When You Need Me- Chapter 5

The day was beautiful.  The sun was shining, the birds were singing, there were a few white puffy clouds in the sky.  I hated it.  How dare the birds sing?  How dare the sun shine?  There was nothing more I wanted than a torrential downpour. I cuddled N's hat gently, covering up the tears that wouldn't stop falling.  No one was here to comfort me; not Cheren, not Mom, not N…  Everyone was gone.  I was all alone.  I wanted to sit in the rain, and have pity on myself.  But I couldn't.  I couldn't let my mom die.    She was all I had left, and she wasn't going to leave me now.  Surly there was another clue to her whereabouts.

I stood from the ground in Pinwheel Forest, wiping the tears from my eyes.  I had to think.  I couldn't let someone else get hurt.  Not because of me.  Ghetsis was going to pay for his actions, but for me to do that, I would have to beat him at his own game.  I thought for a moment.  I knew I saw a shape from the sky when Nuvema was on fire.  It twirled around in my mind for a moment.  What was the shape?  Buildings… arranged in a large semi-circle.  Castelia!  Could she be there?

I ran out of Pinwheel Forest and into the bright sunlight.  Skyarrow Bridge stretched out in front of me.  I began to run, I had no time to fiddle with my bicycle, and I had no time to walk.  However, I found this to be a bad idea as well.  I stopped for a moment to catch my breath.  I had wondered why I was so weak. This was nothing before.  I finally caught up to me that I hadn't eaten in a couple days.  I looked in my bag and grabbed a piece of bread.  I almost choked on it as I ate it, not being used to food.  Be quite honest, I didn't feel hungry, but I knew I need to eat.  I needed to live so that I could avenge my friends.  

I stopped in the middle of the bridge.  'I'm halfway there,' I thought.  Halfway, was way too long.  The sun was beating down on my back.  I took a moment to breath whilst looking at the view of over the bridge.  I saw in the distance the giant Ferris wheel in Nimbasa, and I thought of him.  That time…
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He had asked me to take a ride on the Ferris wheel.  Of course I said yes, why wouldn't I?  I had planned on going  on it anyways, and you can't ride alone anyways.  Better to go with him than with a stranger.  Well, more of a stranger.  We walked onto the carriage.  It was so shaky that I almost tripped.  N caught me in his arms as the ride began to move.  We stood like that for a moment, N's face turning a bright red.

"S-sorry," he said, nearly tossing me away.  I laughed.  He was so innocent, and yet so mysterious.

"It's alright," I replied, still chuckling, "You can touch me, I don't bite."  I admit I was blushing as well.  I sat down next to him.  The carriage was awkwardly cramped, as I had to place my knees inside his to get both our legs to fit.  N looked out the window, amazed.  

"I love Ferris wheels," he replied.  "Their circular motion, the way all the cogs go together.  It makes such sense, mathematically."  'Great,' I remember thinking, 'a math geek.'  I was terrible at math, so I stared out the window, hoping that he wouldn't start asking questions that I couldn't answer.  I already got enough with that Cheren, I didn't need it now.  N looked to the behind carriage to find a young couple kissing.  He suddenly became intrigued.  

"White, what are they doing," he asked, looking at the couple as if they were a science project.  I blushed and turned N around.  Did he seriously not know?  The boy had to be at least sixteen, how did he not know what a kiss was?  
"Um, they're kissing, N," I replied, embarrassed.  For someone so obviously intrigued with science, he was noticeably ignorant of human behaviors.  I couldn't figure out for the life of me why this was.  

"How interesting, humans purposefully spread germs to one another," N said, deep in thought.  "I wonder why."  I looked at him again, even more confused.  Did he not know of love?  There was no way…

"Well," I started, feeling my face become hot, "When two people love each other, that's what they do.  Kind of like how Pokémon nuzzle each other to show
affection," I replied.  N began to rub his lips with his finger.  

"A kiss, hm," he whispered to himself, "Love. How interesting."  Being in such close quarters with him made me blush, but hearing him talk about love made me beat red, I was sure.  He shook his head sadly.  "Well, anyways, I took you on this ride to tell you something."  N looked me in the eye, coming close.  I liked N and everything, but he had no sense of personal space.  It made me feel like my face was turning maroon.

"I am the King of Team Plasma," he replied.  He looked almost sad.  "I hope you don't hate me.  I thought of us as friends... " He stopped for a moment, his hat now over his eyes again.  I was disappointed, yes.  I was hurting inside a little.  But I didn't worry.  There was no way that I could hate him.  He had a secret, and it made sense with how much he talked about liberating Pokémon in his ideals.  But no one is without a secret and ideals.  If they are it's a sad existence, indeed.  

