Skies As Grey As Battleships

- Chapter 9: Demonstration -

Today was a day off, one shared with Touko and Bianca. Touya had made sure to set his alarm and wake up earlier than he usually would have liked. He knew that he was avoiding the issue and that it would eventually catch up with him, but he wanted to put off talking with Touko as long as possible.

He'd slipped out of the apartment about twenty minutes after he'd awoken, and the speedy transition from being fully asleep to walking briskly had left him a little dazed. He was not someone who woke up quickly.

Oshawott chirped at Touya from atop his head, and Touya noticed that he was about to make a wrong turn. He chose not to dwell on the fact that his Pokemon had a better sense of direction than he did.

Soon enough, Touya arrived right outside the Plasma building. Just as he did yesterday, he knocked and waited until the door opened, revealing a man with bright red hair. He was a couple of inches taller than Touya.

Touya tried to remember if this man was the same one he'd accidentally interrupted the first time he'd stepped foot in the building. Since he had fled fairly quickly, he hadn't exactly gotten a good look.

Not that it really mattered, he supposed. It would probably be better if this wasn't the same person, anyway.

The man's eyes flicked upwards. Either he was used to seeing Pokemon perched on people's heads or he just didn't care, as his expression remained impassive.

"If you'll come with me, I'll escort you to Commander N."

... That sounded like a pretty important title. Obviously Touya had known that N was the leader of this organization, but to hear him addressed with such respect was a little odd, especially since Touya'd never used any sort of title when talking with him.

The man turned away and began heading towards the elevator on the left. During the elevator ride, Touya had the thought that one never really appreciated the height of a building until they had to ride in an elevator with a stranger for three minutes.

The doors opened, and the Plasma member motioned for Touya to exit, which he gladly did. The doors slid shut behind Touya as he stepped forward.

The room looked like it was created specifically for training. The walls and floor were both padded, presumably to cushion any collisions against them. The lines of what Touya assumed to be a battlefield of some sort were painted on the floor in bright white.

If a battle had been taking place, it had halted once Touya had entered the room. N was looking in his direction and almost-smiling, which Touya took to be a good sign. The fact that he'd even been shown upstairs to begin with was promising as well.

The other trainer - a brunette, which was nice, because Touya was beginning to think that every member except for N had red hair - merely looked confused at the interloper, but as N wasn't objecting, she kept silent. A Purrloin idled at her feet, absently licking his paws.

"I'm glad you could come by. I realize that you most likely have a question for me, but before that, would you be interested in watching a Pokemon battle?"

Touya tried not to be offended by N automatically assuming that Touya had an ulterior motive for meeting him. Not that he was wrong, of course, but Touya didn't think that he had to have a reason to visit N.

But when had that become the case?

Regardless, there was N's offer to deal with. While Touya did want N's opinion as soon as possible, a tiny part of him was admittedly intrigued by the prospect of witnessing a battle.

"Osha! Shawott!" Touya tried to meet Oshawott's eyes by rolling his skyward.

"You want to watch a battle?" he asked slowly, only half sure he was interpreting his Pokemon's speech correctly. Oshawott nodded his head vigorously, and Touya turned his eyes back towards N.

"I guess we'll be watching."

N nodded. "I would recommend that you step back against the wall."

Touya did as he was told, pressing against the soft wall furthest from the battlefield. N turned his attention to the trainer across from him, and she immediately straightened up. On some unspoken cue, the battle began.

"Purrloin, use Scratch!"

The lithe Purrloin shot forward, claws outstretched, moving more quickly than its previously relaxed demeanor had belied.

N's eyes met Zorua's for a split second, and the air around the Pokemon glinted. Unable to halt in time, the Purrloin slammed into the invisible barrier and was sent tumbling backwards onto the floor.

Amazed, Touya watched on. Oshawott wiggled energetically, occasionally contributing excited chirping noises to the sounds of the battle.

"Use Growl! And get to your feet, quickly!" the other trainer shouted.

"Dark Pulse," N advised Zorua, none of the panic that had crept into his opponent's voice evident in his own. Just as the Purrloin had managed to stand to his feet, Zorua rushed his foe, letting loose a shadowy pulse of energy.

The Purrloin staggered momentarily before collapsing back onto the floor. He struggled to lift himself up, but was unable to do so.

"Can you still fight?" the trainer asked. Her Pokemon purred faintly in response.

"Purrloin wants to keep battling," N informed her. "But you shouldn't push him. We'll end the battle here, and you can bring him to the clinic."

The woman nodded stiffly, blushing in embarrassment. She gently picked up the fallen Pokemon and speed-walked towards the elevator, which pinged open almost immediately.

Zorua ran over to Touya and looked up at him curiously. "Zoru?"

"He'd like to know what you thought of the battle," N supplied helpfully.

"It was interesting," Touya answered truthfully. While 'interesting' was certainly ambiguous, he did mean it in the good sense of the word. Oshawott shimmied off of Touya's head and onto his shoulder before leaping off and hitting the ground. Touya was suddenly very glad that the floor was padded.

"Osha!" The Pokemon lightly butted Touya's leg as if to punctuate his statement.

