Oh man, I deeply apologize to everyone who has been stalking—I mean watching this story. I completely forgot it even existed. I was so busy with my Tales of Symphonia and other crossover stories that this slipped out of my radar. For that, I am truly sorry. I had gotten a review/comment of a reviewer and it simply said "Update!" and that's when I figured out this story was around. Man, I feel horrible.

Review responses:

LittleKrus: I'm sure at the time I started this story, there weren't many White 2/Black 2 stories out there, so I guess mine's a first? Sort of, in a way. I think I PM'd you and we had a discussion, but in case I forgot—which is most likely—N did give Mei the HM Waterfall so she could proceed to becoming the Champion. I "time-skipped" the story to push it further and presented that Mei had won the Pokémon League; so yes she became the Champion. So, that wasn't a mistake. Hopefully, this second chapter will make up for the lack of attention this story has gotten from me. Thank you for the review.

Guest #1: Thank-you very much! I'm glad you enjoyed and thank you for the praise on my style of writing. I appreciate it! Mei and Corless together actually sound fun. I hope to see some more of them in the Pokémon archives here. Thanks for your review.

Guest #2: Lol, yes. PedoN. I imagine N to be about 19-ish, so yeah. xD

PostiveCharm416: Thank-you for the review. About Touko and Reshiram, don't worry your head off on that… :D

loveliecoraima: Mm, you think so? Well, it was something on my mind (at the time I popped this story up from nowhere). The main character of Black/White may make an entrance, as I hinted to PostiveCharm above. Thanks for the review!

EmergentWriter (Guest): Ah-ha, thank you! I'm glad you love this (so far). I took your advice and dubbed it RemnantShipping. It's in the summary. xD I think someone else mentioned this to me too, but I can't remember. Thanks!

kitty187: Thank you! I shall try my hardest. n.n

Reading-is-4-life: You, the culprit who brought this story to life, I give you my deepest thanks. Without your random review popping into my inbox, this chapter wouldn't have come out at all. So kudos to you!

So, as my Christmas gift to you all, here is the second chapter. I haven't said this, but I'm using the Japanese names for the new towns and new characters, except Hugh. I've only played the Japanese versions and still trying to get used to calling even the Black and White towns by their English names. So, pardon me with that. Anyway, please enjoy.

-x-x-x-

You Remind Me Of

Chapter 2

-x-x-x-

After leaving the city of Hiougi last night, N and Zekrom had flown over Unova in moderate, paced speed, landing upon Route 4, out of sight from the small civilization that had been built within the two years of his absence, and most importantly, outside of Castelia City. The ex-King of Team Plasma told the dragon Pokémon to remain out of sight as he strolled along the road, taking note of everything his blue eyes caught onto. The high road of the freeway was still intact; many vehicles zoomed and thundered upon the cement road, roaring as they flew by at high speed. The loud noise all the automobiles roared made the young king shudder; two years ago, that same road had been there, and despite less cars and trucks used that road, it still half petrified him when they zoomed by, especially those trucks called "sixteen wheelers". It aggravated him, however he never expressed it.

"Still, people drive on that road…" N mused to himself as he hurried along the pathway under the upper road's bridge. "Even more now that more places are being built for them to live in…" He came across an intersection that made a T-shape; to his left was a strange walkway that called itself Join Avenue, which ultimately led to many shops set up and to NimbasaCity. To his right, was said civilization that had been built within the few years, and southward, was the path he had taken, which would eventually lead to the now-buried ResortDesert. The green-haired trainer turned right, knowing the end path would take him to Castelia. That's where he wanted to go and not for old-time's sake, either. He wanted to be there to intercept that girl; he overheard her last night, talking to her Pokémon about going there.

After all, she was looking for him anyway, so wouldn't it be a great opportunity to meet in the same city?

"…I wonder what I should…say to her." N thought to himself aloud again, pondering as he continued walking. "These strange feelings are coming up again, just like when I met…her." His soft, sky-blue eyes closed, sighing lightly. He remembered the first time he encountered her, the teenaged girl two years ago; Touko. The memory was so fresh, it seemingly replayed in his mind over and over each time this strange emotion stirred up.

