A tall man with tea green hair was currently walking the streets of Striaton City, his trusted friend riding on one of his shoulders – a Patrat-disguised Zorua. The two had been setting off towards Nuvema Town but arriving at Accumula, the thunder-induced storm had already vanished, and they went back on their way. He didn't need to see Father making a speech in Accumula because he's heard all about it and journeying wasn't something new to the two travelers.

However, that doesn't stop his friend from whining.

"How much farther are we gonna go?" whined Zorua.

N hummed. "We've been doing this for a long time, Zorua. I'd have thought you'd be used to it by now."

That was true. They have been going around Unova, helping and assisting Pokemon in need. That was what a hero's duty must be and must strive to be.

Zorua sighed. "I knoooow. You know I support you, N. But I just hope we would take a rest for now; we've been walking for hours now."

N chuckled lightly as he replied, "I'm the one who's doing the walking, mister."

Zorua still disguised as a Patrat blew a raspberry to him.

"Besides, we still need to look out for those new group that had infiltrated the Unova. Father said they might be a thorn to Team Plasma's goal of liberating Pokemon."

Zorua sighed. As much as he liked N, he really didn't like Ghetsis's hold over him. He didn't like Ghetsis at all. But he never said a word of it, because he knew it would upset his best friend. Zorua's ears perked up as he heard voices coming from the other side of where they were.

Zorua found out that N also had heard the voices so, Zorua, being the cheeky, devious Pokemon that he was, ran towards the sound which got a hiss from N. The fox merely giggled and he arrived at where the sound was coming from. It was from a trainer and his Pokemon.

N arrived shortly after with a goal to reprimand Zorua, but he was drawn to the sight of Pokemon huddling behind or around the trainer. The trainer looked plain enough, no remarkable features, he was wearing a cap and jacket, has a bag – nothing out of the ordinary, totally could pass off as a newbie. But what was striking was the trainer's Pikachu.

A Pikachu. Its yellow coat, red cheeks and markings make it more noticeable and attention-grabbing from the perspective of Unovans. A Pokemon not native to Unova, commonly found in Kanto… Kanto… Wait, could this be someone from the Team Rocket organization masquerading and disguising as an everyday trainer?

N narrowed his eyes and observed. Zorua tapped his paw on N's shoe and pointed towards the other Pokemon and it was only then that N realized that the trainer not only had a Pikachu but other ones not native from Unova, aside from a Rufflet, Oshawott, and Tepig. N figured that it wouldn't be strange to approach the trainer, he was pretty sure that a lot of people had been inquiring him about his Pikachu and other Pokemon.

As they got nearer, he heard the trainer heaved out a sigh.

"Alright, I'm sorry you guys. I think we're lost. I shouldn't have gotten too excited, Misty and Iris will chew my ear off again," the trainer groaned. His Pikachu crossed its arms.

"Pikaka, pikachu, pika." It's not like you don't deserve it.

The trainer groaned louder. "I know that Pikachu! You don't have to remind me."

N froze. Did… did the trainer just talk with his Pokemon. Zorua looked at him from his shoulder funnily.

"Lar larvitar!" Don't worry, Ash!

The trainer smiled down at the little green Pokemon. "Thanks, Larvitar."

He then heaved a sigh of determination. "Okay, let's get back on track. What should we do?"

"Osha oshawott osha!" Take a little break, I'm exhausted! The blue sea otter panted.

"Right, you should take a little rest and conserve your energy. Do you want to return, Oshawott?"

N's curiosity was piqued. Did this trainer give a choice to the Pokemon? The sea otter gave an enthusiastic nod only to blanche when the Rufflet teased the otter.

"Rufflet, rufflet ruff!" Is that weakness I hear?

Oshawott growled. I'm not weak, I'll show you weak!

Rufflet squawked. Bring it on!

Tepig then blew out smoke from his snout. "Tepig, tepig te, tepig!" Guys, I think we should not fight.

The trainer sighed. "Guys, come on. Rufflet, stop provoking Oshawott. Oshawott, try not to let Rufflet get to your nerves."

