TOUKO'S P.O.V.

It was Iris' idea to head to Opelucid City, which is apparently her hometown. However, since Iris hasn't lived here since she was two, she's just as much an outsider here, especially now that Team Plasma runs the show.

For someone who hasn't been here since she was two, Iris seems to remember the city pretty well. She's already found us a hidden place on the outskirts of town to set up camp, and is currently giving us a tour. Of course, this is an Iris-fied version of a tour.

"So that's where I tripped and lost my first tooth," announces Iris, gesturing to a short flight of stairs. "And over there is where my dad and I used to people-watch."

"People-watch?" comments Skyla. "Is that, like, stalking?"

"No!" snaps Iris. "We were pretending to be spies. We'd just, you know, observe people and what they did and stuff."

"No offense, Iris," says Touya, "but that sounds like stalking."

"Oh, leave her alone," I tell them, since Iris is looking pretty riled up. I don't want them tarnishing the few memories she must have of her father. When I was little, anyone who used to talk badly about my parents after they were abducted got viciously bruised.

Returning to her bouncy self, Iris points out a charming little house in the corner of the city. "That's where me and my dad used to li -" she starts, but then stops abruptly. I notice a giant Team Plasma logo stamped onto the front door and grab her hand.

"It's okay, Iris," Chili starts consoling her, but Iris doesn't look sad. More like where's-my-giant-hammer-I-need-to-smash-something pissed off.

"How dare they!" Iris fumes. "The next time I see a Team Plasma Grunt, I swear I'll smash his head in or get Haxorus to beat him up. The nerve of these people with their ridiculous hair!"

"M-maybe we should get back to your tour, Iris," suggest Brycen, looking a little weirded out.

The purple-haired girl smiles back at him. "Sure thing, Brycen." She gestures to a grand looking building practically next door to her old home. "That's my dad's gym. Before Team Plasma took over, he would always tell me that someday, it'd be my gym. You know, when he retired."

"Really?" says Shauntal with interest. "I didn't know that gyms were passed down by heritage."

"Oh, no, they're not," Iris replies quickly. "It's just, my dad and I were pretty much the only real Pokemon Trainers here. I mean, I wasn't, not really, but I did play with my dad's dragon types. The Pokemon and I had a real … bond, I guess that's what you'd call it."

"Why weren't there any other trainers besides you and Drayden?" I ask.

"Opelucid City likes things old school," answers Iris, gesturing to the very charming, but truly ancient architecture and look to the city. "So basically, all the old geezers come here to live when they decide to retire from all the fun in life."

"Iris!" scolds Shauntal.

The purple-haired girl shrugs and shares a special look with Chili. They've obviously had a discussion about this before, probably when they were both on the run together before the rebellion. "Seriously, though, it's true," Iris protests. "These people are just full of political power, and stuff. You know, all persuasive and manipulative with words. One guy used to live next door to me, he was a salesman. It took him about two seconds to convince me that brushing my teeth would be so much more fun if my toothbrush was green."

"Um … okay," Skyla says slowly.

"Wait!" cries Touya. "So these old people – they're all really influential? And they keep in touch with their family in other cities?"

Iris looks confused at the questions. "Well, yeah. I'm sure they do."

Brycen seems to understand what Touya's getting at, because he starts questioning Iris, too. "And you said that they like to do things the old ways, right? So basically, they agree with people and Pokemon living in harmony, not with Team Plasma."

This time, Iris nods enthusiastically. "Oh, definitely! They used to go crazy about all the Pokemon Trainers who came here to challenge my dad's gym."

Touya and Brycen exchange a look. "Hey, Touko," says Touya slowly, not once looking away from Brycen, as though they're telepathically communicating. "We should totally make the rebellion bigger than just the people who are here right now."

"And Cheren and Bianca," I add hastily. "But totally. The rebellion should be as big as we can possibly make it."

"So what if we gave a speech?" continues Brycen. "Well, I mean, you could give the speech, Touko, seeing as you're the leader. But if you can convince all these people in Opelucid City to be on the rebellion's side, they'll get their families in other cities to join the rebellion. And soon it'll be all over Unova rather than just here."

"And it should be easy enough," adds Touya. "Considering that Iris says they prefer the days when people and Pokemon were united."

