Last edited: 07/01/2020

★👑★

White~

After I finished the Fashion Show, I met up with Elesa backstage. The show was a success and Elesa couldn't be any happier than she already was. I was happy too, but I wasn't thinking about the show.

Bianca was right—not that I doubted her in the beginning...I just had my suspicions. Why was N here?

"Thank you so much for your help, White! I'm serious; this is a success! Everyone loved you. The festival will be a massive tourist hot spot, and I have you to thank," Elesa stated.

I nodded my head, as I noticed Lucario entering the back door. His face showed it all; it was about N. It had to be N—the man was tall with long green hair, one that reminded me of N's...

I excused myself and followed Lucario outside from backstage. There were a lot of reporters in the halls, but Lucario managed to lead me away from them and outside safely. Gardevoir suddenly appeared in front of me, holding out her hand in front of me.

After I grabbed her hand, Gardevoir teleported us to another place—a place so familiar... Lostlorn Forest, if I remember correctly. Lucario wasn't with me, which caused me to worry. However, Gardevoir's presence reassured me that nothing bad would happen.

I trust all of my friends equally.

'Over there,' Gardevoir pointed to a group of trees in front of us. The trailer was gone, for some reason, but I wasn't concerned about that. Gardevoir was guiding me through the forest itself, past the many trees that stood from the 'now-gone' trailer.

Gardevoir suddenly stopped.

'Continue without me. I'll stand right here if something bad happens. Just keep walking forward.'

Her words soothed my anxiety, especially when she and Lucario hadn't done something like this before. I didn't know what they were planning, but I trusted them. So I continued forward, as she said, and I welcomed the sight of open space.

I was surprised to find the spacious plains I stood. The last time I was here I tried interacting with the woman from the trailer, yet to come back with no response. However, what I saw caused me to halt.

The man who leaned against the tree, which stood elegantly in the middle of this beautiful area. His long green hair—the same hair that I recognized from a few years ago—rustled along with the soft current. His arms crossed against his white shirt, as he stared at the sky and the Pokémon that flew by.

As I stared at him with mesmerization, I muttered his name loud enough for him to hear.

"N..."

He heard my voice, his head turning around after he heard my voice call out to him, the same blue-grey eyes that once vibrated the sense of anger, pain, determination, and betrayal.

"White... It's really you..." he said with a smile; the same pure, gentle smile from two years ago.

He relaxed his body, letting his arms rest against his sides, before standing straight to approach me. I wanted to step back. This was happening too fast, but I knew deep down that I wanted him to come closer. I wanted to hear what he had to say, what he now believed in this Pokémon world. I wondered if he changed in the two years.

Although, I was greatly displeased that it took me two years to find him, only for him to show up in front of me as if nothing had happened. I wanted to vent all of my emotions and stress onto him, to the point of raising my hand slightly.

However, N was fine and I couldn't deny... I missed him. I cared about him, but I was sure he didn't see that. He saw the dream I had, the same dream I persuaded. When N stood in front of me, less than a metre apart, I couldn't slap him—of course, I did hit him, but it was more of a gentle slap than anything.

'Why did I even bother raising my hand, to do something so foolish as that?' I thought to myself.

I tilted my head up and noticed the way he stared down at me. His eyes held mixed reactions, from regret to relief to startled. He didn't say a word about what I just did; instead, he grabbed my shoulder and embraced me.

I instantly placed both hands on his shoulders; I had thought about pushing him back. However, the feeling of him embracing me—I wanted to stay in this position for a while. As I realized that, I relaxed my arms and embraced him back.

His long, slender fingers buried themselves within my locks which had yet to be tied back into a ponytail. The clothes I wore, the ones which belonged to Elesa, I had to apologize to her for the group of wrinkles that formed on the chiffon used. However, the clothes were the least of my concerns.

"Pokémon and people... I had wondered what the true value of maintaining that relationship would result in. A world where Trainers force their Pokémon to battle other Pokémon... I cannot accept such a world to exist...! But I had some time to think about all that had happened."

