AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello, everyone, and thanks for taking the time to check out my story! This is the first fanfic I've written in... well, a very long time, but I was just so enthused with Black & White I just had to have a crack at it. :) This is a very slight AU of White, which is the version I played-and I expect you will be able to figure out what's different in this story very promptly-and is only meant to be compliant with game canon (I don't watch the anime or read the manga, so I have no idea if this is even an issue!) I expect this story to run between 12 and 15 chapters (hoping to update weekly, but...), and the rating will likely go up at some point, so you might wish to avoid this story if you will be offended by mild language (they are teenagers, after all), violence (nothing gory, but their pokémon do beat each other up), or adult situations (ahem). Not sure if I'll be making a habit of these author's notes, but I will definitely put one up if/when the rating does change. So, once again, thanks for looking, and I hope you enjoy what you find; I'd absolutely love to hear what you think (I am a little rusty, after all).

Chapter One

"What an odd fellow," Cheren said, sliding his glasses down the bridge of his nose to peer suspiciously at the departing stranger. From the serious, studious boy, that mild remark was as good as a stinging rebuke.

"That was... something," Bianca agreed, her lips pursed. She glanced over at the empty plaza, filled only moments ago with imposing lines of uniformed figures, as if she expected some further trouble to arise, but found only small knots of townspeople wound in troubled conversation. "But, hey," she said, the effort it took her to speak lightly evident in her tone, "we've got Hilda to sort stuff out for us, we're fine."

Hilda snorted a laugh. "Yeah, definitely," she said, her own gazed still fixed on the "odd fellow"'s retreating back; he moved quickly but not hurriedly, his hands shoved in his pockets. She still held the pokéball cupped loosely in her hands, slowly rotating it between her palms unconsciously. Her freshly caught Lillipup had outdone himself—they had outdone themselves, in their first ever trainer battle with someone besides one of her friends—but the warm flush of victory was tempered by the chill of the things he'd said, the way he'd acted. "I, uh... well, that was not what I was expecting to have happen today." She laughed again, a little nervously.

Cheren rolled his eyes. "Political dissidents," he said, jerking his head towards the plaza. "I suppose you get all sorts lurking around." He shook his head, dismissing the entire topic. "I'm sure there's nothing to worry about... as if people could ever be separated from pokémon."

"I don't know," Bianca said. "It did seem like there were a lot of them."

"Oh, perhaps a dozen at most. They just made an intimidating showing."

"I guess so." But Bianca's expression was troubled, as if something had occurred to her that she didn't quite have the nerve to share. Normally, Hilda would have prompted her to speak up, but she wasn't quite up to hearing more unpleasant speculation, not with the last of the adrenalin from the battle coursing through her system and the strangers' words still ringing in her ears. The boy in particular; there was something about his quick, nervous speech and the strain in his eyes that she couldn't put from her mind.

"Well, we've wasted most of the afternoon listening to this," Cheren said, "and I mean to make it to Striation City today." He glanced up at the sky; the sun had only just begun to set, its lowering rays already beginning to turn the world golden. "There should be time to do some exploring on Route 2 if we hurry."

Bianca straightened, resettling the strap of her bag on her shoulder, and looked at Hilda expectantly. Hilda blinked, her wandering thoughts tripped up by her friend's attention and, without knowing precisely why, made her decision. "Oh, uh, yeah, definitely," she said. "But, look, I wanna take the little guy by the Pokécenter. Just to make sure he's okay, you know?" she continued when Cheren's gaze sharpened, proferring the ball; the Lillipup had taken out the stranger's Purrloin in three quick strikes without receiving so much as a scratch.

Bianca beamed. "That was really great. I hope Daisy gets to be that tough soon! Is that what you're calling him? Little Guy?"

Hilda paused, chagrined. She'd been so excited by catching her first real live wild pokémon that she hadn't really thought about it; she'd just delighted in how easy and responsive he had been during the little training they'd been able to do before reaching Accumula Town. She felt bad, recalling how he'd practically burst from the pokéball, bouncing with the excitement of being able to confront the strange trainer's Purrloin; he deserved so much more from her. "Nah, not Little Guy," she said, closing her fingers around the pokéball. "Lemmy. Like 'lemme at 'em!'"

Bianca laughed; Cheren did a poor job of restraining a sigh. He hated her puns. She grinned. "So, yeah, don't let me hold you guys up, I'll meet you there if I don't catch up on the way, alright?"

"Alright," Bianca said. "Don't get too far behind!"

"Or we'll have caught them all," Cheren said. Bianca shot him a disapproving look as Hilda made a face at him; they all broke into smiles. Hilda turned away with a wave, making her way conspicuously in the direction of the Pokécenter; she ambled a few steps before turning and glancing behind just in time to see her friends enter the Route 2 gate. She stopped and bit her lip, hesitant; then, before she had a chance to change her mind, spun on her heel and trotted off in the direction that strange boy had gone.

