this merry little party?"

Before any trainers could react, the Paleozoic Pokémon leapt gracefully into the midst of the struggling titans and violently self-destructed. As each Pokémon had already sustained heavy injuries, all five were thrown backwards, narrowly avoided by their trainers, and immediately fainted.

Having no clue what her foes would send out next, White's hand fell to the Pokéball of her oldest, strongest friend. To her right and left, N and Cheren reasoned likewise, releasing a Breloom White knew to be Zoroark and Serperior respectively as White sent out Samurott. As far as she knew, the Cipher leaders followed the same reasoning, as Ardos sent out his Alakazam, and Eldes his Flygon, while Greevil set his presumably strong Crobat.

"Samurott, Blizzard the Flygon!" White yelled.

"Just use Earthquake, Flygon," Eldes countered.

"Poison Fang the snake, Crobat," Greevil snickered.

"Counter with your new Stone Edge, Serperior!" Cheren shouted.

"Alakazam! Punch everything!" Ardos yelled. "Fire on Breloom! Ice on Serperior! Thunder on Samurott!"

"No! Z- er, Breloom! Night Daze the Alakazam!" N interrupted.

Before anyone else could even twitch, Crobat soared forward and savagely raked Serperior with its razor-sharp teeth. For a moment she flinched in agony as the venom set in, but she smashed the ground with her tail, sending several sharp stones into the air. She then swiftly smacked each one, nailing the Crobat in the face with four jagged rocks. Just as she attempted to strike the fifth, Alakazam backhanded her with a cyrokinetic fist, just before "Breloom" blasted it back with a pure-black shockwave. At the same time, Samurott summoned a mighty Blizzard that howled around the Flygon, who then crashed the ground, sending a massive quake throughout the room that threw everyone badly off balance. Even after the sequence of carnage ended, none of the Pokémon had fainted, though Zoroark had reverted back to its true appearance.

"U-Turn out against the Serperior, Crobat."

"No! Finish it with Stone Edge first, Serperior!"

Serperior again blasted the Crobat with jagged stones, but the venomous bat ignored the pain and slashed Serperior across the face as it turned sharply upward and returned to its master. Serperior waved uneasily for a moment before finally collapsing. White's attention was drawn from Cheren's newly sent-out Simipour as Alakazam struck her Samurott with a mighty Thunder Punch. Before she could call out a counter, however, Zoroark lunged forward with another Night Daze attack that critically hit Psi Pokémon, at last throwing it unconscious. White glanced around quickly before deciding on the same move again.

"Blizzard again, Samurott!" White shouted.

"Follow that up with Ice Beam, Simipour!"

"Night Daze him, Zoroark!"

"Hyper Beam, Flygon," Eldes said with his strangely amplified voice.

"How about a few Energy Balls, Deoxys?" Greevil chuckled.

The rapid stream of attacks quickly threatened to overwhelm the Flygon, but in the midst of them it managed to fire a massive beam that badly wounded Zoroark just as he unleashed a surge of darkness. He stumbled weakly before collapsing, but the combination of attacks from Samurott and Simipour protected him from harm until N recalled him. The Flygon too fainted, but before either Water-type could celebrate, however, a shining gold Deoxys mutated into its attack forme and fired several bright green masses of energy that severely injured both opponents. Samurott swayed dazedly, and seemed about to pass out, but somehow managed to find the strength to hang on.

"Samurott!" White yelled, knowing this would be his last move. "Hydro Cannon!"

The exhausted Samurott looked for a moment like he was simply too tired, but then let out a vehement shout and blasted the Deoxys with a colossal torrent of water. The Deoxys mutated into its defense forme just before impact, but the huge jet threw it powerfully against a pillar regardless. So great was the sheer amount of water that the floor remained room literally became a foot-deep pool. The robust defense Deoxys shook the blow off, however, and, mutating once again, sent another volley of Energy Balls at Samurott, who at last fell unconscious.

Each of the trainers, White noticed, immediately took the flood to their advantage by sending out Water-types. N's Carracosta was engaging Eldes's Kingdra, and Cheren's Simipour was attempting to dodge the swift strikes of the Golduck that Greevil's switched for his shiny Deoxys. Ardos, meanwhile, sent out his own Deoxys, which began zooming around the room with Extreme Speed attacks. Seizing the opportunity for type advantage, White hastened to release her Leavanny.

