Pure White Dreams / First of the Dreams & Destiny Trilogy
Updates Every 6-7 Days
Rating: K+ for occasional minor language
Disclaimer: Despite using characters, story, and some dialogue from this lovely source material, I can only express my admiration, rather than any ownership.
Previously: Touko continued on the route to Nacrene City with N as her traveling companion. Despite some problems at first (including a certain grass-type Pokémon), after an encounter with some selfish trainers and finally seeing N talk with a Pokémon, Touko begins to think of N as more than a convenience or the weird boy from Accumula Town.
.
Chapter Eight
Stars in the Night Sky
.
"It's pretty amazing though, isn't it?"
"I don't know…it isn't exactly complicated or difficult…I just listen and talk…"
"That sort of makes it more amazing, doesn't it?"
N shrugged. He was getting better at that the more Touko pestered him with questions about his unique ability.
They'd run into a surprising number of Pokémon before nightfall and with each encounter Touko got over her uncertainty, though she remained quietly in awe. However, she was buzzing with excitement and by when they stopped to camp, she finally started in on the questions.
Not that she'd gotten any satisfactory answers, but that hadn't diminished her enthusiasm in the slightest.
Finished with the short camp set up, Touko sat down on top of her sleeping bag, her Pokémon all spread out in a half-circle around her (except Lillipup and Purrloin who were currently doing laps around the camp with Touko too distracted to notice). She tilted her head to the side, looking at N expectantly.
N sat across from her and had come to the decision to ignore her since she stopped asking questions. Already he'd gotten involved in some sort of conversation with Panpour that Touko could only half-follow about how superior bananas were to peanuts. She decided to let the strangeness of this conversation go, figuring that Panpour was talking about his preference in food (or rather, she really, really hoped it was Panpour).
Instead she remained silent, watching N with her big blue eyes.
Finally, she had successfully gotten to him, because N turned back to her with a frown. "What?"
"I was wondering what sort of things Pokémon say. Like how they say them and stuff. Can you translate it directly into, you know, people-speak?"
N needed a little bit of time to process the multiple implied questions, or perhaps just the term "people-speak", so Touko waited as patiently as before, smiling pleasantly.
"You mean…can I tell you what your Pokémon say?"
"Oh yeah," Touko perked up at the previously unnoticed benefit. "That would be awesome. Can you?"
N frowned, and with the long time it took to answer Touko was wondering if he might be thinking about refusing. Not because he couldn't, but because he didn't want to. Which, now that Touko thought about it, wasn't unreasonable. It felt like she was using N as some sort of tool, just a translator for her Pokémon…
She lowered her eyes, smile fading. In a soft voice, she tried to fix her misstep, "Of course, you don't have—"
"What do you want to ask them?"
Touko's eyes darted back up, looking carefully at N's face to make sure he was really offering. But of course he was. Was he even capable of lying? It seemed like whatever popped into his head would just fall right out of his mouth. After just a day, she'd taken to just smiling and rolling her eyes every time he said something a little rude.
"Um…" she looked around at her Pokémon. Panpour looking up at N and Snivy sulkily darting glares at him; Purrloin and Lillipup were still running in circles; as usual, Patrat was the only one who wasn't involved in any sort of conflict, just a bystander watching it all unfold.
"Well, I guess I want to know what my Pokémon want to say to me. That's the most important thing."
At this, Patrat perked up, he looked at Touko for a moment, causing the trainer to tilt her head in confusion. Then he ran over to N and immediately started chattering away. Both trainers stared at Patrat in surprise, though N less so the more Patrat went on. There seemed to be an awful lot to say. Enough time passed for Touko to reflect that it didn't seem fair that Patrat understood her pretty well.
Really made you think about who was actually in charge…
Finally, Patrat stopped and N looked to Touko, hesitating for a moment before relaying the message. "…He wanted to thank you for saving the other Patrat yesterday."
"Oh…" Touko fidgeted, unsure what she should say in response to either Patrat or N. She didn't really intend for N or anyone else to know about the incident. Complaining about trainers caused trouble back in Striaton City with Cheren, an incident she didn't want to repeat.
Patrat was looking to her, waiting for the response, so she gave him a smile. He walked back over and laid down by her feet, warming Touko's heart as well as her toes. The smile appeared to be enough.
As for N… "He sure makes a lot of noises for such a short statement, huh?" she tried with a little laugh.
"So, it really was you. You saved that Patrat…and that's why you got into the fight with the trainers. They were the ones responsible."
There was a lot in that quick speech for Touko to confirm, but with her brow lifting in surprise she had her own confirmation to make. "You already knew?"
"Patrat told me last night. He was looking for family of the one you helped and found me talking to them. Then he told me what happened."
"That…answers some questions." It really answered almost everything odd about the previous night and a little bit of that day, too. Patrat's sudden departure from their camp, N being around that area in the middle of the night, maybe even why he'd been so quiet and gave her those weird analyzing looks.
Normally, she'd be all for letting the matter go at having an answer, but somehow she felt a little offended. "So, what? You didn't believe Patrat and that's why you've been so…" Weird. "…quiet?"
"I believed Patrat," N insisted, in much his usual tone of conviction, but then he faltered before continuing, shaking his head in frustration. "It just doesn't make sense for a trainer to go to all that trouble for a Pokémon that isn't theirs."
"What are you talking about? Lots of trainers are like that," Touko replied immediately. She could list them off in her head, Bianca, Cheren, the gym leaders seemed the sort; she had direct proof when it came to N. Seriously. He was the one saying it, so he should know this already. Then there were people who used to be trainers like her parents and the professor. They must have…
"The trainers you fought today aren't like that at all."
The statement stopped Touko cold.
There was the girl from Striaton City, too…
But she wasn't even a trainer! It was silly. Her list of trainers outnumbered just those two. Even just N and her canceled them out.
"Sure, they have a problem. It doesn't mean everyone else does, too. There's a lot of good out there," Touko explained with vague optimism and her friendliest smile.
For a moment, Touko thought she had successfully persuaded N out of whatever cynical corner he was frequenting. Purrloin had decided to take refuge on his lap and N happily obliged the lazy Pokémon by petting her. Satisfied with the silence, Touko took to cheering up the now sulking Lillipup as well.
Until…"Why did you let them go?"
Her smile fell in her defeat. Clearly, this topic was not going to be dropped so easily.
She sighed in exasperation, resting her chin on her hand. "I'm not the police, N. I can't stop them from going."
"You could if you wanted to…" he said it like a stubborn child. She almost expected to see him pouting and sulking like before, though he only continued to frown at her. Because somehow he really thought it was that simple.
