It was the day they had all been waiting for, the day when two heroes of different ideals clashed, the battle in which would determine the fate of Unova once and for all.

But she wasn't there.

N, wrapped in a silky white cape along with a matching gold trimmed white tunic and wood colored baggy pants, looked absolutely dashing, if it weren't for his look of dismay pasted firmly on his face. He scanned through the crowd of spectators, a mix of important looking and influential people all gathered around to witness the continent changing battle, but that was all irrelevant to him, for all he could, and wanted, to see was the face of the familiar brunette whom he had been waiting for in his whole life, whom he needed to defeat in order to realize his dream of pokemon liberation.

But she was nowhere to be seen.

Turning over to the massive white dragon pokemon standing gallantly, probably enjoying the attention on it, Reshiram noticed its master's stare, its blue irises scanning through the crowd, only to return with a disapproving glance at him.

2 hours had already passed by from the promised time, the 3 o'clock afternoon sun hanging high above their heads. But she was still out of sight. The crowd was beginning to show signs of impatience, and also scowls started appearing from one face to another.

"Why isn't she coming?" N murmured in a daze. Did she chicken out last minute? '… No that is impossible,' shaking his head to rid himself of the idea, he reminisced the times when she would endanger herself just for her pokemon, and how she fought regardless of how the tides were turned against her.

She would fight him and his Reshiram head on even if all she had on her was her trusty starter Samurott with no potions nor revives if the situation calls for it.

'Then why is she not here yet?' N gritted his teeth frustratingly, knuckles white from clenching too hard. At this, Reshiram cooed, staring at its master worriedly as he snapped back to reality, "I'm fine, thanks for worrying," N ruffled the fluffy feathers beside him. "Touko… just where are you?"

3 hours ago…

Gloves, checked. Shirt, nice and ironed. Pants, as ruffled as ever. Hair, tied neatly, not much baby hair poking out luckily. Bag, all packed. Now is to just slip on the running shoes and she'll be ready to go for the final match.

She had promised to give a ride to not only her childhood friends, Bianca and Cheren, but also her mom on Zekrom's back, from Nuvema town to the North of Victory Road, where Team Plasma's castle awaits. She jumped as a huge red sclera peeped through the window of her room, blocking off the natural rays of sunlight and her room became pitch black. With only Zekrom's red eye as illumination.

"The same ol' trick won't work twice!" snickering, Touko walked towards the window and opened it, patting the sides of Zekrom's eye. The first time Zekrom did it, Touko had screamed at the top of her lungs and it was so loud that her mom and neighbors had rushed over in panic. Zekrom was amused by the different reaction he got from his master, and thus wanted to try it again. 'But this response isn't half bad either,' closing its eyes, Zekrom gave a soft purr, completely off of the grand legendary air it had always gave.

"I'll be counting on you again, partner," Touko whispered with a smile, "Pokemon liberation, why doesn't N see that humans AND pokemon are both important!" a pout now visible on her face before she ended the sentence with a "Stupid N." She mused.

She was the almighty heroine in everyone's eyes. Sure, it was an immense pressure, but with not only Zekrom but her dear team fighting along in a 6v6 battle, she had the confidence of a Charizard that she could nail the battle, not without struggles of course, but it was a gut feeling that she will do fine.

"Mom's taking too long," Touko gave a quick peek to the clock hanging on the walls of the living room, then back to the main entrance door. Her mother was a woman of punctuality, and Touko knew this far better than anyone thanks to the years she grew up being lectured of it for being late for not only classes but almost everything else. They were supposed to leave by 11 o'clock, with Zekrom flying slower than usual due to the extra weight, but it doesn't seem to mind, and they would reach Victory Road 15 minutes prior to the battle.

11.15a.m.

Bianca and Cheren exchanged worried glances at each other, then the heroine. She was the most worried of them all. They had been waiting for her mother to come back, as she said she needed to go to the grocer in Accumula Town to get some snacks for after the battle, but has yet to return.

"It'll be a short trip, I'll be back in a jiffy," her mother said earlier that day, even forgetting to bring her Xtransceiver with her, tested through calling and the ringtone rang somewhere in the house.

An ominous feeling had crept up to Touko that she couldn't shake off. Unable to contain her worries, without a word she dashed out of the door as if on impulse, Zekrom immediately landed before her, lowering his body close to the ground for the girl to mount easily.

