Thank you, everybody, for reading this far. I hope you enjoyed the story of Hilbert and Hilda's adventure in Unova.

And expect spoilers for the next pair of games in this chapter.

Two years later...

12:45 AM, somewhere in Kanto

A loud howl cut through the air, startling the young man out of his thoughts. If he didn't know better, he'd assume that Zoroark was having a weird conversation with a wild Arcanine, but there was nothing actually being said. Zoroark probably just liked making noise.

"Is there any reason for this?" he asked, to his old friend's amusement.

"Not really," Zoroark admitted, trying to stare at the stars but finding his nose to be in his way. "I just got bored, so I wanted something to do."

"Then sleep," N commanded, smiling a little. He knew his friend too well. "We don't want you waking up the entire region. They might think there's a werewolf running around."

"But aren't you a werewolf?" Zoroark taunted, recalling a particular incident two years earlier. That was what Hilbert had been convinced of, wasn't it? It was obvious that his human caught the reference, but for once, he didn't mention it.

Instead, N glanced up at the sky. A large, perfectly full moon shone down on the trio, and N imagined he could see the outline of the legendary Cresselia as she passed it. "Apparently not. Just like I told Hilbert in Chargestone Cave, remember?"

"I don't remember much about the cave that doesn't involve Erika. It's a shame we left. Something tells me she and I would have been great friends."

"Of course you would," Zekrom stated, red eyes staring up at the starry sky. "Two sneaky, sarcastic Pokémon who would like nothing more than to make their human pets fall in love...not that there was much you would have to do. I'd hate to see what other things you would do if you had that Serperior as your accomplice."

"Bring about the apocalypse or something," N said absently, peeling the bark off a fallen twig. "And that's one of many reasons we should never go back."

Zekrom shook his head. "You don't mean that. 'Never' is a long time."

And Zekrom knew his hero. N truly didn't mean to say that he hadn't considered going back to Unova, if only to see what had become of the others Ghetsis had used, and where the twins were now. "But what about all the people Team Plasma convinced to release their Pokémon? Surely they don't want me back."

"Wanted or not, we might be needed. Reshiram can't handle everything by herself, you know. And with Kyurem being, well, how he is..."

"Are you trying to say that Kyurem will try to take over Unova next?" N questioned, and Zekrom laughed.

"Of course not, he's not evil. But there was a reason we sent him to live in a cave in the middle of nowhere."

"A reason I would love to hear at a reasonable hour. If we're going back, I don't want you falling asleep in midair and killing us all."

Zoroark snapped to attention. "So we're going back?"

"Did you ever doubt it?"

"You changed your mind in a hurry. Do you really want to meet Kyurem that badly?"

"Something like that." N threw the partially-shaved twig in his friend's general direction. "Go play fetch."

2:13 AM, Castelia City

Cheren woke up to realize he'd fallen asleep on top of his papers again, completely dressed with his glasses still on. He knew he should be sleeping in a proper bed, or at least a sleeping bag, but he couldn't shake the dream.

It had been a good one, not like the ones he'd heard had tortured Hilda for the past year, since she'd heard Ghetsis had escaped prison. It had been so long since he'd seen any of his friends; the only news of them came from phone conversations with his parents. But this dream had held them all, just as he'd remembered them.

He'd discovered over the last year that his chosen career path was much more difficult than he'd been led to believe. Not that he'd expected it to be particularly easy, of course, but looking at some of his future colleagues you would wonder how they managed to get the position. He'd dreamed that his friends had shown up where he was studying, grabbed him by the arm and dragged him outside, just like they always had. It was certainly more than a little nostalgic...

Stop that, he thought at himself, nearly smacking his head with the book. You'll see them again. It hasn't been that long.

His Liepard yawned loudly, alerting its trainer to reality and reminding him that Gym Leaders need sleep to deal with challengers. He was nearly eighteen, all but an adult, and he needed to put a childish desire to go out and play with his friends behind studying for his new career. Perhaps the sounds Emboar was making were just the same statement, in his own tongue.

Or maybe not. He couldn't communicate with Pokémon.

3:25 AM, Nuvema Town

When Hilbert woke to the smell of chocolate, his immediate thought was, She must've had a nightmare again. It didn't really surprise him. Hilda had developed a love for cooking, as it helped her cope with the dreams, and it wasn't unusual to wake up in the morning and find she'd baked and decorated a cake while calming down.

Things had changed, Hilbert knew, especially when he was greeted in the hallway by Hilda's Chandelure. The tiny Victini that Hilda had befriended just the other day sat on one of his many oddly-shaped limbs, staring at Hilbert as though it had never seen him before. It was starting to get old.

"Is she at it again?" he asked them, and Victini nodded. "Is Erika helping?"

Chandelure floated away, back to the kitchen, where Erika was curled up in a corner, sleeping. It was Victini's turn to help, it seemed, and it flew up to turn off the timer before it could wake the whole house as Hilda removed the brownie pan from the oven.