"I don't hate you, N," I replied.  I smiled and leaned closer to his face, being drawn in by those emerald eyes of his.  "But I'm still going to stop you, I hope you know."           
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"N would have loved this view…"I told myself. I wondered if he had ever stopped to see it.  I felt my eyes become hot and watery.  I held them back, the tears.  I would have to save them for another time.  Right now I had to get to Castelia.  I started to run.  I began to run faster and faster.  I wasn't looking where I was going.  Suddenly, I bumped into someone.

"E-excuse me," I said.  It was only then that I had realized tears had fallen down my face.  "I need to get th-through."  I began to walk away, only to find myself being embraced from behind.  I knew there were creepy guys all around, but this had never happened.  I reached in my bag slowly, turned around and held up the small canister of mace to his face.  I stopped before I sprayed.  The mace dropped to the ground.  I was looking into the eyes of a ghost, I was sure.  I was speechless.

"Y… yo….," My mouth could not form words.  The young man standing before me smiled at me dazzlingly, reaching out and touching my face gently.  My hands shook as I reached up to touch his face.  He laughed at my expression as I moved from his cheeks, to his ears, to his tea green hair; taking in his every feature.  He had a cut on his face, but it was still as handsome as ever.  "You were dead…" I said finally, my eyes growing with tears, "You were shot, I saw you!" N just chuckled, and caressed my face

"Didn't I tell you before," he asked, wiping away some tears that had fallen, "that I would be there when you needed me?"  He looked at me, worried.  "White, did I make you cry?" He asked, concerned.  I giggled.  He could be so adorable sometimes.

"Yes, you did," I replied, "But don't worry, sometimes people cry when they're happy too."  I buried myself into his chest, wrapping my arms around him.  This time he didn't hesitate to hold me.  I wasn't all alone anymore, and that made me feel like I could go on.  N always did have perfect timing.  This time it was impeccable.  I pulled away quickly, wiping away my tears before anyone else could see.  This was no time to be a baby.  As I pulled away, I saw a red spot on N's shirt.  My eyes got wide.  'The gunshot,' I thought.  "Come with me."  I took his hand and led him towards the shore, under the bridge, so that we couldn't be seen.

"N, lift up your sleeve," I told him.  N wavered for a moment before lifting the sleeve up to his shoulder, wincing at the point that he came to the bloody gash in his arm.  The wound was still fresh.  I gasped.  I looked N in the face, and found him to be very pale.  He had lost too much blood.  "Didn't you look for help anywhere?" I exclaimed.  N shook his head.

"I wanted to find you, and besides it's just a graze." he said softly, embarrassed.  We both knew he was smarter than that.  

"You should have gotten it looked at, this is more than a graze.  " I said, concerned.  I grabbed my bag and took out some gauze and some rubbing alcohol.  I placed the rubbing alcohol on a rag and prepared to place it on.  I lifted up his sleeve a little more.  "Now, this is going to sting," I warned.  I hesitated before placing the rag on his wound.  He winced and breathed in sharply, but then was perfectly still.  I looked at his face as he grimaced, but did nothing else.  "Doesn't this hurt," I asked, confused.

"I've had worse," he replied sadly, "believe me."  I was going to ask, but I could imagine what he was talking about.  So, Ghetsis was heartless before I had beaten him.  It made me think as I was cleaning N's deep gash.  'Is that why he never knew," I wondered, 'what love was?'  I finished with the alcohol and put the rag back in my bag, taking out the gauze.  I wrapped it gently around his arm, as he stared off into the distance, not saying a word.  When I was done I found my chance to cheer him up.  I leaned over to his face and kissed him on the cheek, right where his scratch was.  I felt his face get hot as I pulled away.  He looked at me thunderstruck.  

"W… What was…" he asked me, holding his cheek.  I giggled slightly.
"It was a kiss, silly," I said, standing up, "I thought it would cheer you up."  I held my hand out to him to help him up.  N took my hand and came closer to me.  
"I knew what it was," he told me, beginning to come closer to my face.  I felt my face flush as his lips grazed mine as he spoke.  It wasn't quite a kiss.  In fact, I wasn't quite sure what it was.  He was speaking to me very, very, very close to my face.  The deep seas of green looking at me blazed like green fire.  "Why did you do it?"

"B-bec-cause… I…"  I stumbled for words, "You… looked so sad…"  I felt his lips pull tight into a smile.  

