Chapter 17

"Hurry up, Zorua!" N called to his pokemon as he walked quickly through the city streets.

His partner, Zorua, panted loudly and tried to keep up with N as he increased his speed. But for once, N wasn't paying attention to his friend. He was supposed to reach Castelia City by midnight, and it was six in the evening. After the fiasco with the failed attempt to steal the Dragonite skull, N did not want to make his father anymore angry.

From what Gorm had informed the rest of the sages and N, the mission would have succeeded if four trainers had not intervened. Two of the trainers he had met on several occasions. They were two siblings who had recently started their journey. The other two trainers were White and one of her traveling companions who goes by the name of Sky Blue. A great fury began to burn inside him like a fire at the thought of the lunatic.

That little punk thinks he can be with my sister! N thought furiously as he ran through a puddle and accidentally splashed water over Zorua.

"Hey!" Zorua yelped, coughing and spluttering as he stopped to shake the muddy water out of his fur.

"Zorua!" N gasped, snapping out of his thoughts and stopping in his tracks.

"What's wrong N?" The little fox-like pokemon asked as he stopped shaking and looked up at N with concern. "You're never this distracted!"

"I'm fine, Zorua," N assured him, kneeling down in front of his friend. "I'm ok, I really am."

But Zorua wasn't entirely reassured. He kept looking at N in an almost pitiful way.

"Natural, you've been like this ever since you saw Whitn- I mean White for the first time in years. Please tell me, I wanna help!"

N sighed and put his hand on top of the Dark Type's head.

"I'm sorry, but there isn't anything you can do. Now, we really should get moving. Who knows who Father assigned as our escorts."

With that, N picked Zorua up off the ground and onto his shoulder before he began to walk through the darkening streets of Nacrene City. His foster father kept assigning serious and strict grunts to protect and escort N from city to city. N kept requesting that at least one of his only human friends be assigned to escort him, but Father and most of the other Seven Sages kept flatly refusing. They kept saying that N was King of Team Plasma, and that with that title came responsibility. He was also told that as king, he was also the symbol and representative of Team Plasma, and he couldn't mess around or else he would damage the organization's image.

"So where are we meeting the escorts again?" Zorua asked as they pasted the Nacrene Museum.

"Father said they would be in front of the Cafe Warehouse," N answered, pointing up ahead. "We should be close- ah, there it is!"

N could see a cafe down the road. He was surprised to see a group of people in front of it. There must be a street performer performing in front of the cafe. But a street performer... was it even possible? Could it really be them?

"OI!"

N yelped in surprise and leapt back. He had not noticed that a Patrat was standing in front of him and accidentally stepped on his paw. The Patrat was cursing and hopping on what appeared to be a metal paw while he clutched at his real one.

"Sylvester!" N said panicky, hating himself for being so careless as he picked up the Patrat. "I'm so sorry, I was just-"

"There's no need to apologize," Sylvester said flatly, shaking the rain and mud out of his own pelt. "But next time, try stepping on the metal one instead of my good one, I'm on my last leg here!"

With that, the Normal Type pokemon flipped out of N's hands and landed on the ground. Sylvester was a Patrat who was one of N's guard's partner pokemon. However, this pokemon was not like the normal Patrats. Sylvester had one leg and no tail. Both his missing limbs were replaced with mechanical replacements. Apparently Sylvester did not want to live without his tail, so he was given a mechanical one, which also allowed him to use the Steel Type move Iron Tail.

"Well we can chitchat later, right now you gotta meet the rest of the gang after the show." Sylvester informed him.

"The show?" N asked.

The Patrat sighed and then turned and ran toward the crowd of people. Guessing that he was supposed to follow him, N chased after him. He began to hear the sound of whistling and the steady beat of what sounded like a tribal drum. He stopped as the Patrat disappeared into the group of people. He straightened up to see over the people's heads to see the street performer. It was a girl with a tribal drum, who was beginning to performing with her two pokemon, which appeared to be a Chikorita and an Illumise.

I tried to cover my shine
I've tried staying in the lines
I, I, I don't wanna hide
No, not tonight

You, you, you want me to take my light, light
Fit it in your box, right? I want
you to look me in the eye, eye, eye, eye

Ready or not
Here, here, here, here I come
I'm about to show you where the light comes from oh oh
ready or not, here, here I come
This is who I am, I won't hide it
I'mma take it all over the world
To the young, to the old, every boy and girl
Ready or not, here, here I come
I'mma show the world where the love is

I'm not ever selling out
A love out loud is what it's all about
Giving everything to see the lost get found
Yeah, it's going down

You, you, you want me to take my light, light
Fit it in your box, right? I want
you to look me in the eye, eye, eye, eye

Ready or not
Here, here, here, here I come
I'm about to show you where the light comes from oh oh
ready or not, here, here I come
This is who I am, I won't hide it
I'mma take it all over the world
To the young, to the old, every boy and girl
Ready or not, here, here I come
I'mma show the world where the love is

I refuse to keep this buried deep inside of me
Yeah this little light of mine, it's time to let it shine a bit
'Cause there's no point in hiding it, it's everything I am
The source of all my hope and it's the reason why I stand
And I pledge allegiance to be somebody real
There's no more holding it back, I'm showing them how I feel
'Cause love is more than a word it's a noun, and a verb
and hiding it is absurd
Ya heard

Ready or not
Here, here, here, here I come
I'm about to show you where the light comes from oh oh
ready or not, here, here I come
This is who I am, I won't hide it
I'mma take it all over the world
To the young, to the old, every boy and girl
Ready or not, here, here I come
I'mma show the world where the love is

Ready or not
Ready or not
I'mma show you where the love is
Ready or not
Ready or not
Ready or not

The Illumise and the Chikorita were spectacular. They were in perfect sync with each other and their trainer. One would almost think that the trainer was a extremely talented coordinator or pokemon performer, but N knew better.

