Last edited: 07/01/2020

★👑★

"N, promise me a few things. Make sure you fulfill these for me. I promised Bianca I would accompany her and Touko to Striaton's new restaurant. Please take them there for me. Also, I think Touko's still oblivious to... certain emotions I feel towards her. Could you not tell her? I don't want to upset her or try to tear you two apart. One more thing..."

Cheren let out a sigh. "I have a strange feeling Bianca may be upset because of how she thinks I'm favouring Touko. Please find a way to tell her that I'll be okay and that I had never considered my feelings for Touko more important than the friendship we three had shared. Touya's Touko's brother; he can help you. Bianca and Touko will always be my closest female friends... and I don't want my feelings to be the reason our friendship breaks."

White~

"I haven't seen you wear that outfit in a while. It takes me back," N commented, as I join him leaning forward against the metal bars.

"And yet I've seen you wear that outfit since two years ago," I responded.

He chuckled and pulled me closer to his side. "Then I hope you can take responsibility for me."

I nodded. "Of course I will."

"Actually... there's a restaurant that had opened in Striaton City. To be truthfully honest, Cheren asked me to take you and the others there," N admitted.

Cheren... I wonder what was in that head of yours. You know people would be sad, so why did you have to leave us? I stared at my palm as I thought about that. N placed his hand over my palm, which made me avert my gaze towards him.

"He told me not to tell you this, but he had felt intimate feelings towards you for a while. I had a feeling maybe... Bianca had told you."

I nodded. "I never saw Cheren in that kind of way... I don't know how to feel about this—maybe I'm being selfish, but I can't see Cheren any more than a friend. Is it because Cheren never spoke about that kind of thing, or is it because I met you?"

N averted his gaze back to the water.

"If I hadn't met you two years ago, perhaps you really would've been Cheren's. While I'm thinking like that, I do feel guilty that it was our hidden love for each other that caused Cheren to withdraw. I wondered if he chose death because of it..."

I squeezed his hand. N sighed and turned to face towards me again.

"But I don't regret it, falling in love with you... I want to continue to love you, not because I promised Cheren—the way you smile, your kind heart, your beauty, the ways you make my heart race... I want to keep those moments to myself. I want to brand them on my heart," he confessed.

I took a step and used my other arm to embrace his torso.

"I also want these precious moments to stay in my heart. For everyone's sake, I'm going to pursue my own happiness... starting with a new journey with you."

★👑★

Touya finished talking to Bianca back home. After we said goodbye to Mom, I asked Touya regarding the movie Rosa had mentioned. He looked startled but agreed to my request to learn more about the movie.

The four of us flew to the Pokéstar Studio. Mr. Gold greeted us. Touya escorted us to one of the production rooms near the southern part of the studio. According to Mr. Gold, it was Touya's personal area. Touya opened a drawer and passed me a flyer.

On the flyer was a stunning portrait of me, with Reshiram and Zekrom in the background and N in the middle of them, Lucario and Gardevoir on both sides of me. My hands were clasped together, my eyes closed as if I was praying. The clothes were the same as the ones I wore two years ago. The border of the flyer was the Unova Gym Badges, excluding Roxie's and Marlon's.

"Wallace helped me out with the design but... I knew you'd pursue a path where you hoped Team Plasma would be accepted again. So I made this movie in hopes people would see your point of view, as well as the struggles you two had endured. It was supposed to be a secret surprise for you. Cheren and Bianca helped out, as well as Professor Juniper and the other Gym Leaders... all I needed were you and N, Anthea and Concordia, and the other Team Plasma members," Touya explained.

As he did, my hands were shaking. My fingers trembled as it clutched onto the flyer. I felt hands hastily placed on my shoulders.

"H-hey! I didn't mean for you to cry! It's supposed to be a happy surprise! I was hoping this would be a good thing to look back to, you know...—Ah, maybe I had my hopes too high—"

I shook my head. "No... It's lovely, and... I like the idea of presenting something like this."

Touya nodded. "I'm glad! I was working on this during the two years you were gone. I'm not letting other people massacre your new image."

"When are you planning on releasing the movie?" N asked.

"To be honest, I want the movie to be authentic, so I'll need to film you two in certain scenes," Touya replied.

Bianca sighed, "It's upsetting how Cheren will never see it..."

"I have his parts filmed, plus a few things from his perspective. Touko, I don't think Cheren is sad right now. I became his friend through you, but I have a feeling he's really happy and relieved," Touya noted.

