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Snivy doesn’t know very much. He vaguely remembers warmth, the feeling of his mother coiled around him, the cool darkness of the long, long wait for someone to open his pokéball-
He faces down two other Pokémon because that is what the other Pokémon insist that Pokémon do- fight, grow stronger, evolve-
The arms that scoop him up into a gentle hug afterwards are entirely unexpected.
(It’s warm, like the fading memories of his newborn days.)
:::
Lillipup skirts the edges of the tall grass, watching the other Pokémon play. She wants to join them, makes a few aborted motions towards them, then sinks back onto her haunches and resumes watching wistfully.
She’s so caught up in her watching that she doesn’t hear the trainer sneak up behind her until a Snivy barrels into her from behind, tackling her into the dirt.
She doesn’t resist when the light of the pokeball envelops her. It’s better than watching what she’s too scared to try for, after all.
:::
Snivy doesn’t yet understand human speech- for the most part, it’s odd, garbled noises. But he does understand that his trainer and her friend are confused -angry?- at the words of the strange man who had been addressing them.
“Do you understand?” he asks the Lillipup that had just joined them, but she doesn’t move to answer. “I don’t get it. But she’s nice to me. I don’t want her to be sad.”
“Is that really what you think?”
Snivy startles, hides behind his trainer’s leg and peeks out his head, scanning the crowd for the source of the voice. It wasn’t a Pokémon, of that much he was sure. He continues to watch as the crowd disperses, until only one young man is left-
“Do you think it’s him?” Snivy asks Lillipup, but again, she doesn’t answer. She isn’t given the time to- the two humans exchange words in their strange language and in a moment, his trainer is calling him into battle.
He’s gotten better at battling, slowly growing stronger, and he’s proud when his first attack, a tackle, lands a solid hit on the Purrloin across from him. Snivy holds his head high and looks back at Touko for approval while the Purrloin picks itself up off the ground.
“Tell me, is that really what you think of battles? Of your trainer?”
Snivy stops his posturing, looks up at the Purrloin’s unfamiliar trainer. He was certain now, this man is the only one who could be talking to him. “My trainer is helping me get stronger. I don’t want her to be sad. Not when she’s been nice to me.”
The young man doesn’t respond, but the battle resumes, and despite his best efforts to dodge, Purrloin’s claws rake across the side of Snivy’s face. He retaliates when his trainer tells him to, trusting her judgement, and the battle is quickly turned to their favor.
“See?” Snivy says, starting up defiantly at their opponent at the end of the battle, “She’s my partner. I don’t want that to change.”
Snivy turns his back and walks back to Touko, who immediately scoops him up into her arms.
“I never expected to hear Pokémon say such things…”
:::
Munna watches from behind a pole as the trainer and her Snivy send the evil men running, a Lillipup biting at their heels until they turn a corner out of sight. The Lillipup scurries back, and the trainer crouches down to pet both Pokémon with a smile.
Floating out, Munna approaches the trainer quietly, nudging her side. The trainer looks up, startled, and Munna continues to nudge, digging inside her bag for what he knows must be in there-
By pushing a few stray potions to the side, Munna finds what he’s looking for. He smacks the pokéball at its center, and is relieved when it opens for him.
“Oh my gosh, Touko,” he faintly hears the other girl say, “You’re so lucky! I want to go look for a Munna now too…”
:::
“So,” the newly-caught Patrat says, “Who’s in charge around here?”
Snivy and Munna exchange a glace, and Snivy shrugs. “Touko.”
“Yeah, yeah, I got that, kid, but who’s the one of us that’s in charge? Like the right-hand man, get it?”
Snivy and Munna exchange another confused glance. “No one?”
The Patrat throws back his head and laughs, brandishing the stick in his hand like a sword. “All right then, I guess that makes me the leader of this party.”
(Things get lively after that.)
:::
Munna meets Team Plasma again in a cave, where they’re harassing Woobat and a Herdier much like how they had hurt him in the Dreamyard. Munna charges forward alongside Touko, their only goal to retrieve the Pokémon.
“Hey!” he hears Touko yell, startling the grunts into turning around. They battle- Munna and one of Cheren’s Pokémon stand together, and the grunt’s Pokémon fall quickly. The grunts are quick to make their escape after that, even without a Lillipup on their heels this time.
Touko and Cheren talk briefly, and Cheren takes the Herdier back to its trainer while Touko approaches the Woobat slowly, careful not to scare it off.
