Ugh... too short.

Sorry guys, I've got exams so this is the only piece I can get you right now! My head and creative responses aren't working very well together... BLAAAAAAAAARGH...

Anyways! Just sorta a nice chapter, Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT FAWKING OWN!

Chapter 21: Sealed Secrets

"Touya! Touya! Wake up!" Touya's eyelids fluttered, opening his hazel-red eyes and blinking in the light. "Touya!"

Realizing his surroundings Touya sat up suddenly, staring into the faces of Cheren and Alder. Around him lay the ruins of the once magnificent Champion's Temple, pillars lay strewn about like building blocks, pieces of the domed roof had crumbled and fallen to the tiled floor. Giant cracks snaked over the floor like scars, and only the stairs were untouched. Before him rose the black staircase that led to N's castle.

N… his heart ached horribly, why… why did you do this?

But the answer was apparent, and Touya wasn't about to ask it because he already knew the response. Cheren, having inspected Touya's condition, now looked to Alder. "Mr. Alder, you're a wreck. It's not fitting for the Champion," he put a hand on the man's shoulder.

"You did well to get this far," he told the boy.

The praise didn't help to lighten Cheren's spirit, however he did answer kindly, "Somehow, I beat the Pokémon League, but it wasn't easy,"

Alder appeared to be absent minded at the moment, for all he said was, "Er… I have to congratulate you,"

"I became stronger because I understood what I want to do," Cheren looked to Touya with a furious expression, "Tell N this..." Touya's heart lurched but he listened, rubbing the back of his head. "Some people grow stronger with Pokémon. My Pokémon and I are proof. Together we learned and became stronger," Touya smiled halfheartedly.

"I…lost…" Alder was still getting over the fact that he was defeated by N, Touya would have tried to comfort him… if only his own heart wasn't sore and shattered at the moment. "I should have been able to demonstrate the bond between me and my Pokémon. That would have shown that brat the worthlessness of his outrageous dreams!" he snapped bitterly, Touya winced. He's not a brat… Touya thought. "So, his convictions were the real thing… Be careful. The ones who change the world are always the ones who pursued their dreams. Touya… I ask this of you. Even if people and Pokémon are separated, nothing good will come of it," the man stared at him with such sorrowful eyes it almost tore Touya's heart a fifteenth time. "Please, let him know that!"

So Touya found himself later climbing the stairs to the castle, heart and thoughts dragging along behind him like his shadow only twenty times heavier. The stairs were black, black as his charred heart, he didn't want to sound dramatic, but it was true. N… how could you have done this? You knew… you knew… and still, you did it… you're going to make the world a dark and cold place where no one has friends. Were people are forgotten. If it was anything he was utterly terrified of, it was of being forgotten.

Going up and up, Touya reached the entrance of the castle, which comprised of a giant gaping hole in the side of the golden wall. Marching through he put his hand to the rim of his hat and lowered it over his eyes and squared his shoulders. I will fight you N, I won't let you go through with this. Even if… even though… he was grateful for his hat, for it hid the slight colour in his cheeks.

Past the first entrance he arrived at another staircase that acted as a bridge between him and the castle. Below it was a deep chasm stretching into darkness, making Touya feel a little dizzy when he started ascending the new set of stairs. Ahead he saw a grand archway and made for it, crossing over the threshold and entering the castle itself, the castle of Team Plasma, where N waited for him to arrive so they could determine the fate of the world.

Touya had to rest, he had been searching endlessly through countless rooms in the castle, going up countless flights of stairs, and talking to countless people. N wasn't anywhere in sight and his feet were beginning to tire, how many more corners must I search before I find him? Touya stopped at the top of yet another staircase and leaned on a nearby marble pillar panting.

I hope the Gym Leaders are alright, when Touya had first gone into the palace he had been met with the seven sages, all threatening him to go back. The Leaders had arrived just in time and challenged the sages to battle, thus allowing Touya to proceed onwards unhindered. Thank you… he promised to say if they got through this.

Suddenly a loud whistling screamed in his ears and Touya cried out, a Shadow Triad had appeared in the corridor. The white-haired man signaled for the trainer to follow and he did, nearing the Triad he saw the man point to the first room in the hall. "That room was the world that was provided to our Lord N… I don't feel anything, even when I go into the room… but you may feel something." A moment later he was gone, vanishing back into the shadows.

Touya arched his eyebrow, What's that supposed to mean? Go snooping through N's room? Though he had his doubts, Touya went in anyways, out of sheer curiosity.

