This is the sequel to The Perceptionist. This story mostly concentrates on the results of Nil's decision to stay with his seniors… and a few extras.

Shippings: Franticshipping, Mangaquestshipping, Extreme Specialshipping.

I don't own any aspect of Pokémon.

Chapter 1: Birthday Party- Girlfriend

Nil's head hurt.

That is to say that he had a raging, splitting, headache.

He knew the cause. The cause had been bugging him for about three months now.

It was Yellow. She was always in his line of sight, flaunting her pregnancy. He didn't know what her problem was!

Okay… he knew. He probably shouldn't have announced to everyone that she and Red had decided to make a child at the top of a broken Ferris wheel.

But did that mean she had to intentionally go looking for him to hurt him? It didn't matter much anymore. Nil had simply decided that it would be easier to stumble around with his eyes closed all the time.

Nil was now living in the Viridian Gym. After his disastrous attempts in Sinnoh, the region no longer felt like home. Green was nice enough (and tolerant enough) to take him in, although Nil would have much rather preferred to sleep in a house, as opposed to a cold, dark, gym. Nil didn't know if this was a test of his character, or simply something designed to torture him. Oh, well. At least the rot is gone.

Red had been in a very foul mood for the past couple months. It wasn't because he was going to be a father; that particular shock had worn off a long while ago. Nor was it Nil, who seemed like a good enough (if mischievous) person after his views were altered. No, no, it was the fact that his mom and Professor Oak had gone ballistic when they heard that he got a sixteen-year-old pregnant, and the way the two of them seemed out to get him for it.

"Good morning, Red." Yellow sat up in their bed, yawning widely.

Red smiled. Why did he worry about his mom and the Professor? He had Yellow, and she was happy. That was all he really needed.

"I'm going to go downstairs to see what's for breakfast, Yellow. Blue's an excellent cook."

Blue was an excellent cook. For some reason, ever since they found out about the pregnancy, Blue seemed to take on the obligation of feeding and housing them. At first, Red had been slightly suspicious, but Blue was oddly nice, for some reason…

Blue was finally finishing up some omelets. She had decided that for repayment of the photo she took four months ago, she was going to let them stay at her place, no strings attached. Arceus knows that they needed a place to stay: Red's mom wasn't going to let them into the house easily and Yellow's home was with Daisy and Professor Oak…

Blue smiled as Red stumbled down the stairs. "Good morning, Red!"

Red smiled back. "Hi, Blue. Omelets? Thanks…"

Yellow started to come down the stairs, too. "Morning…"

Blue winked at the two. "Hey Yellow, guess what?"

Yellow was still a little groggy. "Huh?"

Blue grinned. "Your favorite person said that he's coming over today."

Yellow didn't get it. "My favorite person is right here…"

Red smiled at Yellow. She was cute when she was tired.

Blue shook her head. "Not Red, silly, Nil!"

Yellow woke up a little more. "Nil? Why would he come here of his own free will? He should know not to bother me or Red by now."

Blue laughed fondly. "Attagirl, Yellow! He said that he needs to talk to Red about something."

Nil tripped as he came into the house. He didn't know where Yellow was, so he couldn't risk opening his eyes. Green followed behind, looking like he was going to burst out laughing.

"Uh… where are… uh…"

Blue pushed a button. "Over here!" came out of the closed closet behind Nil.

Nil turned around quickly and hit his face on the closet door. "OW! That's not funny!"

Blue smiled. Because Nil had only ever been her house with his eyes closed (Yellow having been there the whole time) Nil didn't know where he was going. Even worse, Blue moved the couch cushions and furniture around so that it was never in the same place twice. Nil never knew where an oddly placed coat rack would be.

"Red… could I talk to you… without Yellow… upstairs for a moment?" As good as Blue was, she couldn't move the stairs… but Blue had been getting Green to help her out around the house. Give her three more months, and her walls would be fully movable by themselves.

Red grabbed Nil's arm. "Sure, Nil, whatever you want." He led Nil upstairs into Red and Yellow's room.

Green looked up after them. "He's a lot better when he can't see what I'm thinking. It gives him an omniscient perspective that I think he could do without."

