Chapter 4:

A/N: So, a lot of this story has already been written and I would have to change a lot if I were to make changes to it. I haven't been all that clear in all my explanations. I'm sorry about that! This is my first chapter fanfiction so sorry for all the mistakes!

Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Accumula Town was alive and bustling with booths displaying possible careers with Pokemon and young trainers wandering in and out of them. Black, Cheren, and Bianca wandered down Accumula's plaza inspecting each of the booths while Bianca provided eager commentary on each of them: "Oh look over there! It's the Pokemon breeders, I've heard that it can be really hard though because you're not only surrounded by almost wild Pokemon, but once you start training them it's hard not to get attached which makes selling them really difficult. Oh, the Musical! I don't think Smokey is really cut out for all the footwork involved in that. Hey that's-"

"Bianca, we have eyes too. We can see all the different booths as well."

"Well, which one of them looks interesting to you?"

"None of them. I'm going to first join the League and then become stronger and stronger until I'm Champion. I don't plan on spending any time dressing up my Pokemon in ridiculous costumes or joining a Pokemon fanclub."

"Same," Black agreed, "I'm going to work on leveling my Pokemon up and becoming closer to them. I remember hearing somewhere that in order to become a Pokemon Master you must be able to understand and work with a Pokemon as closely as a Whisperer can. The best way to do that is through battle!"

"Do you seriously believe that, young man?" a man asked as he approached him, "trainers often claim they become closer to their Pokemon after a fight, but really all they are doing is subjecting their Pokemon to needless pain, usually for the sake of sport or recreation. The very fact that trainers still hold wagers about which Pokemon can stay conscious the longest after mercilessly attacking each other is appalling."

The three trainers looked at the man and saw that the man, although dressed normally, had a Plasma insignia on his sleeve. "Oh no," Black groaned, "it's Team Plasma. Why is your group here? Shouldn't you be somewhere else like protesting against Pokemon hairstyling and promoting veganism or something. This is a place for people who want to take their Pokemon seriously."

Bianca squeaked "Black that was rude!" while Cheren simply chuckled.

The man looked infuriated at Black's remark and was about to give a rather nasty retort when a voice called from behind him "forgive my colleague. He feels very passionate about our cause just as we all do, but he forgets that not everyone shares the same views." The voice belonged to man wearing a nice business suit with a Plasma insignia on his chest pocket. His most distinguishing features though were his red eyes and red eyepatch and his long green hair. "My name is Ghetsis and I'm here as an official representative of Team Plasma."

"Wait a minute. Ghetsis as in Ghetsis Harmonia?" Cheren asked in shock, "you're like the original founder of Team Plasma, aren't you? I think I've seen you on TV getting an interview about Plasma's goals."

"Well I am one of the seven founders of Team Plasma, but yes you are correct," he replied calmly. "Our mission is not to bully trainers into submission, rather to get them to reconsider their position on Pokemon and their place within society."

"My problem with you guys is that you seem to think that we trainers don't love our Pokemon. I've only been with my Oshawatt for a day, but I already think he's insanely adorable and can't imagine releasing him. Besides, if we didn't have Pokemon we wouldn't be able to protect ourselves from wild Pokemon. There aren't enough Pokemon Whisperers in the world to secure every route, village, and town."

"I understand your concerns and much of that comes from misinformation. That is one of the reasons we are here. To help clarify our cause. It's well known that Pokemon and humans have had a tense relationship for almost as long as humanity has been on this earth. In the ancient times, it was the Whisperers who served as the rulers and protectors of humanity, but even then, violence between human and Pokemon was a common occurrence. With the creation of pokeballs, humanity found a way to control Pokemon and thus encroach on Pokemon territory by way of battle. We have continued to make technological advancements, yet instead of devising methods of communication between us and Pokemon, we have merely chosen to find better methods of entrapping and enslaving them. In this modern era, we do not even truly respect Pokemon in their full strength. You may love your Pokemon, but do you appreciate it as an equal or do you think of it as a pet? Do you fully comprehend the fact that almost every time a Pokemon is called from it's Pokemon it is called out to fight? And finally, do you realize that we breed Pokemon in order to get Pokemon with certain traits, but what say does the Pokemon get in all of this. Are they capable of love and able to understand familial ties? If so, are we not truly the monsters here seeing as we rip these ties apart by capturing them in pokeballs or taking their eggs from them."