"Whit—Touko... I'm sorry. It's Cheren's last wish for me to correctly call you by your proper name. I didn't mean to vent some of my anger towards you. It's just..." Bianca sighed again. "It's so complicated. I've supported you two from the start, so when you both had opinions which contrasted, I... I didn't know what to do."

I shook my head, approached Bianca and pulled her into a hug.

"No, I should apologize. I didn't realize I had focussed a lot of attention on N alone. In the end, I had neglected Cheren, and maybe that's why he never told me about his feelings." I released Bianca from the embrace but still kept my hands on her shoulders. "When I think about it, we're all pretty selfish. So wherever Cheren is, let us continue to be happy for his sake."

Bianca nodded. "I don't know if I should feel sad for myself that I won't be able to hear Cheren's answer, or if I should be happy that Cheren had moved on without knowing my feelings. If it's the latter... maybe it's a good thing he walked the path of death without having my feelings weighing him down. Because I feel like even if he did know he would still choose the same path—yes, I want to believe that!"

"Then let us always remember that Cheren is watching us pursuing our own happiness. We can't cry anymore. Come on, Bianca; N's going to take us to the restaurant that he promised Cheren he would take us."

I felt Touya's hand above one of mine and the other on my shoulder.

"I'll be paying, of course," he winked.

We all chuckled at his comment, whereas I playfully smacked his back for saying his joke. Afterwards, we left the room. I held N's hand as Touya led us outside.

★👑★

We decided to meet up with Anthea and Concordia at Aspertia City before we head to Striaton City. During that time, Bianca and I decided to visit Cheren's grave near the school. The gravestone itself was like a shrine, with a picture of Cheren smiling carved on its surface.

Clay informed me earlier that there was a slim chance he would still be alive, and Clay and his crew were going to work diligently and precisely to dig through the cave-in at the Giant Chasm.

I didn't want to cling onto that hope. After all, the cave-in was caused by a large explosion, which Cheren's Liepard couldn't describe to me. It was better if I move on.

Rosa had decided to become a Pokémon breeder working for Team Plasma. She stayed behind in Driftveil City to assist Rood in their act of atonement. As for Hugh, he vowed to become stronger to challenge me, not as someone avenging the events of two years ago but as a Pokémon Trainer challenging the Champion for their title. I also heard he had made frequent visits to see Rosa and how Team Plasma was holding up.

I heard his sister's Purrloin was given to him by one of the Shadow Triad members, having evolved into a Liepard and reluctant to listen to Hugh's sister. The last time I saw those three was two years ago, on Marvellous Bridge. They told me to not search for Ghetsis, and they themselves aren't able to follow him. I wonder how they're holding up right now.

As for Nate, I haven't heard much about him. I heard Nate was part of the police force, but he had recently resigned after the recent Neo Team Plasma event. Touya suspected something was going on between Nate and Rosa, and that the connection between the two of them was very complicated. I was confused but never pushed on the topic.

The new Pokémon League was finished remodelling. I plan to check it out after I finish dining with the others. Iris is filling in for me as the Champion while I was out of the League. If they defeat Iris, they would earn the right to register at the Hall of Fame, but they would not be able to receive the title of Champion without defeating me afterward. That's how I decided to do things.

Speaking of the Pokémon League I had offered to allow Team Plasma to settle at the League. However, Rood informed me that they would accept my offer once they have the right in doing so.

Both Reshiram and Zekrom reverted back into their perspective Light and Dark Stones. N and I wanted to ensure that something like two years ago would never happen again. This was N's final resolution as someone who wanted to separate humans and Pokémon. Now he accepted the fact that humans and Pokémon can live in harmony together, so long as one is by the other.

Anthea and Concordia had the Dark Stone, where they had hid the stone inside their hidden shelter. I gave the Light Stone to Drayden who will keep it hidden and safe within Opelucid City, presumably inside his Gym like how the DNA Splicers were hidden. As for Kyurem, Touya said he'll hold onto it until Clay gives the clear signal after its new chamber was dug.

"One of the directories asked me if I wanted to fill in as a teacher for Cheren. Originally they were going to ask you, but they were worried about your title as Champion having too much burden on you," Bianca informed me.

"Do you want to be a teacher, Bianca?"

"I... I don't know. Do you think Cheren will be okay with me replacing him?"

I placed my hand on her shoulder. "It's not up to Cheren for what you want to do; you should do it if you want to."

"Those children... They all look up to Cheren. I'm sure they'll be sad if they find out Cheren left them behind," Bianca noted, "I'll come back here once I make up my mind. Right now a lot of things are reminding me of Cheren."

I nodded in agreement. "That's a good decision. Come on, Touya and N are waiting for us."