"To Accumula Town, hurry!" Touko pleaded as Zekrom stole a glance at her, giving a short cry before bolting off from the ground, Cheren and Bianca gaping from her sudden actions before calling their respective pokemons, following Touko's trail as fast as their small feet could.

The wind and air rushed through her hair and into her eyes, squinting against the sunlight pouring through the clouds. It was a perfect day for flying, but that was beside the point now.

'Mom probably went all out buying stuff that she forgot her time,' Touko laughed nervously, but that bit of fear still hung on her heart like a Spinarak on its thread. No matter how hard she had tried to convince herself, the anxiety only grew. All she could do was to find out what happened herself.

Clouds aside, Accumula Town was finally in view. Touko could see everything from high up, the small crowd of people gathering outside the pokeMart included.

Touko tapped Zekrom's side twice, a signal it knew well that Touko wants to land here. Following her wishes, Zekrom stopped in the middle of open area of the town, turning the attention of the crowd to it almost immediately as gusts of wind were spreading everywhere of its landing.

"Touko the hero!?" a middle aged man immediately recognized her.

"Why is she here?" the crowd startled by her sudden appearance, Touko was apologetic but she didn't want to waste any more time as she was getting more and more unsettled as time passed. Pushing pass the crowd, which eventually cleared a way for her, she saw an unconscious Tauros, body battered and weary, but beside it lay a body of a woman.

She didn't want to believe her eyes, no matter how harsh reality was. She looked away, eyes now focused on the items that scattered all over the ground around them.

Blueberry muffins, and it was her favorite brand.

Chocolate sticks as well as the sitrus berry poffins her Samurott always craved for were among the huge mess.

Touko's face fell faster than a Shellgon trying to fly. In that instant her skin became greyed, mouth hung with lips slightly parted and her eyes were as wide as they could stretch as a familiar figure came into sight. That atrocious hairstyle that she could remember no matter how hard she tried to erase from her mind, it didn't take long before her shock swiftly turned into rage.

Colress.

The last time she met him was when he had tried to kidnap numerous pokemon for the sake of his experiments. That one incident was more than enough to strike him into her blacklist of people she will never acknowledge and would beat the crap out of if she had the chance.

And now he stood among the crowd, a weird device in his hands. In front of her mother.

Seeing the unconscious Tauros and its worried trainer now beside it, Touko had resisted the urge to punch him in the face right here and right now, despite her seething hatred that grew towards him. She could only click her tongue in rage and ran towards her mother, checking for injuries along with a few bystanders.

Touko had released an unconsciously held breath as she checked for her mother's pulse and thank Arceus it was still there. But it was weak. There was also a drips of blood forming on her forehead – probably due to the impact.

"This is…" dismounting from his Stoutland, Cheren analyzed the situation, Bianca following close behind.

"Has anyone called for an ambulance yet?" Bianca shouted to the crowd, a man responding with a 'yes' and that it should arrive any second now, also explaining that the Tauros ran rampant suddenly, bashing all in its way, Touko's mother included.

Cheren darted into the crowd, his hand grabbing a white sleeve firmly as he asked the man who was leaving, "Where do you think you're going?" Colress gulped.

It was all so surreal. Touko should be on the way to Victory Road now, beat some sense into N and all of Unova will be peaceful as it should be.

But now she was in an ambulance, on the way to a hospital in Castelia City. Going by Zekrom would be much faster, but the air resistance and strong wind would not be favorable especially to an unconscious person. Withdrawing Zekrom back into its Masterball, Touko sat beside her mother, guilt written all over her face.

"Leave Colress to us, we'll handle him," Cheren said earlier with a tone of spite in his voice, refusing to let go of his grip on the scientist.

Touko was hesitant to board the vehicle. She knew far well that if she went, it means ditching the battle with N. It will betray the hopes and expectations of her many followers of Unova who were against N's ideals. However, Bianca placed hands over Touko's, "Go with your mother to the hospital, Cheren and I will handle things from here," as she pushed her back encouragingly.

"But the battle-"

"That can wait! You can always have your rematch anytime!" Bianca shouted impatiently, "But that's your mother over there, your one and only mother! You won't get a second chance for family!" with eyes tearing up for her friend, "Just go already!"