"Leaf Blade the Golduck, Lea!" she shouted. "And X-Scissor the Deoxys!"

Leavanny leapt gracefully into the air and stabbed down at the rapidly swimming Golduck with her sharp leafy arm. But the kappa-like Pokémon easily tore out of the way, and promptly countered with an Ice Beam fired from the jewel on its head. Frost coated Leavanny, and the water around her froze solid, holding her in place. The attack forme Deoxys then charged at her, but she broke from her icy imprisonment and slashed it across the face with her crossed arms. It quivered uneasily for a moment, but then, at Ardos's command, blasted her back with a Psycho Boost. It charged up to her unconscious body, raising its whip-like arms, but White hurriedly withdrew her from the battle before the DNA Pokémon could finish her off.

As she expediently surveyed the battle, she was dismayed to see Kingdra defeat Carracosta with a Dragon Pulse, while a Psyshock from Golduck felled Simipour. Her friends made to send out their next Pokémon, but a brilliant, horribly reckless idea formed in White's mind.

"Guys, wait! Climb a pillar!" she shouted, as she hastened to do likewise while sending out Zebstrika. Greevil and Eldes realized what was about to happen with just enough time to scramble onto the throne, and the Deoxys seemed to understand, for it levitated a good ways above the water's surface. But the Water-types as well as Ardos were still in the pool when White issued her insane command.

"Wild Charge, Zebstrika!"

The lightning zebra lunged at the speedy Golduck, enveloped in a mass of electricity. His mighty tackle missed, but it did not matter; the powerful surge of energy that flowed throughout the pool shocked the Golduck and Kingdra into unconsciousness. Ardos fell to the ground and writhed in pain for a good ten seconds before the current dissipated. He was left lying weakly in the pool, gasping for breath, with his flesh scarred and even slightly melted.

At that point, the five other trainers leapt down from their perches to resume the battle. With an enraged cry, Ardos pulled some sort of potion from his pocked, sprayed it over his wounds, which healed just barely, and let out a shrieking command no one but Deoxys understood. The Deoxys sped at White and lashed her harshly with its tentacles before she could react. It made to strike her again, but she kicked it away, and Zebstrika blasted it with a swift Shock Wave attack that remained safely above the water. The wounded Deoxys seemed about to strike once again, but Cheren's Liepard landed on it, pinned it to the floor, and viciously slashed it with Shadow Claw and Night Slash attacks. At last, the Deoxys fainted.

"Get rid of this damn water with an Earthquake, Donphan!" Ardos screamed as he swapped his beaten viral Pokémon for the massive Armor Pokémon. The Donphan crash to the ground with incredibly force, creating violent tremors and deep cracks in the floor. The water began to slowly seep out, freeing up Zebstrika to safely attack, but the Earthquake critically threw him back, and he did not stir. White bit her lip as she recalled him, and again overlooked the other combatants.

Cheren's Liepard was engaging another regular red Deoxys that White assumed to be Eldes's, as they were evidently standard-issue amongst the high-ranking members. As Liepard sliced the alien with critical Night Slashes, Deoxys lashed out with devastating Brick Breaks. N's Breloom bombarded the Donphan with Seed Bombs, narrowly avoiding its Fire Fang chomps. When Greevil sent out a Luxray that also lunged at Breloom with unusually sharp fiery incisors, White threw Excadrill's Pokéball, ordering a Drill Run attack.

The Luxray was thrown backwards, sustaining serious gashes, but immediately countered with a flaming bite against Excadrill. She made to strike again, but their duel was interrupted when Cheren's Liepard crashed into them, having been finally defeated by Eldes's notably wounded Deoxys. It raised its whip-like arms again, but a Seed Bomb from Breloom, who stood triumphantly atop the fainted Donphan, knocked it to the ground. In the midst of this distraction, the Luxray tackled fungal fighter, pinning her to the ground and biting her with now-frigid fangs. N's Camerupt blasted it off with Earth Power, allowing N to recall her before she could sustain any more serious injuries. When Cheren's Gigalith joined Camerupt and Excadrill, White stumbled upon another, slightly less insane plan.

"Excadrill, use Sandstorm! It won't hurt our team!"

She was disappointed, however, to see that, as Ardos had sent out his Scizor, and Greevil his Metagross, only Eldes's Roserade was phased by the raging sandstorm. Fortunately, however, it still increased the strength of her Excadrill.

