#because he’s N’s confidant while Bianca is Hilda’s confidant (the hero of truth) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

antihibikase-archive · 1 year

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the hero’s journey.

In the hero's story, both the princes of truth and ideals are accompanied by a party of three.

A warrior, for boundless strength.

A scholar, for adaptive knowledge.

And a heart, for unwavering emotion.

That’s how the story always has been.

And that’s how the story should always be.

...

Two years ago, N laid eyes on Hilbert at Chargestone Cave, accompanied by his two childhood friends and a newcomer.

As soon as he saw their initial party of three was now a party of four, he was confident that Hilbert, was, in fact, destined to battle against him, his ideals, and his friend Zekrom at the end of his journey.

The hero’s journey.

In the hero's story, both the princes of truth and ideals are accompanied by a party of three.

How fitting. Their parties were complete now.

All that was left was to let time take its course, until both Zekrom and Reshiram chose their respective heroes.

Hilbert was a hero himself, opposite of his own tale, accompanied by his fateful companions, all who will fall to the mighty dragon of ideals.

Clearly, the heart was poor little Bianca Alabaster, who was seeing the truth that not everyone could become stronger.

Clearly, the scholar was the newcomer Hilda Weiss, denied of the throne of champion, but blessed with knowledge and experience.

Clearly, the warrior was Cheren Slater, who fell behind Hilbert's strength and compassion in every way, who grew up in his shadow.

Wrong.

Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong.

Just like everything N had learned so far in his journey, he was completely and utterly mistaken.

N finds himself unable to meet Bianca's gaze when she asks him if he had thought the same as her back then.

If he had mistaken her kindness for weakness.

If he had mistaken Hilda’s experience for knowledge.

If he had mistaken Cheren’s stoicism for strength.

He finds himself unable to answer.

Because it’s true, isn’t it?

The prying eyes of the league were nothing compared to her heartbroken voice.

Though they may accept him with their hearts, he knows not all would forgive him, especially for the part he had played in forcing Hilbert’s hand in accepting the sword.

In accepting the crown.

In becoming a hero.

Being pure and innocent did not absolve him of his compliance in his father’s crimes, nor did it excuse his escape at the end of it all.

Perhaps Zekrom leaving his side in favor of a new hero was for the best.

Both his truth and idealism were wavering after all.

...

Bianca is able to pinpoint why Cheren starts closing his heart again.

Why he feels this way.

Of course she does. She seeks the truth, and she finds her answers.

It is befitting of a scholar, no?

It’s never easy to swallow, the reality of the role she was bestowed upon by the gods themselves. The road she was carefully curated to take.

It seems ironic to her that Cheren, who had come across as the cool, calm, and collected one in their group, had been assigned the role of the heart in the hero's story.

Twice, in fact.

Bianca knows how it must hurt.

To be stripped of one's agency.

To be seen as weak.

To be doomed by the narrative.

Twice.

Bianca brings the bitter truth to everyone's attention, supplying her hypothesis with evidence she had gathered over the years; pictures of the murals she's seen all over Dragonspiral Tower, accurately translated text from ancient scripts, and verbal confirmation from the cooperative sages and N's sisters themselves, who were well-versed in the story of the legendary heroes.

All Hilbert and N can do is lower their heads in guilt, while Nate, newly crowned champion (but still a child) tries his best to look for a way to help Cheren, nevermind all this talk about heroes and legends and destiny.

There were three heroes in this room, weren't there, Nate asks.

What use is that title if they're unable to save one person?

Much less from some bogus story from years back?

It’s not bogus, silly child. There are facts. There is proof. The truth is laid for all to see.

But a little white lie passes through her lips, and she masks it all with a smile and a sense of false hope.

...

Hilda does not believe in legends, even if they rip through the fabric of space and time just to show themselves to her.

She does not believe in them in the sense that she does not think they are worthy of her trust.

How could they, when they were complacent in Team Plasma's sins?

If they had really cared about humanity, wouldn’t they have taken better care of their withering garden?

She doesn’t get it.

Not at all.

Not even when she sees the dragons with her own two eyes.

Not even when the swords of justice appear before mere children.

Not even when the spirit of victory itself chases after her.

She knows she has no place at the table of the league. She was rightfully denied her title as champion, as her strength had not been lacking, but her heart and resolve were weak.

Yet, she finds herself in the spotlight once more, clasping Bianca’s and Hilbert’s hands with her own as she listens to the tale she dreads to hear, in an effort to make everyone understand.