As the crowd clapped politely and whistled, the girl and her two pokemon all bowed. The Chikorita and Illumise seemed extremely pleased with themselves while their trainer giggled and blew a kiss at the audience.

Typical Esther, N thought to himself, but he smiled as he watched his friend enjoy the attention.

"You are all too kind, thank you all!" Esther called to the crowd, a huge grin on her face.

Esther Higana and her pokemon continued to wave at the audience until the crowd had dispersed. She then squealed happily and scooped up a tin filled with money that had been left by passersbys, and ran off, Chika the Chikorita and Beauty the Illumise chasing after her.

"How did Esther become one of your guards?" Zorua asked, jumping off N's shoulder while looking puzzled.

"I...I don't know," replied N, who was also perplexed by this. "No one else must have been available."

"Maybe Ghetsis is dying!"

"Zorua!"

"Yeah, you're right, it's too good to be true..."

N sighed and looked around the area. Sylvester was no where to be seen. He must have scampered after Esther.

"Let's go to Pinwheel Forest," N told Zorua. "We should find Esther and Sylvester."

Zorua nodded and skipped off toward the road leading to forest, N following behind him. N still found it odd that Esther was here in Nacrene City. She was a high ranked guard in Team Plasma, and she was most of the Seven Sages' least favorite grunt. It was mainly because of her "spunk" and rebellious nature. However, N found her very kind and caring, especially toward her pokemon.

Pinwheel Forest was dark and eerie, but was crawling with life, and was also a great place for battle practicing. There were many Fighting Types, like Timburr and Sawk. There were two parts of the forest, which was the the entrance area in the east and the inner area that led west to Castelia City. N and his assigned guards were supposed to go through Pinwheel Forest, go across Skyarrow Bridge, and make it to Castelia City. However, he would have a hard time making the journey without his guard.

After walking a ways through the entrance of the dark forest and into the inner area, N began to hear voices and the chittering of pokemon. Two of the voices were human. One was a male's voice, and the other's was a female's.

"Come on, Jerry, you should be a little happy about us getting money!" Esther's voice said to someone, sounding exasperated.

"I am, but getting money this way makes me feel, well...poor." the male's voice told her. "I don't want to live like this."

"I know what you mean, but we don't exactly get paid for working with Team Plasma. Besides, they barely even care about us, but you know what they'll do if we try to leave!"

When the path turned to the right, N could finally see where the voices were coming from. Esther and her two pokemon were standing in front of a boy with messy light brown hair. Sylvester the Patrat was perched on his shoulder while a small blue and orange amphibian-like pokemon was standing next to him, listening to the conversation patiently.

N approached the two trainers and said uncertainly, "Jerry? Esther?"

The two grunts jumped and swiveled around to face N. When realizing who it was, they both smiled and ran over to him.

"Don't scare us like that, N!" Jerry told N, his smile turning into a small frown.

"Aw, don't be such a meanie, Jerry!" Esther scolded, still beaming brightly. "Anyway, surprise! Rood assigned us as your escorts! He tried assigning Terran to the group too so the entire Team JET could come, but he's still training!"

"I wish he had been able to come, but I'm glad you two are here," N assured her as he soaked in the sight of his two human friends.

Fourteen year old Esther Higana looked just as she always did. Her dark skin and her shiny black hair that reached half way past her neck made her appearance stand out. She wore her usual simple tribal tan poncho with black and red stripes, her black tank top, capri shorts, and fancy blue sandles. Her tribal drum was hanging by her side, it's sash slung across her shoulder. Her rebellious personality seemed to radiate from her body.

Jerry Reina was the same age as Esther, but was different from her in many ways. He was calm, cautious, and much more likely to look before he leapt. However, that did not stop him from being friends with Esther. Jerry usually wore a black coat, a light gray t-shirt, jeans, and his black boots.

Terran was the final member of the trio. N rarely saw him because Terran was always in training with his mentors. He was an apprentice of the Shadow Triad since Terran was brought up to be a ninja and guardian of some of Hoenn's most treasured artifacts. Terran was a very serious young man who often acted as an older brother to Jerry and Esther. Besides Jerry, he was one of the few people who could make Esther see sense and tell her when her plans were too farfetched or too dangerous. Together, the three trainers were known as Team JET.

"Well I would love it if we could stand and talk, but we got to move on!" Esther said happily, skipping a little ways down the road with her Illumise buzzing and zooming after her.

"She has been looking forward to this all week," Jerry informed N as they followed Esther. "She got a letter from her sister a few days ago, and she's been getting depressed and homesick."

"I'm sorry I haven't been able to see the three of you lately, I've been very busy with all this responsibility," N apologized, feeling guilty. While Esther was a very bright and cheerful girl, she could become depressed easily.

"Mister N?"

N turned to see Esther's Chikorita and Jerry's Mudkip standing a short ways behind him. The man stopped walking and knelt on the ground as the two starter pokemon ran up to him.

"What is it, Mudd, Chika?" N asked them kindly.

"Where's Zorua, Mister N?" Chika asked, her large eyes gleaming.

"Yeah, Sylvester said he was with you!" pipped up Mudd.

"I don't know," N answered, now realizing that Zorua was missing and began looking around. "He was here a minute ago."

"I'll find him," Sylvester sighed, jumping off Jerry's shoulder and landing clumsily on the ground. "He's undoubtedly hiding from Beauty. He probably heard that Beauty learned Attract. Personally, I can't blame him after the incident between Beauty and that Machamp."

