It's been a while since I wrote an in-depth battle, so it was good to get into one again. ^-^' It took a while to figure this chapter out, but I finally managed to piece it together.

Now, I've never understood this. Where did the idea of N as a dashing, romantic figure come from? He always seemed like a rather socially awkward person that talks a lot. But that's why I find him interesting.

Polaris–Ponyta, Tsuki–Snivy, Mamoru–Oshawott, Tlaloc-Braviary, Ané - Blitzle

Hear the Voices

It had been a frustrating gym battle. I get so used to battling with experienced Pokémon that it's really awkward having a new team. Tsuki and Mamoru were still young and inexperienced. It took both of them to knock out Cress's Panpour. I needed to use Tlaloc to battle Pansage and Pansear. I'd been with Tlaloc longer, but even he was a relative newcomer. It would have been so much easier to use Polaris in the battle. But if I relied on her for everything, no one else would ever get stronger. Plus, she'd had plenty of chances to fight in gyms. The rest of my team hadn't.

Blitzle was in no shape to join a gym battle yet. I'd named her Ané (pronounced Aw-nay). The couple days we'd spent training, she spent recovering. She was still too nervous for me to try training her. She cowered around other people, even Ben. She opened up a bit to Hari and I since we could speak to her. But it was Polaris that she really clung to, taking her as a sort of foster mother. Polaris kept her close, even though Ané often got under hoof and tripped the Ponyta up.

Now that we were out of the city, heading north towards Nacrene, I could let Ané out. She needed to get used to all of us, which would be easier without so many people around.

As we traveled north, Purrloin accompanied us. We asked around with some of the wild Pokémon, and a couple of them told us that the green haired guy had indeed passed this way. If we ran into him, I wanted to give him a piece of my mind about abandoning Purrloin.

Over the couple days we spent traveling, Ané gained some confidence and strayed further from Polaris's side, allowing Tsuki, Mamoru, and Purrloin to visit her. She was much better with Ben, Hari and I also.

Unfortunately, the moment we arrived at Nacrene City, the appearance of people sent Ané back to Polaris's side.

Sigh. Back to square one.

I returned my team and we headed to the Pokémon Center so everyone could recover after the journey.

I scanned the guidebook as we left the Nacrene Pokémon Center. "Hey, we gotta check out the museum, guys! I think I can get an Archen there. I've been wanting one."

"Sounds cool," Ben agreed. What kind of museum is it?"

"I don't get museums," Hari said. "It's just a bunch of shelves of old stuff. You're not even allowed to touch them."

"I thought you liked seeing fossils and things."

Hari shrugged. "Fossils are kinda cool. But they're all behind glass."

Yeah, Hari was very much a person who enjoyed things if he could get involved with them. You couldn't really get involved with stuff in a museum.

"Well," I continued, looking at the guidebook again. "There's also a library. And apparently the gym is attached to the museum." Though Hari wouldn't be interested in a library either. He never sat still long enough to read. But he'd listen if you read aloud to him. Maan, the quirks of a wild kid… Actually, I'm amazed there aren't more really annoying ones…

"But you're not battling the gym yet, are you?" Hari asked.

I shook my head. "We need to train more before that. We'll take on the gym right before we leave town, in a few days." I flipped through the guidebook. "Looks like there's a bunch of art studios too. Cool."

"Can you do art there?" Hari asked.

Ben shrugged. "Usually art studios are reserved for a few people. I doubt they'd let a random kid in."

"Oh."

Purrloin swatted at my leg to get my attention.

"What?" I asked.

I can smell him.

I nodded. "Hey, Ben, do you want to take Hari and see if there's anything he can do at one of the studios? I want to check out the gym."

Ben raised an eyebrow at me. I stared back at him, hoping he'd get the message and go along with me.

Ben sighed. "Yeah, sure. Want to go check it out, Hari?"

"I guess."

The two headed off, and I turned back to Purrloin. "Okay, where is he?"

She turned and trotted off down the road.