He really is like a child, Touko thought, raising her eyebrows. His peculiarities wouldn't have seemed that odd if he was half his age.
"I wish you'd tell me how exactly," Touko snapped—tried to snap. Somehow, her irritation just sort of fell away into a sulky tone of her own. "I'm not going to pretend like that victory means me and my team are stronger. I just…sort of guessed right. I've been a trainer less than a month. I have one badge. We're not strong enough yet…and on my own I certainly couldn't…" She bit her lip and lowered her gaze, unwilling to recount her exact failings aloud.
On her own she couldn't even bear the night. She had two friends and without them it felt like every five steps she was going to fall apart again. It was Snivy and the others that kept her going. Despite all of their little difficulties…or perhaps because of them. Since they depended on her just like she depended on them, she was able to move forward.
She'd been trying to make a broad example, but somehow it took a big swerve into being way too personal. She didn't have enough practice talking with people. Or perhaps the whole reason for her shyness was a subconscious defense for her ineptitude.
"But it's the same for those two…without their Pokémon they wouldn't be able to brag about accomplishments that are not really theirs. They wouldn't be able to beat even a newly hatched Patrat on their own."
Cautiously, she peeked up past her hat at N's face. She thought he might look angry again, talking about those boys, but he'd returned to that unreadable bland expression…just stating what he considered to be facts.
Though, she wondered if perhaps he'd caught onto her insecurity (not difficult to do really) and was attempting to make her feel better. Albeit in a blunt, honest way.
"People are pretty useless without their Pokémon to hide behind."
She'd started to smile before it fell askew at these words, held up slightly by some amusement at just how blunt he could be. "You're pretty bad at cheering people up."
"I wasn't actually trying…"
"Well, there you go."
For a while the two shared a stare, almost testing each other. But when N didn't say anything in response, Touko's smile overcorrected itself into a little smirk. Somehow, it felt like a victory each time she made him stay silent.
Thus satisfied, Touko decided it was a good time to go to bed, and started making the battle plan and gathering things up for the night's routine. Snivy caught onto her actions quickly and immediately took claim upon her pillow.
Despite her grumblings, Touko never even once really cared about Snivy stealing her pillow. There was (almost) room for both of them. He glanced at her with one eye, despite already feigning sleep, and she smiled back at him, making the grass-type Pokémon put on more of a show about sleeping than would ever be necessary.
"It's not exactly like you're not right, though…" Touko conceded in the softest voice.
She didn't know if N actually heard her, but before he could decipher or once again question her words, she scurried off into the woods to change.
Half the time, Touko wasn't even quite sure she knew was she was thinking or saying these days. She half-expected the sky to turn green and the grass to turn blue when she woke up after everything else. But she knew that she was still young; a small crick in her neck was a small price to pay her gratitude. To a Pokémon it had become quite impossible to live without.
XWXWXWXWX
Waking up the next day, Touko found that she'd already figured out an N-adapted routine. It was as if she'd been plotting in her dreams.
"Oh no. N. I think the Pokémon might be hungry. We should probably find some berries. Oh, except I'm really bad at that and you seem to have the right knack for it…so you take care of it. Okey-dokey?"
She delivered the speech with the same over rehearsed stiffness Bianca had displayed in the school production of, The Princess and the Politoed. Except Touko hadn't even rehearsed; she was just a natural cardboard ham.
Considering the "okey-dokey," she didn't seem to hack it much as a writer either.
But it didn't matter, because N went along with it without question—though the "okey-dokey" gave him pause—and Touko made her break for some hidden place to change again.
Even better, in the daylight she found a small pond for a quick rinse. Nothing was quite so refreshing as cool water on your face after two days and two nights on the road. And to think, kids complain about baths…lucky brats…
Now she finally looked the part of a proper trainer, ready to challenge the Nacrene City gym. If everything went as planned, she'd get into the city that night and she'd be able to challenge the gym the next day. Of course, that was after she battled Cheren. Maybe a couple more days until the gym battle then. Cheren would likely already have his next badge by now and be more of a challenge.
Touko thought this over, plotting out her attacks, as she strolled back to the camp. Initially, she thought she'd arrived first, until she saw N waiting patiently by a fence, looking out across the wild grass. Most of her Pokémon were nearby him (with an obvious exception) and Touko couldn't help but think that the image suited him perfectly. The boy who could understand Pokémon, surrounded by them.
She smiled and walked over to join him. She was about to say something about moving along, until she realized he was even more surrounded than she'd thought.
Just beyond the fence, there was an entire herd of Blitzle grazing in the grass.
Touko gasped in amazement. She knew there were Blitzle on Route 3, but until now she hadn't caught sight of a single black or white stripe.
Blitzle was what Zebstrika—her absolute obsession ages 5-13—evolved from. Though now she realized Blitzle on their own were enough to amaze her. Especially in such large numbers…there had to be at least a dozen of them.
She leaned on the fence beside N, smiling as she watched the herd. For the moment, both seemed content to not say a single word. Though Touko wondered in the small part of her brain not devoted to Blitzle at the moment, if he'd even noticed she was there. He seemed the sort to get so invested in something that he'd forget the world around him.
"They're pretty quiet…" N spoke up first, acknowledging her presence for the first time. "Even though they know we're here they don't care at all…" He turned to her, trying to impart some sort of meaning in the look that Touko couldn't really read.
"Well…Blitzle are a lot less aggressive when they're in a herd like this," Touko responded without even having to think about it. It was as if a switch had flipped and suddenly she was an enthusiastic ten-year-old back from the library. "There are a couple of theories as to why. Blitzle are more confident in a team and so they don't worry about aggressors quite so much. One trainer versus ten Blitzle is quite different than one on one. The other idea is that they just love their herd so they don't want to leave."
"It's probably because they're happy where they are…they don't want to risk getting caught by a trainer…" N replied instantly and looked back at the Blitzle with a faint, satisfied smile.
"Right? I think so, too," Touko replied with a brighter smile of her own. "Because it's lonely to leave your family. I mean, I know Pokémon are different than people, but still…" Her smile faded, but didn't disappear, as she reflected, "It's why I couldn't become a breeder or something instead of a trainer…because watching the Pokémon leave would be too sad."
"So, it's really because you'll miss the Pokémon…"
She glanced up at N, whose tone was just vague enough to leave her room for any interpretation her mind could come up with. Her mind heard Cheren back in Striaton City.
"You didn't say that. You said they would be lonely."
"Yeah…" Touko admitted with a rueful sigh and a sad smile. "It's that I'll miss them."
