It is me, Doctor Doofenshmirtz and my new "ChapterElonginator"! SO, uh, enjoy the 23 pages that I wrote?
Before we start the chapter, I wanted to inquire whether my "paragraph spacing" is annoying – I got that feedback on a oneshot and I wasn't sure whether the spacing is a disturbance to reading the story or not. If it is, I'll try my best to change it and edit earlier chapters. So, any feedback in that regard is very welcome (as well as any other feedback of course).
Also, do you think I should switch the secondary genre from "Adventure" to "Friendship"? I fell like that would be more fitting for the general tone of the story.

Other than that, I hope you'll enjoy the chapter, some neat fluffiness (I know the romance is a rather slow development, but I can assure you, it will get kickstarted pretty much once we get to Nacrene Town).

At imaginair: Thank you again for your review ^^ I'm glad you like Cheren's portrayal so far and Bianca's and Touko's interactions. And as promised, a chapter with some fluffiness. I swear, this fanfiction is all about ferriswheelshipping!

Disclaimer: Do I own Pokémon? Hahaha, I wish. Sadly I don't and sadly, I don't even really own this fanfiction? I drew a lot of inspiration from the amazing oneshot called "The truth will prevail" written by maydei, so on the off-chance you have yet to read that, go check it out!


Too little colours to describe the world

Chapter 10

Your favourite colour? - It's blue.


There was a light spring in Touko's steps as she made her way through the gardens on Striaton Town's east side, accompanied by Bianca and Juliet. She inhaled the air which smelled much sweeter, now that she knew those gardens weren't a confinement anymore but rather the door to another part of Unova which was all hers to explore. What a pretty scenery to be surrounded by just as she was to undertake the next step in her, surely, soon to be adventure. After all, not a day ago she had stopped some dumbass idiot who had dared to lay his hands on an innocent Pokémon right in his steps! She was basically already Red junior!

x

The battle was going to be fierce, Touko knew that. Fierce and brutal and if it weren't for the circumstances Touko might have seen it as great training.
But all thoughts of fun and joy were wiped from the girl's mind once she saw how little remorse her opponent showed.
He didn't care. He didn't care at all.

Touko was furious.

"How...How dare you?! Isn't...Isnt the whole point of your cult to ensure Pokémon are happy?!", Touko all but screeched once Lil had escaped from her Pokéball's confines. The other grunt flinched when she called his organization a cult, but Touko couldn't care less. What kind of despicable person would attack an innocent Pokémon?!
"Look, girl, I don't know who you are...", the second grunt drawled, starring at her dismissively. His attitude had Touko clench her fists. Oh, he'd regret his words, how he would regret his words…
"But please, to stick your nose into other people's doings. We're two adult against a bunch of little girls who have only just begun their journey. You don't want to mess with us..."

Confused Lil stared at the man in front of her, now that the light was gone and she could see what was going on. She...she didn't like what he was thinking. And she didn't like the Munna's thoughts for that matter either. Or her trainer's. All in all, she didn't like this entire situation. It was angry and violent and scary and not cheerful at all, unlike the training they had been in just earlier. What had caused this? What had happened?
Did they have to fight? But...Could she?

"You have three seconds to call out your own Pokémon before I tell Lil here to bite your ugly face off!", Touko all but hissed, slightly leaning forwards. Bianca looked at her in shock, trying to tuck her back, still insisting to simply call the police. That was safer. Who knew what those two men were up to. And they couldn't hurt the Munna too much while they were here. Maybe she could signal Juliet to call 911...

On the other side of the battle the second grunt tried the same. This was wrong. This was so wrong. Whatever had gotten into his partner – it had to stop.

"Come on...Lets go. We went to far and, Arceus, they're just teenage girls, you can't seriously t..."
"You're right. They're just a bunch of teenagers..."
For a second the other grunt's face lit up. Yes! His partner got…
"And we are Team Plasma!"
And with that, his partner ripped his wrist out of his partners hand, fishing for the one PokéBall at his belt. He may have had to give up his old team before joining Team Plasma, but that didn't mean he wouldn't be able to stomp this girl into the ground.

x

Touko was still mad. If it hadn't been for Bianca, she would have probably wiped that stupid smug grin from the grunt's face, preferably using her right fist. But alas, Bianca was there. And also, Touko wasn't completely crazy. Hurting her fingers wasn't worth it and humiliating that guy by beating him in a battle had been way more satisfying anyway.

x

The grunt had sent out a Patrat and surprisingly it looked...healthy? Touko had half-expected it to be a malnourished Pokémon in dire need of medical attention, an opponent to be easily defeated, but she had been wrong. In fact, the Patrat looked rather intimidating and Touko was pretty sure that if she had chosen Ollie, her starter would now cower behind her legs, begging to be called back.

But she hadn't chosen Ollie. She had chosen Lil. And Although Lil hadn't performed all that well the past few days, Touko was positive they could win the battle.

She hadn't expected it to go so horribly wrong.

Right from the start it was obvious the Patrat was faster than Lil. It got the first hit in and although Lil had been able to retaliate with a well placed "Bite", Touko knew that they had to get an advantage. If the Patrat kept going first, Lil would be the first one to be knocked out. And although Touko had more than just one Pokémon – the grunt hadn't and this wasn't an official battle – she didn't want to give that kind of satisfaction to him. So she decided to try and boost the stats a bit in her favor.

"Hide out behind one of the rocks and then use Leer!"

Her voice dragged around the battle field and Lil obeyed without a second of hesitation. A smile spread on Touko's face. Whatever was wrong with Lil, the Pokémon didn't hate her. She was unsure of what she was doing, but she still loved her trainer like she always did. It was reassuring. Sadly, she didn't get to dwell in fond thoughts for long.

"Is someone scared for her beloved Pokémon? Don't worry, once you've lost we will..."
"Shut the fuck up, you jerk!"

Touko really didn't care about what he had to say, choosing to instead concentrate on Lil, who had taken cover behind a fallen piece of debris and glared at the Patrat, making it's way over to her. The Pokémon's silver eyes indicated that the attack was being executed and when a few seconds later Lil's eyes turned back to normal, Touko knew they had an advantage.

The Patrat hadn't gotten an additional hit in. They could do this. They. Could. Do. This!

But then she had miscalculated the fact that she was battling another trainer and she was battling someone who knew what he was doing.

"Tackle, Percival! And then retreat behind the wall!"
And so, the Patrat did, hitting Lil square in the face before disappearing again quickly, not giving the Lillipup the chance to retaliate.
Damn it. But they could deal with it. This was
nothing.

"Prepare for the next attack and once it comes out..."
"Same manoeuvre again!"
This time Lil yelped when she was hit and Touko winced (she could hear Bianca do the same, while Juliet just looked at the Team Plasma Grunts in shock). Lil was too slow and now that they were in between the rocks, she couldn't even attack the Patrat, but out in the open...Out in the open, they could at least fight back.

There wasn't really any other option left for her.

The grunt simply laughed when he saw Lil retreat back into the open and Touko clenched her fists. Her partner wasn't looking all too good and she didn't want to pull Lil through yet another defeat. She had to, well, replace her soon. She wanted the Lillipup to remember her time in the team fondly. Though, Touko wished she could just keep the Pokémon. She had grown close to her.

Patiently, Touko waited for the Patrat to come back, but it didn't. The grunt simply grinned at her, challenging her to do something, keeping his Pokémon out of sight and then...then he turned around and kicked the Munna once more.
Touko's blood froze.

"Tell me, girly", he drawled, ignoring everyone's shocked expression (maybe he even revelled in it – Touko judged him to be that kind of person who definitely revelled in other people's horror):
"What are you going to do now? Because, I'm not leaving until my Patrat is beaten. And unless you want this poor little Munna to get kicked yet another time..."
He didn't finish his sentence and Touko was on the point of storming toward him, but Bianca held her back once again, pleading eyes wide open.

Touko knew she couldn't attack the man. It would only get her in trouble. But she couldn't sit this out for hours and leer only worked if the Patrat showed itself and…

And Lil only knew the moves "Leer", "Tackle", "Bite" and..."Work Up". Touko's eyes widened when she remembered the Tim she had gotten after her battle with Cilan. She had taught her Pokémon the TM right after receiving it from the gym. It had taken the Lillipup some time to get the move right, but now she could simply power herself up. She didn't have to attack the Patrat. Not yet, anyway.

