Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon (sadly) and this Fanfiction was greatly inspired by "The Truth will prevail" by Mayday. Check it out once you've got time ^^
Too Little Colours To Describe The World
Chapter 3
A tense Blonde and a cheery Light Copper
It was the 26th of August and Touko was exhausted.
Really, really exhausted.
Bianca and she had talked until late into the night and then she hadn't set up her tent properly, as in, she hadn't swiped the floor beforehand. If the princess on the pea had freaked out because of something small like, well, a pea, she wouldn't have survived Touko's first night as a real trainer.
It had been horrible.
Maybe, just maybe she should have listened to her mom when she had told Touko to carefully choose her camp's location.
Maybe.
Just maybe.
And while it was true Touko had camped out fairly often, her mom had told her were to set up her tent every single time. And she had also chosen the camping site. Which were usually, well, they had some convenient additions to their sites.
Like for example bathrooms.
Some things were better left unsaid.
Aside from this, this time there were no storms disturbing her starter's dreams and thus, Touko didn't have to call her back. And not feeling like a total failure the next morning sure was nice. If her brain had been able to detect such feelings like "guilt" that was.
In addition to a bad night's rest, she had also needed to fulfill her task to set Bianca's plan in motion. Once she had remembered it, Touko had gotten all excited and finally, her brain had decided to fully wake up. For three hours or so that was, before it had shut down once more.
And, while all the Trainer TV-series suggested otherwise, wild Pokémon...they didn't magically jump out of the grass at any given second.
Well, no. They did. But, just not as often. Touko had needed 20 minutes, 20 minutes, to find a Patrat.
A simple, normal Patrat.
It wasn't even shiny!
And then that Patrat had shown no interest at getting into a fight whatsoever, so it had simply made it's way back into the bushes, escaping Ollie's attack. It had been frustrating.
Another 30 minutes later and Touko had finally found another Patrat, just for this one to run away too.
It was disheartening, really.
Why was being a trainer so hard? She had prepared after all! Arceus, why hadn't her mom told her about this kind of stuff?! Was she supposed to google everything by herself?!
Of course Touko knew that, yes, she was to do just that, it was her journey after all, but still. What good was having two experienced (more or less experienced, Touko corrected herself) Trainers as parents, if they didn't tell you shit about their struggles?!
Arceus, she could cry out in frustration.
It didn't get any better once they found a third Patrat (one that was willing to fight at that) just to, well, find out Ollie was still traumatized from yesterday. She simply refused to attack it.
Touko was on the point of recalling her starter for this kind of behavior before remembering that no, Ollie was a life and breathing being. She had her own fears and traumas and Touko had to learn how to deal with it.
She was still pissed though.
Her mood had improved significantly once Ollie had tried to cheer her up by spitting some water on her. It was probably an attempt to play with her, as it could have been an attack. But Ollie had looked so sad and unhappy and embarrassed, that it felt more like an apology than anything else.
And while getting soaked by her starter's spit wasn't necessarily something that'd cheer her up, Touko did notice that this most likely meant that her starter was going to learn water gun soon, which was great news! All her troubles were forgotten and she had picked the Water-Pokémon up and swung her around, happily hugging her in the process.
She had even apologized for her behavior!
And her starter seemed to be much happier after this, Touko assumed she had gotten the hang of what the brunette had tried to convey, which was some more great news!
After this, Touko had set out once more to look for a suitable Pokémon. At least by now more Pokémon had awoken and there was a bigger variety. Considering she couldn't get close to Patrats and the only other commonly found Pokémon in this area were Lillipup, that may have been an overstatement.
Maybe she could catch a Pidove, but while there were plenty of birds around here, none of them were Pokémon.
It was a shame, really. She could've stomped the first gym so easily if there had been any birds around here.
But there weren't. Well, she could use some practice when it came to catching Lillipup. She had to get one at some point (or rather, before the first badge and she was going to catch it on Route 2) and she by doing this, she could prove that she was indeed able to let go of a Pokémon.
Stupid Cheren.
But first, she had to find one.
So Touko had looked for one for quite some time and then, then!, she had found one.
And just like the first two Patrats, it had simply run away.
It was the fourth one that had been less scared of that stampeding human and had stayed long enough for Touko to order Ollie to attack the Lillipup.
Her Lillipup.
Ready and eager to fight.
Lv. 3.
Decent nature.
It was perfect. And the resulting battle...would she ever have one this intense ever again?
"TACKLE!", Touko shouted as soon as the Lillipup had failed to run away within three seconds.
Somewhat embarrassed, Ollie did what her trainer ordered her to do (if Touko would have understood Pokémon, she would have seen a whispered apology and a "I actually like you" from Ollie).
The Tackle...Well, it was a Tackle ….. by an unmotivated Oshawott on Lv. 5. There was not…
IT WAS SOOOOOOO INTENSE! God, had she seen that correctly, the Lillipup had to jump back, and, Arceus, she couldn't believe it and, and…
Touko's heartbeat was accelerating as she watched her starter attacking the wild Pokémon. Frantically she ordered Ollie to avoid the opposing Pokémon's attack and when the Oshawott failed to do so, she flinched for a second before thinking of something that could be used to enhance her attacks, something that would make all of this easi…
"TACKLE!", Touko shouted again, after Oshawott had gotten up. The Lillipup was already readying itself for another move, so they had to act quickly. Maybe it wasn't a great strategy, but whatever.
Though, she did end up coming up with something.
And boy, was Touko proud of that.
"OLLIE, TACKLE THE GROUND!", she screamed, getting closer to her starter, her eyes wide open and switching between the Oshawott and the Lillipup.
Where was it going to attack next, which move was it going to use next and would the sand attack, created by Ollie tackling the ground, have an…
Touko's world of questions broke apart once she realized Ollie hadn't achieved anything by tackling the ground other than hurting herself.
No grand dirt clouds. Not even a small one. At least the Lillipup seemed to be as confused as Ollie (juts what exactly was that girl thinking?!) and thus, Ollie had time to shake the dirt that had stuck to her off and stare at the Lillipup, awaiting more orders. And secretly begging her trainer to just let her use Tackle.
Touko didn't understand her Oshawott though and wasn't really focusing on her either. Instead her eyes were locked onto the Lillipup as her heart threatened to jump right out of her ribcage.
