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The young man in a white coat and hat slowly approached, his vacant eyes hidden beneath the shadow of his hat brim.
"Your Majesty, I didn't expect you to come personally." Colress slowly turned around and looked at N, who was approaching.
N, the King of Team Plasma, was also a puppet placed on the throne by Ghetsis. At least Colress was well aware that the cold-blooded Ghetsis had no feelings for N whatsoever, only treating N as a tool. Yet, ironically, this Ideal Hero, acknowledged by Zekrom, genuinely trusted Ghetsis. Colress couldn't understand, but he wouldn't say anything more; he just considered it a show.
"Colress, Father asked me to pick you up." N's tone was like still water, devoid of any emotion.
"I understand, but I still need to organize some experimental data and materials. I'll have to trouble Your Majesty to deal with these people." Colress said with a smile.
N gave Colress a deep look but didn't refuse. "Hurry." N said faintly. He didn't have a very good impression of Colress, because undoubtedly, intelligent people like Colress, with their exceptional IQ, were difficult to control. Not to mention, Colress showed no respect for either him or Ghetsis. However, Colress's talent was indeed superior, and Ghetsis highly valued Colress, so N naturally remained silent.
"Okay." Colress turned and went back into the base.
"Is this person the King of Team Plasma?" Jenny looked extremely serious, gazing at the handsome green-haired young man, unable to tell… But of course, one cannot judge a person's character solely by their appearance. Isn't Colress an example of that?
The King of Team Plasma had always been a mysterious existence, only known through information from Team Plasma members. It was unexpected that this mysterious 'King' would suddenly appear before them today.
"Jenny, what do we do now?" Elesa's delicate face was solemn as she asked Jenny. No matter what, such an opponent was a bit too much.
Originally, Elesa was full of confidence; after all, she was one of the official Gym Leaders of the Unova region. But her ace, Zebstrika, had just been utterly defeated by Colress's Genesect, which undoubtedly severely struck her self-confidence. Truth be told, the performance of those Blueberry Academy students was no worse than hers, especially the young man who used Dragon-type Pokemon. And now that Colress had entered the base, an even stronger-looking 'King' of Team Plasma had arrived.
"I've already notified the League; they will send reinforcements as quickly as possible." Jenny whispered.
"We just need to hold them off."
"Reinforcements?" Elesa seemed to suddenly discover something: "Is it them?"
"Huh?" Jenny was startled. Reinforcements already? No way? Jenny followed Elesa's gaze, and what came into view were three young figures.
"Probably not, right?" Jenny couldn't be sure; she clearly didn't know Mammon and the other two.
At this moment, N also noticed the three approaching figures. A slight ripple appeared in his vacant eyes, landing on the young man in the middle. He could feel something special about this young man.
"Oh my, oh my~ I really didn't expect my luck to be so good today." Mammon showed a rich smile, looking at the handsome young man.
"N, the leader of Team Plasma, I've truly heard much about you."
"Who are you?" N's eyes focused on Mammon, asking the question.
The sky, covered by black thunderclouds, was endlessly dark. The rolling thunderclouds piled up in layers, as if right above their heads, making the mood incredibly oppressive.
"Mammon, Mammon of Team Rocket." Mammon's smile was very bright.
Upon hearing Mammon's voice, Jenny and Elesa were both startled. Team Rocket?!
"I've heard of you from Father." N tilted his head slightly. Mammon… this name wasn't unfamiliar to him. Because Ghetsis had been constantly muttering this name lately, with an anger and hostility that N couldn't comprehend.
"Ghetsis? That narrow-minded fellow is only so-so, but you are different." Mammon observed N. Noticing Mammon's gaze, N frowned slightly.
Because it was a very strange look: affirmation, pity, compassion… very complex.
"But unfortunately, you have been completely led astray by Ghetsis now. It won't be easy to correct you." Mammon shook his head.
"I don't understand what you're saying." N said faintly.
"I have an unwavering ideal, and there is no issue of distorted thinking." The current N was a very rigorous person; he had a high IQ and was skilled in mathematics and physics. He was even known as the 'Mathematician's Magician'.
"But your current ideal is not real." Mammon couldn't help but laugh. Indeed, N had an extremely firm ideal, even the resolve to dedicate everything to it. This was also why he could gain the recognition of the Ideal Dragon God, Zekrom.
But his current ideal was actually artificially guided by Ghetsis, a very vague and illusory ideal. And this was also the most pitiful aspect of N.
He had a sincere ideal, and he could also see the so-called truth, so in reality, N could awaken both 'Ideal' and 'Truth' Dragon Gods. But the key was that all of these were what Ghetsis wanted him to see. N was adopted by Ghetsis from a young age and was deliberately kept separate from ordinary people by Ghetsis.
