A/N

Hey, so it's been a week since my last update! Thank you so much to maxeyn, lady of zsgolla, Welpie, That dorky blonde and Sandgem for the favourites, and an extra special thanks to That dorky blonde for the lovely review 3 and I now have two followers – thanks Welpie and Wolfman-053! You guys don't know how happy it makes me to know that someone out there actually gave my story a chance, so lots of love to you all 3

Ive been super busy with multiple family birthdays and such, but now im on half term i can actually focus on writing.
ive just finished all the after game shenanigans on pokemon white 2, and i made myself sad by battling n again in his castle again, lucky bastard has got a female leafeon! speaking of eevees, i really like the generation 6 eeveelution, but its hard to tell what type its going to be... flying maybe?
also, after scripting ive discovered many aspects of the fic are different from the actual storyline, like times and stuff, are completely different, and for that im sorry to any of you who just want basic storyline with a few relationships chucked in.
anyway, enough babble, on with the story!
fun fact - this chapter was written entirely on the train journey to london :)

Theme: No Light, No Light -Florence and the Machine

Chapter 4

The first attack came from the left.
Touko flinched as Reshiram summoned the giant column of fire that was Fusion Flare, eyes watering at the assault of sudden heat. But Zekrom was there in a split second, erupting forth from the pokeball as it left her hand. Its giant form shielded her from the heat, taking the fire straight to the body.

"Alright then, our turn," Touko murmured as the heat dispersed. "Zekrom, use Fusion Bolt!"
Once again, the generator at Zekrom's tail whirred to life, electricity accumulating in a sphere of static above its out-stretched talons. With an ear-splitting roar, Zekrom sent the sphere crashing down to hit Reshiram square between the eyes.

"You and Zekrom have already formed a strong bond, I see," N exclaimed. "But do you still believe you can defeat us?"

Touko gritted her teeth, staring N down as a way of answering. Although, truthfully, she had no idea if she could actually beat N, but either way she would give it her all. He could taunt and sneer all he wanted, she would win or go down fighting.

"Very well." N smirked. "Reshiram, hit them with Extrasensory!"

The move sent a dizzying shock wave across the room, causing Zekrom to growl with pain. Touko felt its effects too, Reshiram towering above them almost doubled in size. It was just an illusion, she repeated to herself, as the attack wore off.

A quick command later and Zekrom was fighting back with Dragon Breath, almost knocking Reshiram out completely, the white beast looking dangerously close to defeat. From the other side of the room, she could see the shocked look N was giving her, and she felt slightly smug. Never underestimate an underdog, N.

She could hear the panic in his voice as he called out for Reshiram to use Reflect, doubling their defence.

But it was no use. "Finish it with Dragon Breath!" Touko cried.

Zekrom let out an almighty roar, the energy forming in its open jaw, and it sent the crackling purple fire flying forwards. There was nothing Reshiram could do, no time to escape. The critical hit landed, and it was over. Reshiram fell, fainted.

As N ran forwards in alarm to retrieve his pokemon, Touko turned to Zekrom, thanking it quietly. "Zekrom, that was amazing. You did a great job, now return, you need a break." Zekrom growled contently. She couldn't hear it speak anymore, but she got the impression it was obviously relieved to rest for the next round.

"Lets go, Lazarus!" She sent out her Deino. Lazarus clicked his jaws, sniffing the air to catch her scent. He turned his head in her direction and waggled his little stumpy tail happily.

Lazarus had been a recent gift from Touko's cousin, Ebony, who had given her Lazarus to wish her luck with the Pokemon League. Touko adored Lazarus, who although was blind and still in his youngest form, was one of the most feisty and confident Pokemon she owned.

N had regained composure by the time Touko and Lazarus were ready, reaching for his second Pokemon, sending out his Carracosta.

"Go for it Lazarus, use crunch!" she called, hearing N shout his attack at the same time, "Carracosta, stone edge!"