"What in the world were they talking about, I wonder?" A teenaged boy with short, dark navy hair, fair skin, wearing glasses wondered as a group of Team Plasma had set off after a speech. He had a white shirt, a blue jacket over it, a red tie around his neck, and wore dark shoes and dark navy pants that seemingly matched his hair. Many of the citizens of the town, Karakusa*, had wandered off to chatter about the speech that had been given moments ago by those strange knights and sage-looking fellow calling himself 'Ghetsis'. Weird name, weird guy, everything was weird now. The boy's question was directed at a girl just about his age, having sported a white tank-top shirt, a small, black vest, skimpy, blue shorts, and had on black, army-like boots tipped in pink. Her hair was a wavy brown color, the fluff of her ponytail coming out from under her white and pink hat. The rest of her hair was hidden under said hat, and only puffy strands of her side bangs curled on the outside of her face. She had diamond-blue eyes and a pink messenger bag strapped around her chest.

"I'm not so sure, Cheren." The girl replied, tilting her head. "Everything he said sort of made sense, but then again, it didn't."

The glasses-boy called Cheren nodded. "I wouldn't be surprised, Touko. Even I'm baffled… But it doesn't matter what they say." His dark eyes found Touko's blue ones. "I'll continue raising my Pokémon. I'm going on ahead to challenge Striaton City's gym. We'll meet up later, okay?"

"All right, Cheren. I've to buy a few things from the Pokémart. See you."

"Right then." The boy slightly waved her off, leaving off for Route 2's direction. Once he was out of sight, Touko started for the Pokémon Center, where the mart was inside as well.

However, through the small crowd of people, a young man about seventeen years of age had seen them. He hadn't meant to look their way, but once he did, he couldn't turn away. Standing next to the boy with glasses was a girl with nearly the same shade of eyes he had. That wasn't it, however. Something in him bubbled, like if he had seen something out of the ordinary. The male couldn't put his finger on it, but his eyes couldn't turn away from this girl. Whoever she was, her presence, even at the distance, was growing on him. He would need to speak to her; perhaps that would ease this weird sensation. Once the boy she had been talking to left and the crowd of people dispersed back to their daily lives, the young man strode over casually, not allowing his eyes off the female. Each step he took brought him closer to her, and before he knew it, he had caught up to her before she went inside the Pokémon Center.

"Huh?" The girl blinked, having spotted him from the corner of her eye.

"…" the young man dotted, unable to really say anything at the moment. Why was he so silent? Naturally, if it had been anyone else, he'd have just said what was on his mind. Why couldn't he do it now? What was stopping him?

"…Can I help you?"

"…Yes, you can." He finally spoke, straining almost. Why was it getting so hard to talk?

The girl, Touko, just stared at him quizzically for awhile. They were large and innocent, and the young male wondered why he was feeling so tense. Again, what was this he was feeling this way, and with a human being, no less. He only felt something similar around Pokémon and only Pokémon; they were his treasure friends, his boon companions, and yet, here was this girl fiddling with his emotions unintentionally. He managed to snap out of whatever was eating him and said, "I can tell, by the voice of your Pokémon, that you are a Trainer. Am I correct?"

Touko blinked again, half frowning, half baffled. "Yes, I am, but what do you mean?"

The man narrowed his eyes. "You contain your friends inside a Pokéball, do you not?" Was his next question.

"Contain?" Touko repeated. "I do not 'contain' my Pokémon in his Pokéball. You're making it sound like it's a prison."

"Which is exactly what it is; a prison for Pokémon." The man shaped his reply easily. "You Trainers keep Pokémon in their Pokéballs like slaves. You order them around for battles and contests, where is there ever love and respect for them in this?" Before the girl could retaliate with some sort of response, he continued sharply. "Pokémon need to be freed from their cages of imprisonment. They must be separated from humans and live in a world where they are not subjected to intense instructions."

"…Where are you getting this from? You can't mean that speech that weird guy and his knights were talking about earlier is what influenced you to say that."