Nil slowly opened his eyes, prepared to close them again, but Red was the only person in the room. "Hah… you should probably get a slightly firmer grip on Yellow… she... hurts me… with her image alone. No one should have that power…"

Red grinned. "Well, given your talent, I'm glad that we can restrain you somehow."

Nil frowned. Blue's corrupting influence was in Red's face. He hoped that Blue didn't alter the 'fighter' too much… "Well, Red, I wanted to talk to you to see if you know a specific trainer."

Red was curious. "Specific trainer? I get challenges all the time. Is that what you mean?"

Nil nodded. "I'm looking for someone important to me, but I don't plan on leaving western Kanto anytime soon. That means I just have to use what's available… namely you."

Red understood. "Okay. Who're you looking for?"

Nil was quiet. "He's slightly shorter than me, with the same hair and brown eyes. He often wears impeccable suits and has a taste for battling that far exceeds my own."

Red shook his head. "No, Nil. I haven't met anyone like that, but I'll tell you if I do."

Nil sighed. "I thought not. He would have gone of the map…" Refusing to explain further, Nil left the room and went out the front door.

"Happy Birthday, Blue!"

It had been a week after Nil had talked with Red when the Johto and Kanto dexholders gathered for Blue's birthday at Green's house. Gold and Crys seemed excited, and Silver was nervous. Red and Yellow were chatting away in a corner with Green, and Nil was sitting in a chair that ostentatiously pointed away from Yellow.

"Thanks everyone! I think I'll open Greenie's present first!"

Green, Red and Yellow came closer to the present circle.

"Hmm… socks, Green? You know that I'll blab all of the secrets that you told me when we were kids if you displease me, right?"

Green blanched. "I'm… sorry… don't talk, please?"

Blue smiled. She still had power over him, even after three months. "Next, Silver!"

Silver sat on a couch, hoping Blue would like it.

"Ooh… look at this… a necklace… with my name on it! Thanks, Silv!"

Silver smiled, but said nothing.

"Alrighty, then. Let's try Gold!"

Gold grinned. Crystal frowned.

"Huh? A Rubik's cube? Not underwear?"

Gold nodded. "I thought I would buy you something intellectual. Girls obviously have minds. I would know, having been one."

Crystal ground her teeth. "Yes, girls have minds. It's more than I can say about common sense for some boys."

"Okay, now Crystal's!"

Blue ripped open the packaging. "Hmm… a book! Nine Hundred Ways to Spend a Vacation… Thanks, Crys! This will be helpful…"

Crys was cheered.

"A double present from Red and Yellow?"

Red and Yellow nodded. "It's from both of us."

Blue opened it up. "Whoa… a new Silph Scope… it's the latest model… Must have been expensive! This is great, guys!"

Green frowned. As if Blue wasn't pesky enough, Red and Yellow had given her special tools?

Blue picked up Nil's gift apprehensively. "What's in here? Is it a bomb?"

Nil looked confused. "What? This is my first time handing somebody a gift, and you think it's a bomb?"

Crystal was staring at Nil funny. "You've never given a present before?"

Nil sighed. "Not for at least four years."

Blue felt a bit of pity. Nil had been on the short end of things, it seemed. She opened the gift. "Uh… what is this exactly?"

It was a water bottle with three buttons on the side.

Nil tilted his head. "This is an infinite cup. Using Quagsire's Water Song and a few other moves, it has several uses. It can never be emptied. The first button changes what's inside to water, the second to Potion, and the third to honey."

The others were looking at the small bottle with shock. Green was the first to speak. "Never can be emptied?"

Nil nodded and frowned. "Yeah, so make sure you don't unplug it and leave it on its side somewhere. You might wake up with your house flooded."

Blue was pressing a few buttons. "Um… Thank you, Nil."

Green and Red were playing a game of chess, and everyone was cheering them on.

As one of Red's rooks took one of Green's knights, the doorbell rang.

Nil stood up. His power to see into others' minds made it so that when he played chess, everyone who went against him lost, but it was entertaining to watch others do it. However, he needed to stretch his legs. "I'll get it."

The game went on until there was a loud squeak coming from the direction of the door. Everyone turned to see Nil backing away from it with a very white face.