Like hail on a glass pane, the drumming of her fingers was as relentless just as it was loud. Most of the patients were either in their rooms during this hour, with nurses running in and out occasionally, but the waiting room was empty most of the time. The air was stuffy with an undertone of bleach, which only helped fuel the anxiety within her.

It has been close to 2 hours, and the hours seemed to pass by endlessly. The light to the surgery room was still lit, and all Touko could do now was nothing but wait for the news. Her face, rigid with tension, belied her usual youthfulness, and she seemed to have aged a decade in the past few hours. The deafening silence was unnerving her more and more as time passed, making her regret not asking for Bianca, even Cheren would do, to keep her company. But she knew both of them were needed to not only inform Alder, who was not only the champion but also the judge of the match that she would not make it, and another to get Colress to confess his crimes. Touko had not the selfish heart to keep them to herself so she held back.

Holding Samurott's pokeball in hand, she prayed for forgiveness. Not only for disappointing the whole of Unova with her absence, but also for her partners who were fired up for the battle just hours ago.

The deafening silence was one problem, but the noise of paparazzi now right outside the metal hospital doors was another. The whir and click of shutters rang nonstop as the reporters, probably catching wind of her mother being hospitalized here, tried to barge in and she could hear the hospital guards fending off the pushy reporters and cameramen, shouting at them to leave but of course, it fell on deaf ears.

Now curling up in a fetal position in a dusty corner of the waiting room, Touko hoped for the noise to disappear. Her one and only wish now was only see her mother back on her feet, smiling at her as she always had been.

Touko had never been a homey person, with her always venturing outside in the wilds and sightseeing in the city rather than staying home all day, quite the opposite of her mother who had been frail right after her dad passed away. But time had probably healed her wounds as she continued loving her beloved daughter, the only family she had left in this world. The daughter who only comes home once every few weeks after she had started her pokemon journey, which was several months since then. One day she left home with her new partner Oshawott whom she was so proud of from Professor Juniper, the next time she comes back on the back of a legendary dragon. Thus, they never had a lot of chances for a mother to daughter talk, in which Touko regrets so much.

She had only heard such phrases from those emo songs she occasionally heard from the radio or in public areas, but she is now painfully aware of how horrible it feels when someone you love dearly leaves you. 'Nono, she's not even dead yet Touko don't go making an angst story over what hasn't happened yet!' Touko gave a quick slap to herself, the burning sensation on her cheeks snapping her back into reality. 'This had happened once, but Mom got better,' reminiscing the time when her mother had been admitted into the hospital due to an abnormally high fever, 'yeah, she'll be back home in a week or so cooking in the kitchen the next time I visit, oh boy will she be surprised when I come back more often this tim-'

Drip.

A tear had rolled down her cheek, shattering to pieces onto her quivering hands. And as the first fell, tears had burst forth like water from a dam, spilling down her face. She could feel the muscles of her chin tremble like a small child she used to be, now looking towards the window, as if the light could soothe her. The static in her head resounded once more, the side effect of her constant fear, constant stress she lives with.

'What if I can never see mom again? Just like dad?'

She hears her own sounds, similar to a distressed child, raw from the inside. It takes something out of her she didn't know she had left to give. It's like a theft of the spirit, an injury no other person can see.

Alder couldn't believe his ears as Bianca scurried up the stage as soon as Unfezant, which Bianca borrowed from Cheren as a means of transport, landed on the ground, both pokemon and rider gasping for air.

"Mrs. White was?" the champion mused as his face immediately knitted into a tight frown.

"Can the battle be delayed," Bianca panted, "To another time?" her eyes pleaded behind her red framed spectacles. "That's all I ask for!"

"Nonsense!" a voice boomed from a distance. "She had abandoned the match, thus it is a default loss for that cheeky brat- trainer!" Bianca could only glare at the smug face dark figure just seats away.

Ghetsis.

Bianca bit her lower lip in frustration. She was never a fighter, always protected by Touko and Cheren whenever a problem arises, always kept in the dark until all was solved. "Like hell I'll just sit still and accept that!" she shouted back with pent up anger, the man flinching at her sudden outburst. Forget Ghetsis, even Alder, who had been beside her, had eyes so big she swore it could've popped out of its sockets if someone hit him from the back of his head. At this, an uproar could be heard from the spectators, reporters and cameramen scurrying close in an attempt to get a scoop from this huge mess.