Greevil's Metagross confronted Excadrill and Camerupt with a powerful Earthquake, while Scizor and Roserade ganged up against Gigalith with Iron Head and Petal Dance attacks. Between Metagross's Earthquakes, Camerupt's Eruptions, and Excadrill's Drill Run's, the air was filled with an even greater amount of sand filled the air, and White was surprised that the building didn't come crashing down on their heads. But, of course, it was made for Pokémon battles, after all.

"Iron Head again, Scizor!" Ardos cried out.

"Finish it with Petal Dance, Rose," Eldes ordered.

"Gigalith… Explosion!" Cheren shouted, a bit reluctantly. The sand was notably cleared from the air when Gigalith violently blew up, throwing both of his attackers off and knocking them out.

"Metagross, Hammer Arm the mole," Greevil laughed in the chaos.

"No! Earth Power, Camerupt!" N shouted.

"Hit another Drill Run!" White yelled to her Subterrene Pokémon, but she knew she was too late. The Metagross crushed her beneath a heavy metal arm, leaving her a broken, bleeding mass. Before it could strike again, however, Camerupt's Earth Power blasted it back, knocking it too unconscious.

"Why don't you Psycho Boost that obnoxious camel, Deoxys?" Greevil simpered, sending his somewhat injured shiny Deoxys back out. Before any other trainers had even grabbed their next Pokéball, the DNA Pokémon blasted Camerupt back with a powerful stream of psychic energy.

As White's hand fell to her next Pokéball, she was alarmed to find that it was her last one. She had completely lost track of the number of Pokémon that each trainer had cycled through. Were they close to winning? Were their opponents too on their last Pokémon? She desperately hoped so.

"Thunderbolt the Unfezant, Gengar," Eldes said as coolly as ever as he sent out his gaseous ghost.

"Heracross! Use Close Combat on the Archeops!" Ardos called out, releasing his giant beetle.

"Archeops, Crunch the Gengar!" White yelled fiercely, hoping to channel her determination into her Pokémon.

"Altaria, Draco Meteors!" N ordered.

"Unfezant, use Sky Attack on the Heracross!" Cheren shouted, fuming with rage. White was taken aback for a moment, before she recalled that the Heracross was the Pokémon that killed Alder.

Unfezant immediately began charging energy, and motionlessly allowed Gengar's Thunderbolt to strike him. Before Gengar could summon another, Archeops soared forward and viciously bit the spirit, wounding it badly. However, Heracross then soared up and repeatedly punched Archeops, throwing her off balance and allowing Gengar to strike her with another Thunderbolt. It prepared to finish her off, but a bright purple comet struck it first. The Heracross prepared to attack again, but Unfezant fiercely tore at it from the ceiling and slashed it savagely with his beak. It fell to the ground, but astoundingly did not faint.

"Deoxys," Greevil murmured silkily. "Use Rock Slide on these pretty little birdies."

The Deoxys, having silently surveyed the battle, sent a pulse of energy up to the ceiling that caused it to collapse. White just narrowly rolled out of the way of a boulder, but the heavy rocks struck each of their Pokémon. Archeops fainted, and, although Altaria initially did not, she immediately soared down to N, who, White saw with horror, had also been knocked out in the cave-in. As Altaria attempted to protect N, Heracross lunged at her and savagely Night Slashed her. The starlight that now shone through the holes in the roof was bitterly ironic, as their hopes of victory had just been crushed.

"It's not over yet!" Cheren cried somewhat madly. "U-Turn the Deoxys, Unfezant!"

Miraculously, Unfezant managed to glide swiftly to the Deoxys and slice it across the face, at last knocking it unconscious. Unfezant soared upward triumphantly, but Greevil merely cackled.

"Oh, silly bird," he snickered. "Crobat! End this worthless battle with Poison Fang!"

Unfezant turned sharply around, but the Crobat was too fast, and brutally pierced his left wing with toxic teeth. Unfezant fell to the ground rather pathetically, and the venom knocked him fully unconscious. Despair flooded over White. Their last hope for victory was gone.

Greevil laughed with malevolent triumph as he slowly approached the now-unarmed trainers with his Crobat at his side. Ardos and Eldes closed in on either side with their own Pokémon, trapping the three friends against the steel barrier.

"Oh you fools," he lamented with sarcastic sadness. "Only now, at the end, do you finally understand. You cannot stop Cipher. You defeat a thousand of our troops, and we will send ten thousand back. We are infinite. We are legion. We cannot be stopped; we cannot be beaten; we cannot be killed. The world will be ours, and there is naught you can do to prevent it.