Yellow didn't know what to make of it. "Nil, what is it?"

Nil was breathing quickly. "It's her… but it can't be her… the distance alone should have been enough to keep her away!"

Crystal frowned. Nil was never scared… or shocked… or anything else like that. His power to see into human minds was great enough that almost nothing surprised him… so why was he looking like he had seen a ghost? "Nil, what's going on?"

Nil turned to Green, closing one eye to blot out Yellow. "Green… this is your place… where's your back door?"

Green scratched his head. Nil was running away from something? Or someone? That was very unlike Nil, who always tried to solve problems quickly and efficiently so that they never came back. "It's in the kitchen. Why? Who is it at the door?"

The door crashed down, nearly crushing Nil. "OH NO YOU DON'T!"

The Pokédex holders blinked. Nil was being hugged by a girl with large, purple hair and tan skin. Nil was now looking resigned. "…Hello, Iris."

Nil was sitting on a recliner, staring at the ceiling. "Why, why, whyyyyyyyyyyyy…"

The girl, Iris, was sitting next to Blue, chatting. "Well, I come from very far away, and one day, this guy pops up in my house, yelling something about a bulldozer!"

Nil frowned. "I was running away from an accidental Bulldoze move."

Iris continued. "Drayden was at the Gym that day, so I decided to have some fun!"

Nil sighed. "She stole my Pokéball. This is one instance where it's bad to have all six sharing one ball!"

Iris grinned at him. "He chased me into my room and we ran about, and then he kissed me!"

Nil was glaring at her. "I tripped and fell just right."

"Well, after that, we went out for a few weeks."

Nil actually smiled faintly. "That was good, but…"

"Then he ran away, and I never saw him again until today!"

"…she is a little… eccentric."

Blue was smiling. This match-up was going to be easy. "So you're Nil's girlfriend?"

Iris smiled and nodded. "I've been faithful. It's been about a year or two, but I still love him."

Nil groaned. "Iris… sweetie… I'm going to go upstairs for a second."

Iris pointed at Red, apparently not recognizing the champion. "You should go with him."

Red nodded and took Nil to the second floor. "Nil… who is that girl to you?"

Nil grunted. "She's the only girl I ever loved."

Red squinted at Nil. "Shouldn't you be happy, then?"

Nil shook his head. "I do love her, but…"

Red frowned. Nil wasn't usually this reluctant. In fact, Nil had been mostly out-of-character ever since Iris arrived. "What's the problem?"

Nil looked panicky. "Well… you see… my face-reading talents don't work on pregnant girls…"

Red nodded. "I know that. Iris isn't pregnant, or you wouldn't look at her at all."

Nil was annoyed. "Let me finish my sentence. My 'perception' doesn't work on pregnant girls… or Iris."

It was absolutely silent for a second.

"Oh."

"Crystal, could you come upstairs?"

Crys raised an eyebrow. What did Red and Nil need her for? "Coming!"

Blue was curious. What was going on?

"So… you're upset because you don't know how to talk to someone without your ability to help you?" Crys crossed her arms.

Nil nodded. "Until Iris, I never knew what normal was for others. It's like her face doesn't give off anything- no thoughts, no feelings. It's so eerie…"

Crystal frowned. "Well then, this is a perfect opportunity to get to know somebody without your power to help you!"

Nil face-palmed. He should have known better than to talk to Crystal, who always followed convention by the book. He didn't know how to do anything without his power. He needed somebody who didn't care about the means, just the ends. He needed somebody who got entertainment out of chaos, out of things falling apart. He needed… Blue.

That thought was frightening. "Ugh… I fell in love with the only girl my powers don't work with…"

Blue smiled. She had snuck up to the top of the stairs and was eavesdropping. So that's it.

She almost giggled as she crept back down the stairs. This is going to be fun.

Nil, Red, and Crystal came back downstairs, and Nil immediately went to sit by Iris. Iris looked happy. "What was that all about, Nil?"

Nil managed to look bored. "Oh, nothing much."

Blue waved her hand in Nil's direction and he turned his head. Iris, however, was sharp and caught the motion. "Nil, are you going to introduce me to your friends?"

