It was midnight and White wasn't entirely asleep. She had managed to hold her ground against her pokemon and order them out of her bed, but it didn't make much of a difference. She really wished N had waited until after they had got the mattress before getting kicked out of the store.
White shifted around uncomfortably under the blankets. The castle wasn't ventilated and the warmer bedsheets she had bought didn't make much of a difference in the frigid night. White moaned through her sleep, but she refused to beg her pokemon back into bed for some warmth. She was tougher than that.
When White was finally beginning to drift off, she could feel a presence in the room with her. Naturally, it could have been her pokemon, but the presence felt bigger than that. Sure enough, as White's cyan eyes adjusted to the dark, she saw his face as he stood above her.
"White? White, are you awake?"
Whining, the girl sat up against her pillow and gazed up at N. If ever he looked childish before, it didn't compare to right now. With his flannel pyjamas, wall-eyed expression, and even the ripped plush under an arm he looked to be only ten years old. Well, if not for the height.
"Well...yeah," she half-growled. "Yeah, I'm awake." Her scowl faded as she studied his expression. His face seemed drenched—with perspiration, she realized. He was trembling. He looked like he did at the mall when he thought pokemon plushes were dead pokemon. "Are you okay?"
"I..." N lowered his head, almost bashfully. "I had a bad dream."
White frowned and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "You...you had a bad dream?"
"Yes." N's expression was tight from his nerves, and his clenched fists were trembling, as if he was reliving the memories. "I had a..a really terrible one." His body shuddered, and White instinctively touched his hand to calm him.
The brunette shifted uncomfortably on the bed. What did he come here for? Did he want to talk to her about it? Was the nightmare about her and he wanted to see if she was okay?
I bet he had a nightmare about pokemon shaped crackers...
"Well...N..." She hesitated, and twiddled her feet in the sheets. "What am I supposed to do about it?" She didn't mean to sound so outwardly blunt and cold, but what did he want? Comfort? "It's okay now. It was just a nightmare. What did you dream about?"
There was a lot of things she expected he might say, but what did come out of his mouth nearly made the poor girl topple out of her bed. "Can I sleep with you?"
"WHAT?!" She pushed herself onto her elbows and stared at him as if he had grown three heads. "N, are you insane?!"
A hurt look immediately flashed across his face and he lowered his head. Damn it! She had done it again, hadn't she? Why did she say that, knowing everything N had been called in his life? Freak, defective, warped... Probably worse too.
"S-sorry, N. It slipped out."
"What slipped out of what?" N blinked. "Did something slip from your bed?"
White slapped her hand to her face with such force and sound that it startled several of her pokemon awake. "N...n-no. No, you can't sleep with me. Sorry."
The hopeful lilt in the green-haired teen's eyes faded as he nodded in disappointment and sadness. "Oh. Well, why not? You sleep with your pokemon."
"Why not?" White moaned and flopped back onto her bed. How was she supposed to explain the implications of sleeping with each other to him? He wouldn't understand it. He didn't see it like a normal person would, or how she did for that matter. Curse her gutter-head!
"Well...N, it's different when a...a man and a woman our age sleep in the same bed. It isn't considered normal, and can be thought to be...sensual."
"...What does 'sensual' mean?"
White ground her teeth together so hard she thought she might chip them. N was going to make her put a bullet through her head by the end of this week, she was sure of it. She didn't know what to say to make him understand, and there was no way in the name of sweet Arceus that she was going to explain the birds and the bees to a man two years older than her.
N just continued standing there, waiting for an explanation and rocking back and forth on his feet.
"..." Oh, what was the harm? There was no one to know about this, and it wasn't like there was any sexual element to this. Still, White said nothing and only sat there with a face redder than a tomato as she stiffly pulled back the blankets and let N into the bed.
The normally distant N that couldn't bear a human touch snuggled right into her as if she was one of his pokemon, and practically buried into her side. White pushed all awkward feelings out of her head and only concentrated on the trembling form curled into her. Whatever the nightmare had been had shaken him up badly.
Careful not to jostle N, White wriggled carefully back under her blankets and briefly glanced down at N. He had a smile of contentment on his face and the shaking had stopped.
The girl gazed mournfully down at N in heavy silence. Everyone, every child needed some form of human contact in a time of trial, and White was left thinking of all the time N was forced to be alone in a locked room all the nights he had a nightmare, and all the nights where he just needed the loving arms of another human to hold him. Seeing the peaceful smile on his face right now only broke her heart further.