Inside the floor was painted like the sky on a sunny day, with little white clouds drifting by, the walls a magenta and marble-white checkered pattern. Close to the door was a small basketball court with an abandoned ball laying in it's middle, near that was a train and block set that appeared to have been played with recently. Touya stared in surprise, the room wasn't at all like he had imagined N's room to be, it was a toy paradise! Not a room for a Pokémon Trainer or a King. Nonetheless, Touya felt strange, almost as if there were a kind of childhood trauma that the walls of the room had seen and were forbidden or too scared to speak of it.

He explored the large skateboard ramp that took up almost the entire back wall of the room, obscuring some more toy boxes and other miscellaneous objects and things. Glancing up there was a ceiling fan in the shape of an airplane that was circling around and around counter clockwise, more toys cluttered the back corners and Pokémon plushies littered the floor. Touya shivered, stranger feelings came from all the surroundings, again of something that was secretive, something no one knew about and the toys weren't telling.

Leaving the room in a flurry, Touya resumed his quest to find N; going down more corridors and feeling even more hopeless every time he came up with a dead end. Then he came to a larger set of stairs, hope sparking in his heart only to be crushed by his thoughts, Touya went up and saw that he was in a wider hall. Around him hung turquoise banners emblazoned with the Team Plasma symbol on them; reaching the middle he saw two statues of Pokémon standing guard before a massive archway.

Touya breathed deeply and waltzed at the archway, only to be met with Ghetsis at the gate. The older man smiled wickedly at Touya, his yellowish teeth almost matching his dirty-looking green hair. The mask and red eye on his right even freakier than Touya remembered it.

With a cold, cruel laugh Ghetsis spoke, "Welcome, holder of the Light Stone," he bowed his head mockingly, "The castle that appeared as if it were enveloping the Pokemon League is a symbol. It means Unova will change," he promised. Ghetsis shoved Touya away from the doorway and into the hall, following quickly after so the trainer couldn't dodge him. Motioning to the arch with his outstretched hand Ghetsis snickered, "The king of this castle is the strongest trainer in the world. He is accompanied by the legendary pokemon, he has defeated the Champion! Added to all that, his heart burns with the desire to improve the world," Ghetsis pushed Touya against the wall, the boy glowered back at him and tried to hide how terrified he was.

"If that's not what makes a hero, what more do you need?" asked the man, "Now that the stage is set we can seize people's minds and hearts. We can bring into being the world that I—no, that Team Plasma— desires more easily than you can imagine!" he laughed again, holding Touya's chin between his thumb and forefinger, as if inspecting his face. Touya shook with fear, hands balling into fists at his sides. "We and only we will use Pokemon, and we shall rule the powerless populace! I've been waiting so long for this!" he turned away, casting Touya aside roughly so that his nails scratched his chin.

"I've waited so long for this! I've kept my silence so no one could piece together what I planned. Now, those painful days are at an end!" Stepping aside Ghetsis allowed him past, "Go! Onward!" Touya walked carefully past him, What was all that about? I understood the part about Team Plasma only using pokemon, but what did he mean 'kept my silence'? Walking through the arch with a million questions in his head, Touya tried desperately to prepare himself for what he was guessing he might see.

Behind him Ghetsis called, "Discover whether you have what it takes to be a hero!" he said mockingly.

The throne room was vast. The ceiling towered over him even higher than the Champion's Temple did, with white marble pillars rocketing into the roof from crystalline pools of water. The floor was as it was outside, gold rimmed marble tile with an intricate pattern carved into it by skilled craftsmen. The floor acted strangely though, at the entrance it was wide, then grew skinny, widened in a sort of island in the middle, then thinned again. It was on that second thin part of floor that a royal-blue and embroidered red carpet rolled out from a small staircase. This led all the way to the end where there sat a golden throne, and upon the throne sat N.

Touya tried to keep a straight face, but he could already feel his eyes sting and his face grow hot with tears. Here was N, the one he cared about and loved so dearly, the one who had shattered that love, and the one true cause of all this.

"Greetings Touya… Hero of Light. I was waiting ever so patiently for you to arrive," N's voice was smooth as silk, calm and cool. Yet behind it Touya could hear his rage, his anger and his joy. Everything muddled together in one big mess.

Touya sighed and stood up straight, wiping his eyes of imagined tears, he readied himself for the fight of his life. The battle that would determine the very fate of Unova, Pokemon, People, and the two of them.

Yeeeah as I said... sorry but it's a filler... (I guess?) AT LEAST WE'RE IN THE THRONE ROOM! D8 If I need any excuses I can just say that... LAAAAWL!

So yeah guys! READ AND REVIEW PLEASE... it will make me want to write faster and update sooner, which means MORE STORY! YEEEEEEHHEHEHEHEEEEE! (Gir imitation? xD)

ROIGHT, see you in the next chapter! We're almost done? NUUUU!