“If you don’t want to help me ... then why are you here? Why are you standing in my way when you know I’m trying to help our friends?” Exhausted, N leans forward and buries his face in his hands. “I want all the Pokémon in the world to be happy and-”

  “That nobody hurts them anymore,” I interrupt him. “You want to save them from painful experiences and give them freedom.”

  He slowly lifts his head to look at me and nods wordlessly.

  “Do you think that’s the right way because you’ve had painful experiences?”

  He shakes his head. “My experiences aren’t those of the others.”

  “Do you think this is the right path because you’ve seen countless Pokémon suffer?”

  His mouth twists. “You know ... that I didn’t have the chance to get to know many people and their Pokémon. But I saw our friends in alleyways ... looking for food in rubbish bins. Is that fair?”

  “It is natural,” I reply. “It’s ... unfortunately natural.”

  “Do you think Arceus, the god who is said to have created this world, wanted it to be like this?”

  “Do you think they thought that far?” I lower my eyes to the floor. “I haven’t read the legends and only know what can be considered common knowledge ... the texts from the internet and magazines ... but ... if the theory of the Pokémon gods is true, Arceus passed on many powers to other Pokémon to create this world. And I don’t think anyone thought anything through. It was created and ... what was created evolved.”

  “So, isn’t it better if we just ... reset everything and start again?”

  I lift my eyes with a sigh. “Not everything we’ve created is bad, and not everything that’s been created is harmful to humans or Pokémon. N ... I know you’re afraid of doing the wrong thing, but ... following your father’s decision isn’t the answer. You only know his version. What about yours? What about mine? What about other people’s?”

  “You think ... I’m out of place here?”

  “I think you’re different.” Cautiously, I take a step towards him. “Unlike others, you can talk to Pokémon. You can find out how they feel ... you can make sure. N ... someone like you needs to get to know the world and experience it for themselves.”

  “And if I refuse?”

  “Then I’ll show you that my opinion is just as important as yours.”

  He raises his eyebrows, indecisive, as if he doesn’t know what I’m getting at. So I reach into my skirt pocket and pull out the Light Stone to hold it in his direction. We stare at each other for a moment. Then I dare to whisper to the stone, “Help me.”

  The hope for change burns under my skin. Being recognised as a heroine is a strangely nerve-wracking process. In these breaths, I understand what it must have felt like for N to stand there and gamble on not being a disgrace to his father.

  But to make matters worse, I am not N. I don’t hear a voice, nor does anything change on the stone. It doesn’t glow; it doesn’t release itself from my grip to float up into the air; it doesn’t create a spectacle that seems threatening and fascinating at the same time. It simply lies in my hand.

  “You see...” A weary smirk settles on his features, as if this throne is sucking the life out of him. “My father was right.”

  Finally, he rises from the gold and turns to the wall behind it. Immediately afterwards, he calls for Zekrom, loud and raspy, as if his voice has used up all its strength.

  Pressing the Light Stone tightly to my chest, I feel the tremor of a collapsing wall. Rock crashes to the ground, splashes into the water and tears down the Plasma banners. In between, Zekrom emerges to settle next to N and gives him an opening to climb up.

  “Thank you, Domino.” He turns to me one last time. “I’m ... glad you came anyway. If ... I’ve changed the world, I hope we ... can still be friends.”

  I can’t answer before Zekrom lifts into the air with a mighty push, carrying N away in the next breath – into the sunshine that seems too kind and warm for this mess.

  Briefly, I glance at the stone in my hands. My fingers clench tighter around it, strong enough to colour my knuckles white, but not enough to destroy this godless piece of rubble.

  The fact I’m no good as a heroine was clear to me. I’m not a gifted trainer and perhaps I’m too soft. I certainly dream too much and focus on silly things like love and fear and exciting research without relevance. Everything in me longs for an exciting, beautiful life full of successes. Idealism isn’t just in N, but also in me.

