1. Hugh

Hugh ranks the list of people he hates as the following; anyone associated Team Plasma, anyone with naturally green hair, and Touko. Yes, Touko, that honorable bitch that saved Unova by a lick so many years before Mei did.

Cheren, Touko's lovey-Pidovey fiancee, has lived in the apartment next to Hugh's ever since the Gym was added on to the rickety trainer school briefly before Hugh began traveling. The apartment is small, only having three different apartment complexes - one not even being occupied. Touko recently moved in with Cheren, right after Hugh received an offer by Cheren to become an intern. Hugh had to stay in Aspertia, not allowed to travel as he wills like Mei was.

… Hugh used have wonderful sleep before Touko moved in with Cheren.

It was probably midnight. Hugh wasn't exactly sure what time it was, but he was too scared to move from his wrapped-up form. They were keeping him awake again. His room, out of the other two occupied by his parents and sister, was the closest to the apartment Cheren and Touko occupied. He could hear distant moaning and grunting, evoking a disturbing thought to enter his mind. He rolled his back to the side of the room that was next to Cheren and Touko's apartment. He squeezed the Tepig Pokedoll that he hadn't touched in a long time – not before Touko moved into town.

His eyes were wide open. The blanket was up to his ears, yet nothing blocked his hearing.

"F-Faster!" Touko cried out, obvious that Cheren complied since Hugh could now hear the bed's springs squeaking.

That was the last straw. Tomorrow, he would search for an Exploud and catch it. From there, he would find somewhere isolated to make the Pokemon use Screech on him until he went deaf. After that, he would learn Unovian sign language and write an emotional book about his endeavors in life.

He could hear Touko's muffled scream, making him sob into his pillow.

"Jesus Christ, please tell me you exist and tell me you can make Touko be quiet!" Hugh prayed aloud, sobbing into his pillow.

Mei recalled her Braviary, thanking him for flying her back home. The afternoon was fresh, peaceful, and quiet. She had some wonderful sleep last night, finding herself so fresh and rested-up. She began to notice something... it was far too peaceful, far too quiet...

… Too quiet for a town occupied by Hugh Banner.

Where was her friend? She decided to go check on him, knocking at the door to his house. His little sister, Annie, opened the door, happy to see Mei. Her Liepard followed, meowing happily at Mei.

"Hi, Mei! Mary Belle is happy to see you, hehe~" Hugh's little sister giggled, hugging the neck of the Liepard that almost matched her height.

"Hey, Annie. May I come in? I want to check on Hugh... He's normally out and about at this hour. In fact, he's normally out by much earlier..." Mary Belle and Annie shared a glance, as if they were hesitant to tell Mei about what was wrong with Hugh.

"Hugh? He didn't get any sleep last night because of what he says was a storm, but I don't remember it storming. My mommy and daddy don't remember either. He's staying home from his work at Cheren's today, you can check on him though. I think he's sleeping like a Snorlax..."

Mei knocked at the door to Hugh's room, surprised to hear his tired voice respond to the knock with; "Annie, I'm trying to sleep!"

"I'm not Annie, I'm not an eight-year-old. I'm eight years older, though." Mei responded, her voice chiming with upbeat energy.

"Now's not the time for algebra, Mei... It's too early. I guess you can come in..." Hugh responded, sounding grumpy and groggy. Mei opened the door, holding up her wrist to view the time, looking at the screen of her Xtransceiver.

"It's almost noon. It's not that ea—" Mei was stopped by the perfectly disturbing sight of Hugh sitting up, with darken skin under his reddened eyes. Mei lightly gasped, putting a hand to her chest. "My god, are you alright?" Hugh's response was a prolonged sigh, followed by hands running through his unruly hair.

"No." his hands stayed as his knees curled up, allowing him to lean with his elbows against his thighs.

"What happened?!" she asked, going to sit on the edge of his bed. As he felt her weight shift on his bed, he released his eyes from the confinements of his palms. He stared at her, unflinching.

"Damn... You know, Touko recently moved in with... Cher." Hugh said the nickname Touko had for Cheren in a mocking, high-pitch tone. Mei wanted to giggle, but bit her gum to hold the laugh back. "They're a couple and couples do things, we all know that. For example, when they... you know..." Hugh felt an uneasy lump in his throat, feeling awkward talking about sex to Mei – whom he was attracted to. Mei nodded, getting the picture. She coughed into a balled up fist, feeling awful discomfort within herself. "They're obnoxiously loud. That's what the uh... 'storm' was..."

