"So when you say they left their Pokémon..." I intentionally stopped myself.

   Hugh nodded and removed a black Poké Ball from his bag. It looked like the black coating on it had begun to chip away, revealing the scuffed red metal underneath. "I... finally got Pearls back."

   "What about the other Pokémon?" Rosa asked.

   "Th-they're all in my bag, e-every... every last o-one of them."

   "Even Tangrowth?" I asked, wondering if Hugh was really willing to keep that Pokémon so close to him.

   He nodded. "It... wasn't its fault that it acted against m-me like that. S-so I... forgive it." He shook his head and took a deep breath. "But I'll never forgive Kage. It's impossible to forgive someone like that," he finished, gasping for air afterwards.

   "That's fine, Hugh. At least you didn't kill him. Like you said, you might've turned out like him," I said. "You made the right choice, and I'm glad you survived."

   "Th-thank you, Nate," Hugh said. Rosa carefully wiped some blood off Hugh's face, and he flinched back. "Ow! That k-kinda hurt..." he gasped.

   "Sorry! I just wanted to see how bad it was. You'll definitely need to have that seen to when we get out of here," Rosa apologized.

   While Hugh was telling us about what happened with the Triad, Hilbert made a three-way call on Bianca's Xtransceiver. When I asked him who he called, he said it was an old friend of his and that he could help get Ghetsis and the remaining Neo Plasma members to the authorities. Apparently, Drayden and Bianca were going to go meet them and show them how to get to this cave. It was now a matter of playing the waiting game, my favorite.

   "... What do you mean? Don't you try to pin any of this on me!"

   I picked up on a nearby conversation, and I saw N arguing with Ghetsis.

   "If you had simply listened to me and stayed with Team Plasma, none of this would have ever happened!" Ghetsis said sharply. Even though he was the one who was trapped, he seemed to show the slightest bit of fear when addressing N.

   "I'm happy I left Team Plasma! Hilbert showed me what you were really doing to the Pokemon you 'liberated,' and it's absolutely sickening," N retorted.

   "Perhaps you would have seen the truth if you actually were a normal person, you freak. You're lucky you weren't the one who had to suffer through the experiments Colress had concocted. You should be thanking me," Ghetsis said snidely.

"Excuse me?" N shouted in a mixture of confusion and anger.

"The communication and endurance trials, the DNA tests, all of them were intended for you. If I didn't need you in one piece for what I had planned, I would've given you over to him in a heartbeat," Ghetsis said proudly. He didn't display a single shred of remorse for what he was admitting. "But it was all worthless. And that's what you are, worthless!"

N's face flushed red in anger, and to my utter shock, he punched Ghetsis square in the jaw.
"How does it feel?" N growled. "Every time you insult me, every time you say nobody would ever care about me because of what I can do, it feels like that! The truth isn't always ideal, father! The truth isn't always ideal!" He brought back his fist for another blow but was stopped when Hilbert grabbed his arm, dragging him away from the now cowering Ghetsis.

   "What are you doing, Natural?" Hilbert questioned frantically.

   "Paying him back," N said. "I was never able to express how I really felt about him, or Team Plasma as a whole. They all need to pay for what they've done!"

   "They'll be rotting in prison for the rest of their lives, won't that be enough?" Hilbert tried reasoning with his friend.

   "Trial by fire, that's all what they deserve! Out of anyone who I thought could empathize with me, I thought it would be you, Hilbert! You are the Hero of Ideals! Doing what you think is best is what you're supposed to embody!" N cried, struggling to pull away from Hilbert.

   "There's a difference between doing what's ideal and what's right. You should know that better than anyone. For once, Ghetsis is right! The truth isn't always ideal!"

   "You're just another traitor! The things Colress has done to you, the experiments he performed, don't you hate him? Don't you think he deserves to pay for that?!"

    "Yes I do, and he will pay for them once he's arrested! He may have done many horrible things but that doesn't mean his life is automatically forfeit!"

   "I thought I couldn't trust anybody but my partners, but even they are beginning to doubt me!" N said.

   "N, stop!" Hugh yelled, his voice sounding as if it was being shredded. N paused and scowled at Hugh. "I-I know what you're talking about! I felt the same way about Neo Plasma and Kage. H-he stole my sister's Purrloin... and a-almost killed me. In fact, I was... going to kill him earlier." He struggled to get every word out, his sentences coming out in bursts of air before he had to pause and regain his breath. The aftermath of being strangled was taking full effect by now.

