N led us to a secluded alleyway located on the city's edge, completely out of the way for anyone trying to simply cut between the buildings. After we made sure we were hidden enough, I had Saber seal off both entrances with an Ice Beam. With the occasional search party of Neo Plasma grunts that came by every so often, we couldn't be too careful. As long as the ice blocks provided a sense of safety— while false —I didn't care how durable they were.

   Rosa and I leaned against one wall of the alley while N remained on the opposite side. I was still wary about his intentions and partially wanted to stay as far away from him as possible. I had asked Soul to read N's thoughts to see what he was really up to, but Soul said his thoughts couldn't be read. They were apparently too warped. I took this as a bad sign and watched N like a Braviary, just waiting for him to do something crazy.

   "So you're apparently the Hero of Truth?" I asked skeptically.

   N nodded and removed a green and red Poké Ball from his bag. "You've already seen Dream, and I would like to think that's more than enough proof."

   "How do I know that you didn't steal her from the actual Hero of Truth? You know so much about Neo Plasma, it's not like you couldn't be working undercover for them or something," I replied warily.

   "Don't be so suspicious of him," Rosa said to me. "I think his name is more than enough proof. Really, how many people do you think have the name N? And for Arceus' sake, he has Reshiram! You know, the Pokémon of Truth?"

   "Like I said, he could be pretending to be the real N or something! Hilbert was both Aaron and No. 18, he isn't the only person who can have an alias," I argued, fully aware of the increasingly hostile glares I was getting from Midnus and Luna.

   N shrugged and put the Poké Ball away. "Your suspicion is perfectly reasonable, but it isn't needed. If you don't think my word is enough, I show you something that'll prove I'm not lying." He looked to Rosa. "Send out any of your Pokémon, if you please. If I try to demonstrate with Midnus or Luna, you'll probably think I'm making it up." Rosa selected Lucky's ball and sent her out.

   Now that I could clearly see what Lucky looked like, it was plainly obvious that she had evolved. Her fluffy brown and white fur had turned blue and sleekly laid flat on her body. Her paws were a navy blue color as was the end of her flat, diamond shaped tail. Dark blue crystals were attached to Lucky's forehead, creating "bangs" of sorts and two strips of fur hung down on either side of her face, furthering the illusion of her having hair. Lucky shivered, small ice crystals forming on the tips of her fur and shattering once she adjusted to the cold.

   "It's rare to see a Glaceon around here," N commented. "They're usually found in Sinnoh's northern side."

   "Yeah, it was strange. Lucky took down one of the Plasma grunt's Pokémon, and she evolved into this," Rosa said as Lucky stared at N curiously.

   "An Eevee can only evolve into a Glaceon if it gains a level while being in contact with extremely cold ice. Perhaps that's why she evolved. " N crouched down and let Lucky sniff his hand. She let out a few yips and sat down on the ground. "She says that she would have rather been a Vaporeon, but beggars can't be choosers."

   "You can understand what she said?" I asked, shocked.

   "Yes, I can. If that isn't enough proof that I'm not lying, then I don't know what to tell you," N said matter-of-factly.

   "How can that be? I thought Hilbert was the only person who could understand Pokémon," Rosa said.

   "That's hardly the case. I've looked into it and learned something interesting. While neither of us knew it previously, Hilbert and I are both capable of communicating with Pokémon because of our ties to Zekrom and Reshiram. If a human has a strong spiritual connection with a Legendary, they have the ability to understand its voice. Whether they can hear the voices of all Pokémon purely depends on how powerful the Legendary is. With the amount of Legendary Pokémon that exist, I'm sure we're not the only humans who have this ability," N explained.

   Lucky yipped again and her tail swished back and forth.

   "She thinks it's strange that I'm able to understand her words," N translated.

   "She's not wrong there," I muttered under my breath. And while I was still reluctant to trust him, he really did seem like he wasn't lying.

   N stood up and leaned back against the alley wall. He sighed in resignation and said, "Do you trust me then? I don't really know what else I can tell you. You either take my word for it, or we can part ways right now. No use in trying to force you to believe me."

   I felt five pairs of eyes boring into me, and I shifted uncomfortably, trying not to look any of them in the eye. Rosa was really convinced N was telling the truth, and was it just me, but did Lucky look like she felt the same? "Okay, fine, I believe you," I said finally. But the moment you try to pull something, N... you'll regret it.

   N smiled warmly. "Thank you, Nate. I'm willing to provide assistance to anyone if it results in defeating Team Plasma."

   "That's great, because Neo Plasma stole Zekrom, they have one of the DNA Splicers, and Kyurem. If you had let Umbra take your Splicer, those nut-jobs would've had a Black Kyurem right about now," I said, looking at Rosa.

   "Wait, what?! Design was stolen?" N gasped.

   "Yeah. I don't mean to be rude by saying this and I'm glad you saved my life and all, but we'd be better off if I still had my Splicer," I said. "I'm no good at coming up with plans. If either of you have one, I'd love to hear it!"

   "That doesn't make sense! I passed through every major part of Opelucid that wasn't blocked off, and I didn't see Design or Hilbert," N said worriedly.

   "Did you go through the main square?" I asked, beginning to feel uneasy.

   "Yes! There were signs that a huge battle had taken place, but nobody was there."

   I exchanged a worried look with Rosa, a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. If N didn't see anyone, either Hugh and the others had to flee or...