Even though it was beneath herself and there was nothing she could do about the past, White still couldn't help the single tear that slid down her cheek.
"N, there's somewhere I want to take you."
"The city?"
"Like hell you're going back to the city."
N watched as White packed a few things and saddled them onto Amane. The Reshiram cooed excitedly and nuzzled her trainer. Whenever White packed things it meant they were going on another flight.
"Where then?" The teen blinked and screwed up his face as White pushed his hideous disguise back into his arms, and told him to put it on. "I hate this thing." But he hated the idea of being discovered by someone out for revenge even more.
"I know you do, but I promise as soon as we get to the destination you can take it off. Well, first I'll give you an okay when to take it off. If you take it off too soon it could mean big trouble." She smiled and helped him onto the pokemon's broad back. "Trust me, I think you might have fun today."
If it was anything like yesterday then N truly doubted that, but White had never steered him wrong before. It would be nice to get out of the castle. Cramped into a broken, crumbling structure with only a few surviving rooms could easily make a person stir crazy.
The two teens gripped tightly to the magnificent dragon's back as she fanned out her gorgeous wings and lifted into the sky. White grimaced from the sting of the sun in her eyes, and N pulled his own straw hat over her eyes for protection. "Oh, I've missed riding on a pokemon's back through the clouds." He smiled and shut his eyes. "It's only been these past few years that I've finally felt the sun and wind on my face to begin with..."
Stuffing a few crackers (non-pokemon shaped) into Amane's mouth, White looked back at the teen curiously. "Well N, what did happen to your Zekrom? I haven't seen it since I last saw you. Amane has been curious as well."
A placid and sad smile graced N's lips. "I gave Zekrom away." He could hear a soft tink as White dropped her handful of crackers onto the dragon's back and gaped at him.
"You gave away a legendary pokemon?" Sure N had a heart of gold, but would he really be stupid enough to give away a legendary pokemon? Who did he give it to, for that matter? She thought she was the only one he trusted.
"I did," N said quietly. "It was a sad moment, but also uplifting. I knew Zekrom would help someone else achieve their dreams. I loved Zekrom and cherished our two years together, but it was time to move on, so I gave him to Mei to guide and protect her."
"Mei..." White blinked. "The second hero of Unova?"
N nodded with a smile, reliving the memories. "She wasn't in any immediate danger—she didn't need a giant dragon to look after her, but it was also in thanks for what she selflessly did to save Unova. And..." A playful sparkle came to his teal eyes. "Every hero needs a powerful beast as a friend. Haven't you read storybooks?"
"Yeah," White laughed. "I have." She propped her chin up on her hands and looked at N expectantly, like a child waiting for a bedtime story. "So tell me about Mei. What made her seem so similar to me?"
N chuckled. "Besides the uncanny appearance? I almost thought she was you at first, with just a different hairstyle." He stared off into the clouds, as if deep in thought. "Her love for pokemon was just as strong as yours, and she was the only one that understood me. She came to visit me a lot. She talked so much and usually about things I didn't even understand. I always just nodded along to be polite and wondered to myself what she was saying..."
At that, White had to burst out laughing as she recalled the fond memories of talking to N in the past, and trying to decipher what he was saying in his rambles. "I have no idea what that's like..."
"All in all, she was a nice companion," N finished with a smile. "A nice friend that made me feel like I wasn't alone. She informed me only a week ago that she was going to be traveling to Kanto to explore and challenge the gym leaders there." A hazed look came to N's eyes as he remembered their abrupt, but still heartfelt good-bye. "It felt weird not seeing her almost every day...but then I found you." He barely lifted his bashful eyes and shy little smile to her.
White felt her heart melt at those gentle eyes. She suddenly had the urge to pinch his cheeks...and she had no idea why. "So tell me about what you did the past two years!"
N laughed. "You want me to relay everything that's happened to me in two years? It's quite a lot."
"We have time! This trip will take a while."
Amane landed in the middle of a grassy clearing, right by a lake and a few quaint little cottages. Slowly, N slipped off the pokemon's back and surveyed his surroundings. Everything looked so peaceful, and the atmosphere was so happy. Still, where there were houses there were people. N started getting a little nervous.
"This place seems familiar, even though I'm not sure if I've been here." He frowned, brows furrowing from behind his sunglasses.
"Well, I certainly have." White's eyes held this mischievous glint to them that made N sweat a little. Just what was she planning? Where were they?
"White..." Before the teen could finish his sentence, he suddenly found his arm gripped in her hand again as he was tugged through an open door. N shot the brunette a glare (even though she couldn't see it), and looked around in wonderment.