It hadn't worked...her...it hadn't worked! How was she going to win if she didn't come up with a strategy, she knew that brute-forcing your way to a fight was…
Again, Ollie simply took the decision away from her trainer.
She tackled the Lillipup and pushed it back a bit. Touko's breath hitched as she watched the scene unfold, as the Lillipup got up, as it moved to ready another attack.
Well...Maybe brute forcing was the way to go at the...no!
"Wait for it to attack!", Touko cried out,
"Don't move until I say so!"
She could make Oshawott tackle aside on time, something which would greatly improve her speed and then she could make her starter attack while the Lillipup's back was turned on them and…
To the Water-Pokémon's defense, Ollie tried to evade. But, she hadn't really understood her trainer. She had gotten the whole "Tackle"-part with ease, but she hadn't really gotten that she was supposed to wait.
So, she got hit again and this time she cried out in pain (That stupid Lillipup!). But she patiently waited for more orders. Maybe she didn't want to, but Green Parade had said they had to obey order's. So she would.
Even though she didn't like it.
Immediately after her starter was hit, Touko bit her lip as she saw Ollie getting hurt again, before she remembered what she had learned.
Pokémon got hurt. That was kind of the point of Pokémon battles.
She would not let the same debacle happen a second time.
This was her first fight officially that was, she didnÄ't count yesterday) and she was going to win it!
Although, it may just have been against a Lillipup.
"TAAAAAAAAAACKLE!"
Maybe a minute had passed until the Lillipup finally had had enough and ran away yelping, hiding in the tall grass again.
For a moment, Touko's expression froze on her face, her mind still having to process that, yes, she had in fact won, while Ollie happily celebrated her victory. She was a winner! Pah, take that, stupid Patrat!
Even Touko's face lit up, after all this was a victory and she had…What...Oh.
Oh.
They had successfully defeated the Lillipup.
Which was nice and all.
But they had defeated it.
A sigh escaped Touko's lips as she sat down in the grass, pushing her cap into her face. They had defeated it.
You had to weaken it to catch or else they'd simply run away.
They had defeated it.
Exhausted Touko lay down, arms crossed behind her head.
"Ollie?", she whispered, closing her eyes. Immediately the young Pokémon's ears perked up.
"You're awesome. I couldn't have picked a better starter!"
She turned her head into the Pokémon's direction and smiled. Then she turned back.
It was the 26th of August and Touko was exhausted.
Really, really exhausted.
She'd simply have to catch a Lillipup tomorrow. Or maybe the day after that.
After all, there was still time until Friday, right?
He was sitting in a room. Alone.
Again.
Well, not if you counted the countless guards, but at this point, a mere five days since his coronation, N didn't.
He was waiting for someone. It was film night. Or rather, it had been film night. The two goddesses were late.
It was strange for them to be late. They had practically forced Ghetsis to allow this event and N hadn't been allowed to skip it. At first he had disliked it. While he enjoyed spending time with the two, he disliked their taste in films. Especially Anthea's. But that had changed and while he still greatly disliked their taste in films, it was...It was fun. It was a nice evening. A nice break from everyday life.
Which might have been the reason why N was so frustrated by them being late.
They weren't supposed to be late. No one was supposed to be late. It's what he had been told time and time again.
N sighed, playing with the golden cube around his wrist. He didn't want to start without them, especially because...well...He didn't get to choose the films and really, they were only ever fun if they watched them together.
He was about to get up, hoping he could find them, but was immediately halted as a total of four (four!) guards rushed toward him, all of them sharing the same, worried expression.
"My Lord! How can I be of assistance?"
It was an eerie situation. All four of them said the same thing at the same time and bowed exactly alike.
Like machines.
N found himself slightly pleased (and, to be fair, he was a bit wierded out). He liked machines. A lot. They were predictable. So, in a way like grunts.
"Uh..."
He was, however, not so pleased by the fact he was apparently not allowed to leave the room.
The grunts...They had never acted this protective. How could a simple piece of precious metal make such an impact? It just...It didn't add up!
"Sire, do not worry. The goddesses will attend you soon", the first grunt exclaimed, far too loud, while his eyes were glued to the ground.
"We were told a meeting with Ghetsis has delayed their arrival", another one added, shortly followed by a third voice:
"We can, however, send for their immediate appearance if you wish so, my Lord!"
"In addition we were informed you do not have to wait for them as they'd gladly watch any movie you'd recommend."
N blinked.
What? But...The goddesses had always told him the point of film night was to, well, "spent some quality time" together. Even a prince, or rather future king, had to socialize at times. And they had gracefully ignored his argument that he was socializing with Pokémon all the time.
"Uh...I guess I'll just wait then", N murmured before slumping back into his chair, starring at a pitch black screen.
"My Lord, we can send for the goddesses, if you wish. No need to wait and waste your precious time!"
N sighed. If everybody was so adamant about fulfilling his wishes, why couldn't he just skip film night?
Well, he probably could. But that would disappoint Anthea and Concordia. And while he wanted to skip film night, he really didn't want to disappoint them either.
So instead, he simply settled for a whispered "It's fine" and closed his eyes, hoping that the four grunts would just disappear.
They did.
The four grunts bowed again and, in unison, responded with an obnoxiously loud "Yes, my Lord" before hastily making their way back to the walls.
N sat in his chair in silence, wondering what the goddesses and Ghetsis were discussing this time around. He hadn't had the chance to hold a proper conversation with them throughout those last five days and it made him feel slightly upset. They seemingly were busy whenever he was looking for them (or rather, whenever a grunt gave themselves the order to do so) and they...they had stopped visiting. He knew his lessons given by Ghetsis and the various tutors were put on halt due to his upcoming departure, but he hadn't known the same was to be applied to their lessons.
Although his father had said they were useless, N had come to...well, enjoy them. Maybe because he could spent some "quality time" with the two goddesses. Maybe because learning about the relationship between humans was just so different from all the things he'd usually learn (although it made so little sense most of them time). Maybe there was no reason at all. Humans were rather irrational being after all.
Eventually, the two goddesses arrived. They moved with grace and elegance, as was to be expected of the two woman raising a king, but N didn't fail to see that their movements were just a tad hastier than usual and they seemed to be not fully at ease. The moment they caught his attention, they lowered their heads, coming to a halt in front of him and giving a courtesy.
They stayed in the position, not a single word leaving their lips and N backed away, confused. What...What were they doing?