"Oh... I was confused by that. You know, I was staying at Tetsu's last night and there wasn't a storm..." Mei observed Hugh's room, altogether oblivious to his reaction to what she had just said.

"You stayed... at... Tetsu's... house...?" Hugh could feel himself staring to shiver and face become covered in a tone of bold red.

"Oh, yeah!" Mei smiled and shrugged her shoulders, "It was getting late and I was in Undella. He has a beach house there, so he let me stay there for the night. What a sweet guy!" Hugh could feel his chest grow impossibly tight and his eyes swelling. His entire body was becoming red. His current state was still going unnoticed by Mei. The thought of what he heard last night coming from Cheren and Touko's bedroom mixed with the image of Mei with Tetsu.

Mei's voice crying out, Tetsu making comments... Hugh's eyes shot open, the mere idea being scarier than a horror movie at three in the morning.

"Mei?" Hugh calmly called.

She began to turn to him as she spoke, "Yeah?" She gasped as she saw his completely red face.

"Heads up. I'm about... to unleash... my rageee..." Nothing happened as he stared at the wall which his door was located. Mei stood perfectly still, staring uneasily at Hugh as he remained motionless other for the shaking of oddly smiling lips.

"... Hu—"

"AHHHHahahhwhaaaaa!" his scream faded into sobbing, falling limp on his side and having his head near her thigh. Mei frowned, patting his head. "Unleashing... my... rage...!" he grunted through his sobs.

2. Touya

Touya hesitantly knocked at the door to Bianca's house, taking in a deep breath before doing exactly that.

"C-Coming!" the familiar voice rang through the other side of her house's door, followed by the sound of her movements and a string of coughing. She opened the door, appearing ill in her attire and skin. She was wearing a basic, orange v-neck with ash gray sweatpants along with the glasses she would rarely wear – only if she was sick or having a "lazy day". The v-neck fitted tight to her form, however... and was lovely low-cut... hehe...

Touya removed his eyes from her chest.

"H-Hey." Touya stammered, feeling his lip tremble and forcing him to bite down on it. Her foggy eyes lit up the slightest. She sniffled, opening the door wider.

"You better come in, I'm f-freezing..." she coughed into her arm, causing Touya to feel guilty for making her open the door and let the near-winter breeze flow indoors. He walked in as Bianca backed into her house, him to close the door out of courtesy. He let out a sigh of jitteriness as she looked at him, slenderly curious about why he was here. It was nonchalant for either one of them to waltz into each other's houses uninvited, as they were best friends who lived nearby one another.

"I uh... I brought you a g-gift, breast – uh, I-I-I m-mean, Bianca." Touya felt his cheeks becoming automatically warm by the slip up, frightfully humiliated. However, Bianca was too innocent to think badly of his lewd slip up, seeing she slipped up from time to time herself. She smiled, her eyes observing the box as he pulled it out.

"Oh, t-thank you!" he felt her shivering hands grab the box. She untied the bow to the small box and removed the lid, seeing an arrangement of six pieces of chocolate.

"Chocolate~! Ah, thank you so much!" she said before going into another coughing fit and placing the box on a desk close by the door.

"Hey, Bianca... I have a question. F-For you." Touya stated, clearing his throat yet again.

"Who else would it be for? Hehe~" he smiled, comforted by the sound of her laughter, "Silly Ducklett, what is it?"

"Bianca—" he was briefly interrupted by the feeling of her body against him, her arms wrapped around his body... it was uncommon for her to do this – randomly hug him and all. He wrapped his hands around her petite waist, feeling her concernedly warm body against him. That included her chest. Dammit. "I... was wondering that once you feel better, would you... would you like if I took you on a date?"

She seemed to be mildly shocked as he felt her tense underneath his touch. He was preparing himself for rejection. If rejected, he planned to calmly say his goodbyes only to go to Cheren's house to cry to him. Touya was probably going to do that no matter what. However, Bianca nodded, taking in a slightly congested breath before hugging him tighter.

"I'd..." her words faded, since she quickly backed away to cover a cough with her arm. She nervously laughed before saying, "I'd love to! It sounds like a wonderful idea, Touya...!" She appeared to have had a moment of realization about something before saying, "Wait, I've never been on a date. So what would we do? Would we do... couple things...? Like kiss...?"

Touya felt his heart sink to his toes and a nervous lump mysteriously appeared in his throat. He eyed her hands that fidgeted nervously, held close to her chest. "Goddammit Touya, eyes up, eyes up, eyes up!" he mentally snapped at himself, making himself give her a reassuring look – to her eyes, of course.

