N didn't bother to stay any longer after Ash received his badge. He left while the others were busy chattering about the victory of the Kanto-based trainer because there's a swirl of emotions he was feeling and he was ruminating about. Honestly, he felt bad not staying because his father had always said that after a victory of any kind, one must not forget their pleasantries and offer congratulations.
The thing was… he couldn't. He just couldn't.
Everything that he felt watching Ash's battle was going against his preconceived notions and beliefs. N felt invigorated during and after the battle; his heart was pounding and he can hear his blood flowing from his veins. But he shouldn't be, he knows he shouldn't be feeling like this – not when he knows deep inside his mind that the Pokemon are hurting and it's cruel that they are used by humans… by trainers like Ash.
And yet, he didn't feel bad about Ash's battle because he saw how his Pokemon and him are so in-sync – their hearts are one as they soldiered the battle. That show was why he's feeling conflicted right now. He shakes his head. No, I can't think like this. I have dedicated my life towards liberating Pokemon from humans' cruelty.
He even felt disgusted that he even considered being conflicted about the matter. Pokemon are hurt in battles. Period. No arguments. Before he can affirm this to himself, Zorua – as a Pidove – pecked his head.
"Hey, overthinker. What's up with the long face?" his friend asked.
N offered a gentle smile.
"Nothing to worry about. Now, then, where shall we head next?"
Zorua tilted his head and looked at him as if he were crazy. "What?"
"Well, I don't know maybe the fact that you have still yet to ask Pikachu about some things and confirm that Ash can talk to Pokemon like you?"
N immediately stopped in his tracks and bit back the urge to groan. Zorua, seemingly understood what just happened, giggled while N fondly rolled his eyes and made his way backwards. N knew that he will probably see Ash in a Pokemon Center, since they will probably need to heal his Pokemon. Although averse to humans interfering with Pokemons, grudgingly, N was glad that humans found a way to help Pokemon alleviate their pain.
That's why aside from Anthea and Concordia, he has a lot of respect for Nurse Joys. Zorua, on the other hand, was smiling. He missed bantering and messing around with N like this. Ever since this 'Hero' thingy Ghetsis inculcated in his friend's mind, N was tirelessly working to become this perfect hero of Pokemon liberation. Zorua was just glad that this has at least made N pause his 'mission'.
Soon, Zorua reverted back to his original form as he saw pink dust scatter and falling throughout the city. He observed that when it comes in contact with another Pokemon, they fall asleep. Had this been a normal sleep powder, he would have been affected. But in this case, it was not and he can smell some Psychic-type influence on this one so Zorua could not be affected.
He didn't know if being in illusion will affect him – knowing Pidove is a Flying-type – however, he was taking no chances. N has no clue or idea what was happening but he saw the girl with the large, dark violet hair – Iris, was it? – running towards the direction of the Pokemon Center looking so distraught.
Arriving on the Pokemon Center, N could see a congestion of trainers with their Pokemons asleep and held closely to their chests. The nurse was trying to get everyone to listen but everyone was worried sick about their Pokemons. N pushed amidst the sea of people until he spotted a familiar tuft of yellow rodent and Iris.
Ash first took notice of N and waved at him. N noticed that Misty and that one gym leader from Striaton were there too – Cilan? Cilantro? – and approached them.
"Hey N! Where were you? When did you get here?" Ash asked a barrage of questions.
Misty followed this up. "Yeah, where were you? Seems like you're a mushroom that shows up whenever you like…" she paused as she saw a Zorua on his shoulders. "And with a Zorua, too? Where's your Pidove?"
It clicked on Misty right after she asked the question. "Oh, that Zorua was Pidove."
Ash snapped his head and looked abashed that he missed Zorua. "Hey! A Zorua! Hello, nice to meet you! Do you speak human?"
Now, it was N's turn to snap his head back to Ash. Did he hear him right?
Pikachu slapped his tail softly on Ash's face, seemingly exasperated. "Pika pika!" You can't just ask Pokemon that, especially not one you just met!
Misty backed Pikachu up, half-amused and half-exasperated, "Yeah, Ash. Listen to Pikachu!"
Cilan laughed at the side. "Well, now, this most certainly is an interesting dynamic!"
N stilled. Did Misty know how to speak to Pokemon, too, like Ash?
Ash bristled, "Hey! We've met one not too long ago, a cub and his mom. I was just wondering if all Zorua could do that."
Pikachu scoffed. "Ash, how many Pokemon can speak? Only those two, Meowth, Lucario, and couple of legendaries we've met. I can't even speak human."
Ash was abashed, "Well, when you say it like that…"
Two Zorua who knew how to talk human? A Meowth that can speak human? Lucario? Legendaries? N's mind was whirling. Who are these people? Before he could ask a question, Zorua had already taken the liberty of replying.
Zorua giggled. "Hello! Nice to meet you, too. Unfortunately, I don't speak human! I'd like to, though."
