Lesson 4: On the first page of our story

A young boy about eight years old was lying on his back in the grass. A gentle breeze caressed his tousled tea green colored hair. It reminded him of the seldom moments on which Anthea or Concordia stroked his hair, trying to bring him comfort when bonding with a newly arrived Pokémon had backfired, resulting in him being bitten, kicked or scratched.

It hurt, he had to admit that it hurt, especially when his father ordered everyone to leave him alone with his wounds. It hurt, especially when the wounds started to infect and itch, tempting him to scratch unhealed cuts. His friends would warm him with their fur, restrain him from tearing at healing wounds, and watch over him from a careful distance when his fevers rose to dangerous heights.

"A King doesn't fail, a King isn't reduced to tears by his people, he stands tall amongst those who obey him! And you are a King!" his father had yelled.
His face reflected in the adult's cold and calculating eyes looked miserable. A creature like him was unworthy of being a King, he was hardly a peasant.
The disgust visible in his father's eyes was the only thing he earned. That hurt the most…It definitely hurt the most.

That day he promised himself that he would do better. One day he would be powerful enough, so powerful that he wouldn't have to gain obedience, but simply take it by force, as he rightfully owned. One day he would rise above himself.

If he had the opportunity to choose he picked physical pain over emotional pain. Being rejected by a Pokémon affected him more than being hit by a human.
Humans yelled, said awful things, lied, manipulated and crossed each other. A cornered Pokémon followed its instincts and attacked, they could be vicious when angered, scary even, but they never lied, they never truly hurt him, even the way they defended themselves was an honest one.

He liked the town they had chosen to visit. From his hideout up on the grassy hill he could see the little houses scattered about.
The village rested snugly between a few hills too small to be considered as mountains and the vast ocean.

Explains that nice breeze, the boy thought, his lifeless grey eyes resting on the huge amount of water.

From the distance he was sitting the ocean's surface appeared to be as smooth as a mirror. He liked the water's blue color, it had a green hue to it.
It wasn't the type of blue he longed to see, but it came close.

Lost in thoughts he jumped slightly when a tiny Pokémon curled up on his stomach. The boy and the fox exchanged a glance, it held a question coming from the human child, "Where have you been?" it said, a twinge of worry inserted.

By blinking his eyes the Pokémon seemed to justify his absence, because the child asked no more questions and both of them remained quiet, a sense of companionship hung between them.
It had been Zorua's idea to sneak out, to do so he had transformed himself in his biggest flying form possible, and by tightly gripping the boy by his shoulders they had managed to glide out from the window safely. Tired from the strain the illusion had put on him, the young Pokémon wasn't the best of company, his eyes heavy with sleep.

The boy sighed, he didn't know any nursery rhymes, and his untrained hoarse voice wouldn't be able to carry a tune anyways, so he started to recite the one thing he knew by heart which were the multiplication tables. When the numbers grew in length he gasped for air more often, the Pokémon lying on his stomach felt this motion, and embedded his claws in the child's clothes, softly piercing vulnerable skin. Instantly the boy relaxed, he hadn't been able to stop himself from blurting out the numbers, they just kept coming as if he was crying out, expressing emotions he didn't understand.

The fox Pokémon, known to the world as Zorua, had always felt the tremor of emotions bottled up inside the child. Anger and happiness were one amongst hundreds. He knew it wouldn't matter if the overpowering emotions were positive, if they ever surfaced they would bring all the same.

Your father already knows that you excel at math. The fox said with a single flick of his tail, If you really want to impress him you should learn to master the alphabet, from A to Z that is.

"Humpf." The boy snorted, pulling blades of grass to keep himself occupied, "I couldn't care less. Stupid alphabet can F-U-C-K off."

How is it that you manage to spell a word like that when you hardly know half of the alphabet? the Pokémon asked amused by his friend's weirdness.

"A King's vocabulary has to be understood! He has to be heard!" The young prince aspiring to be King answered giving himself an assuring nod as if he too still needed to be convinced.

"Talking high and mighty without being able to live up to the expectations is just weak. My servants will know that disobeying me is an unwise thing to do."

If you ever give a speech to your servants adding the word fuck to it they'll definitely think it's colorful language. It'll be a guaranteed success. Zorua commented neatly draping his furry black tail around his body.

Counting in his head up until the letter 'N' the boy's eyes narrowed, "N is the fourteenth letter of the alphabet, it contains 26 of them, which means I do know half of the alphabet!' The boy exclaimed happily, though his face remained motionless.