"Lil, work up!", Touko shouted and again, Lil didn't miss a beat. Her entire body started glowing in a golden light and somehow, she looked less worse for wear. A few seconds later, the glowing stopped. The grunt still grinned smugly and simply raised an eyebrow.

"Ohohoho, how scary, I bet you'll be able to beat my Patrat already!"

Then he kicked the Munna again. Bianca cringed visibly. But Touko knew what he was doing. One power up wasn't enough.

"Lil! Do it again!"
And again and again and again. They needed every single stat that they could get. Lil wouldn't stay on her legs for much longer and she knew they had to oneshot that Patrat.
But that couldn't be too difficult after a few turns…

The grunt seemed to realize his plan wasn't working and in addition ti this he seemed to realize that he was running out of time. A few more of those power ups for the Lillipup's attack and his Patrat wouldn't be able to withstand a single move. He didn't want his friend to get hurt badly.

Cursing, he looked around for his Patrat, before ordering (a bit too hastily for his seemingly uncaring demeanour):
"Attack it! Now! Bite!"
But it was too late. By this point, Lil had gotten three Work ups through and even though the Patrat hit hard – Lil hit harder.

And within a single beat, the Patrat lay in front of Lil, defeated, an awkward silence settling over the clearing.

At first the small Pokémon didn't realize what was going on, concentrating on staying upright, begging to not give in just yet, she had to make trainer proud after all…! But then...Then small Pokémon's eyes lit up when she realized what had just happened. She...She had won! She had just won a battle! Trai-Trainer would be so proud of her!

And she was. Touko was indeed proud of her. Th girl ran towards Lil, sweeping her up in her arms and cuddling her for a second, before straightening and staring right at the two grunts. She knew there was a second one but by Arceus, if he even thought about fighting…

"You! Back away from the Pokémon now!", she exclaimed loudly, steeping froward, still pressing her Pokémon to her chest. Those jerks would get what…

"Yeah, come on, lets...lets just go...", the second grunt murmured, trying to coax his partner away who was staring at the Pokéball in his hands in a mixture between anger, disbelieve and stubbornness. He was snarling.
And then he ripped his wrist from his partners hands a hit the Munna again. Touko's eyes lit up in rage.

"HEY!"
Her voice cut through the air, but the grunt didn't care. In fact, he didn't even pay any attention to her.

"...that stupid Dreammist, you filthy creature!"

Now, Touko ran towards the two man, Bianca and Juliet following her closely. Lil jumped out of her arms, hearing her trainer's screaming thoughts, knowing the girl wanted her to be ready. She disliked that man. Very much. And she didn't mind following the orders her trainer was thinking out at the moment.

The other grunt seemed to be just as taken aback by his partner's actions and tried to pry him away once more, this time with much more force than before. This wasn't ok. He should have stopped his partner before it had come to this, unbelievable it had taken a teenager to knock some sense into his own, unmoving bones…
"Dude...Let's go already, there's nothing to gain here anymore, we just..."
"NO!"
His partner whirled around.
"We got these orders directly from our Lord!"
Lord? Those guys had a "Lord"? Was it that strange green-haired dude from the speech the other day? Well, he definitely looked like someone to order this…
"How dare you question them, how dare you..."

"ENOUGH!"

x

They had left the Dreamyard after the whole ordeal, Touko still fuming with anger but at least she had been able to relieve it after seeing those two assholes scramble away. And after a night's rest it had all looked just a tad better, especially once she had finally been able to leave Striaton City. It was a nice place and all, but Touko couldn't shake the feeling that she should have had left already, that she had spent way too much time in this one place and that she should have moved on already. She should be in Nacrene City by now.

But it didn't matter any more. They were finally making their way through the gardens on the east side of Striaton City, ready to leave the place for good and make some progress. Touko would finally be able to discover what lay behind the gardens without a guilty consciousness caused by that one gym badge dude passive aggressively reminding her about the gym and that she should challenge it before continuing.

Bianca hadn't been so lucky though.

x

The booming voice had startled everyone. It was melodic, deep and sweet, like an extra rich type of honey almost, and for some reason, Touko felt drawn to it. She knew she had heard it somewhere else before, but somehow she hadn't concentrated on it.

But once she saw who had spoken up, everything clicked in place.

The person who had spoken up was none other than that one dude from the speech roughly a week earlier. Though his voice did seem to have changed. This one...it sounded like a nice cup of cocoa on a snowy winter's day, the sort of that you digest while sitting in your bed, snuggled into a ton of blankets with your pjs on, enjoying whatever you enjoy doing in your free time.

The one from the speech - as far as Touko remembered, because really, she had more important issues on her mind at that moment – had been sweet too. But more like a cake on display in a fancy bakery, the sort that you could look at, but not touch. It had sounded distanced and not at all as warm and welcoming as this "new" voice.

In Touko's opinion, he should keep that new voice of his. It was much more pleasant than the other one. But then again, this jerk didn't deserve any kind of following, so he might as well lose his voice all together and go die in a dumpster.

Sadly, he did not go and die in a dumpster. Instead, he slowly made his way toward her, his steps assured and heavy, his face a mask hiding any kind of emotion. Touko clenched her fists, getting into something resembling a battle stance. She didn't like him. She didn't like him at all.

And she wasn't the only one who thought so.

Bianca felt something inside of her break when she saw the way the man walked, his eyes gleaming, his mouth pressed into a barely recognizable snarl. Touko had fought valiantly. She had beaten the grunt fair and square and the blonde was sure her friend could take on that other grunt too, no problems there. Even though the second grunt didn't seem particularly willing to battle in the first place.

But this man...He was a trainer. And he most definitely was more experienced and stronger than Touko was. They didn't stand and chance it made Bianca so angry. This was unfair! The poor Munna didn't deserve to be treated like this and...and…

And then Bianca decided to use the distraction to her advantage and lunged forward, snatching the Pokémon up in her arms and surprising everyone in the process.

"Bianca…!"
"HEY!"
"Girl..."
"Are you..."
"ENOUGH!"

Again. That booming voice. That scary, booming voice.

Bianca hated it. She hated those two grunts and she hated that man, whoever he was, even more. How dare they? How dare they?!
Careful, as to not to injure the shivering Pokémon any further, she pressed it closer to her chest, before pinning everyone present with a deadly death stare.

"Don't...Don't you dare lay hands on her every again, you, you monsters!", she cried out, feeling herself shaking too. Tears started to get into her eyes. It didn't matter. She didn't need to be a good trainer to keep this Pokémon safe. She could always run. She could always call the police. She didn't have to fight. Or, she had to, but in ways different that the grunts, the man and even Touko viewed as the way to go.

The Munna in her arms cried out softly, its wide eyes staring up at her in wonder, before weakly nuzzling her arms. The action made Bianca swallow all her doubts determinedly and she looked up once more, a new spark in her eyes.

"You...You're supposed to help Pokémon!", she accused them and Juliet nodded in agreement. Touko simply stared at them in a murderous way that didn't really fit her. But then again, it somehow did.

"How...How could you betray everyone's trust, how could you...", she started, feeling a fresh wave of anger welling up inside of her. But the man in front of them didn't care about her words. He turned his icy eyes away from her, his long robes rustling menacingly as he fixed the two grunts with a stare and Bianca pressed her lips together while Touko tried to sneak Lil a potion. She wouldn't go down with a fight. Glancing at Juliet she saw the girl clenching her hands into fists and knew she would help her out if needed, They could take them. Easily. With lots of energy left to spare. Heck, all of Plasma could come at them and…

"You two...", the voice boomed, interrupting her thoughts. The man seemed to be displeased. Maybe that was good news.

Maybe it wasn't.

"Team Plasma separates Pokémon from humans..."
The man's head whirled around, starring at Touko who protectively stepped in front of Lil. Never. Not even in his dreams. She'd rather…
"THAT MISTREAT THEM!"

He whirled back around, his voice having lost all resemblance of sweetness. He walked towards the grunts who both were shaking. Though their attitude was different. One of them had his head bowed in shame, quivering, desperately clutching the Pokéballs hanging from his belt while the other looked back in quiet defiance before lowering his gaze. He knew his partner would get him in trouble. He knew the treatment of the Munna had been wrong. He glanced at the Pokémon, still in the girl's arm, shooting it an apologetic smile that it didn't notice.

He had failed. He had truly and utterly failed.