"So you agree with me?" Touya asked, kneeling to pet Oshawott. N looked at him with interest.

"When I told you that I could speak to Pokemon, you seemed surprised. But you appear to understand Oshawott quite well."

"That's... kind of true, but it's only Oshawott, and I need context to understand him."

"It's still impressive."

Touya was about to reply when he remembered that he actually had a reason for visiting N, and that reason was not so he could discuss his ability to somewhat understand Oshawott.

"I was wondering if someone who wanted information would be glad to become a factory overseer," Touya said, hoping that N wouldn't be too thrown by the non sequitur.

"I can't speak for certain, but it would not surprise me. Overseers themselves do not have access to classified information, but, should an overseer be promoted, they would then be allowed access to pertinent facts that would otherwise be hidden."

N's confirmation, when combined with the fact that the Bianca Touya knew would have absolutely hated her new position, solidified what Touya had been thinking for the past few days.

As of now, there was no getting around it - Bianca was involved in anti-government activities. Touya might not know the extent of this involvement, but any sort of participation in dissident activities was extremely dangerous.

"Thank you. That's what I wanted to ask you about yesterday."

N asked his next question hesitantly, as if he were uncertain of its appropriateness. "Was your friend - Bianca, I believe - recently promoted?"

Touya nodded slowly.

"I'm sorry - I know what I just told you wasn't exactly what you wanted to hear. So, in return for me being the bearer of disappointing news, would you like to hear about what happened yesterday?"

Not that it was really N's fault that he'd had to confirm Touya's suspicions.

But though it hadn't really crossed Touya's mind, now that N mentioned it, Touya was sort of curious about what had been going on.

"I can't tell you everything, but it had to with one of our operatives. She discovered a very important bit of information, but she was caught halfway through her attempt to communicate it to us. We were trying to determine if there was a way to either rescue her or diffuse the situation."

"Was there?"

"No." N's expression darkened. "She was executed sometime last night."

"Oh," Touya said in a small voice. He didn't even know what the appropriate response was to finding out that someone had been murdered. He almost wanted to ask what kind of information was so important that it would warrant the sacrifice of a life, but he decided against it.

"The information she uncovered is invaluable. It may not be an exaggeration to say that it could be the key to ousting Crane."

Touya wondered if N was actually as bad at reading people as he thought. Or maybe Touya's curiosity was just that blatant.

At the same time, though, N's words only raised further questions. Questions that Touya didn't feel that it would be appropriate for him to pursue.

On a whim, Touya glanced at his watch. The watch face blinked the time back at him, and Touya felt a tiny spike of panic - it was already past the time Touya was supposed to have made dinner.

"Do you have to go?" N asked, evidently catching Touya panicked expression.

Touya nodded. He felt embarrassed about showing up, asking for information, and then leaving right afterwards. But at this point, he really did have to leave right now.

"Are you planning on coming by here tomorrow?" The question was phrased in N's usual level tone, but for a split second Touya almost thought he heard something else lying beneath the neutrality.

Hope?

"I'd like to, if that's alright."

"Touya, you are always welcome to visit."

Touya didn't know why he was suddenly blushing, but he was, and, as usual, there wasn't anything he could do about it.


Touya stared down his apartment door, trying to figure out how to open it without the use of his hands. He'd had to stop off at the grocery story - the same one he'd gone to with N, incidentally - because he wasn't capable of cooking with air.

He'd also picked up something that was actually edible for breakfast. Consistently skipping breakfast probably wasn't a good idea, and though Touko didn't have that problem, unless Touya went out and bought food, Touko generally wound up eating from random boxes or bags whose contents were almost assuredly expired.

Touya was pretty sure that if Touko died young, it would be from food poisoning.

Touya glared at the door, but it refused to bow to his gaze, instead barricading him off from his remaining stoically door-like. Touya gave up and gently set down both grocery bags, fished his I.D. out of his pocket, and slid it through the scanner.

He pushed the door open and subsequently stopped dead in his tracks.

Any conversation that had been going on had now halted, and the room's three occupants looked back at him.

"Welcome back!" Touko greeted. Upon noticing Touya's abandoned grocery bags, she began walking towards the door to grab them. Bianca smiled and waved at him.

Cheren regarded Touya calmly, though he thought that Cheren's expression might have held just the barest hint of a smile. Cheren was always difficult to read.

"You're late," Cheren noted. Touya mentally sighed; he'd almost forgotten how impolite Cheren could be sometimes. Though Cheren had repeatedly insisted that it was all entirely accidental, and given the confusion that he usually displayed when being told how rude he was, Touya was inclined to believe him.

And at this point, Touya was essentially used to it. There was no way a person could be Cheren's friend if they were annoyed by a little rudeness.

"... It's good to see you, too."


A/N: I've been looking forward to writing this chapter for two reasons - one, it's my first time writing a Pokemon battle (... I hope it turned out alright) and two, Cheren's here!

You may have noticed by this point that there has been no mention of Ghetsis. I figured I'd address this just so it's clear that he hasn't slipped my mind - there is an actual reason regarding why he hasn't appeared. It may not be explained for a while, but it's definitely going to come up in the story eventually.