The Beginning of the N: Chapter 35

Character update this chapter


It's time for the final battle in the semi-finals of the Junior Cup: N vs White. White has already gone out to the arena, but N still sat in his seat, staring at the floor.

“N, is something wrong?” asked Concordia.

“They're going to disqualify you if you're not out there in five minutes, N.” said Anthea.

N kept his gaze at the floor, his heart pounding rapidly, and not saying a word.

“Are you...nervous, N?” asked Concordia.

“Come on, N, we can beat her, I know we can!” said Victini, who was flying around N's head.

N shook his head, and looked up.
“No, it's not that. Victory against her is already assured. It's...I don't know, and you guys won't understand either.” he said.

“Then let's go show 'em who's boss around here!” said Victini.

Zorua hopped off of N's shoulder, and onto the floor.
“Yeah, N, let's do this! That foolish girl doesn't know just what she's up against!” he said, with a confident growl.

N then stood up.
“Yeah...” he said, then rushed out the arena.

When N went out to the arena, and saw White standing on the battlefield, his heart started rapidly pounding again, his insides felt unusually warm, and his legs felt like they weighed a ton, as he walked to the battlefield.
“What's wrong with my body? Am I suddenly catching a fever? Why now of all times?” he thought.

When he was on the battlefield, he tried to look White in the eye, but his gaze could only focus on the floor.
“Come to think of it, I felt something similar to this the day I met her, but...it wasn't this bad. Could this feeling be connected to her?” he thought.

N's thoughts were interrupted by White sending out her first Pokemon.
“Scolipede!” she said, sending Scolipede out of his Pokeball.

“White...” N said, but got no response from her.

Backstage...

“N sure has been acting strange lately.” said Anthea, crossing her legs.

Concordia stared at her sister, as if she couldn't believe what she just heard.
“Uh, no, you're the one who's been acting strange lately.” she said.

“Me, strange?” said Anthea, who was suddenly on her hands and knees, leaning in close to Concordia. “When have I ever acted strange?” she asked.

“I don't know, maybe...right now?!” said Concordia, backing up.

Back on the battlefield...

N has picked Archeops as his first Pokemon.
“Archeops Acrobatics.”

“Scolipede, Steam Roller!”

Scolipede curled up into a ball and began rolling towards Archeops, but Archeops started flying around Scolipede, leaving him rolling in circles, trying to hit Archeops, until he finally got dizzy, and slowed down. Archeops took advantage of the opportunity by striking Scolipede in the back, with his sharp talons.

“Archeops, Sky Attack!”

“Scolipede, Poison Tail!”

Archeops fly high up in the air, then, with his body glowing brightly, tucked in his wings, and flew down towards Scolipede at high speed. Scolipede was prepared for this; right when Archeops was close enough, Scolipede spun around, and slapped Archeops in the face, with his poisonous tail, which knocked Archeops right out of the air.

“Archeops, Head Smash!”

“Scolipede, Megahorn!”

Archeops began flying towards Scolipede, ready to smash his head into Scolipede's, and Scolipede began rushing towards Archeops, with his horns extended. Both Pokemon collided into each other; Archeops pushing Scolipede back, using his rock-hard head, and Scolipede pushing Archeops back, using his huge, powerful horns.

Archeops managed to push Scolipede back, until his back was pressed against the wall, but then Scolipede pushed Archeops all the way back to the center of the battlefield, back where they started. It was a stalemate, neither Pokemon could knock the other down.

“Archeops, stop, and use Heat Wave!”

“Scolipede, dodge, with Dig!”

Archeops stopped trying to knock Scolipede down, and flew into the air, then began rapidly flapping his wings, until fiery hot air was blown towards Scolipede. Scolipede dodged this by digging a whole into the ground, and hiding in it.

“Archeops, go in the hole and find him!”

“Scolipede, come out, and use Megahorn!”

Archeops landed on the ground next to the hole, and as soon as he looked in, Scolipede popped out, and rammed his horn against Archeops, knocking him down several feet back.

“Scolipede, another Megahorn!”

“Archeops, dodge and use Head Smash!”

Scolipede rushed towards Archeops, with his horns extended, but Archeops flew behind him, which forced Scolipede to try to halt his attack, but he couldn't do it in time, and ended up crashing into the wall. Archeops then flew over to Scolipede, and smashed his head into his back, which knocked Scolipede out, while also hurting Archeop's head.

