Soooo – it's been like five months? If anyone looked at my profile (where I regularly update the progress on all of my fics, including word counts etc.) you may already know that I encountered a major writer's block for this story specifically – partially because my outline basically only contained "fluff and flirting" and that wasn't a whole lot to go off on.

However, I have no intentions of ever this story – of everything I'm currently writing, this is my favourite pet project – Ferriswheelshipping is what got me into fanfiction in the first place, so it will always hold a special place in my heart.

I'd still like to apologize for the long wait, though – and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter ^^

Disclaimer: The only thing I own are these amazing rollerskates I got for Christmas – which, obviously, do not include the Pokémon franchise. Additionally, this story was greatly inspired by the oneshot "The Truth Will Prevail"

danielapmatute: Thank you for your review ^^ And I hope the chapter lived up to your expectations =D

MrMogiGaming: Poor Lil, indeed - however, perhaps this is not the last we have seen of her..?


Too little colours to describe the world
Chapter 15
Green skies and blue leaves

.o.O.o.

N wasn't used to travelling with other humans. He had been accompanied by them plenty of times, but they had never truly travelled with him – they had revered him as a prince – and now king – they had tended to his every needs, but it had never felt like he had been part of their group, let alone had it felt like travelling at all.

Never the way it had felt when his friends and he had explored the thick undergrowth of Pinwheel Forest.

Travelling with another human had never been much of a priority either. They were humans after all and spending a prolonged time with them would only lead to his manipulation – which was exactly why he was rather reluctant to agree to Touko's idea of travelling together. He – what she had done was despicable and even if she felt bad for it, it didn't change what she had done.

Quite frankly, he should have been furious.

If they had met any other way, perhaps he would have been – but as it was, he hadn't gotten much time to prepare for running into her. No planned speeches, no prior lesson on how to behave if you ran into someone you knew but were avoiding in public.

And then there had been her bad consciousness and the fact that she had acknowledged she needed time to make up with her team and. It had thrown him off his guard – humans weren't supposed to apologize, well, yes, they were, but-

She had caught him off guard. And as he was floundering for any resemblance of logic in her actions, she had dared to ask if she could join him.

And his unpreparedness came to haunt him. He hadn't been sure what to make of her request. Should he be mad? Should he forgive her? Should he deny her request, should he simply ignore it?

Anthea and Concordia had never prepared him for a situation like this and he hadn't the time to ask for advice.

Or had he?

X

"Great! Maybe we can travel together?"

N blinked – he...hadn't expected that reaction.

As a matter of fact, there was a whole lot about Touko that he didn't expect. He hadn't expected her to think it was "cool" that Shiny Marble wasn't kept in a Pokéball, he hadn't expected her to remember him let alone to ask him for his number – and to then proceed to talk about him about pleasant, yet trivial things – and he most certainly hadn't expected her to ask to join him.

Yet here he was.

He wasn't sure how to feel about it.

"I...", he said, immediately trailing off. Nervously licking his lips, he glanced at his VisoCaster again.

"...will have to ask?", he eventually finished, desperately trying not to fidget with the golden Rubik's Cube hanging from his wrist.

Touko tilted her head at that, eyes furrowed.

"Ask? Why? Didn't you say you have to leave quickly?"

She was holding on to the strap of her bag, eyes shining with curiosity, as she was leaning forward slightly – until she realized what she was doing and immediately stepped back again.

"Oh, I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to – Anyway! You – I shouldn't – I'm sorry if I came off to strongly! You can say "no", I swear! I just – I need to move and was hoping we could-"

Touko trailed off and blushed slightly. Then she let out a sigh, squaring her shoulders and smiling.

"I don't really know why I asked – but it sounds like fun, doesn't it?"

N blinked at that. Fun? Why would it be fun?

Would it be – be, mayhaps, similar to when he had roamed Unova with his friends? Those journeys had been fun – a great deal of fun indeed.

Though, this was a human he was talking about. Not a Pokémon.

N glanced at his bag, knowing his VisoCaster was in there. The Team Plasma Court was still residing within the city – Ghetsis had set their departure for a few days from now, claiming to need more time to arrange a few projects of his – "Trivial matters", he had stated:"Of no importance to you, my Lord." – but N was under strict orders to not let anyone know of his connection to Team Plasma.

It was probably best for him not to lead Touko to them. But he'd still quite like their advice. And he could always call.

"I'll...have to ask my..."

His what? Family? Friends? What would be an appropriate way to formulate his thought?

"...sisters."

Touko blinked.

"Your...sisters?"

Was that a weird answer to give? But according to Anathea and Concordia, asking parental figures for permission was a typical thing to do. Perhaps it was because they were partaking in this journey – N had been taught it was a means for teenagers to learn how to be more independent in a less pressuring environment – a fun journey to try out living on one's own that could be cancelled at any time – that Touko thought of his behaviour as weird.

"Yes. My sisters, indeed – my journey came with a few conditions attached and I am afraid, wandering off with company without haven been given explicit permission would break those."

N did his best to smile courteously at that, as he hoped to have set aside whatever confusion Touko might have harboured, trying to deny any qualms he might have had about his answer.

It wasn't a lie, even! There were conditions attached to his journey – albeit given to him by his father, instead of his sisters.

But it wasn't a lie!

N wanted to style himself "Hero of Truth" - in fact, it had been one of the reasons as to why he had visited the gym, to read up on the legend in an attempt to find out more information on them – and as such, he couldn't afford to tell any more lies, lest he wanted to be unworthy in the eyes of the legendary Dragon.

But Touko blinked again – then she backed away, just a little bit, almost defensively holding up her back.

"Are you-Are you religious by any chance?"

She was frowning now and so did N. Was he religious?

N knew what religions were – he had been taught the ins and outs of most of them, the reasons people followed them, the good and bad that came with them – however he didn't fully understand how his sisters related to that.

"No?"

Touko visibly relaxed at that.

"Oh, great!"

She let out a sigh, beaming at him as she slowly let go of her bag.

"Well, I guess I should leave you to ask then? I-If you're fine with me joining you anyway, that is! If you don't feel comfortable – or anything – that's fine! I-I don't want to intrude or anything, but I thought it might be fun?"

Yes. She had said so already.

"I – I don't think my team and I are in a good space right now and maybe, some time away, could help us find back to us, you know..."

Touko leaned back even further and N wondered whether she might not just topple over. He glanced at Soft Wave, standing behind her, glaring at her trainer, though the Pokémon was, curiously, not saying anything.

Touko noticed.

"Yeah, she – I messed up. I really need to find a way to apologize to her. And, well, the rest of the team, too, I guess", Touko murmured – then she watched him expectantly.

Right. Right. She had asked a question. Clearing his throat, he said:"That may be the best option, at this point."

He glanced at his VisoCaster again – he could call Anthea and Concordia. Or Ghetsis.

He should probably call his father, but Ghetsis greatly disliked having his schedule interrupted – and N didn't have the luxury to keep Touko waiting for long.

"I'll ask my – associates then. If you'd be so generous and wait for a few seconds?"

Something about his wording made Touko smile brightly and made her eyes twinkle – though N was too concentrated on snatching his VisoCaster and excusing himself a second time to notice. He moved away, to get out of earshot.

N didn't have to wait long for Concordia to pick up her own phone – to say she was surprised by his call would have been an understatement.

But her confusion didn't stay around for long – she had always had a knack for giving out advice with patient eyes and soft smiles.

"I'm sure travelling with her could be fun. And as long as you keep your head clear – you'll only learn. And didn't you say you wanted to hear her side of the story, too? Perhaps this will help you to understand humans and the society we seek to dismantle better!"

X

"Hi! I'm Bianca, nice to finally meet you! Touko told me where she was!"

"I told you where I was, I did not tell you to come!"

N blinked as he stared into big, green eyes, sparkling with silent laughter. Touko was standing behind the blonde that had ambushed them out of nowhere, currently holding out her hand for him to shake, her arms crossed in front of her chest and scowling.

Did she not like this new girl?

"I'm Touko's best friend, by the way, in case she forgot to mention that – you're N, aren't you?"

N regarded Bianca's hands for a few moments, before carefully shaking it – and Bianca's beam only intensified.

