N watches the teen in front of him wash dishes, not knowing what to do with himself.
He glances at the pokémon around the apartment, smiling as they play with each other.
Nyx opens a window, allowing the breeze to flow into their small apartment, and they get back to cleaning the dishes.
He sighs, standing up and walking up behind them.
"I'll do it. You go sit."
Nyx visibly jumps, tensing up.
"Ah- um.. okay." They step away, walking towards their pokémon with their hands stuffed in their pockets. He catches a glimpse of a bracelet around their left wrist, and raises a brow.
Maybe he'd ask about it later.
N does the dishes, cleaning his and the teen's plate, cups, and the pokémon's food bowls.
As he does this, he hears Nyx laughing, and the pokémon in the house cheering and talking joyfully with them and each other. He smiles to himself.
Maybe they aren't so bad after all.
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The two sit in silence, awkwardly on different ends of the couch. They watch Nyx's family play, running around the home.
Nyx laughs slightly, and Leafeon climbs up onto their lap, curling up and laying there.
They smile softly, and N notices as they begin to pet him, being gentle and careful not to touch any of the spots he doesn't like to be pet.
"You really do care about them, don't you?"
Nyx looks at N. They nod, their head turning back to the now sleeping pokémon in their lap.
"Yeah.. I.. really do. I..I don't know what I would do without them."
Nyx whispers, tearing up. They quickly wipe their eyes, laughing it off.
"I really don't know. I'd probably be dead, honestly."
N's eyes widen in surprise.
"What? Dead?" He asks, curiosity too great to even bother thinking of whether or not it's too soon to ask that.
Nyx nods.
"I guess I could tell you.."
N's mouth parts in surprise, and he brings his hands up to his long hair, brushing through it as he waits for Nyx to start speaking. He takes a sip of his MooMoo Milk.
"I was left on the side of the road when I was 6."
N coughs, almost choking on his drink.
He wasn't expecting it to start like that.
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Nyx tells N the story of how they met each of their pokémon, how they were taken into Team Skull, and he listens to every single detail, intrigued by the person in front of him.
The teen here right now seems much more closed off than the one described by Nyx themself and their pokémon chiming in.
"Stuff happened, if that's what you're wondering.." They whisper, and N meets their gaze.
It's soft and tired, uncertain and scared.
Whatever this kid went through.. he knew. It was just as bad as what the pokémon at his home went through.
He sighed.
"Makes sense. You said that was what, 2-3 years ago? When Guzma took you in?"
They nod, closing their eyes. Leafeon hops up onto their back, as they now had their knees up to their chest, laying their head and arms on them.
N notices then that they look peaceful. Just as someone like them should be, even though he knows they really aren't.
They're stubborn and rash, somewhat cocky at times, but they care deeply for their family and the world around them.
He stands, moving silently off the couch, and walks towards them, stopping right in front of where they're sitting.
He places his hand in Nyx's head, rubbing it gently, trying not to mess up their hair.
Their eyes snap open, and they raise their head. Nyx looks at him in surprise, and he pulls his hand back, only to be stopped by a cold hand on his wrist.
He flinches at the cold, but allows Nyx to pull his hand back onto their head. They lean into it, and N smiles softly.
Yeah. They're just fine.
N caresses their head, and a mutual understanding is built between the two trainers.
One is of the moon, seeking comfort and companionship, refuge. They've run away, to a place nobody would follow them, all to protect their heart from shattering once more.
The other is cursed to try and understand the world and it's truths and ideals, forced to pit the two against eachother, and to discover the world isn't what it seems.
However, neither of them know this yet.
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The trainers step out of the apartment building, walking around Accumula town, passing time.
Leafeon walks in between them, sparing N the jealousy that his actual trainer would have if he were to sit on N's shoulder.
Nyx soon pulls on N's arm, leading him around Accumula town, showing him their favorite places to shop and recommending different pokémon foods and recipes for the pokémon back at the abandoned building.
They spend the day together, and N knows Nyx is growing on him.
It's only when that he sees them running around the fountain in the square of the town that he decides.
"I want to protect them, Zoroark."
He speaks to the pokémon in its pokeball, smiling softly as he watches them play, the sun setting in the distance.
He grabs the brim of his hat with one hand, taking it off and running his hand through his long, minty green hair.
And as they look back at him and wave, a look of shock on their face as their pokémon work together to push them into the fountain, yelling an Alolan curse into the sky, laughing, he feels his walls and doubt all melt away.
"Yeah. I'll protect them. I have to."
YOU ARE READING
ᴄᴏᴍᴘᴀɴɪᴏɴsʜɪᴘ | 𝙋𝙆𝙈 𝘽𝙒 +𝙎𝙈
FanfictionBOOK 1 of the Kindred Spirits series Nyx moved to Unova to get away from everything, from everyone, from their not so great past. As soon as they recovered, they ran for the skies, bringing only their wallet, luggage, and best friends; their pokémon...