As Sylvester used Flash and scanned the area for Zorua, Esther and her Illumise came running back.

"Hey, what's the hold up?" She called as she skidded to a stop between N and Jerry.

"Zorua is hiding somewhere," N told her, still looking around.

"Hopefully he won't be hidden for too long," said Jerry, looking a little anxious. "We still got to get to Castelia City, and I personally don't want to get punished again!"

"Aw, don't be a spoil sport or a chicken, Jerry!" Esther chirped, putting her arms around the two boys' shoulders. "We're Team JET! We can take a beating once and awhile! They've tried to take us down and separate us but we succeeded in defeating them!"

"That's because you got the better bosses. Why do I get the mean bosses and you get the good ones?"

"Jerry, you really don't want me to say."

Thankfully the protesting howls of Zorua put an end to Esther and Jerry's conversation. Sylvester was dragging Zorua by the scruff of the neck toward them, like a Glameow bringing back a Rattata to its trainer.

"Alright, Zorua, if we all travel with Chika and Beauty than you gotta suffer like the rest of us!" Sylvester growled as he dropped the thrashing Zorua and leapt back onto his trainer's shoulder.

At this, Chika sighed sadly and Beauty the Illumise buzzed furiously, "How rude!"

"Well we found Zorua!" piped up Esther, who, like Jerry, was unable to hear the voices of pokemon like N could. "Now let's get going! Come on, ma boys!"

"I hate it when she calls us that..." N heard Jerry mutter as they followed Esther. N merely smiled at this. He personally didn't mind being called Esther's boy. It made him feel like a part of the group.

Esther and Jerry were both trainers from Hoenn, but they both had different goals and lifestyles. Jerry was from Fallabar Town, where he had helped run his family's pokemon day care and humane society. He had a rather large family, which included his parents, his older sister, his brother-in-law, and his niece, who was born a few months before he joined Team Plasma. The day care was actually how Jerry met his pokemon. Jerry had told N that he had found Sylvester in a forest when he was six. The Patrat had been bloody and beat up, and was close to death. Sylvester had also been missing his tail and one of his hind legs. He saved it and took care of it at the day care until it was well, but the Patrat wanted to stay. He also met Mudd that way, but the Mudkip had been released by his trainer and left to wander by himself. Jerry had also taken care of him too, and ended up keeping him as his pokemon.

Esther, on the other hand, was from somewhere near Meteor Falls. She had a father, grandmother, and a sister. Her mother had died when she was young, so she and her sister took turns staying with their grandmother and their father. Esther's father was an archeologist who use to work for the Devon Corporation, but he now worked in Unova. Esther had been staying with her father when joining Team Plasma. Her goal was to become a famous Pokemon Performer or Top Coordinator. She currently had four pokemon, and all of them were well trained in performances and contests. However, Chika and Beauty were the only pokemon who could perform out of water, so she did many performances with just those two.

"So, N, how have things been going in the king department?" Esther asked after a few minutes of walking (or in her case, skipping).

"Nothing really," he replied, not wanting to talk about the things in his thoughts.

"Well do you know what we're gonna do about them so called troublemakers?" she inquired next, which made N's heart sink. "Everyone is talking about them! You know, the four kids from Nuvema Town and the trio who travel around regions together!"

N saw Jerry glance at him when Esther mentioned the trio of kids, who the young king knew consisted of White and her two friends. N had broken his promise to Ghetsis about keeping his sibling relationship with White quiet, and he told Jerry about her since he had a sister too (he would've told Esther, but she would've ranted for hours about what he did, and Terran was an only child). The man had asked the guard for advice on how to make up with her, but his only advice was to go up to White, apologize, and then let her beat him up in anyway she saw fit. However, the prospect of being beat up by a former Champion and current criminal was not very inviting.

"Why are you so curious, Esther?" Jerry asked his friend, raising an eyebrow.

"Well..." Esther glanced nervously at N before continuing on, "there's a rumor going around that the Seven Sages are planning to put the so called troublemakers 'out of commission'. Obviously, everyone knows that the mean assassinate. So...you're not really got let this happen, are you?"

"Assassinate?!" N repeated in shock and disbelief. "No, of course not! Who was planning this?!"

"The rumor was that it was planned by Ghetsis and Zinzolin. You have wonderful bosses, Jerry, just the best."

"Don't I know it..." grumbled Jerry at Esther's sarcastic comment. He was often assigned to missions led by Ghetsis, Zinzolin, or Gorm. Esther had either Ghetsis, Rood, or N, but she also got to be with Anthea and Concordia.

"Well it's not true, Esther," N assured her forcefully. "If it is, I will put a stop to it."

Esther perked up again at this. He knew very well that she hated breaking the law, and it would horrify her to be part of such an act. Terran and Jerry were the same way, but N didn't understand why they joined Team Plasma if they hated stealing.

"You just don't want to lose that boy with the glasses," scoffed Jerry unexpectedly to Esther.

To N's surprise, Esther began to blush like crazy. After a moment, she said calmly, "There are two troublemakers with glasses, so blue glasses or red glasses?"

"Blue."

At the sound of the word blue, Esther stoped dead in her tracks. Beauty and Chika both accidentally ran right into their trainer and pushed her down. Esther yelped and pushed her self up on her knees.

"Ok, seriously, Esther, be honest." Jerry told her as he helped her up.

"You like someone?" N asked, confused by the conversation.

"She likes the punk, doesn't she?" Zorua said with a smirk as he stopped walking between N and Mudd.

In reply to Jerry's first question, Esther dramatically collapsed back on her knees, put her hands over her head, and wailed, "OK, OK, YOU GOT ME! PLEEEEEASE DON'T TELL ANYONE!"

