Ikalgo: All I know is this--
you looked at a good-for-nothing octopus like me,
and you said I was cool.
you even said we could have been friends.
I can’t stand by while you die!
I’m gonna save you! Don’t you die on me!
♪
( Singing in Japanese )
♪
Narrator: While killua was in the process
of being rescued by the chimera ant ikalgo,
a creature he had thought was his enemy,
gon was forming a bond as well
with a chimera ant who goes by the name meleoron.
( Lighter flicks )
Gon: You should really stop smoking, you know.
Meleoron: Huh?
gon: The smoke will stick to your clothes,
and people will smell you coming,
which kind of defeats the purpose
of you being invisible, doesn’t it?
( Meleoron laughs ) I appreciate the tip,
but honestly, it doesn’t really matter much.
while my invisibility is sort of like my trademark,
my real ability goes one step further.
Gon: What?
Meleoron: Here. I’ll show you.
( Inhales )
( Gasping )
What the--he’s gone.
I can’t sense him at all,
only the smell of cigarettes.
He’s not here.
this is more than just invisibility.
Does he also have the ability to change locations instantly
without even making a sound?
That’s impossible, so how did he do it?
( Gasps ) Whoa!
Where did you come from?
Meleoron: Hmm? I’ve been right here the whole time.
( Gon gasps )
Meleoron: My second ability is perfect plan.
Whenever I hold my breath, it prevents anyone around me
from sensing my presence, even a little bit.
You were touching me and didn’t even realize you were doing it.
Your mind simply refused to acknowledge
what your eyes couldn’t see.
Gon: Huh? I really touched you?
Meleoron: You know how some guys never get noticed?
Like the guy the waitress skips over when you go out to eat
in a big group at a chain restaurant?
It’s like that, but more extreme.
i’m right here, but no one ever notices me.
Gon: Uh...
Meleoron: Turning invisible really is just a decoy.
it helps me keep my true ability
a secret from everyone else.
And that’s just between you and me, of course.
Nobody else knows,
so let’s just keep it that way, all right?
( Gon gasps )
why tell me something so important?
Meleoron: Well, i’ve gotta earn your trust, don’t I?
Yeah, it’s kind of a risk, but it’s one I have to take.
See, if I can’t get you to trust me,
then we won’t be able to start anything.
Gon: You mean how you said i’d be a valuable partner, right?
Meleoron: That’s right,
but let’s hold off on that for right now.
Gon: Eh?
Meleoron: Like I said before,
we have to trust each other first.
Once you’ve agreed to be my partner,
i’ll be happy to tell you everything you want to know.
Gon: Okay. I’ll be your partner.
( Meleoron chuckles ) That was fast!
you don’t know how to negotiate, kid!
Cut the trusting crap!
You should be suspicious of me, of the whole world!
think about it before you trust anyone!
Gon: Huh? I said it’s fine. Why are you being such a drag?
Meleoron: Besides, are you even able
to make this decision all by yourself?!
What about your buddy?!
Isn’t he gonna have a fit when he finds out
you teamed up with a suspicious-looking monster?!
( Groans )
why the hell am I trashing myself like this?
it’s not like I chose to be this way.
Gon: He sure is restless.
( Meleoron sighs )
I guess it doesn’t matter.
Even a good friend you’ve had for 20 years
could still stab you in the back.
Time is not a matter of trust.
You feel me?
( Groans )
You’re not much fun, huh?
We could never be friends.
( Gon thinking ) I feel the same way.
meleoron: Well, are you sure about this?
Gon: What?
meleoron: About teaming up with me.
Won’t your buddy object?
Gon: Hmm. Yeah, probably.
Killua’s pretty cautious about everything.
Meleoron: Then we’re done.
This deal is dead in the water.
Gon: Nah. It’s fine.
I’ll just insist on having it my way.
Killua won’t like it, but he’ll give in.
Meleoron: Well, there you go.
Kid’s got his work cut out for him.
Whatever. If you say it’s okay, I trust you,
so let’s get down to business.
Gon: Sure.
Meleoron: I wanna...
Take down the king.
Wanna know why?
Gon: Well, yeah. Of course I do.
That’s what i’ve been waiting for.
Meleoron: I’m taking revenge.
( Gon gasps )
Meleoron: I can’t tell you any of the details
on why I want revenge right now.
Gon: Okay. I’m kinda curious about it, but I can wait.
that’s probably what you want me to say.
( Meleoron sighs )
If you insist, I guess i’ll have to tell you.
Gon: What?! Already?!
Meleoron: I’m just kidding.
beg all you want, but I won’t tell you yet.
Gon: I didn’t beg for anything.
( Lighter flicks )
( Meleoron exhales )
The king killed someone who saved me.
