So, this is new! And about 2,000 words longer than usual...

Anyways, this story, as the summary stated, is a collection of rarepair oneshots. I'll mostly be updating this when I have writer's block and need something to rid me of it (as I did with this chapter), or if I really feel like writing a certain pair that needs more love.

Please note, some of these rarepairs are going to be same-sex. While I won't be writing anything explicit (hence the rating of T), there may be some slight language at times. I'll post a warning at the beginning of any same-sex chapters for those who would rather not read them. There will also likely be cross-canon ships, so if for some reason you have a problem with that, then you can wait for the next chapter to start reading again.

Now, without further ado, here is our first rarepair, VoidCube (Rosa x N)!


The large wooden door creaked open as Rosa pushed it, allowing her into the musty room she had grown to be familiar with. Everything in here was the same as it was before, but something was still clearly wrong. Her friend, someone who had saved her life before, was doing something she would not in a million years expect.

That was because there, in the middle of the old Team Plasma throne room, N was crying on the ground with a crumpled piece of paper in his hand. He glanced up at her, realizing that she was standing right in front of him, and wiped his eyes with his sleeve, taking deep breaths as she moved towards him.

"Rosa. I-I wasn't expecting you," he said plainly, his voice thick and wavering. As close as she was now, she could see that the areas around his eyes were puffy, as though he'd been crying for a while. He cleared his throat before speaking again. "I apologize for my current state."

While she was not expecting to see him like this, that didn't mean he had to apologize and it certainly didn't lessen her concern. "N, what's wrong? Did something happen?" Two vague questions, one after the other. She had no idea how or even if he would answer them, but simply seeing him in enough pain as to cry made her sad as well. Because even though it was a while ago and he was older than her by a good few years- damn it, she had feelings festering for him ever since he saved her from that kyurem's glaciate. Seeing him in this much pain did not do anything good for her.

"It's. . . nothing." His tone suggested otherwise, and Rosa could see in his eyes that he was lying, even though he was doing his best to not make eye contact. She kneeled down on the floor next to him, gently draping an arm around his shoulders even though she knew he preferred no physical contact. This was a time where he needed comfort, and this was how she was going to provide it.

"I think we both know that's not true." She spoke gently, in a voice that could calm even her temperamental hydreigon when it was on a rage. "You know you can talk to me, right? We've been friends for a while. You can tell me anything you want or need to." And this was true; she would be more than happy to alleviate his stress in any way possible, whether it be by talking or simply sitting in silence.

He took a shuddering breath, leaning into her slightly, much to her surprise. Ever since she had known him, he had never wanted to embrace or touch her in a way other than shaking hands. For him to initiate contact like this was new territory for her, and probably him as well. "You remember how I told you about the events that transpired two years ago."

Two years ago? Right, the initial takedown of Team Plasma. Still, what did that have to do with him crying? "Yes, I do."

"You also remember how I talked of finding a certain trainer."

Well, he had only brought the trainer up a couple of times, and the mentionings were very far apart as well. He never really elaborated much about the trainer. "Yes. Did you end up finding the trainer like you said you would?"

He tilted his head towards the ground, his long green ponytail brushing up against her. "Not. . .not quite." There was silence from him for a long moment, and Rosa was afraid he was shutting down again. "Two years ago, this trainer helped me see the error in my ways. Her pokémon spoke to me every time we met, telling me how much they loved her and how much she cared for them. She was certainly different than others I had met, but in what I think now was a good way."

Oh. He had a "she" in his life already, one that he had ties with previously. To prevent her mind from wrapping too much around this new information, she nodded. "Go on."

"I think you and her would get along nicely, though she was always very headstrong and occasionally too bold for her own good. She was the one to take down Team Plasma and my f- Ghetsis," he corrected himself, having stopped calling that man his father a while ago. "She and her two friends were so kind to one another, it was really something I hadn't seen before. When I met her, I had only just started venturing out into the real world, believing that all humans mistreated pokémon. She was the first one who proved otherwise.