All the pokemon and the two other humans winced at the noise. Esther could be such a drama queen sometimes. A noisy one too.

" You mean the kid with black hair, blue glasses, and the leather jacket?" N inquired.

When Esther nodded, he exchanged a look of exasperation with Jerry.

"Well I personally think that getting those two together wouldn't be too hard," sighed Sylvester, shrugging his shoulders and lifting his little paws.

"Like two peas in a pod!" piped up Mudd happily, wiggling his fin-like tail.

"Its a long shot." Zorua said flatly, which made Chika and Beauty glare furiously at him.

"Esther," N started, helping her up back on her feet. "There's nothing to be ashamed about. Having a crush is normal."

"You would know, you have a crush on that Rachel girl," Jerry added, a sly smile on his face.

At the sound of Rachel's name, N blushed and felt his face grow hot. Esther giggled a little and covered her mouth with her hands. N did like Rachel, but he didn't want everyone to him.

"So it's ok to like troublemakers?" Esther asked quietly after her stifled giggles subsided.

"There's no law against it as far as I am aware," N assured her with a shrug.

After N's reassurance, Esther's mood increased immensely. The wide grin came back on her face, and she swiveled around and skipped back down the path. Chika and Beauty brightened up as well, and pranced after their trainer. If Esther was happy, her pokemon were happy as well. Mudd, who thought of the coordinator very highly, also fell into step next to Esther.

When Esther was out of earshot, N turned to face Jerry.

"Is me liking Rachel that obvious?" N asked him quietly.

"It's sorta obvious, I mean, a quarter of Team Plasma's population is whispering about it."

Before N could flatly lie about liking Rachel, there was shriek up ahead where Esther had disappeared.

"Esther!" shouted both boys at the same time and bolting into a run.
"HOW DARE YOU ACCUSE ME OF SUCH A THING!" Esther was hollering as they reached the place where the shriek had came from.

Esther was standing over a man who looked like a roughneck. The man was growling and wincing as she hit him around the face with her bag. While their trainer was doing that, Chika and Beauty were stomping on a purple jelly-like pokemon. Mudd was hiding behind Esther in fear.

"Err...Esther?" Jerry started tentatively as Esther stopped smacking the roughneck and began panting. "What are you doing?"

Esther turned to face them, a wild glint in her eye. She put her hands on her hips and hissed, "This man accused me of being with Team Plasma! Have you ever heard such an unlikely tale?"

N saw Jerry do a facepalm at this, and he understood why. Esther collected badges that represented important events and moments in her life, and clipped them to the hem of her poncho. The newest one was the Team Plasma badge.

The young king leaned over to her and whispered in her ear, "Esther, your badge, it's a bit of a giveaway..."

Esther blushed with embarrassment and made a small whimper as the roughneck got back on his feet. If looks could kill, they would surely be dead.

"So you just wear that evil badge for decoration, eh, little girl?" He growled, his shadow looming over the three Team Plasma members and their pokemon.

All the pokemon his behind their trainers as the jelly pokemon grew larger. N recognized it as a Ditto, the only pokemon besides Zorua and Zoroark that could turn into other pokemon.

"Um, I-I think this is all a misunderstanding," Esther stuttered as she edged away from the buff man.

"The theft of my pokemon is a misunderstanding?!" the roughneck hissed, his voice rising.

"N-No, but-"

"I'll make a deal with you, missy! We will forget this ever happened if you return my Cockledurr and my Krokodile to me right now!"

"We don't have your pokemon, we didn't steal them!" Jerry snapped, stepping beside Esther. "If we did, we would return them to you!"

"You tell 'em, boy!" Sylvester cheered, but it only sounded like random squeaks to Jerry.

The roughneck raised an eyebrow and hissed in a deadly voice, "Is that a no?"

"Yes, it is!"

The roughneck narrowed his gaze on them. He then looked at his Ditto an nodded to it. The Ditto stretched out longer till it was as tall as its trainer. It then gave a screech wail, which echoed through the forest.

There was silence for a moment. N thought that the roughneck was just trying to intimidate them. But the distance sound of rumbling motors proved his theory false.

Four motorcycles came tearing out of the forest from all sides. The roughnecks were all hollering while their pokemon gave loud carrying cries as they sat behind their trainers. All the roughnecks were like the first. They wore leather jackets with a red sea serpent-like pokemon. They all were tattooed and smoking cigarettes. However, their pokemon weren't very intimidating.

All of the pokemon were Normal and Fairy Types. There was a Clefairy, Jigglypuff, Clefable, and Wigglytuff.

Esther, who no longer looked nervous at the sight of the opposing pokemon, snorted with laughter.

"Really? This is the best you got?" Esther demanded, thrusting her arm out and gesturing to the Fairy Types.

"Consider yourself lucky!" yelled one of the roughnecks. "If we had our pokemon that you stole from us, you would already be dead now!"

"Well we can handle your Fairy Types, right, girls?"

" Absolutely!" cried Beauty, straightening up proudly while Chika crouched low and yelled, "I couldn't agree more!"

"Sylvester, Mudd, can you battle too?" Jerry asked his own pokemon.

"Of course I can, our continued existence depends on my tail!" Sylvester answered, leaping off his trainer's shoulder and landing on the ground.

Mudd looked around at the Fairy Types nervously before stammering, "I-I think I can..."

N looked down at Zorua, who was waiting for his instructions. He did not want to make the pokemon fight, but sometimes it was necessary.

"You up for this, Zorua?" N asked his partner.

"You bet I am!" Zorua replied excitedly, leaping between Chika and Mudd.

"Alright men, let's give these punks a lesson!" The first roughneck bellowed, and the Ditto, Jigglypuff, Clefairy, Wigglytuff, and Clefable leapt into action.