Yes you know half of the alphabet, congrats. Zorua said in a disapproving kind of tone, thank the legendary Pokémon you stopped at N, I don't think I would've been able to call you 'W' or even worse 'X'.

The tiny fox like Pokémon twitched its ears and opened a single red lidded blue eye. It had an icy color which reminded N of a lake situated somewhere cold.

"You're right, humans suck altogether but they really screwed up the language part. They should realize a Pokémon's true potential."

N said carefully petting the big jagged scar that ran across the Pokémon's other eye which now opened too. Zorua's previous owner had put it there and it would remain there forever. "Humans might've enslaved Pokémon, but your species will never be held back by something as trivial as a language barrier."

We sure won't.Zorua said, his eyes bright like gemstones suddenly shone dangerously.

N knew in which direction his friend's thoughts wandered, he allowed his own to be pulled along with the current. He remembered how his father had brought the little black creature before him, not so very long ago. He had been covered with blood and dirt at that time, hardly capable of lifting his head, shivering violently due to a fever and fear of humans. It was a rightful fear. Humans simply by existing made Pokémon unhappy and stole their freedom confining them into those wretched devices called Pokéballs, his stomach churned simply from the sight of those cold machines, aiding humans in their so called journey to become a trainer.

Pokédexes were used to classify his friends as if they were all the same. N had tried one on Zorua once.

The voice of a woman which sounded almost as cold as the device itself had said:

"Zorua, the fox Pokémon, to protect themselves from danger, they hide their true identities by transforming into people and Pokémon. They love playing jokes on people, their raise known for its trickster personality."

That last sentence had done it, both to N and Zorua.

N had flung the object from his hand against the colorful wall of his bedroom where it shattered into countless little pieces, loudly yelling if an abused Zorua, almost drowned to dead by his trainer would still have that trickster personality?
Zorua had backed him up by charging an ominous purple hued Shadow Ball and blasting it full force against the wall, reducing it to mere pieces.
The black fox had never managed to repeat an attack like that, and fainted from the energy it had cost him to summon it.

Later when he regained consciousness the first thing he had asked was for N to rename him. When the child asked him why he wanted something like that to happen, urging him to take into account that nicknaming a Pokémon was something only trainers did he simply answered,

Because I no longer want to be called Zorua, that name and what that Pokédex said no longer apply to me.

And with that said, N ceased calling the Pokémon by its given name, he no longer answered to it anyway. Zero seemed an appropriate name for the fox Pokémon, it was the very first number N had ever learned, his very first friend would be an excellent caretaker for a name like that.

During the following year both N and Zero were exposed to dozens of savage Pokémon. The revelation experienced during his earliest years became an ideal, and N started to realize that something had to be done. For his friends to be happy, Pokémon had to be set free. They were born free, so it was only natural for them to remain free.

Trainers who caught and hurt Pokémon under the guise of training them were 'bad'. The gym leaders who encouraged those trainers were 'worse'.
The Elite Four and its Champion were the 'worst'. Al of them simply encouraged humans to hurt Pokémon, treating them as if they were dirt.
The same had happened to Zero, and the very same was happening to millions of Pokémon with every second that passed.

N threw a handful of grass in the air, he watched as the wind carried it away towards the town. Realizing he didn't even know what it was called he sat up.

"Zero, I'm bored."

The fox slashed his exquisite tail, annoyed that N had interrupted his nap. And what do you want me to about that?

"I thought off a new joke." N answered, with a superior smile on his face when his words affected the Pokémon almost immediately. He would never tell Zero, but his species really got carried away fairly easy. Icy blue eyes urged him on, and he took a few seconds to enjoy his friend's sudden interest.

"I stole a newspaper from a servant back in our base, there's a picture of that wanted criminal on the front page, you know the one who used a Bisharp to kill his victims?"

Zero knew instantly what his friend was talking about, it had been all over the news and everybody knew about it. How a middle aged man, known in his hometown for his friendly and sociable character had trained his Bisharp to attack people. Even using him in underground cage fights where the first victim had met his death. Ever since it had happened only experienced trainers were allowed to catch and train Bisharp, and to do so the trainer had to go through various procedures.

The government even talked about raising the minimum trainer age to sixteen all over Unova. Riots in the streets of Castelia City made the news, thousands of teenagers and their young Pokémon took to the street protesting against the new law. They were backed up by trainers from all over the world, some of them hardly twelve years old managed to cross the ocean with the aid of their Pokémon.