The house was a lot different than their castle (of course, anything that didn't look like a mess of crumbling bricks always seemed that way), and seemed to have an old, nostalgic tone to it. It was your typical, perfect little house decorated with ornaments and flowerpots. N looked over at the kitchen table, and almost fainted.
Although they were older, they were recognizable. From Bianca's longer, golden locks and Cheren's absence of glasses, the two years of separation was definitely evident.. It seemed surreal seeing them again when N remembered them to be young, bewildered teens. Now they were older, and wiser.
"White!" One thing was for sure, Bianca's childishness hadn't changed. The blonde squealed in joy and happily threw her arms around her friend, shaking her rapidly like a rag doll. "Oh my gosh, I can't believe it's you! I can't believe it!"
"Bianca!" White laughed, returning the hug with just as much enthusiasm. "I told you I was coming."
"Funny you didn't tell anyone else," N muttered to himself, staring down at his overalls. His eyes rose, and he almost yelped when they met Bianca's eager, and totally oblivious ones, just inches from his face.
"Oh, this is the friend you said you were going to bring!" she grinned. "Hi, I'm Bianca!" She held out her hand cheerfully.
N heaved a harsh sigh, flicked his straw hat off his bedhead, and lowered his glasses to look wearily at the shocked girl. "And my name is N, dear miss. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance...again." He gave a deep, gentlemen-bow. There was no point keeping the disguise on. Cheren would probably have seen through his rues anyway.
"Whoa." The blonde blinked. "Wow, I did not see that coming." She was oblivious to the entire room rolling their eyes. Shaking off the shock, she smiled at the timid teen. "Well, how have you been? Everyone thought you dropped off the face of the earth!"
"They probably want that," N muttered. He peered cautiously over Bianca's shoulder, trying to spot any I'm-about-to-violently-attack-you signs from Cheren. The two of them weren't exactly fond of each other, and N wasn't sure if he forgave him for the past. Cheren didn't like N, but he did respect him.
"Greetings, N," the male said coldly. His hands were folded under his chin and he gave the other teen a long, calculating stare. "It's been a while. I heard how you helped to save Kyerum from Ghetsis. I see you've finally found peace."
So far so good. He wasn't strangling him yet. "And I hear you're a gym leader now." N smiled. "Congratulations; you were always a strong trainer and I had hopes you'd go far." The two of them shared a smile and the tension in the room lessened.
"I know I should have told you where we were going," White said with a sheepish grin. She could still tell N was a little bit irritated. "But I knew you'd never agree to it if I did tell you." Her cyan eyes went owlish and innocent. "Are you mad at me?"
N gave her a deadpan look and situated himself in one of the chairs. Anyone could tell he didn't want to be here, but that was the point of this visit. White needed to get him accustomed to people and especially her friends if he was going to be in her life.
"Say N, could you do something for me?" N glanced up with uninterested, dull eyes, to see Bianca holding out a pokeball to him. "I recently caught this Squirtle in Kanto, and I want to know what it thinks of me. I've been trying my hardest."
The teen turned the pokeball in his hands and smoothed a hand over the surface. He hated pokeballs. He always had, and always would. A time ago, he always found encasing these beautiful creatures into a tiny capsule to be cruel, but now he knew better. He knew pokeballs weren't a prison, but he'd still never use them. If he could help it, his friends would always be free and at his side. Zoroark barely knew what a pokeball was.
After tossing the capsule, a flash of light appeared, and out popped a Squirtle. N smiled and got on his knees beside the young creature. It didn't baffle anyone when the turtle immediately crawled into the stranger's lap to be pet.
Standing up with the turtle in his arms, N turned to Bianca. "Your Squirtle is very fond of you, but he says he wishes you'd stop being so hard on yourself. He says over the simplest mistake, like spilling his water dish or seeming to pushy, you always back out. He wants you to know he cares about you and he doesn't want you to berate yourself. You're taking care of him well."
Bianca's eyes sparkled with joy as she took her reptile into her arms and hugged him tightly.
"What a peculiar gift you have," Cheren mused. "It must be fun being able to talk to your pokemon whenever you want."
N shrugged. "I release all my friends, so Zoroark is all I really have, but we have conversations often. He's very finicky about his food and always lets me know when there's something in it that he doesn't like." He smirked over at his dark pokemon, who seemed to give a frivolous pout.
"I don't understand it though," Cheren said, "You love pokemon and enjoy being with them, so why do you only have one?"