Fierce debates now resounded throughout the arena, the atmosphere tense and rigid with tension.

"She prioritized her mother over the whole of Unova! That's no hero!" a man shouted from somewhere, voice ringing clear across the arena.

Another stood up in response, screaming "A fallen hero!"

As soon as the scream ended, part of the audience began chanting it like a spell, as if to spite their hero for abandoning them.

"Down with the fallen hero!"

Bianca gulped at the scenario unfolding before her. She knew the audience wouldn't accept the fact that easily, she also felt partially responsible as she was the one who had convinced Touko to leave, thus she was part to be blamed. But never did she thought the rejection would be so strong from the audience, the heated debate soon ended, ending up with several members of the audience now speaking with their fists.

Alder clicked his tongue, obviously irritated, "This is going nowhere," now reaching to one of the pokeballs fixed onto his cloak, "Braviary, I choose you!"

A large, avian pokemon appeared in a flash of red, its fierce cry echoed all over the arena, the ground shaking slightly as the arena finally had a moment of silence.

"Unovians," Alder's voice, as valiant as ever, said, "I understand your worries to the bottom of my heart, but violence will not solve anything!"

"Which is all the more reason to crown N as the new King of Unova," Ghetsis stood up to face Alder. "N has been under my guidance since young, he has the knowledge, potential and rights to become our ruler!" now turning to Bianca he now said it with hidden malice, "Unlike the rookie trainer from who knows where, it is obvious to predict the victor of the battle would be none other than our glorious lord N! Why must we wait for a hero whom abandoned her match?"

"He's taking every advantage he can get that old sly fox!" Bianca cursed under her breath, Alder patting her shoulders as a sign of consolation but she couldn't do anything. Most of the crowd were won over by Ghetsis' 'touching' speech, chanting "Long live team Plasma!" when she was just this close to punching that smug smirk off that old man's face.

"Go ahead, lord N, the whole of Unova awaits you!" Ghetsis now stepped aside, allowing the main spotlight to now shine on N who had been silent the whole time.

N only muttered, "This isn't right." Walking past Ghetsis and now standing in front of Bianca and Alder, Reshiram's turquoise blue eyes following him, "Take me to her side," he said what not seems to be a favor, but an order.

Ghetsis gaped at his answer, recovering quickly he slammed his walking stick onto the concrete floor, "N, I shall not tolerate such misbehavior! You have won, the crown is now all yours to take!" he reasoned, "Do you not want to realize your ideals of pokemon liberation?"

"I do," N now grabbed Bianca's wrist, "But I want to realize it in my own way," void of emotions he continued, "I do not take pride in defeating an injured opponent."

"Injured?" Ghetsis stared at him, confused.

"My friend here told me," N patted Cheren's Unfezant on its head, the latter cooing at his touch, "He said Touko is hurt. She cannot battle. So she cannot attend."

Ghetsis's face now contorted with fury. He was as angry as a Primeape whose food was stolen from it, eyes sparkled with ferocity but all that was but for naught when Reshiram suddenly moved, feet now off the ground as it scooped N, along with Bianca up on its back in the span of not more than a second. "Where is she?" N asked once more, but this time impatience was blunt in his voice.

"C-Castelia Hospital," Bianca stammered trying to recover from the surprise as N sat behind her, arms covering her both sides to avoid her from falling over.

"Reshiram, can you take us there?" N asked and the white dragon gave a cry in response, bursting forward with all its speed has to offer.

And all the way behind Cheren's Unfezant stared at Alder, lost in confusion.

"You're coming with me buddy," Alder sighed and got onto his Braviary, "I don't trust that doll of a prince with Bianca," and they set off chasing Reshiram's back which was almost hidden in between clouds. "And return you to Cheren, she's way too forgetful!"

And somewhere among the clouds Bianca sneezed.

Notes

Annnnnd here it is my first Pokemon fanfic, a billion thanks to me bestie Rei for helping me with not only proofreading but also for the ideas and inspiration! Hope you enjoyed it, constructive criticism is always welcomed thanks!