Carracosta was quicker on the draw; a rush of rocks erupted from the ground, thwacking Lazarus from underneath. He growled, bursting out of the newly formed rubble to latch his jaws on to Carracosta's exposed fin. The crunch was audible across the room.

N clenched his fist. "Quick, use waterfall!"

Before Touko had time to move Lazarus out of the way, the water materialised out of nowhere, rising up high to crash down on Lazarus, forcing him away from Carracosta.

Lazarus washed up near her feet, though the attack wasn't very effective; water didn't work that effectively against dragons.

"Are you okay boy?" she called. Lazarus let out his short bark-growl, scrabbling to his feet. "Good, use Hyper Voice!"

She threw her hands over her ears, and just in time too. Lazarus' next roar was horribly high pitched, and even with her hands over her ears, she could still feel the vibrations of the attack shudder through her body. The reverberating sound was tuned specifically to inflict damage to pokemon and not trainers, though from across the room, she could see that N could hear the echoing sound too, his hands over his ears like her, a pained expression on his face.

Carracosta shook its head, injured, but retaliated swiftly with Aqua Jet, speeding through the water that still remained on the floor, slamming straight into Lazarus. Critical hit.

But it was no good; Aqua Jet was still a water attack, no matter how strong it was. Lazarus hopped to his feet once more, still standing his ground.
"One more attack, Laz, finish him with Dragon Rush!"

With a menacing roar, Lazarus launched himself at Carracosta, bright purple sparks skittering around his feet. Carracosta was tackled to the ground, where it collapsed in a heavy heap, unmoving. Lazarus barked triumphantly and trotted back to Touko.

Pandora, her Milotic, made light work of defeating N's Vaniluxe, its ice attacks doing little damage to her tough scales as she weaved about the room like a great snake, dodging attacks left and right.

N sent out his Klingklang, each attack increasing the desperate panic written across his face. Touko felt a glimmer of triumph, it seemed as if her luck had hit at just the right time. N was down by three Pokemon, yet she still had a full team. So far, so good.

N's fringe was messed from where he kept running his hands through it nervously, his face ashen. But as Touko watched him, she saw a faint spark in his eyes as he watched her Milotic hit Klingklang with Surf, almost drowning it in a one hit KO. She frowned. He was losing, what could he be so happy about?

Klingklang whirred weakly, obviously one hit away from being knocked out completely.

And then she heard it. "Thunderbolt!"

All of the attacks up until then had done little damage, though somehow they had whittled Pandora's health down roughly half her normal health.

But Thunderbolt was much more effective.

The summoned strike of lightning caught Pandora on the head, electrifying her whole body. With a feeble cry, she collapsed to the floor, exhausted.

"No!" Touko cried, running to Pandora's side. She stroked her scales softly, clicking open the pokeball to return her fainted Pokemon. That was it. Now N was going to pay.

She grabbed her third pokeball, Shizz jumping out in a burst of golden light, eyes crackling with the fierce intensity that reflected his trainers anger.

"Ah, you're angry now, aren't you?" N said, sounding somewhat smug. "Do you see how it feels to have your friends wiped out before your eyes? The cruel ways of Pokemon battles mean we have to watch as our friends hurt each other for our entertainment. This is why all Pokemon should be liberated, so they don't have to suffer to the whims of humans, they won't have to fight anymore!"

Touko stared at him. The anger still blazed inside her chest like a seething ball of rage. "What are you even talking about? You hypocrite, how can you say that when you keep your Pokemon in pokeballs too, and order them to fight for you?!"

N looked taken aback. "Why... its just for portability, of course!" he argued, though his voice audibly lacked conviction. "And how dare you, they're not my Pokemon, they're my friends!"

Touko scoffed. "Call them what you like, but admit it, you're just like the rest of us. Don't pretend that you're so much better than me."

"Enough!" N snarled, his eyes darkening. "Klingklang, use Hyper Beam!"