  Sometimes I turn my back on reality while I think I can see what’s happening. Pokémon are important to me, but I’m too cowardly to think big. There is no leader in me, no Chosen One who will change this world. I know that. I know that better than anyone else on this planet. All I can offer here and now is one person among many. A pebble that just wants to live out its existence without achieving much. A life in which I can be happy is enough for me.

  And for that, I need this reality I’m beautifying, which is cruel, which has goodness in it, and which represents so damn many possibilities and views that probably don’t exist anywhere else.

  My nose tingles as my vision blurs and I loosen my grip on the Light Stone. The heat in my cheeks throbs and I struggle to hold back the tears.

  “I know I’m not a hero.” My tongue is dry as dust. “I tell myself I have to help N, even though I’d rather watch than act. It sucks not knowing what to do. And I hate to admit it, but I’m scared as fuck. Of a change and the consequences and of N dying because of me.” As if in slow motion, I bring the stone closer to my face. “I’m pretty sure we’d never get along. Instead of helping when you’re needed, you’re hiding in this stupid stone. At least I’m standing here trying to do something. But you ... are just a rock.”

  By now it feels warmer than my hands. My body cools down and my shoulders shake as I pull my nose back.

  “Help me. You don’t need a hero, and I don’t need a fucking dragon.” Shakily, I take a breath. “But N deserves a future where he too can be happy and see that the world as it is isn’t perfect, but it’s good... That he can build on this. And I ... need a friend who is strong enough to help me make that happen.” I swallow. “Don’t think of my request as that of a non-existent heroine, but of a girl ... who wants to help her friend.”

  The heat from the stone seems to almost burn my hands all at once, so I let go. The hiss on my lips follows it, holding back a curse – because it doesn’t hit the floor. Instead of crashing down, it stops briefly above the tiles, hovers in the air and emits a gentle steam. The former white slowly turns into a piercing orange and as it slowly gains height, I can no longer take my eyes off it.

  Sparks form from the steam. The heat expands the stone until it catches fire unnaturally. Thin threads of flame stretch across its surface, gaining mass, density, and eventually envelop it completely. What remains is brightness that burns my eyes, so I raise my arm to escape the heat for a moment.

  But the hotness seems to scorch the ends of my hair and dry out my eyes. The moisture from my unshed tears has disappeared. Instead, every passing moment feels like a sandstorm that hurts every time I blink.

  Finally, I squeeze my eyes shut and count down from ten, hoping the dryness will pass and I can see what happens next. The blackness behind my eyelids shimmers red, making me blink, until someone throws their warm breath in my face, smelling dusty and stale.

  Immediately, I lower my arm to catch sight of the figure in front of me – a white creature on two sturdy legs with fur that shimmers silkily in the sunlight. Its tail is like a blazing engine and as it bends its head down towards me, a soft “Reshiram” escapes my lips.

  “For a simple girl, you have a lot to say.” Its words hang softly in my head, a bit like the voices of young women you would never accuse of a misdeed. “You’re probably one of those who won’t shut up until they’ve been burned on the spot.”

  “Maybe,” I reply, my throat parched, “but I need help and you ... are all that can really do anything.”

  “A person who understands my words... The likes of you aren’t often seen out here, though it’s certainly no part of your own accomplishments.”

  I want to follow up, find out what it’s talking about, but there’s no time. “Will you help me, anyway?”

  A tired snort escapes from the Pokémon. “I’m tired of serving some lunatics and watching them drive each other to ruin.” It raises its head. “However, I value friendship and I am willing to preserve such a bond in hope of healing broken mirrors. If you want to help this boy, hop on.”

  It doesn’t have to ask me twice. Instantly I move, jump up and only then notice Zoroark standing a few metres away. So I reach out to it. “Come on, you have as much to say to him as I do, don’t you?”

  Its ears twitch as it straightens its shoulders and runs towards us. With a leap, it finds space behind me, and Reshiram uses the added weight as a starting signal to take off.

  The sudden speed tugs at my hair, my clothes, my entire perception, and before I know it, we are high in the sky. I’m used to this altitude thanks to Amethio – I’ve sat on Corviknight with him often enough – but Reshiram is different.