After that, neither said anything for a while. Touko wasn't even sure what she thought about as she stared out across the herd, but for once she wasn't particularly concerned with why N might be silent. After all, if she needed some quiet time…it wasn't that weird for others, too.
When the Blitzle herd began to move, she was brought back to reality…and her discomfort. After some brief fumbling, she continued her Blitzle lecture as if she never left off, "B-But with a herd this size, there should be a Zebstrika around somewhere…which is actually odd, since I thought they'd sort of dwindled out in the past ten years."
N raised his eyebrows in surprise and turned to her. "What do you mean? Was everyone coming to catch them? That's why there's none left…"
"N-not particularly," Touko replied, startled at the attention. She wasn't used to playing any sort of expert. "Kind of the opposite actually. Because the gym was closed for a while, strong trainers haven't come this way until it reopened this year. Only getting into occasional skirmishes with wild Pokémon from the area…they just don't get strong enough to evolve anymore."
N turned back to the Blitzle with a frown on his face. "That doesn't make sense. Are Blitzle different from other Pokémon and need to fight trainers? But there's no reason for that to be true…Pokémon shouldn't need people to get stronger…"
"Well, they often do. There's Pokémon like Boldore and Gurdurr that will only evolve when they're traded between people. On top of that there's Karrablast and Shelmet that need to be involved in a trade with each other to further evolve. I'm not really sure on the theories on that, Bianca could probably remember a few she's read, but…" She drifted off as she caught a glance at N's face; he looked completely dumbfounded.
"There's Pokémon that will only evolve because of trainers…and trading…?" he asked the question as slowly and deliberately as Touko had ever heard him speak.
"You don't know this stuff?" she asked in unmasked surprise. Her mouth was even hanging open a little.
Playing the part of a Blitzle expert was a little odd, but this other stuff about evolution was pretty common knowledge. Until then, she'd been feeling like she'd traded one know-it-all about Pokémon for another (one that got their information from the source rather than whatever magazine they picked up that day), though she'd at least been spared N giving her other friend's lectures on battling technique.
"I haven't met every Pokémon in Unova," N replied, looking a little put out by her surprise. It was like he knew he'd failed the expert test Touko apparently had running in her mind.
"Yeah, but it's in books and stuff…" Touko shrugged and regained her composure pretty quickly. "At least that's where I learn it. Books and some lessons here and there."
"You know a lot about Blitzle in particular, though…" And he glanced back at the slowly retreating Pokémon.
Touko followed her gaze and a small smile crossed her lips. "Oh. Well…you see, Zebstrika used to be my favorite Pokémon."
N frowned, though his eyes stayed on the herd. "You have a favorite …"
"Well, not anymore. It would be way too tough to choose now. But yeah…when I was little."
"I'm still not sure how you choose just one Pokémon above all else."
"Well, like starters, probably. It sort of just happens, like it chooses you," Touko replied to complete silence. Isn't it like that for everyone…? It took a moment to remember, but at last, "Oh right! No starter either. Let's see…"
She smiled fondly at the memory she was about to impart. "For me, when I say it chose me…my dad used to tell me about a Zebstrika he just couldn't beat. You see, his starter was Rufflet, so he had an extra tough time against this Pokémon. So, to me, when I was little, the Pokémon that beat my dad—Zebstrika—had to be amazing…"
"Your father was a trainer?"
"Mmm…" Touko replied absently, looking back out at the herd of Blitzle again. They were moving in the opposite direction down the route, back toward Striaton City. It didn't seem likely she'd see them again. "I guess….that's why sometimes I wonder…" She frowned.
"Wonder what?"
This time, Touko really wished N would drop it like he did with most things. She glanced up at N, who was looking back at her with an almost innocent, childlike curiosity.
"N-never mind!" she replied abruptly, deciding to shut him down after all. She frowned sternly, though she wasn't quite sure why. She was sure it created an oddly serious dissonance as she attempted to get back to light-hearted subjects. "I used to actually pretend I was one. A Zebstrika, I mean. I don't suppose you ever did that?"
"Sometimes I suppose…I did want to be a Pokémon…I thought it would be better…"
Immediately, Touko's face fell in concern. Every so often he would say something like that, something that hinted to more, something darker. And Touko was beginning to realize that there had to be a bit of a story to N; he wasn't just this odd young man that started to exist when she met him in Accumula Town.
But she wasn't going to pry. No good would come from sniffing out secrets unless someone was ready to tell them. "Well, I hope you don't think that way so much anymore," she tried for lightness again.
"No…there's some thing only I can do for Pokémon because I'm not one of them…"
"Protect them like they protect you, right?" she said, referencing their conversation from the first night.
The herd was out of their sight now, but N was still watching where they'd been. Then, for a moment, he glanced in her direction and answered, "Something like that."
More and more mysterious, Touko thought with a small frown. Even as she was getting to know him, it only opened up more questions. Maybe it was just part of the process outside of a small town.
It was too early in the morning for that kind of tension, Touko decided. So, she decided to switch the topic. An especially good idea since there was something that she'd sort of set aside in favor of the Blitzle herd.
"By the way, N…did you know there's a Pidove on your shoulder?"
"I'm not sure how I could be unaware of it…he's on my shoulder…"
"Yes…that would be weird…" Touko conceded, just glad that N knew this as well. With the way neither one had mentioned it, it was getting a little suspicious. She looked up at the conspicuous Pokémon. "He seems pretty comfortable. Where'd he come from?"
N looked at the Pidove as well, then back at Touko. "You don't recognize him?"
Touko shook her head.
"He's the Pidove from yesterday. The one you and Snivy almost made faint yesterday…"
She winced at the mention of the previous day and felt another stab of that unreasonable guilt. He could have just left it at 'the one from yesterday' and I would have gotten the picture. Really, the fact that Touko "Throw a Ball at the Problem's Head" White knew more about subtlety said a lot.
"Huh…so he is," she said simply, because it was easier than asking how she was supposed to recognize every Pokémon. She was sure his answer would somehow make her feel guilty again.
On the plus side, she was really starting to get the hang of talking to N.
To get to Nacrene City, she decided to put these new skills to use. She stepped back from the fence with a smile and seamlessly transitioned their conversation into one that naturally lead them back down the road.
This topic was originally about the Pokémon near Nacrene City: Cottonee, Lilligant, the various fighting types, Tympole. Pretty standard stuff. Until somehow, Touko managed to get the conversation over to sports. She might have mentioned the Pokéathalon once…for some reason. Honestly, she wasn't quite sure despite being present the entire time.
But the topic proved to be an interesting experiment. When they talked about the sports involving Pokémon, like the Pokéathalon, N seemed quite invested in the conversation. When the topic naturally lead to her mentioning her softball team, he didn't even try to feign interest.