"But I am forgiving, merciful, resourceful, and kind," he went on. "And I will not kill you without offering you another option. Cipher needs strong trainers like you. You are free to join, if you so wish. We do not kill our own. We-"

"You know what I've got to say to that?" White interrupted as evenly as she could manage.

"Probably, but do tell us," Greevil chuckled.

"Fuck you!" White spat with ever ounce of animosity she held. "Fuck Cipher! Fuck what you do to Pokémon! Fuck your love of killing! Fuck your blatant lack of even an ounce of morality! Just, fuck you!"

She felt Cheren tap on her shoulder, but she shook him off, and bitterly marched on.

"We'll be a part of your twisted, murderous, corrupt, evil organization the day that Bianca kicks a Lilipup, that I wear a pink dress, that Cheren says math is for nerds, that N opens a meat shop, and that hell freezes over! In case that wasn't clear enough for you sick bastards, that's never! We will never be part of Cipher, and we're gonna fight it till the day we die, and if that day is today, well fine! But don't think you've won yet, 'cause all of Unova is determined to stop you now, and if you kill us you'll only encourage them! Cipher will rule the world the day we join, which in case you already forgot is never! So fuck you!"

Greevil merely smiled politely throughout White's furious rant, eerily standing in the shadow of the starlight. When she finally stopped for breath, he laughed jovially again.

"You done?" he asked kindly. "Wonderful. Crobat, Poison Fang."



Claire sat worriedly on Reinigen's back as Triton fiddled with some wires in the door. Her aura remained melded with her Pokémon's, and her worries were his. She vaguely wondered how exactly Februa had evolved into Reinigen, and didn't know whether she should be worried or not. She resolved to check with Cynthia once this was all over. Also, the sounds of battle behind the barrier had just stopped, and that more than anything troubled Claire. Did that mean her friends had won, or…?

But there was one other concern that weighed on Claire's mind, related not to what lied beyond the steel gate, but what stood before it. Triton. Was he on her side? If so, what was she to make of all the cryptic hints that he was in league with Cipher? But she had been exactly where Cipher would have wanted her, and Triton had freed her. Surely no Cipher agent would have done that. Unless it was all part of a plot to complex for her to see. After all, he had rather heavily implied that Cipher brought him to Unova, and ordered him to go to Castelia City. But, as far as she could see, he was fighting directly against Cipher by aiding her. Perhaps he had been with them at the beginning of that day, but had since seen the error of his ways? But if he had really wanted to help her, why had he fought her?

"You don't want to ask him," Reinigen thought. It was not a question, but a statement, a very true statement.

"I… I'm afraid of what I might learn…" Claire thought back, just as honestly. She desperately did not want confirmation of her worries, but the uncertainty was almost just as bad.

"Almost done," Triton murmured, interrupting her thoughts. "It sounds like your friends need help, too."

It took Claire a very shameful moment to recall what he was talking about. She had not realized how much her worries about Triton were consuming her, that she would even forget about her friends. She suddenly knew that she simply had to ask him.

"T-Triton, wait," she whispered. "B-before you g-go, I n-need to know… are you with Cipher?"

For a full, agonizing second, Triton said nothing. Then, slowly and quietly, he answered.

"Claire, I may not see the world quite as black-and-white as you do, but I can still tell that Cipher is a darker shade of grey."

With that, he tore a wire from the panel he had opened, and the gate began to rattle.

"Now go help your friends."

Claire and Reinigen built upon each other's courage as the barrier clattered, bracing themselves for whatever might lie ahead. Then, all at once, it descended, and trainer and Pokémon stood side-by-side for the slightest fraction of a second, taking in the scene that met their eyes.

White and Cheren were standing proudly before the Shadow Lord, surrounded by the Admins, while standing between them and the unconscious N. Though clearly badly injured, N was still breathing slowly. The Admin on the left's face was badly scarred. Her three friends had no Pokémon, while a Gengar, Heracross, and Crobat accompanied the Cipher leaders, each enveloped in a dark aura. The Crobat was halfway between his master and White, with his sharp, venomous teeth glittered threateningly. All of this the trainer and Pokémon took in during the slightest fraction of a second.

And then Claire issued the command, though it did not need to leave her lips.

"Reinigen, Confusion!"