"Yes."

"Great! Do you mind if I tag along?"

.o.O.o.

They reached the PokéCenter on time, according to Touko and Bianca. "On time" constituting as "places still left open" in the dormitories. N wasn't quite sure what that was, but he suspected it must have been important, seeing what a big deal they had made out of it. In fact, when nearing their day's journey, they had sped up substantially to bridge the remaining distance to the PokéCenter as fast as possible.

N had been relieved when they had finally arrived. He was exhausted. Touko had talked to him and it had been fun but he couldn't forget what had happened either.

He shouldn't forget.

In conclusion, he was entirely unsure how to act around her – had even texted Anthea about it at some point, silently begging for a conclusive answer.

(He knew he was king, yet – he was a teenager still. Shouldn't he be allowed to be unsure at times?)

He hadn't gotten a conclusive response.

|If you don't trust her – or feel uncomfortable around them – you don't have to stay around, my Lord. You shouldn't force yourself to do anything you don't want.

N had frowned at that in confusion. He had already known that – Father had always insisted he could leave anything he didn't want to-

"You are a prince – soon to be King – no man has the right to ever pressure you into anything."

-but he knew it was expected of him to stay. He couldn't just abandon his duties simply because he disliked them – such inner strength was what made a king a King and a good ruler.

And their company, it wasn't...unpleasant either. That didn't stop him from staring at the clock in hopes to move time faster and from almost jumping from joy once they had finally checked into their rooms.

"We got two different ones – is it okay for you if Bianca and I stay together?"

N had been very okay with that. Today had been eventful – he didn't mind the opportunity to simply relax.

The three of them parted, Touko and Bianca heading off towards their rooms after they had shown him to his room – "You've never slept in a PokéCenter before? That's – not gonna lie, that's a bit strange." – and N typed in the code to his room he had been handed.

He didn't like PokéCenters – one might think he did, for it was a hospital specialized on Pokémon – but none of this were necessary if humans would treat Pokémon with respect. Those injuries were caused by battles they were forced into and the heavy silence that hung across the halls made N shiver with empathy.

It didn't help how loud everything was, too – and how very crowded. There were people everywhere – people that seemed to be keen to talk to every stranger they encountered. Touko had pointed out to him that PokéCenter – especially on "earlier" routes – were often used to make new friends, but it didn't stop N from wanting to frown at whoever stopped to talk. He was perfectly content with observing Touko and her team – and maybe Bianca. He could do without the murmur and announcements and the loud, stinging colour of the lights overhead.

He greatly missed his castle's calm.

And its size – N had never taught himself spoiled – a king should never be spoiled, father had said – but he wasn't used to small rooms and hallways. His castle didn't have any after all – and his home, Unova's nature, didn't have any either.

N still remembered the first weeks he had spent with Ghetsis – the terror he had felt at being enclosed on all sides, with no visible sky overhead.

He still got uneasy about it sometimes.

Opening the door, N was looking forward to sit down in a chair, to solve some equations to calm down and to then sort his mind and talk the day over with Anthea.

He really was looking forward to it.

The only thing he should have looked forward to was disappointment though.

Perhaps, N should have asked his sisters what a PokéCenter was like, seeing how he was greeted with five other people already in the room, scattered across the place. One of them looked up – a boy, with a cap on backwards, previously starring at a small device in his hands – and then waved at him.

"Sup. You're staying here overnight?"

Dumbfounded, N nodded.

"Cool – there's only one bed left – you don't mind take one of the lower beds, do you?"

N shook his head, still dumbfounded.

"Great! Thanks, dude! The bed's over there – we left the one near the window, but we can always switch if you get cold and we need to keep the window open to air the room!"

N nodded again, his eyes following the thumb the other boy had thrown over his shoulder. He gulped – his bed was directly opposite from the door.

He really didn't like this.

Trotting over to the bed, N resigned himself to his fate and plopped down onto it, looking around once more. There were a total of five other humans with him – two girls who seemed to be friends, the boy that had greeted him and then two others that he couldn't quite sort.

Well, it didn't matter.

The boy seemed to be sleeping on the bed over his – and soon enough he came over.

"You don't talk much, do you?", he asked, as he made his way up the ladder.

N flinched – then he realized shaking his head would probably be considered rude.

"No."

"That's cool – we'll leave you to yourself, then – just tell us if we get too loud!"

And alone they left him indeed. They didn't involve him in any small talk, in fact, they didn't pay any attention to him at all – but they were still there.

Talking. Listening to music – albeit quietly – and N started to dislike PokéCenters for yet another reason.

N tried to ignore all that was going on around him though. He pulled out some exercises from his meagrely packed bag and turned to face the wall, in an attempt to block out any input. He tried to shield his own thoughts in an attempt to keep the nonsensical words thrown his way out of his mind – but it failed. He could still hear them. Even the exercises in front of him did a terrible job to calm him down.

He could feel himself starting to shake. Eventually, it got so bad he dropped his pen.

It hadn't been an ink pen, luckily. It would have soiled the white sheets and ink was hard to remove.

Unable to as much as move N stared at the pen, slowly rolling down the creases, down and down and down and down and-

He needed to breathe.

He needed to get out.

N didn't know whether anyone paid his hasty retreat any mind – but he slammed the door shut behind him and he knew they must have noticed that, at the very least.

He couldn't bring himself to care, instead choosing to press himself up against the wall, breathing shallowly.

He shouldn't react this way. Nothing bad had happened. He may not have a room to himself for the night, may have to share with five other people, may have to...

Taking a deep breath, N stayed where he was, oblivious to the curious glances passing trainers sent his way.

He'd share his room with five other humans that might try to talk to him or question him and-and…

He regretted – he didn't know what he regretted, but he regretted something.

Slowly starting to calm his breath, N dared to open his eyes again, though his feet refused to remove him from the wall.

People were still looking at him curiously.

N tried his best to move his feet back into the room to escape the glances and to fetch his VisoCaster, so he could call Anthea – but they refused to obey him and he stayed rooted to his spot, feeling his breath starting to speed up again, ducking his head in an attempt to shield himself from any all glances and – then he noticed two more similar silhouettes appear at the edge of his vision.

Touko and Bianca. What – Why were they here? What did they want, why...

"Hey, N!", Bianca chimed the moment she was within earshot, successfully interrupting his spiralling thoughts. She was dragging Touko along behind her – they had been talking to another girl, they were seemingly sharing their dorm room with. They parted ways once they got close to him and N was thankful for that, at least.

He could deal with two humans he somewhat knew.

Maybe.

"Touko and I were about to grab dinner – are you hungry, too?" "We we're going to eat in the PokéCenter – there's a village close by, but I'm too exhausted to go and search for a restaurant." "And Touko hates cooking. She's pretty bad at it, too."

Bianca chuckled and nudged Touko – who was scowling now.

"I'm not that bad!"

"You burned pasta!"

"That was once!"

N seemed to have been forgotten by the two now – he was standing right next to them, but neither paid attention to him. It was an awkward situation to be in and N wasn't sure what to do – would it be okay if he just – left? Would they be offended? Should he listen to them argue or interrupt them instead?

N shifted uncomfortably, from one leg to the other, narrowly avoiding to bite his lips – though his sudden movement seemed to grab Touko's attention.

"Oh!", she exclaimed, pushing Bianca a tad away from her.

Was pushing and physical contact normal for close friends? Would he need to be as physical as they were if he ever wanted to become someone's friend?

"I'm sorry, we got carried away – but do you want to join us? We can look for a restaurant, too, of course – but the town's a bit away and those can be really expensive sometimes….But what do you say?"

Did Touko ever stop smiling? N knew that she did – he had seen her not smile already – but right now it didn't feel like it.

It just felt overwhelming.

"N-No", he pressed out, trying to separate himself from the wall to look less – less – pathetic:"I'll take a walk instead. If you could excuse me?"

"Of course! Have – have fun on your walk then? I've heard the meadows further south can be really scenic! Especially when the sun's setting – you might want to check those out!"

N nodded – still frazzled – and then he...almost ran.

A king shouldn't run – not from his problems, not from his anxiety and yet, N just wanted out.

But he was still growing up, wasn't he?