"You were to retrieve the Dream Mist..."
The man started to walk to and forth in a restless pacing that greatly unsettled the two grunts. This wasn't the sort of Ghetsis holding a speech to assemble support for their cause. This wasn't the kind of Ghetsis who gave orders to further their goals.
This was the kind of Ghetsis out for punishment and revenge. The grunt that hadn't fought gulped. He loved Team Plasma. Would they get kicked out for their behavior? It would make sense, they had endangered the team's reputation after all, they….

"Yes sire, but that stupid Munna..!"
"AND YOU FAILED!", the voice boomed once more, snapping at the grunt after turning once more.

"YOU WERE TO REPRESENT TEAM PLASMA..."
He stepped closer once more.

"AND YOU FAILED!"

Cautiously, Touko stared at him, daring to step away from Lil, if just for a bit. The man seemed to be angry, but not at them. He would help them, right? He had to. He simply had to.
Meanwhile, Bianca stopped paying attention all together. That man was on their side and the Munna needed some medical attention, maybe some berries to make it feel better. Oh, and they had to check out the PokéCenter, that was for sure!"

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS?!"

Touko couldn't help but smile smugly when she saw the two man quivering, bowing to their Lord, shouting "YES, SIRE!" in unison. It felt so satisfying to see them handled like that. But she didn't get the time to dwell on the sudden happiness that enveloped her, because then there was a flash and suddenly, the man didn't stand in front of the group anymore but instead behind the grunts, leaning forward ever so slightly. His next words were merely a whisper.

"We will discuss your punishment later."
And there it was. That sickening treatment again. Stubbornly, Touko stretched out her grin. They weren't out of the thick of it yet. She didn't trust that man just yet. He was the one who had given those orders in the first place after all.

But at least he got the grunts to leave. Both of them hastily bowed down, before running off, both of them glancing at her friends and Touko on their way out.

She didn't mind them. They weren't worth her time. Instead she looked back at that weird green-haired dude and scoffed. What was he still doing here? Wasn't he supposed to punish these guys? But instead of following them, he just stayed their, a satisfied playing around his lips before there was another flash.

And once Touko was able to see again (great, he was the leader of a bunch of crazy weirdos and wanted to blind her for the rest of her life!) the dude was gone.

And replaced by a Musharna.

For a second, Touko's brain almost short-circuited but only until Juliet spoke out her thoughts loudly:
"This...This was all just an illusion?"

The Musharna didn't answer but something changed because Touko almost felt like it had said yes. And then she started grinning. This..:This was amazing! She could already see how mad their superiors would get if they not only failed to get their hands on the Dream Mist – for whatever reason they needed it – but also pretended their boss was the one making them fail in the first place! This Musharna was a genius!

"I...uh..." It was Bianca who broke the silence, gaze fixed on the floor, clearly nervous about something. She had let go off the Munna who was now happily floating towards its evolved form and for a moment Touko wondered why before realizing it was probably its parent. A soft smile weaved itself upon her features and she looked down to Lil, trying to convey just how proud she was of the small Pokémon for having rescued the Munna. She was a real hero.

"I- I'm not sure whether you trust us, but….but I think we should take Mune – I-I mean the Munna! You!"
She pointed at the pink Pokémon smiling awkwardly.

"We should take you to a PokéCenter! You...You don't have to partner up with me or anything, I know that PokéCenters take care of wild Pokémon too! I talked to one of the nurses and...I just think we should get her checked out! To-To make sure she's fine and all!"
The blonde seemed to be uncomfortable proposing the idea, pressing her lips together and playing with a few strands of her hair. Her eyes were cast to the floor, although then and now she glanced up, just to shy away as soon as she made contact with either the Munna's or Musharna's eyes.

Awkwardly, Juliet stepped forward and gave Bianca a short side hug, hoping the blonde would realize there was nothing wrong with the proposal. It was the logical thing to do. And plus, they hadn't hurt the Munna. The...the grunts had. And from the murderous glare Touko had sent them it should be obvious they disliked their methods.

The Musharna seemed to understand. It felt as if she it smiled and then, slowly, the Munna hovered back over, carefully nudging Bianca's arms and gleefully pressing into her torso once more when she had opened them. Taken aback, the blonde stepped back at first, but when the Munna followed her she started to beam happily.

"You-you don't mind? That's great! Great, really, we can leave now or..."
Touko slapped her forehead at the display and looked at Lil once more who was actually snickering. It was good to see the Pokémon's good mood having returned.

It was also good to see Bianca being oblivious once more.

"Bianca, I don't think that Munna is just out to get checked out in the PokéCenter..."
And as if on cue, as if the Musharna knew what Touko had said, it let out one final cry before turning around and leaving, its pink and purple body slowly disappearing between the ruins of the factory.

Bianca stared after her. And then at the Munna in her arms. For a second she simply opened her mouth and closed it again, before cautiously closing her arms around the Pokémon.

"You...You want to join me?"

x

Bianca had ended up catching the Munna and technically speaking, her team should be able to take on the first gym now. The Munna was rather strong, level 12 already, but after yesterday's ordeal Bianca decided that it would be better to give her some rest before throwing her into yet another stressful battle.

"Plus, I had planned to leave Striaton City without my first badge anyway. It's not like I'm missing out or anything!", the blonde had cheerfully declared while packing her things. They had decided to travel together and Juliet had decided to tag along rather spontaneously.

Though, it wasn't Juliet who had decided that spontaneously. It was Bianca. The other girl had already won her badge a few days ago and was just hanging out around town, unsure whether she should leave already, and Bianca had decided that travelling with someone else was the perfect reason to finally get going. So she made the girl say goodbye to her parents, pack her things (she had even volunteered to help her and dragged Touko along, exposing both of them to a blindingly blue bedroom) and then had made her take her first steps outside the city. Her literal first steps outside the city. Juliet had never left Striaton City before. Not once. Not even on a school trip. No wonder the girl had been so reluctant to leave in the first place. But it was great that she did, because she, too, had already beaten the first gym and her being able to show her badge too was a great way to distract that gym badge guy from Bianca and keep the harassment to a minimum.

Touko still felt kind of bad though. Juliet was usually a rather cheerful girl – or had been after they had gotten to know each other and before the whole Team Plasma thing had gone down. Which wasn't a surprise. Touko was still in turmoil over it too. She had never really paid attention to any of those groups. Most of the bordered on being insane and Touko preferred her braincells functioning but Team Plasma had been somewhat well-known. Heck, she had passed by their main building in Striaton City plenty of times! They were up and coming but they seemed to be the most trustworthy and official of the bunch and the fact that they had just witnessed two of their members harass an innocent Pokémon had shocked the three.

Especially Juliet.

But the girl seemed to be down because of something else too, or so Touko thought. She had been over the whole ordeal by now and not even Bianca, who was still nursing Mune, seemed to be affected by it any more.

But Juliet was. The girl hardly laughed and nervously knacked her fingers the entire time.

At some point, Touko couldn't take it any more.

"Are you ok, Juliet?"
"Y-yeah. It's nothing", the girl quickly brushed Touko's concern off.
"You sure?"

Was she having nerves because of the whole leaving thing? It couldn't be that bad, could it? Touko hadn't been able to wait until she finally got to leave Nuvema Town and it was hard to wrap her head around the fact that some people minded leaving everything behind.

"Don't worry too much about it! You can always visit your parents! Plus, you've got your team with you, don't you?"
Juliet smiled in response, though it didn't seem sincere at all. Then she cast her eyes to the ground and pushed a stray lock out of her face.

"It's...It's nothing, really..."
The way Juliet phrased it sounded a lot like it was something. A lot, in fact. And they way she phrased it made Bianca feel like she actually wanted to talk about it. Though Touko didn't seem to notice…
"Oh...Well...If you ever want to talk about it, just tell us, ok? You can trust us. Bianca may be into gossiping..."
"Am not!"
"But I'm usually pretty good at making her shut her mouth!"

"That's bullshit!"
Playfully, Bianca shoved her best friend away and although they didn't know what was going on with their new friend (isn't that amazing, Touko? We're building our very own crew of loyal friends! The two of us with Juliet as newbie and that mysterious by of yours as love interest! It's like in all of those shows!) but at least she chuckled when Touko almost managed to tumble into one of the ponds.

If it hadn't been for the thousand s of signs indicating you weren't supposed to go swimming here (and the fact that both Bianca and Juliet were sticklers for rules) they could have had a nice afternoon splashing each other.

The daycare wasn't too far away after all.

.o.O.o.