"You're lying," he said with a quiet chuckle, "I would love to know your real reason."  His eyes kept mine in check as I answered.

"I c-care about you, N," I replied quietly.  He lifted his good arm to hold me closer to him.  He closed his eyes.  Was he about to do what I thought he was about to do?  I never found out, because there was a sudden explosion in the West.

"What was that," I said.  I had completely forgotten about the clue.  How?  I went into mission mode.  I began to run towards Castelia.  It had to be Ghetsis again.  I wouldn't be too late this time.  No one else was going to get hurt on my account.  Not anymore.  I wasn't going to be weak anymore.  I ran towards the smoke coming from the westernmost street.  The gym!

"N… you're going to have to help me," I said, determined.  I heard his footsteps beside me, keeping up at a steady pace.  

"Wouldn't have it any other way," he replied, smiling at me.  I nodded as we continued to the gym.  The gym was on fire when we got there.  It was burning slowly, and I looked up to the smoke.  Three black figures flew across the sky at lightning speed and disappeared.  So, this was Ghetsis's doing.  I let out Samurott, telling him to douse N and me.  

We ran inside, dodging around the honey and burning beams, Samurott bringing an end to the flames.  N let out Carracoasta, using surf to wash away the debris.  We came across a couple of harlequins, desperately trapped behind a burning beam.  I quickly let out Stoutland.

"STRENGH," I shouted.  She quickly moved the beam away with ease, letting the two of them leave.  

"Burgh is in the back!  He's really sensitive to smoke, you have to help him!" they told me on the way out.  I nodded and continued forward, putting Stoutland back in her pokeball.  It was getting hotter in there.  I began to cough, but that didn't stop me.  N and I ran on, to the back of the gym.  It was easier with the puzzle burnt down to get to Burgh.  We found him collapsed in the back, gasping for air.

"Burgh, talk to me," I said, running over to him, patting his back gently.  He looked at me fervently.

"White, it's you," he said with a smile.  This was a bad time for him to realize who I was.  Well, he was talking, which meant he was alive.  I put his arm around my shoulder, supporting him.  Suddenly, a shudder came from the place.  
"White," N shouted to me over the roaring flames, "It's about to collapse!"  I nodded and began to think.  Of course.  

"Samurott, BLIZZARD!"  The great otter blew hard, leaving a mass of ice in its wake.  N and I began to slide across the rapidly melting ice to the door.  The building gave another shudder.  I looked towards the door to see that the ice there had already melted.  We weren't going to make it, unless…

"N, JUMP!" I shouted.  We leapt as far as we could toward the door, and luckily out the door.  A large explosion followed.  We got out in the nick of time.  I looked to Burgh who looked around.  

"You saved everyone," he exclaimed, giving me a hug.  "Everyone is safe, White.  You're a hero!"  I chuckled and pushed Burgh away.  I was no hero.  I had finally found my nerve, yes.  But my mother was gone, Cheren was dead, and I had no idea where Bianca was.  I began to feel my eyes tear up, but this was no time for me to be a crybaby.  N obviously noticed this.

"White," he addressed, "why are you crying?  We just saved three people."  He smiled at me, crouching down to where I sat, so that he could look me in the eye.
"I'm not crying, N," I said, wiping my eyes.  He only smiled at me.

"Yes you are, now, why?"  What was I suppose to tell him?  'Hey N, your dad is trying to kill me and everyone I know to get his crazy revenge and rule the world!'  

"N… your father, he killed Cheren,"  I started, feeling my eyes become hot, "He's trying to take away everything precious to me."   N smile faded and turned to shock.  No… anger.

"I knew the Shadow Triad weren't working on their own," he grimaced, moving his right hand to the wound on his arm.  "And now, he has killed our friend."  He stood and offered me his hand.  "We will find him.  And when we do, I'll make sure we're rid of him forever," he said darkly.  

"What do you mean," I asked concerned.  He smiled at me again.
"Don't you worry about it," he replied.  "That is between my father and me.  Now, where to find your mother?"  

"How did you…" I started, amazed.  I had never mentioned my mother.
"Had a hunch," he replied, still stifling a smile for me.  His face became confused as he looked at my back.

"What is it?" I asked as he reached behind me.  He took a picture off my back, and handed it to me.  I gasped.  It was a picture of my mother tied to a pillar in a tower.  The next clue.  

"Well, looks like we're taking a trip to Icirrus," I said standing and looking into his eyes once more.  "Are you with me." N looked at me and took my hand, lacing his fingers with mine.

"To the very end."