Author's Note:
My first proper fanfiction story :') I know there's a lot of Pokemon fanfic out there, so mine may not get noticed, but I thought I'd give it a go!
This is an AU where the main female character of Pokemon Black/White joins Ghetsis in Team Plasma, and where N was never brought up by Ghetsis at all. They do have some connections, though, in the past. There are other things too, like the reigning Sinnoh Champion (DPP female protagonist) joining the party. She is named Sky in this story.
Just a little more info before you gave it a read. I'm labelled it a T because of harsh language, but there may be some stuff in the future that would be regarded as M. I'll be sure to note it in the chapter if there is!
Thanks for reading~

Cheren was tired of this pretending.

He wanted his friend back. His childhood friend, the one who had laughed with him and cried with him and explored with him. He would always have Bianca, he supposed, but that wasn't enough. He wanted it to be the same as it had been when they were young. He didn't want to fake his smiles anymore. He didn't want to pretend that everything was okay without her.

He stared up at the castle of the Champion, the one that had appeared when Touko had accepted Ghetsis's offer of creating a free world for Pokemon. Cheren had begged his friend not to go, but go she had, following Ghetsis without looking back.

Since then, he'd only seen her twice and talked to her once. Bianca had told him that she'd seen her four times, but three out of four of those times she had acted distant, cold.

This was not the Touko that the two friends had known. This Touko was different. She was no longer bright and cheerful and smiling. And that hurt Cheren more than anything.

"Staring won't solve anything."

A green-haired boy spoke from the shadows, and Cheren turned sharply to see N looking at him, a sad smile on his face. "She's not coming back," N told him.

"You don't know that." Cheren returned his gaze to the majestic piece of architecture before him; he had to admire Ghetsis's taste, even if he was an evil son of a bitch.

"Ghetsis will not let her go. She is powerful, and she has joined him. Even if she wanted to, she could no longer leave." N folded his muscled arms, his voice firm in his belief. "I know you want her back. I know you and Bianca both do. But there is nothing you can do."

Cheren snarled. "You don't know that," he hissed, and spun on his heel, walking back down Victory Road, leaving Touko behind.

"I do. You know I do. I have spent time when Ghetsis before, Cheren. I know how he thinks. And knowing Touko... well, she won't give up her dream of letting Pokemon be free."

He was right. And Cheren hated to admit it. A vacuum seemed to build up inside his chest, sucking everything in so tight that Cheren felt like he was choking. "I wish she would come home," he whispered.

"So do I," N said.

Cheren snorted. "You didn't even know her. You only met her a few months ago, when she was travelling through Unova's wilderness and found you half-naked and hanging with Pokemon. You didn't even like her."

"That was then." Cheren heard the green-haired boy accelerate his footsteps, coming to walk beside Cheren. "I did not realise who she really was. What kind of person she was."

"Yeah?" Cheren snapped. He stopped in his tracks, spun around, and gestured wildly at the castle. "Did you realise she was this kind of person?"

"She is still your friend, Cheren. She is simply... looking for a way to achieve her dream."

"We could have helped her do that!" Cheren shouted, and a few Pidgey in a nearby tree fluttered off in panic. He lowered his voice. "Bianca and I... we could have helped her."

The two men lapsed into a silence that lasted the majority of the duration of their walk back to Opelucid City. Cheren walked at a furious, brisk pace, while the older boy's was more leisured, taking time to converse with the Pokemon.

When they finally reached the end of Victory Road, N said distractedly, "Ghetsis and Touko don't get along well."

Cheren's head whipped around. "What?"

"I said-"

"I heard what you said!" Cheren snapped impatiently. "How do you know that?"

"The Pokemon said so." N looked up and waved at a passing Braviary. Cheren could have sworn that it waved back. "They said that Sky comes to Victory Road to train sometimes, and then Ghetsis comes by to bring her back to the castle. Usually, their conversations end in arguments."

The dark haired boy had to admit: N's ability to talk to Pokemon was useful. "What do they talk about?"

N shrugged. "They said that by the time anything interesting would have cropped up, most of them were already out of the area. They don't like arguments, and they hate Ghetsis. Especially when he turns up with another Sage."

Cheren glared at N. "Well, was there anything else that they can remember about their conversations?"

"Yeah," N said. "Something about finding an stone? A colour rock or something? Light stone?"

Cheren's blood ran cold, and he called his Altaria out of its Pokeball. "Take me to Nacrene City," he commanded. Altaria gave a shrill call, and took to the sky.

"Hey!" N shouted. "What are you doing?"

"Getting that stone!" Cheren yelled back, and Altaria raced away to central Unova. Hopefully Cheren could get there before Ghetsis did.

It was raining, and for the first time in her life, Touko welcomed it.

This, at least, would delay Ghetsis's plans.

She did support Ghetsis, she supposed, in some things. But in others...

Touko had been the only one Ghetsis had confided his true plan to, and what a mistake that had been. Touko did not fully support him yet; she had joined him because she wanted Pokemon to be free and liberated. But that did not mean stealing Trainers' Pokemon and releasing them without the Trainers' consents. She only wished that Pokemon could be free, without having to obey their owner's every command. If the Pokemon wanted to stay with its Trainer, so be it.

However, when she realised early on that that meant releasing Pokemon from Pokeballs, she could hardly object to Team Plasma's ways, as much as she disapproved.

Haxorus smashed the rock closest to him, sensing his owner's irritation. They were once again in Victory Road, but not training, exactly. Just... staying. When Touko had seen Cheren and N appear on the road to Ghetsis's castle, she had frozen in horror. Surely they were not going to go to the castle?