The man was irked a little, which he oddly ever did. That was quite new, but he hid it well. "No," he shook his head. "That speech was true in every word he spoke." He turned to look at the sky, then back to the teen girl's eyes. They were twisted with utter confusion that it almost caused him to become guilty. Why would he be guilty of this? He was telling the truth and she had to know it. Why would it matter that she wasn't paying attention to Ghetsis's explanation earlier? "You say you're a Pokémon Trainer, correct?"

"…Yes, I am…again." Touko frowned again, still confused.

"Allow me to hear the voice of your Pokémon." The bizarre stranger said, taking out a Pokéball. Touko skeptically eyed him, now even more confused. He just said that Pokémon needed to be freed from their 'prison' and here he was, challenging her to a battle that was deemed to be the so-called 'prison'. This guy was becoming a weirdo to Touko now. But, she couldn't refuse a Pokémon battle, no matter if she didn't want to or not.

"Fine, then. But before we do, what is your name?" She asked in a soft tone, trying to calm her starting frustration.

The young man smiled warmly, their eyes meeting once again. "It is N."

Ever since that day, N had been subconsciously following Touko. He couldn't understand why he did, but he did. He watched as she strolled through Route 2 and defeated every Trainer that crossed her path. He watched her beat her friend, called Cheren, in a battle before challenging the Striaton City gym, where she handled one of the three restaurant brothers, Cress, in battle. After that, however, he couldn't follow her anymore, as he had business to attend to, one being that he had met up with Ghetsis on the outskirts of Route 3. There was a planned attack on Shippo* City's museum, in which a necessary item needed to be taken. Before Touko headed to the museum, which would lead to a library where the gym secretly resided, N had left the building, only to meet her again. She appeared a little tougher than before, with her Pokémon with her of course. It frustrated N a little that she still kept her Pokémon in their Pokéballs.

Regardless, he assumed to challenge her in a battle, which ended up in his defeat, which he didn't mind anyway. One question that had haunted him for awhile that she asked was:

"N, what happened to your Purrloin? You know the one you used in Karakusa Town against me?"

He never answered her, only smiled and told her of the old hero, who used the power of Zekrom to shape Unova; that he would find Zekrom and bond with it. For some reason, he couldn't answer her question with its true answer: "I released it into the wild so it could be free." No, he couldn't ever tell that to the girl. His heart wouldn't let him and for reasons he still couldn't quite fathom why. Before he left Shippo City to Yaguruma* Forest, he caught the familiar eyes of Touko's; she was still confused but now saddened. N bit back a nerve; how could she look at him like that? Here he was, playing the role of an anti-hero, and she looked at him with those eyes. Again with that feeling he had in Karakusa Town, which he still hadn't discovered what exactly that was…for this human girl.

The next time he encountered her, she had defeated Elesa, Nimbasa City's gym leader. He knew that was where she was going because, like most of his unoccupied time, he'd spend stalking her. N had waited outside the gym patiently, and when she stepped out, he offered to heal her Pokémon. She strangely allowed him to, after her suspicious glance, but he brushed it off. After her Pokémon were healed up, he offered her a ride on the ferris wheel near the gym. Together, they observed the city and the scenery around it, taking in its beauty. The way Touko smiled when the ride began made N's heart leap; she hadn't ever smiled at him like that, regardless of his challenging requests. Sure, the girl thought he was a strange creep, and had some weird quirks about him, but perhaps that wasn't the reason for the smile.

Unfortunately, that smile faded as soon as he revealed him; the King of Team Plasma. N saw the expression of Touko's fall. It was something that also haunted him, even to this day. She was frowning, and not only that, her face twisted with an unfathomable rage; a rage he wouldn't be able to contain, to quell. When the ride was over and they got off, the brown-haired teenager turned away from him. N hid his emotions, but deep down, he was feeling sick. This girl, who he had become fond of within the month he had been following her, was, in some way, rejecting him. Yes, he said all those things, about his plan to separate humans and Pokémon, but he couldn't get over the gravity of that scowling, falling expression of Touko's.