“Hey,” she says, quiet and gentle, “I’m Touko. Team Plasma is gone now, it’s okay.”
The Woobat flutters close to the ground, glancing around nervously. Munna instinctively drifts closer to Touko, suddenly unsure. “I’d really like it if you came to travel with us. We’re training for the Pokémon League, so you’d become really strong. Enough that none of those Team Plasma grunts could bother you again.”
Again, the Woobat flutters softly at Touko’s approach. Her fingers are no more than a hand’s length away when, without warning, the Woobat launches into action with surprising speed. Screeching, Woobat flies up the length of Touko’s arm, knocking the hat off her head and startling her enough she falls backwards, landing hard on the dirt of the cave floor.
Munna instinctively moves to defend her, but his speed is no match for the Woobat as it swoops back down once, twice, before flying away into the dark shadows of the cave’s ceiling.
Instead, he presses himself into Touko’s side as the only comfort he can give her. She doesn’t understand the words the Woobat had spoken to her- ‘You idiot, you just ruined the only chance I had at being rid of you stupid humans for good!- but somehow, Munna thinks both their messages got through to her.
:::
A Blitzle with unsteady, coltish legs joins them on Route Three, and makes himself at home almost immediately.
“You should’a seen me,” Watchog says, brandishing his new stick and baring his fangs dramatically, “It was just me, still a young little Patrat against a whole hoard of Purrloin, and with only my trusty fangs and claws, I…”
Watchog paused, gauging his audience’s reactions. Snivy, and Munna were waiting eagerly, as usual, Lillipup was watching from the side, ears perked, and Blitzle- Well, Blitzle was nearly stomping the ground in excitement with his front hooves. He liked this one, Watchog decided, ruffling Blitzle’s mane with his free paw before concluding his story. “I took ‘em all on! You should have seen it….”
:::
They’re in Nacrene City now, and though his trainer still seems a little unsteady on her feet after the incident with the Woobat, human language makes enough sense to Snivy now that he understands that they’re heading into another gym.
Or they would be, if his trainer and that strange young man weren’t exchanging words again. They had just battled, and Snivy had just secured their victory with what he thought was a particularly strong vine whip, the kind that left energy racing through his veins afterwards, like something big was about to happen, some sort of change-
But meanwhile, Snivy listens to their conversation. He doesn’t catch much- they talk about Pokémon a lot, that much he knows, and something about something called a ‘hero’- but the final word he does catch.
Friends.
‘Is that what my trainer and that young man are,’ he wonders as the racing energy overtakes him, as his form suddenly starts to feel bigger, stronger. ‘Friends?’
:::
Blitzle thinks he can hide the way his legs don’t always support him right, the way one of his legs will sometimes give out from under him during a run.
Touko says something every time she sends him out- “I’m counting on you!” Blitzle doesn’t really understand the words, exactly, but he asks Watchog one day, and he tells Blitzle that it means she’s relying on them to do their best and win. More than anything else, he doesn’t want to disappoint, not Touko or Watchog, and that’s why he’s going to keep going, keep doing his best.
So when they’re facing an enemy tougher than Blitle has ever seen, when Watchog is only getting knocked down over and over by the opposing Leavanny, flashing the rest of the team reassuring smiles every time he stands, when he’s trying and failing to pretend that getting up isn’t getting harder and harder each time, Blitzle looks up at Touko, knocks his head into her leg at full force.
“You want to go..?” she asks, and Blitzle doesn’t understand, exactly, but nods anyways, figuring it’ll get him what he wants. “Okay. I’m counting on you!”
Blitzle charges in, racing past Watchog with a smile on his face and nothing but determination in his eyes. Flames erupt from his sides, and he charges into the Leavanny with full force, knocking it to the ground with a victory cry.
He doesn’t expect his front legs to lock, sending him tumbling to the ground as his vision fades to black.
:::
“What were you thinking?” the nurse scolds Touko none too gently, “That poor Pokémon could have been seriously hurt, battling on an injury like that! When a Pokémon is injured you need to bring them in immediately, do you understand?”
Munna wants to tell her that Touko had no idea- no one on the team knew, but there’s no way to make the nurse understand that, not from within the confines of his pokéball.
“Now,”’ the nurse continues, “We’ll be keeping your Blitzle here until his injury heals.”
“What?” It’s the first time Touko speaks since she entered the center, and it’s with an edge of panic. “You can’t just-“
“It’s well within our authority, miss,” the nurse replies, holding her hand out for Blitzle’s pokeball. “And you’d do well to keep this to the professionals.”