The attack hit shizz on the chest, who was pushed backwards, though he stood his ground, injured but determined.

"Wild Charge!" Touko commanded, and Shizz shot forwards like a greyhound out of the gate, electricity crackling around him. He slammed into Klingklang, who hit the floor, its moving gears of its body grinding to a halt.

"Nice one Shizz," her mouth was set it a grim line. Shizz grumbled in return, though the force of the attack had damaged him in recoil.

N said nothing, as he sent out his Archeops, quietly seething in frustration. It was quite the opposite of the composed trainer who had healed her Pokemon earlier.

It was a short round; being a flying-type Pokemon, Archeops was at Shizz's mercy, who after being hammered with Stone Edge, released the full fury of Thunder at her command. Archeops was instantly knocked out.

She looked beyond the fallen Pokemon to look at his trainer. Strangely enough, N's fury appeared to have disappeared, much to her surprise. An almost calm expression settled across his face, and he nodded to himself. "My last friend..."

From his last pokeball sprung a strange Pokemon, not one Touko had seen before. "Zoroark, use Night Slash!"

So this was a Zoroark - a Pokemon Touko had only heard of in myths. The huge werewolf like creature dashed forwards, its claws raking across Shizz's chest. Shizz stumbled back, surprised, glancing to Touko for orders. A dark-type Pokemon. Okay, she could deal with this.

"Shizz, use Thunder!" she shouted. None of the moves her Luxray knew would be particularly effective against dark-type Pokemon, so her plan was to hit it with the most powerful moves he knew. She gritted her teeth, hoping it would work. Shizz was already looking pretty tired, and that Night Slash was quite a powerful move. They couldn't afford to take too many of them.

Shizz growled, the rumbling thunder accumulating above the arena. The bolt of lightning struck down…

But it missed the Zoroark completely. N's Pokemon had dashed out of the way at the very last second, the lightning hitting the ground where it had been a split-second before.

In a blink of an eye, the Zoroark retaliated with another Night Slash, impossibly fast. Shizz toppled back. Touko felt fear settle on her stomach; she had used up her whole supply of revives on her fight through the Elite Four, and it didn't look like she could count on N to heal them this time.

"Alright then, use Thunder Fang!" Touko shouted, changing tactics. Thunder Fang wasn't a particularly strong move, but at least it had a higher chance of hitting. Shizz sprinted up to Zoroark, who braced its legs to jump out the way.

Touko groaned. It looked as if this move would miss too, Zoroark was just too fast. But just then, Zoroark seemed to catch Shizz's eye, and he faltered, locked in the crouched position, still poised to jump.

Intimidate. Shizz's special ability intimidated the foes Pokemon, and it seemed as if the look in his eyes had done the trick.

Zoroark's hesitation gave him an opening, and he took it, latching his jaw on Zoroark's forearm. It tried to pull away, but Shizz bit down, electricity surging from his fangs.

Zoroark stumbled backwards as Shizz released him, electricity still snapping around his body.

"Use Retaliate!" N commanded, but as Zoroark started forwards, the electricity imbedded in his body stopped him dead in his tracks, frozen with sudden paralysis.

The paralysis gave him an opportunity to attack. "Go on Shizz, you can do it! Lets try Thunder again!" Touko cried desperately.

Shizz summoned the thunder once again, just as the first wave of paralysis wore off. The thundercloud formed, but it was no use; a mixture of fatigue combined with Zoroark's renewed mobility and fast reactions caused the bolt to miss once more, hitting the ground uselessly.

Fear turned to terror as she saw the glint in N's eye when he called out the next move.

"Zoroark, use focus blast!"

Touko could do nothing but watch helplessly as the Zoroark barrelled towards Shizz, the punch sending Shizz flying towards the wall. He hit it with a sickening thud, Touko already sprinting halfway across the room by the time he hit the floor.

