"Meow?" Purrloin asks, looking confused.
"I choose Purrloin." I finish, and N nods.
"Solid choice, a dark type." He returns the sullen looking Lillipup and Patrat.
"She will need a name." He points out, and I nod.
"I'm thinking... Cleo. Short for Cleopatra." N takes a second to process the name, and nods.
"Purr!" Purrloin jumps into my arms, nodding vigorously.
"Well, now that we have that sorted out, I'm going to bed. We have a long flight ahead of us, and its still early." N yawns, standing.
"Bed?" I ask, and he nods, sleep already in his eyes.
"Come, we have rooms in the back." He meanders to the back of the jet, and points to a room.
I nod, thanking him and heading in. The light is off, and I flick it on.
"Hey!" A man, who is sleeping in the bed covers his eyes from the light, hissing.
"Sorry! My bad!" I quickly turn the light off and head back to the hallway from which i came.
I look around, but there is only one other room.
I return both Cleo and Effie to their pokeballs for the time being, and quietly step in.
N has taken his shirt off, and it now resides on a small table beside the bed, and he is sprawled across the entire bed, the blankets by his feet as he snores loudly. His chest rises and falls rhythmically as he breathes.
Laughing quietly, I quickly pull the blankets up, so that he's covered to his neck. He smiles in his sleep, rolling over.
I quietly head to the door.
"Wait." He whispers, as I reach for the handle.
"I'm so sorry N, I didn't know-"
"Shut up and come lay down." He lifts the blanket, beckoning me to come over.
Warily, I slowly head over, crawling in beside him.
"Just so you know, I'm a cuddler." He laughs, rolling so that his back faces me, and starts snoring again.
I know I shouldn't be, but I am instantly calmed just by the smell of him, and I quickly fall into a deep sleep.
I am startled awake by the plane dropping to the ground, and the force of the engines pulling us back.
I rub my eyes sitting up, and realize where I am.
N is no longer beside me, the blankets tucked tightly around my sides and legs to keep me warm.
Smiling in spite of myself, I realize that my shirt is folded neatly on the table beside me.
My face goes crimson as I quickly pull it back on, standing.
I hear voices in the hallway, so I release Cleo and Effie, who have also just woken up, and head out.
"...sleeping, but when he gets up- Oh! Speak of the devil!" N grins at me, as I enter the hallway.
"We just landed in Jubilife City, in Sinnoh. We have a few hours, so I was about to wake you up for dinner." He laughs, as I yawn.
He leads me out of the plane, into the bright sun, and leads me to a car nearby.
We get in, and it takes off.
I open my window, letting Cleo and Effie smell the Sinnoh air, as I gaze, awestruck, at all of the buildings.
The buildings reach almost to the sky, just grazing the heavens, and there are SO MANY people and pokemon! I see pokemon i recognize, like Raticate and Butterfree, but for every pokemon i recognize, there are twenty I dont.
I'm so caught up with all of the new sights, that I don't see N's yearning look.
The car pulls up to a restaurant, and lets us out, and N leads me in.
"The other recruits are meeting us here, so be nice." He whispers in my ear, causing my hair to stand on end.
We are led by a waitress to a long booth in the corner, and there are three kids sitting there, two boy's and one girl.
The one boy is pretty plain, wearing a baggy blue t-shirt with some markings on the front, his short, jet black hair combed back, and he has a bored expression on his face. He is quite lanky, he hasn't quite grown into his frame yet.
The second boy is more notable, with a very handsome face, and longer blonde hair, which is tied back in a small ponytail. He is quite muscular, and is wearing a t-shirt that looks about to rip against his muscled arms and body, almost as big as mine. He grins wildly at me and N as we approach, and his teeth are pearly white.
The girl has bright blue hair, and multiple facial piercings, but her smile is enough to light up the room. Her hair is braided behind her, and I notice that her shirt is lace on the back, and she is wearing ripped jeans and red heels.
"Hello everyone, My name is N and I will be your guy's chaperone to Team Plasma." He sounds extremely bored, but I can see the excitement in his eyes.
I scan the recruits again, and Mr. Muscles gives me a wink.
My face goes red, as N puts his am around my waist and leads me to our seats, beside the girl.
Muscles' grin fades a bit.
We sit, order our drinks, then N addresses the group.
"Now, may I please start with your names?"
The girl goes first.
"Hi! My name is Primrose, but you can call me Prim!" Again, her smile lights the room up.
"Interesting choice for face altercations, Prim, I'll give you that." N smiles at her, and she beams back.
"My name is Skyler, Sky for short. When do we leave?" The bored, lanky kid goes second.
"After we eat. Thanks Sky." He smiles at him.
Then its Muscles' turn.
"The names Cosmo. How's it going?" His accent is stronger than the other two's.
"It's going good, thank you Cosmo." N's smile isnt as bright with Cosmo as it was with the others.
"Now, Prim, Sky, and Cosmo. This is-" He is cut off as the waitress brings our drinks, "-and he will be the fourth and last recruit for Team Plasma." We all exchange greetings, and Cosmo winks at me again. I feel N stiffen beside me.