N shifted uncomfortably. "My way of thinking and perceiving the relationship of pokemon and people has changed, but I myself will always feel uncomfortable taking a pokemon from its habitat too long and keeping it with me. They do always seem sad to leave me though."
"That's because they love you," White pointed out, smiling warmly at N. "Pokemon are more than just pets and we are more than just their masters. We're friends and family, and we build a bond. The bond doesn't always form, but when it does it's hard to separate. In your case, the bond always forms and that's why releasing them is painful. They don't want to leave you."
N thought back to all the years when he let his friends go. He could recall the pain in his heart and the pain in their eyes when they departed. He remembered feeling the crumbling in his chest as a child, when a pokemon he had bonded with was taken to be released. So that's why they were always miserable to leave him... For so long N had no idea a pokemon could love its trainer, and it still baffled him that they could.
"We need to do some work on him a little," Bianca pointed out. "We need to shape him into a normal trainer."
N winced at the word 'normal', and White shot the blonde a hard glare.
"Whoops. What I mean is we need to have N catch a pokemon, and he needs to keep it," Bianca amended. "The bond between a trainer and their pokemon is truly an amazing thing, and N will never have the chance to feel it if he keeps releasing them."
She grinned at White. "I have a great idea, but for it to work I'll need to keep him under my wing for a few hours."
Baffled, N checked the perplexed blonde over, but couldn't seem to find any wing. Did she mean her oddly styled hair? How was he supposed to fit under that?
White didn't look very sure, but Bianca's pleading expression was wearing at her resolve. If someone was there to watch N and make sure he didn't go near any store it should be fine. After all, she still needed to find a new mattress and the next town was a perfect place to look.
"Alright, but watch him, Bianca. Trust me, the guy needs some supervision." She grinned impishly as N glared at her. "I have to go mattress shopping anyway. The next town should have some in store."
"Oh!" N piped up helpfully. "I'll come and help you carry the-"
"NO!" N blinked as White slammed a finger against his lips to shut him up. "No, no, no—you will not. You are not going within a two mile radius of a mall ever again."
"You're mean."
"Call it mean, I call it protecting the lives of hundreds of innocent shoppers." She stretched her back and whined as it cracked. "I hope I find a good one. I haven't had a good night's sleep in almost a week."
"Really?" N piped curiously. "You were sleeping well when we slept together last night."
There was the sound of a heavy clatter as Bianca dropped a hot kettle of tea on the floor, and Cheren's Mont Blanc fell of his fork with a plop. If anyone listened close enough, they could also hear the sound of White's mind snapping like a rubber band.
N just stared. "What?"
"What did I do wrong?!" N had been demanding an answer from White for almost ten minutes now, and she wouldn't answer him. He couldn't understand why everyone had reacted that way. He had slept in the same bed with White. He figured that would just comfort her as much as it comforted him. She seemed to like it last night.
Loading her bag back onto Amane, White turned and flashed N a livid glare. It faded the moment she saw the desperate look in his eyes, like a young child asking for forgiveness. Damn this guy! He was too cute to stay angry with.
"I know you didn't mean any harm by what you said," White sighed, "But a lot of people hear things very differently."
"How can you hear the same words differently? Do they hear different syllables?" Oh right, him and expressions.
It would be easier pulling teeth than it would be trying to explain things to N, so White only shook her head and hopped onto Amane. She looked down at N and smiled. "I'll be back in a while, as soon as I find a good mattress. In the meantime, I want you to take Bianca's training to heart and do whatever she says, even if you feel a little uncomfortable. Trust me, she has your best interests at heart."
N scowled as White and Amane took off into the sky. Training? He didn't need training! He was one of the strongest trainers in Unova. That wasn't conceit, it was just a fact! Everyone treated him like he was only a ten year old just starting out on their journey. What in all the regions could Bianca possibly have to offer that he'd be interested in or didn't already know?
"Oh, N!" Bianca sang. "Come over here for a moment!"
Turning, N saw her by a laid out picnic blanket, with pokeballs and berries spread out in front of her. N kicked at the dirt in annoyance and sighed. A day with White's friends wouldn't be too bad. At least they were tolerable. He had to admit, his interest was at least a little peaked in regards to what Bianca might teach him.
Sauntering over to the blanket, N took a seat. Within two seconds he was on his feet as Bianca pulled him up. He stared at her, his body tingling uncomfortably from the human contact.
"No, no! No sitting down for this lesson," she told him right away. N blinked as she handed him a pokeball. "Call your Zoroark over to you!"
