StevenZ12 : Good evening everyone, I hope that y'all are doing well. For my part, i am doing relatively good indeed. Back in the chapter 20s, i can't say i am not happy about that. Been around 2 months since i decided to pick this story back up. I am hoping that this is at least enjoyable to read and everything :)
I do thank y'all for keeping giving this story a chance and hope that you'll continue on as I lead you all into this story of mine.

Without further ado, let's get to the chapter and enjoy!

Previously on Nuevo: The trio had made their way to the village of rivers, a native encampment that took their breath away and immersed them in a then seldomly known part of Nuevo, withnessing crafts and customs completely alien to what they were all used to...well aside Sven, who looked at least a bit knowledgeable. Upon being informed of a thieving problem in the temple of that town, the trio made their way to said temple. After an enchanting evening and a following copious morning, they were confronted by a female warrior who knocked Andre around and left him with a ''present'' that took his breath away...litterally. How will the raven haired hero recover from this new encounter and how will the trio carry on on their adventures?

Chapter 20 : Confused Heart.

Shame...

If Andre could feel anything now that the alluring and dangerous Ayamket warrior had left the premises, it was that. Not only he had been completely, one-sidedly, uttterly outclassed, outpaced and outmatched by an opponent that didnt even seem that she was taking him seriously to begin with. To add insult to injudy, he was further toyed with by having said warrior claim his lips like he was some sort of trophy. The worst thing was that deep down...

...

...

He had liked it. He had wanted it to continue. The more Malitzin had indulged im his lips, aggressively claiming him as her own, the more he had found himself giving into it. The seeds of pleasure the warrior had planted in him would not allow him to forget about it...and that disgusted him end.

This realisation upturned his stomach worst than his mother's Excadrill working the fields back home... because he knew that his heart sang for a completly different teen...somewhat. He was still wondering about his own feelings toward that one sweet girl...and it had been torn apart in an instant of humiliating pleasure.

''How the fuck...can I even look in her eyes now...?'' lamented interiorly the raven haired teen... His body quickly showed his dissaray when he lost all feeling in his legs and sunk to his knees. The Raven haired teen's fist shook violently, his mouth tasting steel and bile. His throat ached, his heart ached and the fire that Malitzin had lit up in his belly while kissing him now threatened to take his reason. He wanted to dissapear from all of their gazes and simultaneously wanted to chase down the jaguar warrior and slit her throat... His entire self was shaking like a bad Maelstrom of emotion, disgust at himself mixing with rage and shame.

''Fuck!'' Andre said once...

''Fuck!'' He said another time, this time raising his fist right up in the air and bringing it down with rage on the ground.

''DAMN IT ALL!'' He repeated as his fist raised once more and came down again on the tile like ground, breaking it a little and bloodying his hand.

He repeatedly smashed his fist onto the hard ground, a few tears falling from his eyes as he rageously continued his actions, as if to pour all of his frustrations and pin into this one display of anger.

Sven was watching the scene, straight faced. He wanted to pick him up, his brotherly instincts screaming at him for not stepping up before. He had passed through this age and knew how deeply some events could affect someone. The older teen however felt paralyzed. He did not know exactly what to say nor what to do before a scene this drastic. He had seldomly encountered someone so bold, so strong, so sure of herself. The way that jaguar warrior had messed Andre up was intense...both physically and mentally. He knew that the next few words he'd say could change the course of his life forever...and he definitely did not feel comfortable at all with that responsability... Fortunately, a white haired teen was in his group...one that seemed relatively smitten with him and that could potentially free him from that responsability. Cursing his own form of cowardice... Sven looked pleadingly at Snow. ''I'm sorry Snow...but here...i don't think I can pick him up...'' He thought shamefully as he turned his eyes aside.

Snow was devastated. To say this is an understatement of course, but the shock of having a girl come out of nowhere and kiss ''her'' Andre was massive. She had wanted that. She had never realized it before seeing Malitzin ravaging Andre with her lips how much she had wanted that. She felt like the green eyed warrior had stolen something was rightfully hers... The white haired teen wanted to cry, to throw her own little tantrum, to throw her head back and curse the heavens...until Andre started punching the ground like a madman, breaking the tile a little after every single punch. Andre was strong alright...but more importantly, that display made all of her thoughts of anger dull like an old wound...

''What in the name of Arceus am I thinking... ? I am not the one hurting as much right now... He needs me...I can't be thinking like this...'' Snow reasoned with herself. mentally kicking herself for thinking so selfishly in this moment... Her eyes flinched upon seeing the blood on Andre's hand. He didn't seem that he was going to snap out of it anytime soon...and if she thought that seeing another girl kiss Andre was something she did not want to see... Seeing Andre hurting himself was something she couldn't BEAR to see. Thus the white haired teen walked toward the raven haired teen. ''Now, It's my turn...Andre'' She thought as she caught Andre's fist from behind as it rose in the air, ready to bring it down with even more force.