"Beauty, Helping Hand on Mudd and then on Zorua!" Esther ordered Beauty immediately as the coordinator swung her tribal drum from around her shoulder and began to tap it in a steady beat.

Beauty gave a song-like cry as violet dust began to shed from her body and surrounded Sylvester. More purple dust shed off her and surrounded Zorua next, raising his attack stats.

"Sylvester use Detect and protect the others!" Jerry told his own pokemon, who gave an obedient squeak and surrounded his allies with a barrier with just the glint of his eye.

The attacks merely bounced off and nearly missed the opposing pokemon.

"Ditto, Transform!" The first roughneck bellowed at his pokemon.

The Ditto made loud bubbling noises and shaped into another pokemon. It changed into a large crimson and dark grey pokemon with beady eyes. It had transformed into a Krookodile.

"Zorua, use your Illusion ability!" N told Zorua desperately as the Ditto prepared to swipe at the barrier.

Zorua barked and began to change as well. He disguised himself as a large, red and tan ape-like pokemon with fiery eyebrows. He was now a Darmanitan.

The Ditto roared angrily as Zorua leapt on it and began to pound on its back (the Ditto was slime, so hopefully it wouldn't be seriously injured). While the two disguised pokemon fought their battle, Jerry, Esther, and their pokemon were fighting a pokemon battle against the Fairy Types.

"Sylvester, dodge and use Double Team!" Jerry commanded his pokemon while Esther yelled, "Chika, use Poison Powder! Beauty, Silver Wind on the Poison Powder!"

Sylvester obeyed and dodged an attack from the Jigglypuff and Wigglytuff while using Double Team. His body began to look glitchy while two dozen copies ran around him, all of them looking identical in everyway. Esther's Chikorita and Illumise were meanwhile fighting the Clefairy and Clefable. Chika slashed at the air with the leaf on her head and purple powder flew off. Beauty flew above her partner and began to flutter her wings so fast that they became almost invisible. The poisonous powder flew with the wind, making the two Fairy Types receive a face full of the Poison Powder.

While the Jigglypuff and the Wigglytuff went through the copies by using Double Slap on one copy at a time, Mudd, who was hiding behind one of Sylvester's doppelgangers, jumped out and sprayed them with a Water Gun. During that, Beauty and Chika had also started a rain of fire on the other two. Chika was using Razor Leaf while Beauty used Zen Headbutt on the Clefable. N would've helped Zorua, but Zorua already had the upper paw.

"Alright, use Helping Hand on Sylvester and Mudd one more time!" Esther commanded her pokemon after almost ten minutes of battling. All the pokemon were tired, but the three Team Plasma members were winning.

As the Illumise shed more purple dust, one of the roughnecks bellowed, "CLEFABLE, POUND!"

The Clefable gave a loud cry and punched the ground at Esther's feet. She yelped and fell backwards from the force and bits of concrete flying everywhere. She tumbled across the pavement and landed on the side of the road.

"Esther!" Jerry yelled, running to Esther's side as she gasped and clutched at her ankle.

N wanted to help Esther too, but the Ditto suddenly broke away from its fight with Zorua. Its claws powered up and glowed as it swirled around to face Chika, who was left completely defenceless.

The young king ran toward the Chikorita and pushed her away from the disguised Ditto as it scraped its claws across where Chika had been. However, the claws scratched N's shoulder as he pushed Chika. He winced horribly and used his free hand to grasp the place he was cut.

"A-Are you ok?" He stuttered as he looked back up at Chika.

The little Grass Type nodded and stammered, "I-I think so, t-thank you, sir!"

"Don't mention it..."

"Sylvester, Iron Tail! Mudd, use Water Pulse and aim for his tail!" Jerry ordered his pokemon while he helped Esther up and let her lean on him for support.

Sylvester and Mudd both gave cries of understanding and used the assigned attacks. The Patrat's metal tail flashed as it hardened and straightened up. The Mudkip's cheeks puffed up and expelled a sphere of water a second later. The Water Pulse went straight for Sylvester. Then the Scout Pokemon swung his tail and hit the water orb hard. The sphere zoomed off and smacked the Wigglytuff in the face, making it fall over unconscious. Mudd repeatedly sent a Water Pulse at Sylvester, and he hit it back at the enemy pokemon, including Ditto, until they were all unconscious.

"N, let's go!" shouted Jerry to N as he helped Esther down the road as fast as he could. "Beauty, Chika, Mudd, Sylvester, Zorua, this way!"

Most of the pokemon ran after Jerry and Esther while Zorua returned to normal and tore after them. N picked up Chika and ducked behind the first roughneck before running to Esther's other side and supporting her down the road. N heard the roughnecks cursing and making loud noises with their motorcycle engines.

The three trainers were able to make a detour through the trees so they could avoid anymore trainers, especially roughnecks. They were able to reach a dark river with a concrete bridge over it awhile later. N and Jerry both agreed that they should take a break and tend to Esther's ankle, so they went right of the bridge and supported their friend to the river bank a small ways away.

"I'm sorry for causing so much trouble, boys," Esther groaned as they set her down gently on the wet ground. "Now I know why Ghetsis never trusts me to escort you anywhere, N."

"You may cause trouble, but that makes the entire journey fun," N assured her as he sat across her and slid her sandal off her injured foot. "I always enjoy it when you, Jerry, and Terran are around. Well, from what I can tell, you either sprained or twisted your ankle. I'm not a very good doctor, so don't believe my diagnostics."

Esther moaned again at this and Jerry sighed. The last thing they needed was a sprained or twisted ankle to deal with right before they crossed Skyarrow Bridge.