See, this was why he believed he needed more of their lessons.
N's eyes shifted between the two woman, before settling between them and trying to ease the tension welling up inside him.
This was OK. The goddesses gave courtesies to everyone, including some high ranking grunts. It had always been only a matter of time until they expanded this habit of them to greeting him.
There was nothing special about it.
"So...Which film do you want to watch?", he asked reluctantly, desperately trying to dissolve the uncomfortable tension that was building in the room.
"Whichever film you'd recommend", Concordia answered promptly. Then she bit her lip (Concordia never bit her lip), and bowed her head just a little bit deeper, before adding:
"I beg your pardon, my Lord. I talked too quickly."
N hesitated, looking at the pitch back screen in front of them, trying to erase this imagine from his mind.
What had happened?
But, really, he didn't want to ask. He just wanted the situation to be over.
They were the ones that had told him that friends were expected to treat each other the same way, regardless of their new social standing.
"Didn't you want to watch that one new film...starring Diantha, wasn't it?", he asked while his mind still tried to put all of this into context.
He didn't want to watch it. There were way too many Pokémon involved in the making of this specific film (well, there were always Pokémon involved, which was why he disliked them so much) and it was just another old, boring romance.
But Anthea had practically begged him to let her watch it. Or rather, she had acted as if she had begged him. In truth she had simply decided that they were going to watch it. Not that this habit was out of the ordinary. In fact, the contrary was the case.
"My Lord, this film does not seem to fit your taste. I beg you, simply disregard our choices while making yours."
Her voice...It sounded so monotone. Something N didn't really mind (things that stayed the same, well, they were easier to calculate), but...it didn't seem to fit. Monotony simply didn't fit the human species.
His bewilderment seemed to be rather obvious, as Concordia spoke up once more.
"My Lord, are you ill? You seem to be acting rather weird. I advi..."
"You're the ones that are acting weird!", he interrupted her all of sudden, jumping to his feet as he practically recoiled from the two women that had raised him all his life. His eyes were wide with shock, his mouth agape, while he just starred at the still bowing women.
"You...You've never acted this way before! You...You were the once that told me film night isn't actually about the movie!", he responded, feeling uncomfortable with the whole situation. How could all of this have taken such a...a disastrous turn?
"Things have changed", Concordia simply replied, her caring eyes so full of understanding. Her answer made his throat feel dry and for a second he didn't know what he was to do. He seldom stumbled over his words and he had never had any trouble continuing a conversation. He wasn't allowed such shyness.
He was to be King of Unova after all.
But right now...all his tutoring just...it fell apart as this new world, this new truth came crashing in.
Nothing was going to be the same.
He had known that, of course, but he hadn't expected this new world to look like this.
He didn't want it to look like this.
"It's...it's just a piece of shiny metal, formed in a way to easily carry it on once head", he whispered, his eyes widening in shock as he sat upright again and he got a grip of himself.
"It simply joins gold, element number 79, with a form of compressed carbon, element number six, to look in an aesthetically pl..."
"It's so much more than that", Anthea interrupted him.
N couldn't miss the sadness that was present in her eyes.
If they weren't happy with this situation...why didn't they just change it? Why did it feel as if his presence alone was making them unhappy?
"I'm still N!", he tried, making one last stand while backing away, pushing into his seat's pillow. He was still N. The neurons connecting throughout his brain hadn't changed at all! Well, no. That wasn't fully correct. They had made lots of new connections (and probably lost even more) but all that made him Natural Gropius Harmonia, all that made him N, was still there.
And no crown would ever change that.
But Concordia simply shook her head, a sad smile adorning her usual happy face.
"No, my Lord."
"You are a king."
Touko couldn't really believe she was seriously doing this. Her fists were clenching a Pokéball as she stared at the house in front of her.
She simply couldn't believe it.
This was stupid.
Stupid.
But then again, this entire situation was stupid, so it kind of fit.
Bianca and Touko had talked all night, trying to come up with a plan on how to get Bianca to go on her journey. It had taken them some time, but then they had finally managed to figure something out.
Was it stupid? Yes.
Badly organized? Well, they had talked about it for, like, two hours? So it couldn't be that bad, right?
Was it illegal? Well, it kind of involved stealing a Pokémon. But then again, not really, so it wasn't all that dangerous, right? More like…trading. Yes, trading was the most appropriate turn to describe this.
Touko had managed to catch a Lillipup at some point (yesterday, to be more precise) and was now patiently waiting for Bianca and her dad to leave Bianca's house.
Their plan was horrible. Simple and really, really horrible. It included Touko sneaking into Professor Juniper's lab and switching two Pokéballs (she had no clue on how she was going to distract the professor so she'd just have to be spontaneous) and, well, good luck? After all, Bianca hadn't been confined to her room during the past four days. She had been able to leave her room, although not the house. Her dad had been so pissed, he had grounded her for the rest of summer vacation. Which, for Bianca, was supposed to be an actual vacation. Right now, she was on her way to buy school supplies and tomorrow her dad would re-enter her for the next school year. Schools were open for cancellations of the one year break until one week of the school year's start and while it had been a close call, there had still been time for Bianca's father to drag her to Accumula Town.
Obviously Bianca had whined and cried about it, as was to be expected of her (after all, her parents weren't supposed to know she was going to run away) and Touko had, once again, come to the conclusion that Bianca was a pretty neat actress.
But today, today was the final day of the performance.
Today, it was going to happen.
Today, Bianca was saying good-bye to the town that had housed her for her entire childhood.
Touko got all nervy just by thinking about it!
They were doing it! They were actually pulling thi…
No.
This was no reason to celebrate. Bianca was running away from home and that wasn't something nice and…
Arceus, this was so exciting!
It was like in all those movies and then Bianca could live out in the wild and Touko would sneak her food and the Bianca would climb the building to get into Touko's PokéCenter room, so she could have the comfort of a bed once in a while and...
Touko tried (and failed) to keep herself from dancing around, as she laid in wait, Ollie sitting atop of her suitcase just like always, ears perking up.
Yep. Her trainer was weird.
Definitely weird.
It took Touko quite some while to cool down again (well, she never managed to clam her beating heart, but well, she was used to that by now) and she crouched beneath the bushes once more.
Luckily, there were a lot of trees and cars and bushes in Nuvema Town. They made for great hiding spots.
And then, after a felt eternity, finally the door opened.
