"Unfezant, in the air!" Hilda commanded.

Unfezant took off with a hard flap, flinging himself into the air.

"Ha!" Skyla laughed, "As if we couldn't do that too! Swanna, catch up!"

At the command of her trainer, Swanna flew after Unfezant. The pure white Pokémon let loose a Bubble Beam attack, and Unfezant just managed to dodge every single one.

Hilda gritted her teeth. Unfezant was being slow, and Swanna was catching up. She was counting on Unfezant to take care of Swanna since Cinccino had made demise of Skyla's Swoobat and Unfezant. Cinccino was tired, and Serperior was taking a backseat for this gym. Hilda supposed Litwick could take over if necessary, but she hardly had any training. It would be suicide to send her into a water type.

As Hilda thought of her options, Swanna caught up to Unfezant with an Aerial Ace attack. The move hit, sending Unfezant spiraling downwards.

"Unfezant! Up!" Hilda gasped.

Making a graceful recovery, Unfezant spun back into the air, shedding his feathers as a white light encased him. At his trainer's command, he hit Swanna with an Air Slash. He continued his assault, giving Swanna hardly any openings.

Skyla knew what she was doing, though. She and Swanna found one of the few openings and forced a Bubble Beam at Unfezant. The attack hit him in the face, and he hardly managed to get away.

Hilda could feel her frustration in every pore of her body. She could only imagine how Unfezant felt. She shook her head and took a deep breath. There weren't going to win this way. If she couldn't keep it together, there was no way Unfezant would be able to.

After regaining her composure, Hilda spoke, "Unfezant, Air Battle Strategy C."

Unfezant perked up and charged at Swanna with a Quick Attack. Swanna dodged it, and as she did so, Unfezant halted and tossed an Air Slash at her. Unfezant continued this for awhile- allowing Swanna to dodge his attacks before hitting her with another one.

In preparation for this battle, and any other air battles, Hilda and Unfezant devised a few battle strategies that could help them. They named them Air Battle Strategies A-G for easier reference.

"Swanna get outta there!" Skyla yelled.

"Let her." Hilda said.

Unfezant allowed Swanna's escape. Swanna was breathing heavily as she flapped her wings. It seemed she was having trouble just staying in the air.

Hilda smirked, "Gotcha." She whispered.

As Swanna began using Roost, Unfezant aimed and Air Slash at one of Swanna's wings. Upon impact, Swanna tumbled to the floor.

As Swanna struggled to get up, Hilda gave her Pokémon one final command, "Brave Bird!"

An orange aura encased Unfezant as he began soaring down towards Swanna. As Unfezant pulled his wings in, the aura turned blue and the move hit. Unfezant's body surged with recoil damage as he pulled away, but when the dust cleared, Swanna had fainted.

As Hilda and Unfezant were declared the winners, Unfezant fell to the floor. His trainer rushed to him and hugged him tight.

"You did great, 'Fez," Hilda praised, "You totally killed it out there!"

"Well you certainly surprised me," Skyla said, suddenly standing in front of Hilda and her Pokémon, "It's pretty hard to pull a fast one on Swanna and I!"

Hilda rubbed her Pokémon's head and returned him to his Pokéball. She stood up and cocked her head.

"Thank you?"

Skyla chuckled nervously, "I probably coulda worded that better...but here's your badge."

"Thanks Skyla..." Hilda said awkwardly, taking her sixth gym badge. Skyla handed Hilda a TM after she put her new badge into her badge case.

Hilda rushed out of the gym rather quickly, desperate to get her Pokémon to a Pokémon Center. As Hilda passed one of the many planes in the area, she heard a soft, "Hey." She turned and found a set of green eyes staring at her from the shadow of the plane.

"Oh," She said, "Hi N."

"Hello," N greeted, coming out from the shadows, "How did your gym battle go?"

Hilda shrugged, "Fine. Have you calmed down from your temper tantrum?"

N frowned, "What?"

"You yelling at Professor Juniper like it wasn't totally uncalled for?"

N rolled his eyes, "You are hung up on that?"

Hilda nodded, "So what's up? You wanna battle or something? Now's not a good time."

"No..." N said quietly, cocking his head slightly, "I would just like to speak with you."

Hilda sighed and gestured for N to begin.

"They may say it is for understanding one another better, but what Trainers really use battles for is to compete...and they hurt each others' Pokémon! Am I the only one who finds this terribly painful?"

"Then why do it?" Hilda asked.

"I'm sorry?"

"Why do you battle?" She asked again, circling him, "If you hate it so much then why do you do it?"

N stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked away, "Whatever...I would like to talk to your Pokémon if that is alright."

Hilda stopped and looked down at the ground, "Look, N I don't think-"

"-Please. It's easier for me to talk to them than with people."

"On one condition."

N looked at Hilda, awaiting her terms.

Hilda looked up at N, "You tell me exactly what you're up to- What Team Plasma is up to."

N nodded and Hilda released one of her Pokémon. The Pokémon coiled his body around his trainer, leaning his head over her protectively.

"Hello Serperior," N said.

Serperior made no noise or even seemed to move.

"What kind of trainer is Hilda?"

A low noise rumbled in the back of Serperior's throat.

"I see. You trust her quite a lot...don't you?"

Serperior nodded ever so slightly.

N chuckled, "If only every human and Pokémon cared for each other the way you do. Maybe then I would not have to liberate Pokémon from humans..."

"You don't have to do that, N."

N smiled wistfully, "I wish that could be the case, Hilda White. But...I've seen what humans do to Pokémon, and I cannot stand it any longer."

Hilda opened her mouth to speak, but got cut off by a familiar voice, "Hilda!"

Hilda turned to see Cheren coming towards her. N sighed.

"Meet me on Route Seven by Celestial Tower tonight. I'll tell you of my plans." N said. Before Hilda could turn back to him and retort, he was gone. Even Serperior seemed surprised, which was a difficult thing to manage.

"Hey Hilds, how was the gym? Was it hard?" Cheren asked as he reached his friend.

Hilda crossed her arms, "Yeah. It's a pain."