The Mysterious Hidden {4th Place in Romance (Pokemon Watty Awards 2015)}

Chapter 11

Touko~
I decided to let Zoura out to get some fresh air. After all, it was cooped up in its Pokeball for a whole day. We continued to walk into a forrest to Dragonspiral Tower, now only a couple Wailord lengths ahead of us. I thought of what N said at the Pokemon Center. "They want to kill us because they think we'll get in the way of their plan to liberate all of the Pokemon, and we won't let that happen, Touko!" It didn't feel right that N would say that type of thing. He would've said the exact opposite! I guessed that I would just have to get used to it for now. "Hey, Touko?" N said. I looked up at him. "Remember yesterday at the Pokemon Center, I was going to say something, but you had to go get your Pokemon back?" I nodded. Remembering that made me feel embarrassed for treating him so rudely. "Well, what I was trying to say is that I care about you so much because... I don't feel so lost around you, and your the only one who truly cares about me... And... I don't want to loose you, Touko. You are the most precious thing in my life." I started to blush madly. Now I realized who his family is, it's me. I'm his family now, maybe even more than that. Should I be happy or annoyed? I thought. Right now I feel... Protective... And like... I love him... I gave into my feelings and kissed him on the cheek.

"I'll be there for you, N. Always, I promise." I hugged him. "No matter what." I heard a snicker. It was Zorua, giggling at us for acting this way to each other, I was guessing.

"Zorua!" N groaned. Did Zorua just say something embarrassing to N? I thought. Maybe N didn't forget that he could talk to Pokemon. I sighed with relief. At least I'm not alone in his new "family."

When we finally reached Dragonspiral Tower, I noticed that it was taller than it looked from a distance. I looked at N. He seemed frightened and nervous, then I remembered: it was because of his other dream he had that told us to come here. I held him close to me. "It's alright, I'm here." I soothed. He exhaled and we entered the tower. Just as N described, there was a huge tower of spiraling stairs touching the sky. "Come on, let's go!" I said walking towards the stairs. I kept a rhythm as my feet tapped each step. I wonder what will happen when we reach the top. What will my memories turn out to be? Maybe we won't get our memories back this way... Maybe- My thoughts were interrupted by a painful scream from below. I looked over to see N on his knees, clutching his head and breathing heavily. Zorua was next to him, probably asking if he was okay. I ran down the steps and crouched down next to N, putting Zorua on my shoulder. "N! What's wrong?!" I asked him. He slowly looked up at me, his eyes filled with immense pain.

"I... I can't... My head..." he gasped for breath between every few words. "This happened... In my dream... Only this time it's... It's hurting more..." He began to lean to one side, but I caught him before he hit the ground.

"You need to rest!" I cried. "You'll hurt yourself even more!" N slowly got up and managed to stand on his feet.

"No... I'm fine... I can keep going." he replied. I supported him as we walked up each step. I noticed that Zorua whimpered every time N winced or cried in pain. It must really be worried about him, but I was glad someone else cared about him.

"Come on! We're half-way there!" I urged N forward. I could tell he was getting weaker with every step because he was applying more weight onto me. He could barely open his eyes and I had to guide up each step. "Keep going N! I know you can do it!"

"T... Touko..." he whispered weakly. "S... Stop climbing..."

"Why?" I asked as I kept going up. We can't give up now! I thought. We're so close! Suddenly, Zorua yelped as I took another step. I heard a beep and I felt myself lift from the ground and levitate into the air, N collapsing to the ground without my support. Zorua fell off my shoulder and landed next to him as I floated up to the top of the tower and landed onto the flat roof made of ancient rock. When I looked in front of me, I saw a girl in a black uniform and her Pokemon, a Sigilyph. It used psychic on me to float me up. The girl was wearing all black with a P symbol printed in a shield-like shape. Her mouth was covered by a gray cloth and had a black hat with an X on it.

"So, are you Touko?" she asked me.

"What do you want from me?!" I demanded, ignoring her question,

"Answer! Or I will have to use force!" she threatened. I bit my lip to show her that I wasn't going to talk. "Humph. Fine then, suit yourself. We'll get you to talk later." she nodded to Sigilyph and suddenly, I saw pink and yellow circles making a hypnotizing pattern and everything went dark. The last thing I heard was, "I got one of them! Call for backup and the plane, he should be here any minute..."