''ANDRE!'' She shouted, making the raven haired teen stop.

Andre grit his teeth...Snow was calling to him. That was enough to make him stop reshaping the form of the tile he was breaking...but brought back his disgust in himself even more. This soft pair of hands holding his bloodied hand, that worrying, authoritative tone that he secretly liked, her friendship, kinship... he wasn't deserving of it anymore. It didn't feel right, not after this. He couldn't understand his own feelings...but pain, that, he understood well. At this moment, pain seemed like a very valid escape from all of this, since he wasn't a psychic type and couldn't simply dissapear before all of them. The bewitching warrior had also sapped all energy from his legs apparently, as they were not responding to him at the moment. So he struggled, rather wanting to continue his punching mutilation than confront Snow's lovely silver eyes right now.

''Leave me alone Snow...'' He muttered angrily as he strained to break his fist free from her grasp. Snow held her ground with suprising ease... Nobody really realized considering the situation, but the white haired teen had started glowing faintly.

''Not until you stop...I am not leaving.'' Snow replied stubbornly, bringing his fist to her heart. This gesture spread a warmth that slowly appeased Andre. Snow smiled... ''There you go...'' She whispered softly before kneeling next to Andre and taking his face into her hands.

Andre's gaze met Snow's and while he felt like he did not deserve to look at her in the eye ever again, he could not help but feel soothed and appeased as he admired the white haired teen's silver irises... Quickly the warmth that emanated from Snow's stare spread to him and quashed his ills feelings. Snow gently combed his hair before hugging him tightly, not letting go until she felt that her friend was calming down, his back loosening and his body laying more heavily on Snow's as his tension softly dissapeared in her warm embrace.

''Calm down Andre... This is no reason to hurt yourself...'' She softly whispered, fighting her own tears at Andre's distraught expression.

''But...Snow... I'' Andre painfully let out, his voice strained by emotion. The white haired teen was however steadfast on her position.

''No buts sleepyhead... now stand up... One day you'll get her back for this...I know I will... but now, we are getting these hands treated okay?'' She said softly, but firmly while tugging gently at Andre's arm. The raven haired teen didn't have the heart to oppose Snow's suggestion. He picked himself back up, actually used one of his spare Pokeballs to wordlessly catch Eclipse the Shibalbat officially, wincing due to his bloodied knuckles and walked toward the temple. The high priestess walked with them, leading the two teens toward their healing chamber to help with the healing. Only Sven stayed at the edge of the temple, looking toward the direction where the jaguar warrior had left. His face was grim... His partner, Gilla was looking at his trainer's face with a worried expression...

Sven looked at his poison type partner and sighed. ''I know partner, you are wondering about that heh... I am rather worried, I did not know that the Amayket would start to move this early...It could become very problematic.'' He gravely foretold before taking his phone and dialing the number of a certain individual...

''Hey, it's Sven... I need to speak to Ahmad...'' The older teen said as the wind picked up around the area, his words covered by the howling of the wind.

...

Treating Andre's wound hadn't been too hard, despite the unsettling amount of blood on the raven haired teen's knuckles, the actual wound was shallow. Hence, with the fortunate help of the priestess, which knew her way around the plants and the berries suitable for healing, Andre's hands were tended and wrapped securely to favor healing and proper scarring. The lady then gave the pair a few more food to fortify themselves and wished them well before going back to her activities. It was normal...after all... Despite everything, her temple had to carry one in its duty and it was her job to administrate it. She wished them well, feeling that the two of them would be very important in the near future.

Once she had left, the atmosphere turned a bit akward between the two teens. Despite her relief to see Andre feeling a little better, the image of the jaguar warrior cruelly take Andre's first kiss was still haunting her thoughts, making her feel a mix of shame, jealously and anger that was making her shake violently interiorly. Andre on the other hand, felt the same kind of shame for having felt pleasure because of Malitzin's action and feeling like he had betrayed Snow for a reason he couldn't completely put his finger on. He couldn't find the proper words to engage in a conversation. This cowardice and powerlessness he felt made him feel like he was going mad. He wanted to talk to her so badly...

The white haired teen looked at Andre. She could litterally hear the gears turning in his head. His pensive face, his constant tug at his hands, both due to nervosity and the small, annoying sting befitting healing knuckles... his sad, softened gaze... it was annoying her yet she couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him...as well as finding it oddly cute.

The silence felt heavy however. So heavy that both teens were feeling like bronzongs were having a field day on their back. The light of the candles dimmed, the wind blew between them... Some small pokemon passed in the area, barely making any noises. It was as if nature herself was expressing how tense the mood felt around the two unovian teenagers...