N slowly spoke those words from the depth of his heart, as if they were the last words he wanted to whisper before leaving... again. However, his firm hold sent a signal to me, one trying to reassure me that he will never leave again.

I doubted the thought, but I wanted to believe what I had wanted.

"There are many outcomes that can happen in this world, one which a Trainer and their Pokémon would not come to understand individually. They need each other, like how the sun needs the moon, how the sea needs the land... I wonder if this was the reason for my carelessness, of how I failed to understand that Pokémon can be happy with people so long as they accept each other."

I was released from N's hold. He distanced us a few centimetres apart and stared off into black space. I grabbed the hand—the one which still entangled between my locks—and enclasped our hands together.

"Pokémon and people had been living beside one another for years... if one cared about things individually, then the surroundings wouldn't change, only the opinions..." I stated softly, under my breath which whispered through the spring breeze.

"I have yet to see the true nature of the relationship between Pokémon and people. You were the first I had ever witnessed, but I doubt people would follow your example..."

N released my hand and turned to his left, shaking his head a couple of times before he stared once again off into the distance.

"Team Plasma... they crumbled, burned into ashes, like my ideology and dreams of a perfect world, where Pokémon can become and remain perfect beings. Perhaps it was a good thing they did. I cannot forgive such insolence they uphold against Pokémon, yet I know some felt the same way I did."

"What do you want to do?" I asked him, refusing to avert my gaze from him, as the wind blew by and left a chilling sensation.

"I heard there are Team Plasma members out there, the ones who saw what I saw in Pokémon... I believe they are searching for me, at least that was what I heard back in Driftveil City. They're reforming Team Plasma into an organization to help mistreated Pokémon. To follow or look away from them... That is the decision I find most difficult to choose," N confessed, letting out an exasperated sigh before gazing at his two feet.

"Do you believe they are doing it for the Pokémon's sake, or are you saying all Team Plasma members are one and the same as that cruel man you used to call 'father'?"

N shook his head.

"He isolated me from the world and had me surrounded by pained Pokémon. Ever since our last battle, it was hard to even see him as my father."

He brought his right hand up, half a metre away from his face, examining them as if there were stains smeared on them; the colours of his sins...

"Then shall we find those members together? Forget what happened in the past. You are no longer 'Team Plasma King N'. You are N, a normal human man who has a natural gift in understanding the hearts of Pokémon," I offered, extending my hand towards him.

N turned around and noticed my hand extended out towards him. I saw his hesitation, the same worried eyes he had two years ago when Ghetsis tried to attack me with his Pokémon. He raised his hand towards mine but froze as if he was having second thoughts.

'Don't force him,' I told myself.

His hand hovered over mine, the heat radiating from his palm and onto mine. I tried to reassure him by moving my hand slightly, trying to smile with genuine intentions. Slowly, he placed his hand on mine, where I placed my other cool hand on top of his.

"I'm here for you, N. I had never doubted you and I never will. What happened in the past was justified and I don't want to see you in pain. Please don't shut yourself from me," I pleaded.

His eyebrows furrowed, as regret flowed through his iris in which they began to moisten.

"I had hurt you too much, yet you are willing to forgive me so easily... I wonder if that's why Reshiram chose you as a hero. Reshiram must've seen that, the kindness in which Pokémon sought for, something that would've soothed their aching heart, as well as mine..."

N was speaking slower than two years ago. He was also being more open to me, rather than focussing on his own ideology. People pursue dreams but not alone. Naturally, there are people who would help or oppose your dreams. I just happened to be the person opposed to N's dreams.

"I never blamed you," I responded.

N smiled; a genuinely relieved one.

"Thank you."

As our conversation was about to continue, my Xtransceiver began ringing. I jumped at the noise, which caused N to distance us slightly. I opened the screen and noticed Bianca's dishevelled appearance, as she appeared to be panting out of exhaustion.

'Such timing Bianca had...' I thought to myself.

"White! The reporters are so annoying! It took me a while to get through them. Where are you? I have been searching all of Nimbasa for you!" she exclaimed through the Xtransceiver.