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  My hands tighten in its fur as I hear the blaze of flames. A glance over my shoulder, past Zoroark, brings the Pokémon’s tail into view. Shaped like the engine of an aeroplane, it collects the heat there and uses it to carry itself, compensating for the lack of power in its too-small wings. They are just enough to keep the upper half of Reshiram in the air.

  Our chase ends quickly as Reshiram flies over the town and bridge I had previously crossed with Amethio. Zekrom moves into the picture in between. N notices us as well, looks over his shoulder, before he leans forward and Zekrom tries to pick up the pace. We chase straight towards Castelia and whatever he wants there, I can’t let him get close.

  “Reshiram!”

  “I know, I know.” It just seems to shake off my worries. “You should hold on tight. If you fall ... dropping from this height is fatal.”

  It won’t catch me and it won’t look out for me – this Pokémon couldn’t be any clearer. This pursuit is in my hands. So I press myself tightly against Reshiram’s body, ready to allow more speed. Meanwhile, the wind whistles sharply in my ears and my forehead throbs violently. But when Zekrom appears next to us, I’m fine with all that.

  “N!” I barely dare to lift my upper body. The headwind is already pulling hard enough on my muscles. “It’s here! Reshiram is here!”

  My voice barely makes it against the wind, but N’s look in my direction tells me he’s heard me. Still, he shakes his head.

  “That doesn’t change a thing!” he yells back. “You’re too late! I’ve made up my mind!”

  “You haven’t!”

  “What makes you think that?”

  “If you did, you’d try to stop me from following you! If you were serious about all this, you wouldn’t just let me do this! You want someone to reach out to you!”

  Pressing his lips together, N averts his eyes. Then he says something inaudible to me, and in the next blink of an eye, Zekrom leans back. In one fell swoop, they stop charging forward, stuck rigidly in the air, and just as Reshiram pauses as well, a gigantic ball of electricity rises above N.

  The dazzling light outshines even the sun. Hissing and whirring, the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Still, I can’t help but tighten my grip on Reshiram’s fur and hope that this Pokémon knows how to dodge.

  In the next breath, Zekrom hurls the electric ball at us. Reshiram lets out a battle-ready roar. Then it shoots forward towards Zekrom. In half a turn, it dodges our opponent’s attack. The close distance to the electricity makes my hair stand up in all directions before I think my stomach is knotted by the spin. In the next blink, Reshiram crashes into its counterpart with full force, eliciting a scream and knocking it several metres downwards. N barely knows how to hold on, struggling against the force of gravity as much as I am, while Reshiram gathers its fire.

  Heat burns my skin as veins of fire twist through the air, connecting in front of Reshiram’s snout. Zekrom has barely caught itself when the fire breaks loose and rushes in its direction in an unstable tide. Its black body narrowly dodges. Lightning flashes across its skin, ready to strike. But Reshiram doesn’t wait. Instead, it charges towards Zekrom in a dive and crashes into its counterpart once more. This time it almost knocks N and his dragon to the ground, letting go only when just a few metres separate us from the sandy ground.

  With a powerful thrust, Reshiram gains distance and lands gallantly at the same moment that Zekrom almost hits the ground. It turns just before it does and lands on all fours, leaving N unharmed.

  “Can you keep it down?” My hands are all sweaty.

  “I can. Zekrom knows I can fly better. It would be foolish to challenge me up there again.”

  An affirmation that sends me sliding off its back. My legs are as soft as Dittos, and I can barely hold myself up. The same goes for N, who sways as he steps next to Zekrom. The gasp on his lips seems to weigh heavily. Enough to make Zoroark run off as Zekrom lets out a roar. It seems to think little of conversation. Or of words in general. Since being summoned by N, it hasn’t thrown many words at me.

  Meanwhile, N drags himself two steps further in my direction. His already tangled hair dances in the confusion of our surroundings, carried by static and dried out by the heat of Reshiram. The dragons don’t hold back, going at each other as if they have old scores to settle. Their huge feet make the sandy ground tremble. There is no way through between them. If I want to reach N, then only with my voice.