That stalemate was not doing Andre any favors... he quite hated it actually. ''If I dont open my mouth now...I feel like it'll never open again... I can't take it anymore.'' He thought. One could understand him however, up to this point, he always had been able to find the right word, break the ice... He felt in a sense that it was his duty to repair the situation.

Snow was in a similar situation. The silence was truly getting to her. She felt bad for not being able to cheer Andre up, especially after all he had done for her so far. ''I have to say something...''

''Andre!''

''Iztaca!''

Both teen looked at each other in surprise. They both had lifted their heads and called out to one another at the same time. They stared in each other's eyes, all their resolve vanishing at the sight of each other's eyes... Both shamefully adverting their gaze. Another silence could have installed itself...but Andre quickly shook himself interiorly. There was no way he was going back to another round of akward, heavy silence.

''I'm sorry...Iztaca...'' Andre apologized. He felt that those were the words that he had to say, those that made the most sense to him.

Snow was actually sligthly speechless. She wasn't expecting an apology right out of the gate from the raven haired teenager. However, she couldn't fathom what was he apologizing for. Hense her predicatable reply. ''What are you apologizing for?'' She asked, cocking her head to the side.

Andre bit his lip... his mind slightly going into panic mode. While apologizing had felt like the most natural thing in the world to do, he wasn't fully prepared to explain it to Snow...or rather he didnt want to..

''Do not make me say it Iztaca...I feel bad enough as it is...'' He panickly thought as he glanced at her lovely silver eyes before looking away again.

If Snow was happy that they were at least making some progress, she couldn't help but push it a little further. After all, she also had her own piece to say, her own questions to ask... ''Go on Andre...'' She encouraged, coming a bit closer to him and taking his hand.

Andre looked up again. ''I...liked it...'' the raven haired whispered, his insides twisting in shame and pain. Despite everything... he couldn't lie to her...

Snow's expression hardened slightly, but she did not let go of Andre's hand. Rather, she brushed the inside of his palm with her thumb in a soothing gesture.

Andre's expresion widened. He had expected Snow to look immensely hurt or to at least banish him from her presence... She wasn't doing any of that.

''Snow...'' He thought as he looked at her face. He was surprised to see such a steely look on her face...She was angry..but for some reason, that anger wasn't directed at him. At least he didn't feel like it was.

Snow was composing herself to the best of her capacity... She had been hurt when she heard

Andre's reason for apologizing. She was perceptive enough to know that Andre was talking about Malitzin's assault. However, Andre's tone had already given the answer she couldn't bring herself to ask him. ''Did he liked that Malitzin, and obviously, Andre's voice made her understand that he hated himself for it. It provided satisfaction to the silver haired teen. However, she selfishly still chose to have him explain himself...

A girl's mind isn't easy to understand nor describe...

''I understand Andre...'' Snow said, her soft voice not helping the poor raven haired teen who felt soothed yet even more guiltripped for even verbalizing his answers.

''I can't help but feeling like you are angry about it...why is that?'' She finished, looking at Andre straight in the eye.

Andre's mind almost snapped, but luckily he held on. Gritting his teeth, the teen stood up, getting away from Snow, the shame and guilt now too much for him.

''Of course i'm angry Iztaca, I got completely humiliated back there. Yes I stood before all of you to protect you. I don't regret my decision...but being completely toyed with, before all of you...then...then being taken like that...I feel like I was violated. Kissed by someone who obviously just wanted a prize...a sensasion out of me...and me LIKING IT...WANTING IT TO CONTINUE...MY MIND WAS GOING CRAZY BUT MY BODY COULDN'T KEEP UP...I FEEL LIKE ALL OF WHAT MAKES ME A MAN AS BEEN STRIPPED BARE...'' He shouted violently, his choler raising quickly, forcing him to take deep breath to calm down... ''Everytime I look at you...i feel like i've betrayed you...and that, I can't bear it...'' He finally admited. Snow simply stared at him, a small smile on her face. Andre looked away, unable to look at her again.

"I don't think i deserve to be calling you Iztaca anymore, Snow..." Said Andre as he stood up and walked toward the exit of the temple with the stride of a man at the end of his rope.

Snow's face shot up at this remark. Her heart felt like it was going to burst. She chocked up for a microsecond before she was swept in rage. She had understood the situation, somewhat, but having her friend beat himself up really upset her. There was no way that he would leave like that without hearing her piece.

"Not another step, Andre Cauthemoc Aegis!" She commanded with a low growl.

The use of his full name was something that seldomly happened to him. Much less from someone that wasn't family, at the very least. However, the voice thay had uttered those words felt so intense, so authoritative that the Lentimas native literraly felt like his feets had become two mass of concrete. He risqued to turn his head toward Snow and the sight nearly broke his heart.