You want to start a riot? In a town like this? I wouldn't expect a big turn out if I were you.

For a minute N gave the idea of starting a riot a thought, it was one he quickly dispelled, all would happen in time, and the results would be more satisfying if he remained patient, "We're not ready to reveal ourselves to the world." He muttered absently scratching the shaggy scruff of fur on the Pokémon's furry head.

"No this plan is just for our amusement. Call it a little experiment, that might give this country's current leaders a little push in the back when deciding to raise the trainer age."
Upon hearing this Zero flashed a grin that could make a Cheshire cat jealous, it only widened revealing sharp canine teeth as N told him about the details of his game.

Approximately three crying children, five semi heart attacks, seven people losing consciousness and a total of fifteen severely traumatized people later, N and Zero impersonating a hostile looking Bisharp found themselves hiding in a narrow alleyway, taking cover behind a bulky garbage container.

N covered his mouth to keep his breathing from being heard by anyone but himself and Zero. An annoyingly persistent police officer had chased them around town,
the two Herdier that accompanied him didn't seem to have a sense of humor, one even snapped at N when he had saved it from being run over, it had earned the terrier an earsplitting hit on the head from Zero's newly acquired metal hands.

You think they're gone? The dark type Pokémon murmured, his voice unchanged even though his appearance no longer matched with the sound of it.

N realized that his friend still hadn't been able to perfect his illusions, his version of a Bisharp had icy aqua eyes instead of the characteristic crimson ones.

"Suppose you're not able to transform into a police officer?" N whispered sizing up the power still stored inside the little fox.

I could, but it wouldn't be a trustworthy one.

"Off course, the uniform." N replied mentally scolding himself for his limited observations. He never allowed his emotions to get the best of him, especially not when dealing with human related situations, those were easily solved, all he had to do was apply the right formula.

"We create a diversion." He whispered, his eyes scanned the alleyway for something usable, sides from the garbage container there wasn't anything he could use.

You want to throw trash at them? Zero asked misinterpreting the child's plan a devious sparkle already present in his eyes. N couldn't help but roll his eyes at this, the little Pokémon always pushed it too far with his tricks, and the one getting into trouble never seemed to be the actual culprit.

"Not really but we might do so in the progress." He pointed towards the container, Zero's sensitive nose could pick up a nasty combination of smells emanating from the huge metal lid, luckily it was closed off. "Conveniently this town uses a type of containers that come with built in wheels. Do you remember our game of bowling back home?" N asked referring to the days his father had punished him by taking away all his toys for two weeks.

Weren't you punished for breaking your skateboard?

"No, I was punished because you fooled one of the new guards into believing he could fly." N said flatly, casually reminding the Pokémon of the fact his skateboard got broken by none other than Zero. Said Pokémon was busy reliving this fond memory with eyes half closed, That stupid fool, hopping about like a flying type, I never expected him to jump out of the window, shame it was only the second story window.

The hate Zero harbored towards humans no longer surprised N, as long as his friends were happy he didn't care either. "Help me with this." He said pushing the filthy container with all the strength he could muster. It's rusty wheels produced a screeching noise which made N's hair stand on end.

They're coming, Zero said releasing a feral snarl meant to order his opponents into submission.

"Good we're ready." N huffed giving the container a final push settling it into the right position.

"Listen carefully, as soon as that cop appears – There are three of them, Zero interrupted him his aqua eyes fixed on the alleyway's only entrance.

"Doesn't matter!" N whispered grabbing the fake Bisharp's metallic arm carefully avoiding the many razor sharp knives. "As soon as those cops appear I want you to use headbutt on that container, give it everything you've got cause we have to knock them out at least long enough for us to escape. While running you should end the illusion, warnings are out for a Bisharp not a Zorua, got it?"

Zero had barely enough time to nod before the first Herdier stalked up to their hiding place. The idea of hurting a Pokémon gave the both of them an uneasy feeling but upon seeing the gun each of the police officers carried Zero rammed in head first into the container's metal surface.
Although Bisharp had heads made of steel which served as a natural warlike helmet, as a fox Pokémon relying on illusions Zorua wasn't exactly used to such close combat, and banging his head against a solid object meant close combat alright.