  One he refuses to listen to as he points at me and Zoroark, who has just reached him, turns round. He wants a fight – in the middle of the heat, the missing sandstorm, and our disagreement.

  Reluctantly, I reach into my skirt pocket and pull out Ying’s ball. In the next blink, she’s in front of me, tail puffed out, ready to take on anyone who gets in our way.

  “You need to stop N’s Zoroark,” I order her. “Don’t take it too seriously... I don’t think it really wants to fight us.”

  She casts a glance over her shoulder before giving me a curt nod and then dashing towards our opponent. Her nimble hind legs carry her across the sand, past the roar of the legendary dragons, barely able to dodge a side flash before her claws meet those of the other Zoroark. Within a breath, they measure their physical strength, pushing back and forth so N clenches his hands into fists.

  “Why do you have to interfere just because you don’t share my opinion?” His roar reaches me barely audibly. I have to listen carefully to make out his words.

  My voice is probably not loud enough to tell him everything that’s going through my head. Still, I put my hands around my mouth, like a small megaphone, and take a deep breath. “Because you would have done the same! This isn’t your opinion! This world offers so many options you could explore if you dared to do so! Instead, you’re hiding behind an idea that’s been put into your head and that you don’t know if it’s what you really want! You still haven’t asked Zekrom why it answered you!”

  Some of my words seem to be lost in the flames of Reshiram. Veins of flames stretching across the sand and mingling with Zekrom’s lightning, causing me to take a step back. Every time one of them stomps, the tremor runs through my whole body and I’m sure N feels the same way.

  But when I look at him, he doesn’t show any signs of it. He just stands there, his hands clenched into fists and his head bowed. I can’t really see it, but it looks like he’s grinding his jaw. Everything about him conveys anger, indecision and fear.

  He doesn’t bother to ask me any more questions or address any words to me, which I wouldn’t think of, anyway. Instead, he throws a Poké Ball, releasing a creature I can’t remember from my studies. Its blue body and the dark grey armour on its back and face give it the grace of a fighter capable of taking a beating. Its long front fins hang limply as it raises its sandy brown eyes and looks at me as if it is too tired to fight this battle.

  However, it has no choice as N roars something that is drowned out by Zekrom’s thunder. Still, I notice how it swells its chest – presumably for an aqua gun. Immediately, I grab Coro’s ball and call him to my aid. His wing beats are only half as wild as they used to be, and while I’m still clinging to the memory of a Pikipek, I point at the opposing Pokémon.

  “Drill peck! Break through the water!”

  The distorted sound of Toucannon thunders in my ears, at least as loud as Reshiram’s scream. My eyes dash instantly to the side, to the white dragon crashing sideways onto the ground. Zekrom’s mighty claws push it down. I don’t have much time.

  In the same breath, I notice Coro shooting forward out of the corner of my eye. His beak glows oddly, and as his opponent spits a sharp jet of water, he hunts ahead like an arrow. It’s not a water gun, fits better with the image of a hydro pump, but evaporates under the heat with which Coro splits it. Mist rises, clinging to the sand at our feet. Coro comes to a standstill somewhere halfway, unable to break through to his opponent.

  Immediately afterwards, the water dries up. Lumps of stone rise behind the strange Pokémon – a familiar attack that has put me in danger before. But we have grown and when the creature hurls its attack at Toucannon, my shout to dodge is all he needs. His graceful wings immediately carry him past the ancient power. It only takes two more wing beats to reach the opposing Pokémon, but Coro doesn’t take them. Instead, he distances himself within one breath before a lightning bolt strikes between them. The scorching fire following robs me of my sight of N. I have to raise an arm, shield my eyes, and ignore the sticky sweat on my skin. Then I glance at the dragons.

  With a headbutt, Reshiram makes its opponent flinch. A single blink, which it uses to rise. Its sturdy legs quickly find a foothold on the uneven ground and before Zekrom can act, Reshiram throws itself against it. The following scream raises the hairs on the back of my neck. In those seconds, Reshiram is no longer the mocking creature that doesn’t want to deal with all this. It is a dragon that surrenders to rage. A creature that is prepared to destroy every dream and every wish if it can protect this reality, this true world.