She tucked her long brown bangs behind her ears, tugging her pink and white hat down on her head and clasping her satchel so that it wouldn't bang against her hip as she moved. She wasn't sure why she'd felt the need to ditch her friends the way she had—well, that wasn't precisely true; she didn't want to deal with Cheren's disapproval and Bianca's nervousness while she did this. She supposed she'd snuck off like this just to save time arguing with them about going off by herself, but the little betrayal gnawed at her nonetheless. But Accumula was only a small town, and gave way to forest very quickly; if she didn't catch up with him soon, she wasn't likely to at all.

As for why she wanted to catch up with him at all... Hilda sighed as she clipped Lemmy's pokéball to her belt and picked up her pace a little. The guy had been weird, stressed and nervous and... something. And claiming to talk to pokémon? Seriously? He was probably just a nutcase, but he'd seemed so sincere, and so taken aback by the battle he'd challenged her to. He'd even looked strange, with his wild hair and his deathly pale skin, gangly and off-balance. She wanted to know what his deal was... and, hey, what was the point of being on an adventure if you didn't do stuff like this, right?

But it looked like this particular thread of it might already be petering out; even in her short trip along the thoroughfare, houses had already become few and far between; the dirt path was already becoming dotted with patches of tenacious grass. Accumula was a suburb of Striation City in only the broadest sense; it had started out as a commuter town, but the lack of a subway route had eventually consigned it, and the even more isolated Nuvema, to becoming little more than vacation hamlets. She had yet to catch sight of the guy, and if she didn't soon, she was going to race back to catch up with her friends; curious as she might be, she was not going to try to follow some creepy stranger into the woods.

Hilda saw what she was pretty sure was the last house on this side of town hove into view: what seemed to be a hobby farm, a cute gingerbread-style house surrounded by lovingly manicured berry bushes in neat rows. Beyond it stood trees in wild profusion, dark, sharp grass blanketing the under-canopy only a few yards in. She slowed her pace as she approached; she'd go to the end of the berry farm, and turn around if she didn't see him. She had already mostly given up on the idea that she would, and was somewhat relieved; she felt bad for fibbing to her friends, and wasn't sure exactly what she was hoping to achieve here. She wouldn't mind chalking this one up as a wasted effort.

So, of course, she saw him as soon as she crested the slight rise of the road.

She came to a halt, and debated turning around anyway, before he noticed her. He crouched beneath the trees, just under where their shadows began to fall upon the clipped grass. But he wasn't quite as unnerving as he'd grown to be in her memory, seen this way; for one thing, he'd seemed to tower about her when he'd approached, despite the anxiety radiating from him in waves. His long, spring-green hair fell down his back in bushy waves, and he was turned at such an angle that it obscured whatever it was he seemed to be staring intently at on the ground before him. His left hand was moving, though; she could see the light glinting off the bronze bracelets he wore. She paused, not sure what to make of this, until a long, slender purple tail popped up and brushed along his knee.

Hilda smiled, sidling over so that she could see better; his Purrloin was out of its ball, seemingly recovered from their battle, and stropping itself against his shins with every evidence of bliss as he scratched its neck. Now she hesitated to interrupt such a sweet moment as the Purrloin flopped over onto its side, rolling over luxuriantly to offer him its yellow-spotted belly. She could hear it purring from here. And now, she realized, she was being the creep, watching them like this. "Hey there," she called softly, hoping not to startle them.

It might have gone better if she'd thrown a rock at him. He scooped the Purrloin into the crook of his arm and shot to his feet so quickly she scarcely saw him do it; he straightened his shoulders and looked down at her from his full height, the black brim of his hat obscuring his eyes enough that she couldn't make out much of his expression. "We are not going to battle you again." The Purrloin wriggled in his grasp, balancing on his forearm and watching her warily.

"Uh, no," she said, taken aback by the abruptness of his response. "I just... wanted to say hi."

He cocked his head slightly and was silent for a moment. "Hi," he said finally.

"So, um." Hilda was at a loss for words; she hadn't really thought about how this might go, but this... no, it wasn't hostility, but his reaction was... "I'm... glad to see your little dude's okay," she stammered, and then could have bitten her tongue for saying it; she hoped he wouldn't think she was trying to rub his loss in.

Again the head tilt, this time with a frown, and an even longer pause. "Babe," he said.

"What?"

"Chick? She's a she."

"Oh." Hilda laughed uncertainly. "Sorry. She's really pretty. What's her name?"

"Prrrlt."

She swallowed another laugh, not wanting to offend him. "I'm not even gonna try to pronounce that."

He nodded. "I'm not quite getting it right." He gestured to his throat with his free hand. "We lack an appropriate type of larynx."

"Yeah, I guess so." She supposed that would have been a good segue, but she couldn't quite bring herself to ask, wasn't sure quite what to make of this. She was pretty sure he was making fun of her... but he didn't seem like he thought he was. If anything, it seemed like he was scared of her. "So... what's your name?"

"N."

"Is that short for something?"

He shrugged. "Nothing."

"Nothing," she repeated. Now she was annoyed; she had no idea what this guy's problem was, and she was regretting that she'd taken the time to try to find out. She was on the verge of spinning on her heel when he spoke again.