"Dad! Please! This is...This was my..."
"Cut it out, Bianca! No!"
"But da-ad! It's no bi-big deal, really! We...We can go..."
"NO!
"I...I HATE YOU! You...I HATE YOU SO MUCH!"
And then, the sound of a slammed door could be heard throughout the entire sleepy town.
Touko's heartbeat accelerated once more.
The two friends had come up with a pretty basic plan. They'd wait 'til the last moment, after all maybe, just maybe, Bianca's dad was going to change his mind. Whilst unlikely, they didn't want to leave that possibility out. Plus, this way Touko only had to hide out on Route One for two more days instead of, well, more than that.
But it had been decided that on the day before Bianca was going to register at school, they'd strike. After all, they didn't want Bianca to officially skip school. And really, Bianca didn't want to wait any longer.
So, anyway. The blonde was going to leave today and the moment she had left town, Touko would sneak into the laboratory and switch Pokéballs.
Were both of them insane?
Judging from the amount of giggles that could have been heard when they had come up with that plan, yes, yes they were. But then again, they were teenagers. And starting of their adventure with an, well, adventure like this...it was exciting. Touko couldn't help but feel all jittery, waiting behind those bushes for Bianca's dad to drag her back out the door.
She had to wait for quite a bit though. Bianca really was putting on a show. Touko wished she could've been there.
But then, finally, the door opened up again and Mr. Grayson and his daughter appeared once more.
"Stop shouting!", Bianca's dad hissed, as he pulled his daughter along, who was by now sniffing. Her eyes were painted a teary red and her entire body was shaking.
"I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU!"
Bianca's voice had started to shake and again, her best friend could only sit back, impressed by the performance.
Sadly, it didn't last all too long. Bianca's dad had by now opened the garage and gotten into the car, while his daughter stomped around so more and begged her mother for help, who was standing in the doorway, arms crossed and her face guarded like always. Almost like Cheren's, except that Cheren's face had a personality to it.
Touko didn't really like Bianca's mother.
She could...she could understand Mr. Grayson – she didn't agree with him most of the time, but she respected the fact he was making a choice – but Mrs. Grayson was a whole different story.
She was so...so shallow? She never, never, took a stance on anything. She'd always say something about about trying to agree as to avoid conflict and then she'd simply wouldn't say anything.
It was horrible. Touko wouldn't be surprised if she had married Mr. Grayson just for his last name.
But now was not the time to contemplate fitting names, as a door was slammed and an engine was started.
Now, it was time to set their plan into motion.
A wide grin spread across N's face as the Woobat gleefully caught the stuffed animal he threw at it. It wasn't often that he managed to sneak a Pokémon into the castle (outside from Zorua that was, but really, Zorua had simply threatened to attack Ghetsis at some point), as his father disliked the idea of him being around wild Pokémon. They were already happy. N didn't need to help them anymore, right?
He had to help all those, that were hurt. Hurt and caught.
Hurt and caught and bloody and helpless.
Some things were better left unsaid.
So, no wild Pokémon it was. Only tortured and maimed and dead ones.
Officially at the very least.
Today a Woobat had made its way into his room. Through wide open windows. And probably following the smell of some delicacies. Which N might just had put there purposefully.
No one would ever truly know.
The Woobat threw the stuffed animal back and N caught it with no trouble at all. It was a simple activity, really, But it was fun.
In fact, N greatly liked throwing things around. He had begged his father for basketball equipment for that specific reason.
Maybe it was because of the great display of gravity. Maybe it was just one of his so very human character traits.
It didn't really matter.
He threw the animal back. They continued for quite some time and...N felt himself relaxing. After everything that had happened so far, he enjoyed this time of silence.
Calm silence that was.
And he almost forgot the images that haunted his thoughts day and night.
It didn't take long for that silence to disappear though, replaced by a more upbeat atmosphere.
It all started with Woobat asking if his friends could show up.
And, of course, N couldn't deny such a request.
An hour later, N lay on bed, exhausted, but with a smile on his lips.
Some things would never not be fun.
And spending time with a bunch of Woobata, that were so friendly as to tell him more of this somewhat mysterious world outside the castle, would never be boring.
Although, their descriptions sure sounded a lot more peaceful that what he had expected.
Well. It was Victory Road after all. There weren't too many humans out here.
Just peaceful, happy Pokémon.
Could there be a better place for anyone to be?
Sneaking into the laboratory was laughable easy. Professor Juniper didn't really have any security measurements. They were only living in a small village after all and breaking into her laboratory simply wasn't worth it. There wasn't any expensive equipment laying around and the few rare Pokémon that lived there knew who to trust and who not. And due to them already having been caught they couldn't be caught a second time.
So really, all you had to do to get inside was to be known around the village and to not look suspicious.
Touko could tick that first box with no trouble at all.
The second - not so much.
She had donned a big hat and an equally big pair of sunglasses to shield her face from getting recognized. Except that everyone obviously still recognized her. There weren't many Brunette's her age living in the village and she still spotted her usual look of a hastily picked out white t-shirt, some denim shorts and her trademark black vest.
Plus, there was an Oshawott following her. She could have recalled Ollie into her Pokéball, but Ollie seemed to prefer being outside and Touko preferred her to be outside too.
It kept her from squealing like a five year old getting a bunch of gifts from their grandparents while being high on sugar.
So Touko looked highly suspicious. But there wasn't really anyone around to observe her, so it didn't matter, right?
After checking her surroundings, Touko tiptoed her way into the lab, praising Professor Juniper's dad for oiling those doors on a regular basis.
She sneaked past the entrance to Professor Juniper's apartment, carefully evading all the tiles that squeaked.
She forgot to instruct Ollie though, so, that too, didn't matter, as the Water-Pokémon seemingly had a hidden talent for finding those exact spots.
The squeaking sounded a thousand times louder in Touko's head, but nobody else seemed to hear it.
Plus, Ollie seemed to apologize every time she made a sound, so really, Touko couldn't be angry.
She jumped every time she heard it though.
They made it to the desk holding Bianca's Oinky with no trouble whatsoever and Ollie jumped onto the table, curiously inspecting the Pokéball, as if this was the most normal thing to do in the entire world.
Poor Fireball. He had been the most excited about all of this. Luckily her trainer wanted to free him, so he could go out and live his dreams! Thinking about it, even Ollie got a bit excited. They would have some fun, right? The last few days had been fun and she had even learned a new attack! She couldn't wait to blast her friends with it!