"Of... Of course!" There was a minor moment of silence before Touya realized what he had said. Bianca stood, baffled and wide eyed, before Touya corrected himself. "I-I-I mean, if you want to! Only if... you want to, I mean it's not like I want to or anything..." He coughed to cover up the clumsy feeling that tickled his chest.

"... Can we kiss now?" she looked directly at him with her alluring emerald eyes, making Touya's soul fly up and never return.

"Um... s-sure. Sounds... great..." he couldn't help as his eyes traveled to her chest again. "Touya, she said kiss and only kiss." he scolded at himself again, walking closer to Bianca. He took in a deep breath, grabbing her shoulders to accommodate to their vast height difference. She was timid, still holding sweaty hands to her chest. As Touya leaned close to her in a slow, relaxed manner, his hand intwined in the back of her short hair.

The feeling of her soft lips was inescapably amazing. Touya could feel sparks in his chest, like he had been struck by one of Zekrom's attacks. No, wait, never mind, that would send him to the hospital if that happened – maybe he would have to go to the hospital at this point, seeing his heart was pacing so fast and—

The sound of the front door swiftly opening interrupted the two. There stood Bianca's father, glaring straight at Touya. Touya removed himself Bianca as soon as possible, seeing that the overprotective father was still in his work's outfit – a police officer's suit with a badge that identified him as chief of police. He was already intimidating enough, yet with the power of the law and a gun to his belt, Touya was ready to cry.

"Ohoho, Ludwig," her father had a habit of calling Touya by his last name and only his last name, "you lil' bastard! I bet you're the one who gave my precious princess mono!" Panic-stricken, Touya looked at Bianca, who only looked down in her shame.

"Did he say... m-m... mono?!"

Cheren patted his friend's back, allowing him to awkwardly sob on his neatly done bed. Cheren was surprised Touya had gotten out of the house without Bianca's father "accidentally" shooting Touya and tossing his mangled body in the lake at Route 1. Touya held an ice pack to his leg, where her father's Stoutland had successfully used Crunch. He continued to sob, evoking Cheren to sigh.

"There, there, there... at least she didn't get mono from kissing another guy." Cheren comforted, listening in as Touya's sobs softened. Cheren's eyes suddenly went wide, an urgent thought coming to his mind. "Wait... didn't Touko have mono last week?!"

"... Oh my god."

3. Cheren

"Do you have everything, Touko?" Cheren asked in a monotone manner – merely standing with crossed arms a few feet away from her. Touko turned from her place leaned on the railing near the shoreline of Numeva. With her traveling bag resting on her hip and her belt equipped with a full team, Cheren was sure she was ready.

… Ready to leave and look for N – to settle the ending of Team Plasma once and for all.

She nodded, hardly smiling as she spoke, "I'm pretty sure." Cheren watched as the gentle wind played with her hair in the same fashion he would when she would allow him to.

"A jacket?" he asked, making sure a situation like at the Cold Storage wouldn't happen again.

"Yes, I have a jacket packed this time, mother Cheren." Touko joked, managing to get a nervous, tiny chuckle out of him as well as herself.

"How about your trainer ID and badges? You know that many regions won't allow you to use certain HM moves outside of battle unless you have a certain amount of badges. Moves like Rock Smash and Flash are also considered HM's." Cheren informed, paranoid to the idea she would have issues with the law.

"Mhm, I do. I made sure earlier, but thanks for reminding me." Touko smiled at her friend, truly touched by his caring for her. He scratched his neck, for the next question was far more personal.

"... Anxiety medication?" Cheren questioned, knowing she wouldn't make it long without it. She opened up a pocket of her bag, seeing the orange bottle that was recently filled. Other doctors in other regions were able to give out prescriptions, so refilling it wouldn't be too much trouble.

"Y-Yeah." she looked down, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She knew this day was coming, the day she spent months training for – the day she would leave for a new region and leave her dear friends and family behind to find N... She was leaving Cheren behind...

"Hm... you're leaving soon, aren't you? It wouldn't be a bother if you'd stay for a tad longer, wouldn't it?" Cheren asked, feeling his heart pick up in speed. He observed her gulp, biting her lip as a sense of anxiety crashed over her. She looked up at him, a glossy layer covering her bright blue eyes. The answer to the question was already obvious, so when she spoke she merely ignored the question asked.