It seemed N wasn't interested in her at all. Or perhaps it was better to say that if it wasn't about Pokémon, he didn't care.
Touko laughed good-naturedly upon this realization. "You know, don't take it personally, but you're a little weird N. Not in a bad way or anything, just…not like other trainers."
"You're weird too," N replied, though he didn't look particularly bothered, just like he was thinking about something. He looked that way a lot around her, Touko was starting to realize. She'd thought it was just the Patrat incident, but maybe not.
"I'll have you know that I am the perfect model of your average every day Trainer," Touko informed him with a little smirk. "I even have a challenge pose."
The remark about a "challenge pose" seemed to confuse N for a moment, so Touko happily stopped walking and demonstrated, after which N moved along as if it had never been brought up. "No, you're different."
"Well, I don't really see how," Touko replied huffily, crossing her arms over her chest. A playful comment had turned into another opportunity for N to be evasive. He was really a difficult person to wheedle information out of.
Of course, if he decided to say something, then there was no stopping him.
"With your Pokémon. I haven't seen anyone else like you in battle. How your Pokémon—your new Pokémon—didn't even hesitate. Snivy trusted you completely. Then, even if you can't hear him, you seem to understand sometimes…" N explained looking a bit conflicted over the matter.
Touko felt as if she lost her breath. Hearing that from N…she knew it wasn't empty praise. It was just a fact. She looked at the ground, suddenly shy as she answered, "Other trainers can be like that."
"No, they're not the same," N insisted, looking quite frustrated by this fact. Then he added, quite carelessly, "You're just strange all the time too."
Touko faltered in her walking for a moment, not sure if she should be offended, since it was N after all. She couldn't help it though; did he really have to go ahead and add on that last bit? Shouldn't that be her line anyway? It was that last fact that made her unable to just brush it off like usual.
She recovered quickly and asked in a falsely pleasant tone, "Oh? And how am I strange outside being a trainer?"
"You're not like other girls," N replied without looking at her and thus oblivious to the dangerous trap he was walking into. He was too busy puzzling out Touko's oddities at that moment.
"How many girls do you know?" Touko asked sharply this time. She hadn't figured on N being the type to make a lot of…friends and news to the contrary was irritating her somewhat. She'd formed a kind of socially awkward alliance with him in her mind.
"Two."
Touko's irritation dissipated immediately. "Two?"
N nodded, this time looking at her.
He had an entire list that counted as his first Pokémon. But apparently, somehow, he only knew two girls.
Didn't he ever go to school? Or did those old snooty Boy's schools still exist somewhere in Unova?
"Wait, does that include me?" Touko asked, figuring she should at least get the accurate number so she could portray the appropriate amount of disbelief.
"Well, no…I guess you're three, then."
Instead of disbelief, Touko just sighed. She'd been doing a lot of that the past couple of days, but clearly it was the only way to respond to this absurd conversation (honestly, the half of the conversation N had with Panpour she'd heard seemed more normal). She looked at N sideways, as if the new perspective would somehow make everything clear.
He only looked more confused at the odd action.
Touko smiled and righted herself. "I guess in that number, it can't be helped that I'm weird. Three is an odd number, after all."
Even N cracked a small smile at that and Touko almost stumbled in surprise. It was the first time N had shown any real amusement at something she'd said. So, she stored away the fact that math humor was acceptable to him. Or did it count more as a play on words, because that might be easier to do…
Suddenly, there was the familiar musical tone of her Xtransceiever ringing.
Touko looked at the device with a healthy amount of apprehension. Her calls were usually from her mother and she wasn't sure that was a force she wanted N to have to deal with.
But when she looked at it, she didn't see her "From Home" display on the screen. Instead, she answered to see her friend's worried face on the screen. "Bianca? Are you all right?"
"Oh! Touko! I didn't know who else to call! Cheren's already in Nacrene, but I thought maybe you were still on Route 3, too…"
"So you're traveling now? You beat the gym?" Touko asked in excitement. Perhaps it wouldn't be too long now until all three of them were reunited in Nacrene.
"Oh yeah, I am…I mean I was…and the gym…" Bianca let out a deep breath and started over, "Team Plasma stole a little girl's Pokémon!"
Touko's smile fell right off her face and her eyes narrowed. "In Striaton?"
Bianca shook her head. "Right after I went by the daycare—you might have seen it—they went running by and into the cave nearby. By the time I found out what happened and tried to go after them, they were already gone. Not that I could have done much anyway…the poor Lillipup…Anyway! The police showed up, but I don't know what they can do because of what they said before. Then I thought of you. Since you're further along, maybe they're heading your way and you'll see them. And since it's you, you could probably do something."
"I promise I'll be on the lookout," Touko said in her most comforting voice, then hesitated before continuing, "But I'm already well past the half point. If it just happened, I'm not sure what exactly I can do…"
"Oh…" Bianca's disappointment was evident even across the miles and Touko's heart ached for her friend. It seemed like Bianca got something new to be stressed out over everyday.
"I promise I'll try to do what I can, though!" Touko rushed out, despite not having a single idea in that vein. "If I have to turn around—"
"Oh no! Please don't do that! You've already had to do so much. If it weren't for the other incident, you'd already be in Nacrene City. I just thought, since it's you…you'd be the best person if it was easy for you…I thought it was a long shot…"
Despite Bianca's words, she was clearly taking the situation hard, so Touko couldn't just leave it alone. "Well, I promise I'll try something anyway."
Bianca's face beamed on the other side of the screen, making Touko certain that she'd really try. "Thank you! Oh wait, they need to ask more questions. I'll see you in Nacrene. Bye—" And the feed cut off without waiting for Touko's response.
She stared at the blank screen of her Xtransceiver for a while, trying to cope with the injustice of it. "Team Plasma stole some little girl's Pokémon," Touko stated, perhaps to inform N, but she didn't look at him. She lowered her arm, but still stared into the same empty space. "I don't know what they're thinking."
"They want to free Pokémon from irresponsible owners," N replied, far too trustingly for Touko to handle at the moment.
She scoffed. "Yeah, so they say, but after—" She had to stop; she'd decided not to tell him about that. She folded her arms over her chest and took a deep breath to calm down. "Whatever their deal is…I don't think you can just trust that stealing a little girl's Pokémon is the right answer."
"It was a little girl that just gave away your Panpour," N reminded her. "A child could be just as bad and a bad owner shouldn't have Pokémon."
"She wasn't that little…" Touko protested weakly. Then her brow furrowed and she looked up at N. "Wait, how did you…"
N was staring back at her, blinking, and Touko sighed in defeat.