"I remember when I had told her I was the king of Team Plasma." His voice took on a nostalgic undertone, and she listened carefully, drinking in his words. "I had asked her to come on the ferris wheel in Nimbasa City so we could find the Team Plasma grunts easier. She agreed, and it was there that I broke the news to her.

"She didn't take it very well. At first she took it in silence- something so unlike her that it appalled me. Then, once my words sank in, she started becoming angry, asking why I had bothered to become close to her as a friend only to betray her." He shook his head, the brim of his hat shielding his eyes. "That was the first time a human referred to me as a friend."

The light that had been filtering into the room was clouded momentarily, the sun blocked for a few seconds before the light returned, shining on both of them. "It must've been awful to be yelled at for something you believe in," Rosa sympathised. She had personal experience with this, having been reprimanded by Hugh several times over for believing that N could love her. And even though it looked like he had been right all along, she still felt that they had been similar experiences.

N continued on, his voice slowly becoming stronger. "It was, but I didn't think much of it back then. I found her a worthy rival in battle, and vowed to myself that I wouldn't let her get in the way of Team Plasma's ideals. I believed those ideals to be truths back then, truths that would benefit everyone. Now I know that they did nothing but shatter too many bonds between friends.

"After she had defeated Ghetsis and had the old champion and one of her friends take him to prison, I flew off on Zekrom after she and I. . .traded some words. That was the last I saw of her for a long time, but I always heard from Zekrom that Reshiram, who had chosen her as its hero, was always only a short distance away. I didn't want to cross paths with her, worried that she might try to have me arrested as well. So each time Zekrom alerted me that they were close, I hid. Looking back on it now, it was one of the worst decisions of my life."

His speech slowed down from its usual fast speed to one where she didn't have to strain to hear every word. "Zekrom stopped sensing Reshiram for a month or so, so I decided to come back to Unova. Then, after I had met you, I started thinking about her more and more. You. . . remind me of her, somehow."

This was news to her. From N's description of this trainer, it seemed like they wouldn't have a lot in common. For one, Rosa wouldn't exactly call herself brave. Any time she was facing Team Plasma, even the grunts, she'd get butterfrees in her stomach that didn't subside until hours later. She couldn't even imagine taking down Ghetsis without the help of someone else. It was only because N was there in Giant Chasm that she was able to defeat the black kyurem. "You said recently that you wanted to try to find her, right?" she recalled from one of their conversations a month or so ago.

"Yes. Being in your presence more often made me wonder where she was and what she had been doing. I tried contacting her friends, but only one of them responded. I'm afraid the other is still wary of me from my old affiliation with Team Plasma. Her friend that talked to me, though, told me that the trainer had come looking for me immediately after beating the league. I think her name is Bianca?"

Bianca? He couldn't mean Professor Juniper's assistant, could he? "I think I know her! Kind of short, fluffy blonde hair?"

Even though she couldn't see his face, she could tell that he was kind of surprised. "Yes, that's her. How do you know her?"

"She's Professor Juniper's assistant. She gave me my serperior back when it was a snivy." A sudden memory from back in Aspertia City captured her thoughts. "Does this mean you know Cheren, too?"

"Yes. They were both H- the trainer's friends." Rosa pretended not to noticed his slip-up as he continued. "What's Cheren up to nowadays?"

She grinned to herself, remembering her first gym battle against him. "He's the gym leader of Aspertia City as well as a teacher. He and Bianca said that they hadn't seen each other in two years when they saw each other outside of his gym. I wonder why they didn't remain in contact?"

N muttered something under his breath that she couldn't make out. "So, a gym leader and a teacher? I thought he might do something like that. He wouldn't talk to me when I called, but like I said, Bianca did. In addition to what she had told me about the trainer coming to look for me, she said that neither of them had seen her in those two years."

"Two years without seeing your friend must be awful," she commented, still somewhat confused as to what all of this had to do with his tears. However, she knew him, so she knew that it must all be connected in some way.

"It was. But once Bianca had given me this information, I started looking for the trainer even though Zekrom hadn't sensed Reshiram in a while. I figured that she might still be out there somewhere in Unova, like she had come back and given up on finding me.