   "They were captured," Rosa voiced the possibility I wished wasn't real.

   N noticed our concern and hesitantly asked, "Who was captured?"

   "Hugh, Bianca, Hilbert, maybe even Drayden," I said though I didn't want to. "We left them behind in the square. Zinzolin was starting to catch on that Rosa and I had the Splicers, and Drayden told us to run. We just left them with Zinzolin and who knows how much backup. I guess they didn't want the others to get help from the other Gym Leaders."

   "Wait a second, let me check something." Rosa started tapping away at her Xtransceiver. I could tell she was going to try to call Bianca and Hugh. The device rang and rang for minutes on end, and after trying for the third time on both numbers, she gave up. "No one's picking up, they just go straight to voicemail."

   "So we can assume that they were... captured," I said. Rosa nodded solemnly, her grim expression mirroring mine.

    N's face went pale. "If only I had gotten here sooner, I could have helped them. But if I did, they could have taken Dream."

   "Maybe flat-out threatening those grunts earlier with that 'trial by fire' crap wasn't the greatest move on your part. They're sometimes competent enough to piece things together," I said.

   "Nate, be serious! Do you know what this means? They're going to come after us to get the other Splicer. And who says that they don't want a White Kyurem?" Rosa said. "We need to free the Legendaries and rescue the others!"

   "Then what do you suppose we do? We can't just waltz into wherever they're hiding. They'll recognize us right away! And I'm sure they know who he is." I pointed at N. "We need to find out where they're hiding out without them seeing who we really are," I finished. We then heard the sound of another Neo Plasma search patrol approaching on the far end of the street, if we were going to leave, we would need to do it now.

   "Illusions are everything in Team Plasma, and I have ways of getting people to talk," N said, smirking devilishly. "Wait right here for me, I have some work to do." Midnus cast N's disguise and he began clawing away at one of the ice walls along with Luna. Once they had created a large enough hole in the ice, they dashed out into the street. Before N left, he turned back to us. "I hope you two don't mind wearing black," he said.

   All was dark. Everything was a blur of darkness, sound, and cold air. I might as well have been robbed of all my senses for how clear everything was. It seemed like forever until I fully regained consciousness. I could faintly make out rocky walls and a jagged ceiling that was way too close for comfort. Why did I have the feeling that I was in a cave?

   When my sight finally returned to me, I bolted upright only to flinch in pain. My stomach ached horribly, and the back of my head felt the same way. It took a few seconds until I regained my composure, and I remembered what had happened. We fought against Zinzolin, but then we... lost? No, that didn't sound right, I swore something else happened. We fought but were interrupted by the Shadow Triad! That was it, the Triad attacked us in the middle of our battle. They pulled the same moves on me that Hilbert described were used on him. Wait, are the others okay?

   I looked up to see Hilbert and Bianca slumped against the walls of the room we were in, both out cold. There was no sign of Drayden. You know you're having a bad day when you get knocked out twice in the span of an hour, I thought. I took a look around the room and came to the realization that we were actually in a cave. It was dark except for a faint blue glow emanating from somewhere in the small cavern. A cold breeze washed over me and I shivered, it was strangely chilly in here. I shouldn't have been surprised considering it was Neo Plasma who were imprisoning us.

   I had no idea where we could be but figured that Neo Plasma stashed us in here until they figured out what to do with us. Using the wall to steady myself, I slowly pulled myself to my feet and began searching the cave for a way out. My bag and Pokémon were both gone along with my Xtransceiver. Of course they were, those Neo Plasma grunts had some semblance of a brain. The cave walls were smooth and solid as, well, rock. There were no holes of any kind or loose stones. A wave of panic washed over me at the thought that we were sealed in here.

   One corner of the cavern led into a hallway of sorts. It looked to be only a few feet long and seemed to be where the cold air and light was coming from. I slowly approached it, feeling goosebumps break out all over me as I did so. Whatever was emitting the light was definitely the cause of the cold as well. I rounded the corner to see a thick wall of ice blocking the entirety of the passage except for a somewhat thin line along the top. It sparkled with frost, and mostly-transparent white fog billowed from where the ice made contact with the tunnel wall. A makeshift barrier, that was what it was. 

   Being morbidly curious, I touched the barrier and immediately jerked my hand back. The cold went right through my glove and froze my fingertips. It almost felt like it was burning, it was so cold. It was clear I wouldn't be able to break it or anything.

   It then dawned on me how utterly helpless I was. My Pokémon were gone, I had no contact with anyone, and the only person I knew who could really stand up to Neo Plasma was currently unconscious and probably wouldn't be waking up anytime soon. And the worst part was that I was defenseless against a certain someone, someone that wanted nothing more than to strangle the life out of me.

   A new type of chill filled me, blooming like some vile flower that coated my insides with ice. It was a feeling I despised with every fiber of my being: fear. No, no, no, I hate this! I thought, stepping away from the barrier. Stop it, please stop it!

   "No matter what he says, I will personally make sure you don't get out alive." Kage's voice echoed in my mind. There was no getting around it, I was trapped, and he knew it. My legs gave out, and I fell to my knees. I won't be able to rescue Pearls, and my little sister won't see her Pokémon ever again... She won't see me again either. My head was swimming at this point, and I felt like I was about to pass out. Pathetic whimpers worked their way up my throat and out of my mouth. I felt tears stinging the corners of my eyes. He's going to do it. He's going to kill me.

   "I... I don't want to die," I whispered.