.o.O.o.

An hour. N returned to his room after an hour, though he wasn't planning on staying long. He simply needed to get his VisoCaster, to call Anthea. He had promised her to report back when she had concerned worry.

"We make sure you don't fall for any lies, my Lord – I'd never claim to know more of human lies than you do, however it might be of help to have another voice to stand for counsel."

His...room mates were gone when N re-entered the room, much to his delight. Perhaps they had gone for dinner as well, and N wished he could, too. He was starting to feel hungry himself, but he'd rather evade any larger human gatherings for now and the cafeteria was bound to be filled at the time. Additionally, he had the room to himself for now – he'd like his privacy when calling Anthea.

His VisoCaster rang exactly three times before someone picked up.

"Good evening, Anthea. How have you been?"

He was glad to be able to talk to Anthea again. It was a welcome change and he felt himself going giddy at the thought to hear how his family was faring.

He'd later blame his excitement for one, crucial detail to slip his mind.

"My Lord! Good evening! All is well with the sages, Lord Ghetsis and us, my Lord – may I ask how your day has been, as well?"

His day?

Right. He was supposed to report back to her.

N glanced away.

"My Lord?"

"It's been a good day."

He still refused to look back at Anthea. Wasn't that a typical giveaway for a lie?

It seemed to be.

"My Lord, I do not want to insinuate that you are lying – but I do want you to know that I pride myself in being your confidant."

He knew.

"I know."

But that didn't mean his thoughts were easily phrased into secrets to be shared with a trusted person.

"Are you alright, My Lord? Please, do tell whether you are feeling alright."

Was he feeling alright? Maybe. But he had an entire room to himself and had just taken a walk and-

"I...don't know. It's weird. I shouldn't like this. I shouldn't travel with other humans – I should focus on our mission to bring the world some peace."

He felt guilty. He felt really, really guilty. What had he accomplished today? Nothing. He would have travelled faster by himself, perhaps he could have travelled with one of the local Plasma patrols to save some Pokémon.

Instead, he had walked with some...trainers.

He really wondered why Anthea took so longer to answer him. Surely, she was going to call for Ghetsis so father could scold him. She might have done so herself in the past, but never since he had been crowned King. Perhaps today would be the day to push her back into old habits?

Anthea did neither. She didn't call for Ghetsis, she didn't raise her voice herself – instead she took some time to contemplate and eventually asked:"My Lord, if you allow me to ask – did you enjoy yourself?"

Did he...Did he enjoy himself? He supposed he had – travelling with Touko and Bianca hadn't been bad necessarily – they had let their Pokémon out and he had been able to talk to them – plus, Touko had patiently listened to him explain trains in every detail after they had passed some tracks.

She hadn't interrupted him like father might do – whilst Ghetsis had always supported his pursue of knowledge, the sage did not like to be engaged in conversation about more trivial matters – and Anthea and Concordia had listened to his ramblings – but had never once engaged with them.

Touko had.

A lot. She had nodded along and laughed here and there – had asked questions sometimes, too and all throughout the conversation, she had had this frown.

N wasn't sure what it had meant – but it had vanished once he was done explaining, to be substituted by a beaming smile.

"You're really clever, you know?", Touko said, lightly shaking her head at him, before she had looked forward again.

"Clever?"

"Yeah – because you know all that! You understand it, too!"

N frowned.

"It's not that hard to understand."

It really wasn't – the first time he had ever learned about it he had been nine. He had been gifted a model train – a possession he held dear still – and he had been so fascinated, he hadn't been able to stop reading about it for months.

"Not that hard? I think I may have understood – half? of what you said."

N's frown deepened.

"Then why did you listen?"

She shrugged.

"The parts I understood were interesting – and clearly, you enjoyed explaining it!"

Her words had made him feel – warm.

It had made him feel warm.

"Yes", N breathed out, freezing once he realized how – soft his voice sounded – far from the way it should.

Determined and firm.

"Yes. It was an enjoyable journey", he repeated, feeling his cheeks warm up once he noticed Anthea smiling.

It was a strange smile.

One he hadn't seen her wear very often. But before N got to ask about it, it had softened already.

"You can always change people, my Lord", she said:"And this Touko sounds like a good friend for you to have, for now – just, keep in mind: Should you ever feel uncomfortable, there is nothing wrong with ending a friendship either."

N nodded.

"I am sure you will take the right path, my Lord. I trust you – we, Team Plasma, trust you. You will be the hero of truth and as such, you are bound to be a wise leader."

A smile sneaked onto N's lips at that. He...was going to be the hero of truth.

Albeit illogical, perhaps he should relay on his "instincts" from time to time.

"Thank you, Anthea. For your counsel – though, I'd rather not keep you from your duties any longer. I will report back again tomorrow?"

"Anytime, my lord."

Anthea waited for him to hang up and once he had, he securely stowed his VisoCaster away. Then he uncharacteristicly let himself fall backwards, his head narrowly missing the wall. He should probably go to bed properly, but he was too exhausted to do that just yet. He might take a nap – then he'd brush his teeth and get changed and…

A nap sounded great.

.O.

N got a good ten minutes of napping in, before he was rudely interrupted by knocking.

Knocking?

"Yes?"

The door creaked open, ever so slowly and N winced at the light entering the room. N expected for one of his room mates to return from dinner, but instead, a familiar brunette stuck her head into the room.

"I'm sorry, I – oh! You're alone!"

Without hesitation, Touko entered the room, her eyes scanning every nook and corner of it.

"Hi! Did you have a nice walk?"

N nodded. Then he realized she probably wasn't able to see him do that.

"Yes. The meadows were nice, just like you said."

"Great! I, uh, I brought you food? It's warm still!"

Carefully, Touko pushed her hands out in front of her, holding up a small box filled with – something.

It didn't look the most appetizing.

"They had potatoes and vegetables."

N blinked. Tilted his head.

"Food?"

She had brought him food? Why would she do that?

"Yes! You didn't come down for dinner and they were clearing things away already – you don't have to eat it, of course! But it thought you might enjoy some warm food after today?"

She stepped closer – N simply silently regarded her – and she stopped.

"You – don't have to take it?"

Oh. Right. He hadn't answered yet.

"No. I mean Yes!"

Touko blushed.

Perhaps he blushed, too.

"Thank you, that's very kind of you. I haven't eaten yet, but...I'm just...tired."

"Oh, that's fine! Bianca and I will leave you alone then – see you tomorrow?"

And she put the box down next to him. N followed the movement of her hands and then stared at the potatoes.

"Yeah. See you tomorrow."

The potatoes didn't taste much better than they looked, but N smiled all the way through his dinner anyway.

.o.O.o.

They left early next morning – things shouldered, with new energy in their steps – just to stop halfway on their way to a place Touko had described as "Train Tracks best filming setting".

Apparently "Train Track" was a romantic thriller set around Nacrene City – and the secondary main character's – the love interest and/or enemy of the protagonist, according to Bianca – secret hideout was set there.

"She had a cabin that belonged to her now dead grandfather, I think? You know, the usual, edgy teenager stuff. She goes there to paint – and to live? I'm not sure whether she went to school – and the main character stumbles upon it in one episode and, you know, they have a whole bonding scene. The girl was a bit too edgy for me, but the mystery was pretty good."

N was quite sure – after that synopsis – that, should Anathea and Touko ever meet, they'd get along splendidly.

But right now, none of that mattered – as he watched Touko train with "Wobuff", as she called Nosy.

N thought – Touko was nice. Kind, even. She had brought him food yesterday – without his prompting – and she had given him space. As a matter of fact, she had simply texted him where Bianca and her were, telling him to "come whenever".

He had been awake already, of course and he had waited for them, but he appreciated the thought.

But all that happiness and fondness was smashed the moment Touko exclaimed it was "training time".

Watching them train hurt. So badly. He could hear Nosy getting frustrated and Touko seemed unhappy, too – not that her opinion mattered anywhere near as much as Nosy's did. Especially because N fully understood why Nosy would be distracted. He'd rather explore the forest himself too.

"Ugh, I – I just don't get what I'm doing wrong!", Touko eventually exclaimed – N winced, but then he realized the anger did not seem to be directed at Nosy. Touko didn't lash out at her, didn't as much as glare at the Woobat. She simply pursed her lips and crossed her arms and looked dissatisfied.