As the rest of the second passed, the Purification Pokémon blasted the three Shadow Pokémon completely across the room. Not a single one stirred after they crashed to the floor. The Shadow Lord's creepy smile finally faltered, and he seemed to not know what to think.

"I… I-I…" he stuttered, glancing nervously at each of his Admins, both of whom looked quite as uncertain as he was. Then, he wordlessly flipped backwards, landing a fairly safe distance away. Ardos and Eldes quickly hurried after him, tacitly asking for instructions.

"Get us out!" he shouted irately. "Do something!"

Ardos remained in a state of mild panic, but Eldes acted quickly. He seized a revive from his pocket and a Pokéball from Ardos, ignoring his objections, and smashed it into the Pokéball.

"D-don't move!" Claire ordered, reminding herself that she was in charge.

"Claire, dear Claire," Greevil simpered, limping slightly closer to her. "You wouldn't really have your, erm, Pokémon, attack us, would you? We are defenseless. Unarmed."

Claire realized this dilemma, and pondered with Reinigen for a second just how exactly they could force the Cipher leaders to stay without stooping to their levels and attacking them.

"Is it okay to attack them? Because they're bad?" Claire asked.

"I… don't know…" Reinigen murmured. "That would make us bad, wouldn't it?"

"But we wouldn't kill them. Just make them stay."

"But if they tried really hard to escape, how could we not do stuff that might kill them to make them stay?"

"But they're bad…"

"…And if they get away, more people could get killed…"

"…So letting them get away would make us bad…"

"…But hurting them would make us bad too…"

"…But which would make us less bad?"

"…Is actually hurting people worse than letting people get hurt?"

"…If we have to be bad, why don't we just do whatever feels right?"

"…But nothing feels right…"

"…I don't know what to do…"

At some point in this moral debate, Claire lost track of which of the thoughts were hers, and which were Reinigen's. They both thought exactly the same way, and could thus reach no conclusions when either one was uncertain. They both slipped from reality, and drifted in what seemed to be a void of auras, thinking together, until White's voice pierced their thoughts.

"No! You bastards aren't getting away!"

When her mind returned to the present, Claire suddenly saw both White and Cheren charging at Kyurem, whom, although clearly barely conscious, the Cipher leaders had leapt onto, and were about to escape. Claire was paralyzed for a moment, utterly unsure of what action to take, or not take, and in that moment the Shadow wuji dragon kicked White and Cheren away and broke through the ceiling, and soared away.

"Claire, why didn't you do something?" White pleaded, tears of anger beginning to form in her eyes. Guilt inundated Claire as the full gravity of her inaction hit her. She had held the power to stop the Shadow Lord Greevil and Ardos and Eldes from escaping, and she had not used it. They were going to go on to kill countless more people and Pokémon, and it was all her fault. She had failed literally everyone in the world. Even White was angry at her for it. She was a failure, she effectively killed thousands of people, it was all her fault, all hers…

Darkness was filling her vision. She feebly struggled to stop it, but how could she even hope to? She was worthless, a worthless murdering evil failure, who couldn't keep darkness from her heart. How could she hope to keep it from her eyes?



When light returned to her, she was lying on a less-than-comfortable bed. Her insides burned with sadness, but she could not remember why. She glanced around the room and saw several other beds lining the room with others in them. She reasoned that she had been taken to a Pokémon Center, and laid her head back down. But she no longer felt tired, and could not return to sleep.

After lying vaguely for a few minutes, the door opened, spreading a small crack of light into the darkened room, and White entered silently. More specific memories immediately flooded Claire, and she recalled the source of her sadness. She had let the Cipher leaders escape…

"Claire? Are you awake?" White whispered as she approached the bedside. Claire momentarily considered pretending to be asleep, but she flared with shame again, and sat up to apologize to White.

"Wh-White," she sobbed. "I-I-I'm s-so s-s-sorry… I-I'm a s-stupid f-f-failure, I l-let th-them g-g-get away… I-"

"Claire!" White interrupted, looking pained. "You have absolutely no reason to be sorry! You saved my life! N's and Cheren's too! I'm the one who should be sorry!"

"B-but…" Claire began, but White put a finger to her lips.

"Come on, let's talk outside. Don't wanna wake anyone up."

Claire nodded and followed White out of the room, up to a table in the Pokémon Center where Bianca, Cheren, Cynthia, and N were sitting. N immediately got up, stumbled slightly, and hurried over to Claire, embracing her tightly.