They, Max and Kim, were sitting in the cafeteria, silently munching on their food. They had handed in their report of the whole failed mission just a few minutes earlier and were now awaiting any new orders.

Ghetsis was still in Striaton City. Max had checked the moment he had gotten the chance, biting the inside of his cheeks. This was ridiculous, it must have been a mix up, why would his lord mind…

"Stop thinking about it", his so-called partner murmured, starring at his food. Kim had lost all appetite by now. They were in for a scolding and he knew that a scolding given by Ghetsis was less pleasant than anything he had ever done before.

And he had gotten kicked out of school once.

"You'll just make it worse than it already is..."

Max scoffed, not looking at his partner. Of course, Of course, that's what he would be thinking about!
"And whose fault is that?", he scoffed angrily.
"Dude, are you really going to think about guilt right now? We both messed up, you kno..."
"No", Max said staring at Kim accusingly:
"He only got mad at us because we failed. If you had helped me..."
"I...How would I have done that, we can't force a Pokémon to do our bidding!"

Max laughed throaty when he heard his partner's protests. Oh yes, poor Pokémon. Team Plasma was doing their best to safe them all. Sacrifices had to be made. It was just a single Munna, how many Pokémon could they have freed with that Dreammist?! But of course, his partner...His partner was an idiot.

"Ghetsis wouldn't have got mad if you had helped me! If we had finished this. He wouldn't have cared about our methods, as long as we had got the job right, as long as we had ensured nobody saw us. If those dumb girls hadn't been there...

"But don't you think we went to far?", Kim interrupted him, desperation giving his voice a sharp edge,"By Mew, you kicked a Pokémon!" Exasperatedly, he shook his head, but his partner simply stared at him. But then he lowered his voice immediately once he realized some other grunts were glancing in their general directions, whispering among themselves.

"We...Don't you think we should apologize? It...what we did was wrong! Ghetsis himself said so!"
"Ghetsis said so because we were caught. I know my orders."
"And so do I! But I know that terrorizing innocent Pokémon is not what Team Plasma stands for!"

He raised his voice once more and again, he attracted everyone else's attention. Team Plasma had a policy of no secrets. Whatever one heard was supposed to be reported to one's superiors immediately. At first it had crept him out, but it made sense once he thought about it. Society was prejudiced against organizations like his. They couldn't afford bad headlines.

And Kim knew he had messed up in that department. He just hoped Ghetsis had managed to convince the girls to let go of what they had observed. And he vowed to make things right himself too. He was going to go back to the Dreamyard and feed some wild Pokémon and of course, he had to find a way to apologize to the teenagers. His partner's behavior had been unacceptable. Maybe he could get him to tag along..?
"Some wild Pokémon, huh?", said partner hissed, fixing him with a furious gaze. He himself simply nodded.

"That's what we stand for after all. Taking care of wild Pokémon. Of all Pokémon."
Max simply scoffed before getting up, loudly pushing his chair back. And then he made the grunt's blood freeze in his veins.

"By Arceus, who are you loyal too?! Team Plasma or to some wild Pokémon?!"

He was taken aback by his words. What...How...
"That...That shouldn't be a question...", he ended up stammering, starring at his partner with wide eyes. But he simply scoffed and turned around.

.o.O.o.

"Sire. The grunts have returned."
A cold voice interrupted the content silence of the hotel room Ghetsis called his own at the moment. It wasn't too far from the gym and his window gave him the perfect view of the elaborate building. The facade gave it a romantic and cutesy feel and the flags on its roof playfully swayed in the wind.

Ghetsis couldn't wait to tear the building down. Or maybe he shouldn't. One of the other sages had proposed to turn the former gym buildings (well, the will be former gym buildings) into Team Plasma Hqs. There had been some resistance to the idea – they'd have to move their current quarters and they weren't some evil force overtaking Unova – they were just doing what was right – but Ghetsis had liked the initial concept. It would be good to show the citizens of their beloved country that things had changed.

For the better.

Ghetsis slowly turned around, facing Retienne who was accompanied by her two subordinates. Most people were freaked out by the Shadow Triad, their stoic expressions and unquestioned loyalty, but Ghetsis found it rather satisfying. They were silent. They didn't talk back. They were controllable. The perfect human.

"Their report?"

Ghetsis was surprised he had to ask in the first place.
"They have failed."
The sage tensed. They had...failed? But how? Had he not...It was that other grunt, wasn't it? He knew that one of them was loyal to the bone. He had jumped at the chance to raise in rank, to serve his lord, sage Ghetsis directly, but the other one...He had been suggested by the local committee. It didn't damage to show some goodwill to the members outside the inner circle, Ghetsis had reasoned and really, what could that other grunt do?
Well, apparently ruin the entire operation.

"What happened?"

"They claim to have found a Munna but failed to retrieve the Dream Mist. According to your chose "that little bastard just refused to give us any of the Dream Mist, regardless of what we tried". Further they have claimed that your majesty yourself appeared and told them to stop, threatening punishment which they now await."

Ghetsis lips curled into a smile. While he had most certainly not been there in person he doubted they'd lie about it. They were highly valued members of Team Plasma. They weren't dumb enough to believe they'd get away with a lie like that.

"They also claimed that a group of girls interfered, especially one of them. According to the report she challenged them to a battle and successfully beat them."

At this, Ghetsis frowned. A bunch of teenager girls had beaten them? That was...annoying. He had believed both of them to be better trainers. And maybe they should change their policy of taking away a trainer's team upon joining. It was a sign of their trust of the team, of their willingness to truly let go and set free all Pokémon – even the once they had grown close to – but it did interfere with their plans regularly. This wasn't the first time a Team Plasma member had been beaten.

"What do you think?"
"Sire?"

"Are they telling the truth? Evidently, I have not been present."
Retienne considered his words for a second, carefully choosing her answer, knowing that Ghetsis disliked wrong answers. But she knew she'd die for this man in a heart beat. He had offered them a home when no one else had.

"They are either lying, sire..."
The man's face contorted.

"Or they fell for an illusion. Though, according to the description of the girls, none of them seemed capable enough to be in possession of a Pokémon powerful enough to keep up with an illusion like that. The grunts didn't seem to have a single doubt about its authenticity."
Ghetsis nodded, a smile distorting his face.

"An illusion indeed. Which means a wild Pokémon must have interfered. Most likely a Musharna, though it could have been a Gothitelle or even a Beheeyam too..."

"Do you believe the illusion could have been caused by a Zoroark?"
At this suggestion, Ghetsis laughed out loud. A Zoroark? They didn't interfere with humans. If anything they stayed silent as long as possible until there was no option left.

"No, no, not a Zoroark. Or even Zorua, It is...interesting to see Natural found this...partner of his in the first place. Zorua and Zoroark tend to hide in plain sight...No, it must have been a Musharna, which is good news. Those Pokémon are rather strong and their power's can have many different uses. I want to sent your two companions out to catch it and any other specimen they may find."

"Yes, sire!"
Retienne saluted. Her companions stayed silent like they always did. Then, she waved a few fingers, made a few hand gestures (were the other two deaf? Ghetsis himself didn't know, the Shadow Triad may be loyal, but they were an enigma nonetheless) before they disappeared into thin air, just like they had shown up. Satisfied, Ghetsis nodded and turned back to the window once more, scoffing when he saw yet another trainer leave the building, followed by a Pidove.

"Talking about my son...I assume he has already resumed his journey?"

"Yes, sire."
"Great. I want you to follow him and report back to me on a daily basis. We can't have Natural exposed to any bad or corrupting influences after all."

.o.O.o.

They had made it to the Daycare on time. Well, not really. They were too late to get a room, but that was a given. The Daycare was the most popular spot to relax after having made it through the first stretch of Route 3. It was a nice little inn that didn't just offer housing for Pokémon but trainers as well (though their rooms weren't free like the PokéCenter's were). In addition, soon after people had discovered this spot as the best place to unwind before taking on the majority of the next part of the journey, a cosy camping had sprung up next to it, which was frequented by most. Most people didn't make it far on their first day of travelling again. One had to leave Orion City and most preferred to sleep in instead of getting up at six o'clock in the morning just to make the trek to the next PokéCenter and plus...The change was nice.

Even though Touko really hated camping.

Once Touko had complained about the sleeping arrangement, Bianca had helpfully pointed out that they could have arrived earlier, if it hadn't been for a certain someone that the day was too beautiful to go to waste and that they should totally take a dip in one of the many lakes in the area.