Touko reluctantly hands the pokéball over, and no matter how desperately Munna wishes to the contrary, there’s nothing he can do about it.
:::
There’s too many emotions swirling, hanging over them like a storm cloud after that third gym battle, and it’s all anyone can do just to hold the team together. Watchog no longer wants to tell stories, Servine and Munna no longer want to listen, and Herdier can do nothing but watch, because that’s all she’s ever had the courage to do.
Touko takes them into the shifting sands of the Desert Resort, sends them all out for a training exercise. Her attention is divided; she doesn’t notice when Watchog slips away behind a hill of sand in the dimming light. She doesn’t notice until she turns to look for him and he’s no longer there, no longer anywhere.
She calls for him- the rest of the team searches, clinging close to Touko as if the sands would steal them away if they wandered too far. But eventually, night settles and the temperature drops, and Touko brings them all back to Route Four to make camp for the night.
“What are we going to do now?”Munna asks, and Servine, previously subdued, turns to snap at him.
“What do you mean? Nothing is going to change. Everything is fine.”
Munna, usually the patient one, snaps back. “It’s not fine! Blitzle and Watchog are gone, Servine. Gone.”
“Well, it doesn’t-“
“Stop fighting!” Herdier interrupts, barking it out like an order. “Aren’t we all friends?”
It stops Servine and Munna immediately. After a moment, the two of them looking away, still startled by Herdier’s sudden outburst.
“We’re friends,” she says again, and moves to curl up at Touko’s side for the night, “So I don’t want to hear any more fighting.”
:::
As the ferris wheel reaches its peak, N calls himself the King of Team Plasma. Somehow, Munna has a hard time reconciling this young man with the grunts who had kicked him in the Dreamyard- he’s too genuine of a person to be the same as them. But he also says he wants to ‘save’ Pokémon, and Munna can’t say that he feels he needs saving from anyone. He knows Herdier and Servine feel the same way, so when the words “What if you’re right?” fall from Touko’s lips, for a long moment, Munna’s thoughts go silent within his pokéball.
“I mean…” Touko starts, hesitates. Munna can tell she’s holding Watchog’s empty pokéball again, rubbing her thumb absently over the surface as she collects her thoughts. “I didn’t even notice that one of the Pokémon I caught was injured. And then one of my Pokémon ran away without even a goodbye… What if they really would be happier without me? Without trainers?”
‘You’re wrong,’ Munna thinks, and he can feel Servine yelling the same, even separated in their respective pokéballs. Even the typically-silent Herdier chimes in louder than Munna has ever heard her speak.
‘Tell her she’s wrong. Tell her we’re the lucky ones for having her as a trainer.’
N breaks into their one-sided shouts. ‘Lucky..?’
He stops, thinks for a moment. “I see. Your Pokémon don’t seem to agree with you.”
Touko freezes. “They… They really don’t?”
‘Of course we don’t!’ Servine shouts, ‘She’s my partner! And my best friend!’
N nods. “They don’t. They consider themselves your friends. And if I can extrapolate… I doubt the Pokémon that left you bear any ill will towards you. You’re… different.”
The ferris wheel begins its descent, and Touko laughs, shakes her head. “No, I’m really just an ordinary trainer. It’s my Pokémon… No, my friends that are the amazing ones. Thank you for telling me this, N. I’ll have to pay you back somehow, sometime.”
“You don’t have to,” N replies, “We’re friends too, after all, aren’t we?”
Touko smiles. “Yeah. We’re friends.”
:::
Herdier is typically the quietest of Touko’s Pokémon, and, perhaps for that reason, Touko vents to her the most, telling her secrets and fears and worries and dreams. She’s not a psychic Pokémon, and her grasp of her trainer’s language is still imperfect, but she finds that she understands enough to comfort Touko when she needs it, encourage her, and always lend a perked ear to listen.
So it’s not hard to realize that Touko starts talking less about Watchog and Blitzle after the ferris wheel, starts talking more about N and the future. Herdier isn’t exactly sure that the relationship between N and her trainer could be called friends, like Servine seems so quick to label it- but in the end, it isn’t up to her to decide. Touko, though, seems to think it’s accurate enough.
At the very least, Herdier thinks, she owes N a bit of gratitude for pulling Touko out of her doubts.
:::
They make it through to Chargestone Cave, just the four of them, battling their way through ordinary trainers and Team Plasma grunts alike. It’s a long road, but ever since Nimbasa City, the feeling that they can accomplish anything they set their minds to has settled over Touko and her team, and they’ve earned two more gym badges to prove it.
