The Round Tower

"Making things convenient for everyone."

I did not know how Kaim had arrived at that theory. But to N, "convenient" was a very fitting word.

"I see. Convenience, then?"

"That's one way to put it, but I'm sure you're right."

"Yes, that's another new perspective. I think I'll definitely need that way of thinking in the future."

There was no single right answer. That was something I had learned from that boy, and from Kaim as well. Everyone had their own right answer.

Kaim's way of thinking still needed examining, but N wanted to understand it.

"By the way, N."

"What is it?"

"Would you be my friend?"

Cynthia wanted to know more about this mysterious young man. The young man who had once been treated like a puppet was now free of that control, and I was curious about what he was thinking now and what he would do in the future.

More importantly, I had a feeling that if I left things alone, I might be able to keep Kaim all to myself, but I did not want to tell anyone that.

"I want to know more about you, too."

"I see. Yes, I'd like to be your friend, too."

"Good. It's nice to meet you."

"Yes, thank you."

"Let's go. I've kept Kaim waiting."

Cynthia shook hands with N, then walked over to Kaim.

Privately pleased to have made two new friends, N followed behind Cynthia.

"This is pretty rough, though."

The three of them were currently on the second floor. I continued examining the floor where we had met N, but rubble lay everywhere, making it difficult to move, and there was nowhere from which I could see the entire floor.

Using a broken pillar as a foothold, Kaim looked down over the second floor in front of the stairs leading to the third floor below as he spoke.

"Yes. Rather than signs of a struggle, it looks like a collapse caused by the passage of time and tremors."

"It seems no one knows how long this place has existed. Before Mr. Shaka began looking after the tower, no one came here."

"How much do you know about this tower, N?"

"Not as much as you might think. I don't even know how long this tower has existed."

In fact, very little was known about the tower. When it had been built, by whom, and for what purpose-all of that was unknown. The only thing anyone knew was that it might be connected to the legend of the hero passed down in the Isshu Region.

"But this tower is a special place for Zekrom and Reshiram. Perhaps Carrera himself built it to welcome a hero acknowledged by Zekrom and Reshiram."

"A place where you could encounter legendary Pokémon... I think that's a possible theory."

"Why do you think so?"

"I can't say much, since I've only seen this floor so far, but there's no trace of any rituals or festivals being held in this tower. I can't identify a specific purpose. The name 'Dragonport Immortal Tower' suggests some connection to Zekrom and Reshiram, but places associated with Pokémon that still live on in legend usually have something symbolizing those Pokémon in some form. There's nothing here. In other words, rather than a tower that 'enshrines' them, wasn't it a place important to them?"

"Yes, that's a good perspective. Ninety points."

"Not full marks?"

Honestly, I could not say any more about Kaim at that point. With so little information to begin with, it was mostly speculation, but I thought I had explained it quite logically for a theory built on such limited material.

"Now I can dig a little deeper into what you told us, N."

"Yes. There's one more step. According to the legend I know, there's something that supports that hypothesis."

"I give up."

"The name of the Dragonspiral Tower, and the concepts governed by Zekrom and Reshiram."

"The name, paired concepts, and a spiral?"

"Yes. Paired concepts intertwine to form a spiral. Kaim, do you know the taijitu?"

"I'm pretty sure that's a tai chi figurine."

"It's a concept from abroad. Everything is yin and yang, divided into two attributes. The more each grasps the other, the closer they become."

"I know that, too."

N spoke quickly, and Kaim was a little inattentive.

"I know."

"Then what does that taijitu mean?"

"The idea behind the taijitu is that a pair strengthens each other. That pairing applies to the ideals and truth governed by Zekrom and Reshiram."

"By elevating each other, they form a spiral and climb higher."

"Yes. So if you're forming a hypothesis based on the name Dragonspiral Tower, you should also address what Zekrom and Reshiram govern."

"But are ideals and truth really a pair? Sometimes an ideal becomes truth itself, and truth can also become established as your own ideal."

