A cramped, rough, harshly dim room.
Grayish-white blocks of rock had been stacked into this narrow "cage."
A beam of pure, gentle light slipped through a palm-sized grate and shone into the room.
The toys thrown messily on the ground—if those things could barely be called toys at all.
A green-haired boy sat on the floor, using the moon's hazy glow to stack those irregular blocky pieces into the shape of a Pokémon.
It was a Lillipup!
Only this Lillipup was missing one ear, and of its two eyes, only one remained.
And it, right now, was right in front of the green-haired boy.
The wounds on Lillipup's body all bore obvious marks of deliberate human-inflicted harm.
It wasn't just this Lillipup; around him were also a Purrloin with a broken tail and a Pidove with its wings snapped.
These few Pokémon.
Were all his friends.
From their mouths, the boy patiently listened as they recounted, again and again, their accusations against their former Trainers and the sorrow of what they had suffered.
Tear tracks marked the boy's face, but stubbornly he did not let a sound of crying escape.
He only used his own gentle embrace and soft voice to soothe these three Pokémon.
These three Pokémon he treated as friends, as partners.
But it was precisely because of such experiences that, in his young heart, a seed of hatred was planted.
A hatred toward humans, toward Trainers, toward those Trainers who ignored a Pokémon's own will.
Creak—
The old wooden door was slowly pushed open.
A soft orange light poured in along the edge of the wooden door.
And then.
A middle-aged man in a black cloak, a special pale red monocle over his right eye, wearing a gentle smile, walked in.
The teal-blue cane in his hand, imprinted with a special emblem, clicked crisply against the rough floor, and at the sound, the three Pokémon all darted behind the boy, staring at him in fear.
"Father..."
The boy looked at the mild smile on the man's face, and at last tears could no longer be held back, slipping from the corners of his eyes.
The man's name was Ghetsis, and he was the boy's father.
"N." Ghetsis crouched down, placed his palm lightly atop the boy's head, and a rich, magnetic voice sounded.
"You are our future, and also our hope. You must learn to be strong, to turn all your pain and resentment into strength. Only you can liberate all Pokémon and spare them from human harm.
You will be... the new Hero! You will found a new kingdom and a new order!"
The young N stared blankly at Ghetsis.
In the dim yellow light, from Ghetsis's words he heard the burden he seemed meant to shoulder.
Silently wiping away his tears, he nodded solemnly to Ghetsis.
"Mm!"
Seeing N's response, the smile on Ghetsis's face deepened.
But the boy, who turned away to comfort the three frightened Pokémon, did not notice that behind him, in the eyes of the man he called father, Ghetsis's gaze had undergone an earth-shaking change.
The gentle look he had turned on him became icy cold.
As if he were not looking at his own child, but at a monster.
...
Sitting on the sofa, N's mind flashed back to everything he had seen in the Plasma Team's castle as a child, everything he had gone through, everything that had been poured out to him.
Humans were selfish.
They forcefully captured Pokémon and, ignoring their will, compelled them to do things the Pokémon did not want to do.
To humans, Pokémon were just tools, or at best, pets.
But why?
N couldn't help but ask himself in his heart.
Why was that person outside the window—
The Pokémon with him, even through thick panes of glass, even from so far away, N could feel from them an unprecedented joy.
An Eevee who felt utterly, overwhelmingly content just being curled up in his arms.
A strange Vulpix who grew stronger only to protect him and his mother...
The appearance of Natsuhiko and Eevee and Vulpix was like a rainbow poured into N's gray, colorless world.
It made his gaze and his attention irresistibly fall upon that person outside the glass.
The shock brought by this unabashed affection from Pokémon was something N was feeling for the first time since leaving the Plasma Team's castle.
So there really were Trainers so loved by their Pokémon?
Outside the window, Natsuhiko saw the surprise in N's eyes. After pausing slightly, he did not stop, but continued leading the two little ones toward the ice cream shop.
Inside the building, N couldn't help but stand up, and, following Natsuhiko's figure, walked over to the window.