"Good thing we brought a first aid kit," muttered Jerry, kneeling on the ground and opening his bag. "I think I have an ice pack with me. N, I know you're hurt, but I'm going to go find more berries for the pokemon. We can't keep them in this state, and I don't have enough medicine for all them. Can you take care of Esther while I go off?"

"Of course," N replied as Jerry returned his two pokemon to their pokeballs while Esther did the same.

After N was given the first aid kit, the other young man went off into the forest. Zorua, who refused to go into his pokeball (N really couldn't blame him), settled in the space between N and Esther and curled up. Esther leaned back against a rock and groaned as N opened the medical kit and pulled out the ice pack.

"Keep this on your foot for awhile, alright?" N instructed her as he set the pack on her ankle.

"Fine..." she replied absentmindedly as her gaze landed on the river.
N turned away from her and began to tend to his cut. As he dabbed at his cut with a wet cloth, he heard Esther's voice, but she didn't seem to be speaking to him. She seemed to be singing, while she tapped her good foot and clapped her hands a little. The song she was singing was slow and sad, yet it was very moving.

Everybody tells me it's 'bout time that I moved on
And I need to learn to lighten up and learn how to be young
But my heart is a valley, it's so shallow and man made
I'm scared to death if I let you in that you'll see I'm just a fake
Sometimes I feel lonely in the arms of your touch
But I know that's just me cause nothing ever is enough
When I was a child I grew up by the River Lea
There was something in the water, now that something's in me
Oh I can't go back, but the reeds are growing out of my fingertips
I can't go back to the river

But it's in my roots, it's in my veins
It's in my blood and I stain every heart that I use to heal the pain
But it's in my roots, it's in my veins
It's in my blood and I stain every heart that I use to heal the pain

So I blame it on the River Lea, the River Lea, the River Lea
Yeah I blame it on the River Lea, the River Lea, the River Lea

I should probably tell you now before it's way too late
That I never meant to hurt you or lie straight to your face
Consider this my apology, I know it's years in advance
But I'd rather say it now in case I never get the chance
No I can't go back, but the reeds are growing out of my fingertips
I can't go back to the river

But it's in my roots, it's in my veins
It's in my blood and I stain every heart that I use to heal the pain
It's in my roots, it's in my veins
It's in my blood and I stain every heart that I use to heal the pain

So I blame it on the River Lea, the River Lea, the River Lea
Yeah I blame it on the River Lea, the River Lea, the River Lea
So I blame it on the River Lea, the River Lea, the River Lea
Yeah I blame it on the River Lea, the River Lea, the River Lea

River Lea, River Lea
River Lea, River Lea
River Lea, River Lea
River Lea, River Lea
The River Lea-Lea-Lea-Lea
The River Lea-Lea-Lea-Lea
The River Lea-Lea-Lea-Lea
The River Lea-Lea-Lea-Lea

"What are you singing?" N asked Esther when she was done.

Esther jumped a little at the sound of N's voice. She seemed to have forgotten he was there.

"Oh, just a song I heard when I was younger," Esther answered, pushing herself up and wincing. "Right now my life feels like that song."

"How?"

"Well, how best to put it..." Esther tapped her chin with her pointing finger and stared at the river.

After a few moments, Esther spoke again and admitted, "It's hard to explain. I just find the song kinda...comforting, and some parts I can relate to. You see, before I joined Team Plasma, I was going through a difficult time. I had lost a...treasured possession, and it was killing me and everyone in my family. When joining Team Plasma and meeting you, Jerry, and Terran, my time with you all eased the pain. But my depression has been known to be 'contagious' to others. So, yeah, it's hard to put into words."

"Does that event have to do with your second newest badge?"

Esther blushed a little and her hand shot up to rub the badge to the right of the Team Plasma badge. This badge was a black ribbon with a silver baby footprint in the middle. It was the one badge Esther never spoke of.

"I won't lie to you, N," she sighed sadly, turned her head away to hide her face. "The event is connected to this badge. I'm just not ready to share the tale."

"I'm sorry, I just-" N started but Esther interrupted him.

"It's nothing to be sorry about, N, really," Esther assured him with a smile. "Curiosity is a wonderful thing, and you are full of it. Not many people appreciate it like I do. Sometime I'll tell you the secret of this badge, but today's not the day. But N, let me give you some life advice; always cherish the time you spend with the loved ones around you, because they can be gone in the blink of an eye."

N had no idea what to say. He understood the advice, but it stung at his heart. He thought back to Whitney as a child and to White the young adult. He missed out her entire life, and now she was out to seek revenge on him. Esther was right...cherish the people you love, because they can be gone in a blink.

***

Do do do do do do do do do do

I wear a demeanor made of bright pretty things
What she wears, what she wears, what she wears.
Birds singing on my shoulder, in harmony it seems
How they sing, how they sing how they sing.

Give me nights of solitude,
Red wine just a glass or two,
Reclined in a hammock on a balmy evening.

I'll pretend that it's no thing
There's a skip in my heart when I think
Of you thinking of me babe I'm crazy over you.

Ah ah ah ah ah ah
There's something in the water,
Something in the water
Ah ah ah ah ah ah
There's something in the water,
That makes me love you like

I've got halos made of summer,
Ribbons made of spring
What she wears, what she wears, what she wears.
I've got crowns of words a'woven,
Each one a song to sing
Oh I sing, oh I sing, oh I sing.

Give me long days in the sun
Preludes to the nights to come
Previews of the mornings layin' in all lazy.

Give me something fun to do
Like a life of loving you
Kiss me quick now baby I'm still crazy over you.