"Cheren...? Can you hold me one more time?" her question was a simple request, yet her voice held a recklessness within it. He was somewhat stunned by her question but he wouldn't argue with it, nonetheless. His hands slowly came out of the solitude of his pockets, as they were slightly shaking due to his nervousness. He held his arms out, bracing himself as Touko rushed over to him.

Seeing he had gained height since their departure from their tiny hometown an entire year ago, she was able to bury her head in his chest. His arms wrapped around the small of her back. He wished he could hold her like this forever, preventing her from leaving to only put herself in more danger. He wished he could protect her, but this was a journey only she could travel.

The scent of cologne stayed fresh on him so with that, each shaky breath she took burned the familiar scent into her memory. Her fingers clutched his back, collecting the fabric of his blazer into her fists. Her warm cheek rested against his chest, her soft lips slightly agape. The feeling of his arms around her amazed her – she wanted to stay like this forever.

He rested his chin on her head, able to catch the aroma of her robustious locks. He wanted her to stay, he wanted to be able to look at her every single day of his life. He couldn't imagine his life without her... Touko could hear his chest growing heavy – the very implication of him depressed all because of her made another glossy layer appear over her eyes. She didn't want him to see her cry... She couldn't be weak. After all, she had spent months trying to make herself stronger...

"Cheren, I have to go." Touko's voice cracked during the word "go". She attempted to pull away, yet was stopped by strong arms that refused to budge from her back. She placed her palms against his chest, ready to forcibly push him away. She had to go now, before Team Plasma members still lurking about in Unova would find out she was leaving. However, she found her arms and hands stuck in a matter of seconds.

Cheren grabbed her shoulder blade, grasping the material of her black top and pulling her closer. His head rested on her shoulder, the sound of his audible crying filling her ears. It broke her heart as well, but she had to leave – she absolutely had to.

"No! Touko, I won't let you... Please, just stay here... Remember what I said back at Wellspring Cave? Well, I still have your back, Touko. I'm not letting you go alone." He squeezed her tighter than he ever had. His odd strength baffled Touko – as his tight embrace was making it hard to breathe or even speak.

"Cheren! Let go of me!" she sobbed, scarcely able to shove any anger in the demand. She struggled, attempting to flail at least one arm out of the tight squeeze. It was unsuccessful, yet she concluded with a different idea. She was barely able to slip an arm downwards towards the belt that contained all her Pokemon. She was able to touch a button to one, releasing her the Pokemon the flew her around, luckily. The Salamence she had caught as a Bagon from White Forest came out, shaking the ground with her heavy weight.

The Salamence tensed and emitted a low growl, as she was not pleased by her sight. Even if Touko trusted this trainer once, the Salamence had no clue if Touko did now.

"Juno! H-Help! Don't hurt him, though!" The Salamence growled and flapped her hefty, bright red wings, calling grounds for Cheren to flinch and back away from Touko. Salamence was a powerful species – any Pokemon trained by Touko was powerful, either way. Before the Salamence could do more, Touko calmed her down by stroking the bridge of her nose.

"Juno, get us out of here." Touko asked of the dragon, not even daring herself to look back to see Cheren again. Juno worriedly cringed, yet lowered her wings so that Touko could mount her. Juno flapped her wings, pushing her stubby feet against the ground. The jump allowed Juno to start to take off, ready to fly for hours if she had to. Touko lowered her head, using the visor of her cap to block her view.

"I'm... sorry, Cheren. Just know that... I love you. I absolutely love you. I will never stop remembering you or caring about you. I swear on my grave, I will come back." Touko covered her mouth as Juno took off, flying over the railing that led to the ocean.

Cheren placed a hand over his burdened chest. His sharp breathing matched his eyes that were wide open – blurry in vision since the wind Juno had built up knocked off his glasses. Maybe it was time to purchase contacts, like Touko suggested before he started his journey to avoid his glasses slipping or breaking. Likewise, fresh and hot tears contributed to his blurry vision. Cheren was too overwhelmed to care... She was gone, gone for what could be forever. He walked over to the railing, nearly stumbling on his own feet as he did.

He could see the silhouette of her and the Salamence – just a hint visible across the horizon due to the foggy night and Juno's mach speed. Cheren could feel his heart pounding, forcing him to pant in pace to the beating of his overwhelmed heart. His legs gave way, causing him to fall limp against the railing. Tears admitted from his icy eyes, his mouth uttering uncontrolled sobs. Fate had taken someone who was the most precious to him.

The same way fate force Touko to run away from someone who was most precious to her.