Chapter 3.
Day 634

I threw the last of the darks into the washer and pushed the button. Feeling spontaneous, I pulled myself onto the machine and sat there, something I always used to do when I was little. As I sat there, I started to think about some stuff I've been avoiding lately.

What if my friends were right in wanting me to get over him? I'd certainly hate any person that would put my friends through this kind of torture. That being said, why can't I hate him?
Then there's the other thing, the thing that makes me feel sick and nervous. If N does comes back, what then? During my journey we weren't really anything more than acquaintances. I blame our emotional goodbye on some kind of pity or hormones, panic at the fact he was leaving. I'd never admit it, but I have longed to be more than a friend to him for a while. Would he even feel the same way about me? If he didn't, was all this depression and anxiety for nothing?

Of course he does. Didn't he kiss me when I was crying because of him? I smiled, my hopes rising. I leaned against the wall, the warmth from the machine comforting me. My finger went to my lips, something I picked up from N. He'd always do that when he was thinking, or when he smiled, as if his smile was hideous so he covered it. I scoffed. Nothing about him was hideous. Me, on the other hand… That's probably why he hasn't come back. He probably found another girl, one with green hair.

I shook my head. It might just be derived from my desperation, but I don't think any other girl would understand N like I do. What other person has witnessed his emotional trauma first hand? He has a lot of baggage- but I'm willing to look past that. I'll look past anything.

My thoughts were disrupted when the roaring noise I had become accustomed to stopped abruptly. Surprised, I hopped off the washer.

"It's done already?" I lifted the top and looked inside. "How long have I been sitting here?"

"You've been sitting on the washer murmuring to yourself for about an hour." My mother's voice made me jump. She strolled into the washroom and out the backdoor into the backyard.

"I'm letting out your Pokémon, Touko." She called. I heard the cries of my Pokémon before I could answer. I was a little upset. People shouldn't touch Pokémon that don't belong to them; I developed that irritation over my journey due to Team Plasma's many schemes.

"Okay." I muttered loud enough for her to hear me. I leaned against the washer and sunk down, my hands on my knees. A flash of green in the corner of my eye alerted me to Serperior's entrance, and I smiled at him as he slithered towards me.

"Come here, buddy." I extended my arms and he gladly went into them. I hugged him tightly, noticing his large eyes studying me worriedly. I stared back at him, trying my best to look happy for him. He hissed and wrapped himself around me. I laughed and placed my hand on his face lightly, smiling. Being my first partner, I've always had a connection to him unlike any other.

Serperior rubbed his face into my hand and made a purring noise. He closed his eyes and pressed his face against mine.

Where's dad?

My eyes shot open and I instinctively pushed him away. I stopped breathing and my heart beat quickly. I shook my head, my mouth agape. Pokémon can't talk to people. The only person that I knew could talk to them was N. There's no way Serperior could have spoken anything to me, even if he had, I wouldn't have been able to understand it.

I wracked my brain for any possible answer. Serperior gazed at me, expressionless. My eyes caught his and after a stare down lasting about ten seconds, he hissed and slithered away.

I continued to sit there like an idiot. Shaking, I took my phone out of my pocket and decided to call the only person I knew who would understand.


It was around seven in the afternoon when I knocked at Touya's door. I hugged my chest tightly, protecting myself from the cold. I breathed a sigh of relief when his mother opened the door, feeling the warmth of the house pour into me.

"Touko, it's been forever!" His mother greeted me happily. She took my hand and pulled me inside, something she always does. Sometimes she sees me as more of a daughter than she sees Touya as a son.

I hugged her. "Hi, Mrs. Black. It has been a while. Touya's home, right?" I asked, letting go of her.

"Yeah, he's upstairs honey." I started to head up the stairs when she called my name. I looked down at her.

"Don't worry about being quiet or anything." She giggled, putting her hand in front of her mouth. "I like you better than any of the other girls Touya's brought home."

I gasped and stared at her in shock. "Mrs. Black!" I spluttered, embarrassed.

"Mom!" I heard Touya yell. He appeared at the top of the stairs and in an instant his hand was circled around my arm and he dragged me up the stairs. "Stop embarrassing me!"

I looked from Touya to his mother, and she gave me a wink. I blushed bright red and avoided looking at her again. He led me into his room and slammed the door behind him. I jumped on his bed and laid on my back, shoving a pillow on top of my face to hide my blush. He sat beside me.

