N awoke to a clean, white room and abruptly sat up which caused him to feel a little bit lightheaded. Zorua yipped at him, telling him to lie down.
"Zorua, where am I?"
"At the Luxuria Town Pokemon Center," said Zorua, worry and distress etched on his face. "Luckily, they had room to spare. What happened there, N? Everyone was frantic when you fainted."
Zorua conveniently omitted that he was out of his mind when N fainted. N sighed in reply, "I don't know, Zorua. Maybe the stress caught up to me, about the things I've been pondering and chewing for days. And I know we saw Plasma hurt that Munna but I thought those were rogue members… hearing Daniel say that… I don't know what to believe anymore."
Zorua honestly did not know how to respond. He doubted that an "I've been trying to tell you for years" would fly and would be appreciated by N. So, Zorua did what he does best when comforting N – he snuggled his face close to N's chest which N was grateful for and he strokes Zorua's fur.
The door opened and revealed Ash, Misty, Iris, and Cilan. Pikachu and Axew both had apples clutched in their hands and seemed to offer them to him. The sight warmed his heart.
"These are for me?" asked N, to which Pikachu and Axew nodded. "Then, thank you."
"Pika pika! Pikachu pikapipi pikachu!" No problem! We're your friends. Get well soon, we'll have a lot to travel far and wide in Unova!
"Axew yew!" Yeah!
The statement made N smile despite how hard it was, his mind whirling with thoughts. Would you still call me a friend when you learn that I'm from Team Plasma? That I dream of liberating Pokemon from humans and separating you from your trainers?
Ash saw N's face, particularly his eyes, which didn't quite match the small smile on his face. Ash knew N's emotion was jumbled, running and flashing through a mile a minute. But he also didn't want to press it when N seemed reluctant to share.
Iris seemed to have no qualms about breaking the ice.
"Don't go fainting on us all of a sudden!" said Iris, making N wince. Ash, Misty, and Cilan whirled to stop Iris from speaking out her abrasive thoughts but Iris forged on.
"At least tell us if you feel like fainting so that Ash and Cilan can prepare themselves to catch you. As it happened, we all tumbled down the road," said Iris, her lips curling into a smile. Misty was trying so hard to not laugh too, as can be seen by her thinning her lips, muting a smile but her shoulders shook in amusement.
Cilan chuckled at Iris' comment, "Yeah. Poor Daniel got crushed by the five of us because we were scrambling to catch N."
Embarrassed, N bowed his head and tried to apologize but Misty stopped him in his tracks. "We are joking around, N. But please do tell us if you don't feel good, alright? We care about you."
Ash noticed N was getting overwhelmed by the sentiment seeing as how his face flushed and his head adamant at staring at Zorua who was in his lap. Ash decided to call it a night, saying, "Alright, we had an eventful day. Let's all rest, we all need it."
The group agreed, making a beeline towards the door. Ash turned back to N, "We're here if you need us, N."
The door closed and N's gaze found the moon just outside of the window shining in the sky. He's left to ponder things again, it doesn't seem like he'd get enough sleep.
A day later, N and the group witnessed a Dwebble creating its home and N saw first-hand how there are Pokemon that are bullies which was a novel experience for N. He was actually dumbstruck and dumbfounded when he offered to talk to the Dwebble thieves and he was attacked and made fun of, unprovoked.
He tried to reason with them and asked them if humans had abused them but the Dwebble leader told him straight, "Humans? Abuse us? They wouldn't dare. You all are weak!"
Seeing his sullen and shell-shocked look, the group consoled him. The Dwebble who lost his home also consoled him, telling him, "It's okay. Some Pokemon are just like that."
Reflecting on it, the Pokemon he knew were all abused by humans… that was rather suspicious in a sense. Why didn't he encounter Pokemon that wasn't hurting when he was growing up?
In the span of three days, they settled with Dwebble because Pansage got hurt when they tried approaching the Dwebble. They were also throwing plans and solutions on how to get Dwebble his home back because he was adamant that he wouldn't be making a new home and he wanted the one he made back.
Cilan came up with a plan to trap the three Dwebble enough that their Dwebble could exact – not revenge, that was too vulgar for N's taste – payback for the oppression they did. N would never admit that he was euphoric seeing the Dwebble succeed in getting his home back because Pokemon actually hurt each other – he wasn't going to endorse that – but he felt satisfaction and happiness that their Dwebble emerged victorious.
It was time to say their goodbyes but it wasn't long for Dwebble to chase after them.
"Dweb!" Wait!
The group turned to watch Dwebble get closer to Cilan.
"Was there something else you need?"
N was also confused as to why Dwebble approached Cilan since they had already helped him win back his shell. Apparently, everyone except N knew why Dwebble ran after them.
Iris supplied, "I think Dwebble wants to go with you, Cilan."