It wasn't fun to watch. Watching trainers "train" was never fun, of course – but somehow, this was even worse than normally.

"I can teach you?"

The moment his words had left his throat, N almost recoiled in horror. Why was he offering? If anything, he should beat both of them in a battle and liberate their Pokémon.

"I'm just trying to teach her so Nosy won't get hurt as much", he thought to himself.

That had to be it.

Trying his best to smile innocently, N looked at the girls expectantly – only to be met with a blushing Touko and a wildly grinning Bianca.

Was something the matter?

"Only if you want to? I wouldn't want to overstep boundaries, of course!"

He tried to intensify his innocent smile. Touko blushed more. Bianca grinned more.

"I mean, I'm sure Touko wouldn't...", she drawled, but Touko immediately slapped her hand in front of Bianca's mouth and N raised an eyebrow at the display of rather strange behaviour.

"Just ignore her", Touko said:"She's just being weird."

N tilted his head – Bianca was being the weird one? – and the moment he did, Bianca started choking on laughter.

"But thank you! That'd be great! I'd love to hear what you have to say – you've already won the second badge, haven't you?"

He had. He had and it had disgusted him, but he was working towards a goal and he couldn't let anything stop him for now.

"I'm not sure what you were thinking, theory or practice-"

Theory. He really liked the way "theory" sounded.

"-but – is it okay if we practice? For real? Maybe you can watch us train and give us advice?"

N almost cursed – silently – once Touko finished her sentence, but he didn't deny her request either. He had offered after all.

"Sure!", he said, swallowing hard:"So – how do you want to start?"

Why had he offered? Why had he offered?!

.O.

Apparently, Touko wanted to start by looking for an innocent, wild Pokémon to harass.

They found one soon enough and managed to defeat it even, but then that Pokémon's older sister showed up, infuriated by what had happened.

N couldn't blame her.

He also couldn't blame for Nosy not always following her trainer's orders.

"Maybe you should listen to her?", N piqued up, eventually, his face turned away.

He hoped no one would notice his disgust.

"Listen to her? What do you mean?", Touko responded, nodding at Soft Wave – who simply turned away – and losing her smile again.

"She's a Pokémon – she may-"

N bit his lip – he had to lead her there slowly.

"Just – let her do something? After all this journey is-"

What had Concordia said?

"People like to think of this journey as a learning opportunity – exploiting a Pokémon's power while doing so. However, the main goal is not to hurt Pokémon, but instead to find your own independence. It is this, why we, Team Plasma, believe we can change them."

Learning.

All of this was about learning.

"-meant to teach you? Perhaps, you may learn something by observing the way your Pokémon fight?"

N tried to smile – painfully aware that Touko would probably call him out, call him strange or laugh it off.

But instead she turned her head, as she watched Nosy, soundly chewing on some berries.

Her eyes softened.

"You're right", she said, sitting down next to the Woobat:"I can learn something from Wobuff."

Carefully, Touko extended her hand, before lowering it and softly petting the Woobat, who seemed to fully ignore the contact.

"What do you think?", she whispered, taking her hand back and getting up again. She was looking at him now, with shining eyes, an unspoken challenge held within.

"Maybe we can have a practice battle against each other?"

N didn't like that idea one bit – for one, he didn't have any Pokémon and additionally – Nosy had just trained for two hours.

She needed a break.

She desperately needed a break, but, of course, Touko wouldn't…

Nosy bumped against Touko`s leg in an attempt to get her attention, before she demanded more food, eliciting a laugh from Touko.

"Or maybe, we should have lunch for now – hey, N, do you want to share a sandwich?"

They didn't end up sharing a sandwich – but they did end up resting for half an hour. And once their break was done and Touko found herself another wild Pokémon to torment – she actually let Nosy decide some of them moves.

She disliked most of the choices – but that wasn't what was important, right?

"Hey, N?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks! You really helped me today – I wish I'd understand Pokémon as well as you do!"

She smiled at him – bright and with her entire face – and N felt himself reciprocating it.

"I'm sure you'll do just fine eventually!"

And off she was and it took N a good minute or two to realize that – for just a moment – he had actually meant it.

Touko was a trainer – he shouldn't wish for any trainer to succeed – as kind as they may seem.

.o.O.o.

Training took a long time – a very long time. But eventually they took a break again and N excused himself to take another walk.

He remembered this place well – those were the hills that he had spotted from afar, always asking Zorua to go there and explore. Zorua never had let him of course and once he had been introduced to human society, he understood why.

But there was nothing stopping him from doing it now, while letting his thoughts take over his focus.

He had missed travelling through this part of Unova so much. It's splendour only added to his exceptionally good mood, broadcast to any listening ears around them. Including to that of a particularly curious Pidove.

It had followed him for quite some time, seemingly trying to figure out what his thoughts were all about – until N decided to address it directly.

It fled the moment his question reached it, but after waiting patiently, it returned again, keeping a healthy amount of distance between them.

"You can talk."

"Can talk. Name is N. What's yours?"

The Pidove regarded him for a few moments, guarding its thoughts from his prying ears, until eventually it simply responded with a:"Won't tell."

Which was fair. Though it seemed to be willing to come closer now, hoping down from the branches and anding in front of him – far enough to fly away if necessary, but close enough for thoughts to be less muddled.

"Happy?", it asked, randomly picking at the floor below.

"Yes. Happy. Glad. Relieved."

He shouldn't feel this happy. He really shouldn't – Touko was but one trainer and she was still fighting with Pokémon and this wasn't a win – but he was happy nonetheless.

Perhaps, because it was the first time N had ever tried to show someone the truth and so far, it was going splendidly.

"Why happy?"

Leave it up to a Pidove to be such a curious creature.

"She's listening...", N whispered, looking up at the sky. He could count the stars tonight and he was thankful for it.

„Listening? Who?"

„That trainer. She's listening to what I'm saying."

The Pidove didn't answer immediately, instead it sat down on his stomach, scrutinizing him, before shaking his head.

„Weird boy doesn't make sense."

„Huh?"

„All humans listen."

N's smile turned sour at that-

„No. No they don't."

.o.O.o.

It was getting late when the three of them decided to set up camp – though it wasn't much of a decision and more Bianca deciding she had had walked enough for today.

"And we're half-way there already, anyway! So really, we can just stop now!"

And so they did.

Though it wasn't as much as "setting up camp" and more a "finding a fallen tree stump to lounge on and/or around".

It sufficed for now. Plus, Bianca and Touko had had a lively chat and now that N was forced to sit next to them – at first it had looked as if he was going to settle farther away, but once Bianca had called out to him, he had startled and hurried over to them – Touko was determined to involve him more.

He didn't talk much, but it seemed to work nonetheless, as he listened attentively.

"Well, would you look at the time!", the blonde suddenly exclaimed, getting up at once – and Touko almost – almost – startled at the sudden movement.

Of course, only almost. She was calm, collected and mature, after all.

N raised an eyebrow at Bianca's sudden exclamation, too.

"May I ask time for what? And how did you require the knowledge as to how late it is anyway? Are you wearing a watch, by any chance?"

Bianca glanced at Touko. Touko was suspiciously glaring at her.

"Yeah, Bianca. How do you know the time? 'Coz I know for a fact that you don't own a watch..."

Touko's eyes narrowed even further, but all Bianca did was smile sweetly. Meanwhile, N was trying to figure out what was going on.

"Oh, you know – just my usual late night walk. And it's late. Don't want that late walk to turn too late, now do we?"

Well, that certainly explained a lot!

"You never take late night walls."

That...not so much? But why would Bianca's habits keep her from taking a late night walk now? Was he missing something?

"Hm – Yes, I agree. But I do feel the intense need to take one – right now – therefore I bid you farewell! See you in, Touko, how long wi-" "Don't you dare finish that sentence." "...Anyway. See you!"

And gone she was.

Leaving behind a confused N and embarrassed Touko, who was flailing her hands in front of her once again.

"Sorry for that, Bianca tends to be, uh, kind of nosy?"

Her cheeks were heated and Touko didn't dare to meet N's eyes.