His name was Peggy.
I saw the king behead him right before my eyes.
( Gon gasps )
Meleoron: But at the time,
I didn’t even realize
that someone who was close to me had died.
Gon: Huh? Why not?
You just said you saw it happen.
meleoron: Because i’d forgotten who Peggy was to me.
I’d forgotten that he was my foster father.
♪
I remembered only recently.
Memories of my human days came flooding back.
Not all of it, of course.
Well, that’s not quite right.
there isn’t much that I remembered at all,
my parents’ names and my own name,
bits of my childhood.
Peggy was the name
of the chimera ant that the king killed,
and that was also my foster father’s human name.
He was an academic,
always carrying thick books with him everywhere.
In his previous life, he carried a copy
of the ngl Bible with him all the time.
Gon: Do all the ants have human memories like you do?
Meleoron: I don’t know if we’re all the same.
Some chimera ants are obviously feral in nature,
which makes it virtually impossible
to tell what they’re thinking.
Gon: Then, I think I get it now.
Meleoron: Eh?
I think i’m finally starting to understand
why I felt I could trust you so quickly.
It’s ’cause you seem so human,
more human than all the other ants i’ve met so far.
In fact, I would even say that you’re still a human.
Meleoron: Really? When I met you,
i had exactly the opposite reaction.
Gon: Eh?
Meleoron: I could immediately sense
an inhuman beast lurking deep within you.
That’s why I wanted to team up with you,
because we’re not all that different, you and I.
all right. Let’s get right to it, then.
But before we do that, I should know your name.
I just forgot to ask.
Gon: Oh, right. I’m gon freecss.
Meleoron: I actually have one more ability,
and we just met the condition to activate it.
( Gon gasps )
Meleoron: Time to show you my third ability.
( Gon gasps )
♪
Meleoron: Activate!
Huh.
( Bird chirping )
Gon: It isn’t flying away.
( Meleoron exhales )
- ( Bird tweeting ) - ( Gon gasps )
Wait a second.
Does that mean I was using your perfect plan, too?
Meleoron: That’s exactly right,
and the name of my third power is god’s accomplice.
While perfect plan is activated, it allows anyone else I touch
to use it the very same way I do.
♪
Now do you understand how powerful this is?
This ability will allow us to approach and attack
an unsuspecting enemy, and they won’t see it coming.
No matter how powerful the king is,
one mega-punch to his unguarded vitals, and he’s done.
( Gon shudders )
Meleoron: Hey, gon,
you’re just the perfect partner i’ve been looking for.
If we work together,
we can deal that son of a bitch an unprecedented blow.
So I was watching you
back when you used that jan-Ken-rock thing.
- Those were my men, you know. - ( Gon gasps )
Meleoron: I sent them to attack so I could see
how much strength you were working with,
and you saw how that went.
Uh, but no need to feel bad.
As it turns out,
those bastards were killing for fun behind my back.
They’re not my soldiers or my allies anymore.
well, I guess from their perspective,
i’m the one who changed, not them.
Gon: About being your partner...
i’m just not the partner you want.
Meleoron: You know someone who’d be better?
Gon: I sure do.
I’ll contact him.
Meleoron: Hold on.
Right or wrong, I do trust you.
And if you end up betraying me, I won’t blame you,
and I won’t even regret my decision,
because I watched you, and I spoke to you,
and it was my choice to trust you,
but i’m not about to place my trust in someone else
just because you trust them.
That’s not how this is gonna work.
That make sense to you?
Gon: Mm-hmm. I get your point, but still--
meleoron: Hey, it’s my life on the line here, right?
Listen. My perfect plan’s not invincible at all.
It’s actually more vulnerable than you might think.
Nobody is aware of me or my existence,
but i’m still right there in the same place.
It isn’t like i’ve gone anywhere.
It’s just they may not notice me,
but their attacks can still hit me.
if an enemy knew that they were in the same room
as somebody with my ability, what would they do then?
They’d launch attacks in every direction.
( Gon gasps ) Yeah, you’re right.
meleoron: If one of those attacks hit me,
even by dumb luck, i’d be done for.
hate to say it, but when it comes to combat,
i’m the weakest chimera ant around.
I’m basically a foot soldier.
Forget the king.
I couldn’t even survive a punch from a squadron leader.
If I just turn invisible, I can be located with en.
It’s already been tested,
so the other squadron leaders know it, too.
I need my enemies to believe that my power is weak.
They need to think just a little bit of en
is enough to beat it.
so the only way this ability is invincible
is if no one knows it exists in the first place.
But enough explaining.
my point is that I don’t want to reveal my power
to anyone else, not even if it’s someone you trust.
You understand?
Gon: Find out for yourself.
Meleoron: Huh?
