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Caitlin had been expecting his arrival.
An hour ago, Shauntal had warned her and her fellow elite-four members that he was here, following her defeat. Of course, Caitlin had foreseen his visit even before that. She saw it in a vision the night before — one that shook her awake in a violent fit of shrieks and trembles. It had been so abstract, yet so clear at the same time….
Alder, collapsed on the floor of his Champion suite, clutching at the pokéballs around his neck like they'd be ripped away from him at any moment.
A castle, rising from the Earth above the Pokémon League, heralding in a new, terrifying era.
And… a dragon. One that Caitlin has never seen before outside of the fairytale books she used to read as a child.
Thus… she'd been expecting him. And yet, when he does finally walk through the door to her suite, he isn't at all what she expected.
He's disheveled in appearance, his spring green hair hastily tied back in a ponytail. His clothes, too, are hardly fit for a man going around proclaiming himself to be royalty — loose, and wrinkled, and plain. And then there are the accessories, if they can even be called that: an odd, golden cube dangling from his waist and a bright-colored pendant around his neck that looks as though it came out of a child's toybox.
Trying to compose herself, Caitlin fixes her gaze on him, taking a step forward. “So you're the one who wants to separate people and Pokémon. The ‘King of Team Plasma,’ as they refer to you. ‘Lord N’….”
“Yes, that is me.” He closes his eyes and smiles gracefully — a gesture that truly does match the regal image he attempts to portray. Unfortunately, the words that come after do not. “My dream is for Pokémon to be happy. They deserve to thrive in the wild without being hurt by humans ever again… and the only way to achieve that is to defeat the champion and use my influence to liberate all Pokémon.”
“I see.” Caitlin brings a finger to her chin, contemplating. Then, her eyes narrow. “Well, ‘Lord N’… I happen to be something of a lady myself… and as such, I could never allow you to bring forth such a disgraceful future.”
In an intentional display of her own etiquette, she brushes off her skirt before promptly tossing a pokéball into the air. A moment later, Reuniclus appears in a burst of radiant light.
In response, N unlatches a pokéball of his own from his belt. “Please lend me your assistance, old friend,” he says, clutching the pokéball tightly to his heart before letting it fall to the ground, releasing a Carracosta.
Perfect! Caitlin has to hold back a smirk. Her reuniclus happens to be donning a move that most trainers never see coming… and one that should have no issue making quick work of a water-type.
“Reuniclus, thunderbolt!” Caitlin announces. She studies N's gaze, certain he'll be taken off-guard… but oddly, his composure doesn't falter.
“You know what to do,” N simply says, nodding to his Carracosta. A moment later, Carracosta takes off running toward Reuniclus, reaching the slower psychic-type before she has even begun to charge her thunderbolt.
“What?” Caitlin gasps. She'd known that there was a chance Carracosta might outspeed Reuniclus, but there's no way Carracosta could be that quick.
She continues to watch in horror as Carracosta slashes at Reuniclus ferociously with his rocky claws. Was that… night slash?! But… there's no way… unless….
As Reuniclus recoils from the attack, Caitlin forces herself to remain calm. “It's alright, Reuniclus. Stay focused and follow through with your thunderbolt. It's time to break this illusion.”
Reuniclus complies, sending forth a lightning bolt that's impossible to dodge, no matter how quick this “Carracosta” might be. The moment the electricity makes contact, Carracosta's appearance unravels in a haze, revealing a Zoroark hiding beneath the disguise. It was just as Caitlin suspected. A clever trick, to be sure, but one that someone like Caitlin should have seen through sooner. How could she be so foolish?
As the electricity crackles away to nothingness, she notices some sparks lingering in Zoroark's fur, causing Zoroark to slow down considerably.
”Oh.” Caitlin lets out a sigh of relief. “What a brilliant stroke of luck.”
“Not luck,” N curtly corrects. “Reuniclus said that she focused extra hard to make sure she inflicted paralysis because she wanted to make you proud. You ought to thank her.”
Why, this pompous little— Caitlin freezes. Her fists are clenched at her side. Unacceptable. Slowly, she takes in a deep breath, releasing her tensed muscles as she breathes out.
“Reuniclus, let's finish this cleanly with another thunderbolt!”
“Night slash again,” N states almost robotically, and then softly adds, “I know it must be painful, my friend, but please try your best to fight through the paralysis.”
As if his words alone have a magical healing quality, Zoroark springs back to his feet, lunging at Reuniclus again. And despite being slower, he successfully makes contact before Reuniclus can manage another thunderbolt. With a somber cry, Reuniclus falls to the ground, unconscious.