"Your mom hasn't changed." I mumbled. I reached to the top of my head and pulled off my hat. I used my hand to shake my hair around, getting more comfortable.

He laughed, hitting me on the knee. "So what did you come here for? You seemed freaked over the phone."

I scooted myself up and leaned against the wall, curling my knees up to my chest. I started to explain how I was feeling a little down and how I thought Serperior had actually said something. To make myself seem less like an idiot, I added on to the end that I didn't believe it was actually him. Maybe if was just some subconscious thought that came out of my head?

Touya looked like he was thinking hard. He wasn't saying anything, so I took the chance to look around his room. I haven't been in Touya's room in ages, since before I set off on my journey. It had changed a lot. Posters of rock bands replaced the old Pokémon ones, and a computer was set up where his old Game cube used to be. I smiled as I remembered the days when I would come to his house everyday to play video games with him. His mom would always make us sandwiches while we pretended to be Pokémon trainers, Touya always being the good guy and I always being the bad one. I tightened my arms around my knees. My heart ached for the simplicity of the old days.

"I don't think you're crazy." Touya said finally, breaking me from my thoughts. Relief flooded through me.

"You don't?" My eyes met his and I knew for certain he saw the look of relief in my eyes. He smiled and put his hand on my knee, a familiar gesture.

"Of course I don't. Didn't you say N could talk to Pokémon?" He pressed. "You were close to him. Maybe it's possible you picked something up from him."

I shook my head. "N was raised with nothing but Pokémon. It'd be impossible for me to start speaking with them. I think me hearing a stray sentence was just a fluke or something."

He nodded. "That's what I think. It was just a random occurrence. It probably won't happen again." He stood up and walked over to his computer chair. "But that still doesn't explain why Serperior said what he said."

"Where's dad?" I replayed in monotone. I bit back a curse. I was hoping he'd forget about that part and move on.

"You sure he wasn't talking about N?" Touya blurted out while he was logging in to the computer. My eyed widened and I turned a shade redder. How he could be so nonchalant about this I'll never know.

"I… I don't know." I sighed. "To tell you the truth, that's what I thought, too." I rubbed the side of my face. "But why call him 'Dad'?"

Touya spun around in the chair a few times before stopping to look at the ceiling. His head hung over the back of the chair. "Pokémon pick up on emotional ties way better than we do. Serperior probably sensed how close you two were. To him, you're his mom. He just put two and two together."

I dug my face into the pillow, feeling embarrassed. Touya and I were like siblings. It was weird talking about this stuff with a brother, but as always, he was oblivious as to how uncomfortable he was making me.

"N and I aren't close." I countered weakly.

He rolled his head up to look at me. "You really think I'm going to believe that? Cheren already told me everything."

My mood quickly changed. I glared at the ceiling and groaned.

"Cheren should keep his mouth shut." I snapped angrily.

Touya pushed himself in the rolling chair to the other side of his room and grabbed the open bag of chips that were on his dresser. He took a chip and rolled back to me, handing me the bag.

"You sure as hell didn't tell me anything." He looked at me, his eyes big and full of fake sorrow. "I thought we were friends." He sniffed dramatically.

I shoved a chip in my mouth. "I'm sorry. It's just weird."

"It's okay. Besides, I don't blame you." He clasped his hands together and raised them to his chin. "He's so dreamy!" He sighed deeply and made a high pitched "oh" sound.

I threw a chip at him. "He's mine!" I laughed. I stretched out on his bed and laid down, resting my head on a pillow.

He picked up the chip and stuck it in his mouth.

"I put my tongue all over that thing." I muttered.

"That makes it even better."

"You're disgusting." I laughed. I rolled onto my back and looked at the ceiling. "I miss the old days."

He sighed. "Totally, none of this girl drama. It was just us boys playing video games."

"I'm not a boy!" I shot back at him.

"You are the biggest tomboy I know. That's why my mom doesn't even care about us being in here together. Any other girl, she'd flip out." He snatched the bag of chips from me.

His words struck me hard. Any other girl? Did he mean any pretty girl? They don't even consider me a girl! I'm just the tomboy down the street, the one that no one worries about being in a room alone with a boy because I'm not attractive. I'm not one of those girls that get dolled up and pretty, like Bianca does. That's probably why N hasn't come back. He found a pretty woman who actually acts like a lady.