In the sunlight.
Natsuhiko sharing ice cream with Eevee and Vulpix.
Watching Eevee and Vulpix mischievously smear ice cream all over Natsuhiko's face.
And then seeing them affectionately lick the ice cream off together.
At this moment, the three of them standing in the sunlight formed a stark contrast with N standing in the skyscraper's shadow.
It was as if the world outside had turned into color because of their existence, while he himself inside the building remained forever in a gray-and-white world.
For no clear reason.
A surge of impulse that he had never felt before welled up in N's heart.
He wanted to rush out, he wanted to ask Natsuhiko, he wanted to ask Eevee and Vulpix, ask about their feelings.
However.
Just as he lifted his foot, ready to walk toward the door, three black shadows suddenly appeared behind him.
One of them spoke very respectfully: "My King, the Seven Sages have all arrived."
The Seven Sages, among whom was his father, Ghetsis.
N opened his mouth.
In the end, he still couldn't voice his true intentions.
He was hope, he was the future, he was the King in the hearts of all Plasma Team members who held lofty ideals, he was the Hero of all the Pokémon who had suffered enough under human cruelty.
He could not act on impulse; his every action, even his very existence, was for the sake of freeing these Pokémon.
That was his value.
After a string of self-consolations.
N pressed down the brim of his cap, blocking from his sight the laughing Natsuhiko and his two Pokémon.
The world in his eyes seemed to turn gray and white once again.
He followed the Dark Iron Triangle and walked into the building.
Even after getting into the elevator, he didn't lift his gaze again.
Until.
At the very instant the elevator doors closed, when he finally stopped avoiding and lifted his eyes, his gaze happened to intersect with Natsuhiko, who was tilting his head up while holding his own cap.
N, standing in the elevator feeling it rise, froze for a moment.
He didn't know what that last look from Natsuhiko meant.
It seemed...
To carry a hint of goodwill, a hint of friendliness, and a hint of... pity?
Why would there be pity?
N couldn't understand.
But the elevator soon reached the top floor.
Beneath the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, beside the crescent-shaped table, seven people wearing robes of different colors were already seated.
Their attire differed, their expressions differed, but when they saw him arrive, they all rose and respectfully called out, "My King."
With the Dark Iron Triangle flocking around him, N sat down on the throne that was distinctly different from the seats of the Seven Sages.
He was the King, so he did not need to personally handle things—that was what his father had told him.
And his father, Ghetsis, along with the other six Sages, would help him deal with all the trivial matters.
All he needed to do.
Was to quietly be a King.
And wait for the moment to save the Pokémon and deliver the world.
"The main topic of this meeting is to discuss the matter of the Hunter Guild. As far as I know, the chief person in charge of the Hunter Guild in the Unova Region died not long ago. I think this is the best timing for us.
The conduct of the Hunter Guild clashes greatly with our ideals."
Ghetsis looked toward N, who was sitting on the throne.
N nodded without hesitation.
He knew about the Hunter Guild; in N's eyes, they were absolutely nothing but scum.
And upon receiving his affirmation, the Plasma Team members standing guard in the hall all had excitement flash in their eyes.
...
"N, huh?" Natsuhiko raised his head, gazing up at the skyscraper towering in Twin Dragons City.
The emblem of the Plasma Team was so conspicuous.
To bring an underground organization so out into the open—even Rocket Team probably couldn't pull that off, right?
In the eyes of ordinary people, the Plasma Team was nothing more than a religion preaching equality between Pokémon and humans.
They claimed the moral high ground.
Though their theories were unacceptable to some.
They had also gained a large number of supporters.
And without exception, those supporters were people who preached that humans and Pokémon should live together in peace.
Precisely because of such moral high ground, even the League could not act rashly without evidence.
Natsuhiko gently rubbed his chin.
"It just feels like, with the internal chaos in the Hunter Guild starting up, some of the Plasma Team's plans and actions will inevitably be pushed forward..."