Zoroark's ears perked up at his trainer's whistle, and his ears inadvertently pinned back in anger as he trudged over, none too pleased with being awoken from his nap.
"What's your bond with your Zoroark?" Bianca asked. She was tapping her pencil against her chin and holding a notepad like a therapist interviewing a patient. The glasses just added to that.
"Well, I love him," N said, "He's my best friend; I've known him since infancy, almost. We've always been together. We're like brothers. He's the only pokemon I've kept with me, because he's the first one I remember meeting. He always protected me, and we were raised together."
Bianca smiled warmly. "That's nice. Well, if you're that close to your Zoroark, I don't see why we can't get you bonded with another pokemon. Today, I'm going to train you on how to catch pokemon the..." She hesitated; she didn't want to say 'normal' again. "The trainer way. You've never really used a pokeball before, have you?"
"No," N answered, "I've never liked them, and I only use them if it's mandatory. It just seems so small, and unfair to the pokemon."
Bianca smiled. "It's easy to see why you feel that way, because when you look at them they are small, but the reality is that a pokeball supplies a pokemon with a paradise that suits its needs. It's very comfortable for the pokemon. Trust me, they won't come to any harm in it. So today, you are going to weaken a wild pokemon and catch it!"
N felt a wave of discomfort wash over him, but he remembered White's advice: Even if he felt uncomfortable, just try to do what she said. "What am I catching?"
"Whatever you want!"
Cautiously, the teen peered through the bushes behind the picnic blankets. Instantly, he could hear the chatters and coos of wild pokemon, although he was having trouble seeing any of them. They were hidden high up in the tree.
Wrinkling his nose, N pulled back and glowered at Bianca. "What's the matter with the way I make friends? I don't use violence, and they usually just come to me on their own."
Bianca frowned and gently settled a hand on N's shoulder, ignoring how he tensed at the touch. "N, it's wonderful that you can talk to pokemon and they're naturally attracted to you, but not all of them are going to be like that. One day you will get the odd one that won't be interested in being your friend. That's why we have pokemon; they can protect themselves and us, but we can't protect ourselves from wild pokemon if they decide to attack.
"So! Show me what your Zoroark can do. Find a pokemon and befriend it—our way."
This didn't seem like it would be the most fun, although N always did wonder what it was like to actually catch a pokemon with the traditional way. He was morbidly curious, as nervous as he was.
"There! Right there! A tranquil—get it!"
Bianca startled him out of his daze, and caused him to drop the pokeballs in a fumble to open them. He didn't understand the look she was giving him. Wasn't he supposed to open it? Oh, no...it opened on its own. He really was out of practice with 'the traditional way.'
The angered tranquil glared down with beady eyes as the pokeball rolled up to its feet. With a malicious squawk, it swung its tail into the hard capsule, and sent it like a flying fast-ball, straight into N's face.
Bianca and Cheren both winced as the ball collided into N like he was a bowling pin, and sent him tumbling onto his back. Hastily grabbing her medical kit, Bianca rushed over to inspect him for serious injuries (or possible brain damage).
Dazed and sore, N sat up as Bianca gently rubbed a medication onto his swelling jaw. His cheek had darkened several shades as it started to bruise. Wincing, N looked up at her through pained eyes.
"Well...that was good for a first attempt. Next time, don't roll the pokeball to them?" Bianca offered helpfully. N only glowered at her. "Here. Get up and try it again. Maybe go for a smaller pokemon this time?"
N was ready to go home. He wanted to just lay down in bed with Zoroark and forget today ever happened. Obeying Bianca's order, he stood back up, and tried to ignore the throbbing in his jaw.
Despite his love for pokemon, he half hoped he wouldn't see any—at least until his training session was done. Luck was not on his side though, it seemed, as a small Emolga crept its way out of the bushes. N slid his eyes shut in dread and turned to Bianca, hoping for some respite. Nope, she just waved him towards the electric squirrel.
"...Zoroark, night slash!"
The dark pokemon eagerly leaped five feet into the air and unleashed a powerful, colossal blast of purple energy that slammed into its target. The Emolga squeaked angrily and went flying back several feet. N could feel his heart pounding and heard Cheren and Bianca yelling different orders to him.
"Attack once more!"
"Catch it where it stands!"
N's head was spinning as he stood there, contemplating his options. Zoroark stood in a stance, his patience wearing thin with his trainer as N continued to stand there, frozen, and the Emolga started recuperating.
