With his arms crossed and his chin on the sill, N gazed out of the window in the library longingly. How long had it been since Ghestis had moved him permanently to the castle? To this 9 year old, it felt like ages since he had been outdoors. His nose was practically pressed against the glass as he watched a baby purloin and two liepards playing in the clearing in front of the castle. Even at 3 floors up in the giant fortress, he could still make out their shiny purple coats and carefree expressions.
"My Lord, please. Come away from that window," his tutor called.
N tore himself away from the window begrudgingly. He sat down on a chair next to the pink haired woman and slumped in his seat miserably. The young woman gave him a kind smile and slid a book over to him.
"Have you read the section that I asked you to read last week?" she asked sweetly. She pushed some hair behind her ear and waited for an answer.
N mumbled something in response.
"N. Please speak at a level where I can hear you," she said firmly.
"I have read the whole book," the nine year old said while he avoided eye contact.
The young woman tried to hide her surprise. It had been like this since she and her sister began working at the castle tutoring N. Her sister, who taught N mathematics and science, told her that he worked on a level far beyond that of a 9 year old. She, on the other hand, taught N literature, grammar, history, and a little bit of etiquette. He seemed to be insulted by the simple stories and history lessons that had been approved for her to teach. Last week she decided to bring a book of poetry that was far beyond his level just to see if he could understand any of it.
Very curious. He read the entire thing. But did he comprehend it…?
"Well then. Can you tell me what your favorite poem was in the entire book?" she asked him.
"Eliot. Prufrock," N said eagerly. His eyes met hers and she sighed from relief. For the first time he actually seemed a little interested, though he picked a very difficult poem.
"That is a really tough one to understand. What do you think about Mr. J. Alfred Prufrock? What is the setting of the story?"
N thought about it for a moment.
"In his mind. It is a monologue to himself."
She raised her eyebrows, obviously impressed by how well he was able to grasp the poem and his choice of description. She had never met a 9 year old that knew what a monologue was. The tutor asked him another question.
"Mr. Prufrock….while he thinks to himself, is he happy or sad?"
"He is sad. Tormented. He wants a girl to like him, but he's scared that she will not like him back."
Before she could ask another question, he finally decided to take the initiative to ask a question of his own.
"What does the beginning of the poem mean?"
"Well…it's a line from Dante's Inferno. It addresses the reader."
"Oh. Hamlet is in the poem. He is from a Shakespeare story. I have never been able to read any of those yet. I asked, but Ghestis would not give them to me. I have seen the names come up in other books, though. That is how I know about it," N said quickly.
N looked like he wanted to continue, but there was a sharp knock on the door.
They both recognized who it was simply from the knock.
N straightened himself up in his seat, and all excitement drained from his face into a look of simple placidity. A tall man entered the room with a scowl. N rose stiffly from his chair and walked over to the man. The boy bent his back in a short bow and then looked up at him.
"That will be all this afternoon, Miss Anthea. N has a special guest waiting for him in his room," the man said.
N frowned.
"As you wish, Master Ghestis," Anthea said. She stood up and bowed as well.
"Is it a hurt pokemon?" N asked Ghestis. Ever since Ghestis made him come and stay on the inside of the castle, the man forced N to interact with physically and mentally injured pokemon. The tall man looked down at the boy.
"Pokemon hurt by trainers. I want you to listen to it," Ghestis said with a stern look on his face. N's frown deepened and his eyebrows furrowed.
"You will go to your room. Now." Ghestis said. He turned around abruptly.
"I don't want to," N said quietly.
Ghestis turned around slowly. Anthea's eyes widened.
"What did you say to me, boy?"
"I really would like to go outside and play with the pokemon out there. May I?" N asked. He clenched his eyes shut and the man leaned over and roughly grabbed the collar to his blue t-shirt. The boy cried out as Ghestis shook him.
"Listen. Never talk back to me. You will do as you're told, boy," Ghestis said firmly while shaking him back and forth. Anthea covered her mouth as she gasped. She stayed rooted to the spot with her knees trembling.
"C-could I maybe just for a little while?" N said quietly. This caused him to be jerked around with even more force.
"Are you listening to me, boy? Are you paying attention? Look at me," Ghestis barked. N opened his frightened eyes to look Ghestis in the face. Tears began creep at the corners of his eyelids as he looked at the terror of the man that held him. The man released him violently and N hit the floor on his back.