Lost for words, Caitlin returns her fainted friend to her pokéball. For a moment, she closes her eyes and takes in another slow, deep breath. When she releases it, she simultaneously releases another pokémon from their pokéball.
“Sigilyph — please show ‘Lord N’ the elegance of your air slash.”
“Zoroark, dodge!” N counters, but it's for naught. Before Zoroark can move a muscle, Sigilyph sends a sharp gust of wind hurling through the air. Zoroark lets out a billowing cry before falling.
N grits his teeth at the sight — the first indication thus far of his composure faltering. Wordlessly, he sends out his next team member: a Vanilluxe.
“Sigiliph, psychic!” Caitlin calls out, hoping to take advantage of N's moment of vulnerability.
“Frost breath!” N counters.
Sigiliph outspeeds, successfully striking the ice-type pokémon with a burst of psychic energy. However, Vanilluxe is quick to retaliate, easily knocking out Sigilyph with a super-effective hit.
Down to two remaining team members, Caitlin's fingers quiver slightly against her next pokéball. “Gothitelle,” she says coolly as she releases the lady-like pokémon, “use calm mind.” Internally, Caitlin tries her best to calm her own mind.
“Frost breath again,” N says — to which Vanilluxe eagerly obliges. At least unlike with Sigilyph, Gothitelle isn't weak to it. It certainly makes an impact when it hits, but Gothitelle weathers it, the strength of her mind giving strength to her body.
“I see the formula you're trying to use,” N muses, his lips curling back into that same graceful smile from earlier — although, holier-than-thou may be a more fitting descriptor, now that Caitlin thinks about it. “It is the best option you have in this corner I've backed you into, true… but in the end, all it will accomplish is delaying the inevitable.”
It takes every ounce of mental fortitude Caitlin has left not to roll her eyes into the back of her skull. “Keep it up, Gothitelle. Calm mind again.”
“Hail, Vanilluxe,” N says, gesturing to the ceiling as if to summon it forth himself. A moment later, the battle field is showered by tiny, freezing pellets.
Caitlin pulls her shawl tightly around her shoulders, shrinking into herself. She has never been a fan of weather tactics. They've always been far too overstimulating for her. Nevertheless, as an elite four member, she's had to learn to adapt.
“Now, Gothitelle! Psychic!”
“Blizzard!” N counters.
In the midst of the hail, Vanilluxe easily sends a swirling swarm of snow at Gothitelle. It's a terribly powerful move, but thanks to strengthening her mental defenses, Gothitelle is able to endure it. Then she strikes with an extra-powerful psychic of her own, knocking out Vanilluxe in an instant.
“Excellent work,” Caitlin praises, reveling in her small victory. It lasts but a moment, however, as N wastes no time in sending out his next Pokémon: a Carracosta, for real this time.
“Carracosta, use crunch,” N directs.
Caitlin doesn't have time to think of a counter strategy — not that it matters; there's no hope of outspeeding, dodging, or enduring the super-effective attack. All Caitlin can do is watch as Gothitelle goes down.
Clenching tightly at her last pokéball, Caitlin hesitates for a moment. Her hold on her emotions is beginning to slip. A vision flashes through her mind like lightning — one of Musharna fainting. Caitlin sucks in a sharp, forceful breath, steeling herself once more. The future she just saw will likely come to pass. N is right; it's inevitable. Surely, he has more Pokémon than Carracosta remaining. Caitlin does, too, technically, but not ones she is permitted to use in an official Elite Four battle. But, even still… Caitlin can't give up. She has to try. She has to.
Taking in another deep breath, Caitlin sends out her beloved partner Musharna. Ever since they met in the Dreamyard — back when Caitlin was a lost teenager and Musharna a young, sheltered Munna — they've shared a special bond. Both of them had lived their lives in a state of extreme overwhelm, feeling drained by the demands of the external world on their sensitive, chaotic minds. When Caitlin met Musharna, it was as if the universe had been whispering in her ear for the first time, “You are not alone.”
The memory gives Caitlin the strength she needs to persevere.
“Thank you, Carracosta. Now let's finish this,” N says. “Use crunch once more.”
“Musharna, reflect!” Caitlin calls out.
Of course, Carracosta outspeeds and bites down ferociously. Musharna attempts to set up a defensive barrier, but ultimately flinches, failing to do so.
“Hold on, Musharna!” Caitlin says, feeling the desperation trickling into her voice despite how hard she's been trying to hold it in.
Carracosta bites down again. Musharna cries out as her last bit of energy is siphoned. The attack should have knocked her out… and yet, opening her eyes to meet Caitlin's gaze, she somehow manages to endure it.