Ah ah ah ah ah ah
There's something in the water,
Something in the water.
Ah ah ah ah ah ah
There's something in the water,
That makes me love you like I do.
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh

Give me nights of solitude
Red wine just a glass or two
Give me something fun to do.

Ah ah ah ah ah ah
There's something in the water,
Something in the water.
Ah ah ah ah ah ah
There's something in the water,
That makes me love you like I do.
Ah ah ah ah ah ah
There's something in the water,
Something in the water.
Ah ah ah ah ah ah
There's something in the water,
That makes me love you like I do do do do do do do do do do.

Margaret's soft singing voice carried out through the river bank as N skipped stones across the water. He loved Margaret's signing voice, but it also made him a little sad. He was reminded so much of his friends in Team Plasma.

N and Margaret had been able to separate themselves from their groups to meet by the river they had first learned the secrets of each other next to. Margaret was practicing on her keyboard while their pokemon played together a short ways away (except for Rapi, she was apparently too old for such nonsense). N was glad to have someone so similar to himself for company. The only time he felt like this was three years ago.

"D-Did I do ok?" Margaret asked N shyly as he tossed another rock across the river.

"It was lovely," he told her truthfully. "I don't see why you must practice so much."

Margaret blushed with embarrassment and stuttered, "Oh, well, I just want to get better at it..."

"You want to impress that boy you're traveling with."

N smirked a little as Margaret blushed a deep pink. He chuckled and through another rock at the water. It skipped across the water three times before sinking.

"I've been meaning to ask you something," N started, picking up a pebble and turning to look at the rookie. "I heard that you're supposed to have a silver eye and a blue one, but you seem to have green eyes."

Margaret sighed a little at the question. However, it wasn't an annoyed sigh. It was a sigh that clearly meant she forgot a possibly important detail about herself.

"Oh dear, I guess I didn't explain that very well, did I?" She said sadly as she removed her red glasses.

She shook her wavey maroon hair and looked at N dead in the eyes innocently. Sure enough, her eyes were two different colors. One eye was a clear sky blue while the other was a dull shade of silver. He had never seen a person with such unique eyes.

"When Team Rocket started looking for me, Professor Oak started to look for ways to hide the color of my eyes," Margaret explained, showing N her glasses. "I didn't want eye contacts and I need glasses anyway, so he made some glasses that made my eyes look like they were green."

"And you were never discovered?"

"Nope, and they never succeeded in making another virus either. Since they didn't know the effects of the first virus, they didn't know what to improve on, and they had no one else who could take it since it was made specifically for me."

N handed her her glasses back and said with relief, "Well that's good."

He had been worrying if Team Rocket had continued to develop the virus. The ability of flight and to hear the voices of pokemon would kill a normal person if both of them developed at once. He was surprised that Margaret could have survived the process. However, he did not ask her about it.

"Actually, I've been meaning to ask you something too," Margaret started, putting her glasses back on and setting down her keyboard.

"What about?" N asked uncertainly. He didn't want to talk about anything related to him leaving White.

"Well, you seem very...isolated from the rest of White's friends," she continued. "Why is that? Do you not like them?"

N didn't answer right away. It was simple to him. They didn't like him, and he didn't like them. Well, with the exception of Mira, Margaret, and Fiona. He didn't really care for the rest.

"I never get along with most of them," he told Margaret. "I only came on this journey because White wanted me to. They wouldn't care if I didn't come."

"Um...well...do you have friends of your own then?"

At this question, N's thoughts automatically switched to his memories of his only three human friends. Jerry, Esther, and Terran...

"I had friends...once..." he answered quietly as he sat next to Margaret.

Margaret looked confused and repeated, "Once?"

When N nodded, she pressed on, "Oh my, what happened to them?"

"Nothing, I just haven't seen them in three years," he told her sadly. "I haven't seen them since I stepped down as Team Plasma's king..."

"So what were your friends like?" questioned Margaret after seeing him nod. "What were they're names?"

"Esther, Jerry, and Terran," he replied in a soft voice. "They were members of Team Plasma, and were the only humans I considered as friends."

"And why were they so special to you?"

"Because they accepted me for who I was. They dismissed the fact that I could hear the voices of pokemon and treated me like any other person. While other grunts treated me like royalty and were so serious, they were more relaxed and even broke the protocols. They never called me 'Lord N', they called me by name. They even wanted me to be part of their group, Team JET, but Ghetsis disapproved and told me to 'grow up', unlike them."

"Well they seem very nice," Margaret said with a tiny smile. "What were they like?"

"Rebellious," N answered instantly. "especially Esther. Jerry and Terran were a little more law abiding. Jerry was especially cautious of following rules, but he was still considered one of the weakest grunts. He was very noble and a true gentleman. He never left a grunt behind on missions. I know White knew him for awhile. They got along better than I thought they would. He was like a brother.

"Terran was in training to become a member of the Shadow Triad, so we rarely saw him. He was a serious young man, but he was also very courageous. He was protective of the other two, especially Esther since she always had a trick or prank up her sleeve. He had been a ninja in training in Hoenn, and he was guardian of two important artifacts. I don't think he ever said what they were. And Esther..."

N stopped for a moment, remembering the girl who had encouraged him so much.

"Esther was amazing." He continued simply. "She was a very outgoing, energetic, bright girl. She was also very encouraging. She was like another sister. She always treated me like I was family. She always made me happy. Sometimes she was a bit of a hot head, but she was friendly. Esther was the one who gave me the life lessons no one else would tell me. I...I miss her the most..."

Margaret seemed to sense his sadness. She frowned and watched him in concern.

"What...what happened to them?" Margaret asked softly.