Then Ghetsis brought Pokemon that had been betrayed, abused, and harmed by malicious humans to N, keeping N, who was naturally able to sense Pokemon's emotions, in such an environment for a long time. So what kind of thoughts and worldview would N develop? He was a special person who could clearly feel Pokemon's emotions! To be honest, in such an environment, N not hating or resenting humans was already due to his inherently kind nature.
And precisely because of growing up in such an environment, N naturally believed that Pokemon and humans together could not achieve happiness. His ideal was to separate humans and Pokemon, as distinct as black and white, allowing freed Pokemon to become complete beings. This idea, which would seem ridiculous to normal people, was N's sincere ideal from the bottom of his heart, and it also earned him Zekrom's recognition.
"My ideal is correct." N's eyes gradually solidified, staring at Mammon.
"What you see is only one-sided, N. This world is vast, and your small castle cannot represent everything." Mammon said faintly.
"You should have already stepped out of the castle and met many different kinds of people and Pokemon."
"Indeed, but I still saw many Pokemon harmed by humans." N replied calmly. He didn't deny that many Pokemon found happiness with humans.
But similarly, he also saw many Pokemon harmed by humans.
"That's true; this needs to be changed slowly." Mammon nodded. The evil of human nature cannot be eliminated, and there are many, many Trainers in this world.
Trainers who abandon or release Pokemon due to issues of strength are not many, but they do exist. There are also Trainers like Shinji in the early to mid-stages of the anime, who was a typical strength-first Trainer. To bring out a Pokemon's potential, he would put them through hellish training. To outsiders, this was practically no different from abusing Pokemon.
And for Trainers like Shinji, can you say their philosophy is wrong? For Trainers like Ash, who advocate for bonds and understanding, Shinji's strength-focused approach is undoubtedly an extreme and malicious existence. But it cannot be denied that strength-first Trainers are not few.
Thus, abandonment and hellish training cannot be eradicated; this is a cycle.
"No need to change, and it cannot be completely changed. Just separate Pokemon and humans." N said faintly.
"I have already seen everything. The future of Pokemon can only achieve complete freedom this way."
"How arrogant, N. Do you think you are a savior?" Mammon raised an eyebrow.
"I have never thought of being a savior. I am just walking my own path of ideals." N shook his head.
"I thought you were like me; that you would agree with my ideal." N's eyes dimmed again. From the first moment he saw Mammon, he felt that Mammon was special, just like him.
They could both understand Pokemon's emotions and thoughts; they were the same. But now it seemed they were not.
"Why should I agree with the ideal of someone whose eyes are covered by a one-sided reality? N, I told you, your ideal is not real." Mammon couldn't help but laugh.
"Because of those one-sided truths, you only see an impossible ideal path. You cannot succeed; this is inevitable." N's heart for his ideal was firm, but this artificially guided ideal was destined to fail.
An ideal is, after all, just an ideal. It is called an ideal precisely because it is difficult to achieve. This world cannot do without ideals, but this world is more about reality. Ultimately, ideals cannot surpass reality.
Speaking of which, I wonder if I could try applying to be the Hero of Truth? Mammon suddenly thought of this, as the White Dragon of Truth was still very appealing.
"I see." N was silent.
He didn't continue to argue with Mammon, because verbal disputes were meaningless now. He couldn't persuade Mammon, and Mammon's sneer couldn't affect his pursuit of his ideal.
"In that case, I'll defeat you." N slowly raised his arm, and the vacant eyes under the shadow of his hat brim gradually lit up with a high gleam.
"With the one who supports my ideal and is willing to help me achieve it…"
Rumble!!
A huge bolt of lightning struck down from the sky, landing heavily behind N, and thick smoke billowed up.
"Zekrom!"
Within the smoke, red pupils gradually lit up, and a giant black dragon-shaped Pokemon slowly appeared. A majestic Dragon's aura permeated the air—this was Zekrom, the Ideal Dragon God from the Unova region's myths and legends!
"Tsk~" Mammon couldn't help but click his tongue, looking at the pitch-black dragon.
"Zekrom!" Zinna and Caitlin looked in surprise at this powerful legendary Pokemon. Goodness, are the Evil Organizations of the Unova region that formidable? They're going straight for the pressure, huh?
"Team Rocket, an existence of evil and chaos, will destroy the balance of this world." N's bright eyes gazed at Mammon, his deep voice reaching everyone present.
"I will defeat you here and lay the foundation for my ideal world!"