"There is no "maybe." There is only yes and no. There is, or there is not. You will, or you will not. You will not be returning to the outside. You will go and listen to the pokemon that is in your room. You will not cry like a pathetic fool. Have I made myself clear?"
The boy sat up and nodded. He shakily got to his feet and walked out of the room. Ghestis looked at Anthea and raised an eyebrow. She had managed to compose herself, but her knees were still shaking. Ghestis' eyes traveled from her to the book on the table. He strode over to it and snatched it away. After thumbing through a few pages, his frown began to deepen and his look of displeasure grew. As Ghestis neared the middle, he took the large book and, with one swift jerk, ripped it in half. Anthea clenched her fists and inhaled sharply. She continued to stare straight ahead and look indifferent.
"Please do not wander from the assigned lessons, Miss Anthea, or you will be terminated."
/
Snivy hitched a ride on White's shoulders and spoke lively to N, who walked behind her as they traveled to the restaurant. White wondered why Snivy seemed to speak to N. She glanced back to watch him, but he was simply listening to her pokemon so intently. It was almost as if N could understand what the tiny lizard was saying. White laughed at herself inwardly. Yeah. Like that was even possible. Perhaps he was just entertaining Snivy, and she felt a blush creep across her cheeks. She would need to watch out for this N! Handsome and good with pokemon? She could fall for a guy like that.
Even though it was busy due to the lunch rush hour, White was able to get a table easily since there were only 2 of them plus Snivy, who could sit on White's lap. White finished typing her text to Bianca and Cheren, which explained that she would be staying in Accumula until later that afternoon, and that they should just continue on without her.
"What do you think Snivy? Should I go with the pumpkin soup, or one of the salads?"
"Vy! Vyyyy!" Snivy said happily. N smirked as if he was stifling a chuckle.
"I think it is safe to say that Snivy would like for you to get a salad."
White was confused.
"How did you know?" White asked.
"Oh, well, Snivys, Servines, and Serperiors tend to enjoy leafy greens," N said, sinking into his chair slightly.
"Servine? Serperior? Are those types of pokemon?"
"Oh," N said, and his small smile stretched a bit, "Those are snivy's evolved forms."
"Oh!" White said surprised, "So Snivy can evolve."
White looked down at Snivy, and he looked up at her with his wide dark red eyes. After a moment, Snivy looked down at the table without saying anything. He then hastily crawled over to N and sat deliberately in his lap.
"Actually," N began while clearing his throat and petting Snivy's smooth head, "it seems to me like Snivy might be feeling a little hurt that you didn't let him fight yesterday. You stopped him while he was in the middle of his attack. While I found it very amiable, Snivy might have seen it as a blow to his pride."
"Snivy is mad at me?" White said with a tilt of her head.
"Though…I could be wrong. It's just an observation," N said quickly.
"Are you upset with me?" White said directly to Snivy. It did just dawn on her that she might have hurt his feelings without realizing it.
"Sniv," Snivy said from N's lap.
"I'm so sorry Snivy. Really, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."
Snivy hummed a tune of satisfaction.
"I'm sure all has been forgiven now," N said while closing his menu with a little smile tugging at the corner of his lips. White's interactions with pokemon were…cute.
White snuck a peek at N, who was looking out the window by their table. There was something very different about him. Something mysterious and puzzling. White was in general a very curious person so she decided to find out a little more about her new friend who sat across from her.
"So N, where are you from?"
He sighed and glanced to the side. She could see his eyes move about quickly studying the window-pane, formulating an answer.
"I'm from the Unova region," he said distantly. She laughed and shook her head.
"Nonono. I mean what town do you live in?"
"I don't really live in a town," his eyes flickered up to hers, "where are you from?"
"I'm from Nuvema. It's only like an hour away from here on foot. I live there with my mom," White smiled sheepishly, "but I've actually just left home yesterday to become a pokemon trainer."
"So you are a trainer," N sounded slightly disappointed, but at least he was able to change the subject, "I guess I am one, too. In a way."
"Oh really?" White gushed, "I kind of figured. The way you really know how to decipher what Snivy wants and all. You must be very experienced."