Misty and Pikachu then sent a look at Ash. "See?"
Ash sheepishly rubbed his nape.
"Yeah… I figured."
N was about to ask them something before getting cut off by Iris.
"Not that I don't find this conversation interesting, but Axew is not feeling well!"
She was right. Axew was still glowing pink like every Pokemon who came in contact with the pink particles outside. N had heard the nurse running the place that she does not know how to cure these Pokemon since the cases were abrupt and unprecedented – no prior cases can be looked up to.
Luckily for them, a woman with dark blue hair wearing a lab coat rushed inside the Pokemon Center and began healing the Pokemon by asking help from her Pokemon, a Munna. Ash immediately got his Pokedex to scan the Pokemon.
"Munna, the Dream Eater Pokémon. Munna can eat the dreams of people and Pokémon alike, and then project those dreams by emitting Dream Mist from its body."
N looked at the contraption with barely hidden disgust on his face while Munna was working on siphoning the pink particles on Axew, eating it. Axew woke up as Munna chewed and emitted a dream mist showing that Axew was merely dreaming about evolving to its final evolution. Everyone was equally amazed by Axew's dream and Munna's ability to project these dreams.
The woman introduced herself afterwards, "Hi everybody! I'm Dr. Fennel. A scientist specializing on research in dreams and other mysterious powers which so many Pokemons possess."
N reserved judgement for the woman later, after all, she helped Axew and other Pokemons asleep. However, he shuddered at the thought of Pokemon being experimented at in the name of research and findings. After being thanked by Nurse Joy for her help on waking the Pokemon afflicted by the pink lights, Dr. Fennel made her way outside.
Ash, unable to resist meddling and sticking his nose on business that he shouldn't, followed her outside which Misty had already expected. Resigning to her fate, Misty donned on a fond smile and followed Ash. N was confused by this but he, together with Iris and Cilan, followed them out.
Dr. Fennel explained that a Pokemon was responsible for this. Apparently, the pink particles outside that caused Pokemons to fall asleep was due to Musharna's – the evolved form of Munna – dream mist. Just then, a patrol motorcycle stopped at their front and Officer Jenny approached the group.
Misty reflexively looked around which promptly confused Iris, N, and Cilan while Ash and Pikachu laughed. There was some sort of inside joke here, the Unova natives figured.
Misty groaned, "I keep thinking Brock was with us."
Ash would have replied if it were not for Officer Jenny.
"Please, you must return your Pokemons to their Pokeball's immediately. Pokemons are falling asleep around town after being exposed to this mysterious pink lights. You must hurry."
N saw Ash hesitate before saying, "I can't. I would like to do that for Pikachu's safety but the thing is Pikachu doesn't like to be in his Pokeball and I respect that."
N was shocked hearing this, just as Cilan and Iris were at the moment. It seems that Misty really had spent time with Ash because she agreed with Ash on the matter. There's definitely history there. N was curious about Misty now, too. Who were these people?
Dr. Fennel broke into a soft and kind smile. She gestured on Ash's cap and asked, "If I may?"
Baffled, Ash just nodded. Fennel reached on to his cap to remove it and place it on Pikachu's instead. She, then, turned to N to remove his cap despite the obvious height difference to put it on Zorua's head. N had the sinking suspicion that Fennel was not taking any chances about this, as a scientist like herself would have known that Zorua is a Dark-type Pokemon, rendering Psychic-type moves ineffective. N smiled.
"There. That should work, for now," Fennel said proudly, seemingly satisfied with her solution.
N then decided that Dr. Fennel is a good person.
Striaton City was a proactive city, the group concluded. After much talk, Cilan called his brothers to talk to the mayor about a prompt action – since they were gym leaders, they are also de facto leaders of the city outside of bureaucratic system. Moments later, the station of Officer Jenny blared an alarm while Nurse Joy was given the heads-up to announce a state of emergency.
Ash, Misty, Cilan, Iris, and N were in Dr. Fennel's car. Apparently, Dr. Fennel thought that to solve this mystery was to go to the Dreamyard, an abandoned site at the northeastern part of Striaton, just outside of the city bounds which used to be the Pokemon Energy Research Facility.
"Wasn't the place abandoned, Dr. Fennel?" asked Cilan, at the front seat, sitting beside Dr. Fennel. Ash, Misty, Iris, and N were seated at the backseat that normally holds only three people but Dr. Fennel argued to Officer Jenny that there was no time.
"Yes. We were working towards utilizing Musharna's dream mist as a clean energy that people would benefit from. I was one of the scientists of the project. This would have been inexpensive and ultimate clean energy because it will be powered by dreams of people and Pokemons alike.
"We finished the researched and was so close to realizing it. We would have been able to use it but then…" she trailed off.
"Then what?! What happened?" Ash demanded.