   "Then why didn't you?" N asked, his twisted smile spreading across his face. "He's one of Ghetsis' most loyal, he committed just as many crimes as Ghetsis and Colress, possibly even more."

   "Kage s-said it himself, 'It only takes a move like this, and then it all falls down.' Do y-you get what that means? If you kill anyone... y-you'll be no better than them! You'll become what they are."

   "Lies..." N said. "I could never become what they are. I'm not a murderer, or an abuser."

   "You may not be an abuser, but you were almost a murderer," I chimed in. "You threatened to kill those Neo Plasma grunts back in Opelucid. And you looked like you were going to do it if they didn't run."

   "That's not true. Even if it looked that way, I was doing it for a good reason," N said.

   "You're freaking lying!" I said forcefully. "Your best friend is doubting you, Midnus and Luna are doubting you! Isn't that enough evidence?"

   "Think about it, Natural, listen to Hugh and Nate," Hilbert said. "If you kill Ghetsis, what are you going to do, kill Colress? And once you do that, will you stop there? I know how you feel, I hate seeing Pokémon being hurt. And yeah, sometimes I wish that I could do more than hurt the ones who hurt them, especially Colress. But you need to face the facts. Kill once, and you'll keep killing." He paused, seeming to hesitate before continuing. "And if you keep killing, we may meet again not as friends, but as enemies. I'm striving to make the world an ideal place, Natural. And I'm willing to stop anyone who may disrupt that."

   "That's not true, it's not!" N cried.

   "The truth... i-isn't always ideal," Hugh said, and that seemed to make N break. Hilbert led N away, softly talking to him while he further crumbled into a mess. From the astonished look on Hilbert's face, crying wasn't something N did very often.

   "You honestly could have handled that better," Colress said from his spot in the ice.

   "Oh, shut up," Rosa growled.

   Soon enough, Bianca and Drayden returned with two more people in tow. My eyes widened when I saw that they were Iris and... "Alder?" I asked.

   "Nathan, Rosalyn, Hugh, it has been quite a while, hasn't it?" the veteran Trainer greeted us warmly.

   "Okay, this is like the third time you showed up or were mentioned, and I still have no idea who you are or what your deal is," I said, holding my hands up defensively. "Who the heck are you?"

   "I told you this the first time we met, I'm someone who likes to meet new Trainers and help them out," Alder replied. "But it looks like I don't need to teach you three anything. All three of you have come such a long way as Trainers."

   "Yeah! Thanks to my connections, I've kept Alder updated on your Gym Battles and Pokédex achievements," Iris said. "And while not how I expected it, it seems that you stopped Neo Team Plasma!"

   "What are you going to do with Ghetsis and the others?" Rosa asked.

   "Interrogate them, put them on trial, lock them up, anything that a regular criminal would have to face," Iris said nonchalantly, counting each thing she said off on her fingers. "We caught Zinzolin as he was trying to escape the main tunnel system along with a few grunts."

   So some of them made it, I thought, feeling strangely relieved.

   "Wh-what about the Shadow Triad?" Hugh asked.

   Iris looked perplexed. "Nope, no sign of them. They're probably skulking around the caves or something. We'll find them, don't worry."

   "No... I wasn't worried. I w-was gonna ask to help you find them," Hugh responded.

   "Not a chance. The only thing you're going to ask is whether you want the Skitty or Corsola-patterned bandages for that cut you've got," Iris said.

                                  ~*~*~*~

From there, everything kind of took care of itself. Iris and Alder arrested Ghetsis and Colress for a whole slew of crimes including kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, abuse of Pokémon, both Pokémon and human experimentation, and many more. Along with that the frozen grunts were thawed out and taken away for investigation, all of Neo Plasma's Pokémon (including the Triad's) were put in safekeeping until their original Trainers claimed them or new ones were found, and the tunnels were searched for any stragglers. It all went by quickly and the day had passed faster than I had thought.

   The last of the grunts were being transported out of the chasm by policemen Alder had called by the time the sun was setting. The Giant Chasm was now the site of over twenty deaths, and could've been the starting point of a great tragedy if we hadn't stopped it.

   Iris was willing to escort us to Lacunosa Town where Hugh would have his injuries taken care of and the rest of us would be checked for hypothermia or frostbite. My hands had been completely numb for the past hour, and I hoped that they weren't frostbitten. We were about to leave for the tunnel system where Drayden, Iris, and Alder were waiting for us when N made an announcement.

   "I need to be on my way," he said.

   Hilbert looked puzzled, like he hadn't processed what N just said. "Wait, what?" he asked slowly.