She gasped as she fell to her knees beside her eldest and most dependable Pokemon, tears pricking behind her eyes. She stroked the mattered fur of his mane away from his face, recalling him into his pokeball with a trembling hand.

"Now do you see?" she heard N say solemnly from behind her. "Pokemon battles just result in your friends getting hurt. There's nothing to gain from such pointless fights."

She spun round, fuming. "Shut up!" she yelled, tears falling from her eyes. N stood a little way off, looking down at her with a mixture of pity and something else she couldn't read.

"But surely you understand now-"

"I said SHUT UP!" she cut him off. Without warning, one of her pokeballs opened by itself, a small figure putting itself between Touko and N.

Sarcelle growled defensively. N looked quite surprised, a smile flickering at the corners of his mouth.

"What have we here?" he looked at her Glaceon quizzically. "You didn't order her out of her pokeball, so how..."

Taking advantage of N's distraction, Touko grabbed the nearest pokeball on her belt, flinging it blindly in the general direction on the arena.

As if from nowhere, a small black cat-sized pokemon dashed towards Zoroark, flickering in and out of vision. It materialized directly in front of the startled Pokemon, blue rings glowing as it pounded Zoroark straight on the jaw.

N glanced back, astonished. Uno dashed back to stand beside his sister, the two forms of Eevee standing their ground to protect their trainer.

"How fascinating..." N said quietly. Pokemon and human stared each other down.

N was the first to look away. Apparently having seen enough, he turned on his heel, striding back to his Zoroark.

At his command, Zoroark barrelled towards Uno, though the Umbreon danced out the way at the last second, blue rings glowing mischievously. A tiny shot of pride interrupted Touko's anger. N's Zoroark wasn't the only fast Pokemon on the battlefield, and Uno, the lucky black-cat that was her shiny Umbreon could give Zoroark a run for his money.

"Uno, use Payback!" It wasn't one of the most powerful moves, but it seemed fitting. Like payback for Shizz, Touko thought glumly.

"Zoroark, Focus Blast!"

That bloody move. And it was a fighting-type move; super effective on dark-type pokemon. Touko couldn't bear to lose yet another Pokemon.

But suddenly Zoroark stopped halfway towards Uno, and Touko's face lit up. The familiar sight of golden sparks momentarily enveloped Zoroark's body, indicating the paralysis was still in effect.

"Yes!" Touko hissed under her breath. "And about time too." This could work to their advantage in more ways than just one. "Uno, use Facade!"

Right then, she was so glad she'd decided to teach her Umbreon that move. Paralysis doubled the effect, and she watched with grim satisfaction as Uno dashed up to Zoroark, smacking into it with his whole body weight.

Everyone in the room held their breath. The silence was deafening.

Zoroark stumbled backwards, falling to one knee, then the other, and then it was over, Zoroark crashed down in a faint.

"No… No! I can't have..." she heard N stutter, breaking the silence. Though it was as if he was speaking underwater.

Touko stood up, dazed. "I... won?"

Reality caught up with her in a sudden rush. She couldn't believe it. Unable to speak with an overwhelming sense of bewilderment, she bent down as Uno and Sarcelle ran over to her, yipping in delight. It was over. It was finally over. She felt weak with relief.

"Everything's ruined..." she heard N murmur miserably, breaking through her elated mood. "The truth I held... the dreams my Ppokemon and I shared..."

She felt bad for him. And it astonished her. It wasn't like her to feel guilty towards beating an opponent, but this time she felt terrible. N looked completely distraught, gazing numbly down at the pokeballs that contained his unconscious friends with a face stricken with grief.

She approached him carefully, like one would when approaching a frightened Pokemon. She hadn't forgotten her suppressed feelings towards him, no matter how hard she tried to bury them, but she also remembered what he did to her Pokemon.

Conflicted emotions ran through her mind, and she hovered awkwardly in front of him, debating what to say.