Which confused him even more. He had to be missing something, didn't he?

"Why? What did she do? Is it that strange to take walks? Or to take on new habits that seem worthwhile?"

He hoped not. While N's interest hadn't expanded much these past few years, he very much liked the idea of being able to choose – freedom above all else.

If society forbid that from happening, Team Plasma might have to change that, too. Perhaps he could talk to Father about it? If society really was that constricting, perhaps that would make for a great way to recruit more members, too!

"What? No, it's...", Touko started, her cheeks reddening some more.

N frowned. And after a few, awkward seconds of staring, so did Touko.

"You – you don't know what's going on?"

"No? May I ask what is going on?"

Hopefully, he was looking at Touko, just to get his hopes crushed.

"Uh – no."

That hadn't gone how he had expected. And – wasn't her answer kind of rude? Anathea had told him humans tended to be polite to one's face – most of the time – and that it was highly frowned upon if one was not.

But Touko didn't seem to feel guilty in the slightest. Neither did she seem mad at him, which was usually the reason as to why people were rude to others.

"Why not?"

Pestering other humans wasn't polite either, but did that really matter at the moment?"

"Uh – reasons – anyway, how about we do something else? Anything that is not "talking about my nosy best friend who is obnoxious and mean"?"

Touko was smiling weirdly – her lips widely drawn, showing her teeth and her face musculature seemingly incredibly tense. N tilted his head in confusion.

"You're smile seems different, is everything alright? Is this some sort of cue that I am missing?"

Touko's smile turned more tense.

"Oh, does it?", she asked, her voice pitched higher than usually.

"Yes. So does your voice, too."

N found himself frowning once more, realizing he did that terribly often in her company – or perhaps, in the company of any other human whose mannerism he wasn't attuned to.

Regardless. Becoming better versed in human gestures was one of the reasons he was undertaking this journey after all.

Touko didn't respond to his claim, her tense smile never wavering as she looked at her feet and he was unsure what to do. Should he add something? Had he offended her somehow? N looked toward some of the Pokémon running around, their voices clear, now that he had a chance to concentrate on them, but they didn't offer any help. Soft Wave huffed when he reached out to her, Roasted Chestnut did the same, but then changed his demeanour to cold staring once he spotted Soft Wave's mirrored posture. Big Heart wasn't listening at all and Nosy simply flew around, pointing out that humans were as much a mystery to her as they were to him.

And anyway, shouldn't he know, considering they're the same type of Pokémon?

But suddenly, Touko's head shot up.

"H-How about we talk about something else?", she exclaimed, her smile less tense now:"Literally anything else? How – What would you like to do? For the rest of the day?"

"I am not entirely sure. Are there any pastimes you enjoy?"

Touko let out an audible sigh N had once again difficulty with placing. She seemed relieved and it made him wonder what about their conversation had been so off-putting.

"I'd suggest training, but-"

N cringed and Touko glanced at her team.

"-I don't think that's a good idea right now. I can't really unpack any games yet and I don't feel like setting up camp just yet."

To emphasize her point, Touko yawned lazily and then thoroughly stretched.

It made N frown once again.

"Why not? Shouldn't we finish that task already?"

"Nah, it's early still."

"Your friend just went for a late evening walk."

"Yeah, but Bianca's weird, we've already established that."

They had? He didn't remember – but it didn't matter, he supposed, seeing how Touko didn't elaborate on her claim. Maybe it was some sort of banter?

They fell into silence after that, N content to enjoy the light breeze and the faint rustling of leaves, while Touko was nervously drawing invisible signs into the grass.

If Bianca were here, she wouldn't be nearly this nervous. Then again, if Bianca didn't exist she wouldn't be nearly this nervous because it was Bianca's idea to "see where this could go" in the first place.

And it didn't matter what the blonde had to say in the first place, because they were friends. N was easy to talk to – albeit weird sometimes, but who was she to point that out? – and a trainer like her. And this whole journey was meant for one to make new friends and experiences! And she knew for a fact that every successful trainer made lifelong friends along the way! Red had Leave (and Blue, but they had been childhood friends), Lyra had Silver (though up to this point people were still unsure whether their banter was actually friendly banter), Brendan was known to be bff's with Steven Stone and Lucas had Barry. Who was, technically speaking, his childhood friend and they were also most definitely dating, but whatever! She needed to make friends on her journey! And N was a prime contender!

"So!", Touko exclaimed, too excitedly and once again she promised herself she'd strangle once Bianca came back.

"How about we play a round of twenty questions?"

"Pardon? A round of what?"

.O.

"You speak Latin?", Touko asked, disbelieve clear in her voice as she tired to get Nosy to let go of her bag, while Big Heart was cackling close by, undoubtedly hoping for something edible to fall from said bag.

Apparently, Touko's shampoo bottle had opened up and Nosy wanted to know what it was.

Even after Touko had told her.

The interaction was quite fun to watch and N found himself smiling at the scene. Though he did frown at Touko's question – Ghetsis had told him knowing Latin was essential – shouldn't she know, too?

"You don't?"

"No. Why would I? Why do you?"

N shrugged, feeling his cheeks heat up once more. Should he feel bad for being able to speak Latin?

"Father insisted I learn."

It took N a few moments to realize Touko wasn't answering anymore – when he turned to her, she was simply staring at him with big, round eyes.

"Father?", she asked – then her face broke out into a smile and she laughed out loudly.

"You call your dad "father"?"

Smiling brightly still, Touko awaited his response and N, once again, wasn't sure whether it was meant as banter or whether he had done something wrong.

Her smile was just a tad bit frightening.

"I can't believe you sometimes, you know?"

Why wouldn't she? He had been nothing but honest with her!

"Honestly – are you, I don't know, super rich? Do we need to roll out the guillotine?"

„….You mean like the Kalosian revolution?"

„Uh...yes?"

N froze. Wh...y would she want to execute him, he hadn't…

Touko was laughing. It took N entirely too long to realize that Touko was laughing. And then she patted his shoulder, a gesture he followed by curious eyes.

„Don't worry! I won't behead you!", she exclaims, grinning wildly."Plus, you're rich, not royalty!"

N chuckled awkwardly and turned away from her. Though he regretted his decision immediately, as he could feel her inquisitory gaze resting upon him.

Which didn't make a whole lot of sense, as one cannot feel anyone's gaze at all, yet N supposed Touko latching onto his lie made sense personality-wise and her staring at him to try and figure out what was really going on was a human thing to do.

He was getting better at it already, too!

"Huh. That chuckle sure was weird. You sure you're not hiding anything from me? Some relatives in Galar? Maybe some long-forgotten Kalosian royalty running through your blood? That would explain why you talk so weirdly sometimes..."

N wondered briefly whether she was smiling still – then he turned around, to check.

Touko was smiling still. She was sitting up, gaze resting on him, a teasing lit to her expression as her eyes bore into his.

It was rather confusing as to why N thought he had felt that specific expression to and he decided to ask Anthea and Concordia about it, later.

Once he reached Castellia City.

"No. No Kalosian relatives in my family."

N chuckled again. He might be lying, of course. He didn't know a thing about his actual family.

"You sure?"

"Certain."

His voice sounded confident, much to his surprise, and N knew for a fact that Ghetsis would be proud of the way he had asserted himself. It had been convincing and unwavering, everything a king should be and – Touko seemed to believe him, too.

Perhaps, this "twenty questions game" was more fun than he had anticipated.

.O.

"I-uh-I grew up here?", he added and immediately, her expression lit up.

"You grew up here? In Nacrene? Where you visiting family?"

Unconscionably, Touko scooted closer, her eyes never leaving his frame as he shuffled uncomfortably, unsure of what to say.

"N-No?"

It was the second time today that he had stuttered and he was silently cursing himself. Luckily, his father wasn't here to take note, or he'd be sure to get yet another scolding.

He hated it whenever his father was disappointed.

He took a deep breath. There was no logical reason for him to stutter – or rather for him to be nervous. Therefore, he simply had to get rid of whatever illogical "spell" he had been put under.

"No. I grew up on the...country side? My family never lived very close to other h-people."

He almost bit his lip then and there. He had no intention to tip of Touko of him being any more strange than she already thought him to be in the first place.

