N's POV
Zekrom landed outside of Professor Juniper's lab once we arrived to Nuvema Town. Touko finally calmed down a few minutes ago, and I planned on keeping her calm. I hopped off of Zekrom's back and glanced up at Touko. "Can you walk?" I asked as I held out my hand for her to grab.
"Of course, I can walk" Touko huffed. She grabbed my hand and landed on the ground without falling down. I grabbed her arm, but Touko shrugged my hand off her. She glared at me. "I can do it myself" she said confidently. She slowly took a step forward. Her muscles were probably still stiff because she took her good old time walking. I would estimate that it took about a whole minute just to take one step forward. Then out of nowhere, her body tensed up in mid-step and her muscles spasmed. She started to fall forward, but I caught her. She frowned.
"I'm just going to carry you" I stated as I picked her up bridal style again. Touko looked at the ground and mumbled something as she crossed her arms over her chest. I carried her back to my house myself. Hopefully, she'll take it into consideration that she should rest once we get there. I reached the front porch and opened the door. The lights were all off, and it was pitch black in the house. It was already pretty late out, and I didn't really think much of it since I left the house earlier without turning any lights on. It was too early out to do that.
As soon as I closed the door and turned the lights on, confetti was fired right into my face and people jumped out from behind the furniture.
"Happy 18th Birthday, Touko!" everyone shouted. Touko's face was surprised, and mine was too. Touko squealed and kicked her legs in delight. I totally forgot about the surprise party Bianca, Cheren, and I planned for Touko. Maybe, this horrible eventful day would turn into a good one after all. Bianca was the first one to come greet us. She left her spot from behind my couch to come inspect Touko.
"I heard Ghetsis kidnapped you. Are you alright?" Bianca asked. She lifted Touko's arms up to look at them and pried open one of Touko's eyes with her fingers to look at her eyes too. I slapped Bianca's hand away, as best as I could while still holding Touko, as she went to touch Touko's right eye.
"Can't you see she has a black eye?" I hissed. Bianca leaned towards Touko for a closer inspection.
"Hmmm. Yes. She looks fine except for the eye and her lip, so why are you carrying her?" Bianca asked in an 'I know what is going on' way. Bianca started giggling then smirked. "N, you are such a dirty boy" Bianca said teasingly. "I bet you forgot all about the party with all that's happened today. You figured that since you got back and Touko turned eighteen you were going to go up to your bedroom to do fun things, weren't you? That's why you are carrying her, isn't it? You were going to carry her up to your bedroom romantically and close the door like in the movies. I know what's going on."
"Bianca, that's not—" I tried to get in, but the way out of line blonde cut me off.
"Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me" Bianca giggled before she skipped off and into the crowd of people, almost all of Nuvema Town. I sighed. When will that girl ever learn? I looked down at Touko whose fist grabbed onto my shirt and clenched the fabric tightly. Her face was bright red, and I smiled.
"Happy Birthday" I whispered in Touko's ear. She shivered but smiled none the less. "Come on let's go mingle" I said. Touko nodded as I carried her over to the couch. I set her down gently and Cheren checked on her immediately while Mrs. White fawned over her daughter's injuries. Mostly everybody wished Touko a 'Happy Birthday!' once they got the chance. I went over to the table and got a plastic cup and filled it with punch. I went back over to Touko and sat down beside her. She was talking to some of the neighbors. I gently nudged her arm, and she stopped talking to look at me. I handed her punch, and she thanked me by kissing my cheek.
Shortly afterwards, Mrs. White announced that she would be cutting the cake, but we had to sing first. Candles were inserted into the dessert and lit. The cake was chocolate but it had white icing with pink and green swirls of icing on top. The eighteen candles were black, and their light made shadows dance across the top. Everyone started to sing and Touko was beaming. She closed her eyes, made a wish, and blew out the flames. People started cheering as the cake was cut and slices were handed out. The cake was delicious, and I got a second helping. Mrs. White was a great cook even though Bianca was the one to decorate the thing.
I looked around the room. People were getting antsy but not because they were bored. I knew what they wanted. "Why don't you start opening presents?" I suggested.
"Okay!" Touko said excitedly. Cheren went over to the table the presents were on and picked up his small rectangular gift and handed it to Touko. Touko unwrapped the gift to reveal a book. It was called 'Champions of Unova.' She flipped the book open. It was apparently a newly released book. The book had brief histories on the previous champions of Unova and fun facts about them like the Pokémon type they specialized in, their main partner, most known for strategy and a lot more. There was even some information on Touko in there from her time as Champion to now. "Wow, Cheren, this is great! Thank you" Touko said in awe. Cheren blushed at the comment.
