How we meet

Chapter 9

You were opposites you know. Your hands were softer than his, covered with dirt and mud yet very much clean. His hands were calloused and stained with an invisible crimson, he was haunted by his past, he felt that he could never move on, that all of his crimes couldn't be forgotten. You had no such crimes. Your past was full of fear and loneliness, in such you were the same. You ran because you had nothing to care about, N ran because it was his everything.
Years spent outside of unova taught him many things. That people and pokemon could live besides each other. That pokemon trainers weren't all bad that the good outweighed the bad. The teamwork and friendship can change things and make the world better than his original goal was meaningless.
He spent his nights looking at the stars. The few that were hurt were bitter and upset. They were shut-ins and hid themselves from humanity. They struggled to let anyone near them that N struggled to rescue them and help free them from their pain. How some longed to be held once more, yet fought their hearts so they never felt the same betrayal ever again. To love someone so much and to have them abandon you.
He questioned his humanity. He looked at the stars wishing that answers to unknown questions could be answered, that forgotten words could be spoken. He couldn't understand the love that trainers and pokemon shared yet. He loved pokemon but he never thought of himself as a trainer. His actions, his thoughts were contradictions. His beliefs perhaps not even his own. His understanding of emotions was limited; he wished they could have been like numbers, something mathematical that can be predicted. To be faced with the harsh truth that everything you believed in was wrong made it seem that the numbers he understood perfectly had stopped making sense too.
He understood numbers, he understood love, yet he couldn't understand why his father could do something. To lie about his love with the soul reason to destroy, to cause destruction and death in every place he could. To use the pokemon that N loved and protected as weapons. N was scared of humanities horrors. Yet as he counts the stars tonight he hopes he can find proof of humanity's good nature, to find proof that people aren't cruel.
You slept soundly. Your legs and knees littered with random bruises. Your arms burning from the heavy lifting. Yet you slept perfectly in a bundle of blankets curled up with Venipede. You had already come accustomed to your new home and life, you felt comfortable wandering across the country and sleeping in the woods.
Walking back to the city and stopping inside the gym was better this time. You had fewer fears, the crowds were smaller, the city was much quieter. Everything felt nicer this time the heat of the midday was not burning your skin. The morning dew was a gentle kiss awake even if your toes seemed to freeze as they soaked your shoes and socks. It was a cool morning yet not cold enough to need a jacket. Goosebumps only appeared at a particularly harsh gust of wind that pulled on your hair and clothes. It was nice waking up here. Living in this wood made you happy.
Yet talking to the lady at the counter... She was doing her job, you knew she would most likely forget you and pay you no mind. She'd hardly care, she gets 11-year-old boys running in with a fire engulfed pig every day. She wouldn't say a single thing to offend you, it would probably be a breath of fresh air having someone who isn't yelling everytime they speak. Of having a pokemon who could kill you for crying standing in front of you.
"Uh excuse me?" an overly soft introduction. "I'm here to talk about the arrangements that were made?"
She looked up at you instantly knowing who you were and why you were here. "Ah welcome," she smiled, shuffling through a cabinet of files. "This is what we currently have, a medical and dental plan is already included but we had managed to get a phone plan set up." she handed you a packet of papers. "These have the doctor information and addresses. This has information about the phone plan and there's some other things too."
Slowly you and the lady worked through the stack of papers. You read and filled out some paperwork and made arrangements for you working at the gym. Then you were left to yourself. Wandering the halls learning your way around the building.
You got lost in the humid warmth of the greenhouses. The green leaves gave gentle caresses. With divine love you tended to the plants. You plucked off dead flowers. Trimmed leaves that had started to rot. As nats overtook the soil you dug through supply closets to find something for the bugs. You let the soil dirty your hands. It was cool and made you feel comforted, secure. The green was familiar.
You thought about stealing some of the pots. But you shouldn't. It would be wrong to take them from a place you didn't technically work at yet. Well, you were doing work without getting paid. You shouldn't take them, it would be rude to steal from your employer, you told yourself.
So you and venipede walked home together. Through the halls, you snuck out an armful of pots and planters from the storage unit in the back of a greenhouse. You took the ones that were cracked and on their last limb the ones no one would miss. Venipede ran in front of you making sure no one got too close to you one guy bumped into you and hissed so loud that you nearly dropped the planters on him.
But as you were wondering how to sneak out the door to the gym without the desk lady yelling at you, you recognized someone. The same goddamn stranger was yet again where you were.
"I'm sorry he's not currently available. The gym is unable to hold any official battles today," the lady was talking to him.
"Alright, thank you anyways," he nodded his head in thanks, noticing you as he turned.
You walked to the woods together quietly. He offered to take some of the planters from you. You gave him the smaller ones. Venipede glued himself to your head completely refusing to move, watching the man as if he was a hunting dog.
"So you're a pokemon trainer?" you asked halfway through the city.
He hummed in response, "I suppose I am. I don't really like pokemon battles."
You found that strange. A trainer who didn't like fighting? Most fought as much as they could always wanting to prove their strength ane power. Others definitely focused more on the bonding part of training yet they still overall wanted to bring out the power of their pokemon in combat.
"Why's that?" you asked looking at the dust in the planters as you waited at a crosswalk, watching the sea of cars pass by.
"I find it mindless," he explained, "violence without a true reason. I thought at first trainers were cruel, and doing it purely for their own gain." he spoke softly. He radiated confusion and inner pain. The shake in his voice made your eyes burn in phantom tears. "I want to understand people and pokemon, the bond between trainer and pokemon." he explained gliding across the pavement.
"Why do you think people have pokemon battles?" you asked looking up at him.
He looked straight ahead and spoke fast. His thoughts seemed to move faster than in mouth could keep up with. Yet as he spoke now he seemed uncharacteristiclly confused. His words strung together usually but now they were choppy; pasted beside eachother forming sentaces thst made sense but didn't flow like they should.
"Many reasons. They want to feel strong. Prove themselves. Maybe its for fun. I'm not sure," he paused, "There's many reasons."
You walked quietly alongside each other. As the afternoon sun burned brightly blinding you as you walked you thought. The sea of thoughts and feelings was wild. It turned with an unrivaled power and moved with self assurance that you couldn't understand. You watched your mind think yet didn't understand the code that it spoke in.
When you arived at the cottage, muffling the sun's heat you thanked him for helping with the planters. The cool dew wasn't there to freeze your feet to calm the fire in your brain. Your mind was fried. You had touble thinking about what to say.
"Goodbye, and thank you again." You waved as he left and disappeared into the trees.
You carried the planters to your kitchen. Working on messurements and plans for them. You didn't have the budget yet so you left it less than half complete. You were half way through reading the packet of insurence and notes when you realized, you never asked his name.