★👑★

The six of us—Anthea, Concordia, Bianca, N, Touya, and myself—arrived at Striaton City and entered the restaurant that was formerly the Gym, according to Touya. There was a brand new design, giving off the restaurant feel instead of the Gym feel I'm used to. When we entered the restaurant, we were first greeted with stares from the many filled tables.

Cress was the first brother to greet us near the front. He escorted us to a table that was apparently reserved for us as if we were expected. It was a table of six. Starting from my left sat N, then Anthea and Concordia, then Touya and Bianca. Cress handed us the menu before leaving us to decide our meals.

Once we've decided, Chili came by and took our orders.

"The place has really changed, Chili. Have you and your brothers always had decided to recreate the Gym?" I asked.

Chili scratched the back of his head. "There's another... factor included—but we don't plan on letting the Gym disappear like that! One day we're going to make the Trio Badge shine again! When the time comes, be sure to come back and challenge us again. I'm fired up even thinking about it!"

"I can't wait," I replied, nodding my head before Chili took the menus back and departed to the kitchen.

"Touko, what are your plans now?" Concordia asked.

"Actually, there's a place where I want to explore. It's called the Alola Region. I want to explore the place, possibly meet new Pokémon and people."

Anthea nodded. "That sounds like a wonderful idea. N, you should accompany her,"

"Of course. I plan to go wherever she goes, even if it's a place far beyond my reach," N responded.

"I bought a villa in Undella Town. I'll be giving it to you once you and N start a new family together," Touya informed me, with a teasing tone along with his hand covering his mouth.

My face heated when he said that. I covered my face with my hands, tilting my head away from the table. This earned me a chuckle from most of the people on the table.

"Come on, Touko! Getting married and having kids are a part of life! There's no need to feel embarrassed by that thought," Bianca cooed.

Before I could respond, I noticed Cress bringing in our food. We thanked him, as well as the chef, before continuing to eat the food. Divine was an understatement—I could argue that the taste of the food was something that can't be described in simple words.

"Mm! It's so good!" Bianca cried out.

"The chef has outdone himself," N commented.

"Touko, who do you think cooked the food?" Touya asked.

I shrugged. "One of the brothers, very likely."

We continued to munch down on the cuisines, savouring the flavour of each item. Anthea and Concordia shared parts of their dishes with us, while we all pitched in to do the same. Bianca's expression was happier than before. Seeing her that way brings a smile on my face too.

Around the time we finished, Cilan entered the room with a large silver plate in his hand.

"Well, it seems you all enjoyed your meals. We're glad that it is up to your standards," he said.

"That's right, Cilan! Tell the chef that they've done an amazing job in cooking. How much is the bill?" Touya asked.

However, Cilan shook his head. "No need. Someone had already paid for you. I'm here to give you these though."

Bianca's eyes flashed in excitement as Cilan places a few coupons on our tables.

"Touko, look at these! Now we can come back here and eat this delicious food again!"

I chuckled at her comment. Cilan informed us to take our time before exiting the room. As he did, I noticed something near my plate: a piece of smooth paper.

Did Cilan forget it? I should probably return it to him then. I got up from my seat but then glanced at the lettering on the back of the sheet. Curiosity got the best of me, and I ended up flipping the paper to read what it said.

Ｙｏｕ  ｗｉｌｌ  ｓａｖｅ

ａｎｄ

ｌｏｓｅ  ｔｈｉｎｇｓ...

Ｆｏｒ  ｇｏｏｄｂｙｅｓ

ａｒｅ  ｐｅｒｍａｎｅｎｔ.

Ｌｅｔ  ｙｏｕｒ  ｍｉｎｄ  ｎｏｔ 

ｆｅｅｌ

ｂｕｔ ｌｉｖｅ 

ｉｎ  ｔｈｅ  ｐｒｅｓｅｎｔ.

Ｔｈｏｓｅ  ｗｅ  ｌｏｖｅ  ｄｏｎ'ｔ  ｇｏ  ａｗａｙ, 

ｔｈｅｙ'ｌｌ  ｓｔａｙ 
ｒｉｇｈｔ ｂｙ  ｏｕｒ  ｓｉｄｅｓ

ｅｖｅｒｙｄａｙ.

Ｕｎｓｅｅｎ,

Ｕｎｈｅａｒｄ

ｂｕｔ  ａｌｗａｙｓ  ｎｅａｒ

ｓｔｉｌｌ  ｌｏｖｅｄ

ｓｔｉｌｌ  ｍｉｓｓｅｄ

ａｎｄ  ｖｅｒｙ  ｄｅａｒ.

★👑★

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