A lot of coaxing from Touko later (and after having checked twice for any kind of prohibiting signs, something Juliet had insisted on) they had spent a few hours playing in the lake.

Ollie had loved it. Lil had loved it. Mune had seemed satisfied with being able to take a nap in the shadows and Juliet's Purrloin had soon joined her.

Oinky and Emblitz were reasonably pissed of. Oh well, after some time Oinky had decided the sun was good enough and after even some more time, Emblitz had stopped glowering at the girls and joined the other Fire-Type on one of the blankets. It had been fun. A lot of fun.

And then the sun had suddenly started disappearing and all three girls had scrambled to get to the Daycare before it had completely set.

And now they were on their way to the brightly lit meeting point just in front of the few buildings. During the night it was filled with a few bonfire, a crowd around each of them. Some people had gotten their hands on some marshmallows and were sharing them with their friends while excited chatter filled the air. Plenty of trainers mixed here, loudly boasting with their newest adventure, sharing all kind of different stories with whoever was willing to listen.

Touko, Bianca and Juliet had decided that it was the perfect atmosphere to let lose and mix with the crowd, though Juliet had insisted they should leave their Pokémon in their tents. There were plenty of trainers around that were out on some experience and declining a challenge in front of everyone would be embarrassing.

Touko had then insisted to drop them off at the large area close to the Daycare reserved for Pokémon only. It had been some walking to get there, the Daycare didn't want any noise from the camping grounds spilling over, but 12 minutes weren't that much and once Touko had sniffed the energetic atmosphere she had been completely revitalized.

"Can't keep them locked up in their Pokéballs", Touko had argued and Juliet's eyes had lit up at the remark. Then they had dulled once Touko had obliviously continued.

"And I bet that Emblitz would take the chance to try and disappear into the forest. Not to mention that I don't necessarily trust Lil right now with being outside unsupervised – or at least unsupervised around humans."

The little Furball had found her cheerful nature once more and had been seemingly trying to make up for her melancholy the past few days with unlimited energy. While all thee other Pokémon were obviously exhausted after the day (there had definitely been more sparring and battling than any of the girls had expected) Lil was still fully capable of causing some trouble.

And now, here they were. Enjoying the night (like half of Striaton Town's youth apparently – no wonder that city didn't have any nightlife at all). Talking. Gossiping. Bianca casually flirting with some guy before practically shoving Juliet into his arms and declaring "that they would get along perfectly!".

Needless to say that Juliet had been horrified, the guy had been confused and Touko had snickered.

"Don't go there, Touko. If I see anyone with green hair, I won't just figuratively push you into his arms. Arceus knows you finally need a boyfriend..."

.o.O.o.

N wasn't sure what to make out of the situation he had found himself in.

His father had advised him to stay away from the Daycare. It wasn't a place to be for him – he was the King of Team Plasma and the Pokémon Daycare was yet another symbol of oppression. How many poor Pokémon had been mistreated at this place? How many Pokémon had been carelessly been left behind because their trainers didn't care enough for them to actually train them themselves?

But N had decided to ignore his father's warnings (after explaining his reasoning to Ghetsis of course and while the sage had disliked it he had agreed with the other sages present that he was the King and could do however he pleased) and had headed that way anyway. According to the local Team Plasma members, this place was were most youths ended up while traversing the Route.

And N had wanted to come into closer contact with people his age ever since he had had his conversation with the brunette girl from Accumula Town. He had talked to others before, but never so extensively as with her. He had been on a tight schedule trying to find his team and all.

But now he had time. And he planned on using it and what better place was there than a local "hotspot", as the grunts had called it.

It had sounded interesting. And it was interesting. There were quite a lot of people there, more than he had expected, and they all seemed strangely...open.

There was this one girl who had been rather nice, though she had left him at some point for whatever reason and later on, when silently listening to a group or former trainers, one of them had turned around out of nowhere, offered him a marshmallow and asked whether he had some stories to tell.

"Dude looks like he has seen some awesome stuff, right?"

N had been a bit taken aback by the boy's forwardness but also didn't want to stick out of the crowd by seeming rude.

Thus he had told the story of that one time he had freed an abused Pokémon.

He had freed it. He hadn't ordered it, he had stepped in himself. It was his proudest moment, even better than when he had been crowned that one fateful day with the heavy burden that he called destiny.

The group had grown quiet at his tale and he felt accomplished. Did they maybe reconsider their cruel…

"Man, I can't believe how someone could do that to their team...I'd never hurt my buddies like that..."

The boy had stared down at the three Pokéballs in his bag. N bit his lip at the comment, disappointed on the one hand and angry on the other.

The boy had most likely already completely his gym challenge and had then gone back home to end his schooling. Most trainers ended their challenge with an average of 5.6 Pokémon in their team.

So where were the other two to three Pokéballs of the team members he claimed to love so dearly?

However, N didn't comment anything. He knew it was his duty, him being the King and all, but this journes was supposed to teach him about human society and he was not supposed to flaunt his status to anyone (not that N would ever brag with it – being a King was nothing noteworthy. He was simply Team Plasma's first and most loyal servant).

N figued that if he were to start a discussion now, they'd only grow weary of him and he'd gain much more by simply listening in for a while.

He managed to stay for five minutes until he couldn't take their bragging about their "heroic battle feats" anymore.

It was disgusting.

Getting up, he made his way through the crowd again, his eyes eventually ending up one something one could describe as a "dance floor" and watching the people do stuff.

It looked rather intimate.

Anathea and Concordia had told him that any display of public affection (if he should ever feel the need to do so, Anathea had added with a smirk) should be decent and not get too "hotheaded" at Concordia had phrased it, but these societal rules did not seem to apply to that place. Maybe it was because the place was almost exclusively filled with teenagers whose hormonal levels might cloud their judgment, thus making society more lenient in those regards. Or maybe they were trying to rebel. Perhaps this was simply some sort of "special zone"?
Well, he'd just ask his sisters about it later. For now he decided he preferred to not watch (he felt a blush on his cheeks once he realized just what he had done) and left once more.

The next time his eyes stayed on a group longer than expected, it wasn't because of any interesting behaviour. Instead he simply recognized Touko, standing next to to other girls, chatting vividly with them.

N grinned when he saw her familiar face before glancing at her two companions. One of them was blonde and she was talking to a boy – it wasn't the same he had seen with Touko before.

N moved closer, before glancing at the other girl – and immediately something about her caught his attention.

The other girl wore a bracelet which looked strangely familiar. N stared at it for a few seconds before recognizing it. It was one of those bracelets you got when attending one of Team Plasma's many informative event. Most people threw it away after receiving it, but it was nice to see this girl rather hung on to it.

And it was nice to see that Touko was willing to spent time with someone associated with Team Plasma. That meant she cared about Pokémon, right? That meant that maybe, she'd be willing to give up her existence as a pitiful trainer and fight for the truth.

The thought filled him with warmth.

But then he shook his head and remembered just why he was making his way over to Touko. He wanted to have another battle. He wondered whether she let Soft Wave out – the Oshawott was timid and most likely not fond of this overly crowded place (though he had been informed there were place that were much more crowded) and somehow N hoped Touko would recognize this and leave the Water-Type in her Pokéball.

As much as he hated the thought of a Pokémon forced into such a small confinement.

.o.O.o.

"Hey, Touko."
"Yeah?"

The girl in question was taking a sip from Bianca's water bottle as she had failed to fill up her own earlier.

"Guess who's there?"

Somehow, Bianca's smug grin was unsettling and cautiously Touko lowered the bottle again. That smile could mean no good. Not when it was found on Bianca's face.

"Uh...who?"

"Mister Nice guy."

Now Touko snorted and handed her friend the bottle back. Juliet peered over Touko's shoulder but shrugged before looking at the other two girls quizzically. She was missing something. That much was obvious. Though Touko didn't seem all too impressed with her friend's answer.

"Nice try, Bianca, but I'm not falling for that trick again."

"It's not a trick, believe me. Also, he's coming over here. Juliet, get ready to scram."

Annoyed, Touko huffed and crossed her arms in front of her chest, rolling her eyes. Juliet on the other hand seemed to finally spot who Bianca was talking about and a grind spread across her face too, before she chuckled and said:

"Sure. Just tell me when we've got to leave."

Juliet had opened up during the evening, the laid-back atmosphere seemingly getting to her. It was nice to see a smile on her again.