While Ollie was happy to see her friend again, Touko was...jumpy. Scared. Excited.
There was no one around, right? And this was the right Pokémon, right? She wasn't making a mistake?
At first Touko's hand moved carefully, but then she decided drop that act and instead quickly snatched the second Pokéball from her bag and held it out in front of her. Then she snatched the one waiting, on the desk and…
Then she stopped. Her eyes were glued to the Pokéball in her right hand, holding a Lillipup.
Her Lillipup.
Touko bit her lip. Then she glanced at Oinky's Pokéball and back. Her determination sank. This...Somehow, she just, she...she couldn't.
She couldn't.
She simply wasn't able to put the Lillipup onto the table.
Nervously, Ollie looked at her trainer. What was going on? She felt distress, a bad consciousness and...helplessness.
It felt weird, coming from her trainer. And it greatly affected her.
Frightened, Ollie started to run around. What was going on, what was going on, what was…Until Touko finally put a Pokéball on the desk. And then she left, not even calling out for her starter to join her.
She simply stormed out of the lab, not thinking of anything else but leaving.
She had to get out of here.
She felt sick. Sick to the stomach.
And not even a calling Professor Juniper could hold her back, as she stumbled away, a confused Ollie following her.
It was only when her starter fell, that Touko stopped.
Immediately, Touko came rushing towards the Water-Pokémon that had started crying again. What was wrong, what had happened, was she ok?
Touko checked her, and although she felt herself panicking, tried to keep a cool demeanor.
Her mother had told her Pokémon felt things different than humans did and that panicking would only make things worse.
So Touko tired.
She tried and tried and tried and it all seemed to be better and Touko even managed to apologize.
"Hey, Ollie"; she whispered softly, sitting on the floor and holding her starter in her arms.
"Hey...I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. But...I failed..."
Touko couldn't believe she was saying it like that.
But she had failed.
Bianca was going to leave her family this night. But for what, if she didn't have a Pokémon?
Touko tried again two hours later. The sun was already turning red and the brunette knew she didn't have much time left. So she tried again. She had to.
She circled around the laboratory for quite some time, clutching the Pokéball, before she finally managed to enter.
It was the right thing to do. It wasn't like that Lillipup would feel bad. Technically speaking, Touko had ripped it from he...its habitat and they hadn't had any interaction as of yet.
Thinking about it, Touko felt bad for having left her, Arceus damn it!, in its ball for a whole day. But, if she had trained it...There wouldn't have been any turning back.
Plus, she needed to get used to leaving Pokémon behind. She planed to change her team several times throughout her journey after all.
So, Touko entered the lab (though less determined than before). She sneaked through empty, dark rooms. She made her way to the desk.
And then she hastily hid behind one of the many pieces of furniture scattered around the main hall.
"Touko, I saw you!", Professor Juniper's voice echoed through the room, and then she added:
"Don't worry, will you? Now, come, please. I even brought cookies along!"
The older woman was leading against the desk, surprised that it had taken the girl so long to retry rescuing her best friends Pokémon.
Honestly, Professor Juniper had been surprised it took them this long to even try. She had expected the Tepig to be gone the day after Bianca's dad had handed it over again.
Oh well, they probably had had their reasons.
Touko really liked cookies, this wouldn't have made her leave her hiding spot. Ollie, on the other hand, didn't know what exactly they were doing and was addicted to sweets. And given to her by the woman she secretly viewed as her mom? By all the shells in the sea, here she came!
So really, there weren't any other options left and Touko, hesitantly, followed her starter. She didn't dare to look up and her cap was shoved all the way down, so no one could see her eyes.
"Come!", Professor Juniper said, her voice way to happy for Touko's current mood.
She should have just put that stupid Pokéball down and then left.
What was she going to tell Bianca? Touko gulped just thinking about her best friend's disappointment. She wanted Bianca to go on her journey, but she had already managed to ruin it.
"Here", the woman added.
Touko didn't look up as she took what was supposedly a cookie.
It wasn't a cookie. Instead of dry dough, Touko felt the warm surface of a polished Pokéball that pulsated with life and bound energy.
Her head shot up and disbelieving eyes starred at the Pokéball, held against he fingers.
"What..?", she whispered and her gaze found its way to a smiling Professor Juniper.
What was she doing…
"Why?", Touko croaked, while Ollie stopped gnawing at her cookie and her ears perked up, watching the two human.
At least her human seemed to feel better, all of sudden.
It was probably the cookie's fault.
"Why? Why I would help you? Well, I want a complete PokéDex and something tells me neither you nor Cheren are going to be all that focused on completing it."
Touko's bad consciousness was visible on her face and Professor Juniper laughed, throwing her head back in the process. It was a miracle her messy bun didn't fall apart.
"It's fine, Touko", Professor Juniper said once her laughter had died away, pressing the Pokéball into Touko's hand.
"Just make sure Bianca receives it, ok?"
Green eyes sparkled warmly and sheepishly, Touko's finger's wrapped around the Pokéball.
"Give Bianca all my best wishes, alright?", Professor Juniper asked and Touko simply nodded, before running out of the laboratory.
This time she made sure nothing bad happened to Ollie.
Touko let the Lillipup out of her, its, ball. It looked, well, normal. Obviously.
What wasn't normal was how it kept jumping around, barking happily and sniffing the air. Just ten seconds after having left the ball she had already prompted Ollie to play with her. Something told Touko it probably had a jolly nature. Or an impish or bold one.
A check later and jolly it was. Well, having less Special attack on a Lillipup wasn't too bad. Especially not when they were young. And a bit extra speed could come in handy. Touko wasn't one to complain about it. So instead, she sat down in the grass, watching her two Pokémon play, wondering a bit about the future of her team. The two of them seemed to get along just fine and...It got her worried.
This Lillipup...It was supposed to be in Professor Juniper's lab. It wasn't supposed to sit here, right next to her.
She had wanted to catch one, but it was on the next Route! And...if she couldn't let go of h...it a few days after she had caught it, how was she supposed to let it go after beating a gym There was no place for a Bisbark on her team!
"Why is Trainer so sad?", the Lillipup inquired, curious eyes looking at her new trainer. She looked nice.
Nice and sad.
Maybe, if they played she would fell better?
