N didn't know the world could be so beautiful. He and three other Plasma operatives along with Concordia, Athena, and his father were taking a flight to Kanto. He'd never been outside the castle grounds before, but the view of the sea on the plane was simply astonishing.
Goldeen riddled the water, and Remorade jumped gracefully in the air. N had never seen true wild Pokémon before, and the sight astounded him. N squished his face on the plane's window, his 9 year old mind running wild. Oh how fun the Pokémon seemed to be having!
"N. Stop acting like such a child and sit down. We'll be arriving to Kanto soon, so go and make yourself presentable. What you look like to others is vital to becoming a good leader. If you do not look strong and respectable, how should you expect others to respect you?" Ghetsis frowned, looking pointedly at N.
N nodded, slightly ashamed, sitting back into his seat. Though, that didn't stop him from sitting forward, back straight and eyes clearly straining to his side to look at the Poliwag that now appeared in the sea. Athena and Concordia quickly came to the young boy, the 14 year olds brushing his hair and straightening his clothes.
Time passed quickly as the two girls primped the young boy, Ghetsis writing silently in a book. A while passed, and a grunt cleared his throat. "Your Highness, the plane will be descending soon." Ghetsis nodded, standing as the remaining two grunts smoothed out his clothes.
"N." N perked up at his father's voice. "I will be meeting with Team Rocket's boss on this trip. He also has a son, so I expect you to become acquainted with him: It's never too early to begin to form connections." N agreed, looking determinedly up at his father.
"Yes. I will try my best, father."
Ash fell to the ground with a yelp, rubbing his sore hands.
"Too much! You can't just force the aura to your hands, you need to guide it. Forcing it like that can give you some critical damage, damaging you aura passage ways. If one uses too much aura without properly resting, it can result in death." Riley scolded, Ash's face turning pale.
"D-death?" Ash stuttered.
"Yes. Didn't you read that book I gave you?"
To be honest, Ash had only read two chapters in Aura's across time, a thick book Riley had assigned him to read. He'd read the basics of using aura, which taught him how to sense aura as well as explain what aura was. The second chapter was about the heroic Sir Aaron, whom gave his life to bring prosperity to his kingdom. Riley had told Ash the story the first day he'd appeared, but now-two weeks later- the story had become Ash's favorite. He was now prone to reading it constantly.
"Uh… Yeah, I read it…mostly…"
Riley sighed. "Ash, reading is an important part of learning. If you don't put in the effort to learn, how can you ever hope to know anything?"
Ash frowned. "I do know things! It's just, I can't ever seem to concentrate when I try! Besides, I learn more when you teach me. Things happen quicker."
Riley shook his head. "It doesn't matter if results are quicker. If you don't understand fully, you can't master the skill. I've been trying to teach you how to manifest aura and use it practically, but like what just happened, if I weren't here, you could've hurt yourself. Please, just promise me you'll read that book alright? It'd make me feel a lot better about all of this."
Ash blinked momentarily, confused. "Make you feel better?"
"Yeah. Normally, well, when aura users were more common, training began in early childhood, so that one could be used to aura before actually using it when they became older. But due to the… circumstances here, you're learning things people five years your senior would be learning. It leaves my nerves a bit frazzled, that's all."
Ash closed his eyes, lowering his head. "I…I'm sorry then. I didn't mean to worry you." The twenty-three year old smiled at the eight year old, ruffling his hair. Ash looked up sharply, surprised.
"I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have been so harsh. Just, take better care of yourself, ok? It's a wonder nothing is wrong after you've used you're aura shield twice. Even more remarkably, they withstood attacks fully. And, you've progressed greatly in such a short amount of time! You should be proud, Ash." Riley complimented. Ash's faced flushed in embarrassment.
"…yeah…"
The door to Ash's room suddenly opened with a clang, one of the four executives, Ariana entered, looking disgruntled. "Brat, you gotta come to lunch and meet the new guys. Boss wants you there specifically. Bring the He Nanny too, okay?" She left with a curt spin, ignoring Riley's scowl at being called a "He Nanny".
"Um… let's get dressed, ok?" Ash voiced. Riley calmed down, nodding. Silently, the two males changed into dress shirts and slacks, leaving the room after Ash had checked on the egg lying on his nightstand. With a click of the lights, they were gone.
N walked confidently behind his father, although he had no idea where they were going in this strange place. Rocket Headquarters was a industrialized building, disguised as a business tower, completely different then the sleek, almost medieval design of Plasma's Castle. He was dressed nicely, long green hair tied, wearing a high collared white shirt with black slacks.
Concordia and Athena followed behind N, the group flanked triangularly with the three Plasma grunts. Both girls wore flowing white dresses, wearing shawls that matched their hair. N became suddenly distracted.
As he passed countless hallways, he spied a Pokémon he'd never seen before. It's tail was ablaze, wings almost sagging, and body laying limp on the floor as a Rocket operative yelled at it with a group of Golduck. N had never seen this happen before. Sure, he'd played and talked to Pokémon that had been the result of such happenings, but he'd never seen it in real life.
N suddenly felt furious. What were these people doing such things? He could feel the anguish emitting off the Pokémon, but nobody had done a thing to help it. N glanced towards Ghetsis whom stopped to stare at the spectacle, then continued on his way. N was taken aback. Even his father did nothing?