   "You heard me, I'm leaving," N repeated.

  "What? Why?!" Hilbert was beyond confused and shocked.

   "The only reason I returned to Unova was because of Kyurem and Neo Team Plasma," N said. "Kyurem has been quelled and returned to its rightful place in the chasm, and Neo Team Plasma is permanently disbanded. I don't have any other reason to remain in Unova."

   "No other reason to be here? Are you somehow forgetting that I'm here? I've looked for you for two years, Natural. When we were battling against Black Kyurem, it reminded me of the times we battled with and against each other in the past. I miss those times, and I don't want them to end again. I don't want you to leave!"

   "I thought about staying, I really did, but I have to go. What you and the others told me earlier about what I was trying to do to Ghetsis made me rethink all that I've worked for while I was away. I need to reform and actually start helping Pokémon, not saving them for the sake of getting revenge."

   "Then let me come with you! I can't lose you again!" Hilbert objected.

   "B-but Hilbert..." Bianca began quietly. "What about me? Don't you care about me?"

   "Of course I do! It's just..." The older teen seemed conflicted. "I-I don't want to lose either of you! You both mean so much to me!"

   "Stay here with Bianca. It's clear that she still cares for you, and you have to rebuild the parts of your relationship you've lost with not only her, but your other friends and family," N said. "I'm a lost cause. I need to reconsider my choices and figure out my life."

   "That's what you said last time! You said that right before you left. You've had two years to figure out your life, Natural. Two whole years!"

   "And I might need two more! I might need two, five, or even ten years before I know what I really should be doing. You and Hugh have helped me realize the truth, and I'm going to take advantage of that. I won't be gone forever. I'll come back eventually, I will."

   "But... I... Natural, don't leave, please!" For the second time that day, Hilbert broke down into tears and hugged N. N hugged him back, and they stayed like that for a long time. Eventually, the two broke apart, though reluctantly.

   "Here." N removed something from around his neck and handed it to Hilbert. It was a pendant that had a black stone with a blue and gold disk looping around it attached to the string. I had never noticed that he was wearing it. "If you ever begin to miss me, you can look at this and remind yourself that I'll come back."

   Hilbert took the pendant and slipped it on, clutching the black stone tightly. "Thank you Natural, I'll never forget you."

   N laughed. "Why are you talking like that? It's not like we'll never see each other again! Think of it like... an extended vacation. It will be over quicker than you know it." He took out Dream's ball and let the great white Dragon Pokémon.

   "Promise?" Hilbert asked.

   "I promise," N replied. He returned Midnus and Luna to their Poké Balls and climbed onto Dream's back, stroking her long white plume of hair. She growled and N shrugged. "I don't know. Perhaps Sinnoh? We have all the time in the world." Dream nodded and beat her angel-like wings, creating strong gusts of wind and lifting both Trainer and Pokemon off the ground. "Hilbert?" N asked.

   "Yes?" the young Hero answered.

   N's smile was bittersweet. "See you..." Dream then ascended higher until she was out of the chasm. Her tail began to glow like a heating coal, and the Pokémon of Truth shot away into the night, leaving behind sparks and a wave of heat. We watched the duo until they had vanished, being fully consumed by the night sky.

   After N was gone, Hilbert looked away and exchanged slightly awkward glances with us. He took a deep breath. "I... I think we should also be going, too," he said.

   "Wait, you're leaving too?" I asked incredulously.

   "It's for the best. I dragged you three into this mess, and I think it's time for us to dissolve our little 'contract.' The threat is gone, your parents would understand why I left. And Natural's right. I need to go home and rebuild my relationships. My first order of business is to go back to Nuvema Town."

   "We get it, Hilbert. Thank you for accompanying us all this time," Rosa said.

   Hilbert smiled and let out Design. "You ready to get going?" he asked, looking to Bianca.

   "Yes, of course!" she replied with her usual bubbly smile. They both got onto Design, and the Pokémon of Ideals began to take off.

   "It was nice meeting and getting to know you all, and I'm sorry if this departure is so abrupt," Hilbert said. "I hope we can meet again someday!"

   "Sounds like a plan!" I said back. Design ascended and took off in the opposite direction of Dream, heading south. Then they were gone. In less than ten minutes, three people had left our group. Everything was over, and it was like our original group of three hadn't changed. "To quote the Hero of Ideals, 'You ready to get going?'" I asked.

   "Wh-when aren't we ready?" Hugh replied. The three of us then left the chasm and everything that had happened within it, more than ready to get our journeys back on track.