"Me next! Me next!" Bianca cheered. She grabbed her pink box off the table and shoved it in Touko's hands. Touko tore off the wrapping paper and took off the lid of the box. Inside the box were a few different kinds of evolutions stones along with four woven bracelets. They were all the same. They each had four stripes on them. One stripe was blue, one was orange, another pink, and the last was black. Bianca bent down to point at the contents of the box. "See. Those are evolution stones for those pesky Pokémon that can't evolve without a stone and those are friendship bracelets on top that I made. Bianca grabbed one of the bracelets and tied it onto Touko's wrist. She proceeded to do the same to Cheren, herself and I. She smiled in happiness. "The colors each represent one of us. The blue is Cheren. The orange is me. The pink is Touko and as you can guess the black is N" Bianca explained.
"This is wonderful. Thank you, Bianca!" Touko leaned forward and wrapped Bianca in a hug. The hug ended and Professor Juniper went up to Touko with a small rectangular box next. Touko squirmed in her seat. I knew she what she was anticipating the gift to be. She was hoping for a National Pokédex. She's wanted one for a long time, but she still never received hers yet. Touko ripped the gift from Professor Juniper's hands and opened it up quickly. Much to her disappointment, there was no Pokédex, only six Poké Balls. There were two Timer Balls, two Repeat Balls, and two Quick Balls.
"I heard you needed some Repeat Balls and that your favorites to use are Timer and Quick Balls" Professor Juniper said quietly. Touko nodded. She looked up and smiled.
"Thanks." Everyone else who brought presents took their turn in handing them to Touko. She opened them all up. The stuff was mostly new clothes and Trainer items like berries, potions, and stuff like that that I knew Touko would use. Mrs. White was the second to last person left to give her present to Touko besides me. Mrs. White smiled as she handed her daughter her gift. Touko opened up the silver paper and opened the box. Touko gasped as she pulled out a beautiful yet simple short white veil. It was one of those kinds that only covers the bride's eyes.
"It was mine. I figured that you would need something old as the saying goes, so I decided why not give you my veil" Mrs. White explained.
"It's gorgeous. Thank you so much!" Touko exclaimed. She gave her mom a hug before putting the veil away and looking at me. I weakly smiled at her.
"I'm sorry. I dropped my present earlier on the way to rescue you. I don't know where it is now" I said sadly. Touko smiled and shook her head.
"It's alright. Being here with you is all that matters" Touko said sweetly before leaning over to kiss me. Once our lips connected, I felt so much better. I deepened the kiss and wrapped my arms around her waist pulling Touko closer while also being careful of her split lip. Someone cleared their throat, and I immediately pulled away from Touko. I knew we were both blushing. Professor Juniper had her hand in front of her mouth, so I suppose she was the one that cleared her throat.
"Don't give up hope now. Here, N" Professor Juniper said as she pulled out my small black present from her lab coat pocket. "You dropped it on your way out of my lab." I took the item from the Professor and clutched it to my chest. I looked at Touko who was eyeing the present.
"I hope you like it" I said nervously, and I handed the box to Touko. She carefully took it in her hands and opened it up. Touko's eyes started watering as she pulled out a black National Pokédex with a pink Poké Ball symbol on the top. Touko opened up the Pokédex to the screen where I had a picture of me and Touko printed onto the plastic. There was also a picture of Bianca and Cheren together and a single one of her Mom and Dad too, but they were smaller in size. Touko ran her fingers over the pictures. They were right beside the buttons. I had the Pokédex custom made that way. Buttons on the left and pictures on the right along with the color scheme of the Pokédex too.
"Flip it over" I whispered. Touko closed the device and flipped it so she could see the bottom. On the bottom it said 'Touko, you will always be my queen. Love, N.' Touko flipped it back over and laid the Pokédex on the coffee table. Suddenly, Touko jumped on me and wrapped her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck. She hugged me so tightly it hurt.
"It's the most perfect and wonderful gift someone could give me. Thank you" Touko said into my shoulder. I smiled and hugged her back.
"I'm glad you like it" I chuckled. Touko pulled away and wiped her eyes with her hand.
The party raged on for another two hours before everyone left to go home. Touko asked her mom if she could stay the night, and her mom said yes but only because it was her birthday. As Mrs. White headed out the door, she gave me a warning glare. I backed away and nodded my head. She left and Cheren and Bianca followed her out. Touko and I carried most of her presents up to my room. She put her new clothes in my closet and put most of her Trainer items in her bag. She gave me a few and told me she didn't use them that much, and I stocked them in my Infirmary. After everything was in its new home, we went to my room to go to sleep. Touko changed into a pair of pajamas she got, and I stripped down to my boxers then slipped into some sweatpants. We got into bed, and Touko snuggled up to me. Her new Pokédex was on her nightstand. She wouldn't let it go all night. I kissed Touko's head.
"Does my eye look alright?" Touko whispered in the dark.
"You look beautiful with a black eye and without it" I reassured. "I'm sure it will go away in a week or so." I felt Touko nod. I wrapped my arms around Touko's body and pulled her flush against me. We fell asleep, and I was hoping to never let my dream end.
A/N: Imagine the Pokédex to look like a DS. There is a screen on the inside top but no screen on the bottom and the buttons are all on one side while the pictures are on the other half of the bottom. Review. It would be greatly appreciated.
