Chapter 1
Fluke
"Liberation is here! The savior of Pokémon is among us! Lord N!"
Variations of these cries echoed from the high ceiling and porcelain floor of the throne room as my father lowered the crown of Team Plasma to my head. This was the day of my coronation and, more importantly, prologue to the achievement of the ideal world that both Ghetsis and I envisioned.
I rose to my full height and turned slowly, the epitome of solemnity, to face my onlookers. The shining realization that these people were now counting on me to succeed filled me with an overwhelming sense of purpose. This was why I existed — to make black and white clearly distinct, thus allowing Pokémon to become perfect beings. My fists tightened at my side as I recalled my years spent in that room; the many Pokémon that had been my only constant companionship. Their hearts had been so tightly closed when they were brought to me. I couldn't imagine how many more like them there were in the world. I was doing this for them and for those who put their faith in me. Looking straight ahead, I trod past my teachers, who bore the title of sage. They all gave a slight bow.
The crown was heavy, but I wouldn't have to wear it much longer.
I exited the throne room, leaving behind the cheers and encouragements of my subordinates to seek the comfort of my dear friends. Zorua bounded happily up to me, practically radiating with energy.
"Play!" the little Pokémon expressed, tail waggling so furiously his whole rump was thrown into the action. This one was known for his boundless energy and tendency to stick his nose where it didn't belong. He wasn't always like that.
"You're going to trip me," I said, and scooped him up. "I'm sorry we can't play right now. We'll be leaving the castle soon. I have to get ready."
Zorua wriggled around playfully in my arms for a bit longer before nuzzling against me and going still. "Friend."
I couldn't stop the corners of my mouth from going up in a smile.
After I changed into regular clothes, Ghetsis took me to a town by the name of Accumula. What an interesting name. Perhaps it is derivative of "accumulate" meaning "come together." If that was the vision of the founders of Accumula Town, then there was some irony in what we were doing here.
I turned my head to watch Ghetsis make his way to the town center, a solitary patch of greenery in the midst of the tiled plaza. Some grunts stood behind him, holding quires of paper. The speech was beginning.
"Trainers of Accumula," he started, in a booming voice that I was all too familiar with. That was the same voice I was scolded with as a child; a voice that demanded attention. Several people around me turned their heads in surprise and gave each other hesitant glances. Slowly, more trainers began to gather and the grunts distributed papers to them.
"My name is Ghetsis. I am here representing Team Plasma. Today, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to talk to you about Pokémon liberation. I doubt the idea has ever crossed your mind before, but let us consider this: Do Pokémon not have so much more potential than being our playthings? We humans have imposed our own will upon the creatures we like to think of as 'partners', and force them to fight their brothers in inane displays of prowess between us. How easy it is to say this relationship is a partnership when you are the one who shouts commands from the sideline and never get a scratch..." He had given me the same speech many times at the castle, and yet it still made my jaw clench. Humans had deluded themselves to believing they weren't using these wonderful creatures as slaves.
The sound of paper being ripped called my attention to a girl that was standing to my right. There were two people between us, but they were positioned in such a way that I had a clear view of her, two halves of a liberation flyer in each hand. The girl was of a slightly petite build with long, wavy brown hair pulled back in a ponytail. Her pink and white cap cast a shadow over her deep blue eyes that were incompatibly calm for her action. I watched as she proceeded to tear the paper into even smaller pieces and let them fall through the spaces between her fingers and the Tepig at her feet seared them to ash before they hit the ground. She giggled and lifted the Pokémon up, saying something to it that I could not hear. I continued to watch in fascination. "Happy!" "Friend!" This was the voice of that Tepig's heart. How could a Pokémon say such things?
The girl's eyes flicked my direction, catching me looking. Then, to my bewilderment, she winked. I blinked and turned back to Ghetsis, but I could not concentrate on the speech. Instead my thoughts were wandering to the girl and her Tepig. Why did it seem so happy with her? I contemplated this until the end of Ghetsis's speech. While people were dispersing, I approached her. "Your Pokémon just now —"
"Excuse me, moderately attractive member of the female sex! Would you like to converse?" she interrupted, talking over me.
I always thought myself to have quite a formidable vocabulary. At this moment in particular I was rendered speechless for the first time in my life. I just stood there, stumbling for a response.
She arched a brow. "Are you alright? I was kidding, okay? Tell me what you want."
I started over. "During the speech, I couldn't help but notice you and your Tepig. It was saying such surprising things."
In a scoffing manner, she replied, "I wouldn't say 'surprising' so much as painfully boring and incredibly pretentious."
"I meant your Tepig, not the speech."
Her narrowed eyes told me that she was dubious. "You understood... what my Tepig said."
"I see. You can't hear it either. How sad," I sighed, the slightest bit disillusioned with this girl that had drawn my attention. It was to be expected. Humans were, after all, too caught up in themselves to listen to Pokémon. "My name is N, and I am a trainer like you are, though I am doubtful as to whether Pokémon are happy like this."
She opened her mouth to speak, but at that moment a spectacled black-haired boy with an austere air about him joined us. "White, who is this?" the boy asked, giving me a wary glance.
The girl, whose name I now knew to be White, leaned toward his ear and blocked her lips with her hand, replying to him, "Some weird guy I met just now... I think he's hitting on me."
Maybe she thought I wouldn't hear her, though a hand in front of the mouth actually does very little to stop anyone from hearing what you have to say. Either way, I didn't quite understand what she was talking about so I disregarded it. "I am N," I repeated.
"Apparently he agrees with that guy that was speaking a bit ago," White said.
The boy pushed his glasses up. "Before I came over here, I witnessed six people trying to decide if they should release their Pokémon. I watched two of them actually do it, and I can't say I agree. It looked almost painful."
"It does rather hurt for the first couple of hours after you've lost your favorite toy, doesn't it?" I said. "It can't be helped. While Pokémon are confined to Poké Balls and forced to fight for human benefit, they can never live up to their full potential and become perfect beings."
"Slow down, you talk too fast," the boy said, furrowing his brows together.
I shook my head. "I don't expect you to understand. I have to change the world for Pokémon, because they are my friends." I left them with that, but when I looked back over my shoulder, my eyes met with White's. She turned away and she and the boy went in the direction of the Pokémon Center.
Even when I was back at my castle I kept remembering the way that Tepig had responded to White. If her Pokémon felt that way, then did others? Just how many?
In my lap, Zorua stirred in his sleep, lifting his head up from his paws and burying his face into my stomach. He used to be so afraid of everything. When Zorua was first brought to me, he would not leave the corner of the playroom and bit me when I tried to touch him. His heart was too tightly closed for me to talk to him.
No.
I couldn't let myself falter. I had known too many Pokémon like Zorua. That girl and her Tepig were a simple fluke. I contemplated the subject no longer.