She needn't have worried. They only stood on the road, conversing for a few minutes, before they retreated back down.

"Give the poor stones a break," a familiar voice said. It came from behind her, and Touko closed her eyes, hanging onto that lilting accent.

"N," she acknowledged. So much for not needing to worry about him. She did not turn around and face him. She could not bear to.

"Touko," he sighed. "What are you doing?"

"Standing."

"I can see that." There was a pause, during which time Touko felt colder and colder. "Why won't you look at me?"

"Perhaps I don't want to see your horrid face." Touko sensed rather than saw the older boy's smile. He knew she was just kidding. Plus, N hardly had a horrid face. It was actually quite a nice one.

"How are you doing?"

"I'd be better if you weren't here."

"Is that because you don't like me, or because you feel guilty?"

She stiffened, fighting the urge to turn and look at her green-haired friend. "I have nothing to be guilty for."

"Oh, really?" N's voice was oddly harsh. "What about Cheren? Bianca? Your parents? How about your brother and-"

"Stop," Touko snapped, and finally she turned around to face him.

He was as beautiful as ever. His skin looked pale in the cave light, and his blue eyes shone out at her. Her heart constricted. Ever since she had first saw him, she had felt that N had a kind of unique, ethereal beauty. He had a certain aura about him that was so different from anyone else.

"It's good to see your face, Touko." N smiled gently at her. "I haven't seen you in a while."

Touko folded her arms. "What do you want, N?"

For the first time, N looked genuinely hurt. "I just wanted to see you, Touko. You must know Cheren and Bianca miss you. Why don't you ever visit?" There was the sound of agitation in his voice. He ran a hand through his hair, looking frustrated. "We all miss you Touko. Why would you choose this?"

"You know why," she said quietly. "You need to leave, N. I'm sorry."

"I'm not going anywhere," N said. He sat down on a nearby rock, one large enough to support him.

"Yes, you are." She marched over and gripped his upper arm, glaring at him. He looked at her in shock. "Come on."

N rose to his feet, his expression hardening into ice.

"I'm sorry," she whispered to him as she pretended to push him. "But I think the Shadow Triad are watching."

Her friend stiffened. "Fine," he snapped. "God, and I thought we were friends." He spun on his heel and left, the set of his shoulders angry. It took Touko a moment to realise that he was just acting.

Touko sat down on the rock that N had just vacated. She pressed a palm to her aching head, trying not to think too much about N and Cheren and Bianca and everyone else.

A slow clapping filled the cave, and Touko looked up slowly. "You impress me, Touko," Ghetsis said. "I thought you'd maybe leave after seeing N, but you didn't. I appreciate your loyalty."

Touko stood, bowing her head to the most powerful Sage of Team Plasma. He smiled, his beautiful cloak shifting and shimmering. "I would never dream of leaving, Lord Ghetsis," she said.

"You keep telling yourself that." Ghetsis smiled again, more sharply than before.

Touko smiled a razor smile back. "I will."

"In the meantime, tell me everything you know about Sinnoh's champion." Ghetsis pressed his hands together in front of him. "She has been rather bothersome to my operations in Castelia. Her, and that infuriating gym leader Burke."

Despite being distracted by the surprise she felt at Ghetsis's question, she did think back to when she had been bothersome to Ghetsis, when she was going for her third badge. She remembered Bianca's Pokemon being stolen, encountering a Dragon-type trainer named Iris, and Burke. And Cheren, too.

"Are you referring to Champion Sky?" she asked Ghetsis softly.

"That's the one."

"I don't know much. I know she defeated Cynthia to become Champion, has a legendary Pokemon in her team, and likes to travel the world with her friend Lucas." If Touko had perhaps been paying attention to her elder, she might have noticed the glimmer of greed in his eye at the mention of a legendary Pokemon.

"Lucas..." Ghetsis mused. "I know of him. The famous Pokemon researcher, am I right? Took over Rowan's spot when he retired?"

"I think so." Touko glanced at the pale haired man, wondering what his interest was in the boy. "What has she done to piss you off?"

"The girl destroyed our facilities in Castelia, on the edge of the city, near Route 4. The most vexing thing about it was that nobody knew about that facility except high ranking Team Plasma officials, like you and I."

Touko did indeed know about that facility, and was indeed surprised that the Champion had discovered it so quickly. "I guess she's Champion for a reason." Touko shrugged.

Ghetsis snarled. "I will not have Team Plasma falling like Team Galactic! It will not happen! I refuse to lose to some petty Trainer." He continued to mutter to himself, his eyes glowing with anger.

"Are you all right?" Touko asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Touko, I want you to go and find as much information as you can on this girl, Sky. Everything." Ghetsis's eerie red eyes bore into her, and she fought the urge to flinch.

Touko did not want to be a stalker, but she was a part of Team Plasma, so stalking she would do.

"The situation at Nacrene City should distract the Champion from noticing you," Ghetsis said.

"'The situation'?" Touko quoted. She frowned, her brow furrowing. "What situation?"

"Nothing, really. Just some inconvenient Trainers getting in the way. They'll be dealt with soon." Ghetsis waved a dismissive hand and walked back up the route to the castle as Touko felt a shiver travel up her spine. These Trainers... no, surely not? Cheren wouldn't...

Of course he would, Touko realised. It was exactly his thing. And because of that, he could get injured, or even... die.

Touko swallowed against her suddenly dry throat. She found it much harder to focus on her task after that.