He wasn't hard to miss, standing in the middle of the road looking at the museum/gym.

"Hey!" I shouted. I tried to remember his name. It was something like L or M. He looked at me surprised as I came to a halt by his side.

"N, right?"

N nodded. "And you're Cara."

"Why did you abandon your Purrloin?" I demanded. "She thinks you left her behind because she wasn't strong enough!"

N looked startled. "What? No, of course not!" He quickly knelt in front of Purrloin, whose fur was fluffed up in resentment. "I would never leave a friend behind because I didn't think they were strong! And you are strong. It doesn't matter that we lost the battle. You fought well and skillfully."

Then why did you leave me behind? Purrloin asked miserably, her fur flattening out some.

N sighed. "I'm sorry. It's my fault for not explaining well. But Pokémon are better off when not tied to people. You don't need me around for you to reach your full potential."

"Hang on a sec," I said, indignant. N stood up. "This Purrloin came all the way from Accumula town to find you, and you're just going to tell her that people are bad for Pokémon?" Had he really taken that speech by Ghetsis so much to heart? Or was this some sort of movement in Unova that N was already a part of?

"Pokémon are not able to reach their full potential if they are confined to Pokéballs all the time," N replied, looking away. " If they're confined so much, how can I ever know their ideals?

"You don't have to keep Pokémon in Pokéballs all the time. I don't. Plenty of people don't. And when people and Pokémon work together, they're able to do things that they could never do separately."

"That may be good for the humans," N continued. "But what about the Pokémon? How many of those efforts are done to benefit Pokémon? Not many. They're usually for the benefit of humans. I need to find a future where Pokémon are perfect. They can't do that if they're always serving humans. Don't you feel the same?"

I stared at him. "Become… perfect? How do you plan to make Pokémon perfect? Nothing is ever perfect. If things could be perfect, then we wouldn't have anything to aim for anymore."

N looked thoughtful. "Yes, I suppose that's true. That doesn't lessen my resolve though. I need to do whatever I can to help Pokémon."

What was with this guy? Half the things he said made me bristle, but I actually agreed with the other half. "Well, yeah. I want to help Pokémon too, but-"

N smiled. "See, that's great! I hoped you would say so, since you can also hear the voices of Pokémon. In that case, please listen to the voices of my Pokémon. Hear what they have to say, and tell me what you think is best for them." He pulled out a Pokéball. "And I too will hear what your Pokémon have to say!"

Hear what his Pokémon had to say? I never really tried talking to Pokémon during battles. But it seemed to work for N. Well, why not?

I sent out Tsuki and N sent out a Timburr.

Timburr swung his beam, but Tsuki leapt over it and landed on Timburr's head, knocking him off balance. She quickly wrapped her vines around Timburr's beam and jerked at it. Timburr didn't let go, but staggered towards Tsuki and crashed into her. He kicked out, shoving her away. She skidded across the ground, but kept one vine twisted around the beam. Timburr pulled at it, dragging Tsuki along the ground. She winced and tried to pull herself to her feet, but Timburr kept pulling her off balance. She flicked out her other vine and caught Timburr's foot, pulling it out from under him. When Timburr fell, Tsuki finally succeeded in yanking Timburr's wooden weapon away from him. She tossed it away and stood between him and it. Timburr stood and glared at her. Tsuki glared back.

Tsuki charged, but Timburr's Low Kick sent her tumbling to the ground yet again. Timburr made a dash for his log. Tsuki used Vine Whip to grab him around the middle, but he took hold of her vines and threw her against the wall of the museum.

"Hang in there!" I shouted.

Tsuki got to her feet, panting.

"Where did you get your Pokémon?" I called to N. "I thought you didn't like keeping Pokémon inside of Pokéballs."

N shook his head as Tsuki dashed after Timburr, trying to keep him from getting the log back. "These Pokémon come to me, so I bring them with me for a short while to learn from them. Then I let them go. I don't train them."