"That's why this taijitu is so important."

Cynthia displayed an image of a taijitu on her smartphone and showed it to Kaim.

"These comma-shaped halves each have a little white or black dot."

"It's as though you can't completely separate the two."

"Yes. For example, men can have feminine ways of thinking, and vice versa. Just as shadows exist in light and light exists in shadows, each always contains an attribute of its opposite. That's what it means."

"In that case, what you consider an ideal could be truth, and truth itself could become your ideal. Both possibilities Kaim just mentioned."

"Exactly."

"Why is N answering?"

Whether it was because he had always been knowledgeable or because N was clever, Kaim had been deprived of every opportunity to speak.

"I only filled in the numbers needed to reach an answer using the formula of your hypothesis. You don't need to worry about the underlying formula."

"I think it's a very good hypothesis, even if it's missing a little something. Still, I don't know whether there's anything in the tower itself to support it."

In fact, Kaim had reached that hypothesis after looking around for only a short while. If there had been evidence to support it, archaeologists in the Unova Region would have found it long ago.

"Studying history means understanding the deeper psychology of the people of that time, doesn't it?"

"You mentioned mathematical formulas just now. Are you good at mathematics?"

"Yes. Don't you find it fascinating to grasp the answers derived from formulas?"

"I only studied it as far as I needed for exams, but it's a field that can be applied to all sorts of others. You could certainly call it a foundational field of study."

"I hope you'll get to experience the joy of mathematics someday."

Kaim did not know whether he would actually get a chance to study it, but he nodded at N's words, vaguely feeling that if Cynthia studied it, it would be worthwhile.

"Let's go to the next floor. We still have a long way to go."

At Cynthia's words, Kaim nodded, and N followed them.

"They've made things complicated again."

Following the spiral staircase along the wall, the three reached the third floor. It had been built so that the changes in elevation allowed only one-way passage, and if you took the wrong route, you had to retrace your steps one by one.

"And it's dangerous, isn't it?"

There was absolutely nothing between the walkways. One wrong step, and you would fall.

"It's like this from here on. Watch your footing."

"Huh? Did you actually come down from the top?"

Kaim reacted to N's words.

Knowing the layout ahead meant he had already traveled this route. To know what lay ahead, he either had to have climbed the tower before or come down from the top. If anything tipped the balance, the circumstances made it easier to assume he had come down from a higher floor.

"Yes. I came down from above. But Kaim, did you consider the possibility that I'd climbed this tower before?"

"I did. I didn't know what you'd done before, but this time I just thought it was more likely you'd come down from above."

"Then it's just as you thought. And yes, I have climbed this tower before."

"Hey, how did that person get here?"

"Something to do with Team Plasma."

"Right. Then don't ask me."

Kaim did not ask about N's involvement with Team Plasma, either because he was not interested or because he thought it best not to touch on it.

It was not something N wanted to discuss, either, so he appreciated Kaim's consideration. At the same time, I felt I understood part of the reason Pokémon liked Kaim.

"It's a little dangerous here. If you want to look over this floor, it's safer to go to the other side and look from the top of the stairs."

"Let's do that, then. I don't want to stay somewhere dangerous for too long."

"We're only observing this time, not investigating."

"I know the way, so I'll lead."

"Thank you."

"That helps."

Once the two agreed, N hopped over a step and moved ahead.

From this side, the steps formed a gentle slope, so he was unlikely to miss one. Besides, he was as tall as Kaim, so he did not want to risk going backward.

"I'll go first. It's dangerous, so give me your hand."

"Thank you."

With Kaim's help, Cynthia climbed up the step.

Kaim went first, and when he reached the other side, Cynthia jumped down from the step as well. Thanks to his help, she was able to proceed without difficulty. N moved along the path at their pace, and following him, they reached the stairs leading to the upper floor.

"The stairs are spiral-shaped after all."

"With a cylindrical tower, a spiral is inevitably the simplest structure. The only thing bothering me is..."