N thought for a moment. He then told her sadly, "Jerry was arrested a few weeks before Team Plasma's downfall. He was arrested on a mission in Driftveil City, and Ghetsis left him to face trial while freeing everyone else who was arrested. Esther and Terran escaped the headquarters after Team Plasma's fall with Anthea, Concordia, and one of the sages, Rood. Anthea and Concordia were not wanted for anything, so they went off on their own while Esther and Terran stayed with Rood. They were able to stay hidden the longest, but they were arrested two months after going into hiding. Jerry, Esther, and Terran all spent two years in a detention center because of me..."

"Oh...oh N... I'm so sorry..." Margaret whispered with sympathy.

N didn't say anything. The three of them had done so much for him, yet he was running. Just running. Running to keep his freedom. Now their roles were reversed. N was running and hiding from the authorities while they had their lives ahead of them.

"Have...have you heard what happened to them, your friends?" The rookie stammered suddenly.

The man nodded and said, "Each of them were released early. Apparently all of them were blackmailed into joining Team Plasma. Ghetsis threatened the life of Jerry's baby niece, Esther's sister, and Terran's parents. After the police were presented with the letters, they released them. From what Anthea and Concordia told me, Team JET helped Rood infiltrate the second Team Plasma and led raids after being released. They even led an attack on the Plasma Frigate the day Team Plasma fell."

Margaret nodded and watched Petunia wrestling Silky in the river absentmindedly. She then turned back to N and questioned, "What happened to them after that?"

N thought for a moment then reached for his bag. He rummaged around in it before pulling out a rolled up magazine.

"Here's what happened to Jerry," he told her, handing her the magazine.

The rookie unrolled the magazine and adjusted her glasses. Her eyes widened as she saw the cover.

"The Jerry you were talking about was actually Hoenn's last Top Coordinator?!" She gasped in disbelief.

"Yes," he replied, surprised at this. "You've heard of him?"

"I don't think there's a girl who doesn't know him! Well, in Viridian City that is. All the girls in town talk about him a lot."

"So have you watched his contests?"

Margaret nodded and said, "I've seen a few of his, I remember seeing the Grand Festival he won the title of Top Coordinator in. His pokemon are truly remarkable. They all work so well together. Which pokemon did you know?"

"His Mudkip and Patrat."

"Oh, so you knew his Swampert and Patrat! They are amazing! Especially how his Swampert can mega evolve. You've never seen any of his performances, have you?"

When N shook his head, Margaret continued on, "Well I guess he's gained four more pokemon since you last saw him, and all of them work in pairs. His Swampert and his Patrat are the best known since he used them in the final round of the Grand Festival. He also has his Volbeat and Torchic, who both do well together because of Torchic's fire attacks and Volbeat's light shows. The third pair is his Musharna and Groyvle. Musharna's Dream Mist makes Groyvle look like an armored or a Mega Sceptile to the audience and opponents. Jerry and his pokemon are very talented indeed. I kinda wonder where he learnt it all."

"Esther made sure to teach all of Terran and Jerry's pokemon how to dance and do tricks." N explained with a shrug. "Team JET was also a group of street performers."

"Besides Jerry, what happened to the other two?"

N didn't answer right away. He then reached into his bag after a minute and pulled out a long small box. He opened it and showed Margaret the contents.

Three stacks of letters were slid inside. The stacks were tied together with tough string. Each string was a different color so that N could tell the stacks apart.

"These are the letters I received from Jerry, Esther, and Terran," he told Margaret. "Anthea and Concordia gave them to me a few weeks ago. They each sent me almost three years worth of letters."
"Oh my, there are a lot of letters!" Margaret agreed, picking up a stack of letters and observing the slits on top of some of the letters. "So you've only read a few?"

"I've read all the letters they wrote during their imprisonment."

"When did you last read these?"

N didn't want to answer, but he mumbled, "I haven't read them since I first got them..."

"Well how will you know what happened to Terran and Esther if you don't read them?" Margaret asked perplexedly.

"I know what happened to Terran," N said defensively. "Terran went back to Hoenn to defend the region's artifacts. He lives near Mount Pyre with his parents, grandparents, and three pokemon. He even has two distant cousins, but they're gym leaders, so he rarely talked about them."

Margaret looked even more confused and questioned quietly, "But...what about Esther?"

Guilt squirmed in N's chest. It hurt to say the next few words.

"No...no one has heard from her in over a year," he stammered weakly. "Her letters stop a month after Team Plasma's second downfall..."

"Oh my...I'm so sorry..."

The man shook his head and continued in a cracked voice, "I've been hoping that's she's just busy and that it's nothing personal. I mean, she was taking care of her sister last I heard..."

"Her sister?"

"Well...I found out from Anthea and Concordia that shortly before Esther joined Team Plasma, Esther's family suffered a great loss. Esther's older sister gave birth to a baby girl, but she died because of breathing problems. She only lived a few days. That explained why Esther got depressed so easily..."

N then realized that one tear was sliding down his cheek.

Idiot! He scolded himself harshly as he tried to hide his face. Don't cry at a time like this!

But Margaret had already noticed. She pulled a handkerchief out of her coat pocket and dabbed at the tears now coming out of the corner of his eyes.

"Crying is nothing to be ashamed of, N," Margaret assured him softly, smiling a little and giving him a small hug. "Everyone needs to cry sometime or another. I think this is a good excuse to cry. But N, I'm sure Esther and the others still care about you. They sent you three years worth of letters after all, that's got to mean something."

The fugitive was taken aback by this kindness. For some reason, he didn't expect this. But he appreciated it all the same, and hugged Margaret back slowly. He still missed Esther, Jerry, and Terran a lot, but the pain and loneliness seemed to fade away a bit. He may not have the company of Team JET, but at least now he had Margaret's friendship.