"Um... long story?" I shrugged.

"Long story!?" she screeched. "White! Do you not know how worried I am for you!? Who knows what lengths those reporters are willing to go through just to find you."

"I'll let To—Black handle it. He doesn't seem to be unqualified with that kind of situation," I reassured her.

"I can't trust that assumption, White!" Bianca cried out.

"Sorry, Bianca. I'm a bit busy myself, so I'll talk to you later, okay?"

I informed her before turning off the Xtransceiver. Although I did feel bad for Bianca, I knew she was going to continue rambling about the same thing. Cheren warned me of that before I left Unova two years ago.

"I'm sorry if I'm disrupting something," N suddenly apologized.

I immediately shook my head. "Oh no, it's not like that. Bianca is still Bianca. She never changed."

I lowered my gaze and noticed something dark behind the trees. Back in Hoenn, my friend Steven showed me how to spot the differences in certain rocks and taught me about the wilderness, where I felt more connected to the Pokémon who lived there. There was no way the leaves from those trees would create that kind of shadow.

N turned his head after staring at me for a bit. Knowing we weren't going to look away, the figures revealed themselves—familiar figures, if I may add.

Two women: one with blonde hair, with a blue band tied in a ponytail and two locks standing out on top of her head. The other had long pink hair, with two locks that went down to her chest. They stood side by side, as they slowly approached us, where N began to mutter.

"Concordia... Anthea..."

That's right... I remembered them now.

Before I battled N, I entered the room they were in and Anthea healed my friends while Concordia explained to me N's past. At that time, they were the Goddesses of Team Plasma, hired to comfort N as a child. They were also not aware of Ghetsis's plans to use them for liberation.

"White... was it? It's been a long time since we've last seen you," Concordia greeted.

"I see you are doing quite well. Your Lucario and Gardevoir were saying nice things about you, which makes me smile in delight that you treat them properly," Anthea added.

I turned around instantly and noticed Lucario and Gardevoir standing there, waving towards me with a smile.

So that's what they planned... I assumed Lucario wanted me to finally receive the effort I had done after two years of searching and teamed up with Gardevoir to do so. Maybe that's what they were talking about during the fashion show.

"If we may borrow some of your valued time, we would like to show you something important," Concordia requested.

I was about to ask what they needed until N stepped in, with a startled face; it must probably be from what Concordia said.

"Wait... Is it really alright? You weren't happy about Ash and his friends when they came to our hidden hideout."

Ash? I wondered if it was the same Ash that was acquainted with the Greninja Touya had. If that was the case, when did he meet Ash?

"Though we parted on good terms with those people, White and Ash are two different trainers. Although both care deeply for Pokémon, Ash lacks the true understanding of having Pokémon alongside him," Anthea replied.

"We do spark opposing thoughts that contrasts with his ideology. White, do you understand what we're saying, of how there's a gap between people treating Pokémon as if they were Pokémon and as companions?" Concordia added.

"There are trainers like that in the world; I'll admit. I've seen plenty of those kinds of trainers: set to their goals and befriends Pokémon to achieve their dream. Sometimes, they befriend a Pokémon so much to the point where Pokémon were being treated as if they were human and not as the Pokémon they naturally are," I noted.

Concordia nodded. "From there, we couldn't help but notice how different Pokémon become compared to what they naturally act while being in the wild."

"Yes, but what matters is that the Pokémon are happy. However, regarding the matter of our trust, we know that you have a better grasp of who Pokémon really are and how they should be treated. It's a shame there aren't people like you in the world," Anthea commented.

A Gothitelle appeared behind Anthea, raising its arms as a field of fog began covering the scene. We were surrounded by thick fog, as Lucario and Gardevoir huddled closer to me. Concordia and Anthea merely smiled—the kind, pure ones that N also possessed—and allowed me to follow them as they turned around and began walking away.

★👑★

Be sure to vote and comment on the story. Also, correct me on any mistakes during the story.

Hope you enjoyed it and are looking forward to the next chapter~

~Lisa