"Oh no. No not me. I'm just traveling with my friend Zorua."
"What? Seriously?" White tried to say, but their waitress popped in to their conversation to take their order.
"Have you spent time with snivys in the past?" White asked as Snivy scampered across the table back to White to switch laps after the waitress left.
"I have met a serperior in the past, but never a snivy. They are just as cunning as their older counterparts. I can tell that Snivy is very strong for it's age."
"How?" White asked. She was very interested to know how N knew all of these things about pokemon.
"Well," N began, as if he was teaching a lesson, "the length of a snivy's gold collar is a sign of how old it is. Considering that some snivy's collars can grow to become longer than their tail, it's quite easy to deduce that your snivy is young. He probably isn't even a year old yet."
White's jaw dropped.
"But that's not all!" N said excitedly, now talking very quickly, "you can tell a snivy's basic strengths from the color of its collar. Usually most snivys have a very dull yellow coat but Snivy on the other hand has a gold sheen to it. He is going to become very powerful one day."
Snivy puffed his chest out and nodded with a smirk.
"What can you tell me about..." White thought of a pokemon off the top of her head, "tepigs?"
"Tepigs are very enthusiastic and impatient pokemon. When they begin to stop blowing smoke out of their noses, you can tell that they have become more mature, and are able to control their fire attacks effectively."
"Zebstrika," White said slyly.
"Zebstrika are quick to anger. They have excellent reflexes. Oh, and speed! Zebstrika can be very fast."
Before N could continue, White blurted out another, "Audino!"
"Audino are known to have an excellent sense of hearing."
"Reuniclus!"
N actually laughed. Out loud. White raised her eyebrows at his new expression and her own face broke into a large grin of disbelief. She was amazed at how laid back and friendly he became when discussing pokemon.
"One of my favorite pokemon. There is too much to say!"
White continued to drill him about pokemon. The two hardly noticed when their waitress brought their food to their table, and they were too busy talking to notice Snivy stealing large pieces of lettuce and herbs straight from their plates. They were also too busy enjoying each other's company to notice the lunch crowd die down, or the waitress bring the check. When White finally noticed that they had been talking for nearly 2 hours she hailed the waitress over, and asked for to go boxes and plastic silverware, which she brought promptly. She was so embarrassed to have taken up the waitress' table for so long. White suggested she and N eat outside on a bench.
"Generally, does one not eat the food that they order in a restaurant?" N said, obviously very confused.
"Well, since we have been sitting here for so long talking, I don't want to waste anymore of our waitresses time and wait-" White stopped her explanation, "Haven't you ever been out to eat before?"
"No. I've never been to a restaurant in my life. I have read about them."
"Wow really?," White said as the two of them filled up little styrofoam boxes with their practically untouched salads, "And I thought I was sheltered. You must be from out in the middle of nowhere. My mom and I eat here when we visit the beach, but this is the farthest I've been away from home. This is the only restaurant I have ever been to, actually. I hear families in bigger cities go out to eat for dinner every night."
She grabbed the little black book, which housed the receipt for their meal.
"Though I wonder how they can manage that," her eye twitched as she looked at the check. She sat Snivy down on the table and swung her messenger bag into her lap. While she was digging through her bag looking for her wallet, N carefully reached across the table to look at the check.
"This is for our meal that we will be eating outside?" he asked.
"Yes," White sighed, and she continued to absentmindedly rummage through her things.
N reached into the back pocket of his khaki pants and pulled out his own black tri-fold wallet. He carefully placed a shiny black credit card on top of the receipt and shut the book with a snap. The waitress picked up the booklet and walked away right when White proudly found her decrepit aipom wallet. White unzipped the top and found a couple of bills. She then scanned the table for the booklet.
"Where did the check go?"
Her question was answered as the waitress brought the card and booklet back to N. He neatly scrawled his signature on the credit card receipt and retrieved his card from the booklet.
"Thank you…Mr. Harmonia. You both have a nice day," the waitress said as pleasantly as she could while sneaking a peek at the receipt to get his name.
White glared at him from across the table. N sat there pleasantly looking back at her.
"What shall we do now?" he asked.
"I was going to take care of it," she huffed. N blinked a few times.
"I have been told that it is rude to let a lady pay," he said simply.