If to make matters worse, two Team Plasma grunts had showed up inconveniently. They were the two grunts, as he heard, that terrorized an old man, the Day-Care Man, and tried to seize him. Touko had defended him and they were ultimately beaten by her. The two knight-trainers fled the scene from there, nowhere to be seen. However, here they were, right in the open, seen with the girl that he couldn't get his eyes and mind off of, and had been angry at him. Touko spotted them, her fury growing like a flame that had wood thrown into it to make it flare. Noticing this, N had to make his move; he needed to distract Touko so that the grunts could get away. He succeeded in doing so, but he lost as well. Losing didn't matter to him anyway; the grunts had gotten away and that was the point of his distraction.

After that, he left her again, his thoughts trailing to that face she gave him every second. Why was it conflicting to him, he never knew. It wasn't long until three loyal servants to N, the Dark Trinity*, had found their young lord and reported to Ghetsis about the situation about the female trainer. The one trainer that plagued the king so much, it drove him in and out of his plan. The rest of Team Plasma grew worried for their liege and some were bent on destroying the one girl that caused N to worry so much. However, the greenet disallowed the action and instead, wanted Touko to be brought to him. He had studied her enough with his examination, which consisted of stalking her. Yes, it was true there was another meaning behind his following her, but he couldn't say it. He didn't know what it was anyway.

It was at Chargestone Cave, that they met again. Touko had been escorted to him personally by the Dark Trinity and when she was in his presence again, that same, scowling, frustrated, confused and angered face leered itself at him. N was taken aback by how she looked at him; those eyes of hers. They bored a hole through his soul, gave him a mental scarring of life that would take forever to mend. In some way, those eyes told her she also felt betrayed. But, how? How could she look to feel that way when he was never her friend? Touko was a strange specimen; she, unlike her friends, was not swayed. She was the smallest gray of the black and white. N had been wondering why this was and challenged her again, and like before, he had been defeated, which didn't affect him as usual. The professor of the region, Juniper, had given him her words, suddenly enraging him by them. Using Pokémon to record data on them? Rubbish to N! He would not have that in his newly assorted world where Pokémon are separated from humans.

When Touko defeated Skyla's gym, N had once again approached her, now wondering why her Pokémon stayed by her side when he told them and Touko his reflection of how Pokémon should be free of 'slavery'. He requested she send all of her Pokémon out, which, after some time, she complied. When they were out of their Pokéballs, the brunette had to restrain them to not hurt N as they were getting ready to, especially her starter. He, out of all of them, was furious about the greenet for making his trainer upset to the point her smiles was becoming rarer every day. Still, N asked them why they wanted to be with Touko, and was surprised by their answers. They wanted to be with her because she was caring, understanding, loving! Trainers loving their Pokémon? Even after all that cruelty of enslaving them? This couldn't be…

The Dragonspiral Tower, N had briefly encountered Touko, and her frustrated, confused, scowling expression again. The young king frowned when seeing her face and those damned, soul-staring eyes again. If anything, they cut through him like a sword and he was beginning to feel doubt. Why was it only her that he seemingly feared the most? Not even Ghetsis' glare scared him anymore; it was only Touko's expression that did. Did she still feel that she had been betrayed? Even so, he had successfully bonded with Zekrom, the legendary Deep Black dragon Pokémon. Now, he could finally change the ways of people to release their Pokémon; but he would do it only when Touko claimed the other dragon, used by the second hero, the brother, in the days of when Unova was born. Until then, he would challenge the Elite Four and conquer the Pokémon League. He had to put those feelings of whatever they were of Touko away and continue his perfect plan. There was no turning back, now.

Alas, once again, N and Touko met after he had beaten the 'so-called' Champion of Unova, Alder. Their gazes met face-to-face, and this time, instead of frustration and confusion in those eyes of hers, there was only a small bit of hope and understanding. He also knew she carried the Light stone, the embodiment of Reshiram—the other dragon. N challenged Touko once more, only after he summoned his ancient castle, and headed inside. The sages had blocked her path inside, preventing her from continuing. However, the gym leaders of Unova appeared, deciding to battle the sages while giving the Champion, Cheren, Touko, and with her brother, Touya, arrived on the scene enough time to get in and defeat N and foil his plan. The three hurried through the tall castle, turning down corridors and paths that were ultimately confusing. The castle was huge and housed several rooms, which served as a room for many Team Plasma grunts.