Cilan's eyes widened and so did N's. N whipped back his head to watch Dwebble just as Cilan asked, "Is that true, Dwebble?"
N was also curious. Was that really why he approached Cilan or was there something else the Dwebble needed?
"Dwebble!" answered the Pokemon with a smile. Even N knew that that answer didn't need translation for everyone to understand. That was an affirmative answer to Cilan's question. N was perplexed that Cilan didn't even need to throw the Pokeball directly to Dwebble because the Pokemon let itself in. Why would they want to be imprisoned? Charizard and Infernape didn't seem to think it was a prison, and this Dwebble didn't too – why?
"That's great, Cilan! You have a new friend!" said Ash while Cilan still marveled at the Pokeball in his hand. N saw emotions flashing through Cilan's eyes – gratitude, happiness, excitement.
"Yeah, it's the start of a delightful friendship."
The next day found the group in a schoolyard of a nursery meeting Daniela and Karena. In retrospect, N really shouldn't have felt enraged when Daniela told them that he separated Trubbish from the children – the teacher was just protecting the kids from getting any untoward virus because of the trash Trubbish thrives in. And since when was he averse to the idea of separating humans and Pokemon?
His heart was soothed by the children who was trying hard to keep Trubbish from being taken away from them, even lying that the stench it emitted wasn't foul-smelling. He also met a sunglasses-wearing Sandile who he learned from Ash had a vendetta against Pikachu. The children and Trubbish fought Sandile for their "onii-san".
Daniela, Karena, Iris, Misty, and Cilan entered the secret base the children and Trubbish built but Daniela still refused to listen to the children and Ash wasn't willing to back down so it culminated in a battle between Ash and Daniela. The resulting outcome was that the base collapsed and Daniela and the children finally came to an understanding.
Daniela finally allowed the children to keep Trubbish to which both Pokemon and humans were overjoyed. Even N was sporting a soft smile as he watched the children get overjoyed in keeping Trubbish. However, he also felt torn because this was exactly against the arguments he was holding and it broke him thinking that should he realize Plasma's plan of liberation and separation, the smiles on their faces would be wiped off… because of him.
"Trubbish stops emitting a bad odor the friendlier it is to people. Of course, it also depends on how well you raise it," divulged Karena much to the group's.
"You knew this whole time?" asked Cilan and Misty, both in different ways. Cilan seemed to wonder while Misty seemed annoyed.
"Well, I do run a daycare after all."
"Then why didn't you just say that in the first place?" whined Iris.
"You have to find your own way, whether you're raising kids or Pokemon. It's all the same!" answered Karena, laughing.
And though Karena was joking when she said that, N knew that was the wisdom of her years shining through. It was also something profound that N pondered about Karena's line… Finding my own way… Zorua looked at N and he was happy that there was light sparking in N's eyes again.
The group spent the night cleaning up the playground, which was made easier because of the Pokemon's help. N surveyed the surroundings, seeing Trubbish, Ash, and Pikachu clean one side while he, Cilan, Misty, Iris, Dwebble, Excadrill, Pansage, Gabite, Larvitar, and Snivy did the heavy lifting. Corsola, Tepig, and Zorua did the pushing while Staryu, Oshawott, Rufflet, Axew helped them.
The next morning, Karena, Daniela, the children, and Trubbish waved them goodbye. The group noticed there was a cart that had five Pokemon eggs.
"Ah, I see you've seen these little eggs. Our little thank you gift for all your efforts yesterday," said Karena.
"Alright, that's awesome!" exclaimed Ash. The rest of the group exchanged glances and Misty stepped up to say, "Oh, you don't have to."
"Oh, but I insist. Besides, I would be comforted by the fact that when these eggs hatch, they have very capable trainers that will care for them and nurture them," said Karena, then adopting a stern look. "You will care for them, won't you?"
Immediately, as one, the group nodded. N was still on the fence as Karena handed him an egg.
"I'm afraid I can't," said N.
"Why not?" Karena frowned.
"I—I'm not a trainer, Zorua here isn't even my Pokemon. He's my friend," said N. Zorua grumbled internally, wishing that N would take him as his Pokemon. What's wrong with me?
"Then, that's fine, isn't it? You can raise this one to be a friend too. I don't see the problem," Karena insisted as she gently pushed the egg into N's hand. Then Karena lowered her voice as if whispering out loud, "This little one needs a home. You can give it one."
N's eyes widened, realizing this. Karena winked and gently patted his hand. These past few days, N had seen Pokemon needing a home and being provided one. Dwebble made itself a home, got it stolen, and got it back – and he found a home in Cilan, just like how Zorua wanted to come with him in his journey. The children, Daniela, and Karena giving Trubbish a home here in the school yard.
And now, he to this beautiful Pokemon egg. Zorua watched and smiled softly as N's eyes softened at the egg in his hands. Little did N know, he also found a home in the group – with Ash and Misty and Iris and Cilan.