Understand why the heart was wavering.

In the hero's story, both the princes of truth and ideals are accompanied by a party of three.

It was only right for the warrior to remain in the shadow of the hero, as so the ancient texts say.

She feels their hands squeeze her’s for reassurance.

She hates it.

Not them. Never them. Her precious, precious friends.

She hates how everything turns out. How everything played out.

How the gods themselves jeer at them.

How they toy with them.

How their journey was executed like it was a bad adaptation of a decades-old play in Nimbasa City.

She’s sick of it.

These dragons, these mythical creatures, these legends don’t deserve the praise and worship they get.

Not even if they save the world.

...

Cheren tries.

He knows he’s spiraling out of control.

He tries to find proof of his existence as something meaningful.

He knows that Reshiram and Zekrom don't see him as lesser of a human being even if he feels like he was a sacrifice just to wake them.

He wants to prove his fears wrong.

And he does.

For a brief moment in time.

He sees the small Pokemon in his home, thriving and enjoying their lives to the fullest because Cheren raised them, provided for them and cherished them.

He sees lovely flowers on his desk- Gracideas, even, from Nate and the rest of the students, who are all wishing him the best of health.

He sees the thank you card that comes along with it, from Nate and the rest of the children, with little doodles of Stoutland, Watchog, and Cinccino.

It works for a little bit.

But then he spirals.

Its a cycle.

He feels better about himself but then he falls apart.

Constantly.

There's only enough flowers he can receive before it starts to feel like he's being a bother.

Like he's being patronized.

Like they're sending him off to a funeral.

He knows he’s losing himself.

But he can’t. He just can’t.

He can’t let them take him.

He can’t let fate do this to him.

Not again, not again, not again.

In an attempt to regain control of his life, Cheren runs to the only place that he knows will cut the strings and set him free.

At the top of the lookout, the breeze feels vaguely reminiscent of his home.

...

Hilbert is a hero, whether he likes it or not.

He’s not incredibly smart like Bianca, or amazingly strong like Hilda.

He knows that.

He’s fine with that.

He accepts that.

But what he doesn’t accept is the truth of the heart.

In murals and ancient texts, the hero is depicted with a silver crown embedded with stones of black and white, a velvet cape draped over their shoulders and a sword in hand.

The scholar is depicted in heavenly robes imbued with long-forgotten magic, carrying a tome of blessings and curses.

The warrior is depicted in heavy, impenetrable armor, an army of weapons at their disposal as they ride their mighty steed.

But the heart has no direct depiction.

That’s what Bianca said.

In some versions of the story, the heart is not even included at all.

A strange role to play, he thinks.

But an awful, awful one at that.

He supposes he knows the reason why the heart is an ugly thing to touch upon, especially once he understands the very purpose of the heart in the hero’s journey.

No one likes hearing about how their heroes are imperfect.

The same must have been the case for the old Unovan folk, who saw human sacrifices as a necessary evil if it was to appease the legendary dragons.

It was sick.

It made him sick.

But moreover, it made him anxious.

He did not share the idealism that Nate had.

Even if they claimed he was an integral aspect to the meeting, Hilbert boarded Reshiram’s back and made his way to Aspertia as soon as the terrifying realization had set in.

The heart was of unwavering emotion.

But not Cheren.

Not his best friend.

Not the person who had grown up by his side.

Not the person who had cried in secret at his own frustrations for being weak.

Not the person who had temporarily lost his self at the hands of the enemy.

Not the person who was used as a sacrifice.

Twice.

And his best friend, his poor best friend who had suffered so much to catch up to his steps, to support him through thick and thin.

His poor best friend who he had abandoned to wait for him.

His poor best friend who had now seen the truth his purpose in Hilbert’s journey.

Apologies were long overdue, but it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough.

But if Hilbert was a hero like the world had claimed, then he would do what Nate had asked of the league, and save the heart from meeting a grim demise.

...

In the hero's story, both the princes of truth and ideals are accompanied by a party of three.

A warrior, for boundless strength.

A scholar, for adaptive knowledge.

And a heart, for unwavering emotion.

That’s how the story always has been.

But Hilbert would be damned it he let it stay this way.

#Pokemon #Pokemon Fanfic #Pokemon Black and White #Pokemon Black and White 2 #Natural Harmonia Gropius #Trainer Bianca #Trainer Hilda #Gym Leader Cheren #Trainer Hilbert #Trainer Nate #((Might be turning this into a thing?? W/ a different writing style and all.))

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