Grunts decided to gang up on the three, though the Champion, Touya and Cheren managed to hold them off as Touko hurried along by herself to the throne room. Upon reaching the top floor, N was seated as his throne, grinning. His pale-blue eyes found themselves fixated on Touko's diamond-blue ones, their gazes never lifting from each others. The stare down was intense for awhile until N broke it off. He summoned Zekrom to battle Touko, despite the Light Stone having not reacted to her heroic traits. Fortunately and unfortunately for her, the lightning of Zekrom caused the fire of the Light Stone to activate and form into the once sleeping, Vast White dragon—Reshiram. He awakened from the stone and challenged the Nuvema-native to a worthy battle; effectively, Touko won and Reshiram sided with her. N could see and feel the rejection Zekrom was feeling and the sadness the Deep Black dragon when he realized his other half had once again sided with another hero.

N graciously healed Touko's Pokémon again, though this time, the girl was rather emotionless this time. This plagued N's thoughts again; how could he conquer the Unova region when his mind flew to another human being? Touko was interesting, yes, and she wasn't an ordinary human. She had similar qualities like he had, albeit, on a different scale. She loved her Pokémon, they loved her in return. They battled for her, and she would reward and praise them. N soon realized that Touko treated her Pokémon like family than companions or for that matter, not like or as slaves. There was to a degree that she agreed with his idea of Pokémon being mistreated should be handled and resolved, but the stubborn girl wouldn't waver to his side. He had tried to persuade her, but she kept her roots under the ground when the topic was brought up. It was at this point, he realized his feelings for the girl; it was obvious attraction and love. But, he couldn't love her the way he loved Pokémon—she was much too fragile like a China set.

Now, in order for the Unova region to remain the way it was; corrupt and Pokémon continued being enslaved, in N's own eyes, or for Team Plasma to take over and relinquish all the Pokémon from Trainers nationwide. That would be the beginning; N set his eyes on the other regions as well, and once Unova was conquered, he'd take his loyal grunts to the other regions and conquer them just as he did here. Once he had his way, he'd also conquer over his feelings of Touko; whether it take the girl for himself or lock her away while he studied her intently. However, one thing stood in his way, no, one person stood in his way of achieving this, and by damn, it was the very same girl he was attracted to. How could he break her heart now and again with a world changing battle? N stubbornly pushed his personal thoughts aside and kept his cool composure. He would not let a human influence him about his idea of total separation of humans and Pokémon. He would not waver, just as she had.

…But during the battle, his eyes and mind couldn't leave off of her.

And once again, N was defeated by the girl he assumingly loved; however, he couldn't play upon the foreign emotion yet.

If things couldn't get worse, Ghetsis showed up, enraged. He mouthed off on N on how he was just a puppet in his grand scheme of plans. Separating humans and Pokémon, yes that was apart of his perfected plan, but the real reason was so he could take all the Pokémon for himself and rule over Unova, and eventually, the world. He belittled N, he destroyed his trust of humans, and shattered any meaning of love for the man. "You stupid boy!" he could hear Ghetsis shouting at him, even now. The emotions running through the greenet were unexplainable. He stood there, mouth agape, body trembling and the world around him, falling to pieces. N realized that Ghetsis was using him like some pawn, like a Pokémon; slave and obeyed every command given. N had always followed Ghetsis teachings as a child, seen abused Pokémon when brought to him and his lack of human contact to isolate him, and the sage showing plenty affection. But, all of that was lie. Ghetsis never once loved him as N had done. Ghetsis was plotting the moment N was taken into his care. He needed a puppet to manipulate and the greenet had been his selective choice.