The two seemed placated but nevertheless threw each other a dirty look. Pikachu sighed, the sight reminded him of his early days with Squirtle and Bulbasaur. Come to think of it, Ash's team did have petty rivalry throughout their journey. Pikachu mused as his thoughts flew to Charizard who was always sizing him up.

They were drawn back to reality as Gible tugged Ash's pants and pointed at something and their sight followed Gible's fingers.

"Gible, gible, gib gib." Gible sees human and Pokemon watching us.

Ash was startled to see that there was a stranger with striking tea green hair watching them. He was wearing a cap, layered his black shirt with a long-sleeved white shirt. He was wearing a planet-shaped necklace and a puzzle hang from his pants. A Pidove was perched on his shoulder, looking at their direction too.

N was startled to be found out before he can even approach the trainer. A Gible was pointing at their direction which made the Larvitar hide himself at the trainer's legs, surely apprehensive with strangers. Oshawott just looked over, confused, while the Rufflet stared who, N knew, was sizing him. Tepig was also apprehensive, but N noticed that the most apprehensive was not the trainer but his Pikachu.

Pikachu's eyes narrowed at him, N knew that this Pokemon was trying to determine whether he was a danger to his pack – as canines would put it – and trying to intimidate N from trying something funny. The trainer – Ash, as he overheard from the Larvitar – only looked with confusion but not apprehensive. He was not afraid because he did not know any better. His eyes were in fact, curious.

Interesting. A Pokemon protective of its trainer. A trainer open to his Pokemon. That was new to N. Now that N had a good view, he now had a good look of them. Ash and Pikachu were more similar than different. Their eyes were dark brown to which you'd mistake them as black, but it wasn't that that he found out. It was their eyes were of matching passion, determination – a look that N had never seen any other trainer and their Pokemon before.

What's so different with this one…?

Because no one seemed to break the ice, Ash, unsure of what to say, blurted, "Uh, what were you doing?"

This seemed to break the silence, to which N replied, "We were just in the area and I thought we heard voices…"

Ash's eyebrows furrowed, "This is a city… You were supposed to hear voices."

N mentally slapped himself for his stupid answer. Zorua facepalmed himself mentally, too. That was a lame excuse.

"I heard someone conversing and thought it was odd because no other human voice can be heard but yours," N supplied, nervously. He blundered the first time and had hoped this time he won't. It's unbecoming of a hero like him.

Ash, and noticeably Pikachu, seemed to relax now, the tension on their shoulders gone. Rubbing his nape, Ash sheepishly answered, "I was talking to my Pokemon."

N noticeably froze at this answer. Can he talk to Pokemon? Can he hear their voices, too? Is he someone like me who can understand Pokemon at the very core? N had a million questions running inside his mind that he wanted to ask the trainer.

Ash then straightened up which derailed N from his line of thought.

"Wait, I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town and this is my partner, Pikachu! And these are my friends, Larvitar, Gible, Rufflet, Oshawott, and Tepig!"

The Pokemon let out various cheers of greetings and introductions to which his Zorua – currently a Pidove – replied to in a similar fashion. N smiled a bit since it was long since he saw Zorua this cheerful. But that didn't let him derail his thoughts and was fixated on the fact that Ash had introduced his Pikachu a partner and his Pokemon, friends. That was nice.

"Greetings to everyone. I am N. And this is Pidove."

Zorua, as a Pidove, promptly chirped.

"Hi, N! Weird name but it's kind of nice still. And hello, Pidove! Oh, yeah! I tried to catch one but well, I failed. I'm not overly sad, though, because I have Rufflet!"

The said bird fluffed his wings and squawked. Damn right! Zorua giggled at this display while N was shocked to hear this from the Rufflet, he thought it would take offence to being caught… but this one seems proud? N was confused. The Plasma King then saw Pikachu slapped his tail on Ash's cheeks lightly.

"Pikachu pikapika, Pikapi!" Ash, remember what we're here for.

"Oh, right! Hey, N, if it isn't too much of a bother, can you show me where the gym around here is? I'm afraid I got lost because I got too overexcited," Ash sheepishly said. N was caught off-guard though.