"Like your friend B."

"B is Bianca, that's just a nickname!" she snapped; and then stopped, rapidly replaying the conversations they'd had as they'd walked into the plaza, and realized just how long he must have been listening to them to have heard that.

"N isn't for nickname."

"Okay, look, I'm sorry I bothered you," she said, raising her hands. N was for nuts, as far as she was concerned. "Let me get out of your hair."

"I've upset you," he said, his fingers winding themselves into the Purrloin's fur as he clutched it— her—closer, as if for protection. He stepped forward uncertainly, the light falling on his features revealing a genuinely troubled expression, and she suddenly, maddeningly, felt as if she'd kicked a Lillipup. She also realized, seeing him more clearly, that he was older than she'd realized; she'd assumed he was her age, but he was at least a couple of years older, more a young man than an older boy. That made his stilted behavior all the more unnerving.

"Look, I just... I need to get back to the Pokécenter," she said, prevaricating. "My friends are waiting for me. They know where I am," she added in a sudden burst of inspiration, "and they'll come looking for me if I'm gone too long." She didn't think he was going to try anything—and the farmhouse was right there if he did, they could certainly hear her yell—but she accepted that this situation had gotten pretty far out of hand and figured it was worth hedging her bets.

"Oh." He reached up to raise the brim of his hat. "Will they want to battle?"

"No, I bet they're pretty tired."

"Oh." He brightened. "I should walk you back."

Hilda blinked. "Uh, no, man, I don't want to put you out..."

"It's no trouble." He smiled faintly as he took a step forward, balancing on the ball of his foot and watching her expectantly, as if waiting for her to proceed. "It's polite."

She met his gaze, uncertain; he seemed, as far as she could tell, to be completely forthright. Maybe he was from somewhere deep in the boonies, where they still practiced this kind of chivalry as a matter of course; that would help explain a lot of his other weird behavior. At any rate, it wasn't a long walk, and it was easier than fighting about it. "Sure. Come on." She turned and started off, tucking her right hand into the pocket of her ragged jean shorts, not incidentally placing it within easy reach of the pokéballs hanging from her belt.

N caught up to her quickly, covering the ground in easy, loose-limbed strides; he got a little bit ahead of her before he realized how much he'd have to slow his pace to accommodate hers. He really was tall; she couldn't venture much of a guess as to his actual height, but she didn't come up much past his elbow. The Purrloin's tail brushed lightly against her face as it got loose from his grasp and climbed up to ride on his shoulder. "You guys seem like pretty good friends," she said.

He nodded. "She's very kind."

They walked in silence for a time, drawing ever closer to the town center. N seemed perfectly content to stare at the ground beneath his feet.

"My name's Hilda."

He nodded again. "I know. I was standing behind you at the rally."

Well, at least he admitted to it, she thought. "Didn't seem like much of a rally to me," she said. "People seemed really bummed out by what that guy had to say."

"People are often troubled when confronted with the evidence of their poor behavior."

She looked up at him sharply. "You, with that Purrloin on your shoulder, are telling me you really agree with all that stuff?"

"Prrrlt is doing me a favor, as one friend to another."

Not exactly an answer, she noted. "So... you asked her to help you out? With battles and stuff?"

"Yes."

"And she said yes?"

"Obviously."

She watched him sidelong; his face was completely impassive. She was willing to believe that he believed... but that didn't mean much. "So... you were really talking to my Lillipup earlier? You seemed kind of upset." He paced beside her wordlessly, as if he hadn't heard her speak. "His name's Lemmy," she offered, trying to draw him out.

He stopped abruptly and turned to look at her, his pale green eyes unreadable. "How do you know?" he asked.

"Because that's what I call him...?"

"Oh." His mouth hardened; his expression became shuttered, and she knew that, as far as he was concerned, she'd given the wrong answer. His gaze flicked away, and for a second she expected him to turn and stalk off. "I don't see your friends."

"Wha... oh!" She turned around, smiling sheepishly at herself; she hadn't realized that he'd stopped because they'd arrived at the Pokécenter. He was peering through the windows of the white, red-roofed building. "Oh, uh, they probably went somewhere to eat, or, um, got a room already," she said, embarrassed. Once again, he simply nodded.

"So, um, you're on your journey too, right? Maybe I'll see you around somewhere," she said uncertainly.

"Maybe." He reached up and touched the brim of his cap to her, and without another word, turned and started back in the direction from which they'd come, the Purrloin resting comfortably upon his shoulders.

Hilda watched him go, her lower lip caught between her teeth. She hadn't exactly made a friend there, but... she shook her head with a sigh. Cheren had been right; she'd spent a lot of the day on this, and she had to make tracks if she wanted to make it to Striation City at a reasonable hour. She lifted the strap of her bag over her head so that it ran crosswise across her body, hoping that would keep it from banging against her hip too badly as she jogged.

She cast one last glance over her shoulder as she arrived at the gate, and, though she could not have said why, was disappointed to see that he'd already vanished. Weird, she told herself, and pushed through the doors.