"Um," I stall. It's not like I have stage fright or anything, but what if they all disagree and report us to Team Plasma? What if they capture us and hold us captive until Team Plasma shows to throw us in jail?

"Touko," Skyla says, as though reading my thoughts, "they're a bunch of old people. Plus we have tons of strong Pokemon on our side. We can take them if anything goes wrong, for sure."

"It really is a good idea, Touko," Shauntal chimes in. "Think of how much better our chances would be if people all over Unova knew about us and were on our side. They could hide us in our houses when we switch locations and give us supplies. It's better for the rebellion, and as the leader, your main concern should be doing what's best for the rebellion."

"Oh, I see how this is going," I retort. "You're all ganging up on me and guilting me into this."

"No," Iris defends them. "They're totally right here, Touko. I promise you, nothing's going to go wrong. And you won't even have to write the speech – Shauntal and Chili can do it!"

"What?" Chili interrupts. "I understand why you'd want Shauntal to write the speech, she's all smart and bookish. But why me? I'm just a guy who can cook!"

"Have you ever lost an argument before, Chili?" asks Iris pointedly.

"No," replies Chili, without even stopping to think about it.

"Exactly," Iris says, rolling her eyes at him. "You've got a way with words. And it means that you're persuasive and persistent."

"Or it could just mean that I'm stubborn," mutters Chili.

"Oh, shut up," I snap at him, "at least you're not the one who has to actually go up and say the stupid speech."

Touya slips his hand through mine and gives it a reassuring squeeze. "Don't worry, Touko," he says sweetly, "I'm sure you'll do great."

It actually does make me feel better for a moment, until I realize that since it was basically his idea in the first place, Touya's probably just saying that so I won't be mad at him.

Two days later, and Shauntal and Chili have finished my speech. Surprisingly, for something written so hastily and – thankfully – rather short, it's actually pretty good. Convincing and to the point, just like speeches are supposed to be.

Unfortunately, because the speech is finished, I now have to go up onstage and deliver it. Iris says it doesn't really count for much since my audience is a bunch of old people, but hello, people are people. And if I don't end up in jail for the rest of my life because of this, I'm going to tell Iris' grandchildren her theory about old people, just to watch Iris suffer later.

"And so, people of Opelucid City," I practice frantically, pacing around outside, "that is why this is wrong. People and Pokemon should have each other, they should be united, just like the old days when pretty much everyone was happy. Join the rebellion and fight Team Plasma – bring back the glory of the old days!"

"Not bad," says Touya, who's lounging around in the grass, drinking a leppa berry smoothie, one of Chili's 'specialty drinks'. "But you do know you need to have that memorized when you actually give it, right?"

"What?!" I freak, whacking Touya over the head with the speech papers. "No one informed me of that! I don't know it by heart!"

"Yeah, you do," counters Touya, rubbing the spot on his head where I hit him. "You've been practicing it forever, and I've barely seen you look at the pages. Personally, it's a bit boring to hear you repeat the same stuff and over and over, but -"

"Oh, give me that!" I huff, grabbing Touya's smoothie and stalking away with it in hand. I ignore his desperate cries of, "Hey! Touko! That was MINE! Give it back!"

Chili, Iris and Shauntal have gathered a major crowd for what they've told everyone is some kind of 'surprise guest speaker'. I assume everyone must think I'm Ghetsis – ew, people think I'm an old, hunchback, ugly GUY – from Team Plasma, about to lecture them on the evil usage of Pokemon.

"Good luck," Skyla whispers to me and before I can respond, shoves me out there, in front of all the old people.

I look at them, wide-eyed, as they stare back at me. They don't matter, they're just old people, they don't matter, they're just old people, I chant silently to myself. Yes, I'm taking the Iris route on things, and yes, I'm a hypocrite. Leave me alone.

"Hey," someone near the back yells, "isn't that Touko White? The rebel girl?"

"I think so!" someone shouts back in response.

Before anyone else can say anything, I interrupt. "Yes, actually, I am Touko White, 'the rebel girl', and that's actually what I'm here to talk about." Thankfully, everyone's gotten all quiet and they all seem to be intently listening to me.

"You see, I believe that people and Pokemon should have each other, they should be united, just like the old days when pretty much everyone was happy. We need to bring back the glory of the old days!" After I finish that last sentence loudly, I realize that that's supposed to be the ending of my speech. Oh fuck. I'm screwed.