Except not for the grin that she currently spotted.

"Oh come on! Just because I said he's nice and maybe remarked on his physical fea..."

"Excuse me, but aren't you Touko?"

The faintly familiar voice made the girl freeze before she whirled around, her finger pointing at the culprit accusingly before she exclaimed:

"What...What did you hear?!"

"Uh...nothing? Eavesdropping, as it is most often referred to, although I prefer the term "to listen in", is frowned upon in society and therefore, I refrain from doing it. Though I must admit you have now successfully sparked my curiosity..."

Touko stared at him in confusion. He had shoved his cap into his face in a nervous gesture she was all too familiar with and seemed to be rather nervous. That certainly would explain his weird way of talking.

"Talking about eavesdropping!", Bianca smoothly segued, successfully grabbing everyone's attention (though she had been unwilling at first. The staring would make for great teasing material later on). Linking her arms with Juliet, she saluted shortly, before she started to walk of.

"Juliet and I over here have to eavesdrop on that guy's..."
She pointed somewhere behind Touko and N and Touko just knew that there was probably no one there.

"...conversation for reasons I'm not willing to disclose at the moment. Meanwhile, you..."
She turned around to fully face him, letting go of Juliet who evily chuckled upon seeing Touko's flushed face.

"N was it, right? Yeah, N….You can keep my very best and amazing friend here over company while your gone, ok?"
Confused N blinked (why was Touko blinking? Why was the blonde girl looking at him with such a bright smile? Why was the other girl chuckling?), before slowly nodding and backing away a bit, looking at Touko for reassurance (though she wasn't of any help).

"I...I..."
Why was he stuttering?

"I was planning on, uh, "keeping her company" anyway."

He wasn't sure if saying something like this way ok, seeing as Touko froze and then started blinking at anything, but the blonde girl didn't seem to mind. If anything, it made the girl smile even wider and the girl wearing the bracelet was now barely containing her laughter.

"Even better! Have fun the two of you! And Juliet, we have to go. Like, right now. Bye!"

And then she was gone. And Touko's face was more red than Emblitz' fur. She didn't get anytime to bask in her embarrassment for long though as N either didn't notice or simply didn't care.

"Your friends are nice", he said.
"No. No they're not", Touko simply muttered in response, a reaction that made N's head whirl around, curiosity and shock plastered across his face.

"They're what? Don't you like your friends?"

Touko blinked. And stared at him. Again.

Arceus, she was doing that often. Then again, the view was nice aaaand the atmosphere was getting to her, wasn't it?

She quickly averted her eyes and swore she felt her skin heat up even more. Screw Bianca.

Touko glanced at N who was eyeing her curiously, before pushing her cap deeper into her face. She remembered Bianca's words all too well.

He's nice. He's cute. Just try it. And...why not? After all, he did voluntarily spent time with her. It wasn't like he was disgusted by her presence or anything.

And Arceus, why would he? They had talked once and other than that one time they had discussed Pokémon rights, they hadn't touched on any controversial topics.

Maybe she should ask him for his number. Maybe. Not now though, right now she had to calm down.

"So, uh...Did you come over for any specific reason?"

This was safe. Right? If he wanted to ask her...Well, he could do now. If he didn't, this was safe.

Plus he had to talk. She could listen and judge.

The question seemed to have the desired effect, as he stopped seemingly analysing her (she blushed awfully lot) and then calmly answered:

"I'd like to battle you again. The last battle was..."
He halted for a second, wondering how he'd phrase what exactly the battle had been like. Painful? Absolutely, so "nice" was out of the option. And really, all he wanted to do was see Soft Wave again to see if she still liked her "partner" so much.

He ended up settling for "interesting" an answer that made Touko calm down and for a second he saw something akin to a glint in her eyes, before it disappeared and she looked at her almost empty bag and she bit her lip.

"A battle? Oh, I'm sorry, but I don't have my Pokémon with me right now..."

Sheepishly she averted her gaze, stealing a few glances at him. No cocked his head in surprise. She...didn't? Why not? That didn't make any sense! She was a trainer, weren't they supposed to have their Pokémon around all the time, to be ready for any battle? Wasn't that the point of being a trainer, to battle every single soul on this planet just to show off to their friends how strong "they" were?

Touko chuckled nervously when she saw his confused expression.

"Oh, well, you see...Ollie doesn't really like being in a Pokéball plus I'm kind of used to just carrying her around by now. Thinking about it, Lil doesn't like being in a Pokéball either and if I let those two out, then I have to let Emblitz out to, because otherwise it would be really unfair, but letting Lil and Emblitz out of their balls while there are a bunch of humans around is problematic because Lil is, well, Lil is Lil and Emblitz doesn't really like humans, so I don't think that's a good idea."
N frowned upon hearing her words. At first he was ecstatic – she didn't disregard her Pokémon's feelings! - but soon his enthusiasm faltered.

"If "Emblitz"..."
He didn't like it when humans gave Pokémon their own names. They already had one after all.

"...doesn't like being around humans, then why do you keep him?"

Touko groaned. She actually groaned when he asked her.
N felt offended at that. And disappointed. He had thought her to be better…

"Can we..:Can we not discuss that right now? All I can say is that I'm positive he's just shy, but I'm pretty sure you'll disagree with me. But it's late and I'm kind of mad at Bianca for ditching us..."

Bianca? The blonde girl?

"...so...not now? Though, if it makes you feel better, you're...not completely wrong. And though I don't agree with everything you said, our last conversation was pretty interesting."

"You remember our conversation?!"

His eyebrows shot up in surprise and Touko stared at him awkwardly. What…

"I mean...You were pretty passionate about the topic after all..."

For a second he just stared at her, before his face lit up with happiness and he beamed:

"That's great! That's...that's really great!"
If anything, his smile grew even wider and something about his posture made Touko feel as if he wanted to dance around at the moment.

Because she had remembered their conversation? That was...weird, to say the least. But also really cute.

Really, really cute.

And that settled it. She'd ask him for his number. Bianca was right. He was nice, he didn't seem to dislike her and he was another trainer and one that seemed to be pretty decent at that! Surely, they'd have things in common, right? Plus, just because she asked him for his number it didn't mean anything. They...He himself had expressed his desire to battle her again!

She could do this! She just had to be clever…

"Uh...I somehow doubt Bianca and Juliet will come back anytime soon", Touko started, wondering if she was pushing her luck but deciding that she couldn't back out anymore anyway. And he still smiled friendly at her, so that was that.

"Do you want to walk around a bit? I'm sick of just standing in one spot..."
She hoped he wouldn't question her reason. It wasn't a complete lie – she was sick of standing around. She preferred to be out and about and a bit of fresh air, or rather calmed down air would do her some good.

"Take a walk?" That sound great!", N beamed and Touko felt herself smile back at his childlike joy.

This was great. This was good. This was going to places.

.o.O.o.

"Uh...since you wanted to battle and all...", Touko started, careful to not look him in they eyes as they walked around the empty camping ground. They had chosen to distance themselves from the crowd, walking around the more natural parts of the area.

N seemed to like this place much more and seemed less tense than he had before, At some point he had even taken his cap off and started fidgeting with it in his hands, though it didn't seem like a nervous habit of his.

There was a solved Rubik's cube hanging from his wrist and Touko wondered whether he'd usually solve one of those.

"May...Maybe we should exchange phone numbers! So we can keep in contact! You know, so we can organize future battles. So, uh, basically we can be battle buddies! If you're fine with that, that is, if not it's totally fine, I bet you have a lot on your plate and don't want to intrude or anything..."
Touko knew she was rambling and half-expected him to interrupt her, but he didn't. He simply waited patiently.

Touko took it as a sign that she would have to shut herself up on her own. She failed to see the fond smile on N's face as he realized he wasn't the only one who tended to ramble from time to time. They had something in common! And it wasn't nearly as annoying as Ghetsis had always made it out do be. In fact, it was rather endearing. But then again, Bianca, if that was the blonde girl's name, had said Touko was amazing, a statement N had yet to disprove and for some unlogical reason found himself already agreeing with. So maybe it was just Touko who made it bearable.

And then she stopped, staring at him expectantly. He frowned, but then realized she had asked him a question and hastily responded:

"You want my phone number?"

Touko nodded. Blushing again. Well, she made blushes look cute, so maybe his rambling wasn't nearly as pleasant as hers.