I grit my teeth as Timburr grabbed his log and swung it at Tsuki, knocking her across the road.

"Tsuki! Are you okay?"

She staggered to her feet.

"See," N said. "Your Pokémon is getting hurt. Do you want to stop the battle?"

"Sni!" Tsuki shouted, shaking her head. She charged again.

"Wait, Tsuki," I shouted. "Don't just charge in again!" She stopped short of tackling Timburr, instead skirting around him and avoiding his next swing. I quickly gave her some telepathic instructions.

"If you can understand Pokémon and work together with them," N said, "then the usual training methods that people use for Pokémon aren't necessary."

I laughed. "Yes, I know exactly what you mean. If you can understand Pokémon, you can train together in many different ways. Do it now, Tsuki!"

Tsuki dashed around Tiumburr, using Vine Whip as he turned to face her. But by the time he turned, Tsuki was dashing around to use Vine Whip from another side. Timburr charged, trying to get her in range of his log, but Tsuki dashed away. Speed and distance were our allies.

When Timburr started panting, Tsuki dashed in one last time. Timburr swung his beam, and Tsuki ducked to end up directly beneath Timburr. Timburr gasped, but didn't have time to react as Tsuki used Leaf Tornado right beneath him. Timburr tumbled through the air and crashed into a tree, where he lay still.

N smiled. "Impressive. You certainly can communicate well with your Pokémon." He returned Timburr and sent out a Pidove. But a single Gust attack knocked Tsuki out. I sent out Mamoru next. Pidove dodged through the sky as Mamoru tried in vain to hit her with Water Gun. Pidove's Gust and Air Cutter rushed down repeatedly, slowly draining Mamoru's strength.

This time speedy distance attacks were against us.

Which is when I remembered what N said. Hear what they have to say.

Pidove, I asked telepathically. What do you think of humans?

Pidove glanced over at me, but didn't let up her attacks. I dunno. I had an okay human for a trainer. But then he got a new job and became real busy. He didn't have time for me anymore, so he decided to let me go when Team Plasma gave their speech.

I nodded and turned m attention back to Mamoru. Mo, we need to strike from above. Got it?

Mamoru nodded and aimed Water Gun at the ground. He launched himself up into the air, towards the startled Pidove. Razor Shell knocked her out of the air, and Mamoru came down on her, using Water Gun as he pinned her wing to the ground. Pidove knocked him off with an Air Cutter. Mamoru used one last Water gun, before collapsing from fatigue. Pidove collapsed too.

N and I returned our Pokémon, and this time N sent out Tympole.

I started to reach for Polaris's Pokéball, but stopped when I saw Purrloin. She was crouched nearby, staring at the match as if nothing else existed.

"Purrloin," I called.

She looked up startled.

"Come and battle. I'll direct you."

Purrloin just stared at me. I shrugged and reached for Polaris's Pokéball again. But before I could let her out, Purrloin leapt into the battle.

I smiled. Okay. Watch Tympole. He's not very quick, so he'll probably try to stay at a distance and use Water Attacks. Dodge them until you see an opening, okay?

Purrloin shot me a glance, as if saying that she didn't particularly want to follow my instructions. My heart sank. If she ignored me completely, we were going to lose this match.

And sure enough, Purrloin dashed forward, right at Tympole.

Tympole used Bubblebeam, but Purrloin bounded over the attack and swerved away. She dodged the next two attacks.

Well? She demanded. I'm dodging. What's next, coach?

I laughed. Okay, look out! He's using Mud Shot! Duck!

Purrloin flattened herself to the ground and managed to avoid most of the force of Mud Shot.

Go now!

Purrloin bounded forward and used Fury Swipes until Bubblebeam threw her backward.

Tympole, I asked, Do you like humans?

Tympole narrowed his eyes. Humans are annoying! The human that had me treated me like a toy! I was relieved when she finally let me go!

Purrloin used Sand Attack, blinding Tympole and dodging in to use Scratch. But Mud Shot still hit her full force. With the last of her strength, she used Pursuit and finally defeated her opponent.

