How long he and Alder had been chained to these walls, Cheren had no idea. Night and day had become indistinguishable, and between the torture and the little sleep he had gotten, Cheren had let himself lose track of time. Not like time seemed to matter here anyway. There were times that Ghetsis would just return within minutes to continue inflicting agony on the trainer, while other times it seemed like forever passed between each human contact. It was during those times that Cheren started to understand a little why N was the way he was. A life like this was no life at all.
Suddenly, Cheren heard something stir. In the darkness of the room, he could make out the vague outline of Alder. The older man had barely moved at all since they had been put down here. At times, Cheren thought he was dead.
"Alder?"
"Hm?"
"It's Cheren. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, boy. Keep your voice down, though."
"Sorry…"
"…"
"Alder?"
"Yes, Cheren?"
"How long do you think we have been here?"
"… I'd say about two weeks."
Cheren blinked. Only two weeks. It felt like forever. "What makes you think we've been here for that long?"
Alder shifted slightly. "I have spent years training my mind and body, Cheren. It is just something you learn with the right training."
Cheren sighed. Maybe that was why Alder was so calm here.
Elsewhere in the castle, Ghetsis was watching the interaction between the boy and the Champion. It was interesting to watch. After all this time, the old man still had the gift. It had been only about two weeks since they had been captured. Ghetsis shook his head and smiled as he sipped his wine. Those two… quite remarkable.
Suddenly, there was a sharp tap on his office door. Ghetsis was annoyed, but he would not let whomever that was know his feelings. Turning off the monitor, he faced the door.
"Come in," he said sharply.
Anthea and Concordia stepped into Ghetsis' office. "Ghetsis, My Lord, we have a question for you," Anthea said calmly.
"What happened to N?" Concordia asked. They still didn't know.
Ghetsis considered his answer carefully. The girls were not given the luxury of a TV, so they had no idea what was going on in the outside world. N had all the freedom in the world compared to these two girls.
"He is out traveling; nothing you need to worry about," Ghetsis replied calmly.
Concordia and Anthea nodded. Ghetsis could see that they had their doubts. Well, let them have their doubts; it did not matter one bit.
Finally, after an awkward moment, the two girls bowed, realizing they had been dismissed.
"We are sorry we disturbed you, My Lord," Concordia said, and the pair left.
Ghetsis shrugged. It did not matter one bit. Not anymore.
The next morning, Touko found herself in N's arms. She tried to remember why they were like this then smiled. Last night… She almost giggled until she felt N stir next to her.
"Morning," she whispered.
"Morning," N replied, a yawn escaping his mouth as he finished. Touko shivered; N's breath tickled her neck. N looked closely at Touko. "You okay?"
"Yeah, it's just that you breathed right on my neck," Touko giggled.
"Oh," was all N could say.
They stayed like that for a moment longer before Touko tried to get up. Before she could get anywhere, though, N wrapped his arms around her.
"N!" Touko cried.
"I'm sorry, I just want to be a little selfish right now. Who knows what will happen in the next few days," N said, sounding both childish and sweet.
Touko smiled and snuggled up against N. "I would like to stay like this too, but Bianca is waiting for us. We still have some training to do before we head to Opelucid."
N nodded then sighed. He finally let go of Touko, who got out of bed and slipped on her white tank top and panties from last night before heading into her closet to figure out what to change into.
N stayed in the bed and looked up at the ceiling. Touko was right, but he just did not want to continue this fight. He did not want to face the man that had been his father, did not want to fight, and did not want to return to that damn castle. Everything about that place now felt like a nightmare—a nightmare that he had finally woken up from, so why did he need to return there? He knew why: it was to save Cheren and Alder, but was this his fight? Why had he offered to fight this battle anyway?
Touko returned a moment later, her hair tied back in her signature ponytail, pink cap, a pair of blue jeans, a white t-shirt, and long black vest all in place. She looked over at N, who was finally starting to come out of his thoughts.
"N, you need to get up and get dressed," she stated, seeing plain and clear that N had not moved at all.
"Yeah, I'm getting up now." N said, sitting up and giving Touko a lopsided smile.
