The Golden Throne

Chapter 32: To Ris'dra!

"THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!" The Emperor threw a glass goblet at the wall, shattering it.

The Emperor, Hilbert, Hilda, Kye, Ripley and Zeno were in a private room somewhere in the palace. There was something the Emperor needed to discuss, but the way things were turning out, it was no more a discussion than a chance for the Emperor to throw his tantrum.

"Tonight was supposed to be a celebration for my birthday," the Emperor shouted, "and that..that demon, walks into my own home and threatens my people?!" he began pacing back and forth, clawing at his hair. Drips of sweat were dripping down his chin.

"Your majesty--" Hilbert began.

"--Silence!" the Emperor pointed at Hilbert. "This is all your fault!"

"Hey!" Hilda barked. She and Kye walked up beside Hilbert.

"Hilda," Ripley looked at her sternly to silence her. She then turned to the Emperor, "your majesty, this isn't Hilbert's fault."

The Emperor looked at her with realisation in his eyes. "You're right. It isn't. It's your fault! You were the one responsible for hiding the book, yet that fiend was still able to find it."

"W-What?" Ripley was at a loss for words.

"And you!" He pointed at Zeno. "That book belonged to you all this while. If you had destroyed it in the past none of this would have happened--"

"--Stop!" Hilbert shouted at the Emperor. He had enough of the Emperor's nonsense. "This is no one's fault. Your majesty, let's stop pointing fingers, and find a way to stop Zultan from reaching his goal. If you called us here just to hear you accuse us of doing wrong, so help me I will walk out of here and let you deal with this yourself."

The Emperor was stunned in silence. Hilda did her best to hide the grin on her face. "I... I'm sorry," the Emperor leaned against a table and looked down at his feat. "They have the book," he whined. His eyes were beginning to water. "Why is it whenever Odara is within grasp of a bright future, something bad will happen to tear us down. It has been this way for centuries. Is this a curse?"

"Your majesty," Ripley approached him and placed a comforting hand over his shoulder. "In life, nothing is certain. Things are never always smooth sailing. There will always be some hurdle along the way to break our spirit. What matters is our ability to get back up onto our two feet. Like my father used to say, 'push me down seven times, get up eight'."

The Emperor glanced at her with squinted eyes and his mouth agape. "But how? How do I get back up knowing that Zultan is on his way to Ris'dra as we speak to capture the legendary Pokemon. We do not even know where Ris'dra is."

Hilbert's eyes lit up with realization. "Actually your majesty, we do." He said. "I'll be back soon," Hilbert told them and turned to leave.

"Hilbert, where are you going?" Hilda asked.

"Back home. There is something I need to get," he said and left. 

After half an hour or so, Hilbert came back running into the room. Everyone turned to him to see what was it that he collected. Hilbert pulled out a faded, old piece of paper from his bag.

Zeno eyed the object in his hands curiously, "what is that you have there?"

"A map to Ris'dra. This was my ticket out of the Molani Desert," Hilbert unfolded it and presented it to everyone.

"No way!" Kye gasped in disbelief. "You're saying the Zaff went all out to get those books to find the place, while you had a map with you the whole time?"