They meet N near the end of the cave, and Serperior is starting to realize that the more he understands of N’s human speech, the less of it he agrees with. He doesn’t need to become some sort of perfect being, not if it means being separated from his partner, from Touko- Not when travelling and battling with her is so exciting.
He meets N’s Klink on the battlefield, and he can feel the same aura from that Klink as he does from himself.
“You can’t beat my partner and me,” Serperior taunts with a proud tilt of his head, “We’ve been battling together too long for that.”
The opposing Klink only laughs good-naturedly at Serperior’s boasts. “My friend and I aren’t pushovers either! You’ll see!”
The battle is close, but Serperior, true to his word, manages to narrowly edge out the Klink with a few well-placed hits and a slight advantage in speed.
“You’re good,” Serperior says, “Any chance we could get a rematch when we’re back around here?”
Klink squints its eyes in confusion. “What? No, my friend is going to go travel. He said so.”
“But… N’s team is always different. My partner says it’s because he releases his Pokémon when he moves around.”
The Klink’s gears start to rotate faster, and Serperior guesses it’s out of frustration. “What? No, no. I like my friend. He says weird stuff, but I like him. I want to go with.”
N casts a long glance over at them, and Serperior sends him a pointed stare, figuring N would understand.
:::
They meet N again not a day later in Mistralton City, and Serperior finally gets the chance to tell the young man everything he’d ever wanted to- everything about his journey with Touko, every fond emotion and good memory- He often speaks too quickly and trips over his words in his earnestness, but he can see N’s expression change, soften a little as he summarizes and repeats his words back to Touko.
If he can get N to think a little more fondly of Touko, show him that his trainer and her team aren’t meant to be apart, then maybe he can stop whatever Touko seems to think will happen if N gets his way. He thinks it works, if the way N says separating them would break his heart.
(Serperior also notices the single pokeball still in N’s possession as he brushes past. He hopes it’s Klink’s.)
:::
They backtrack to the Desert Resort because they’re chasing a rumor and a member of Team Plasma, or so Musharna hears, and it brings up bad memories for everyone no matter how unrelated their visit is to the events of the past.
Musharna instinctively searches for a familiar bushy tail and twig sword around every hill, in every gust of sand, and is almost certain he sees them a few times. He knows Touko is doing it too, no matter how much she tries to pretend she isn’t. More than once, Musharna is sure he sees a familiar Watchog tail peeking out from around a pile of sand as they draw closer to it, but it’s always gone when he looks again.
Except, Musharna finds, when he blinks to shield his eyes from a gust of sand- the tail is still very much there.
He blinks again. The tail doesn’t move.
Musharna nudges at Touko’s side, hurries over to the spot as fast as he can, leaving a bewildered Touko no choice but to follow.
“Musharna, what are you… Watchog?”
Watchog flashes a toothy grin, but doesn’t have time to do anything else as Touko dives down into the sand and pulls him into a tight hug.
“I’m back,” Watchog says, his voice muffled by the fabric of Touko’s shirt, “Now I really am gonna protect everyone, just watch me.”
:::
Blitzle is cleared from the Pokémon Center almost immediately after that, and Touko immediately backtracks to pick him up. When he charges out the Center doors and almost barrels into Touko’s legs, Stoutland is sure- this is her family. This is her home.
:::
(Watchog doesn’t tell anyone, but he meets a Sandile in the Desert Resort while he’s training solo with the same aura as him- a Pokémon that’s travelled with a strong trainer.
“Hey,” he says, trying to get its attention with a wave of one of his paws, “Do I know you?”
The Sandile looks him over once, twice, and Watchog can tell the Sandile’s considering it. “Maybe? I’ve seen you around.”
Watchog shakes his head. “No, before that. You act kinda like me. Got a powerful trainer?”
Sandile shakes his head slowly, closing his eyes with obvious nostalgia. “Not anymore. There was a good man, once. I liked him; he was a good friend. But he released us.”
“Why?” Watchog couldn’t fathom it, really. He had to be talking about Touko’s friend, N- and true, Watchog had never seen N use the same Pokémon twice, but…
“He said it was because he didn’t like battles. But I don’t know. I thought fighting with him was the best time of my life. I guess I’m still young though, huh?”