Touko turned a little pink when she saw N's bare chest, covered in scars, but just as toned as she remembered from the night before. When N swung his legs off the bed, showing that he was in fact bare all over, Touko let out a small squeak and ran out of the room.
N shrugged, not quite sure why Touko had become nervous, and got dressed into the clothes he had been wearing before.
When he was finally dressed, N made his way downstairs to find Touko, her mother, and Bianca already there. Touko's mother was talking, "I really wish you would stay home a bit longer. I am still worried about you fighting again."
"Don't worry, Mrs. Warren, we have been training; we can take on anything now!" Bianca replied, showing off her arm muscles.
Touko giggled, then turned when she noticed N. She waved at him and tapped a stool next to her, indicating he should sit there. He did.
Touko's mother smiled at N, happy to have a new person to add to the conversation. "And you'll make sure that they stay safe, right N?"
N took a bowl that was just within reach and a box of fruity Eevee Bites—Touko's favorite sweetened corn cereal that had eight different marshmallow shapes and flavors—and milk. "Absolutely." He was a little surprised that no mention of last night was being brought up. Maybe they had been quieter than he had thought. Or maybe now was not the time to talk about it. He was not sure.
He turned to Touko, who ate her cereal in silence. She looked sideways at N and smiled, turning a little pink before returning to her bowl.
After a few moments in which mouths were full of food, Touko finally said, "I guess we should go practice. But we should also get some supplies for the attack. What do you think, Bianca?"
"I think we should shop in the morning and battle in the afternoon," Bianca said, sounding like an average teenage girl.
N smiled. "Alright, getting some things to get it into the castle might be handy. Those spy shows seem to think nice suits and night-vision goggles are good."
Touko and Bianca giggled.
"N," Touko said, wiping tears from her eyes, "I don't think suits are quite what we need. But I do agree with goggles. And vests with pockets, like those fishing vests. We could even get them in plain black."
After breakfast, the three left for the local shopping mall. There was a sporting goods store that sold both the vests and goggles that they were looking for, but the vest only came in tan, not black. Still, Touko could not have been more pleased.
("The locals really like to fish out on Route One," she'd explained).
Bianca and N also bought some new clothes, since most of theirs were of bright, light colors (and N had no other change of clothes). They also stopped at an arts and crafts shop and got spray paint to paint the vests and goggles black. Once they got home, the three ate a quick lunch then started their training.
Touko and Bianca sparred together at first, leaving N to spar with his Zoroark, who would change forms every few minutes. Everything seemed to go well. After a while, they changed partners, and N was battling Bianca while Touko was sparring with her Lilligant, Sakura. When N and Touko finally got around to battling, the whole world seemed to explode.
When Iris had been around, Zekrom and Reshiram had never been out at the same time, but now both dragon Pokémon were out and ready to battle one another. Touko and N both knew that in battling Ghetsis, these two would be the most important in combating whatever he might have, so now it was time to see which one was truly stronger and ready to face Ghetsis. Bianca watched the pair battle while she painted the vests and goggles. Neither one of the two trainers would back down.
"Reshiram, Reflect!"
"Zekrom, Zen Headbutt!"
"Reshiram, you can do this; Hyper Beam!"
"Zekrom, I'm counting you; Giga impact!"
The battle raged on until late into the evening. Townsfolk even gathered to watch as time progressed. Bianca was grateful that they lived in a small, out-of-the-way town where news reporters rarely traveled; otherwise, this would be on the evening news.
Finally, Touko's mother showed up, and she was not impressed.
"Alright, you two, we can see you are equally matched! Now, come home! And as for all of you," she turned to the crowd, "If any of you have filmed any part of this, you had better be damned sure that it does not get online, because I will have my Espeon wipe your memory if I find it there!" The crowd quickly dispersed after that.
Touko and N glared at one another for a moment before returning their dragons to their Pokéballs. Then, after a moment, they burst into laughter. This might be the last time they really have a chance to laugh and be happy, each of them thought.
Tomorrow they would start their journey north to face what would likely be the most important fight of their lives.
End of Chapter
Oh god I hate writing action and fighting scenes, I make them sound so dull. Why can't I be good at writing action? Sigh maybe it will get better.