Cynthia lowered her gaze to the pillars supporting their current floor.

The pillars extended into the darkness below, but they could not see beyond them. It looked like a simple tower, yet there was clearly something suspicious about it.

"How are these floors supported?"

"Exactly. I didn't see any pillars supporting this floor on the floor below."

"But this pillar extends downward, doesn't it?"

"Yeah."

I recalled the floor below, but I did not think there had been anything like that there. More importantly, when I looked up, white light glimmered overhead. I had not seen any obstructions above.

"Maybe the entire arrangement of floors rises in a spiral, and we just haven't noticed."

"Could that be it? If the floors are arranged in a spiral, the lack of pillars wouldn't be strange."

"It's a shame there isn't much we can observe. We'll just have to record it in photographs."

"We only came here as tourists in the first place. It can't be helped."

N watched the two intently as they continued discussing things while reviewing the photographs they had taken.

Noticing his gaze, Kaim looked slightly puzzled.

"...What is it?"

"Oh, no. Just something."

"Did we do something?"

I asked Cynthia, but she seemed not to know either and shook her head. In fact, all I had just done was review the records I had made and debate with Kaim whether anything could be connected to other records.

"No, you haven't done anything."

"Then what is it?"

"Over the past year, I've seen many different worlds. Not just the connections between people and Pokémon, but the connections between people and Pokémon, too."

"And?"

"The trust between you two is the warmest I've ever seen. Just watching you warms my heart. It's more than simply trusting each other. You respect and support each other. By complementing each other, it seems as though your relationship is aiming even higher than where it is now."

We did not simply trust each other. By going further, we could understand each other; by understanding each other, we could support each other; and by supporting each other, we could make up for what the other could not do.

Most of the people N had met trusted each other. Some relationships were superficial, and some were based on malice, but most involved mutual trust.

However, this was the first time he had seen people trust each other as Cynthia and Kaim did, then go further from there. People always drew boundaries when interacting with others, but these two tried to understand each other more deeply by learning more about each other. Within that was a feeling of wanting to know the other person better. That was why they so often spoke of "different perspectives" in their discussions.

"Yes, I'm Kaim's mentor. Both in battle and in archaeology."

"Yes, I could tell right away that you were capable of teaching Kaim."

"But you seem much closer than just teacher and student. You have a wonderful relationship."

"I see."

N sincerely believed their relationship was beautiful and precious. I thought few people could build such a relationship. Having spent roughly a year interacting with the people and Pokémon of the Isshu Region, N might well have felt that way.

I had not told N about their relationship yet. I had thought there was no need to tell him, but I decided not to say any more to N, who had only just met me. More than anything, I had never imagined being praised for our relationship.

Cynthia felt a little embarrassed, but at the same time, she was pleased that even someone else could see how good their relationship was. It meant her relationship with Kaim had deepened.

"I've been very focused on the relationship between people and Pokémon, but after seeing you, I want to learn more about the relationship between people and Pokémon."

"I don't really understand what you're saying, but I know you're complimenting me."

"I'm glad to hear that. But N, I think you can learn not only by watching, but also by interacting with people. That's a good thing."

"Yes, you're right. I'm sure it'll help me in the future. Thank you. Thank you."

At his sudden thanks, Cynthia and Kaim exchanged a glance.

"Did you do anything for him to thank you for?"

"No."

"I see. I have no idea, then."

Kaim said he did not really understand, but Cynthia somehow understood why N wanted to thank him.

Still, since she could not be bothered to say anything, Shirona remained silent and followed the two upstairs.

The three stepped onto the upper floor.

We passed through areas with changes in elevation even within a single floor, as well as a mysterious floor whose surface itself was circular, and finally reached the top.

"This is..."

"Yes. The top of the Dragonport Immortal Tower."

Because of the altitude, the wind roared loudly. Yet perhaps because the tower's outer walls rose like barriers and blocked it, they could barely feel the wind itself.

Several pillars stood on the floor, but all of them were broken, and nearly half had weathered away.