"Greedy people who only cared for profit came trying to gain control of this energy and because their ambitions were, in a sense, their dreams, Musharna absorbed it. However, it proved too much and overwhelming that Musharna could no longer process them.
"An explosion occurred while Musharna transformed the dreams into mist. Musharna disappeared; the research facility was destroyed."
For a while, everyone processed this and each one of them simmered in anger, particularly, N. How dare those greedy humans do that to Musharna. How dare the humans take advantage of a Pokemon? The flame of his belief was fueled once more and he resolved that Pokemons would be liberated in the future and he will be one its contemporary.
Quietly, Misty asked, "And the research?"
Dr. Fennel gave a rueful smile. Sighing, she answered, "I gave up. With Musharna missing, I became fed up with it all and left. I came back because Munna sensed Musharna's presence and because of the pink lights, I am positive that my friend is here."
N noticed that Dr. Fennel used the word friend to describe his Pokemon. That brought joy to his heart. Without knowing it, they were nearing the place. Officer Jenny led the way and were shocked to see two uniformed groups locked in a Pokemon battle with each other – one of them wore black uniform with a large letter R on their tops were a team Ash and Misty knew very well (the Rockets) and the other wearing elaborate outfits making them appear as squires of olden days was people N knew.
Dr. Fennel gasped as she saw the machine operated by Team Rocket, "The machine is elevating the energy levels left here!"
Her eyes moved past the Rockets and saw Musharna being kicked by members of the squire group with insignia of letter P on their tops and shouted, "No! Stop hurting Musharna!"
N's heart dropped as he saw members of Team Plasma hurting a Pokemon. He was warned of a Kanto-based organization but that doesn't matter now. What matters is that the people who pledged to liberate Pokemon from suffering are the ones hurting the Pokemon. This goes against everything the team believed in! This was not their principle! They were not barbarians… right? Warily, he checked if the Shadow Triad were here and sensed that they were not.
"HEY! Cut it out!" Ash said as he ran into the fray.
Jessie growled, "Stay out of this, twerp! We're setting the motion to take over Unova and they are the ones who are challenging our reign!"
A grunt scoffed, "Ghetsis and the Seven Sages would beg to differ. Ours is a noble cause! With this Pokemon's dream mist we could control minds of humans to release their Pokemons! And then, Plasma will rule!"
N, hearing this, was dumbfounded. The Plasma grunts have yet to notice that N was here. Zorua whimpered as he sensed N's dilemma.
"Team Rocket will be the one to awaken the sleeping energy here!" James retorted.
Meowth then said, "And we won't let sleepwalkers stand in our way!"
Fennel wailed, "I can't believe there are people who still want to take advantage of our dreams."
Out of anger, Misty called on for her Psyduck.
"Psyduck, use Psychic at those people who are hurting Musharna!"
Cilan and N marveled at the first Pokemon from Misty that they saw. Ash was stunned that Psyduck was now able to follow orders correctly, the grunts suspended as Cilan immediately rushed in to nab Musharna to their side. Dr. Fennel also had Munna use Psychic on the machine while Ash ordered Pikachu to use Volt Tackle.
"Pikachu, Volt Tackle!"
Pikachu charged and successfully destroyed Team Rocket's machine. Stomping her foot in anger, Jessie ordered, "Woobat, gust!"
The bat Pokemon generated enough wind to hamper the visibility and as the dust settled both groups had made their escape.
"They're gone!" Iris exclaimed.
Ash heaved a sigh of relief and then beamed. "It's okay! At least Dr. Fennel and Musharna are back together."
The group looked at the teary reunion of Dr. Fennel, Munna, and Musharna.
"Oh no, what did those goons do to you? I'm sorry Musharna. Sorry for not trying my hardest to find you and feel your presence. From now on, we will never be apart again," she vowed, "never, you hear me? Come hell or high water."
Musharna let out a squeal of joy and despite being hurt, she glomped down on Dr. Fennel in a hug. N was confused as he saw this interaction. Shouldn't Musharna be more resentful to Dr. Fennel? Shouldn't she be averse being with humans after everything? After those greedy people? After Team Rocket? After… after… Plasma?
Ash saw N's eyes that were going through a multitude of quickly flashing emotions. He might not understand what those mean but N's a friend, so, he laid a hand on N's shoulder, startling the tall lad but Ash only offered a warm smile.
"Come, N. Let's head back to the Pokemon Center. I'm sure everyone needs rest."
Fennel looked at Ash, "I can't thank you enough, Ash."
"No worries, Dr. Fennel. I'm really happy for you," Ash answered.
"Pika!"
Cilan immediately went to his connoisseur self again, "Oh what a beautiful reunion to behold! Dr. Fennel and Musharna's twin hearts are reunited once more! Such exquisite harmony!"
Misty and Iris merely let out an exasperated huff but there were smiles on their faces.
"Well, I'll say that this case is closed," Officer Jenny optimistically said.