I can't seem to make anything simple these days. Oi. Oh well, I can play with this as much as I please, that means. This is the companion to "Uninvited", a bit more detailed as I'm randomly more comfortable in Touko's head than N's at the moment. That will likely change as time goes on. This one could be longer than the other one somehow, probably because I'm writing in two different perspectives here. Touko'll be in third person while N... is probably going to be primarily first person. Which'll be a fun challenge.

"...the hell was his problem?" Cheren asked, huffing angrily at the retreating back of the strange older boy. Shoving the red rimmed glasses back up the bridge of his nose, he frowned at the expression on his childhood friend's face. "...Tou?" He asked carefully, remembering the last time he'd seen such an intense, focused and distant look on the pretty brunette's face and not liking what it implied. That guy's nothing but trouble. She knows it and she's already thinking about how to either fix him, or... I don't know. He didn't know what that guy's damage was, or what he had planned... but one thing Cheren did know?

There was no way in hell he was going to let that guy anywhere near Bel or Touko, not if he could help it.

A moment later, she blinked and smiled again. The shadows in her eyes and face magically vanishing as if they were never there. "Huh? Oh, yeah. No clue what's up with that guy... N, right? He did say his name was N, right, Cheren?" Her voice was chipper, too chipper and her body language didn't exactly go back to normal either, still on guard as it had been the moment that her eyes had met that stranger's. Touko listened idly to her friend's rant on how lunatics should be locked up for their own safety as she gathered her own thoughts about this mysterious 'N' person.

He had that kind of presence that you couldn't help but be drawn to. The young brunette decided after a moment. A special 'something' that all fairytale heroes and even villains had that made them standout from normal people, that made them positively shine. The stuff that a lot of girls wished for when they thought of a handsome knight in shining armor charging forward on the legendary Reshirom, the Hero of Unova coming to collect and whisk them away like a princess...

Touko was a little too old for princess fantasies, thank you very much.

It wasn't... it wasn't that he was remarkable looking that put her on guard, she'd be totally honest about that one; the boy was fine looking. His parents had been totally generous in the hot looks department, they had to have been supermodels or something equally as awesome. He was ridiculously tall too, maybe his father was an athelete of some sort? Maybe a Pokethlon star, that'd be totally awesome and would explain it. I mean, I'm kinda tall for a girl, and my forehead barely reaches over his shoulders!

And... it wasn't that he was weird and kind awkward, like he knew he didn't fit into the crowd but was trying to anyways or the formal, almost brokenly rushed manner of speaking, the way he would look fearlessly into her eyes one moment and suddenly refuse to look away from the cube he was fiddling with on its chain the next... there were just too many signs for her to ignore.

Too many signs of someone not quite right.

It was the way he'd looked at her before that, when their eyes had first met in the crowd. The intense surprise that had turned into an almost chillingly calculating look, that was what bothered her the most.

Get a grip, 'ko, it's not like this is the first guy you've seen with a probably messed up family life that's made him weirder than hell. She could use Bel as an example for that one, a repressed mother who quietly, subtly encouraged her daughter's independence and defied the wishes of her control-freak, overprotective father... no wonder the blonde tended to flinch and jump at shadows at times.

As for Cheren, she watched as he muttered to himself, rummaging through his bag to find something he'd apparently meant to give her. Her brow furrowed a little as he searched through another compartment in his backpack.

Well... Cheren was Cheren, and she had no choice but to love her often cranky friend, even if she wondered what it was he was trying to prove so hard that it had his temper on a damn short leash most of the time.

Boys, never gonna understand 'em. Touko thought to herself, a grin on her face at the thought as she and Cheren headed north toward Route 2. She was looking forward to catching some more Pokemon to build her team, even if she wasn't quite sure what kind of strategy or 'ideal' Pokemon she wanted yet. Hopefully Bel would catch up to them soon, she was missing the squabbling between the two like she didn't think she ever would.

"...hey, Touko?"

"What's up?" She looked up from her town map, noticing the oddly tense look on her friend's face, frowning at him in concern. "You okay?" Cheren pointed at the grass behind her, causing the leggy brunette to turn around and follow his finger to a pair of glowing eyes in the shadows.

"You wanna take it or should I?" He asked cautiously, watching as the slender, green eyed feline slowly stalked towards them. His expression was calculating as he aimed his Pokedex out of it, getting the information ahead of time and comparing it with the team he current had to see how it would fit in.

...hey, waitasec... Touko's eyes narrowed slightly as she stepped forward, watching the slow, slinking movements of the purple furred cat as it came closer and closer. "...Cheren, that's N's Purrloin, remember? I fought it not even three hours ago." Confusion mixed with concern flickered across her face. That guy, weird as he was, didn't seem like the type who'd just out and out ditch a Pokemon, he even called them his friends.

...but why abandon a friend like this?

The black haired boy did not look pleased at the sound of the weirdo's name coming out of her mouth, frowning harder at the cat Pokemon as it approached. His hand went for Tepig's pokeball. "Looks like he ditched it," Echoing her own thoughts aloud, Cheren prepared himself for a potential battle. There was heavy disapproval in the teenager's voice as he edged closer to her side. "Want me to take care of it?"

Green eyes met clear blue and held, Touko staring down the headstrong feline for a long, long time before she finally responded. Poor guy, you're looking for N, aren't you? You want your friend back. "No," She shook her head, reaching for Snivy's ball at her and glancing to him with a grim look on her face. "Call me crazy, but... I have a feeling this guy's fate and mine are connected somehow."

Somehow, meaning that our lives just got totally turned upside down by the appearance of one very weird, very troubled teenager named N. The blue eyed girl thought to herself, adjusting the brim on her hat and spreading her legs shoulder width apart to ground herself. "Alright, Purrloin, I accept. Let's do this, Snivy!"