Ollie simply shook her head. She liked this Lillipup. Surely, the three of them could become best friends, right? They could become that one team her trainer had wanted so badly!
"I don't want her to be sad. I want her to be happy! I want to become best friends with her! I always wanted to travel with a human!", the Lillipup mused, before turning around again.
"But they need time, don't they? Let's play! Let's play and train! Let's be a team!"
It was dark outside, when Touko reentered Nuvema Town and looked around for the spare key to Bianca's house. In one of the...Aha!
Touko wore only black and she had even gotten Ollie a black coat, but the Water-Pokémon refused to wear it.
Well, Touko couldn't change it's opinion. So, there was a blue spot, but really, she was so small, no one would ever notice her!
The door to Bianca's house squeaked when Touko opened it and for a moment, the girl halted, looking around.
Had someone...Was someone...No. Nothing.
The house stayed dark.
It was relievingto know, that Bianca's dad was a heavy sleeper. And knowing her mom, even if she were to wake up, nothing substantial would happen.
Lucky them, because Bianca's mother was indeed awake and up and was currently sitting on the couch, her daughter next to her.
"I see, you have arrived", was all that she said upon noticing the brunette's steps.
Touko froze. Oh no. They had been foun…
"It's fine, Touko!", whispered Bianca.
The Blonde got up, her feet carrying her to her best friend, a sheepish smile on her face.
"It's...Well...Don't worry about it, ok? My...my mom...Let's just go. I want to get out of here."
And that was all that Bianca said.
There wasn't anything going on, really. No excited giggling. No tears. Just...Just a bad feeling. A feeling that something was final.
The feeling, that this quite what they had imagined, but it was better than nothing. Suddenly, Touko felt stupid, wearing those black clothes and clutching a young Pokémon's Pokéball, to use it in battle against someone without ever having talked to it before.
The brunette sighed and faced the door again.
Her friend was already waiting outside, a satchel around her shoulders and a suitcase rolling behind her. Of course they wouldn't need a lot of time to depart. After all, Bianca had prepared for this in advance.
It was Mrs. Grayson that managed to interrupt Touko's sudden feeling of emptiness.
"Thank you for getting Bianca's Tepig. She was heartbroken when her father took it from her", the woman said. She even smiled. For a second, that was, but it had been longer than Touko had ever seen that woman smile before.
The teenager didn't really know what to say.
Was she serious? She was helping her daughter run away. Couldn't that woman just express any kind of emotion at some point in her life?!
"Why are you helping us?"
Touko crossed her arms, annoyed that she had to ask that question a second time. If it weren't for the help of everybody else, they would have probably failed and that irked her immensely.
"I think this journey is going to help Bianca grow."
It was this comment, that infuriated Touko all of sudden.
She though it was going to be helpful?!
Where? Where had that opinion been this afternoon? Where had that opinion been all those times when Bianca could have actually made used of her stupid opinion?! Why...Why did this woman need to be so damn passive?!
"If you want her to take that journey", Touko asked, feeling herself getting angry:
"Then why didn't you help her? Why didn't you tell your husband to let her go?!"
"She needs to take that decision herself, Touko. If I had stepped in, she wouldn't have gained a thing. Sometimes, you need to confront your own problems on your own. It's part of growing up."
"But you could have chosen a side!", Touko hissed, feeling how anger built up inside her. Ollie shifted uncomfortably at her feet. Why was her trainer so angry all of sudden?
"You...You just stood by! You didn't do anything! You didn't stay on the middle ground, you didn't stay on any ground!", Touko accused Bianca's mother.
"You simply didn't do anything!"
"Touko!", Bianca called from the outside:
"Come on!"
But Touko wasn't finished yet. Her eyes were burning with sparks and she couldn't help but feel insulted at the woman's passiveness. But at least she answered.
Except that her answer was even more infuriating.
"You have my opinion and I have mine, Touko. There's nothing wrong with that."
"You see?! You do it again, just..."
"Touko!", now it was Bianca's turn to show up next to her friend:
"We need to go."
The Blonde didn't dare to look into her mother's eyes.
She was leaving.
She was finally leaving.
And the first thing she felt was bad.
Well, and excited, there was definitely a lot of excitement mixed in.
For a moment, Mrs. Grayson observed the furious girl in front of her. Then she shook her head.
"I wish the two of you the best of luck on your journey. And, I really hope you'll learn one thing or another."
Then she faced her daughter, a sad smile adorning her usually so impassive face:
"I will miss you, darling. Be careful, will you?"
Her eyes were tearing up and then she hugged her daughter, before quickly letting go.
"Have fun. And, try not to mess with terrorist organizations, will you?"
Bianca nodded, holding back tears. Then the silence followed.
Everybody knew what was to happen next.
But no one made the first move for quite some time.
It was Touko (who else?) who decided, this was enough.
"We need to go, Bianca", she whispered and tugged her friends jacket.
Bianca simply nodded again and then, slowly turned away from her mother.
"I'll miss you mom."
"I'll miss you too."
Bianca had camped out with Touko for the rest of the night, before getting up early in the morning and making her way to Accumula town. They had said their goodbyes and had promised, to regularly update each other on each of their progress. And then, life went back to...could she really call it normal?
These last two days, they passed in a rush. Touko had done her best to evade any possible questioning by Bianca's dad or, worse, her mother and had simply turned of her VisoCaster. She had even "forgotten" her charger at home, just so her pretending it had simply ran out of power was believable.
She had stayed to the more overgrown parts of the Route, trying her best to not be seen by any other human soul which, well, she managed to pull it of.
Though, it was simply because there wasn't any other human soul traversing the Route as far as she knew.
In the meantime, Touko trained. She trained Ollie most and in the time she spent on the Route and while it had not learned any new move (her starter had already learned Water Gun just a bit earlier) it seemed like she had become significantly stronger. And, well, they got used to each other. It had taken some time, sure, but Ollie seemed to be a bit less terrified now.
Plus, she stopped waking up in the middle of the night, as she had done on the second and third day. So that was that.
Her new Lillipup was a whole different story.
She had planed on getting one, of course, as she needed a second Pokémon to beat the gym, but, well…
It liked her.
A lot.
And Touko knew that she'd have to let go of it eventually. In fact, she was going to let it go after beating the first gym. And Touko wasn't too sure if she'd be able to pull that of. She'd have to though. And to make it easier, Touko simply limited the amount of time she spent with her newest team member until she had figured something out. Some way for her to deal with her plans that she had carefully mapped out throughout her teenager years.
