Disclaimer- I do not own Pokemon or any of the characters from the series/games and will never claim to own them. However, the plot and Chrys do belong to me.
A/N- Please don't flame me if you don't like the story. If the characters are OOC, that's something that's almost unavoidable as none of the Pokemon characters belong to me, and they never will. Basically, if you don't like what you're reading, stop reading it and hit the back button on your browser. I don't want to hear your fussing just because something isn't to your liking. Fuss to yourself, not me.
Also, please also take note that I honestly never really thought about where this story was taking place, so just think of it as where ever. Thanks and enjoy~
"Excuse me…"
The words came from a very tiny and thin brunette who had just walked up carrying a grocery bag. She didn't look like she could do very much harm to anyone even if she'd wanted to and, therefore, was not perceived as a threat. However, she seemed a tad puzzled at the scene before her. A young man had been staring intently at her Typhlosion and, honestly, it was a little bit upsetting to the little trainer. The young man only looked up at her with an equally puzzled expression.
"Sorry!" She peeped, looking at the Typhlosion suddenly before turning her attention back at him. "No, I didn't mean to bother you. I was just wondering why you were staring at Dimitri like that. But I guess that's silly, isn't it? Because you don't see many Typhlosion in this region, do you?"
No response was given and she quietly sat down on a bench there before pulling food from her bag and handing some of it to the Typhlosion, Dimitri. Dimitri tilted his head at the man and looked between the food he'd been given and the man he'd had speaking with him just moments before. Suddenly he looked at the female trainer and at the food in her hands before nodding his head at the man.
"Oh!" The young woman gasped before laughing a bit. "I think Dimitri wants you to eat with us, too. Here, I'll just move over so you can sit by him. He seems to like you."
She moved over and patted the empty space beside her for him to sit down. After a moment's hesitation, the young man quietly sat down and took some of the food he'd been offered. A few moments passed by in awkward silence before the girl started laughing. She didn't mean to, honestly. It was just her way of overcoming a very awkward situation.
"Sorry," she said, covering her mouth a bit. "I just got a little nervous, is all. I panic a bit when I meet new people and then I start laughing. I probably looked crazy or something just then."
"No, you're fine."
The girl jumped slightly in surprise. She'd almost thought he couldn't speak at all. He'd been so quiet before. She seemed relieved by this and smiled softly before unwrapping her sandwich.
"I'm Chrys Geizler, by the way," she said as she played with the sandwich wrapper. "What's your name?"
"N," the young man responded.
Chrys couldn't help but think that was a strange name for a person, but she wasn't going to ask about it. If it were his real name, asking would make it sound like she was making fun of him and, if it was a nickname, asking would make it sound like she was prying. Brushing the thought off, the small brunette finally started to eat. Only to be interrupted a few moments later by the young man.
"So this is your pokemon?" N asked, looking up at Dimitri, who was happily eating his food. "He's not from this region. Where are you from?"
"Olivine City in the Johto Region." Chrys replied.
The young man didn't respond for a few minutes, like he was trying to think something over. Suddenly, the young brunette felt she'd done something wrong and began to apologize, but she was cut off before she could even get a word out.
"You're traveled a long way," N mused, almost to himself. "Why did you come to Unova?"
"Ah, well…" There was a long pause as the tiny brunette tried to find the best way to put it. "I guess I just wanted to see the pokemon here. And it's not like I really had anything going on back at home."
There was another pause. Chrys still couldn't help but feel like she was saying something wrong. She frowned a bit as she looked down at her feet. If she were offending him somehow, she'd really like to know so she could apologize and try not to do it again.
"S-Sorry!" She said suddenly, looking up at N. "I feel like I'm doing something to upset you. If I'm bothering you at all, you could let me know. You just looked like you were really interested in Dimitri and he seemed like he liked you a lot, so I thought I'd at least talk to you or something. Since Dimitri acted like he trusted you and I assumed you were probably really nice since he usually doesn't let me get near anyone he doesn't trust and stuff. So I thought- Sorry, I'll just leave. Let's go, Dimitri."