Watchog chuckles, pats the Sandile on the head. “Yeah, well, I guess different humans see things different ways. I’m training to get strong enough that my trainer can rely on me for real. I’m the oldest one on my team, after all.”
Sandile shoots him a curious look. “Trainer? But you’ve been here for months. I thought you were released too, like me and Darumaka and the rest of us.”
“Released? Nah, no way. My trainer would never do that.”
“You think you’re still going to have a spot on the team when your trainer comes back?”
Watchog nods, crosses his arms. He’s never once doubted. “Yeah, ‘course I will. Touko’s not the kind of girl who would turn her back on her team, ya know?”)
:::
Touko keeps a close eye on all her Pokémon now, no matter how many of them are out at once. But there are rare times while training that she’ll let them wander where they please during breaks, as long as they’re within shouting distance.
It’s during one of these breaks that Blitzle wanders a little too far in search of the origin of a delicious smell, and walks straight into another trainer’s camp. He means to back out, try and find his way back through the woods before Touko starts yelling for him- but a soft voice encourages him to stay.
“It’s okay,” the voice says, and Blitzle is quick to realize that it’s coming from the young man sitting in the center of the clearing, warming something that smells incredible over the fire. He vaguely recognizes the young man, and as he draws cautiously closer he comes to realize exactly who it is- though the memory is faint, it’s N.
Blitzle stops in his tracks, no longer certain. Serperior and the rest of the team had told him that N was who they were fighting, and his teammates’ words instantly cast the shadow of distrust over him.
“It’s fine,” N says, “You’re one of Touko’s Pokémon, aren’t you? You shouldn’t wander so far. But for now, rest here.”
Though he wants to be cautious, the genuine warmth in N’s tone convinces him that he means no ill will, and Blitzle draws up to his side. “I thought we were fighting you.”
“The real battle is between Touko and me. I would prefer to keep Pokémon out of it, but… The very fact that Zekrom and Reshiram are Pokémon seems to mean there’s no way to settle this without a battle.” N seems to genuinely believe what he’s saying, and Blitzle isn’t sure how to react.
“But why wouldn’t I help Touko? She always helps me. Aren’t Pokémon and people always supposed to do that for each other?”
N stares down at him. “You say that, too. I was so convinced that Touko was the outlier, someone skewing the average… But perhaps it’s actually me.”
“I don’t get it. You’re a trainer, but don’t want to battle with your Pokémon?”
N sighs, turns away. He pulls a shallow bowl from his bag and spoons out what Blitzle soon discovers is soup from the pot. He places it down in front of an appreciative Blitzle before replying. “I’m only a Pokémon trainer because I have to be. All battles do is hurt my friends. You were seriously hurt during one as well, weren’t you? Things like those are why I can’t stand them.”
“Yeah. But I still like battles! Touko only sent me in because I wanted to go! I wanted to help Watchog. Touko didn’t even know I was hurt. Don’t act like it’s her fault.” Blitzle says, meeting N’s gaze with a defiant stare.
“You really are quick to defend her, aren’t you?”
Blitzle huffs. “Yeah, because she’s my friend. And she’s your friend too, so you don’t get to think badly of her anymore.”
“I don’t think badly of her,” N replies, and again, Blitzle can feel he genuinely means everything he says. “I… She’s a good friend.”
“Yeah, Touko thinks the same thing about you,” Blitzle says, and, satisfied with the conversation, digs into the soup. He doesn’t see the way N startles slightly at his words.
After a long moment of relative silence, broken only by Blitzle’s slurping at the soup, N finally asks, “Did she say that to you?”
“Not exactly,” Blitzle says between mouthfuls of soup, “But I mean, she wouldn’t talk about you so much if she didn’t like you.”
Blitzle eats away as N descends into silence, completely unaware of the impact of his words on the human. Eventually, Blitzle licks his bowl clean and settles down, waiting for N to say something-
But he never gets the chance, as Touko’s yell rings into the clearing, calling his name.
“You should go now,” N says, “It sounds like Touko’s getting worried about you.”
Blitzle nods, gets to his feet. “Bye. Let’s talk again sometime.”
“Goodbye,” N replies, “I’d like that.”
Blitzle trots to the edge of the clearing, and N calls one more thing behind him. “Tell Touko hello for me.”
He breaks into a sprint before he has time to acknowledge N’s words, but he hears him clearly. N’s message fuels his gallop- it’s one message that he plans on delivering no matter what.
He breaks into the clearing that Touko had set up camp in at full speed, nearly barreling into Stoutland as he skids to a stop. He hears Touko laughing at him from next to the fire. “Geez, Blitz, I guess you’re hungry?”