"Right, right. Panpour told you. I keep forgetting…" She put the matter aside; funny how even a guy being able to talk to Pokémon could become routine. But at this rate, she'd get derailed into another odd N conversation and the mission from Bianca was too important. So her enthusiasm had to retire for the moment.
All she had to do was figure out what exactly it was she needed to do. She folded her arms over her chest and went deep into thought.
It sounds like this happened just today. So, if Team Plasma is heading this way, we're just not very likely to see them. Even if we headed back, they'll probably hide or have some other exit plan. They'd have to be stupid to go straight ahead to Nacrene City. Then again, it is Team Plasma…After all, the police already know, so they're really the best people. But I promised Bianca…there has to be something…Maybe there's something on the map, but it looked like it was pretty straightforward.
"Shouldn't we start walking again? We're almost there…"
She glanced up at N, who until then had been waiting quite patiently as she drifted through her unproductive plans. Now, however, he was looking a little anxious about something, making Touko frown. "How do you know that?"
"The Pokémon are getting quieter. They always do near the towns and cities…"
"Huh…you can't turn it off, I suppose…" Touko replied absently, and she was about to go back to her plan-making when she whipped her head around. "The Pokémon!"
"Yes…so if we kept walking we'd get to Nacrene City."
Then, a smile not at all associated with the proximity to their destination spread across Touko's face, causing N to frown. He'd already learned there were a few things to be wary about when it came to Touko. The Poké ball throw had probably seen to that.
"Hey, N. Let's take a detour…"
"You seemed like you were really in a rush to get to Nacrene City, I'm not sure why you'd want to stop now…"
Touko blinked in surprise—N really did notice things without her saying them outright sometimes—but shook it out of her head for the moment. "Some things are more important that gyms and challenges. Things like justice!"
"This is about Team Plasma stealing that girl's Pokémon…"
"Right."
"I don't really want to get involved." N looked off to the side and up, firmly away from Touko.
The now-ignored girl frowned and tried to step back into N's evasive view, but that was the infuriating thing about his height; it wasn't possible. Finally, she gave up with a huff. "Well, why not?"
N didn't respond. Touko knew right away she'd never be able to wait him out. So, she folded her arms over her chest and said in her most dangerous voice, "N…why not?"
It was startling to find how much she sounded like her mother in that moment.
Effective though, since she'd never known a person that could stand up to her mom and a sheltered boy like N wasn't going to be the exception.
"If she's a bad trainer, I don't want to help her…"
For a moment Touko was distracted by how pouty his tone sounded—if it made sense a tone could sound pouty while a person was clearly not pouting—and a brief fleeting thought occurred to her in regards to this which Touko buried firmly beneath her own sarcastic tone before it could take root, "You mean the five-year-old?"
"I said before, a bad trainer is still a bad trainer."
Touko pursed her lips. Luckily, she'd already figured out the solution to swaying N in all things the first night in the dark. "Well, then…we should meet that stolen Pokémon to find out what they want. Because after all, we should do what Pokémon want…"
N frowned at the reasonable argument, and Touko could see him searching his mind for some reason to refuse to do what a Pokémon wanted, but in the end he had no choice to relent.
"Fine."
With the shortest statement she'd probably ever hear from him.
"Excellent! Here's the plan…"
It really wasn't much of a plan. What they did was wander around until they met a Pokémon and then found out about all of the pathways people might not know about through the route. Collecting information that would be helpful to the proper authorities to apprehend the nefarious villains (as Touko termed them in a fit of childhood nostalgia for her old cartoons).
It was taking them to a lot of weird places though, which Touko began to regret as she found herself climbing up some higher and higher ledges. She couldn't laugh them off as easily since they'd cost her about 800 in supplies, which wasn't that much, except she was still a new trainer. Not to mention that climbing ledges was a lot harder than jumping off them. Even her Pokémon had declined the trip with one look at the height. Two of them sat on the ground, watching her and joining the lazy ranks with Purrloin in her mind. It was Panpour and Patrat; Snivy had given up on the quest entirely halfway through and chose to go into his Poké ball, for the first time since the first 24 hours with Touko.
"You're pretty dedicated…" N noted from the safety of the flat ground twenty feet below, standing beside the Pokémon.
"I just want to make sure the pathway is there before I call the police," Touko called back down as she ascended the last ledge. Sure enough, there it was and satisfied with this, she clambered her way back down, only slightly more cautiously than she would have before yesterday's incident.
"You really don't like Team Plasma…" N continued unhelpfully as he looked up at the rocky ledges Touko had just traversed.
"It's not about Team Plasma, it's about justice," Touko insisted as she started fiddling with her Xtransceiver.
"Against Team Plasma," N insisted.
He wasn't going to let it go, so Touko shut her Xtransceiver back off with a sigh. "You're right…I just don't trust them." She could only come up with the vague reasoning without mentioning the Dreamyard incident.
Truthfully, they had been on her bad side before then. She thought back to the very first encounter and her frown deepened. "And I especially don't like that Ghetsis guy."
"You don't think what he says makes sense?" N asked, looking straight at Touko with his sharp green eyes. "People take Pokémon for granted. They rely on them for everything. Isn't it likely that it's too much? That people are taking advantage…"
Touko fidgeted a little under N's intense gaze. "Well, maybe," she conceded with a small frown, but came back quickly, "Still, I think if you explain just about anything the right way, you could make it seem like it makes sense. Like it's the truth, even if it isn't. I've known Cheren forever and I bet he could do something like that, talk someone into jumping off a bridge by 'laying out the logical benefits' or something."
N's serious gaze didn't even falter at the scenario, and instead started to frown. "Your friend is the weird one. Why would he want to do that?"
"No, I'm not really saying…it's just an example. Cheren wouldn't do that…probably."
"But you think Ghetsis would?"
"I don't know, maybe?" Touko let out yet another sigh; clearly there was some miscommunication going on. "What I'm saying is…I just plain don't trust the guy."
"Why not?"
"I don't know. He just gave me the creeps back in Accumula Town."
N said nothing further, but still looked like he didn't understand.
Touko huffed and folded her arms over her chest, stopping to really try and figure out a way to explain. Somehow, this felt important.
After traveling with N for a couple of days, there was one thing she could say about N: he was naïve. Especially about Plasma. She rather couldn't help but think that if someone from Plasma demanded his Pokémon, he would hand them right over.
She didn't want to see something like that happen, since from what she'd seen, N was a good trainer. Especially in the caring department.
"Alright, let's see then…" Touko began, turning to N with her new tactic. "Haven't you ever met someone that you just knew was no good? There was nothing specific, no particular reason, but despite whatever else you might see or know, you just know. The instant you see them, it's like an instinct."