Horrified, N traced his glance barely towards Touko as Ghetsis explained his thorough plan. It had gone from utter shock of revelation to complete rage and anger. It was that same face she had given him when he revealed his identity as the King of Team Plasma, but this fury he was feeling, radiating off her like a building fire. This anger of Touko's was not aiming at N, rather, at Ghetsis. He could feel the heavy control and irritation in her voice, to this day, when she shouted back at the sage.

"You bastard!" She roared. "How dare you use N like that!" She was defending him now. She, the one who gave a callous, emotionless gaze in their last battle, now had a care for the likes of him? He had seemingly betrayed whatever trust they built; despite their only engagements were testy battles. She, who gave him one smile one time, and told him her own feelings about Pokémon, and she, who was his enemy, was now defending him? "You misuse an innocent child for your sick and twisted plans?! You won't get away with this!"

Yes, Touko, his Touko, was battling for not only the sake of the world, but in N's stead. He couldn't move to react, his body wouldn't budge. He stood there, frozen, as he watched Touko and her Pokémon work together to silence Ghetsis and now, his plans, once and for all. The unfathomable rage in her blue eyes was evidence enough she was pissed off. He had caught her loving eyes upon him a few times during the battle, and they were extremely different this time. They had a shift in caring, loving, understanding and sympathy during those moments. Why was she caring all of a sudden? The battle with Ghetsis lasted longer than anyone could imagine, but Touko and Reshiram, along with her other Pokémon, bested the cunning bastard sage finally and was exhausted. The Champion and Cheren rushed in to have heard everything from Ghetsis and took him away for arrest.

N and Zekrom, they were baffled for words. They watched their complete opposites in battle; they were majestic and strong, something he, the young king, couldn't match. No matter what, he wouldn't be able to accomplish such a thing that was natural to the girl. One thing was for certain…

He loved her.

Those eyes of hers met his and before he knew it, her arms were around his back, her head buried into his chest, and their bodies contacted. She didn't utter a word; just held his body close to hers. N didn't know what else to do, what to follow, but he suspected she was waiting for him to react.

And react, he did.

He wrapped his arms around her slowly, noticing her small reaction to this and spoken to her. As he did, he could feel something warm and wet soaking his shirt, and when he looked down to notice, he was amazed by what he saw. Touko was crying… But these tears weren't like ordinary tears—no, she was crying for him. N didn't understand why she would show such strong affection for him; after all he had done in the name of Team Plasma. Regardless of this, she was here, with him, at such a close proximity, and she was shedding tears for him. There was no doubt in his mind that he was confused now, and needed time to think on everything that occurred from the time he was young to now. Everything had been a lie up until this point, except his strong feelings for Touko. Those weren't a lie at all.

He had to do what he had to do.

Leave her.

Leave everything behind and spend time away from Unova.

She wouldn't let him at first, but by the power of persuasion once again, and Reshiram's nodding advice, Touko reluctantly let him go. It was a mistake she felt she never should have made. N promised her they would meet again and flew off on Zekrom, the Deep Black dragon's roar echoing in the distance. However, as he was flying away, he noticed the teary and worried expression upon the girl's face. Now, he was causing her to worry. What kind of man, a king no less, was he, making the object of his attraction worry about him?

Being consumed in his replaying thoughts, he found himself in Castelia City, near the fountain. During his two-year absence, he tried to forget Touko, forget he met her, forget those feelings of her, but he couldn't. They plagued him day in and day out; all of his dreams consisted of Touko, his sweet fondness of her presence. He couldn't get away from her; she was following him emotionally than physically. The young king sighed. To this day, she plagued him, and after a month he finally rid of her of his memory to some degree. He told himself he couldn't love her like he felt. He was a king and she was…someone else. They couldn't be together. He constantly told himself this and kept denying his own feelings. After being away from Unova, he learned of Team Plasma's return, and now, running the strings was Ghetsis, and learned that Unova's heroine, Touko, was nowhere to be found. If she wasn't there to stop him N felt obligated to thwart his plan this time. He would do it for her in her stead, just as she fought Ghetsis in his place two years prior.