“Scolipede is unable to battle, Archeops wins!” said the referee.

Seeing Scolipede beaten by Archeops again made N's words echo in White's head again.

“If your conviction is not strong enough, you will never defeat me.
I'll defeat the champion and become unbeatable, unlike any other
Just try to stop me!”

White silently returned Scolipede to his Pokeball, then sent out Darmanitan as her next Pokemon.

Archeops seemed intimidated by the presence of Darmanitan, and suddenly started flying away.

“Archeops, is something wrong?” asked N.

“I can't do it, N! I can't do it!” cried Archeops.

“Alright, I understand.” replied N. “Archeops, switch out, you've done enough. Zorua will take your place.

Archeops thanked N, and flew off the battlefield, and Zorua hopped onto the battlefield in front of N, ready to battle Darmanitan.

“N has switched out Archeops for Zorua, so Archeops now may no longer fight in this battle! Both trainers now have two Pokemon left!” said the referee.

“Oh, this is interesting. First time anybody ever switched out their Pokemon, knowing it wouldn't be able to come back in during the battle.” said Alder.

“Does he really care that deeply about his Pokemon...? How can a guy like him be the leader of a criminal organization that steals Pokemon? It just doesn't make sense...” thought White.

“White!” said N, in a loud, clear voice.

N stood there, his cloak, and his long hair both blowing gracefully in the wind, and his mouth opening and closing, as if he were struggling to say something.
“I can do this...” he told himself.

“White, you have tried to stop Team Plasma on multiple occasions, correct?” he asked

“Yes.” she replied.

“So you've put yourself in war with us. But what exactly are you fighting for?” asked N.

“W-what am I fighting for...?” asked White.

“Me and Team Plasma are all fighting for what's right for the Pokemon. We want them to be free from the abuse of humans. You've put yourself in war against us, so that must mean you're fighting for something different. Do you not want Pokemon to be free from abuse? Before you start a war, you better know what you're fighting for, White!” said N, in his fast-paced speech, which made it hard to fully make out everything he said.

“Now, hold on! You may not be as bad as the rest of Team Plasma, but you're all still a bunch of hypocrites! You battle with Pokemon, just like everybody else, and then you go around lecturing people about how bad battling is, even though you're doing the exact same thing!” said White.

“No, White, it's not the same thing at all. It hurts me deeply that I have to make Pokemon battle, but I don't have any other choice. My words alone can not change the world, as much as I wish they could. Sometimes you just have no other choice but to fight! Sometimes you've just got to sin to win!” replied N.

White seemed to have nothing left to say, as she stopped arguing with N, and focused on the battle instead.

“Darmanitan, use Fire Punch!”

“Zorua, use Leer!”

Darmanitan rushed over to Zorua, and was about to swing his fist, covered in fire at Zorua, but Zorua glared intimidatingly at him, with his sharp eyes. Darmanitan seemed startled by this, took a few steps back, and canceled his attack.

“Zorua, now, Fury Swipes!”

Zorua leapt at Darmanitan while he was startled, and began slashing his claws furiously at Darmanitan's face.

“Zorua, Faint Attack!”

“Darmanitan, Flare Blitz!”

Zorua disarmingly approached Darmanitan, but before he could attack, Darmanitan slammed his flame-covered body against Zorua's, which hit with such force, it sent Zorua's tiny body flying through the arena, and slammed through a wall, which left a huge hole in the wall.

“Zorua!” cried N.

“Darmanitan, finish him with one more Flare Blitz!”

“Zorua, get out of there!”

Darmanitan began rushing towards Zorua at full speed, his body still covered in flames. While Darmanitan was charging, Zorua struggled, but managed to get back on his feet. Instead of trying to dodge, he stood there, waiting for Darmanitan to get closer.

“Darmanitan may be stronger than me...but I... I won't give in. I'll never give in to those stronger me!”

Zorua created a black, transparent, ghostly Darmanitan illusion, which surrounded his body, then charged at Darmanitan, his body also covered in flames, and both Pokemon collided into each other. They both fell down, unconscious.

“Both Pokemon are unable to battle!” said the referee.