The tiny brunette quickly finished her sandwich and stood up to leave when she felt something grab her arm.
"Wait," N said as he stood as well, releasing Chrys' arm when she turned to face him. "I challenge you to a pokemon battle."
Chrys stood there for a moment, shocked by the sudden request. She hadn't been in a pokemon battle in quite a few years and the last thing she wanted was to have one now. She was done with battles and catching pokemon. The only one that mattered was Dimitri and she was quite content with just traveling the world with him.
"I'm sorry," she said simply, pulling her arm back, "but I refuse. I stopped battling years ago and I'm not going to pick it back up again now. Besides, Dimitri is very important to me and I don't want him to get hurt anymore. I hope you understand."
With that said, Dimitri moved next to the tiny brunette and pushed against her before looking back at N, who seemed genuinely surprised by her response. Suddenly, a soft smile spread across his lips before he gave the Typhlosion a long, serious look. There was a moment of confusion as Chrys looked between Dimitri and the young man. She wasn't quite sure what it was about what she'd said that made him smile.
"That's wonderful!" He said suddenly. "The two of you are so in tune. He trusts you just as much as you trust him. If only there were more trainers like you, trainers that refused to make their pokemon suffer anymore. Then I would have no need to change the world. But there aren't. So I'm forced to create a world where pokemon and people are separated."
"But you're wrong." Chrys said, causing N to frown. "There are more trainers like me. In fact, the vast majority of the trainers I've met and battled are just like me. They love and care for their pokemon and their pokemon love and care for them. And, while they may not go to the extent I have and refuse to battle anymore, they still share mutual feelings together with their pokemon. You have to have met someone who feels the same."
"Chrys!"
Both N and Chrys turned to see who'd called out to the young brunette. Touko was rushing toward them, and the look on her face as she got closer was some mix of concern and fury. Chrys looked back at N before taking a step back from him. She wasn't so sure why she hadn't realized it before, but this was the guy Touko had mentioned to her before, the leader of Team Plasma. His words before and his name and how he looked, all of it was exactly as Touko said it would be.
"I see," N said, his voice low. "I thought we could be friends, but I wrong. Even if you don't take your pokemon into battle, you're no better than the rest of them. You won't be part of the future I envision."
"You're an idiot!" Chrys snapped right as Touko came to a halt next to her, pokeball out and ready to battle. "I'm surprised someone as kind and caring as you could be so- So stupid! Touko tells me-! And I've seen it with how you acted with Dimitri-! And he trusts you!"
Dimitri stood up as tall as he could when the tiny brunette mentioned him and made a noise at N. Touko took a step in front of Chrys before getting pushed aside by the young woman and her expression softened and she stepped toward N. He only stood there, looking down at her as she stared up at him. Suddenly, she reached her hand up to brush his cheek.
"Even though you're going about things in all the wrong ways, your heart is still in the right place." She said as he flinched slightly, surprised. "And, honestly, that makes you a good person. And I only hope that one day someone will be able to make you see that and will help you. Though I know it won't be me, I'm sure it will happen. And I'll keep believing that for as long as I have to because there's no way Dimitri would trust you if it wasn't true."
The young man reached up and pushed her hand away before stepping back and turning to run off. The tiny brunette stared after him with a very deep frown on her face, completely forgetting Touko was even there until she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to look at the younger teen, who looked about ready to speak, before cutting her off.
"Touko," she said, "please help him. Don't let him keep walking down the path he's on. There's so much more for him to see, but he's so blinded by his ideas of what a perfect world should be to see that everything is already as it should be."
There was no verbal response from Touko, but Chrys was sure she understood and took her words to heart. And now the only thing the young woman could do was sit back and let this young trainer do everything she could to help a young man who may not even be able to be helped at this point.