Despite the throbbing pain in his head he could hear two Herdier barking something in the terms of "Incoming!" Warning their trainers who had to run for their lives to escape the narrow alleyway. After knocking out everything in its path the container came to a halt with a deafening crash.

STRIKE! N, you're a genius. Zero no longer a Bisharp complemented, while running at top speed.Life size bowling why didn't I think of that?

He had to look up to see his friend's face again expecting a proud mischievous grin there. Instead he witnessed how a spasm of pain contorted the child's face.

"Now don't panic." N said knowing that was exactly what the Pokémon was doing.

Don't panic, you're bleeding so tell me something useful, what do I do?

Cradling his arm, N ignored Zero's desperate pleas, as soon as they were save he would take the time to assure him he was fine, right know he only wished to put the greatest possible distance between them and the police. Those Herdier will be a problem, he thought, their barking seemed to grow louder with each passing second. His head was pounding, bright multi-colored spots swirled in front of his eyes, blinking rapidly didn't seem to chase them away. His legs felt weak as if a grass type had drained his energy, I'll have to ask Zero how it feels, were his last thoughts before he fell face down on the sandy road.

…N…come on wake up…N, please…

Something cold pressed against his face. N tried to brush it aside, but his right arm didn't seem to obey. Strange, using the left one seemed to work just fine.

The cold sensation disappeared. Much better, he thought yelping as it reappeared poking him in the ribs.
Huge aqua colored eyes hovered in front his grey ones, "Zero don't do that, you know it freaks me out." N muttered flexing his sore muscles.

His shoulder produced a sharp cracking sound. "Judging from the pain in my back we haven't returned home." A stabbing pain in his arm reminded him of their current situation.

"Crap, I fainted didn't I? That's a manly thing to do." He said laughing despite himself. The black fox had settled down by his feet,

"Why aren't you saying anything, you should be teasing me about it." N said his words cut short as he saw the tears pooling in the Pokémon's icy blue eyes.

You stupid idiot…It's my fault, I'm so sorry, there was blood on my claws, your blood, it must've happened while I was a Bisharp. I would never hurt you, you know that right?

Zero raised his head in sorrow, pain reflected in his eyes and a single tear streak gave his onyx fur an even darker shade. N reached out his hand, the Pokémon pinned his ears flat against his head fearing some kind of punishment. When he felt how the child carefully scratched him behind the ears his eyes widened in surprise, allowing more tears to escape. "Seeing you like this hurts me more than a stupid little cut." N scolded his loyal companion, his eyes stinging.

The fox closed his eyes and leaned against the person he considered family. N felt he sat propped up against an irregular unmortared rock wall, "Where are we?" he asked viewing his surroundings curiously. A huge oak tree cast an equally huge shadow around its base. The roughly paved ground stretched out in front of him and led towards a colorful building.

We're not far from where you collapsed. The alleyway had a dead end so I had to transform again into something big enough to carry you to this place. I tried to transform again a few minutes ago, but it…It wouldn't work! Zero hid his face under his bushy tail and N decided to change the subject at least a tiny bit for the Pokémon's sake.

"Why here?" he asked averting his eyes from his bleeding arm, the blood had already soaked through his clothes and began to form a puddle. It reminded me of your room…you know the toys and stuff…

"My room?" N repeated fighting to keep his voice calm and steady. It was than that he saw four bright red swings moving back and forth obeying the wind's every whim. "It's as if someone is using them. You can almost hear the sound of footsteps." He muttered facing the sky with his eyes closed.

Zero's body started to shiver against his leg, N I can smell someone's coming, the Pokémon said, sudden alarm in his voice, smells like some kind of flower and something else…It smells like gunpowder. N could feel his blood freeze in his veins followed by a sudden rush of adrenaline. Before he even managed to move an inch, the scent of flowers and gunpower collided.

A little girl wearing a short black suspender overall on top of a white t-shirt appeared in front of him placing her hands on her hips, a wary look on her face. For a split second her eyes seemed to move between the place he and Zero were hiding and something behind him, situated considerably higher. Fury glinted in her extraordinary blue eyes as she seemed to observe the situation, consider her options and finally decided on what to do next.

Taking a step forward concealing both N and Zero with her shadow she openend her mouth.

Here we'll have it. N thought, silently taking Zero in his arms bracing himself to throw the meddlesome kid aside and run for it.

"Good afternoon Mr. Officer." She said in a clear voice, a hint of caution which didn't escape N skillfully hidden behind a polite smile.