At this, the teens just stared at Ghetsis as they were unable to come up with anything to say in response. Ghetsis smiled at their stunned silence before continuing, "you see, what Team Plasma does is ask the unasked questions. Are Pokemon capable of higher thought and reasoning just as humans are. Perhaps they are not as inventive as we are, but maybe their society is run in a completely different manner than our own and their language, which can only be heard in a series of cries and shrieks that sound similar to the names we give them, is understandable between themselves. If this is the case, should we not give them more rights within our society rather than the slave status they hold. Shouldn't a Pokemon be able to decide whether it wants to participate in contests and battles rather than just the trainers? Shouldn't contracts be signed at construction sites where many rock and fighting Pokemon work? And what of the Pokemon in laboratories, shouldn't they agree to being experimented on? Think about it. That's all we ask," and with that Ghetsis and the other Plasma member leave to talk to other wandering trainers.

The trio walk in glum silence between the brilliantly colored booths and their fellow laughing trainers. Finally, Black breaks the silence by saying: "man that was seriously some deep stuff. I don't even know what to think about half of it."

Cheren shakes his head firmly before saying "no, I'm not going to let him stop my dreams because of some vague philosophical idea that has no scientific basis. Captured Pokemon are happy, enjoy being in the company of humans, and like to battle. In fact, I heard of a study that proves wild Pokemon battle each other to hone their skills. Pokemon are born to fight, which is why they do it."

"Is it though?" Bianca asks quietly, "or is it just that they've evolved that way because it's been necessary."

"Don't let it get to you Bianca. Besides, you won't be doing much fighting. Maybe a couple of gyms and trainer school before you move on to just explore all the cities and possible careers. So, don't worry too much about it."

She smiled and nodded. "You're absolutely right! This is my one chance to have a blast, take as many pictures as possible, and see all of Unova!"

"Oh, and speaking of battles, it looks like they have some going on at the fields out there. Let's go!" Black yells as he sprints off in the direction of the Pokemon battles. Cheren races beside him and after a slight moment of hesitation, Bianca follows them.

All around the field young trainers were yelling and shouting out commands as their young Pokemon clumsily made their way to their opponents as they tried to hit them with an attack. Some Pokemon trainers were already pretty good while others were woefully inept. Black had already plunged into a battle with a young trainer carrying a bug catching net and Cheren had approached a giggling girl showing off her Lilipup to her friends. Bianca smiled and sat on a wall overlooking the field.

As she sat there, two trainers walked over to the wall where one joined a group of his friends and said to the other trainer: "you and your Purrloin are really good. It's why I can't understand why you like that Plasma group so much. Your Purrloin seems happy with me while Allie, my Oshawatt, is very happy with me. Why would you want to change that relationship?"

"I'm not saying that Pokemon and people should not love each other, but we should really reconsider the implications of our actions towards our Pokemon in relation to our own selves," a smooth and almost melodical voice responded. 'Who is this guy?' Bianca thought to herself, 'he sounds more like an old Professor than an eighteen-year-old.' Bianca slightly shifted her position so she could better see the trainer. She almost fell off the wall when she saw the long green hair the boy sported. At first, she had thought it was Ghetsis from behind, but she quickly realized that his hair was too long and wild and his outfit was completely different.

The boy continued "you two are friends, are you not?" he said gesturing between the one trainer and another that stood beside him. The two looked at each other and nodded. "Now imagine if one of you decided that you were going to capture him in a pokeball and carry him around wherever you go. You call your friend out to fight other people who decided it was a good idea to lock away their friends and they may end up getting seriously hurt, but that's alright because you just take them to a hospital and afterwards they're ready to fight again. Of course, you also take out your friend occasionally to talk to him and tell him that together you'll fulfill your dream, never once considering what your friend might want to do. That sounds like a great friendship to me don't you think?"

