It seems as if the ground beneath my feet is giving way as heat builds up behind me and lightning flickers visibly across the sand. Still, I rush forward, not daring to look back, focussing on N instead.

  He just stands there, unable to ignore the spectacle of the two dragons. It must look special, frightening, and perhaps even distressing for those who don’t fancy a fight like this. All I know is that even from behind, the brightness is blinding. Heat dries out my hair, grains of sand get caught in my uniform, and as a fierce bang triggers a squealing in my ears, my body is thrown forward.

  For just one breath, I lose all support under my feet. In the next, I catch myself, unable to keep up the pace. However, my legs still move, my body stays upright and my eyes remain glued to N.

  Every breath stings. My muscles groan. I can barely think clearly. What remains is the goal in front of me; seconds in which I raise my hand in hope of grabbing N.

  Only a few centimetres seem to separate us when he notices me. His reaction overwhelms him in a flash as he backs away, stumbling over his feet. The sand beneath robs him of his balance, pulling him back, and I have no choice but to follow him.

  As N crashes backwards to the ground, I jump after him. It’s a short fall that squeezes the breath out of my lungs as I land on him and finally feel his body under my hands. He is there. I have arrived. Running away is no longer an option.

  So I sit up as quickly as I can and grab N by the shoulders to pull him after me. His body weighs as heavy as lead; freed of all tension and overcome with reluctance that prevents him from looking me in the face. The world seems so lost in his eyes I can’t help but hold him tightly against me. Automatically, my arms wrap around his upper body so I can bury my face in his shoulder. I want to take a deep breath, collect myself, forget that behind me the screams of the dragons are shaking every grain of sand.

  “Why is it so important for you to do exactly what is asked of you? What are you so afraid of?” Sighing, I disengage myself from his shoulder and lean against his head so my lips almost touch his ear. “Why didn’t you ask Zekrom why it answered you? We both know you were unsure ... that this path wasn’t your idea and you’ve never been able to fully commit to it since you saw Unova.” Finally, I pull back to take his face in my hands and look at him. “Why are you throwing yourself headlong into someone else’s ideas?”

  He frowns, and for a moment I doubt he’ll ever answer me. But as he swallows, unable to find the right words, I choose to be patient. The roar behind us dies down. The earth no longer trembles. Everything seems to be waiting for his words, his reasons, his worries and fears.

  “My father ... has sacrificed all these years to raise me for this day,” he finally begins and it is the first time I realise how quickly he is talking. “If I don’t fulfil his wish, then what?” His eyes focus on me. “What am I supposed to do with a friend like Zekrom if I can’t make a proper wish? What happens if I just stop and ask my father to take over all of this? Or if I tell him that maybe all this is wrong? I am not in a position to justify my feelings. Not so he would understand. Not in a way that he won’t hold me accountable while reminding me that my adoption was a mistake. If I turn back now, I’ll have no place to go back to. Then ... I will be alone. And ... I’ll disappoint them all. Again.”

  It’s hard to listen to his quivering voice without shaking him. I could tell him here and now he doesn’t mean a thing to Ghetsis and that he’s just one of thousands of pieces in this game his father has been playing. But it’s not in my power to give him that push. It’s not something he should hear from me.

  “I believe that if Ghetsis ... if his ideas and beliefs had ever been right ... he would have summoned Zekrom himself without making you do it.” My hands slip from his cheeks. “N, I think your father forced you into this shape, this situation, because he knows you have a good heart and only want what’s best for the Pokémon. And he wanted to mould it to fit in with his wishes. He wants to decide who gets what. He wants to maintain power over all of this while you ... are looking for peace.”

  “And you think it’s wrong to give him that power?” N’s brows lift as if he doesn’t already know the answer. “Maybe it needs someone to bring order. If you want peace without someone to keep everything under control ... how long will that peace last?”

  “That depends on how many people you touch, N.” I close my eyes briefly. “I believe that if you want to change something, you need to convince many people on your way. You need to take courage in your hands and dare to take a step forward. And all those to whom you could convey your feelings sincerely ... they will follow you and they will do better.”

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  “Isn’t that just an idea? An ideal?”

  “Perhaps. But it’s also all we have and all we can do to preserve this world. If you want peace for the Pokémon, if you want to see them all be happy, then you need to create that path with your own hands. If there’s one thing I’ve understood on my journey, it’s that you have to take risks. Change doesn’t come from nothing.”

  It’s a very simple principle I’ve always kind of kept close to my chest. If I hadn’t run away from home, I probably would never have experienced this kind of freedom. If I hadn’t dared to stand by Lillie back then, Lunala probably wouldn’t have taken me to Lusamine in Ultra Space. Then I wouldn’t have been able to save her. I will probably have many more situations like this in my life, where I have to decide what I want to achieve and how far I want to go. My path as a professor looks uneven and uncertain, but the picture is taking shape. It is becoming clearer. And I will have to climb many steps to get there.