Hilbert jumped right into talking, and his voice startled her. "Does Mom know you're making midnight snacks again?"

Hilda made a quick recovery, however. "She said I could have the kitchen any time I wanted, as long as I help pay for groceries. And besides, it's after midnight." She smacked her brother's hand away as he reached for the pan. "Bad Hilbert. Wait until they're cut."

If she insisted. "And what are we going to do with last Tuesday's cake?" he asked, taking a seat on the floor next to the sleeping Serperior.

"I don't know. Feed it to Tommy, maybe?" Tommy had become very useful over the past two years, acting as a living garbage disposal for the slightly-stale leftovers. In fact, Hilda suspected that her family and the other Pokémon deliberately left him some of it, but she wasn't going to complain. As long as it was gone.

"And what about you?"

"I was thinking." She hauled herself up so she was sitting on the edge of the sink, her eyes locked on her brother and her starter. Erika opened one sleepy eye to pay some kind of attention. "I keep reliving my last fight with Ghetsis, except we all end up dead as he takes over. I read in a magazine that dreams can be windows to your true feelings, and I think that this means I'm -"

"Scared of Dennis the Menace?" Hilbert finished. "Don't worry, they'll find him sooner or later. How hard could it be for the cops to track down a man wearing a castle dress and a space monocle?"

"The fact that they haven't found him yet, despite it being almost two years since he escaped, proves that it's much more difficult than you might think," she reminded him. "But that wasn't my point. As much as I fear for my own life in those dreams, and almost everyone who was with me on my Pokedex journey, the one I'm really concerned about is N."

N was a subject they rarely spoke of, since neither sibling knew where he was, or even if he was still alive. Not that they hadn't been searching. "And what are we going to do about that? It's not like he actually kept in touch, or stayed in Sinnoh."

"That's why I'm going to look for him. Again, to Johto this time. You can come if you wish. After all, I may need your legendary, since mine doesn't have enough psychic power to levitate both of us."

After they'd found Victini, Reshiram had become Hilbert's alone, though she would give either twin permission to use her power whenever they needed it, such as when Hilda had a rematch with Drayden and got to keep her Legend Badge. She didn't use her in the fight, but it was good to have such a powerful creature in the background. And Reshiram was also a great form of emergency transportation, like when they'd gone to Sinnoh to find N the previous year.

"I'm not letting you go out there alone," Hilbert declared, glancing out the window to where he knew Reshiram was sleeping. "N is my friend, too. Besides, what if you find him and need a chaperone?"

"Are you kidding? You'll be the one needing a babysitter." She turned to the sink and began washing the utensils, as quietly as she could. "We'll tell Mom we're going in the morning. Well, later morning. Maybe afternoon, if she can't get us out of bed before then. She can tell us if she hears he came back."

"And I think I know who can help us find him." Hilbert smiled and pointed at some pictures in a magazine that happened to be lying on the counter. "The forest gods!"

Hilda glanced at the picture, and smacked him lightly upside the head. "Hilbert, those are Sewaddles."

7:30 AM, Nuvema Town

Bianca didn't comprehend the professor's latest request, at first. She'd asked her to do this far too early in the morning for Bianca's tastes, and the blonde was still sleepy. But upon her arrival at the lab, Professor Juniper finally repeated her statement.

"Bianca, it's about that time of year we give out a Pokedex to a lucky child or three. I have one in mind, the child of an old friend."

"Is this kid going to be anything like the last one?"

Professor Juniper flinched. The year before, she'd selected a boy from Nacrene City to be the next Pokedex carrier, since he had spoken to her father about becoming a researcher and she'd wanted to test him. Unfortunately, no sooner had the boy taken his Snivy and set foot on his journey than he'd dropped and broken his Pokedex.

"No," the professor finally said. "At least, I hope not. This child is older, and hopefully more responsible. And from what I've heard before we started losing touch, this young person may need our assistance."

"So you're giving the kid a Pokedex?"

"Why not? It helped you find a path you wanted to follow, didn't it? And Cheren learned there are more important things than strength, and Hilda's Pokedex taught Hilbert how to focus. Why shouldn't it help another poor soul in need?"

Bianca rolled her eyes. Perhaps Aurea Juniper was much more like Cedric than Bianca had originally thought. "And where does this kid live, exactly?"

Professor Juniper smiled. "In a town called Aspertia City. Do you think you can make it across the region? You'll get to explore."

But Bianca had already taken the Pokedex off the table, and was looking at the three Pokemon that Professor Juniper had prepared for the new trainer to choose from. A Tepig, Oshawott and Snivy sat in their balls, which were tucked into a safety carrier.

"And take another Pokedex," Juniper warned as Bianca started out. "Just in case."

"All right. Bye, Professor!"

And she was gone. Professor Juniper felt the first hints of pride that always marked the choosing of a new Pokedex carrier, and this time, a strong sense of dread came with it. A whole new adventure was about to begin.

And just in time.