With a sigh, N returned Tympole. He smiled at Purrloin. "See? You are strong. But I believe that people should not keep Pokémon tied to them. If I am to convince others of this, I need to follow what I say. Even the Pokémon I have with me now won't stay with me much longer. I'm sure you'll be able to find your own path."

"Why?" I asked. "If you can speak to Pokémon, and you know they want to stay with you, why make them leave?"

N shook his head. "They'll be happier with other Pokémon."

"But it goes against what you're saying!" I insisted. I wanted to get along with him. I really did. He was one of the few people I'd met who could speak to Pokémon like me. And since he could talk to Pokémon, he must have a good understanding of what they wanted. But he wanted people to let their Pokémon go. Yes, I had just battled two Pokémon who were glad to be free, but that surely couldn't be true for everyone. But then again, I'd only just arrived in Unova. Could it be possible that there was more conflict between humans and Pokémon here? It didn't seem like it… Anyway, N was contradicting himself. "Purrloin said she'd be happy to go with you. If you want to make Pokémon happy, then why ignore what they have to say?"

"I'm not ignoring it! But people and Pokémon don't always want what's best for them."

Well, I couldn't argue with that statement, but still…

"Well," N said, turning away. "My friends still aren't strong enough to save all Pokémon. Can I really change the world? Maybe if I get power. Power enough to make anyone agree with me."

"What are you talking about?"

N glanced back and smiled. "Think about what I've said, okay? I need to find Reshiram. I'll have to become the hero, if I want to achieve my goal."

"What? Wait a sec!" I called as he started walking away. "That means you have to think about what I said also!"

But N didn't turn back. And a few seconds later, he'd turned a corner and disappeared.

"Gah!" I shouted. "He's so frustrating!" I almost ran after him, but decided it wasn't worth the effort. It didn't seem like anything I said had gotten through to him. I wasn't even sure why I was worried about his plans. I mean, he did care about helping Pokémon, even if it was in an unusual way. And it wasn't like he could single-handedly make all people release Pokémon, right? But there was also this Team Plasma. They worried me. And what was with that stuff about Reshiram and becoming a hero? Reshiram was one of Unova's legendary Pokémon, I knew. But I didn't know much about it. Maybe it was time to do some research. Luckily I was right in front of a library and museum. But something needed to be tied up.

I knelt in front of Purrloin. "Hey, did you learn what you needed to from N?"

Purrloin sighed. I guess.

"If you want to return to the wild, that's fine. But I think we worked together pretty well. It would be great if you wanted to join my team."

Heh. Somehow I figured you'd ask that.

"Oh?"

Purrloin flicked her tail. Well, why not? I guess I'll hang around for a while.

I laughed. "Great! Can I give you a name?"

A name?

"Yeah. Like… Carrara."

What's that supposed to mean?

"It's a place where they find marble."

What's marble got to do with anything?

"Well, Liepard have cool patterns. Kind of like the swirls in marble."

"How do Liepard spots look like marble?

"Uh," I started.

"I thought we'd find you here."

I turned to see that Ben and Hari had returned. The latter had blue and green paint smeared all over his arms and on some of his face. But Hari held up a picture, looking proud. It looked like the paint had been smeared on by Hari's hands. But it was a surprisingly nice landscape picture of trees and a lake.

"Hey, that's nice," I said, leaning forward to get a better look at it."

Ben laughed. "Yeah, the artist who let us use his paint and paper was impressed too. Although he seemed rather nervous about how Hari managed to get paint over so much of himself."

"Hey," Hari said indignantly, "at least I didn't make a mess in the room!"

"Maybe not, but the guy was afraid that you would," Ben laughed. "And the smock he lent you was pretty well painted over when you were done."

I laughed. I could well imagine. "Well, I need to go to the Pokémon Center. And you look like you need to clean yourself up." I gestured to Hari. "And I'd also like to introduce both of you to Carrara."