With a growl, Zoroark lightly, but still effectively, slashed his claws across the young squirrel, and sent it tumbling back into the tree. The Emolga hit the base of the trunk with a heavy thump and slid down it with a whine.
"Great job, N!" Bianca cheered. "Catch it! Throw a pokeball!"
Bianca and Cheren watched in puzzled concern as N made his way over to the tree, timidly holding the pokeball. Their worries were settled as N held out the pokeball. That is, up until he sat down next to the injured pokemon.
"Hello there," the teen said kindly as he smiled down at the sore, and rather livid pokemon. He held out the ball to the squirrel. "Would you like to become part of my team? We'd love to have you."
"Eeeennnnn!" Bianca wailed. Cheren only shook his head and turned away.
The Emolga glared daggers at the human, hardly able to believe he had the audacity to ask such a question. How'd you like to have THIS?!
Their heads turned, Bianca and Cheren both winced at the sudden, crackling sound of lightning and N and Zoroark's resulting yelps as they crashed back onto the ground. Bianca and Cheren stood there on the spot, brooding over their failure as they watched the two twitch and spark.
"Well," Cheren sighed, "At least he attacked the thing this time."
"There's really no reason to get disheartened, hun," Bianca said kindly as she poured the injured N a cup of berry tea. "I mean, there are many trainers whose first pokemon catching don't go so well."
"It's not my first," N retorted sharply. "I've had many friends with me in the past, I've just never resorted to throwing capsules at them to get them. I use trust."
Bianca and Cheren shared looks and gave a resigned sigh. "I guess the traditional 'trainer' way isn't right for everyone," Bianca said.
"Especially to someone who knows far more about the pokemon bond than we do," Cheren added. "So for now, let's just relax and have some lunch. It's a beautiful day."
N thought they'd never give up. With a relieved sigh, he settled back comfortably against the tree, and reached for a tart from the dessert plate. He blinked in confusion when his fingers only grazed a few crumbs. Staring at Bianca and Cheren for clarification, he noticed their eyes were glued to something beside the plate.
Sitting at the side of the picnic blanket, drenched in berry juice and covered in crumbs, was a notably tiny Rufflet licking its wings without a care in the world.
N blinked down at the chick, drawing back as the hungry little beast devoured the rest of the tarts in front of it as well. "H-hey, little guy." He smiled down at the baby pokemon. "Did you like the sweets?"
"A Rufflet," Bianca mused, "A much smaller one than usual. Must be a deformity; not even babies are that tiny."
"Rufflet!" the fluffball chirped, happily climbing up onto N's head and nuzzling into his tea-green locks. "Rufflet, ruff!"
Giggling up at the playful bird, N brought his tea cup to his lips and took a sip. To the utter amusement of the entire group, the chick mimicked his every movement with his tiny wings, even as N let out a satisfied 'aah.'
"It seems to have taken a liking to you, N," Cheren laughed, watching as both the teen and his copy-cat crossed their legs. "Although what pokemon doesn't?"
The hatchling confirmed it as he crawled into N's lap and cuddled right into his chest, beaming up at him with child-like, blue eyes.
"So what will you name it?" Bianca pressed.
N stopped for a moment to ponder, his finger wandering to his chin in thought. Copying the thoughtful eyes, the Rufflet tapped his fuzzy wing against his chin as well.
"Shadow," N laughed, "I think I'll name him Shadow." He beamed down at the chick and nuzzled his feathers. "Do you want to come with me, Shadow?"
"Rufflet, Ruff! Ruff, ruff!"
As the happy group went back to chatting and eating what was left of lunch, Bianca found herself zoning out as she watched N with his new little friend. The sparkle in his eyes, the true happiness—it was far different than the discomfort and tension she saw before when he was battling the wild pokemon. Suddenly, Bianca found nothing wrong with how N caught pokemon. All that mattered was that he was happy.
"Hey!" White called to the group as she dragged a large mattress behind her. "How did N's training go?"
Watching the Rufflet chew on N's hat, and listening to N's happy laughter, Bianca turned to her friend. "You know what? I think the way N obtains his pokemon is just fine..."
(Whew, they seem to be getting longer and longer. Of course, when you're forced to stay in bed, writhing in pain from wisdom tooth surgery, there's not much else to do. The next chapter, I'm not sure how long it will be, but it is not a happy one. It is however an extreme advance in White and N's relationship, and for those of you that love sad fluff, you'll love that chapter. c:
I friggin love Rufflets. I think I'm gonna go catch me one right now.)