When he reached Unova, and Zekrom urged to head to the Giant Chasm, N was stricken with memories again. There, standing pale and frightened was a girl, with a shade of long, brown hair, kept up in two, twin bun-like ponytails. When he heard Ghetsis command the dragon Pokémon Kyurem to kill the girl, N furiously ordered Zekrom to deflect the Glaciate attack with Fusion Bolt. No, he couldn't let Touko die. He wouldn't let Ghetsis kill her! As he got closer to the girl, he noticed she was different. She was not his Touko at all. She was younger than her, obviously, but when she turned to meet his gaze, those same, diamond-blue eyes stared into his own pale-blue ones. That same face almost seemed to draw his attention and make his emotions curl. This wasn't Touko, but she damn as well looked like her! Like…her double! What infuriated him more was that she was terrified and it morbidly reminded him of Touko.

It was then he had to protect this girl.

He would use Zekrom to defeat Ghetsis, but that plan was soon destroyed when the insane Plasma sage fused Zekrom and Kyurem together to form one dragon. N was useless now and he berated himself for that. The only Pokémon he had left was his Zoroark, but he told the Pokémon to guard something very important. The Touko-lookalike girl rushed in to defeat the Black Kyurem, and then, once again, Ghetsis unleashed his building fury. "Damn you!" The Plasma sage roared. "Another bitch to foil my plans again! I'll kill you! I'll destroy you! Child, be prepared! I won't let you slip under my fingers. You won't get away from me."

The Touko-lookalike flinched at the volume and fierceness Ghetsis voice held, but she didn't move from her spot. She called out her Pokémon again, and a battle took place. N, again, watched helplessly as this girl was in his place, battling his father-figure, or rather, his ex-father figure. He should have been the one to battle him, to win over him, for making him feel the way he had two years ago. To avenge his pride and his own personal life he suffered at the hands of this madman. But here he was, unable to do a thing.

That girl…

The way she moved reminded him of his sweet Touko.

And yet, she wasn't, but she shared every likeness about her.

N shook from his memories and glanced up. These emotions and the girls that took his heart away were painful. He couldn't understand why he was feeling this way. Yes, he loved Touko, but why did he love this new girl, too? What was her name again? Mei? Was it possible, N was seeing Touko upon her rather than seeing her for who she is? Yes, they shared many similarities, but it was still unfair of him to replace her with Touko's appearance. It was almost uncanny that she resembled the heroine, like she was her clone, but that wasn't true. "…I'm thinking too much on this." N sighed again, glancing in another direction. However, he looked forward, towards the bustling of Castelia.

His eyes caught onto something brown and widened.

The object of his thoughts was standing there, in the crowd, but at the ice cream parlor.

She was buying Casteliacones.

N's heart froze, his body didn't budge, again, and his emotions riled up. Was it…Touko? He wanted to shout and call her over, but his voice wouldn't do it. He wanted to command Zekrom to take her before she vanished but again, his voice failed to connect. After being reminded of her through another girl, he was sure he'd find her after the incident with Ghetsis. But, as he focused his gaze, who it turned out to be was not who he thought it was. He trembled regardless, because this someone was making his heart steel in her direction, too. A pang of guilt ran through him and he knew this was wrong.

Mei.

It was wrong to love her when he loved another.

But, as soon as she turned his way and their eyes locked, there was no turning back. She had seen him. They remained in that position, at a distance for a while but it felt like forever to N. He kept staring at her, even as she was approaching him, her expression read she was confused, stunned and excited. Excited? Why was she so happy? It couldn't have been his presence; maybe it was the Casteliacones. It had to have been those. Who wouldn't like them? N had his share at one point two years ago, and they were, needless to say, tasty, cold to the tongue and delicious. Still, he couldn't take his eyes off the girl that was now approaching him. She's…coming this way… N thought to himself, trying to swallow a hard lump that magically formed in his throat. Great, now he was worried.

"…N?" the girl, Mei, called over curiously, wondering.

"…" N dotted but nodded to her curiosity. She beamed happily.