"Er… um… well… no. When you put it like that it does sound kind of like slavery, but Pokemon aren't people! They don't think the same way we do. They like being in pokeballs and travelling around with trainers. Besides, life in the wild must have been really tough and now they get plenty of food and shelter."

"Hmm… just as a gladiator gets food and shelter. Also, I must say that you act like you know for a fact that Pokemon are happy when your information for that must be more authoritative than from an actual primary source. I doubt you've ever asked your Pokemon whether or not it's happy and actually gotten an exact answer back."

"Well no, but maybe I will tonight. Besides, you have a Pokemon with you and you fight."

"I fight today in the hopes that one day I never will have to again. I understand that Pokemon are needed for protection, but that is no excuse for slavery or the blatant gambling and sports revolving around League tournaments. One day, that will all change."

"… Well thanks again for the battle and good luck on the journey. I'll be sure to take real good care of my Pokemon and maybe I'll even try asking it whether it wants to battle before I send it out. Anyway, see ya later," the trainer said with a wave as he took off with his other friends to go back to the fair.

The boy turns around and looks at Bianca who was blatantly staring straight at him. Bianca realized what she was doing and blushed furiously before stammering "Uh… um… hi," 'why did he have to be so good looking'. She thought to herself as the heat in her cheeks increased. 'This is already awkward enough as it is.'

"Hello. Are you a new trainer as well?"

"Um… yeah," she said and quietly wondered if he would go on another tirade about how awful it was that Pokemon were enslaved in pokeballs.

He simply smiled and said "my name is N. What's yours?"

"Me? I'm Bianca. I'm from Nuvema town."

Before either of them could say any more, Black and Cheren ran back over to Bianca. Black yelled "I totally kicked that youngster Joey's tail back to Kanto and back! How many did you win Cheren?"

"Five," Cheren said smugly.

"Ha! I got six. Better luck next time!" Black said cockily. At this point Black had noticed N who was standing next to where Bianca was sitting. "Oh hey! I remember you! You're on a Masters journey like me and Cheren. What was your name again?"

"N," he said smiling tightly as he reached out his hand to shake Black's, "What was yours again?"

"Black. Hey, do you want a battle?"

"Are you hoping to make your streak seven?" N asked coldly.

"Of course!" and with that Black ran back out to the field and N slowly followed. This time Bianca chose to follow while Cheren opted to have another battle in an attempt to not be bested by Black.

Bianca quietly watched as a battle commenced between the two. Blade versus N's Purrloin. Blade had already gotten pretty good in the short time those two had been working together. His water gun was more accurate, and his movements were more precise. Despite this, Blade unfortunately missed the Purrloin with his water gun towards the end of the battle and the Purrloin managed to come up beneath the small Oshawatt and land a critical hit with its scratch which caused Blade to fall to the ground in defeat.

"Wow. I'll admit I didn't see that coming. When I scanned your Pokemon with my pokedex it said that it was only in the level 7 range while my Oshawatt has now reached more of a level 10 range, but I guess critical hits can win you just about anything."

N smiled and declined to take Black's money. "Keep it and buy a potion instead." With that he smiled at both Black and Bianca before leaving the field and walking back into town.

"Hmm… that was kind of a weird battle," Black said slowly.

"Why?"

"Well you know how at the last water gun Blade jumped to spray the Purrloin with it, well the weird thing is I never ordered it to jump."

"Pokemon improvise, don't they?"

"Yeah, but Oshawatts underbelly without it's shell is it's weakness. It almost felt like Blade did it just so the Purrloin could win. I know that's a weird thing so say and I'm probably wrong, but that's just how it felt."

"Well the battle was so short and intense that maybe Blade didn't even realize what he was doing."

"Yeah probably."

A/N: Okay so one of my problems with BW games is that Team Plasma had a lot of potential to make some interesting arguments, but then they just turned out to be totally evil and bent on world domination. Team Plasma is still like that here (don't worry Ghetsis is evil as always) but they have more interesting points than the games do.

I also wanted to make N well educated and able to stand up to trainers that oppose his views. In the games he's just a puppet and doesn't really know what he's talking about. In this fanfiction, he's been well educated by the Sages, has social skills, and he's really powerful. He's still a puppet though.