  That’s okay. Life is made up of steps.

  An eternal staircase on which N has stopped because the path ahead seems unclear and fuzzy, while what he is experiencing right now looks real and right. It is exactly what his father wanted him to do. He is living a falsified life – far removed from himself.

  “Zoroark loves you very much. Did you know that?” In the end, I keep my promise to his Pokémon. “It told me how you released other Pokémon and how you plan to release your other partners, too. And it confessed to me it doesn’t want to leave this place ... your side.”

  “When did he say that?” Brows drawn together, N looks at me.

  “At the amusement park in Nimbasa City. I thought it was you I was getting on the Ferris wheel with. Instead, it was Zoroark.”

  He sighs heavily. “That must have been the day ... that I avoided my responsibility to witness the suffering of Pokémon in the entertainment industry. I ... wanted to try and see what you see. And Zoroark supported me because ... he can talk. No one would notice if he pretended to be me.”

  “Do you know what else Zoroark asked me to do?” I gently place my hands on his. “He wanted me to tell you how much you mean to him and to convince you of my views so he can stay by your side.”

  N’s lips quiver. He looks at me like a little boy who realised far too late that he’d dropped his ice cream and couldn’t just get another one. His slumped shoulders and the dirt on his otherwise white shirt, even the injuries inflicted by Ghetsis’, fade in the blink of an eye. What remains is a shell, devoid of all life.

  So I rest my forehead against his. I want to be close enough to feel his loneliness, his worries, and his fears – because I know all of this for myself.

  “Do you think I can still change my mind? That Father will let me go if I ask him to see the world?”

  “I don’t think Ghetsis will play along. But that shouldn’t stop you, N. This region alone can certainly show you things you would never have dreamed of elsewhere.” I close my eyes for a second. “Happy Pokémon and hard fates. Sad Pokémon and a sudden change of life. Cruelty and love that go hand in hand.”

  “Do they?”

  “I wouldn’t say your resistance has been ‘nice’ to me using so much force.” I pull my head back to look at him with a mocking smirk. “But we’re still friends, right?”

  Soundless laughter escapes him. “Yes... We are friends.”

  A lot will probably remain unsaid between us, but that’s also part of a friendship. Maybe that’s also why I get on with Spinel. Everyone harbours secrets we might share one day. But the road to such conversations is long and we’re just at the beginning.

  “N... Natural.” Eventually, he takes the word again.

  “Natural?”

  “My name. The N ... stands for Natural. It’s the name my father gave me and ... even if I don’t always like it ... it’s my name.”

  It’s a step forward. At this moment, I am one step closer to N – no, Natural. And suddenly it seems quite easy to scramble to my feet, even though I could sleep standing.

  With a strong pull, I help Natural to his feet too. However, I don’t even let go of his hand when he is standing securely on both feet. It’s not the right time yet.

  “Did ... Zoroark also tell you about the ... bad things that happened in this castle?” Slowly, he turns his gaze in the direction we came from. The two dragons are no longer fighting, but they both look battered.

  “No,” I reply. “He just told me you’ve spent most of your life there and only learnt what Ghetsis taught you.” I squeeze his fingers. “Do you want to tell me about it?”

  For an eternity, he just stares into nothingness. My question doesn’t seem to get through to him and just as I’m about to give up and hope for no more answers, he turns to me.

  “No.” He takes a breath. “I think ... I have to learn to understand all this myself first ... let it get to me and not just pretend it never happened. Then I can learn to take my life into my own hands and if my father refuses ... I’ll just leave. Maybe I won’t even tell him.”

  Natural acts brave, a bit rebellious, and it reminds me of how I tried to stand up to my father by showing him how strong Ying and I are. Shortly after that, I ran away in defiance and it seems to me he is making the same decision here and now.

  With this in mind, I could tell him many things. For example, it’s impossible to just forget and let go of his father. Not only must he have beaten Natural, the relationship between them was certainly defining. There will be many moments when he will think back just to have Ghetsis in front of his eyes. An illusion that will fade at some point. However, I can’t say when.

  I could also warn him it’s not so easy to just rush off and not know where to go.

  Then again, I’m sure Natural is much more skilful out here than I am. He conveys an air of calmness that doesn’t contain any tension, as if he’s spent a lot of time between Pokémon and the starry sky before.

  That’s why I’m sure he won’t need any of my other warnings. He’ll find out all by himself how his world turns once he’s escaped Ghetsis.