"Claire… I don't know what to say… You save my life again… Thank you, very much."

"B-but I let them get away…" Claire sniffled. N let her go and wiped her tears off of her cheeks.

"Claire, that barely makes any difference," he insisted. "Unova is safe now. We won. With or without Ardos, Eldes, and Greevil, the war still wouldn't have been over. But thanks to you, we inarguably won this battle."

"B… but…" she sniveled, turning to White. "I-I'm s-still really sorry… You should be mad…"

"Claire, I'm not mad at you!" White said in a rather loud whisper. "I was mad at Greevil and everyone for escaping, not at you! I just… Gah, I'm sorry, I just was mad in general, and you were the nearest target. I promise I wasn't mad at you. My anger was just… misdirected. You saved my frickin life, Claire! I couldn't be happier with you!"

Claire charged at White and threw her arms around her as tightly as she possibly could. She still burned with guilt, still knew she had failed, but she now knew that her friends forgave her, and that made all the difference in the world. White sniffed softly as she hugged Claire back.

"…Um, Claire?" Cheren suddenly spoke up. "I suppose… I should thank you, as well. You saved my life, too. I owe you. Perhaps, we could be, er, friends?"

He extended his hand tentatively, but Claire found that she was not scared of him anymore. He was a nice, brave trainer, like White and N. Cheren smiled with relief as she took his hand and shook it gently.

"You're a strong trainer, Claire," Cheren remarked. "And you're only going to grow stronger."

"Um, th-thank you," Claire said a bit awkwardly. "S-so… What are we gonna do next?"

"We were just about to discuss that," N answered. "But White wanted to see if you were awake yet first."

"Cynthia said she wanted to go to Sinnoh, since we know Cipher's there," White went on. "And I was thinking that you, me, and N would go to Kanto, since we're pretty sure that's the worst other than Hoenn and Orre, and Bianca and Cheren would stay here to-"

"Woah, wait, what?" Bianca shouted. "Are you crazy? Do you really think we're gonna let our best friend go off on her own with some guy to fight some world-domination-y evil group and probably die?"

"B-but someone has to stay here and protect Unova…" White spluttered, but Cheren interrupted.

"That's what the Gym Leaders and Elite Four and Champion are for. I've heard that Marshal is going to serve as the Champion, while Drayden will be promoted to Elite Four, and Iris will serve as the sole Opelucid Gym Leader. But the point is, Unova will be perfectly safe without us. Everyone is ready in case Cipher returns. And we are not going to let you go off to fight them without us."

"But-"

"No buts, White Shirkuro!" Bianca proclaimed stubbornly. "We're your friends and we're sticking by you!"

"Until the end," Cheren stated plainly.

"Arceus damn, you guys rock," White half-cried, pulling Bianca and Cheren into a hug. Claire giggled happily at the affectionate scene, and at the comfort that four strong friends would accompany her to Kanto.

"S-so when are we l-leaving?" Claire asked.

"Now," White said with an almost mischievous smile.

"N-now?" Claire stammered.

"Now," White repeated. "You were out for around twelve hours. It's like, almost ten in the morning. Let's go now."

"I agree," N concurred. "The sooner we start, the better."

"That's fine with me," Cheren said, jumping up from his chair.

"Yay! Let's go!" Bianca cheered.

The six trainers all rose and hastily exited the Pokémon Center. As usual, N and White released their Tao dragons, while Cheren sent out his Unfezant. Cynthia simultaneously released her Braviary, and leapt onto his back.

"It was nice to really get to meet you all," Cynthia beamed, also rising. "I hope we will meet again soon."

"W-wait!" Claire asked, suddenly recalling her question for Cynthia. "I-I wanted to ask y-you something!"

The former Champion of Sinnoh looked down on Claire, smiling. "And what is that?"

"U-um, I-I was wondering… What makes Februa evolve?"

"Oh, yes! I heard about him evolving! Oh, you simply must allow me to examine him!" she yelled enthusiastically. "Er, sometime later, of course. But that's an interesting question. It doesn't even require a level-up. All it takes is maximum happiness."

Claire felt a warm rush of affection for her pearly snake, at last understanding exactly what had happened. Cynthia beamed back at Claire, before waving and setting off. Still burning with happiness, Claire climbed onto Zekrom's back after N, and set out for Kanto again.

End of Part 1: Unova.