He was hoping to keep in touch with her. The casualty with which Bianca and her treated each other was new to him and he was certain that learning such behaviour would only exert a positive effect on him.

Which is why he was here.

Which made sense and was logical.

"On the countryside? Were you guys farmers?"

Wasn't it his turn to ask questions?

"No?"

"Huh. Well, maybe we can visit them? That'd be fun!"

And N froze. Visit...his family? Was that something typical to do? Did people just randomly visit each other's families?

Could he decline her request? Would that be alright or would it be rude?

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be too forward!", Touko suddenly exclaimed, pulling away from him:"You can say no, of course! We don't know each other that well after all!"

N let out a sigh of relief. Good. Ghetsis already disliked Touko – for very good reason, mind you! – he'd be disappointed if N brought her to meet them,

"That'd be nice. I'd rather not visit them."

This time, it was Touko's turn to frown. Her eyes were squinted together, her gaze never leaving his face and he awkwardly leaned away, trying to escape her scrutiny.

Which only made everything worse.

"You don't like your family, do you?", Touko then suddenly said, leaning into his space again and N almost fell off of the tree trunk, reeling for a response.

"No! No, I do!"

N hadn't been able to hold his response back, though it may have been more clever if he had. Would Touko have dropped the topic if he had? Why had she thought that anyway! Why wouldn't he liked his family!

They...were perhaps the most important people in his life. He relied on their support to reach his goal – it had been Ghetsis who had lead him onto this path in the first place.

He owed them so much – he could never hate them.

Touko had leaned back by now and so did N. Shyly, he glanced at her and she looked at him stunned – before a wide grin spread on her face and she started laughing out loudly.

"Ha – gosh, you guys must have a really good relationship!"

It was such a weird thing to say – though Touko had already admitted to being weird once before. Or perhaps "strange" meant something else than "weird" to her? Both words could have

"Doesn't everyone like their family?"

N had always thought everyone did. Ghetsis had told him honouring one's parents was a virtue of utmost importance and Anthea and Concordia were his best friends.

He couldn't imagine not liking them and he couldn't imagine anyone else thinking differently.

But at his words, Touko's grin vanished at once. It was quite a peculiar reaction, n thought – he had never seen Concordia or Anthea react this way before.

"I like my mom – I can't stand my dad though and my grandparents – they're fine, I guess. They don't like me wearing short trousers though...But enough of my family! You grew up here – what's your favorite place?"

She was looking at him again, eyes sparkling with curiosity and she was leaning forward again, eagerly awaiting a response.

His favourite place? There wasn't one specific point he could pinpoint and anyway – his favourite places where places she had probably never heard of. There had been the flower field hidden away near the coast that had overlooked the sea he had loved. There had been the split tree a great many Pokémon gathered at everyday and, of course, there was the great tree he had called home.

He wondered if those places still existed the way he remembered.

He hoped they did.

"The forest."

"The forest, huh?"

She seemed to contemplate his answer for a bit – but then she broke out into a wide smile already.

"Yeah – forests are pretty great, aren't they?"

.O.

"Why aren't you carrying Pokémon with you, though?", Touko asked, eyes shining with curiosity – N tried his best to hide his nervousness.

The Pokémon.

Of course she'd ask – he was supposed to be a Pokémon trainer.

"I – maybe you have some with you, but you didn't call them out yet and you don't seem the type to leave them in for a prolonged period of time..."

She trailed off, nervously glancing at him.

"They – They weren't stolen, were they?"

Stolen. Twin dragon, forbid!

"No. No they weren't stolen. Why?"

N noticed how Touko glanced at her back, went as far as to reach inside. She seemed to fell for something, before her smile lost its tension and she turned back to him.

"No reason. Just curious."

.O.

"What, no!", she exclaimed, wildly swinging her hands in front of her.

N blinked, slowly. Then, he frowned.

"No?"

"No, you – you're not supposed to answer that question!"

"You're not?"

.O.

"My favourite subject?"

"Yes – in school – mine was social studies! I just always had an opinion on everything!"

"Mathematics. And physics, to a certain extent."

"...Yeah. I can see that – I always struggled with those two – I don't even know why."

.o.O.o.

N had noticed the sun set – he wasn't sure why. But talking to Touko had been fun and he hadn't paid much attention to anything but they're conversation.

Talking was a lot more fun that "texting".

N did, however, notice Bianca's return – the blonde was lazily strolling towards them. N wasn't sure whether he was happy about her sudden reappearance – but Touko seemed to be glad to see her friend again.

He supposed that made a lot of sense.

"Well, anyway", she said, as she got up, stretching her limbs and then offered N a hand to get up as well.

"It's getting late. We should probably set up our tents now..."

Bianca groaned.

"You could have done that earlier already!"

Reproachfully, she eyed Touko, who completely ignored the blonde's antics – who then changed tactics and looked at N instead.

Was he supposed to say something?

"I suggested that early, but Touko didn't want to, yet?"

He didn't like the way it sounded like he was asking a question and neither did he like the "Snitch!" that Touko responded with.

What was a "snitch"? It didn't sound nice – but Touko had called him strange before, so he had asked Concordia and she had explained humans tended to insult each other sometimes, if they felt comfortable around each other.

Was that why Touko had behaved so seemingly rude earlier?

Or was she, just now, mad at him for saying something?

"I'm not sharing my tent!", Bianca suddenly piqued, barely concealing a face-spliting grin. N raised an eyebrow at that – if Touko wasn't willing to share either, he'd simply sleep outside – in fact, he'd much prefer to, as he had never been the most comfortable within tents.

But Touko had different plans.

"Yes, you will", she sad without as much as looking at her friend who was openly laughing now. Instead, she focused on N (and on trying to get rid of that damned blush, because, Arceus, she had talked to him like twice!).

"You can have mine."

Touko held out her tent that had been fastened to her suitcase, pushing it towards N – who simply stared at it. Expectantly, she waved her hand around. N cocked his head.

Bianca started giggling and Touko rolled her eyes at her – wordlessly. Her smile softened and she lightly shook her head, stepping ever so closer, pushing the tent into his hand.

"You can take it. I can help you set it up later, if you want?"

N, holding the tent in his hand, eyes it for a good minute or two, before ripping his gaze away. He didn't understand. Hadn't Bianca…

"But...Didn't Bianca just say she won't share her tent?"

He didn't want Touko having to sleep outside. She shouldn't have to give up her tent just to avoid making him uncomfortable (and if he was honest, he might be a bit uncomfortable with sharing a tent with her, though he was entirely unsure as to why. It was yet another human thing he never fully grasped, like that one time he had started stuttering around that one grunt and for some reason, had been unable to stop) – and anyway, he really wouldn't mind sleeping outside. He was about to tell her, but Touko's faster.

"She'll suck it up, don't worry – and anyway, we really should get to setting them up, shouldn't we?"

Bianca giggled again and nudged Touko's side, before whispering something into her ear which got Touko to blush once more. But then she shook her head, quickly surveying the area before marching away – seemingly intending for Bianca and N to follow her. Bianca did so without hesitation, while N frowned at the direction she was walking into. Perhaps, she knew something he didn't?

But then she set down her things, after surveying the area, seemingly content with the place she had picked out.

N was horrified.

"You...are just going to set up right there?"

He furrowed his brows in confusion at Touko's complete and utter lack of care of where she was setting up, however Touko seemed to be equally confused by his bewilderment.

"Uh, yeah? There's some grass, no puddles, it's elevated so now sudden flooding and I've searched the floor for stones already. Did I miss something?"

Touko turned to Bianca for confirmation, who gave her an equally confused look. For however terribly prepared Touko had started this journey, no one would ever be able to accuse her of not learning from mistakes. She had learned to meticulously search the ground for any stones before setting up her tent and she had remembered the advice she had gotten from an Ace trainer at some point.

"Always go up hills. There's nothing worse than small puddles after a night of heavy rainfall."

Touko had yet to experience any heavy rainfall – the only time it had really rained was when she had travelled with Cheren to Wellspring cave, but that hadn't been too bad. However she wanted to be as prepared as possible.