“Musharna…” Caitlin whispers.
Musharna replies with a wispy cry. Caitlin doesn't need N to translate for her to understand. Musharna loves her and is giving her all for her so that the world where they live together won't be shattered.
N, oddly, doesn't immediately order another crunch. Instead, he stares at Musharna for a long moment, unblinking. When he does finally close his eyes, he flatly says, “End this.”
Time seems to slow as Carracosta uses crunch one final time. The light drains from Musharna's eyes, and she falls, gracelessly, before disappearing in a flash of light, returning to her pokéball.
Sparks flicker in Caitlin's mind. She forces a smile as she meets N's gaze. “It seems that… your excellence and elegance… were greater than mine….”
Wordlessly, N turns to leave. At the same time, Caitlin feels her control withering away. Her hands begin to tingle. Her heart begins to thud in her chest. And the sparks in her mind crackle with a vicious intensity, her sixth sense rising to the surface against all attempts to keep it contained. Amidst the crackling, N's thoughts bleed into her own — thoughts that are truly shocking. Thoughts that maybe, just maybe, Caitlin can use….
“But… even as that may be,” Caitlin adds, “you still have doubts in your heart. I can sense it!”
At that, N stops walking and turns around to face her once again. Perfect….
“You're a kind person and you truly want the best for Pokémon,” she goes on, “but what you're planning to do will only cause them to suffer more. Somewhere deep down, you must know that.”
He pulls down his hat to hide his face, as if that will shield him from having his thoughts infiltrated any further. “I know that if I follow a formula perfectly, then I will achieve the desired result,” he eventually says. He blinks and looks back up at Caitlin with a strained smile. “It's simple math — the most reliable method of seeing into the future. Perhaps even more reliable than your psychic powers.”
Unless there's a miscalculation in the formula… his thoughts seep out into the room.
Caitlin holds his gaze steadily. “Unless there's a miscalculation in the formula,” she repeats out loud.
N flinches, for once looking genuinely caught off guard.
“What?” Caitlin asks. “I'm only echoing back your own thoughts.”
“My formula is perfect,” N snaps, an unusual sharpness to his voice. He whisks back around, clenching his fist tightly around the golden cube at his waist. “I will prove it soon enough.”
Then he leaves, for good this time, onto the final Elite Four member.
“No!” Caitlin cries out, losing all semblance of control. But it's no use. He's gone.
She screams, louder and louder still, as she falls to her knees, and the sparks in her brain become all-consuming. The items in her room go flying in every which direction, crashing against the walls and floors, anything fragile shattering to pieces.
Stop. Stop. Please stop! Please!
Reduced to a shaking, hyperventilating mess, Caitlin eventually manages to heave herself onto her bed, curling up underneath the covers. The darkness helps… but even still, it’s not enough. She needs sleep. She needs the sweet escape of her dreams.
With her last bit of energy, Caitlin manages to heal her pokémon and release them from their pokéballs. Three of them instantly gravitate to her, their concern apparent. The fourth — Reuiniclus, having the keen intelligence and awareness she does, notices the state of the room and silently begins to clean, levitating the broken objects around the room into the trash.
“Gothitelle,” Caitlin mumbles weakly, “P-please would you project some stars on the ceiling for me?”
Gothitelle eagerly does so. Caitlin lets out a heavy sigh, staring up at the constellations, trying to lose herself in them. Whenever she had trouble sleeping as a teenager, Gothitelle would always do this to help. And usually, it did. But today, it seems even that isn't enough….
“Musharna,” she sluggishly calls out, her voice barely above a whisper, “please, use hypnosis….”
Musharna gives a hesitant cry, worry thick in her voice.
“Please,” Caitlin says again, pleading. “I… need… to sleep.”
And so, Musharna uses hypnosis… and at last, Caitlin's mind goes quiet.
When Caitlin next wakes up, her head is still heavy with exhaustion… a sign that she wasn't asleep for anywhere near as long as she'd hoped. She looks up to see a young trainer staring at her expectantly.
“Who are you?” she asks through a yawn. “How impudent you are to disturb my sleep.”
The sparks in her mind flicker, still lingering to an extent. A new vision flashes through her mind — one of this trainer challenging N, determination brimming in their eyes. Unlike Caitlin's previous visions, this one fills her with a sense of calm. It's what ultimately gives her the energy to get out of bed and prepare herself emotionally for another battle.
“Hmf... You appear to possess a combination of strength and kindness. Very well. Make your best effort not to bore me with a yawn-inducing battle. Clear?”