“Zorua...you learned a new move?” said N, picking Zorua up, and carrying him off the battlefield.

“Darmanitan...return.” said White, returning Darmanitan to his Pokeball. “Servine, go!” she said, sending out Servine.

“Servine...that's the Servine that was traveling with me, but decided to go with her instead.” thought N.

Tepig climbed onto the battlefield as soon as she saw Servine.

“You're the one that abandoned her.” hissed Servine.

“And you're the one that chose to be locked up in a Pokeball when you had the chance to live free.” replied Tepig.

“You told White you love her before. How can you say you love her, if you're just going to turn your back on her in the end?” asked Servine.

“It's true, I do love her. She took care of me when I didn't have a home, and she treated me nicely, but not all Pokemon are treated nicely like that!” said Tepig.

“They're talking to each other, you know.” said N, looking at White, who clearly didn't understand what the Pokemon were saying.
“I bet you want to know what they both are saying about you.” he said.

“What? What are they saying?!” asked White.

N frowned at her.
“Why don't you listen to their voices and you tell me.” he said, in a surprisingly cold, dark voice.

“Servine, remember when N saved us from Professor Juniper's lab? We were both locked up in Pokeballs, afraid, and unsure what was going to happen next. There are other Pokemon treated like this, some even worse!” exclaimed Tepig.

“I do not dislike N, but I don't agree with his ways either. I only stayed with him because I had nowhere else to go. When I saw how abandoned White was after you left her, I couldn't just leave her on her own. Nobody deserves to be abandoned, human or Pokemon.” said Servine.

White, tired of knowing the Pokemon were talking about each other and not knowing what they were saying, decided it was time to start the battle.

“Servine, use Attract!”

“Tepig, Ember!”

Servine blew a dozen hearts towards Tepig, but Tepig blew sparks of flames at the hearts, burning them to ashes.

“Tepig, Flame Charge!”

“Servine, dodge and use Slam!”

Tepig, with her body surrounded in flames, charged at Servine, but Servine swiftly slithered to the side, then wrapped his long tail around Tepig's small body, and began repeatedly slamming her down on the ground.

“Servine, Leaf Tornado!”

“Tepig, run!”

Servine dropped Tepig on the ground, then spun around, creating a tornado made of leaves, and sent it spiraling towards Tepig, who tried to get away, but wasn't fast enough. The tornado spun Tepig around inside for several moments, until it finally spit her out, leaving her dizzy, and cut from the leaves.

“Servine, Leaf Tornado again!”

“Tepig!” cried N.

Servine sent another tornado of leaves spiraling towards Tepig, which once again spun Tepig around inside, then spit her out, leaving her even dizzier, and cut more, this time bleeding.

“Servine, Slam!”

“Tepig, come on, dodge it!”

Servine slithered over to Tepig, about to try to slam her around again, but before he could get to her, her body began glowing brightly and changing shape.

“Tepig...you're evolving!” said N.

Tepig was now a Pignite, which made her taller, bipedal, and had stubby arms and legs, and dark red fur on her body, which looked like it formed a leotard.

“Pignite, Arm Thrust!”

Pignite began thrusting her arms against Servine several times, until Servine was knocked down.

“Now, Pignite, Heat Crash!”

“Servine, Leaf Tornado!”

Pignite, with her body covered in flame, jumped in the air, and tried to slam her body down on Servine, but Servine quickly created a tornado of leaves, which caught Pignite, giving Servine a chance to slither out of the way. The tornado didn't keep Pignite up for long; the fire around her body burned the tornado down.

“Servine, Attract!”

“Pignite, Arm Thrust!”

Servine blew a dozen hearts towards Pignite, but Pignite shattered them all.

“Now Pignite, Flamethrower!”

“Servine, dodge!”

Pignite blew an intense flame out of her nose at Servine, which Servine tried to dodge, but wasn't quick enough. Servine was burned by the attack, and fell down defeated.

“Servine is unable to battle, Pignite and N win!” said the referee.

“After an intense, very close-matched battle, we finally have our finalists! The final battle will be N vs Marie, and that will take place in one hour!” said Alder.

“Like I said, White; if your conviction is not strong enough, you will never defeat me.” said N, as he walked out of the arena.

To be continued...