She didn't like water. Swimming was fine, but waking up cold and clammy was already terrible enough whenever she simply forgot to close her window during winter.

Looking back at N she raised an eyebrow and had to stifle a laugh as she noticed his absolutely horrified expression.

"What? Is something wrong? Do I have something on my face?"

N tilted his head again. She...wanted to settle down here?

"This – the angle the sun would shine into our tents would wake us up super late – it is best to be awoken by the sun, as to slowly rise instead of being ripped from one's dreams – as a matter of fact, just...give me a few moments I – when do you plan on getting up? It's Late September already, the sun does rise pretty late, perhaps we could aim for something around seven? That would-"

He trailed off, his eyes scanning the environment. Which angle would be the best? If they moved near the forest, they'd be able to delay the sun reaching them, but they should sleep on even ground as well, not to mention that, were it to storm, they'd have to meticulously clean their tents the next day if they moved to close…

Walking a distance he scanned the area for an even better place to set up, until eh finally came across one. Turning around, he proudly pointing Bianca and Touko into the right direction.

Both of them were gaping at him and an awkward silence settled over the group of three. Until Bianca laughed that was and nudged Touko.

She was doing that terrible often, lately.

"He's good a maths, too, Touko! Great catch, isn't he?"

N didn't fully understand what those words mean. Perhaps Touko did – she was blushing furiously – which must have meant Bianca's word had been somewhat clear to her her – and she refused to meet his eyes for the rest of the evening.

It was fun nonetheless. N soon found the perfect place for them to set up camp, featuring in the season, the hills and trees around them and the approximate time it will take all three of them to be raised by the natural sun, and soon enough they are busying themselves with hammering tent pegs into the floor.

It is especially hilarious, as Nosy keeps trying to get into those "new" caves, exploring every nook and angle, turning the tent into a wobbly disaster made from polyester and N can't help but laugh as he hears Touko exclaim for the fifth time that day:"Get out of there, Woobuff, you've seen that tent like ten times already!"

And while her words might have sounded harsh, he could hear the hidden words she isn't saying and he know its all in good humour.

She really didn't seem to be a bad person. Misguided, but not bad by any means.

.o.O.o.

They were training again. Though Touko forwent any Pokémon battles today, instead choosing to do some "coordination training", as she called it.

Eventually, neither her nor Rockstar were paying much attention to their supposed training anymore and somehow, their conversation started centring around her team.

"I honestly don't know why I wanted a Woobat this badly – but they're cute!"

Curiously, only ^Big Heart and Nosy were allowed outside.

Touko had staunchly refused to let the rest of her team out, even after they had argued a good five minutes about it.

N was still made about it, too! But she had admitted to feeling bad about it.

"I – it's for the best. I don't think either of them wants to see me at the moment anyway."

It didn't make it any better.

"Being "cute" isn't a reason to like someone. Let alone a Pokémon...", N remarked, chewing on inside of his cheek.

Then he stopped, because father would have his head if he'd catch him.

N was about to add something to that – to declare the wrong in her ways – yet Touko was faster.

"Well, you're cute, too, and I like you."

The moment she had said that, her eyes widened. Not a second later she ripped her eyes away from him, staring at anything but him and started blushing furiously.

N blinked.

Bianca shouted "You go, girl!" and gave Touko a thumbs up – whatever that meant – and Touko was hiding her head behind her hands.

"Just forget I ever said that", she whimpered.

N frowned.

While he may not have attributed "cute" to himself, he wasn't unaware that he could be considered "conventionally attractive".

There was nothing wrong with pointing that out. It wasn't the first time he had been called "cute" either – Anathea and Concordia had called him "cute" before and had pat his head afterwards.

Before he had been crowned king, anyway.

"Well, I think you're cute too", N said and shrugged, turning away from the girls – completely missing the way Bianca barely concealed her laughter and the way Touko frantically tried to come up with a reply.

.o.O.o.

It took N two whole days to realize that Furball was missing. At first he had believed Touko to keep her locked away, as punishment, perhaps, or an ill-guided attempt at giving the Lilipup space – but she wasn't there at all.

Touko only carried four Pokémon.

N didn't understand. Why wasn't she here? At first, he was too afraid to ask, lest he'd insult her, but then again…

Furball was gone. Touko had prevented her evolution and now the Lillipup was gone and Ne felt like she owed him an explanation. He needed to know. He wanted to believe Touko was a good person, but he needed to know.

Eventually, he dared to ask.

His question seemed to worse Touko's mood immediately – and her response caught him completely off-guard.

It was barely heard above the wind shaking the branches above, her voice a toneless whisper. N had never quite been able to grasp human mannerism – but he didn't need to hear her thoughts for him to be convinced she was hurting.

"I let her go."

N was smiling bitterly, expecting some excuse, some foolish reason. Then his eyes widened.

"You let her go?!"

It was an indignant screech that left his mouth – and it made Touko chuckle!

For just a moment, though.

"Yeah, I – I interrupted her first evolution."

N already knew that, of course. Ghetsis had told him all about it, but hearing Touko admit it helped. She didn't pretend it hadn't happened.

And she seemed to be ashamed of it, too.

"I – I panicked, you know?"

She had tears in her eyes now and N almost felt bad for her.

"It doesn't excuse what I did, but – I promised I'd let her go when she evolved and I-I didn't want to let her go."

Oh.

Oh.

"You let her go because she evolved?"

Was it because Furball hadn't been "cute" enough anymore?

"No, I – I wanted to let her go after the first badge already."

What?!

"But I didn't want to say goodbye so I said I'd let her go after she evolved and then...she did."

Touko wasn't looking at him – instead, she was looking far away, her gaze fixed on nothing specific.

N was tempted to comfort her, somehow. She was a trainer, sure, but, for all the things he hated about trainers, he couldn't blame them for getting attached to their Pokémon.

He had always feared they never got attached, viewed them as mere tools – he was glad Touko was different.

"You-You seem sad. About something", he asked, tentatively. He wasn't sure about what. She had done everything right – as much as she could, of course. She had freed the Lilipup, had let it evolve even, fulfilling it's wish.

She couldn't have done things much better, lest she freed the other Pokémon in her team and gave up this cruel existence.

But they were a long way off from that, still.

"Do you think I'm a bad trainer?", Touko eventually asked, a lonely whisper piercing the silence, his previous question forgotten.

N didn't quite mind.

"A bad trainer?"

"Yeah. I just – I feel like what I did was terrible..."

H didn't answer immediately either – instead choosing to ponder her question. Was she a bad trainer? How would he know? He didn't talk to any others – and really, all trainers were bad.

But then again, if he got to choose, he'd rather be all trainer like Touko was, as she seemed to be quite the improvement from most of her peers.

Which still made her a bad trainer – but not as bad as others.

And she had made a right decision. Furball might have been but one of her captives – but she had let go of the Lilipup.

Had allowed this one Pokémon to run free once more and for all her faults, she deserved praise for taking one step in the right direction.

"I don't think you're a bad..."

What? Trainer? He couldn't say trainer, could he? Trainers were bad by default, after all.

"...person – I let go off my team, too, after all – and do you think I'm a bad person?"

At that, Touko regarded him for a few seconds, tensely worrying her lips between her teeth.

"Did they want to leave though?"

Did they want to…? What a weird question!

"Of course!", N replied, almost shaking from silent laughter – though perhaps it had been the wrong things to say. Touko let out a long sigh and hugged herself, making herself as small as possible.

"I-I always felt like she wanted to be part of tea, you know? As if Lil wanted to travel Unova – and I feel like I took that away from her."

Touko's eyes started to well with tears and, for some reason N could only explain with human instincts, he wanted to hug her, to make her feel just a little bit less sad.

"And – and I didn't want to let go, because-well, because she means a great deal to me. Lil-Lil really grew on me."

A wide smile spread across N's expression – Touko was wrong, of course – but her thoughts, while misguided, made it all the more respectful.

She had worried about letting go off Furball, not because of her own, selfish reasons, but because she was afraid Lilipup might not want to leave.

And because Touko cared for her.

It was sweet. Misguided, but sweet.

"You did what was best, didn't you?"

"Y-Yes?"

Touko looked at him questioningly and N nodded in encouragement.