He has a feeling that whatever Touko said had nothing to do with the real reason for his speed, but he trots up to her anyway, delivers his message. “N says hello.”
Predictably, Touko doesn’t quite understand what he’s trying to convey, but the other four Pokémon in the clearing do perfectly.
“You met N?”
“If you did something stupid…”
Blitzle turns to them and paws at the ground. “We just talked.”
Another plate of food and a long explanation later, Blitzle finds himself in the middle of a discussion he hadn’t anticipated.
“They’re friends, like us and Touko,” Musharna says, though he’s beginning to sound less convinced in his argument by the minute.
Serperior counters immediately. “No, I’m pretty sure it’s more than that now.”
“See?” Watchog says, jabbing his stick in Musharna’s general direction, “Serperior agrees with me. They’re totally in love.”
“You’re worse than a pair of gossiping Piove,” Stoutland barks, but they all know there’s no real bite behind it and the minor squabble continues.
Musharna turns to Blitzle, a plea in his eyes. “What did N say?”
Blitzle sighs and repeats himself for the third time. “He said she’s his good friend.”
“That’s it?” Musharna presses, and Blitzle thinks for a moment.
“Well, he started to say something before that, I guess-“
Watchog lets out a victory cry, and Blitzle doesn’t miss the way the (thankfully) oblivious subject of their gossip glances over at them, startled. Blitzle just sighs and resolves himself to the fact that he’ll probably never hear the end of this.
:::
They all start noticing, after that conversation. They notice the way Touko will talk about N sometimes, not in the starry-eyed dreaming way they’d perhaps thought to expect from someone in love, but in a practical, thoughtful way, intertwined with musings on her own future, her own path.
Stoutland thinks it’s intriguing, and a little sweet, though she’ll never admit it out loud. Two people brought together by a common love for Pokémon but separated by their opposite views on the way they should express it-
The final showdown is nearing, and though Touko tries not to show it, she’s alternating between worry and excitement for her last battle against N.
Stoutland doesn’t know what will happen during that battle, can’t hope to guess what will happen afterwards- but she can’t help but think that however it all ends, N and Touko are still going to have a whole new chapter ahead of them.
(She intends to be there every step of the way, of course.)
:::
The hour of the final battle arrives, and Watchog faces down Reshiram with bared fangs and the fighting spirit of all his solo training in the Desert Resort- he’s not afraid, not with his friends behind him, cheering him on after all this time. He’s not scared when he makes the first blow, not scared when Reshiram’s first blow hits him, a powerful extrasensory that knocks him flat on his back- he just gets back up and readies himself for the next round.
He’s not giving up, and he’s not leaving again. Not even a legend reborn or a so-called King could make him.
:::
Serperior is called into the battle against N just as Klinklang is called out on N’s side. Serperior shoots it a grin, a bit of friendly banter.
It seems N, however dense he may be for someone who can speak with Pokémon, managed to understand how his friend feels after all.
:::
Reshiram can’t help but notice how Touko’s heart will ache sometimes, a longing the same as how Reshiram feels when separated from Zekrom for too long. But that makes little sense; they’d found Zekrom, and therefore Touko no longer had any reason to be sad.
“You don’t really get how this works, do ya?”
Reshiram looks down at the tiny Watchog at its feet. “I do not. Are you implying that you do?”
Watchog clicks his tongue. “Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m saying. See, Touko’s not looking for Zekrom and the new girl, she’s looking for N.”
Reshiram thought for a moment. Yes, Reshiram supposed, that made sense. “So they chase each other. Why?”
Watchog groans, slaps a paw to his head. Behind him, Blitzle chimes in excitedly. “It’s because they’re friends! Like all of us!”
“Well, more than that,” Watchog says, and Reshiram hums curiously.
“More?” Reshiram asks, and Watchog just shakes his head.
“It’s because they’re in love,” Serperior interrupts, and Watchog shoots him a glare.
“I thought I was supposed to be the storyteller around here,” he says, putting fake-hurt into his voice.
Stoutland rolls her eyes. “You can tell Reshiram the whole story later. Touko says we’re going to go soon. Today we’re going to search Black City.”
The party members obligingly file into line, following Touko’s lead as she calls them together. They’ll follow Touko to the end of the Unova Region and whatever comes beyond, if need be. And once they find N, well- they haven’t really thought that far yet, but they’re certain they’ll make it through just fine.