Nil was uncomfortable with the tone. "Ah yes… this is Gold and Crystal… they're together…"

Gold smiled roguishly and Crystal was flustered.

"Here's Red and OW! Yellow… she's pregnant with Red's child…"

Iris looked sly. "You still have that problem with pregnancy?"

Nil nodded, holding his head. "Yeah… this is Green, leader of Viridian gym…"

Green didn't even look up from the food he was now eating.

"Silver, a Pokédex holder from Johto…"

Silver was looking back and forth between Nil and Iris.

"And Blue… it's her birthday…"

Nil looked away, and then quickly looked back at Blue's face. Wait… is she serious… she knows? Oh Shuppet, please don't do it, Blue!

Blue smirked and did it anyways. "You haven't seen Nil for a couple of years, huh? Well, why don't you get reacquainted? Green's room is upstairs, the first door on the right. It should be good for an extended discussion."

Green glared at her. "Pesky woman."

Nil was panicking inside. He didn't know what to do… all his life his power had been ever-present. Reading minds was something that came naturally to him. What was he going to do with Iris, when he really didn't know what she wanted?

Iris was delighted. "Thanks, Blue! Come on Nil, let's go!"

She raced up the stairs, holding Nil's hand and pulling him along.

Yellow was suspicious. "Blue… you're trying to get them together, right? If Nil looks into Iris' mind and doesn't like what he sees, it's up to him whether he gets into a relationship or not, isn't it?"

Blue smiled. "Didn't you notice that I left earlier? Nil said upstairs that he fell in love with the only girl his powers didn't work for!"

Red was a bit perplexed that Blue had eavesdropped. "There's one other thing, Blue."

Blue turned towards Red. "And what is that, exactly?"

Red looked questioningly at her. "If they do end up together, what will Nil do when Iris is pregnant? You see what happens when he looks at Yellow, and he doesn't even have to look at her all the time! What will he be like during those nine months where he has to stay with Iris?"

Gold frowned. "His ability seems to prevent him from fathering any children. It doesn't seem natural, for some reason."

Nil was a little nervous, which seemed impossible. After all, embarrassment, nervousness, and anger were the three big emotions that Nil deemed unproductive. When faced with any of these, he just simply channeled the emotion into something else: strength, power, brilliance, whatever it may be. However, he simply didn't know what it was he should channel it into with Iris.

"So… Iris… how is Opelucid City?"

"It's about the same… but you know Opelucid. It's always bustling and full of music…"

Nil smiled. "Yeah. Such music…"

"Drayden keeps bugging me about the Gym, but I manage to make excuses most of the time."

"Oh? Is it good for a Gym leader to shirk from her duties?"

Iris poked Nil. "Is it good for a boyfriend to run away from his?"

Nil grimaced. "I'm sorry, Iris. It's just… at the time… I… I just couldn't stay," he finished lamely.

Iris wasn't pleased. "Oh, really. What on Earth was so important that you couldn't stay with me?"

Nil's head filled with memories of the Pokédex, the Hall of Origin, the rot, catching Dialga, and more. "Well…"

Everyone downstairs was playing a game called 'Loaded Questions,' which Blue had bought for a previous Pokédex holders' reunion.

Green frowned at the answers that he got. "Who is your favorite person? 'Yellow.' That'd be Red's… 'Red.' Yellow. 'Gold'… that's Crys' answer. 'DJ Mary'…"

Crys whomped Gold.

"…Gold's obviously. 'Blue'… That's Silver's… 'Green?' Blue's the only one left…"

Silver glanced at Blue. "Heh?"

Blue smirked. "You're my favorite because you do whatever I want."

Green sighed. Blackmail just wasn't fair. "Okay. I win this round. Red's turn to guess."

"…What was the rot exactly?"

Nil shuddered at the memory of the disease. "It was a peculiar thing that ate away at my body… but it went unnoticed for the longest time. I'm not entirely sure what it was. I'm just glad it's gone, or I'd be dead."

Iris looked concerned. "I don't want you to die! Please don't die!"

Nil was slightly confused. "The rot is gone. It's no longer hurting me…"

Iris hugged him. "Yeah, but I don't want you to die ever. If you die, I'm going to kill you!"