"No…" N replied, almost coldly, "I always have a reason to know that a person is bad."
Touko's shoulders sagged. She thought maybe the instinct part would have helped, Pokémon have instincts and stuff. Maybe she should have included that more specifically, so she turned to him ready to try again—
"But…" N began, and Touko clammed up at the hopeful sign. He was looking unsure as he continued, "If you meet someone who you know is supposed to have done terrible things, but you like them anyway? Something like that?"
Touko blinked when he finished. It was surprisingly optimistic to be able to have that different perspective; she was beginning to wonder when exactly she'd become so cynical. However, N was looking at her patiently, waiting for a response, so she didn't have time to dwell on it.
"So…basically the same thing, except opposite? Yeah…I guess it can work that way too." She smiled a little and tilted her head. "Do you get it now?"
N was silent, frowning now as he appeared to be in deep thought once more.
"N?" Touko tried, without a response, so she waved her hand in front of his face to finally get his attention. "Do you understand?"
He looked at her for a moment, straight into her eyes so that the smile fell from her face and she felt like the one at a loss for words. She couldn't quite figure the look in his eyes, but his straightforward gaze made her breath catch in her throat.
"I think so," he said at last, not breaking the gaze.
Touko fidgeted uncomfortably, finally regaining her senses. "R-right. Good then…I'm just going to…" She coughed uncomfortably and returned to making her calls to Bianca and the police.
Both thanked her for the help (one with a lot more enthusiasm than the other) and the matter seemed as if it would be settled. Just maybe not that day. They'd keep her posted.
How do I get involved in this stuff?
She sighed, but was careful to put a smile on her face when she turned back to N, signaling she was done. To her surprise, he smiled back. She faltered in that moment, as N moved ahead without another word. He just expected her to follow, which she knew to do without a word.
But Touko stayed behind, wondering exactly how that had happened. Even when N wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary, he still managed to confuse her. She had to actually shake her head clear over her silliness before she jogged to catch up. Somehow, she found herself walking alone beside N, each of her Pokémon choosing to rest in their balls after the long day.
The rest of their journey that day was pretty quiet without the Pokémon. Touko didn't seem to mind the lapses in conversation as much. She was doing a lot of thinking on her own. And every so often, when it was silent, she'd look at N from the corner of her eye and just wonder what he was thinking about.
One time she'd gotten so distracted in this endeavor that she tripped right over a rock she clearly should have seen. Perhaps a good thing about N's naivety—or perhaps innocence—was that he didn't seem to care in the slightest how uncool she looked. While she stood back up and dusted off her clothes and tried to regain her composure, N just waited for her patiently after making certain that she was all right.
It made the embarrassment fade a lot faster, Touko thought with a smile as she walked beside him down the road, feeling content once again.
It was an odd feeling, only disrupted when Touko allowed this thought to occur to her, crumpling her brow in confusion every so often. Though it was always replaced by a small smile again.
They didn't make it to Nacrene City that night, but she didn't really mind. And that was one thing she decided very clearly not to wonder too much about.
XWXWXWXWX
"Did I ever tell you the story about the Pokémon that created the universe?"
"Dad, this isn't the time. Besides, I'm thirteen. Now, I'm really getting too old for fairytales."
"Hey! Don't get ahead of yourself. There's still two more weeks. Besides, they're not fairy tales. They're legends."
"They're not real."
"See, this is what happens when I let you hang out with your mother too much. Too much reality. That was always your mother's problem."
"…I'll tell her you said that."
"How did I get such a rude child?"
"I suppose that's Mom's fault, too?"
"See, now I'll tell you said that. How do you like that?"
"She won't believe you."
"That's true. Women always stick together. It's so lonely…just me and Brav…"
"Pretty lucky having a Pokémon at all though..."
"See! There you go, getting ahead of yourself. Quit growing up."
"Is that why you still try the fairy tales? Trying to keep me regressed in childhood."
"Legends. And quit trying words you don't know."
"Sure, fine. I just always thought the stories you actually told me when I was little were better. They didn't have to be made up or anything…"
"Like the ones about Zebstrika?"
"That's…"
"Ha! Are you blushing?"
"N-no! Why would I—Dad! Stop laughing!"
"Sorry, sorry. Maybe you really are a teenager already. You have the stubbornness down. Zebstrika though, eh?"
"Is there a problem?"
"Nah…just reminds me of something your mother said…I guess I'll have to make the trip after all."
"Where are you going?"
"Two weeks before your birthday? You should know better than to get answers to all of your questions."
"Dad, you're supposed to drive me to school."
"You're old enough to walk."
"You were the one that asked me if you could."
"Alright. I'll pick you up instead, how about that?"
"Sure, fine. I'll see you later."
"No hug?"
"Sorry, I guess I'm just a stubborn teenager already. Deal with it."
It was just a memory. Just one memory. There were a lot more.
Touko reminded herself of all of these things as she laid flat on her back, staring up at the night sky and trying to catch her breath. Until just a few moments ago, she'd been sleeping. She'd even gotten to sleep quite easily. Just like every other night since she'd left Striaton City.
Why now? Why that?
It wasn't even like a nightmare. Nothing like what happened in the Dreamyard. It wasn't even like any dream she had when she used to dream. It was just a memory.
Was it some sort of remaining side effect of the mist? Was this just what her dreams were going to be like from now on? Memories she wanted to forget forced in front of her?
It wasn't just another bad memory, either. She had a dozen more of her and her father talking the exact same way that she remembered fondly. They joked. It was how they talked.
But this…It was like her own subconscious was playing mind games with her, showing her something relatively harmless so it would hurt all the more when she remembered the context.
She put her hands over her face, willing herself not to let it bother her. She'd said stuff like that all the time. She was sure she'd even been smiling when she said it. Her father knew that, right?
The truth was that she had been mad at him, but she was a stubborn almost-teenager and refused to let him see it. If she'd just asked him to drive her after all, he would have agreed and then nothing…
This is why it was awful. Her mother had been the same way after the accident, blaming herself for it. Touko knew it wasn't really her fault, just like her mother must have known, but it was there anyway.
She sighed and let her hands fall to her side. The panic had passed, but there was no point in trying to get back to sleep with that rock sitting in her stomach. She sat up. She used to go through this a lot after nightmares in the first few months. It was like you had to reboot your brain after it got overloaded.
First, she took a look around her surroundings. She was still on Route 3, still a fifteen-year-old trainer. There were her Pokémon. Lillipup, Patrat, and Panpour were all curled up in a line. Purrloin lay a little bit farther away. Snivy had left the pillow and was in the sleeping bag with her now. She reached out to touch his head and smiled at his mid-sleep fidgeting.