"Anyways, we will take off for the Castle after-"
"CASTLE?" Prim's eyes light up, and she dons an awed expression.
"Yes, Prim, a castle. Anyways, we leave after lunch." He smiles and rubs the girls arm.
The waitress comes by again, taking our food order.
"So, where are you from?" Cosmo asks, looking directly at me.
"Me? Oh! Kanto." His eyes light up.
"Interesting..." He grins.
"Is it nice there?" Prim asks, and I nod.
"Less city space than here in Sinnoh, way more forests. And we rarely get cold, it's usually warm." She nods, smiling.
"What kind of pokemon are there?" Skyler asks.
"Um... Pikachu, Butterfree, and Raticate all reside in Kanto." They nod, having seen these same pokemon around.
"So, anyways! Enough about me! Do any of you guys have pokemon yet?" I ask, but they all shake their heads.
"What about you? Any pokemon?" Prim asks, and is taken aback when I nod.
"Two, actually. Here, meet Effie and Cleo!" I release them onto the floor beside the booth, and they both jump up into my lap.
"Meow!" Cleo rubs against my chin with her head, and Effie nibbles gently on my fingers as I stroke her tail fin.
"Oh my GOSH!" Prim gasps, and Cleo nimbly hops over the table to sit with her.
"Hello, baby girl..." She cooes, stroking Cleo's soft fur. Cleo lays down quietly on her lap, dozing off.
"Thats Cleo, this is Effie." Effie jumps onto the table, making the rounds and saying hello to everyone by nibbling their fingers.
"Sorry, she's a biter." I apologize, but Skyler waves me off and Cosmo laughs as he softly munches on his finger.
"So, N, was it? What starters will we get to choose from, if you dont mind me asking?" Prim asks, still stroking the now sleeping Cleo.
"N, thats right Prim. And you will have three choices, but once one is picked another one of you can't pick that same one. Make sense? Your choices are to be Patrat, Lillipup. and Purrloin, whom you have already met." He finishes, pointing to Cleo.
"Wow..." Prim gasps, staring lovingly at Cleo.
Effie jumps back over, into my lap.
The waitress brings our food, and we dig in.
After, N pays for everything, and we head out to the same car that brought me and N.
"Ladies first!" N bows dramatically, causing Prim to laugh. She is still holding Celo, who is more than happy to be carried everywhere.
She sits in the front, and the rest of us pile into the back.
I get in first, then Cosmo, then N, and finally, Sky.
The second the door closes, the car takes off.
Cosmo leans in close to me, and my heart races.
"You gay?" He whispers, and I nod.
"Yeah. You?" I ask, and he grins.
"Hell yeah." He laughs, leaning back, and I see N give him an extremely dirty look.
The car pulls us up to the tarmac, where we quickly transfer to the plane.
"The flight is only a couple hours, but if you need to sleep we have a few rooms in the back..." He trails off, the three newbies following him, and I sit down, heart still racing.
Is N seriously that into me? There is no way.
Cosmo seems like a nice guy, but he's arrogant.
N is honest, and very gentle.
I'm battling over the two in my mind when a soft voice startles me.
"What did he say? In the car?" N leans in close, whispering.
"He asked if... if i was..." I trail off, and he nods.
"Well, are you?" I nod, and he smiles.
The others file back in from the back of the plane.
"Sorry about the mess in the one room, me and him shared a room last night." N points to me, and my face goes red as Prim giggles and Cosmo looks like someone smacked him in the face. Sky just shrugs.
"Now, anyways, you will now pick your starters." Cleo jumps back into my arms, as N releases the three choices again, including a new Purrloin.
"You guys decide who will go first..." N asks, and they look at each other.
"Prim." Both Cosmo and Sky say at the same time.
"You guys are sweethearts!" She hugs them both, before turning to the pokemon in front of her.
"Lillipup!" She points to the ecstatic little puppy pokemon, after a minute of deliberation.
Cosmo waves Sky up next, who chooses Purrloin, leaving Patrat for him.
He happily embraces the rat pokemon.
"Now that that is settled, we wait." N sits down, another stewardess bringing him Champagne.
He looks at me, and I swipe it form his hand.
"I thought you didn-"
"Shut up." He giggles at my mock hostility.
I sip it gingerly.
Prim takes Lillipup, whom has been named Princess, into the back. She lets us know that she will be reading and getting to know Princess.
Cosmo and Watcher, his newly named Patrat, sit across from me and N.
Sky and his Purrloin, Slim, head up into the seats in the front of the plane.
"So, anyone special at home?" Cosmo asks me, and I feel N shift beside me.
"Nope, no time for relationships. School was my priority, until now." I smile, and he nods.
"Me either, never found... the one." He smiles back.
"Your parents were cool with you coming?" He asks.
"Oh yeah, a bit sad that I was leaving, but happy nonetheless."
"Mine too, glad to see me go but sad to see me go, if you know what I mean." He winks, and I laugh.
We make the rest of the flight like this, just idle chatter to fill the space, before Prim and Princess come bounding out.
"OMG LOOK!" She points to one of the long windows, and we all crowd around it.
"Welcome to N's Castle." N says triumphantly behind us.