I smiled contently, my eyes closed as I walked out of the gym. Emolga hovered over my right shoulder, occasionally landing on it for a rest.

"Hello, White," a voice practically purred, causing my eyes to snap open and make me jump back in alarm.

N stood less than a foot away, staring directly at me with curiosity in his eyes.

"Hey, N," I mumbled weakly. I wanted to appear confident, though on the inside I was slightly afraid. What if he wanted to battle me? The only pokemon I had on hand were Emolga, Zebstrika, and Superior, all who were weak from my previous gym battle.

"Why isn't your Emolga in its pokeball?" There it was again. That childish curiosity, which almost made N seem…innocent.

"He… he doesn't like it in there," I said, glancing over at Emolga, who didn't take his eyes off N. "And I'm not going to force him into something he doesn't want to do."

N nodded as if he understood this completely. "Are you that way with all of your pokemon, White?"

I was slightly taken aback by the question. "What do you mean? I don't let all of them stay out of their pokeballs, of course. But the others don't seem to mind it."

N chuckled, shaking his head. "That's not exactly what I meant. You say you wouldn't force your Emolga to do something it doesn't want to. Does that include battling? What if your pokemon didn't want to battle? Would you make it?"

I stared. Was he serious? "My pokemon enjoy battling for me, though."

"And how exactly do you know that? Can you understand pokemon as they speak, White?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Would you allow me to speak to your Emolga, White?"

He kept doing that! Using my name at the end of every sentence. He sounded like an annoying therapist, for crying out loud.

"Uh…sure?"

N made a small motion with his hand, and Emolga slowly drifted towards him, making small cooing noises.

For the next few minutes, I watched as Emolga cooed and N nodded, as if completely understanding everything that my partner said.

Finally he smiled, nodding once more as Emolga returned to his place above my shoulder.

"You're a good trainer, White."

"Well, I do have six gym badges-"

"Not what I meant," N cut me off. "Your Emolga… he trusts you. He wants to help you in any way he can. He cares for you. I've never seen this in a normal trainer's pokemon before."

I wasn't sure how to respond.

"White," I swear, I almost flinched as he continued to use my name. "I wish there were more trainers like you."

I almost blushed.

N grinned as if he wasn't my enemy bent on separating pokemon from their trainers. "Meet me at the Dragon Spiral Tower!" he shouted, and then ran past me.

When I turned around, he was gone.

"Making the world Black and White… liberating pokemon… I just don't understand it," I mumbled to myself as I continued climbing these never-ending stairs.

That's when I slipped.

Luckily, I didn't fall to my death. But I fell face-first on the marble stairs, throwing my hands in front of me and catching myself rather painfully.

I raised my hands up to my face, examining the damage. They hurt like hell. Both of my palms were covered in blood. I forced myself to look away.

I was only two or three steps from the top, but I couldn't keep going. I just couldn't. I had traveled for three days straight with almost no sleep, and then climbed all the way to the top of the tower, fighting Plasma members the whole way. I was so exhausted. My hands hurt.

I thought of Emolga, waiting with Cheren. He was too weak from so much battling. I couldn't let him come up here with me. I was depending on Liligant and Seperier and Zebstrika to fight my battles. I had told Emolga (and Cheren, too) that everything would be alright. That I would be okay, and that I could handle Plasma.

I thought of my mom, back home in Nuvema Town. Did she have any idea what I was doing? What would she do if I was killed? My father was dead; I was an only child; my mom would have no one left.

I thought of all the trainers of Unova, and the rest of the world. If I gave up now, I was letting Team Plasma win. I was giving up all of the pokemon of the world.

And then I thought of N, who was counting on me to be the one to challenge him.

"Don't cry," I muttered to myself, wiping my eyes, though I'm sure I was probably only getting blood on my face.

But I couldn't stand it.

I put my head between my knees and starting sobbing.

"I can't…I can't be the hero," I yelled, hearing my voice echo off the walls. I sounded... pathetic. A mere shadow of the strong trainer I normally appeared to be.

I nearly jumped and fell down the stairs as another voice rang out through the silence.

"But you have to be."