Everything was fine. As fine as they could be anyway.
Except, as Touko looked around the rest of the camp, she remembered that someone else was supposed to be there. She frowned and picked up her Xtransceiver like she had the first night, though this time the search was on purpose.
He wasn't very far, just difficult to see in the dark, sitting on a small hill away from the streetlights.
"N?"
He didn't look back at her, so Touko walked up the hill and shined her Xtransceiver's light right on him. He looked up at her with his usual expression. Touko could see that the Pidove from before was sitting on the ground beside him.
"Why aren't you sleeping?"
Really, that should have been Touko's question, since at least she'd managed to be asleep at some point that night. It looked like N hadn't even tried, which was a little alarming considering the time display on Touko's Xtransceiver.
"I woke up," she gave the most honest answer she was willing to. "And you?"
"I was thinking. I don't sleep that much."
"Huh," Touko barely uttered, for lack of anything better. After a few moments of silence, she sat down beside him to no objection. The only sounds were the rustles of the wilderness and the faint cooing of Pidove. She fidgeted a little in discomfort.
"I'm not sure…probably in the morning…" N's voice came faintly.
"What?" Touko immediately turned to N in confusion. Then she caught sight of Pidove and figured it out pretty quickly. "Oh, Pidove said something, right?"
N nodded.
Feeling a little proud of herself, Touko grinned. "I'm getting better at that, being used to it and stuff."
"It's not much to get used to…" N replied with a frown, not getting better at being used to Touko's excitement.
But now that it had started up again, it was a good distraction and Touko wasn't about to let it go. "I know I can get a little annoying with my questions, but if you don't mind can you answer one more thing for me?"
"It's fine…I don't think it would bother me…What do you want to ask?"
"Well, just…it might be a weird question to you, but I wanted to know how long you've been able to do it."
"I've always been able to hear Pokémon. It's not any different than talking to you." He stopped for a moment, picking at the grass. "Actually, it's easier."
"Hmm…" Touko hummed thoughtfully and leaned back. She decided not to ask about why it was easier, figuring from N's tone it was one of those private things.
Despite the silence again, Touko found herself feeling relaxed like she had been on the road. Even if there were no distractions, it was just better to have someone nearby after a nightmare. Relaxing, somehow, to know that she wasn't alone. It helped that N actually looked the most relaxed she'd seen him so far, currently petting Pidove. Though he started frowning in some confusion as he looked at the small Pokémon. Touko giggled, wondering just what Pidove might be saying to cause such an expression.
I wonder…
The thought had been drifting in her head the past couple of days. Perhaps longer, since she met N or even when she first walked onto Route 1. Now, after the dream, in the silence of the night, she let it slip out.
"I wonder…if being a trainer…" She frowned, it was a difficult thought to put into words and find the strength to say. "…If I could understand Pokémon like you…I wonder if I still would have wanted to be a trainer…"
N froze, hand resting atop of Pidove's head mid-pet. "What do you mean?"
"Well…" Touko looked up at the sky. "I just love Pokémon. Being a trainer is mostly a way to be with them. I never got that excited about battles growing up."
"There are other ways…" N said suddenly, his voice sounding even more rushed. "To befriend Pokémon outside of battling, outside of owning them."
"Maybe, but it's what I have right now. A precious way to understand my Pokémon," Touko replied softly.
N didn't respond, so she chanced a glance at him, it looked like he was deep in thought. He looked disappointed somehow. It made him look vulnerable. And once again, Touko found the truth spilling right out of her lips, "But my dad, too. I wanted to be a trainer because I admired him."
"That's right…Your father was a trainer…"
"Not that unusual," Touko replied with an easy shrug, fighting off the anxiety of the current topic. "Except my dad didn't stop after his journey was complete. He became a professional."
"Your father…is he still a trainer?"
"Oh…" Touko said, already feeling the awkward atmosphere that answer the answer always inevitably created. She'd evaded it before, but now it was such a direct question. "…no…he died a while ago."
"I see…" N said, and to Touko's surprise, didn't follow up with the usual useless condolences or apologize for nothing. Instead, he was silently looking at the ground, his own expression unreadable.
It was the first time that someone let her drop it. That someone didn't say something just to fill the space, hand her a band-aid to use on a stab wound.
Touko looked at N, suddenly surprised when she looked in his eyes and found that she wanted to keep talking. Because of the opening he left her…without prying. Because it was her choice.
"He was my hero, really. He loved Pokémon and he shared a lot of that with me. It was so much fun. He used to talk with me for hours about all the Pokémon he'd seen in all of these different regions he traveled to…I wonder about that too, if me being a trainer is just because of him or if it's something I want or am actually good at…or…"
N's expression was so intent. For the first time he actually seemed to be listening to her, even though she wasn't talking specifically about Pokémon.
Touko didn't really know what to do with the attention as her words drifted off, so she did what she usually did when she was lost and looked up at the sky. A smile slowly formed on her face as she remembered just how that habit got started.
"Hey, N…how many stars do you think there are in the sky?"
"That's not really possible to answer, but there should be around 200 billion in the galaxy."
Touko let out a small laugh and looked at N with an amused smile. "Well, you're no fun."
N looked puzzled at the response. "It's not known, though…I can't answer any better."
"You're not supposed to have an answer," Touko explained with a quick shake of her head. She leaned back to look up at the sky again. "It was my dad's answer for how many Pokémon there are in the world. See, because there are Pokémon that we think come from space, there could be Pokémon for each star we see, thousands for each even. The possibilities are endless."
"Oh…" N looked up at the sky as well, frowning as if he was examining it. "I guess that makes sense. Even if it doesn't answer how many Pokémon there are in our world right now."
Touko looked at N again and sighed almost pityingly. She supposed she'd have to just accept the half-victory.
"I didn't think trainers spent that much time theorizing about Pokémon though, isn't that what professors do?" N asked, looking at Touko again.
"Sometimes, everyone's a philosopher. Especially when you have as much free time on the road as a trainer," Touko explained with a shrug. "Or at least that's what he said. My dad liked fantasies way too much to be an actual professor."
"So, he traveled around, catching Pokémon all of his life?"
Touko frowned, the questions were harmless but the answers were getting her back to some uncomfortable places. "He actually didn't catch that many. Just the six. And he retired when he was twenty-five, because…"
She pursed her lips. She didn't really have to explain. N hadn't asked. Even if he did, she could just say she didn't want to answer and he'd be fine with that.