Snow was walking toward him, her eyes displaying anger but shining, as of she could cry at any time. Her eyes were a deep sliver and her hair was slightly lifted up by an odd, unnatural wind. Even in that state, to him at least, Snow was stunning. But more importantly now...

She was scaring him.

The white haired maiden walked toward him, her fury barely contained. The closer she got, the more choked up Andre felt. He couldn't take his eyes away from the white haired teen, despite wanting so desesperately to vanish. Anything but to confront Snow's gaze. Said Snow walked toward the lentimas native wordlessly, with him backing up slowly until his back hit the cold stone wall.

"You really are a big idiot sometimes..." Snow whispered lowly, her voice barely above a whisper.

Andre looked back to Snow on shock.

"Huh?"

*CHOP*

Snow karate chopped Andre on top of his head, hard. She took a few breather to calm herself down, as she then realized that she was so upset that her breath was short. ''DO YOU EVEN HEAR YOURSELF ANDRE?! Seriously sleepyhead... Why are you berating yourself so much? It isn't even ... .'' She said before hugging Andre, her face buried in his chest. 'Do you think that I am any better? Selfishly thinking about myself when you were distraught...You have done so much for me already yet i couldn't even step in after she knocked you and your Pokemon around'' She admitted softly, her hands grabbing Andre's ranger style jacket.

"Snow..." Andre whispered softly, his arms slowly making their way around the white haired maiden. Snow gently looked up and stared in Andre's eyes for a long while. Not saying anything. She could feel that same warmth, the same emotions he always seemed to have for her and only for her. She smiled softly. Truth is, she was genuinely afraid of losing the teen she liked to a overeager, enrapturing native...but he still had thoses eyes toward her. She felt a bit relieved, but she probably wouldn't say it out loud just yet. Instead, the white haired teen said this...

"Listen Andre, we are in a relatively new region with people that have different customs as we do, that is probably what you experienced there...i don't like it anymore that you did...but that's no reason for believing that you betrayed me... Beside, losing a battle is nothing unsurmontable..you have to learn from it." She exhorted the Lentimas native as she tenderly layed her head on his chest.

The raven haired teen looked at Snow and couldn't help but smile. The unovian teen was smiling, all trace of ill feeling gone. His heart warmed, his mouth felt dry. This warm, fuzzy feeling he was experiencing...they were were only for this girl and nobody else's. The lentimas native hugged her tighter, feeling a great deal of the weight on his shoulder dissapearing like cotton spores scattered by the wind.

Snow had one last thing to say however.

"Andre?"

"Yeah...?"

The white haired teen gently entertwined her fingers in his palms and gently rubbed his healing knuckles with her fingers. The contact warmed the raven haired teen to no end, halting any words he would had liked to say...

Andre almost had to turn away, shuddering. He would never admit it, but there was something about Snow's touch that always seemed to warm him up to the core, bringing a sense of calm and stability that the raven haired teen simply did not dislike in the slightest.

"Don't hurt yourself like that, please.. I don't like seeing you hurt, even though i know it can happen..." She asked him with the softest pleading voice she could muster.

Andre felt his entire soul shake at her tone. It was very different than what he had felt before. Snow always had kind of an effect on him, wether it involved his rage vanishing or his world feeling calm and complete. This time however, Snow's pleading voice had a different effect on him. It was a plea, a simple request, but Snow's voice stroke a chord in his soul that only close family member normally could hit. Was it because he was raised by two kind and sweet woman for most of his aware life? Was it because of some deeply buried feelings that he was experiencing concerning the white haired girl holding his hand in this native temple? Whatever it was, Andre could not even think about not granting at least this solace to his friend. Deeply inside him, he was not sure that he would be able to keep that promise...but noneteless...

Wordlessly, Andre wrapped his arms around Snow and rested his chin on top of her head. Snow closed her eyes and indulged in his embrace, returning the hug. Andre's strong arms, his warm body and his soothing breathing made her feel safe. She felt like she had been born for this moment... As she slowly started drifting due to how incredibly comfortable she felt, she barely registered the words Andre whispered to her..

...

..

"i promise..."

*Somewhere*

It was a large facility made of white immaculate floors with white panels that seemed polished in an almost obsessive fashion.. in front of a large essential fluid tank was standing a large Man. Tall, burly, his eyes cold, he was observing the readings with a critical eye and grinned.

So far, everything was going according to plan. He was almost sorry for what was coming...but sometimes, the end result justified the means...

"I cannot wait for this project to come to fruition...the prototyoe-1 is almost completed..." He whispered to himself malovelently as he kept studying the tank on front of him.

*To be Continued*

StevenZ12: And that's another chapter done very

Hope you have enjoyed and stay tuned for the rest...

Peace.