I smiled, hiding the hurt look on my face. I quickly changed the subject. "Hey, weren't we talking about Cheren?"

His face lit up like he just remembered something. "Oh yeah! He said you were really mad at him." His eyes gleamed.

I nodded gravely. "He wants me to get over N. But I think he just wants what's best for me." I shrugged.

Touya started laughing. I shot my head up to glare at him. "What are you laughing at?" I asked sharply.

"You really think he wants you to get over him for that reason?" He asked disbelievingly. "Really, Touko, think! Sure, that could be a little part of the reason." He hinted. "But I can assure you he's doing this completely out of selfishness."

I stared at him with a confused look on his face. What other reason would Cheren want me to get over N? Was it what I thought in the first place, that he was tired of my problems? No. Touya wouldn't laugh over that. If not that, then… A chill crept up my spine.

"He does not." I said firmly.

He looked at me intently, nodding. "He does. Trust me."

"No, no, no." I groaned, shoving my face into my hands. "How can he even like me?"

Touya put his hand on my shoulder. "There there." He comforted. "It's not that bad."

"Yes it is!" I argued, throwing my hands up. He rolled back in his chair to avoid them. "I'm not even pretty or anything. It doesn't make any sense."

Touya's face grew serious, angry. "Who said you're not pretty?" He snapped quickly. The look on his face looked like he wanted to murder someone.

I was shocked at his sudden anger. "I… no one. No one said anything." I looked down. "I just don't think I'm pretty. That's all." I mumbled.

He jumped up and sat next to me on the bed. He put his arm around my shoulder and put his finger under my chin, turning my face towards his.

"Listen to me. You're not ugly, you've never been ugly." He told me sternly. I was nervous at his forcefulness, so I turned my head away.

"What's gotten into you?" He demanded. "You've never been like this before."

I bit my lip and looked down. I felt completely stupid and embarrassed, admitting my insecurities so carelessly like that. My defensive walls were crumbling down, I could feel it. I could feel my composure deteriorating rapidly.

"I just miss him so much." I whispered. The tears came quickly after. I sobbed, my whole body racking viciously.

Touya pulled me into a hug and tucked my head under his chin. "Touko, no one's worth this amount of suffering." He murmured, his hands patting my back.

"I know, I know." I managed to choke out. "And I'm really stupid for it. I just can't get over it." My voice heightened a pitch as I let out another sob.

"You're not stupid." He assured me. "You're just going through a bad time right now. I understand that." He hugged me tighter. "I'm not going to judge you."

I just let go at that moment. Any remains that were left of my defenses were torn down. I felt comfortable crying my eyes out while he hugged me, free from any judgmental thoughts. This is what I've been longing for this whole time, apart from N; I needed someone to just let me cry.To understand.

"You're such a good friend." I murmured to him after I had finally manged to stop crying, about fifteen minutes later.

He ruffled my hair with his hand, "I'm a good big brother." He corrected.

I smiled, choking back a hiccup. "Yeah, you are. The best anyone can ask for."

He put his hands on my shoulders and pushed me away. He eyed me, his eyes gentle.

"Do you know what's in my hands right now?"

"Me?" I answered weakly.

He pursued his lips, "A smart, funny, strong, beautifulwoman." He told me. "Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

I threw my arms around him and cried happily. "That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me."

"I'll always be here to tell you those things." He picked up my hat and placed it on my head. "Now be the strong woman that you are and believe it."


I arrived home around ten thirty feeling wonderful. As I walked in the door my mom offered me some dinner, which I quickly accepted.
I was eating quietly at the table. My mom was in the living room watching TV when she called out to me.

"They didn't feed you over there?" She asked, surprised.

"Oh no, they did." I said, grinning to myself. Mrs. Black wouldn't accept no for an answer, not that I declined anyway. "You know me, mom. I eat a lot." I joked.

She nodded, "It's a wonder you don't get fat."

I shrugged, "I run around." I excused myself and went up to my room. The lights were off. I started to pull off my shirt so I could change into my pajamas. I shut the door behind me and flipped on the switch, throwing my shirt on the bed. I headed towards my dresser to pull out a top when I happened to glance at myself in the mirror.

I screamed and turned around quickly, my chest heaving.

There, in the corner of my room with his arm draped over his eyes modestly, was N.