N raised his head, looking at her in confusion. "Reshiram and I were... beaten." he said dejectedly.

Something nudged the back of her leg. Glancing down, she saw Sarcelle was looking at her with stern brown eyes, which flicked towards N, and then back to Touko. She still didn't know what to say, but she realised she didn't have to say anything. Suddenly, she grabbed N, who stumbled slightly in surprise, hugging him close. She was surprised herself, but it felt as if all her anger she held towards him earlier had evaporated.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly against his shoulder.

His scent reminded her of summer day, all cut grass and fresh air. His posture relaxed, and very briefly, he held on to her for a second, nose burrowed in to her neck, before breaking away.

They both avoided looking each other in the eye; a slight pink tinge to N's cheeks that she knew was identical to her own. He cleared his throat.

"I just wanted to apologise," Touko said fidgeting her toes inside her shoes, hugging her arm across her chest. "I get it... I mean, I know how much winning meant to you. And I'm sorry."

She summoned the courage to look N in the eye, expecting to see him upset or annoyed. But he smiled at her, a certain clarity settling across his features. It seemed a revelation had finally dawned upon him.

"Don't apologise, Touko. Your ideals... your feelings... they were stronger than mine." He smiled sadly. "Zekrom and Reshiram, each of them choosing a different hero. Is this even possible? Two heroes living at the same time, one pursuing truth, the other ideals... could they- I mean, we, both be right?" he broke off, gazing up to the domed ceiling where the light was streaming in. Was he finally coming to his senses?

"What I think," Touko spoke up nervously, staring at her shoes. "Is that truths and ideals, dreams and ideas, everything is just two sides of the same coin. Maybe we can both be right, and it won't matter, because our truths and ideals cross somewhere." she said more for the benefit of herself.

"Maybe. I don't know. It's not by rejecting different ideas, but by accepting different ideas that the world creates a chemical reaction. This is truly the formula for changing the world..." he trailed off, his voice becoming quieter as if he was musing aloud.

Touko was feeling brave. She edged a few inches closer to N. "All this talk of truth and ideals, have you ever stopped to think what you really want? I mean, I know you are completely devoted to liberating Pokemon," she backtracked, her words sounding way too forward for her liking. "But have you ever thought about what you want to do outside of your life with Team Plasma? Haven't you ever felt the urge to go travelling, to see a world beyond Unova?"

"A world beyond Unova? Travelling?" N's voice was curious. He frowned. "But, well I suppose I've always been with father, and my responsibilities..."

"Earlier, didn't you said he's not your..." Touko lapsed into silence. His relationship with his father seemed to be a sensitive subject. She wasn't really sure how to ask him about it without fear of upsetting him.

N's expression darkened. "You heard right. He's not my real father." To her surprise, he shuffled closer slightly, though he didn't look at her. "I had a different life when I was young, I was a different person..."

Touko held her breath slightly. What was going on, first he finally realises the error of his ways, and now this? Was he actually opening up to her?
Suddenly, a crash from behind made both of them jump, springing apart in shock. Uno and Sarcelle dashed over to their trainer and N, cowering behind their legs.

"What was that?" N asked, glancing down at Uno who was hiding behind his feet. In his state of fright, he seemed to have forgotten his dislike towards N, his fur was all fluffed up in anxiety. Uno apparently answered him, for N held up a hand to interrupt. "What?" He sounded shocked. "Wait wait, you said he kicked you, but who-"

A booming voice cut off N in mid sentence, Uno and Sarcelle flinching in fear. N's face drained of colour.

"N HARMONIA, YOU STUPID BOY, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"

To be continued...

I'm thinking of attempting a weekly update on wednesdays, just to let you know, but i'm not sure how thats going to play out since i am the most procrastinaty person in the universe ;n;

Also, does anyone have any ideas what i could do for a cover? i cant really draw very well and i dont want to break any copyright laws by stealing "official art" or whatever, so i'm at kind of a dead end... help?