"You did – you're not a bad person. Believe me."

He smiled warmly. So did she – until she looked away, her eyes falling close as a sigh left her lips.

"I'm glad."

"Huh?"

"I'm glad you think that way. That I'm not a bad trainer. Sometimes I worry I am, but I really want to be a good one, because I've dreamed about this all my life, really..."

For a few passing seconds N felt bad for her – he was going to ruin that dream after all – but then his pity stopped. After all, how dare she dream about imprisoning innocent creatures such as Pokémon? How dare she pretend like that was anything one should aspire to be? How dare she…

"Is...Is everything ok, N? You seem – you seem irritated?"

How could one go from a decent human to a jerk to looking innocent and…

"I'm alright", he scowled, cursing himself for not keeping his emotions in check. But – this who situation was so infuriating!

She wasn't bad! Touko couldn't be bad, none of the things she did were done in contempt – why did humanity have to behave this way?

Why couldn't they simply see the truth?

"Oh – well..."

Touko's almost shy voice ripped him from his furious thoughts. N tried to swallow his anger – a king would never let his emotions allow to take control of him – and looked back at her.

"Did you want to become a trainer?"

"No."

Touko's head snapped to him immediately, her mouths formed into a silent "oh".

"Why not?"

"I don't like hurting Pokémon. Most of them don't like battling."

"They don't?"

"Sof-Ollie doesn't."

To give Touko credit, she didn't immediately reject his words. Instead, she looked down at her bag, then back up to him, contemplating his words until she found a response.

"When I was younger, I was really afraid of Pokémon."

She had been? N knew, of course, that some people were afraid of Pokémon, but he had never understood why.

Pokémon were precious. It was them who should be afraid.

"My dad had an Arcanine when he was still staying more permanently in Unova and it liked to rough me up – thought of me as a sibling, apparently. It's really interesting to see how different Pokémon view their trainers and their family, isn't it?"

No. It wasn't. Pokémon shouldn't have to view humans as anything, but N couldn't say that out loud of course, so he simply didn't say anything at all.

"Anyway. I was really scared of Pokémon because of that but then I grew up and I – I just stopped being afraid. If my parents would have kept me away from Pokémon all my life, I would have never discovered how much I love them!"

Her eyes fell to the Pokéballs peaking out from underneath her bag's flap – N shuddered. Did she though? Did she really?

"I guess, what I'm trying to say is that sometimes, you may dislike something at first but come to enjoy it, once you give it a try. If we never challenge ourselves, we can't grow."

N chuckled. Almost. She almost had had a point there.

Pokémon should be allowed to choose for themselves whether they wanted to grow our not. It was no one else's business and if they were fine with the way they were – why would anyone disrupt their peaceful life?

"You don't like rain. You never did and once you got caught in a rainstorm, yet you still don't like rain. Sometimes people dislike things and they never stop disliking them. No matter how often they try it."

N looked at Touko, determination settling into his eyes. What she was doing was wrong – this talk of growth was just an excuse for a cruel system, put in place for the amusement of humans.

Nothing else.

Confused, Touko tilted her head – was she blushing? – before frowning.

"How do you know I hate rain?"

"You told me. On the – on the 21th, I think?"

She was smiling shyly now.

"You – you remembered that? The date I told you even?"

N tilted his head once again.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I?"

"It seemed like such a – it's nice. That's all. It's nice you remembered."

Touko's voice was a whisper, nearly drowned out by the wind and her gaze looked – incredibly soft. N didn't know why he was thinking that way – a "gaze" had not particles attached to it – it was merely a concept invented by humans to describe a specific facial expression – meaning it could neither be "soft" nor "hard".

But it seemed to fit.

.o.O.o.

It was evening already when it happened.

Nosy was gone.

Touko was close to tears when she realized the Woobat had wandered off again, frantically calling her name and searching everywhere – and, of course, recruiting Bianca and N to do the same.

N wasn't sure whether he should help her, but she had begged him to loo around and just because he found Nosy, didn't mean he had to return her. So, after asking some of the wild Pokémon in the area, he stumbled across the Woobat soon enough, happily exploring the wood close to where they had set up camp.

"Where are you going?", N asked. Nosy clearly wasn't trying to flee – which was weird, now was her chance! – and as future king it was N's duty to get to know his subjects as much as possible.

He had to jog to catch up with the Woobat, as she flew off deeper into the forest upon noticing him. Her nose was stuck far up in the air as she explored the shimmering undergrowth, eyes never staying on any single object too long.

"Don't know. Don't matter", Nosy replied, as she explored further, fluttering from one tree to another.

They were getting deeper and deeper into the forest – and N was tempted to never come back out.

He could free Nosy that way – if he took her, ran deeper into the woods, no one could stop him.

And he knew these woods – had been raised here, alongside other Pokémon – a Woobat even! – they'd never be found.

When N glanced up at Nosy, pondering his options, he found himself staring right into her eyes, narrowed and sparkling.

He recoiled from the proximity, almost letting out a shriek in the process – why had she sneaked up on him?

He asked her just that. She didn't really give him an answer.

"Do you like trainer?"

And suddenly, she was all in his face again, her eyes scrunched together still – and N stopped and stared for a few seconds.

Nosy – Nosy was scrutinizing him.

"I – I don't-"

"You don't like trainer. You think she bad."

It sounded very much like a statement and N – N felt himself resent it, because he didn't dislike Touko.

She was one of the nicer humans he had met so far, and that had to mean something, right?

"I like trainer – don't be mean to trainer. Trainer is good."

And Nosy turned around and explored some more of the deep, shimmering forest.

N, meanwhile, frowned.

That – he had never seen a Pokémon act quite like this.

.o.O.o.

"So, you're going back to Nacrene City?", N asked the next morning. He hadn't needed to take Nosy back – she had flown back to Touko all by herself, completely ignoring his protest.

"You can be free! She can't hurt you anymore!"

"Go away. I will tell Rockstar if you don't."

"Should I be afraid?"

"Rockstar is good a throwing stones and humans are frail."

N hadn't understood – perhaps Nosy simply didn't understand yet.

That must have been it.

"Yes. I still need to win that badge – I bet Cheren already got his – and, well, I guess then I'll come back here? Head for Castellia. The gym challenge is pretty linear in Unova, after all."

Touko smiled and glanced at her bag, holding four, warm Pokéballs – and then, Bianca surprised her by putting her arm on her shoulder. N had already learned she wouldn't take on the second gym yet, but they had never told him why.

Though Bianca didn't seem quite as insistent on training as Touko did.

Maybe he should try and win her over instead?

"Will you wait until Ollie evolves?", the blonde asked, rolling her eyes as Touko shoved her away and stepped back.

"Wait until…? Well, I was hoping she'd evolve on our way back – or during the training gym battles, I guess."

N didn't say anything immediately – neither did Bianca – unsure what to say.

He didn't dislike Touko. Nosy may claim he did, but he didn't dislike her. She was his friend – maybe not quite his friend, but he didn't disliked her.

But she was a trainer. She had hurt Furball.

She stood for everything that was wrong in this world and while she made it easy to forget about who she was – what she did – N would never stop remembering.

"What if she doesn't evolve?", he eventually asked, trying his best to steel himself for whatever answer Touko would give – she was being manipulated, like everyone else, she could, would learn to become better, that's why…

Touko glanced at the Pokéball in her hand – a fond small capturing her features.

"I – I guess it doesn't matter, does it?", she said, carefully stroking the red part, her smile falling:"If Ollie chooses to evolve, she will – it's-it's not my place to decide whether she should or shouldn't, is it?"

And she looked back at him, her eyes filled with regret – and N had difficulty holding back a wide smile.

Perhaps Touko had learned already.

They really had made progress, hadn't they?


No one tell N that Touko's "I let her go" means she sent her to Professor Juniper. He'd probably be mad about that.

Anyhow. Now originally, I was planning on connecting all those little conversation snippets between Touko and N – but I took me to write all of them so long, that I partially forget how I wanted to connect them, so here we are.

I quite like the way it turned out.

Next chapter will feature Touko's team and all that has been going one and some much needed Shadow Triad development (you know what I mean if you've read the oneshot this is inspired by).

Anyway, see you next time!