"I didn't find her, and the only breaks I gave myself were to spend time with you." That sentence made her heart flutter. He actually wanted to spend time with her? "You were my one reprieve of driving myself mad. I had started to accept that I wouldn't find the trainer, even stopping in Nuvema Town, her home town, to speak with her mother. She was surprised to see me, saying that her daughter was out in another region looking for me. Even she hadn't heard from the trainer in those two years." He tilted his head back to look up at her. "She did mention, however, that another girl that looked kind of like her daughter stopped in. She said that she's friends with the girl's mother, who lives in Aspertia City. That wouldn't happen to be you she met, would it?"

It took her a moment to recall these events. It hit her as she remembered the nice lady in Nuvema Town who mistook her for someone else at first, asking if she had found N yet. How had she not connected those dots earlier into his story? "Yeah, that was me," she told him with a small smile. "I almost forgot about my first conversation with her."

N jumped right back into his story. "Two days ago. . . Bianca called me. I was excited to hear from her; I thought she had found the trainer."

"Did she?" Rosa hated interrupting, but she was eager for this story to have a happy ending for him.

The waver in his voice returned, as though he were on the verge of crying again. "Yes. She and Cheren both found her in Chargestone Cave. They had tracked her cross-transceiver signal to there." She was about to express how glad she was that his friend was found, but he continued on, his voice heavy with sorrow. "They found her d-dead."

This news broke into her like a knife. No wonder he had been crying, if one of his friends was found dead after two years. She couldn't even say anything, just held him tighter as tears formed in her eyes as well.

"I-I didn't get to tell her goodbye," he cried out, tears streaming down his face once more. "A-and the worst part is, G-ghetsis killed her." Oh. Oh, no. The Shadow Triad had said that Ghetsis had a mental breakdown, that he wasn't a threat to Unova anymore.

Then again, they said to Unova, not the trainer that had taken him down in the first place.

"N, I'm so sorry," she murmured, burying her face in his shoulder. "That must've been awful to find out."

He made a sound almost equivalent to a whimper before speaking again. "S-she probably thought I was running from her, that I h-hated her. I didn't hate her, Rosa. She w-was one of my only human f-friends. She d-didn't know that. A-and now I can't tell her." His tears were coming faster and easier now, and she could see the fresh pain in his face as she shifted in her arms, turning to face her and tightening his grip on her. Now it was his turn to bury his face in her shoulder. "It's m-my fault, Rosa. It's my fault she's dead."

"No, it's not. How could you say that?" It was bad enough that his friend was dead, how could he be blaming himself for it?

"I was the one who told her about being the leader of Team Plasma. That was what brought her to bring down Ghetsis, which caused his rage. If only anyone else had done it-" he cut himself off with a shake of his head. "No. I wouldn't wish it on anyone. I just- I just wish she would've known how much she changed me. Because I have changed from her actions."

This trainer was sounding more and more like an old flame, but Rosa knew better than to question him about it. Instead, she just let him vent.

His voice grew stronger with every sentence, though devoid of almost all emotion. "There was so much about her that changed me. . . she made me see that no truths or ideals applied to everyone, and no one person's were correct. She made me see so much, and she probably didn't even know it. And now she won't."

The sheer amount of heartbreak in his voice terrified her, whether this trainer was just a friend or not. He sounded so torn up about her death, and she felt so bad that he was feeling that way. "Can you tell me her name?" she requested quietly, wanting to at least know the name of the girl who turned her crush into the wonderful person he was today.

"Hilda. Hilda Shiro. Beautiful name, isn't it?" He let out a dry, humorless laugh. "She was beautiful in every way. I didn't know too much about emotion back then, but now that I do, I know that even though she was beautiful and smart and kind and an amazing friend, she was only that. I don't think our friendship would've ever progressed into an actual relationship if we had found each other, and I'm alright with that. I just never thought I would lose a human friend so early."

"Nobody could've imagined that something like this would happen," she reminded him gently. A small part of her was revelling in the fact that he hadn't liked Hilda in the way she liked him, but she stamped down that part for later. Now was not the time for that; now was the time for helping her friend with his grief.