And so, she spent her time training and thinking, and mostly sitting around and playing with Oshawott. How did one properly train their Pokémon? Of course, Touko new of various exercises, but how did one find a balance? Well, she'd have to find out herself.
She tried to do that during those two days, however, eventually, Touko had needed to turn back to civilization. She needed to say one last, final goodbye to her mom. She needed to get her charger.
And she was definitely going to stack up on snacks while she was at home.
But most importantly, she had to face her mom's anger.
So, Touko dragged herself back home, Ollie sitting on top of her suitcase and wondering what her trainer's sadness was all about.
They got home. They ate dinner.
Touko started packing her things (her mom had already told her she was going to kick her out tonight and no, she was not going to sleep at home).
It had been a though evening and Touko hadn't really known what she was supposed to make out of her mother's silence.
She didn't say a thing.
Well, yes, she said somethings. But, nothing related to Bianca. She didn't even mention her friend. Several times Touko was on the verge of asking if she had heard anything or something similar, but she had always stopped herself.
What if her mom simply didn't know? Then she was getting herself into avoidable trouble. Trouble she really couldn't afford. After all, she was leaving for good tomorrow morning. And if she wanted some of those snacks, she'd better behave.
So she did. She tried her best to make friendly conversation.
She showed her mom her new caught Pokémon.
She even admitted that, yes, she had already gone against what she had originally planned.
It happened, ok!
Her mom didn't seem to mind all that much though, so, well…They just kinda...Nothing happened.
It felt so anticlimactic.
But then again, she should be happy.
So she was.
Well, she tried to.
It didn't necessarily work out all that well.
But she said her goodbyes.
She checked her baggage one last time.
And it was only, when she had almost closed the door that her mom said anything about it.
"Greet Bianca, will you? And tell her that her mom misses her."
Touko...Touko didn't really understand. So, she just starred at her mom, her eyes blinking and a blank "Will do" being the only response she could muster.
And than she turned and left.
Another time.
On a different day.
Things sure had changed, hadn't they?
N had answered his father's summon immediately. He knew his father didn't like to wait and even though N was now King, it...well. He was just the King of Team Plasma.
It was different from their actual goal.
One they'd achieve so very soon.
His father was waiting in his study for him, which meant he was finally free from his guards.
There were two rooms in the entire castle that weren't guarded. N's room and his father's study.
Maybe those were the only reasons N actually liked both rooms.
N knocked exactly three times before patiently waiting outside. He hardly managed to oppress his desire to fiddle at his clothes.
What did father want from him, was it because of the journey, would he get any new instructions, was….
"Enter", a strict voice interrupted N's thoughts.
The boy cleared his throat and a grunt opened the room for him.
And then he entered.
His father sat behind his desk, idly writing something down. N didn't dare to ask what it was. In fact, he didn't dare to take any steps toward his father.
He had misbehaved in this study before and he was not going to do it another time.
"You took your time", Ghetsis said, not looking up from whatever he was writing down.
"I apologize, father", N murmured, an action which resulted in Ghetsis' one, red eye to shoot up and stare at his adopted son.
He got up. The chair screeched on the floor and N felt himself get more and more nervous.
"How often...", his father asked, slowly making his way around the table, his eye not once leaving his son's frame. N's heart started to beat faster.
"How often do I have to remind you", he repeated, before halting directly in front of his son:
"to speak loud and clearly?!"
His voice...it was hissed.
"I apologize, father!"
N's voice was shaking, but it was loud and clear.
Still, he expected to be cuffed.
Nothing happened though. Ghetsis simply snorted and turned away, stating:
"Stop you voice's shaking. Such behaviour is not befitting of a king."
"Yes, father!"
He tried to keep his voice from shaking and, as Ghetsis simply huffed, he assumed he had calmed his voice well enough.
His father positioned himself in front of the window overseeing the cave (soon, soon it would be a gorgeous garden, filled with guards!) and gestured for his son to join him.
Swiftly, N followed the unspoken order, trying to hold his posture.
Something Ghetsis seemed to have noticed.
"Your posture improved, I see. What pleasant news."
It wasn't much of a compliment really, but N took to it nonetheless. His face lit up at those rare words and he tried even harder.
He missed the conceited smile his father couldn't hide.
Praise was just one of many ways to rule.
"You are to go on your very own journey soon. You are of aware of the consequences?"
"Yes, father."
Of course he was. He had been trained for this throughout his life after all.
"
Are you going to choose a Pokémon?", Ghetsis asked, already knowing his son's answer. The sage couldn't help but feel somewhat...proud.
"No, father."
N shook his head, starring outside into the fading sun.
"I'd be a hypocrite if I did."
He wondered what all of this was about. He knew this. Ghetsis knew he knew all of this. His father was not a man known to waste his precious time, luckily for them, as he was a vital part of Team Plasma. And N, while he did not particularly dislike Ghetsis' presence (he was his father after all), he couldn't shake the feeling of discomfort.
Not in a tense situation like this anyway.
"You are aware you have to take on the gym challenge?"
"Yes, father."
Ghetsis shifted in his robes. He cleared his throat. And then he finally faced N, a somewhat...worried? Expression starring down a confused boy that was supposed to be grown up by now.
"I have never told you, Natural, but...humans…no, human society is...it's not what it seems like."
"I know, father", N interrupted him, just to bite his lip directly after and then stop doing that, because such behaviour was not fit for his standing anymore.
Well, it had never been. Maybe, while he had still been ou in the wild. Maybe.
Had he already been a chosen hero back then?
Ghetsis' harsh stare was enough punishment for N. He almost flinched at the mere sight of it.
But….This time, the sage did not follow up with his eyes' promise.
"Don't ever interrupt me, Natural", he simply hissed, before returning to starring out of the window.
It took him some while to speak once more.
"Humans...You won't see it. The murder. The torture. The maiming. You will not see all what is wrong with it. It will be a promise of shine and glory and everybody agrees to … all that is dark. But, Natural, never forget...You've seen his truth. You know you're right."
He turned to N once more, his lips pressed together, his voice now merely a whisper:
"Don't you?"
"Yes, father."
N coldn't help but let sadness flood his mind. He knew of all of this. Of the deceit and lies and manipulation.