  In a flash, my attention chases back to N, who has also been distracted by the curtain of fire. His eyes are glued to the dragons, his mouth slightly open. Part of his body tension is missing. It’s my chance.

  “Coro, echoed voice! And then finish it!”

  Our opponent is already gearing up for another water attack, but doesn’t get far when Coro lets out his best cry. Even I can’t help but raise my hands and muffle his voice out of fear that my eardrums will burst. The Pokémon, however, squints its eyes and lowers its head, unable to raise its fins in time before Coro rams into it with full force.

  It staggers backwards before crashing onto its armour. Its twitches are vague and it doesn’t seem unconscious to me, but Coro’s reverberations seem to bring aftershocks I can use to devote myself to N once more.

  But before I can utter a sound, Reshiram crashes down in front of me. Sand whirls around, blinding me. Zekrom, meanwhile, puffs out its chest to make a sound similar to Reshiram’s. They have both succumbed to their rage, seeming to unleash things that have remained unsaid for years.

  “Reshiram!” The grains of sand in my eyes burn like fire, causing tears to trickle down my cheeks. Yet I run to the dragon while Zekrom bares its massive teeth. “You need to get up!”

  “I can’t take any more.” Its voice is just a breath. Lying on its side, its head turned in my direction, there’s barely any life left in its eyes. “Years of living in a stone ... has taken its toll.”

  “How can it be that Zekrom is so much stronger?”

  An amused snort escapes it. “It’s the boy. Zekrom feeds on his desires.”

  “And you? Can’t you feed off me?” My trembling hands rest on its fur. Zekrom’s electricity causes the grains of sand beneath us to float. It gathers for one last attack. “I’ll give you everything I have!”

  “Your wish to save this world is no greater than his desire.” It briefly lowers its eyelids. “He’s longing for something he’s more afraid of than anything else.”

  “And what is that?”

  “Freedom.”

  I swallow as my fingers dig deeper into its body. “And my will to save N? The version that’s standing there right now?”

  “It’s just a small drop on a hot stone, you stupid thing.” It opens its eyes again. “You seem to take your goals much more seriously than they are. People like you always bring chaos with them.”

  Inevitably, I press my lips together before pulling at its fur. Then I lean close to his eyes as Zekrom’s static tickles my skin. “With all due respect ... someone once told me I was too nice ... but ... by whatever deity I should believe in ... I don’t give a shit if you think my goals are unimportant or if I cause trouble! You’re a legendary dragon and that’s all you have to offer? Even my Growlithe has more fire than you and compared to you it’s the size of a grain of sand!” Hissing, I let go of its fur. “Or are you just trying to tell me you don’t care about reality any more than Zekrom does? Then why did you crawl out of your stone in the first place?”

  Lightning flashes across Zekrom’s body, building up into a bundle of hot electricity that will kill us all if it is released. But Reshiram seems just as unconcerned about it in these seconds as I am.

  “Has anyone ever told you that you have an attitude problem?”

  “I’m a human being! At some point, my patience just runs out!” Besides, I haven’t slept for a while and the circumstances are eating away at me at least as much as this fight is eating away at Reshiram.

  “Suit yourself.” Eventually, the Pokémon rises, slowly and groaning as if it’s using the rest of its strength for my sake. “Admittedly, I don’t enjoy giving Zekrom the upper hand. But this is my last move. See that you get this boy under control!”

  I can’t reply before Reshiram rises to its full height and Zekrom throws its electric ball at us in the same breath. My heart is pounding up to my neck. There is no escape and fear paralyses my legs. But the only choice I have is to trust Reshiram.

  Gritting my teeth, I press a fingernail into my thumb so hard the pain burns. My legs push forward. Incredibly slow. Then faster and faster.

  Glaring light dazzles from the side. Zekrom’s attack seems close enough to touch. The static pains my lungs.

  But I keep running.

  Towards N.