A Pokemon gym. Gym battles. Of course, he should have expected this one. This was a trainer who had those abhorrent Pokeballs and Pokedex. N knew he should have expected this and N did but still, he was struck by a pang of disappointment. If only Ash was not inclined to battling, he might have been a good ally and a hero.

Ash, noticing N's hesitation, spoke up again. "Well, you don't have to if you don't want to—"

But before he could finish it, N blurted. "Sure, no problem. I'll take you there."

This surprised Ash but N was surprised of what he said too. Why had he said that? The N he knew and he was would have ditched Ash right then and there but he, a person – a hero – who despises gym battles offered to bring a trainer to a Pokemon gym. Zorua was shocked, too, but he supposed this was a good thing so he flapped his wings and flew onwards.

N saw Ash and Pikachu shaking and he didn't know how to handle it. What was happening? His lack of social skills around people was being a problem here. No one could fault him, N grew up with the knowledge that humans were cruel towards Pokemon, which he considered his friends. Team Plasma was the only people that had good intentions, weren't they?

"Are you alri—"

"Thank you very much!"

"Pika pika!" Thank you very much.

N again found himself dumbfounded as he heard the pair's overlapping voices as they bowed in thanks to him. Curiouser and curiouser.

It was strange finding himself in another company with a human. After all, N had surrounded himself with Pokemon as he grew up and only select people were allowed to mingle with him. Anthea and Concordia, the Shadow Triad, the Seven Sages, and his Father. But he did find it… what was the word… fun. Ash had been talking even if N had tuned him out in favor of watching the Pokemon around Ash following him.

"Hey, Ash, you have a Pokeball, right? Why don't you let them stay there?"

Ash looked at him and his brown orbs pierced his blue ones.

"Oh, that's because they wanted to see the first ever gym battle here in Unova!" he exclaimed cheerfully. But how would he know? Did he understand and can talk to Pokemon? N was supposed to ask this question, but he was cut off by a sound.

"There you are, Ash Ketchum!" roared the sound and he saw Ash flinch. N whirled and saw a heavily breathing orange-haired girl accompanied by one much younger who has a bulky blue one with an Axew popping out at the side. Are they companions of Ash?

Ash turned around – confirming his suspicions – chuckled nervously. "H-hey Misty! What's up?"

N swore he could see a tic mark appearing at the girl's forehead.

"What's up?! WHAT'S UP?! We just spent the whole time searching for your lost ass around Striaton City!" the girl bellowed in frustration.

Ash resigned to his fate, sighed. "Okay, look, I'm sorry, Mist. I just got too excited for my first gym."

This Mist huffed in frustration and relented. "You're lucky, Ketchum," she pouted before putting her hands on her hips. "It's good to see that that part of you never changed," she said with a smile.

"You betcha!" Ash replied to which Iris said, "What a kid!"

Before Ash and Iris could go into another heated argument, Misty asked a question.

"So, who's your new friend?"

Ash was confused at first before Misty had pointed out N and a Pidove perched on his shoulder. N also made the same conclusion and was about to point out that he wasn't a friend and merely helping Ash but Ash had already answered.

"Oh, this is N, and his Pidove!"

What a simple answer. N was mystified. Did Ash consider him as a friend? They weren't friends… that was clear to N. But Ash didn't even correct Misty, or refute her assumption, then that would mean…

"N, this is Misty and Iris and her Axew."

At hearing his name, Axew waved his paws. "Axew!" Hi!

Before N, Misty, and Iris can express themselves, another voice inserted the conversation. N was mildly getting irritated at being cut off before he can speak. Zorua noticed this and merely giggled to which N shot him a threatening glare which wasn't threatening at all.

"Say, an Axew!"

They all turned to see a man with prominent three tufts of green hair holding groceries approaching them in a waiter uniform.

"Hmm, soft skin as fresh as new grass, tusks like newly sprouted young chutes, and future as bright and limitless as the early morning sun. The perfect partner for a young lady who seems at one with nature!"

Ash, N, and Misty were quiet as the man went on to his statement. As he finished, Iris's eyes shone as he thanked the man, and so did Axew. N felt that this was an accurate observation and narrowed his eyes on this new character.