"Don't let yourself get distracted. ….. on, no matter what, no matter what you see, no matter what they tell. You know you are right. You have been chosen by the White One. You have been chosen by the truth. Don't get distracted. Complete the gym challenge. We need you to be the chosen Hero and we need you to be the Champ. Don't ever forget that. And don't spend a second of your precious time on anything else than achieving this."
Touko stood there, clutching Ollie's PokéBall.
One step.
One step and the world would finally have opened up to her, with all its wonders and adventures.
Ollie was still sitting on top of Touko's suitcase, wondering what all the fuzz was about and – more importantly – why her trainer was clutching that weird ball.
But she didn't make a sound. The feelings her trainer was sending out were too...turbulent.
One step.
One single step.
And without any further hesitation, Touko took it, finally standing in Nuvema Town once again. The sun wasn't setting, not just yet.
No thunder came crashing down.
In fact, it was rather ordinary and some of the townsfolk send that strange girl a few suspicious glances.
What exactly was she doing? Why was she standing there? God, new trainers were obnoxious.
Well, Touko either didn't notice or didn't care, as she took in the view.
It could have been more grand, she thought to herself and she turned to the Route that lay behind her.
She felt like she had never know a place better than that. After all, she had spent an entire week just exploring it.
One day, she'd come back and surf down the stream to see more of what laid ahead.
But not now.
"It's already been a week, huh?", she said, more to herself than anything (and maybe to Ollie), before turning to the confused (but somewhat fuzzy) feeling Water-Pokémon.
She squatted down, so they were on the same height, a promising smile on her lips and eyes brimming with excitement. Then she offered a promise that Ollie would never, ever forget.
"I like you Ollie. I'm...I'm glad I chose you as a starter. And that you accepted me of course. And, although things have been rough sometimes...It has been a fabulous first week. And I hereby promise...We'll be the goddamn best team in the entire history of teams! I'll never, ever let you go, I swear!"
It was a promise, that would was meant to never be broken. And Touko...Touko didn't break her promises.
She extended her fist once more, just like she had done when she had first received her starter.
Her smile grew, as she saw the fragile Pokémon's eyes lit up with excitement as well and it even called out in happiness, before fistbumping her, this time lacking the hesitation it had done before.
They were a team. And they even already had a new member!
And remembering the team's newest member made the magical moment disappear.
"Well then", Touko murmured, before hastily getting up.
She stopped clutching the PokéBall in her hand and made her way to the PokémonCenter to heal Ollie and show it around, the comforting "Krrrrrrrrrrrrr" of her suitcase lighting up this small world of the unknown.
Just in time too, because it had started to drizzle again and dark, ominous clouds started to loom above the small town, just like they had done a week ago.
There was no way for her to know of the heatwave, that was cloaking Stration City.
It had been quite some time for N to leave the castle.
To truly leave it.
The sage's hadn't been to fond of him traveling too much, so he had ever only really been to …
N enjoyed the fresh air outside, so different from the stuffy atmosphere he had grown to accept within the castle walls. A small smile lit up his face as he realized that from now on, this would be his home.
He couldn't help but fell excited, however he tried his best to hide it.
No jumping, no trembling, no nervous gestures.
He couldn't give away his feelings. A royal never did.
N didn't know if he succeeded, but if he did, no one spoke a word, as they made their way to the airport. Not Ghetsis, not the sages, not Anthea and Concordia and not the grunts that served as their entourage.
They made their way to the airport. They boarded the plane.
They flew to Unova's South.
N wished Zoruo could have come along, but the small Fox-Pokémon was terrified of flying and had thus swiftly refused the offer.
He had promised to search N out on his journey though, so they'd probably meet up at some point. N was looking forward to it. Everyone needed someone trusted to talk to and while he enjoyed the presence of Pokémon, they did indeed not become his lifelong friends from the moment he met them.
It was more like human friendships, from what N had understood. It took time. And sadly, N couldn't stay anywhere for too long. He was to complete the gym challenge after all. And, as much as he despised this, he needed all eight badges for them to finally make his dream come true. N couldn't help but grimace at this irony. He had to enslave Pokémon to free them.
Such a cynical world.
Eventually, the plane arrived. The group of Plasma members set out, making their way to the hotel they were going to stay at. …. had arranged for everything.
The sun was setting by now, painting the world a gorgeous gold and it just seemed to shine a bit more radiant than it used to. Maybe that explained the sudden heat which made the grunts sweat in their uniforms.
A glazing Plasmaball and today it was giving them it's greatest performance.
N didn't look back once he left the plane.
He hadn't looked back either once they left the castle.
None of that mattered anymore.
But now it was time to escape the heat, and thus the group of people hurried to check into the Hotel.
No one spotted the clouds not too far away, drowning Accumula Town in rain.
AN: First of, I know that Reshiram and the sun are not connected in any way other that one could describe the sun as almighty fireball (I also know that in fact, the sun is not an almighty fireball).
However, I feel like it's unfair Touko gets a huge thunderstorm every time she takes another step towards awakening Zekrom and N just gets a heatwave.
Please don't hate on me =3
Also, I'll probably rewrite this chapter at some point, because I'm not entirely happy with it as it is, but meh.
I'd also like to clarify something (in case some of you got confused): In this world, both Pokémon and normal animals exist. It's not going to be a big deal, but whenever I talk about birds and bugs etc, I mean actual birds and bugs.
Another not unimportant information about this world is about the way Pokémon interact and talk. They don't have a language per se, however, if you get confused by the way I've described Pokémon understanding their trainers – I have a clear plan on how they do it. Maybe you guessed (I think this is something I got from somewhere else, but I'm not sure), however it will be explained at some point. Just not yet.
With all of this out of the way, let's start with thanking everybody reading this ^^ I'm glad some of you enjoy reading this and I'm especially thankful for those who gave this a favorite and/or follow.
In addition, special thanks to imaginair for leaving a review! I appreciate it a lot ^^
Review's are always welcome (am I writing too much? As in, am I fleshing out unimportant details too much? Plus, I feel like the conversation with Professor Juniper was too short, but I really wanted to keep short at the end, to not get like, 20 pages or so.) and any comments on grammar/spelling/other mistakes are highly appreciated and, well, read you next time (I promise, the next chapter will be all about Touko and N's first meeting. And probably shorter. Much, much shorter).
Sincerely
Bluestpaw.