"Of course. I'd love to!", he exclaimed, fishing for the tool in his bag. Touko visibly relaxed after had had answered and did the same and the next few minutes were spent with awkwardly trying to add two numbers to two different VisoCasters.

Once that was done, the awkwardness didn't simply disappear though and the two walked in silence for some time, Touko internally screeching and cheering at the same time.

She had got someone's number! That was a first! And he had said "He'd love to"! And why was she making such a big deal out of it?!
Anyway. It didn't matter. Focus on the task at hand. Defuse the situation. Come up with small talk. They were both good at small talk.

Small talk.

"So, uh, what's your favorite color?"

Great question, Touko, great icebreaker. Bianca would have a field day if she would hear you.
"Huh?"

He seemed to be as confused by her sudden question as Touko was herself, but she was nothing but determined and she could roll with this. She totally could.
"Your favorite color! You know, because we're...uh...we're battle buddies now! Right? Yeah, we're totally battle buddies...So, we've got to get to know each other!"
N just stared at the brunette in front of him, who stared back expectantly. Battle...buddies?

The girl seemed to notice his hesitation and her usually spotless happy demeanour faltered. Nervously she bit her lips.

"Oh. I'm...I'm sorry for assuming anything, I just, you know, I just thought..."
Touko averted her eyes, hoping he didn't notice her blush. Arceus, why was she blushing? This was ridiculous! All just because of stupid Bianca…

"Well, we exchanged numbers, right?"
She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. There was nothing wrong with her assumption. He was nice, right? If he didn't want to meet up to battle from time to time, so be it. But he wouldn't blame her for making that assumption. Right?

And even if, it's not like it would matter if he made that assumption!

Screw Bianca! Screw Bianca and her thoughts!

"You're weird."

It were N's words causing her to snatch out of her brain's frenzy and for a second she just stared at him, blinking. He simply stared back. Was this some kind of social cue he was missing, was blinking some kind of…

"I'm...weird?"

What was that supposed to mean? Didn't he like her? Was he trying to offend her to coax her into battling? Was he…

"Yes. You suddenly started stammering and you blushed and I, quite frankly, cannot imagine a reason as to why that would happen, therefore your reaction is contrary to that of a normal human, classifying you as "weird"."

She stared at him. That was all he got as a reaction. He cocked his head, unsure what to make of it while Touko just wondered whether she really was weird.

"Uh-huh...I...I guess I'm a bit weird!", she murmured (why was she so upset he thought that of her? Matter of fact she was weird!). Moving on and determined to change the subject and not let this potentially live changing conversation go to waste she shoved her cap deeper into her face and turned around just to be beat by N when it came to talking.
And boy, did he talk. Fast. He talked fast. With a lot of hand gestures. And a lot of facial gestures too. It reminded Touko of that one time he had gone off to rant about the bad treatment of Pokémon (was he a member of those Team Plasma guys after all? But he seemed to nice…), except this time he talked even faster and made even more hand gestures and Touko had to admit, it was kind of cute.

Obviously, she started fuming again directly after having had that particular thought and silently cursed Bianca for her nosiness. This was all the blonde's fault. She was sure of it.

"I didn't mean to insult you. If my previous words have made you feel uncomfortable of offended I would like to offer my sincerest apologies as I was simply trying to voice an observation though I must admit that I should have rephrased it. In addition to this I would like to point out there is nothing wrong with being "weird"..."
The way he said it made it sound as if he was meaning the exact opposite of what he said.

"...as such a thing as "weirdness" does, in fact, not really exist. To be weird there must be a norm and while there is a stereotypical norm to human behaviour most little "weird" habits are in fact not weird at all and portrayed by another minority group of society, showcasing that an individual may just not be in their preferred environment and or the judging person themselves, in this case I, may be in...
Blushing, Touko averted her eyes from his face and starred at her feet, an action which made him snap out of his ramblings and shut his mouth.
Then they stayed there, staring at anything but each other, none of them really knowing what to do next.

Screw. Bianca.

"Anyway..."

Awkwardly, N cleared his throat, noting that he'd have to ask Anathea and Concordia about the stereotypical behaviour of teenage girls, before continuing:
"I'd love to be your "battle buddy"..."
The way he pronounced the phrase "battle buddy" made it sound weird. And as if he didn't view it as an actual phrase. Well, excuse her that some people talked normal. But she was the weirdo! Just because she got embarrassed. For no apparent reason, but still!

"...provided you explain just what exactly a "battle buddy" is and what sort of responsibilities come with it. I...uh...I don't always have a lot of time..."
He looked away, embarrassed. After all, he couldn't tell her why and the way she had spoken about Team Plasma earlier made him doubt she'd want to talk to him again if she ever found out she was their leader.

Something he had to change at all costs. He couldn't have anyone doubting Team Plasma once the inevitable takeover took place.

"And I'd hate to not be able to commit to something as important as being "battle buddies"."
He ended his short speech and looked at her curiously.

"You...You don't have to be, you know? If you don't want to, I won't be offended or anything, I swear!"
She turned back to him, smiling awkwardly. Surprised he drew back. Had he offended her again? Had his lessons with Anathea and Concordia been in vain after all? He definitely had to ask his sisters about insult and behaviour that could be classified as such. Touko's Pokémon were an interesting subject to study (well, all Pokémon were, but for his mission Furball and Soft wave were especially interesting) and he'd hate to lose contact to her just because he came across as rude.

"Why wouldn't I want to be your "battle buddy"?"
The girl's expression soured at this and he couldn't fathom why.

"I'm just confused to as what exactly my responsibilities..."

"You make it sound like a chore!"
Now she was pouting. Why was she pouting? And what was wrong with being honest about not wanting too many responsibilities? But then again, maybe it made her feel inadequate and he really didn't want that.

"I, uh, didn't mean to...I just meant I was unsure whether I'd be able to complete the tasks going along with the responsibilities of being a "battle buddy" and..."
"Stopping making it sound so weird!", she interrupted him yet again. He had to admit though, he was thankful for it. He could already feel himself starting to ramble again.

"It's...Arceus, "Battle Buddies"...It just means you meat up from time to time to battle, ok? It's like...If you don't want to, then don't! It's not like you're the only I have. Or could ask!"

He stared at her. She averted her eyes and blushed. Again. N was sure she hadn't blushed that much the last time they had met. Maybe he had missed it?

"Oh", he ended up saying before shoving his cap deeper into his face. This was...less...important? than she had made it out to be.

"I...The way you said it..."
"Oh, you don't get to blame this on me! You were to one making it sound all weird and officially!", she huffed (interrupting he again – it was a pattern he had picked up on quickly. Was that normal behaviour in her social milieu? Anathea and Concordia had told him that interrupting other people was seen as rude, but she didn't seem to mind). Well, maybe she had made it out to be a bigger deal than it truly was. After all, it really only warranted a passing question and not the embarrassingly awkward build-up she had produced. But there was no way she was ever going to admit that, so instead she simply huffed again and then crossed her arms, stealing glances from the boy trying to judge his reaction.

He simply stared at her. It would have been cute if it hadn't been so creepy.

After a minute, Touko decided that it had become too awkward. First of, she had fully intended to flirt a bit with him (just to see his reaction, as per Bianca's instruction) and she didn't get to do that at all and second of, this was more awkward than that one time Cheren and she had had a mutual crush on each other (they had been five and never told a single soul so it didn't count!)

But anyway. No wasn't the time to reminiscent about days long gone. Now was the time for answers!

"So, whaddaya say?"

Touko slightly slurred while speaking, turning around in a over dramatic way, trying to dissolve the strangeness of the whole situation (one question! She had asked one, single question!), but it didn't seem to work and now, with her arms somewhat spread and that stupid grin on her face she looked like an idiot.
And he just kept starring at her. Oh for the love of…

"Whaddaya?", he suddenly inquired and then, and then!, took out a notebook and a pen. He even clicked it for emphasis.

"You...what are you doing?"

"Oh, I have yet to learn about the meaning of the expression "Whaddaya" and therefore would like to take notes of your expression."
She blinked. Looked at his notebook. Blinked again. Looked at his pen.

She seemed to have trouble processing the information she just had received. Trying to ger her attention, he cleared his throat and it seemed to work.

"What do you...", she murmured. He frowned. Hadn't he just...Oh, well.

"As I just stated, the term "Whaddaya" is..."
"No, no, it's..."Whaddaya" means "What do you". That's...That's all, You know? I, uh, I asked what you'd say to becoming my battle buddy..."