His silence spoke louder than his words had as he separated himself from her. "Can we talk about something else now?" he asked in a small voice, trying to subtly shove the paper he had in his hands into his pocket without alerting her. She noticed, but didn't say anything about it. Some things were best left private.

"Of course. What do you want to talk about?" There was a wide range of topics she had in mind, but she felt that he should be able to choose.

"Anything. How's that friend of yours, the one with the qwilfish hair?"

Qwilfish hair? There was only one person she knew who fit that description. "Oh, you mean Hugh. He's fine, I guess. A little lonely now that his sister went on a journey of her own. In all honesty, he would've went with her, but he wanted to go to a different region to train. He's still set on beating me in battle, too." She laughed a little, remembering all of the times they had battled and she had won.

"He'll have to do a lot more than train somewhere else to beat you, won't he?" N held a little humor in his eyes with this statement, knowing firsthand that training means nothing against her without strategy. Even with strategy, he hadn't beaten her yet. "What else is going on in your life?"

She had to think about that for a moment. When was the last time they had talked? "Um, there actually hasn't been a lot of interesting things going on in my life lately." Usually she had at least one thing she told him, but she had recently found herself bored and only training and relaxing. "My mom did tell me that there's going to be gym leaders from all over the world at the PWT next month."

He arched an eyebrow in slight interest. It was said to be one of the largest gatherings of gym leaders in years. "Yeah? Are you thinking of competing?"

"Maybe. I still have to give it more thought. Rumor has it that even the champions are going to be there as well, and I don't want to risk making a fool out of myself."

"Says the girl who beat the Elite Four and Iris without a second thought or a break." The ghost of a smile played on his lips as he spoke now, his eyes no longer red though they still concealed heartbreak.

Well, she hadn't exactly thought about that. "Yeah, but that was after a long period of training. Jumping right from gym leaders to the champion if I win will be harder, I think."

He shook his head as though he didn't believe her, but continued on. "Anything else you're excited for?"

X-X-X

They made small talk like that for a good couple of hours, not even getting to the battle Rosa had been expecting on her way to the castle. As the sky darkened, though, she knew she had to start on her way home or else her mom would worry.

"I've got to get going," she said apologetically once she checked the time on her cross-transceiver. Lifting her bag onto her shoulders- she had ditched it on the ground to use as a sort of pillow earlier- she stood facing N. "I'll come again before next month, so you better be ready to battle!"

There was the smile she had been waiting for. It lit up his entire face like he was a little kid with a lot of candy. "Of course. I'll be waiting." Just as she turned to go, she felt a slight tug on her hand, keeping her back. Again, it felt odd for him to be initiating contact, but she took it. "One more thing, Rosa."

"Yeah?" She turned around, expecting him to let go of her hand once he did, but instead he used it to pull her closer. Bending down to her height, he gave her a warm hug. Then, before she could even react and her cheeks already burning, he gave her a quick peck on her forehead.

"Thank you for everything today, Rosa," he said once he pulled away. Her mouth was slightly agape in surprise and her entire face was probably as red as her zoroark's fur, but she quickly shook it off with a beaming smile. "I'm looking forward to seeing you again."

"Me too, N." Her heart was soaring as she bid him a final goodbye and released her hydreigon, which she then climbed on to fly her home to Aspertia City. She couldn't wait for next time.


Y'know, when I wrote the entire six pages of this in an hour, I sent it to my friend to make sure I tortured N enough. Not that I hate him- he's one of my favorite characters of all time! I just felt like this would be an appropriate setup for VoidCube. Their age gap is small enough to work with, especially if I'm assuming that Rosa is around sixteen here, the same age Hilda would be if I hadn't brutally murdered her. (Also, I love Hilda, too. Just sayin'.)

One more thing- if you have a rarepair to suggest, please tell me via PM and I'll probably add it to my list! However, I will not write anything that is pokemon x pokemon, has a humongous age difference (like Blaine x PC or something), and please, absolutely no pokemon x person. That's just disgusting.

Thank you all so much for reading, and I'll see you next time!