Nil didn't know how to handle this. It'd be so much easier if I could understand what she was thinking… "Okay, Iris. I'm not going to die anytime soon... so please don't kill me."

"Got any threes?"

"Go fish."

Silver was bored. They were playing Go Fish, for crying out loud! The party had to be over sometime… "Hey, Blue. What are you doing?"

Blue seemed whimsical. "Come here and put these on." She held out her new Silph Scope.

Silver put them on and gasped. He could see through the walls! "What in the world? What's this?"

Blue giggled. "This is the X-ray function. It doesn't really use X-rays, but the word 'X-ray' is cool, so that's what I call it." She pointed Silver's head upwards. "Look."

Silver could now see Iris hugging Nil and… crying? "Blue, I think that's a really private moment, and I'm not really interested in this guy…"

Blue smacked the back of Silver's head. "What do you mean you're not interested? I saw the looks you were giving those two!"

Silver inwardly cringed. "I was just wondering how a logical, methodical, near-omnipotent guy could get with an energetic, spontaneous, emotional girl like her."

Gold turned to Silver when he heard him rattle off a whole bunch of words. "Whoa, dude. That has got to be the longest thing I've ever heard you say."

"You caught Dialga?"

"Yes, for the umpteenth time. I caught Dialga."

Iris looked deeply into Nil's eyes. "How strong are you?"

Nil scrunched his face up. "That guy, Red?"

"Yeah?"

"He's champion of two regions, and I'm his match."

Iris fell over. Her boyfriend was strong! "You can defeat champions?"

Nil was amused by her behavior. "Red, sometimes. Definitely Steven, Wallace, or Alder. I don't know about Cynthia."

Iris twitched peculiarly. "Wanna battle?"

"Only if you do…"

Yellow was confused. How'd this happen? "Hey… why…?"

The other dexholders didn't answer. They honestly didn't know why Iris and Nil were battling.

"Go, Fiery!" The Infernape popped out.

"Go, Haxorus!"

Green flinched. He had never seen this Pokémon before. It was scary.

Red was muttering. "One-on-one battle, huh? I wonder who's going to win…"

"Haxorus, Dragon Tail!"

The Haxorus whipped its tail really quickly, and Fiery went back into the Pokéball.

Nil was bewildered. "Huh?"

Iris smiled. "Dragon Tail is a move that switches out the opponent's Pokémon for them!"

Nil grinned. "Alright, take this!"

He sent out Dialga.

Iris hadn't really believed that her lover had caught Dialga until now. She was frozen in place. It's so big…

"Dialga, Draco Meteor!"

Meteors crashed down. Haxorus instantly fainted.

"Legendaries are cheap!"

"You said any Pokémon I want. Dialga is a Pokémon!"

"I didn't really think you caught it, though!"

"Him. Dialga is male."

"Whatever!"

Crystal didn't know what was going on. "Excuse me, but why'd you battle in the first place?"

Iris smacked her forehead. "He said he could beat champions… and I didn't believe him!"

"Didn't use my ability, though. That's weird…" Red mumbled.

Iris looked at him strangely. "Ability? Nil, what's he talking about?"

Nil shook his head. "I have no clue…"

A girl with brown-black hair and violet eyes sat on the hill behind Green's house, watching everything with binoculars. "So this is Iris…"

A boy walked up to her. He was wearing a very neat suit. "What do you think of her?"

The girl made a pff sound. "She probably would be the only flaw in the plan. From the looks of it, Nil doesn't know what she's thinking."

The boy started. "She's pregnant?"

The girl shook her head. "No. Apparently, Nil's ability simply doesn't affect her. She's what we would call 'normal' to him."

"And the other one, this 'Yellow?'"

"She's pregnant. I know that for sure. However, given what Nil can do, he probably has her power already, giving him the ability to read both humans' and Pokémon's minds."

"How do we know that Nil will help us? He's certainly strong enough that alone we couldn't beat him."

The girl smiled. "But we're not alone. We have each other. We can take him. Especially after our trip to Sinnoh."

First chapter, done!

This was a difficult chapter to write, simply because I wanted to incorporate so much.

I don't know what Iris is like in Pokémon Special, and frankly, I don't care.

Hope you enjoyed!