"Team Plasma is wrong," I announce, fully improvising from here on. "And they need to go because it's rude to cram your ideals done everyone else's throats. And the only people who can make them disappear is us – and we can do that by rebelling."

"We're a bunch of OLD people!" someone in the crowd shouts, but when I squint, I realize it's actually Iris, faking a deep voice. "What are we supposed to do?" It occurs to me that she's setting me up to keep my speech going, like a good friend.

"Well, rebelling isn't just about going around beating up members of Team Plasma," I explain, in honor of Touya and his plans for 'rebellion'. "It can be something simple, like taking in more outward rebels – like me – and giving us supplies and shelter. Anything at all is helpful. And for those people who are more into taking a real stand, catching and raising a Pokemon, outwardly defying Team Plasma, all of that shows how much you think it's wrong."

I have no idea where I'm going with this speech from here, or how I'm supposed to end it. I stick my hands into my pockets and feel – Pokeballs? Lots and lots of empty Pokeballs. Caught up in the moment, I grab them in handfuls and recklessly fling them into the crowd.

"Remember these?" I shout gleefully at the old people. "Do you remember when almost everyone had at least one Pokeball, and a Pokemon in it? Do you realize that Team Plasma has denied the generations of family after you the joy of having a Pokemon and bonding with it?"

I watch the crowd – most people are grabbing for Pokeballs and cheering loudly, while the minority stand there with stony expressions, refusing to so much as acknowledge the Pokeballs around them. Seeing so many people agreeing with me though, I keep going.

"These Pokeballs are empty!" I shout at the crowd. "Take them, send them to your friends and family all over! Catch a Pokemon! And most importantly, spread the word about the rebellion! DOWN WITH TEAM PLASMA!"

And then, breathing heavily, I run off the stage, into Touya's waiting arms.

"Nice speech," he smirks. "Really well planned-out."

"Shut up!" I hiss at him, before my brain turns to mush and I fall asleep in his arms.

N'S P.O.V.

At Team Plasma's castle, Ghetsis and I sat awkwardly facing each other in his office. I say awkwardly because I'm staring at the carpet, fidgeting, since I can feel his ice cold glare searing into my brain.

Ghetsis opens his mouth to speak, and instead just starts yelling. I wince at the incredibly loud, high-pitched sound that sounds all wrong in my ears. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, N? HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY CALL YOURSELF THE KING OF TEAM PLASMA?"

I say nothing. Better to let Ghetsis run out of steam than defend yourself and let him yell into eternity. Anyway, I have no idea what I've done wrong this time.

"LOOK AT ME!" Ghetsis roars, and I oblige, staring into his soulless gray eyes. "WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?"

A minute of silence passes before I mumble, "Actually, I'm not quite sure what I did ..."

"YOU'RE NOT QUITE SURE?" screams Ghetsis, grabbing my shoulders and violently shaking me. "HOW COULD YOU LET THAT STUPID REBEL GIRL STEAL FROM YOU?"

"Well, you know, I don't really know exactly how it happened …" I trail off, and Ghetsis slaps me so hard the sound echoes across the room.

His voice has dropped several decibel levels. "She took two legendary Pokemon from you. Do you know how hard it was for Team Plasma to take those Pokemon? We entrusted them to you because as our king, we thought you were worthy. Obviously not."

"What? No!" I protest. "Just because I made one mistake -"

"She beat you, didn't she?" Ghetsis interrupts coldly. "And took your Pokemon. In about two seconds. Pathetic, N."

I open my mouth to defend myself, but I can't. Everything Ghetsis said is true and I don't know what to say. Is but Touko's just so PRETTY! a good enough excuse? Knowing Ghetsis, probably – okay, definitely – not.

"Get out of here," Ghetsis says dismissively. "I'm done with you. Perhaps you can redeem yourself, if we ever decide to let you do anything again."

I leave, already shamed and not willing to let myself get humiliated further. Aren't I supposed to be the king of Team Plasma? I am – I was even publicly coronated and everything! So why is Ghetsis still in charge, still able to talk that way to me, still slapping me and treating me like a child who knows nothing?

Could it be that I'm just … a puppet king?