Pikachu, however, was not shy on voicing his confusion. "Pika?"

The man turned around and saw the Pikachu perched on Ash's shoulder. His eyes shone as he realized what Pokemon it was. "A Pikachu? It's a Pikachu!"

He promptly picked up Pikachu and swung it around as he checked him out. Misty, wary of people picking up and meeting Pikachu for the first time, promptly dashed and hid in the nearest stall. Iris realized this and she also joined Misty. N and Zorua was visibly confused.

"First time I've seen one up close! Hello there," the man expressed as Pikachu shrugged and nervously greeted the stranger. Miraculously, Pikachu didn't electrocute the man and Misty and Iris went out back again and approached them. Meanwhile, N, for one, felt strongly against a stranger just snatching a new Pokemon but he had to keep it in him because he wasn't Pikachu's trainer.

"Say, you've got yourself a rare Pokemon, you know," he said as he handed Pikachu back over to Ash – and gently so, N noticed.

Ash shrugged but was nonetheless enthusiastic. N noticed that this might be the character and attitude of the young trainer towards everything. "Well, you see, we're from Kanto. Pikachu's my special partner! These are all my friends!"

As Ash indicated to the team, he had to which the man only noticed, his eyes shone as he drank the sight of a rarely seen Rufflet from these areas, starters Oshawott and Tepig, a Johto native Larvitar, and a Sinnoh dragon Gible.

"What a marvelous collection, you have! How do you all do? My name's Cilan and I'm a Pokemon connoisseur!" Cilan introduced himself.

Ash looked confused and Misty voiced out this one. "Pokemon connoisseur, what's that?"

Iris looked at them incredulously, "Seriously? You don't know what a Pokemon connoisseur is? I expected Ash to not know, but you too?"

Misty playfully glared at Iris while Ash stuck his tongue out at her. N looked at the scene amused, he arrived at a conclusion that they were still young. Cilan then inserted himself, "Well, it's not surprising at all. It's a job not known outside Unova. I can tell the compatibility of a trainer and their Pokemon and I help them form closer relationships. And that's the job of a Pokemon connoisseur!"

N listened to Cilan, and he found his interest piqued. He knew about Pokemon connoisseurs but hearing what their job really entails opened his mind to the various differences and nuances between trainers. So, there really are people who help Pokemon in different ways. Misty nodded at this enlightenment and Ash smugly smirked at Iris before saying, "So who's the little kid now?"

Iris merely huffed and crossed her arms which generated a chuckle from Ash and a smile from Misty. "So, what do you think of Pikachu and I? I'm sure you'll say we're perfect!"

It was Iris's turn to snap back at Ash. "Hey, why are you bothering yourself with that? Don't you remember why we're here?"

Ash realized that he stalled long enough, and he should have his gym battle. "Hey, right! My gym battle!"

Without thinking, Ash moved his feet and ran ahead to which his Pokemon frantically followed their trainer's tracks. Misty shouted Ash's name and to "get back here this instant" but was also running after the trainer. Iris and Cilan's eyes met, and they both shrugged as the two of them followed the direction that Ash had taken.

N looked at the scene amusedly and walked away to the other direction.

The Pidove perched on his shoulders asking him a question. "Aren't you going after them?"

N turned to Pidove with an incredulous look. "I said I'd accompany him to the gym, and he now has his friends back to do it, I don't have to anymore."

Pidove merely stared back passively. N groaned.

"Alright, I admit I am curious about him and his Pikachu and his apparent communication with his Pokemon. He's a Pokemon trainer who likes battles, and I don't like trainers who force their Pokemon to battle but his Pokemon, not just Pikachu, are all eager to battle and I don't understand that."

Pidove merely trilled.

"Well, I don't care about your curiosities about him, we could just ditch him. But I know you are the sort of person that doesn't turn back on your word. That goes against your principles, N."

N, confused, asked, "Where exactly are you going with this?"

Pidove took off and flew towards the other direction at it shouted.

"You said to Ash you'd take him to Striaton Gym. You haven't fulfilled that yet."

N skidded as he halted from his tracks and turned towards the other direction. Damn it, Zorua.