And yet…she'd been talking about her dad all this time and the weight in her stomach hadn't gotten any worse. It was almost like the opposite…
"…He said he was missing out on a lot of things about being a dad, so he stopped when I was still little. Then, he entrusted all of his Pokémon to people he knew would take care of them. Bisharp, Darmanitan, Maractus, Boldore…My dad even had an Eevee. He never nicknamed him himself, so I started calling him Leavee because it combined Leafeon and Eevee so perfectly. I insisted that's how he should evolve, because of that. You know, preschool logic," Touko found herself rambling without pause, finishing with a little chuckle. Though she felt the tears stinging behind her eyes and had to stop what could easily turn into sobbing.
She sure where it was all coming from, but once she collected herself, she was taking another deep breath to continue.
"He didn't want to force his Pokémon to retire with him, since they loved battling. Even though it hurt to give them away…The only one he kept was Braviary. I told you, right? That Rufflet was his first Pokémon. So, it was too difficult. Instead, he got a job that specifically would allow him to travel by flying with Brav…" Her smile trembled a little at the memory. It had been so long since she'd seen Brav.
N had stayed silent, listening patiently to Touko's whole story, eyes fixed on her. Even though she herself wasn't all that sure what she was saying anymore.
"We didn't have a lot of Pokémon in the house and when he died, even Braviary went away…to an old friend in Mistralton City…So, I've really, really wanted this journey. It's too lonely living without Pokémon," Touko finished off, looking at the ground. Then she frowned, because nothing ruined a mood quite like her mother and added, "Though I wonder what happened to all of Mom's Pokémon."
"Both of your parents were trainers?" N asked, this time frowning a bit at the revelation.
Out of everything she'd just spat out, that was what he focused on? Touko noted this with some disbelief.
Actually, she appreciated not having to dwell on everything she'd just let out. She realized now that's what she'd been doing. And now, as she eagerly moved on to the lighter, more present frustrations with her family, she didn't even feel like she was running away or looking for a distraction. She sort of just felt…all right. For the first time since she'd started the journey…
"Apparently it runs in the family," Touko explained with a roll of her eyes, happily playing the beleaguered daughter. "I only found out about it the day I left, though. Fifteen years and not a word!"
"…And that's not normal?" N asked hesitantly, unsure of whether he had guessed right.
"Not even a little." Touko sighed and smiled reluctantly. "She's always doing stuff like that."
"She's the one you were talking to back on Route 2."
That startled Touko. She'd forgotten entirely about that most recent encounter with her mother. She turned to N with some mild distress. "So, you saw that part too, huh?"
N nodded. "Is she always that…fast?"
Touko cracked a smile, both at the description of her mom and at who was saying it. "Sometimes I pray for that. She's harmless though."
"But she called you…Fluff Head…" N replied with a concerned frown.
This time, Touko snorted, surprising herself. She quickly had to cover her mouth to suppress a harmful case of giggles. Normally the odd nickname would just get an exasperated sigh from Touko, but it just sounded so absurd in N's rushed, serious tone.
Finally, she regained her composure and explained without a single giggle, "It's just my mom's weird idea of a nickname. She doesn't mean anything by it."
N nodded, despite clearly not understanding at all.
Glad that they ended up in an easier conversation, she asked N, "How about your parents?"
"I have a father."
Touko waited for further details on the subject, but with none forthcoming, she prompted, "And your mother?"
"I don't have a mother."
"Oh…" Touko said simply, and remembering how grateful she'd been for N's discretion when it came to her own news, decided to leave it at that. It could be that was how he knew exactly what she didn't want to hear.
The silence stretched for a while, but even now, despite the cause, she didn't find it too uncomfortable, despite the cause. She didn't have anything to say and if N didn't either that was fine.
It was strange to figure that out. Since she was young, her quiet nature had always made her the outcast. It was odd to suddenly think of silence as something that could be normal and not just the mark of any sort of problem with her. Sometimes, there was just nothing to say.
Sometimes there was.
"Thanks, N…"
"I don't understand…what did I do?" N asked, looking confused.
Touko just smiled at him. "It's all right if you don't know. I enjoy being the puzzle for a change."
This only seemed to baffle N more, but that was plenty all right with Touko too.
On N: Oh, he makes me so sad. Not because his backstory is sad (though yeah), but because he is the most difficult character to write. How do you go about having N participate in something resembling a normal everyday conversation?
In the game, N appears. He goes off on a tangent. He answers maybe one or two questions in a very tangent-like fashion (often these questions are posed by himself). Usually these are answered with a denial of some sort so he can stay in denial. Every so often, he asks a loaded question ("How could you" or something). He ends with a bold declaration. Toss in some ellipses and there you go.
I'm not hating on it, there's just nothing in there resembling a real conversation. So, it's hard. What does N talk about? How does he answer inane non-Pokemon related questions? I figured he's not very enthusiastic since his brain consists of 99% Pokemon and Team Plasma, the Player Character, and mathematics are already fighting in that remaining 1%. But I don't really know.
I can't even go on fanon here, since most of it has been, "Yeah, N sure is weird. He'll probably be super nice, adorable, and fluffy later though." Which doesn't help while I'm still in the middle of game plot.
Usually I go on about my interpretation for story-purposes in these little things, but it's hard when you have almost no idea. Could what I'm writing be entirely wrong for a lot of people? Easily! Luckily, I've gotten some positive feedback, so things should be easier going forward without my insane stress and doubts in this area.
On the Original Scenes: Honestly, part of why I fret about N's characterization, is because I have a hard time not doing the whole fluffy bunny thing because I can't have him doing his Team Plasma rambling and still have Touko agree to be around him. I feel like I had to do so much cheating to make these past two chapters…but these chapters were part of my original idea for writing a story. I wanted to develop an actual relationship pre-Nimbasa for Touko and N. Too often, I feel like Touko seems to be taking a stranger's "betrayal" too hard in fanfics. I mean, that's totally how I read into it when I play the game, because I'm a shipper fangirl, but it's not really the way people work.
So, I started brainstorming for fun how I'd do an adaptation. Specifically, I went for a shoujo bent, but it didn't change all that much really aside from ROMANCE EVERYWHERE. But I got into the trilogy stuff and doing just romancey stuff like most shoujo seemed boring, so I dithed the idea. But it all originated in just pairing up Touko and N as travel buddies for a short while because I wanted them to have a clear place to become friends. So, I guess you can kind of call this an AU based on, "What if N and Touko became friends before Nimbasa City?" Even though not a whole lot changes based on that.
Really, I'll be honest and say if it was just about the trilogy storyline, I wouldn't even be writing this. I love plot, but I'm as much a fangirl as I am a writer. Gotta have more FerrisWheelShipping in there.