White bit the side of her cheek in her mouth and angrily twirled some of her hair between her fingers. They sat there in silence for a few moments, until White finally snatched her to-go box and plastic silverware.
"Let's go," she said flatly. Snivy and N followed her out. Once outside, White found a bench, and popped her box open. She began to munch furiously on her salad. N sat down on the other end of the bench, with Snivy climbing in between them, and opened up his own container. Before he began to eat, he had to tell White something.
"White?" he said quietly.
"Hn?" she said in between putting a large bite of dressing covered lettuce and carrots into her mouth.
"I just wanted to say that having lunch with you was really enjoyable. I have never really had the opportunity to speak with a girl my same age before," he said awkwardly, poking his salad with a fork. White's eyes widened, and she gulped down her food. She looked over to N, who looked somewhat embarrassed after his confession. She felt like an ass for being so rude to him about paying. He was just trying to be a gentleman, after all.
"I had a lot of fun, too. Thanks for buying me lunch," she smiled at him, "It's really good. The salad is. Eat up."
They ate in silence with White considerably happier than when she began eating. After they ate and disposed of their garbage, they walked with each other to the sign for route 2. They stood awkwardly in front of it, waiting on the other to say something. Snivy tugged on N's pants leg and chirped, and N's face lit up.
"I almost forgot!" he reached into his messenger bag. White watched him curiously as he pulled something out. In his hands was a pink and white hat with a pokeball design on the front.
"My hat!" she exclaimed breathlessly, "How did you find it?"
"I was going to just hand it to Snivy to give to you earlier, but I couldn't help responding to your statement."
"Which was?" she said while she began artfully pulling her wavy hair into a pony-tail.
"You said that you found some parts of the speech understandable. Also," N looked off into the distant forest on route 2, "You said that you found the speaker to be frightening. I agreed with you."
N handed White her hat, which she put on her head and slipped her wavy brown hair though the back.
"He gave me the creeps," White said with a nod, "Thank you so much for getting my hat back!"
"My pleasure."
They stood there in silence until N shrugged.
"I suppose I will be going now. It was nice to meet you," he reluctantly began to walk away until White shouted.
"Wait!"
N turned around.
"You're headed down route 2 as well? Why don't we travel together!"
"You want me to come with you?" N said raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah! It will be great! It's a two day walk to Striaton city, and Snivy and I would be so bored unless-"
White continued to talk, but N's ears blocked her out. Her lips moved and there was much animation on her face, but there was no sound. A memory came to him as he tried to focus on White, the trainer in front of him.
Trainers are not to be trusted. They may seem innocent but they are ignorant to the damage that they are causing their pokemon.
White gave her best smile and tilted her head to the side.
The way that they imprison pokemon is a crime. While you are out in the world, you may come across many trainers. Each one of them is evil.
He looked into White's large aqua eyes. Blameless and beautiful. Innocent. Just as he had been told she would be.
Be on your guard around them. Never trust them. Even a trainer's pokemon may seem brainwashed into thinking their trainer is their friend. You've seen them: Pokemon that have been hypnotized by their trainers. Then abandoned or abused or neglected. We can't have our king being fooled by their lies and deceit. Always be on your guard.
N shut his eyes in frustration and grit his teeth. Somehow, he could never see the girl in front of him do such a thing. N had to admit: she fascinated him. If she was the bait, then he would take it.
"You're traveling to Striaton city?" N opened his eyes and asked White. Her head bobbed up and down in a nod, and her ponytail swished behind her. He smiled darkly.
"Then it would be most enjoyable to have company for I am going to Striaton next as well."
"Great!" White said and she looked down at Snivy, "Is that okay with you?"
Snivy seemed pretty excited, and White returned him to his pokeball, and attached it to her belt clip. N frowned as he watched, and she dusted her hands off.
"Shall we?" she said, and, with a little bounce in her step she began the walk down route 2 with her new friend.
/end chapter 6/
The abrasive begining of this chapter was actually attatched to a different chapter, but the more and more I read it, the more unhappy I became with the placement. I think it suits this one very nicely and it made this chapter really long! I hope yall enjoyed it!
Thanks for reading and reviewing. It makes me happy to know if I have made you happy as well. Please continue to look forward to the evolution of feelings, character, and personality of N and White!~