"Oh! It is you!" She squeaked. "I…I was hoping it was you I saw from when I was buying a Casteliacone." N trembled at the sound of her voice. It was just a pitch lighter than Touko's but it was deathly close to being hers. He shuddered at the thought this girl may be Touko's little sister or something.

"So, N…before you leave, I wanted to say thank-you for saving me that time."

"…It was nothing. I couldn't… let Ghetsis get away with his plans." N replied, almost stumbling over his words as he stiffened.

"Y-yeah."

N looked at her again and studied her appearance. She was a tad shorter than Touko, and she wore a simple white shirt with short blue sleeves. Her leggings were a black color and her flaring shorts were a mustard yellow color. She wasn't wearing her visor that accompanied her head, and allowed her naturally long bangs to cover some of her face. Instead of her usual two bun-ponytails, Mei's hair was just simply in two ponytails, and by golly, her hair surpassed the knee caps of her body. Body. N thought of it and examined more. She was slender, so were her legs, and arms. Her face held onto its sculpted baby features, but still ushered in her growing youth. Mei was still young, being fourteen, in comparison to Touko's fifteen two years ago—N figured she was most likely seventeen now. The more N thought about Mei's body's figure, the more he was growing attracted, strangely. Was he reacting to his impure thoughts of a girl's body now?

Smacking himself mentally, he destroyed those thoughts as best as he could.

"…Mei." He found himself saying her name.

She looked up. "Yes?"

Would he tell her his feelings? He failed to do it with Touko, but that was because he was confused. Now, he was still confused, as which girl to choose from, but he felt she had to know them. He wanted them both, he wanted to love both of them, but the ways of the world wouldn't allow it. N closed his eyes, trying to avert them from looking into those blue ones of Mei's. They were terrifying, though not in an evil, menacing way. They were opening a portal to his soul, and they reminded him of his Touko. Yes…they absolutely did.

"You…remind me of…someone I knew." N's lame response croaked.

"Oh, I do? Sorry." Mei apologized which strung a cord of wonder to the young king. Why was she apologizing to him about his observation? That didn't make any sense. "Well, in any case, I just wanted to tell you my thanks. You seemed kind of busy, so I'll let you be alone then." Mei started up again, smiling. N snapped to reality in that split moment when she spoke of her leaving. No, he couldn't let her go! "So, I'll be going now. Take care—"

The brunette was turning around but N caught her wrist faster than a Pidgeot snapping the neck of its prey. "No!" He sharply called out, stopping her in that instant. If he couldn't get to Touko, and had let her go, he wouldn't let this chance go. No, it was much too precious. N needed to spend time with this girl, to get to know her as he had down for Touko, despite it was more of stalking and spying on the teenager previously mentioned. This time, it would be different. Mei stopped, turning her head so that their eyes were gazing into each other's for a moment.

"Wh-what are you doing, N?" she asked, baffled.

"Don't…leave." He breathed out, feeling a sense of attachment and clinging to her already. It was those eyes, that hair and her body…not again…The king erased that thought again and stared at her. "How about we talk?"

"Talk? About what, may I ask?"

Think of something, N… "About anything you want, really."

"Oh, well, okay." That was easy, and N inwardly sighed in relief. He got her before she left him, possibly forever. He knew where she lived, but still. The girl was hard to find even when he knew she'd be heading for the Pokémon League at one time. He had been trying to look for her and intercept her journey to give her the HM Waterfall, but she was out of his radar, so the next best place was to wait for her by the Victory Road entrance. "Sure thing, N." Mei added.

Good, he had her where he wanted her for now.

"Oh, by the way…N?"

"Yes To—Mei?" He caught himself.

"Could you let go of my wrist? Your grip is hurting me…"

And now, Chapter 2 is done. xD Sorry for the N angst/N remembering Touko and all. It was heavily necessary. So yeah. *evades angry mob bullets* Review, favorite, follow whatever you like. Thank-you!

Karakusa* I think it's called Accumula Town in English?
Shippo* I believe it's...Iccirus City or Nacrene? One of those.
Yaguruma* Pinwheel Forest.
Dark Trinity* Shadow Triad.