N looked back towards the lizard, turning to help the creature, when Athena blocked him. "Please, Lord N, it is not our place to make a commotion. Please continue walking." Athena was joined by Concordia who both looked at him with sad eyes. N couldn't help but suddenly feel disgusted by the both of them.
No one was doing anything, because they didn't wish to make a scene? That was… N gulped, looking down. It was so… so utterly wrong.
"N. Come along." Ghetsis ordered, a few feet in front of him. N was overcome with the rare feeling of rebellion.
"But father, they –!"
"Now."
So, N sucked it up, following Ghetsis and hating himself a little more each step he took. Because, if he couldn't help it, who would?
"I hope you had a good trip, Ghetsis." Giovanni smirked, shaking Ghetis's hand. The two gave off a powerful aura, the grunts from the two groups tensing, Athena and Concordia shaking slightly, and N was unaffected. He excelled in ignoring human moods. He instead distracted himself on his surroundings, comparing the rather basic looking dining room to his own lavish one in Team Plasma's Castle.
"Ah, and is the young N you've told me about? He looks just like you…" Giovanni gave a smile to N that forced him to pay attention, making him on edge. The smile reminded him of the grin a Purrloin would make, once on the brink of capturing a Pidove. His training wouldn't allow him to show his fear outwardly, but his eyes betrayed him.
Ghetsis frowned at the remark, but didn't deny it. "How is your own son? Ash was his name, wasn't it?"
Giovanni gave a strained smirk, causing Rocket grunts to pale. It was known around Headquarters that that exact expression meant something was wrong, and somebody was going to pay somehow.
"Yes, it seems he's running a bit late. He'll be joining us shortly." The lunch commenced, N drowning out the two men as they talked of budgets and future projects. Concordia made sure to keep his glass full, and Athena stood to his right ready for anything he may have needed.
A nervous looking Proton entered the room, looking stressed. He approached Giovanni whispering briefly in his ear before hurrying out of the room. Giovanni flushed in anger. Ghetsis looked intrigued.
"Is anything the matter, Giovanni?"
Giovanni sneered. "Nothing is wrong. I just need to see to something for a bit. Will you be alright for a few moments?"
"Of course. Take your time."
With that, Giovanni left to room with a bang as the door shut loudly behind him. Ghetsis couldn't help but smirk. N looked questioningly to his father.
"N, a man who shows his emotions so freely is easily controllable. Remember that."
N couldn't help but commit that to memory.
"This has happened too many times Ash!" Giovanni yelled sternly at his son. Ash kept his head held high.
"If I didn't do anything, Charizard would've been hurt! I can't just stand around and—!"Giovanni slapped Ash. Riley who had been standing proudly to the side, suddenly became alarmed.
"Hey! There's no reason to—!"
"Quiet! If it weren't for the company we have now, I'd have you put in confinement again Ash. But I expect you to make friends with Plasma's kid, so do not disappoint me! As for you Riley, make sure this never happens again. I don't think you want that egg of yours smashed anytime soon." Giovanni growled out, Riley shutting up quickly.
"Compose yourself and come to dinner. Don't take long." With that, Giovanni spun around, returning to the dining room.
As soon as Giovanni left the room, Riley hurried towards a shocked Ash who held his cheek gently. The boy's head was lowered, bangs hiding his eyes.
"Ash…"
Ash looked up brightly, cheek red. "Let's go Riley! We can't keep father waiting!" The eight year old smiled, hurrying along to the room. Riley paused, before slowly following. He couldn't help but think that the boy was much too old for his age, and that was a sobering thought.
The two walked down countless hallways before reaching the dining room. Ash entered first, back straight and face set into a small smile. The two green haired males turned, standing to greet him.
"Hello. My name is Ash, it's a pleasure to meet you." Ash shook hands firmly with Ghetsis, eyes shining. Ghetsis looked mildly impressed.
"A pleasure to meet you as well."
Ash then directed his attention to the other male, the 9 year old boy looking closely at him. Ash gave another smile, eyes crinkling in a grin.
"It's nice to meet you too…?"
"N. My name is N." And as the two boys shook hands, the youngest smiling and the older frowning just slightly, N decided that he didn't like this boy.
How could he, when he was another person who faked his emotions? The red imprint on his face was obviously painful, but he continued smiling.
N silently vowed to himself, that he'd never, ever, like this boy. Regardless of what his father would say, he wouldn't.
Another fake face wasn't good for anyone.
Heyyyy~
You guys just loved this concept huh? I've decided, Silver will be showing up, but he won't be traveling with Ash and Co. On another note, Riley will be traveling with the two. Also, to answer Jordan Cross's question, this will be slash. Now, not anything like "OMG, I NOW LOVE U TAKE MEH!" and it probably won't be explicit (And if it is, it'd be put somewhere so one can skip it if they want to.) It won't be happening for another five chapters or so, but the main story will mostly contain sexual jokes, innuendos, and/or situations. When I say situations, I mean like, "OMG, WE HIDING IN CRAMPED SPACES, TENSIONNNNNNN~"
Yeah.
:3
So see you all again soon~ *Flicks noses*
-Cecile