Gon: I’ll call him over,
but I won’t mention that you’re here.
- ( Cell phone beeps ) - Meleoron: Hey, wait.
Gon: You can watch things from a distance.
( Phone line ringing )
- Gon: Hi. It’s-- - knuckle: Hey!
I’ve been waiting, idiot.
You pulled a fast one. where are you?
i’ve got lots of questions for you.
The boss had to make a move because of you two kids.
The original plan’s been completely derailed,
but I approve of what you’re doing out there.
( Gon gasps )
Knov: We can’t just let
five million innocent people die like that.
The boss already used his ability
to surround the capital.
Gon: Really?
knuckle: Yeah. That should make it harder
for neferpitou to use their ability remotely,
so they’re not going to be able
to perform any kind of long-distance sorting.
Gon: Right.
Knuckle: However, the boss and Mr. Knov
will be expending all their energy to delay neferpitou,
which means, when the operation begins,
they’re not gonna be in any condition
to take on the royal guards.
( Gon sighs )
Knuckle: We fully expect that more citizens
will gather in the capital for the celebration.
There might still be a massacre.
the situation hasn’t gotten any less grim.
We can’t contact the chairman anymore.
he’s focusing and honing his energy somewhere,
waiting for zero hour.
♪
the four of us need to make a choice.
Do we summon reinforcements
or face the three royal guards all by ourselves?
( Gon groans )
Knuckle: What does killua think about it?
Gon: He’s not here.
Knuckle: Are you saying that you two split up?
oh, I get it. He was doing all this himself.
Can you call him?
( Busy signal beeping )
Gon: Sorry. He’s not picking up.
His phone is off.
Knuckle: That so? Well, don’t give up. Keep trying.
we should all touch base real soon,
- and the sooner, the better. - Gon: Yeah.
Knuckle: We need to find a halfway point for us
where we can meet up when we can.
Shoot: Mm.
Knuckle: Here. Mandai city.
Gon: Right. Got it.
( Hangs up )
♪
King: Checkmate.
You’re finished.
( Man stammering )
King: Now, why didn’t you concede defeat?
Man: Uh...
( Wincing )
king: Do not make me repeat myself.
The match was decided 22 moves ago.
so then tell me why you didn’t concede.
Did you actually think that I would make a mistake?
( Man gasping )
( Yelps )
King: The fool.
Shaiapouf: Next we have the national go champion.
King: Hand over the rule book.
Shaiapouf: It looks simple, but it’s a very complex game.
It may take even more time to learn than shogi.
♪
Champion: Please, let me go! What do you want?!
Someone, anyone, help me!
( Groans )
My glasses.
Shaiapouf: Silence.
You are in the presence of the king.
( Champion gasping )
King: The choice is yours.
You will either sit across from me,
or you will die.
( Game piece clatters )
Shaiapouf: 5 1/2 points.
The king wins.
champion: It only took him 10 games?
I’m just tired, that’s all.
That’s why I lost.
I might have a slight fever.
I’m really dizzy and weak.
King: Take eight hours and medicine.
I want you in top condition.
Lose again, and I won’t be interested in your excuses,
so rest like you mean it.
Shaiapouf: I’m impressed by how quickly you learn.
these games are quite difficult.
I’m shocked that it took you
less than half the time it took to learn shogi.
king: I just learned the trick to it. That was all.
chess, go, shogi, the rules may be different,
but every first-rate player
has a certain rhythm to his play.
The key is to disrupt their rhythm
and therefore their game.
As soon as you learn the basics, you can deduce their rhythm...
♪
And once you know their rhythm, disrupting it is easy.
shaiapouf: A psychological approach
that would apply to any contest.
So now that you’ve learned this,
I fail to see the benefit of further games.
I believe they will only serve to bore you.
King: Mm.
What else remains?
Shaiapouf: Just one more game is played here professionally.
It’s a board game that they call gungi.
King: What is that?
Shaiapouf: Seems the game began in east gorteau,
and nearly all the citizens there know how to play it.
King: Give me the rule book.
shaiapouf: The goal is to checkmate
your opponent’s king, as in chess.
However, pieces can be stacked up to three high,
and the opening formation of pieces is variable.
it requires three-dimensional thinking,
making it somewhat different
from other board games of this nature.
World tournaments have been held around the globe
each of the last 15 years,
and, in all that time, east gorteau has yet to lose.
they are now on their third representative,
who is a five-time reigning champion.
King: Hmm.
So then if I defeat this champion,
i’ll be the best in the world?
A fitting end to this diversion.
Call them.
(Cane tapping)
Narrator: Six days left until the sorting.
A young girl appears who will shape the fate of the king.
But in what way, exactly...
He has no idea at all.
♪
( Singing in Japanese )