Oh. That made sense. Quickly he scribbled her explanation down

"Huh. That's weird..."
He had said those words without realizing how she could view them and once he noticed she may connect them to his earlier, accidental, insult, his eyes shot open in horror.

"Oh, ehm, I didn't mean to, you know..."
He really wanted to bite his lip right now. He really wanted to.

"Anyway...", he cleared his throat, feeling a blush heating up his face. Why did she make him feel so nervous? Why was he stammering? He was a King! He wasn't supposed to stammer!

"I, uh, would love to be your battle buddy?"
The girl beamed at this and gave him a wide smile (a wide smile that looked beautiful on her, he had to admit) and then, to top it all off, she got on her tip-toes and ruffled his hair.

"Great!", she exclaimed, before backing down again. She stopped beaming approximately two seconds after the short-lived action and one second after she noticed that N simply froze.

She then turned pale after yet another second and defensively extended her hands in front of her, shaking them panicky.

"Oh, oh! I'm sorry! Was that too much! I...I tend to get close to people rather quickly and I, uh, I didn't want to like, invade your private space or anything. You now, everyone has their own boundaries and stuff..."
She blushed again. Was she embarrassed? That would make sense, actually. Though, he didn't know why. Was she scared she had offended him? After he had just done so twice? A bit of payback was something he had expected, after all for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. And really, he hadn't minded her ruffling his hair all that much. Sure, it was in disarray now, but he couldn't care less (for most of his childhood he hadn't even known what a brush was!) and the action felt...friendly.
Was it not a friendly action? He'd have to ask Anathea and Concordia about that. By the original dragon, he'd have to ask the two a lot of questions after today's conversation.

But then again, he could just ask her. She had been rather open and welcome to his questions.

"Is that something people usually do? Ruffling someone's hair?"

"No, uh, I'm just..."
Weird. She had wanted to say weird. For a second Touko glanced at N, biting her lips again. He was smiling contently and somehow it felt a bit smug. Screw him and Bianca.

"Strange. I'm just strange."
At least she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of using the exact same word.

N nodded. So it wasn't normal. Well, he shrugged, there was no reason to get all worked up about it.

"I didn't mind it, you know. It felt nice."
If Touko had been blushing before, she now looked as if she was having a fever. Sadly, she wasn't the only one who noticed.

"Are you feeling alright? Did I insult you again? I really meant it when I said I didn't mind. In fact, it felt nice, your hands were rather calm..."
"WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE COLOR?!"

Touko suddenly twirled around and faced him, cheeks still colored red, though now she was additionally biting her lips.

"What..?"
"You...you never answered my question! What's your favorite color? Mine's pink. No, green. No, uh, blue. Yes. Blue. I'll settle on blue!"

She twirled back around and started to stoicly walk in one direction. N doubted she knew where she was going and after a second he followed her. He didn't want her to get lost and her demeanour didn't seem to indicate she wanted to be left alone.

She had just asked a question after all.

"Mine is white."

He hadn't ever thought about what exactly was his favourite colour before, but white seemed to fit.

"White? Pfft, that's a boring choice."
Well, Touko seemed to view that differently.

"Why? What's wrong with white?"
"Wrong? Nothing! It's just so, you know..."
Touko dismissively waved her hand in front of her, her blush having been greatly diminished.

"So bland. There's nothing to it. It's boring!"
"Boring?"
N raised an eyebrow. White was...not, it wasn't!
"It's not boring! It's truthful and innocent and spotless. It's perfect!"

"Yeah, duh! That's the point! It's boring! Everyone likes white! There's...nothing to it! It's the safe choice! It's the choice that offends no one!"
"But blue is better for what exact reason? How is blue not a "safe" choice? Blue is the colour of water and everyone likes water!"
N wasn't sure why exactly they were discussing this – it was a matter of taste and taste was difficult to discuss – but he found himself enjoying the mock debate. Maybe it was because this was indefinitely better than the awkward conversation they had before. Maybe it was because she wore a smug smile that he found to fit her face perfectly or maybe it was because he had never been allowed to discuss such trivial matters before in his life.

It was probably a mix out of all three of them.

"Well, if you choose blue, you antagonize everyone who chose red. And also, point and case, I can name at least three people at the top of my head who don't like water!"
"And who are those three people if I may ask?"
"Well, there's me, there's..."
"Your first Pokémon is a Water-type!"

N flinched when he interrupted her. Had he interrupted her ever before? It could have been, he tended to get rather passionate when it came to the liberation of Pokémon

"So what?!"

And then she went on, talking about how his choice of favourite colour (to be fair – he did start to regret having picked that particular colour, preferring to settle for blue for a reason he was not willing to say out loud or even think).

She didn't care that he had interrupted him. It almost felt as if she was used to it.

N smiled. He could get used to it too.


(In case you don't want to read my ramblings: I will make some small scale edits to the previous chapters + at the very end of it I wrote down some notes of what to expect for the next chapter)

AN: I had way too much fun writing the scene where Bianca tries to set up Touko and N and is somewhat successful (after all, they exchanged pone numbers and I'm contemplating of giving Anathea some access to N's VisoCaster at some point just to spice things up a little).

Fun fact: When I first wrote this chapter, I didn't play on the Daycare to be the local nightlife scene It's a bit out of place, but it is not a nightclub. Just a bunch of bonfires and a nice atmosphere, like a constant, unsupervised school trip basically, if that makes any sense.

However, when I started writing it I realized that I wanted there to be quite a lot of people and with Touko being a bit behind (I do have to look up how many days she's into the journey at the moment, because I'm not sure anymore) only having trainers be there would be weird. Therefore, this is the new daycare.

On a different note, looked up the actual dialogue taking place in the Dreamyard between the grunts and Ghetsis/Musharna. The whole tone/meaning is rather different than what I chose, but I want to try and keep the Plasma evilness at bay (for the time being), because of plot reasons I won't disclose so far. Therefore, the conversation is rather different from the game. In the game they basically directly admit to being evil and I view their organization differently.

Note Two: While writing this chapter I realized you have to battle both grunts (and one of them is female, so, uh, oops?) in the Dreamyard but for theatrical purposes I ended up letting Touko battle only one. Maybe I'm wrong, but making her battle a second trainer would require her to use another Pokémon and somehow that would have lessened the impact of the battle for Lil (in my mind at least). So please, once more, please forgive me for my oversight/negligence of the actual storyline.

Also, I totally didn't have to google Newton's third theorem for this chapter. Nope, no sir, I was like, you know, totally the best in physics…

Talking about the battle, I'll have to add in another scene in the eight chapter detailing Touko teaching Lil the TM (probably before Lil finds out about the gym battle), so that isn't something completely out of the blue. I thought Lillipups learn that move by level-up, which they do, but only at level 19 and, well, Lil isn't level 19 yet. In addition to that I will probably edit most chapters again, because chapter one needs a redo (I will either switch some scenes around and/or shorten the first scene, because that one alone is three pages long and really not all that exciting). So, expect some minor changes in the following few day, though nothing of important should be added/changed (other than the Tm teaching scene and probably some changed to N's overall interactions to other people to make him more socially awkward – I personally like the way I portrayed it in this chapter).

Props by the way for anyone who understood the reference I made in the last chapter's title. Purple was seen (is seen?) as the royal colour and I though that was somehow fitting with Team Plasma's overall theme.

An additional "fun fact" for all that care (actually, it's not that funny after all, but meh). The only real reason why Touko asks for N's favourite colour is because I needed a title for this chapter. Once I really got into writing it I felt kind stupid because I came up with the amazing name "Blushing pink" instead but also didn't want to change it. So, if there ever is a chapter in which Touko (or someone else) blushes a lot, chances are just because a need a title.

I'm not good with titles. I'm really not good with titles.

I'm shamelessly stealing the following idea of announcing stuff from the next chapter from a different author (dfcfanfics) btw, because I saw them use it and absolutely love the idea.

Next up:

- Yet another encounter with Team Plasma. What is it going to be this time? Who knows. I'll just say I've already wanted this scene to be in this chapter and in the previous one.

- Anathea having a field day (I wonder why..?)

- "Who. Is. This. Girl?!"

- "Don't be jealous! You've got Bianca after all!"

- Cheren reminding Touko of things she said she'd do…

- Isn't there this one important guy that hasn't gotten any solo time at all..?

-And some other stuff I haven't fully thought about just yet, but really, I just write all of this as I go. Stay tuned!