I'll be totally honest, I kind of ship N x Touko/Hilda/White... but I don't at the same time. I'm still undecided, I guess. But it doesn't mean I can't have some fun shipteasing and just all around amping up the tension and speculating. Spoilers abound for Black and White, read at your own risk. These are interconnected one shots centered around each time N runs into Touko in the games and my take on what may be going through his mind at the time.

A warning to those reading; I'm taking the massive hints from what I know of the game as I'm playing through it, along from the spoilers I've read and playing this as straight forward as I possibly can. N is not going to be the fluff-bunny people tend to like to make him or the uber-romantic, knight in shining armor, etc. ...the poor guy's got Barry level of energy when it comes to his thinking, no wonder he tends to talk really fast. Pretty sure the guy's got some massive attention span problems. /laughs.

Listening to the speeches of my loyal servants, I couldn't help but feel pleased and dismayed at the reactions around me. Some of them were rethinking their actions, the doubt in their voices as they questioned our goal was sweet and clear. A little more and they would release their Pokemon and separate themselves from that unequal "partnership".

I would pay them a visit later on, a personal one... even if most of the others felt these civilians weren't worth the honor.

Movement caught my eye several times, and I caught tendrils of amusement and exasperation from my true friends. Curious, I looked over to see what was going on... and felt the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

A boy younger than me with a surly look on his face was giving an absolutely venomous glare to his companion, rubbing his side as if it hurt for some reason. After a moment's observation, I saw why as he opened his mouth to say something and the woman's elbow drove directly into his side in a quicker movement than I'd have expected from her.

The amusement was coming from the pokeballs at her hip, and the exasperation from the ones on the sullen boy's belt. That's odd, why would Pokemon be amused about the squabbling of humans who kept them prisoner in those balls?

Whoever his companion was, she was clearly scolding him in a way that didn't disrupt the speech and returned her attention to it, her mouth curved into a frown as she listened. I found I didn't like that very much, even if I didn't know why. My fellow protectors and champions of a world where Pokemon and humans lived separate lives dispersed, gone to spread the word to other towns and cities, I decided to take a closer look at the two who'd caught my attention.

Maybe I'd figure out why they were so interesting to me.

I heard it as I approached.

...fun. Always so much fun.

Happiness. I'd never heard a Pokemon express that it was... that it was fun to be with a human- other than me, of course. But all Pokemon knew I was their friend, it was just something none of them questioned. They could see inside my heart and I could see inside of theirs.

"Your Pokemon, just now... it was saying-"

They both turned to look at me, giving me a much better opportunity to analyze them both, giving me time to gauge an opinion of these two humans and see if either of them would need to be eliminated or if they could prove useful to my goal of fulfilling my dream for the betterment of all involved.

I like that boy even less than when I first saw him, now that I'm up close. His pokemon are annoyed with him, he's clearly someone who doesn't put consideration into his actions and is definitely too critical for his own good. He's the kind of person I hate the most, next to the bastards who abuse Pokemon and abandoned them for being 'weak'. He just runs his mouth off before thinking or considering someone's feelings, be they his "friends" or anyone else in his way.

People like him are the reasons Pokemon suffer so much.

His companion probably wasn't much better, I thought to myself as I directed my attention to her- and felt something in my gut clench in a way I've never felt before.

Somewhere, deep inside, I think I know this girl.

She's a couple years younger than I am, just on a guess, I don't care about humans that much to really think about things like that, with dark brown hair that... can really only be described as "fluffy", maintained in a ponytail kind of like mine- only she puts it through that stupid pink baseball cap that makes her look even younger than she is. She was wearing what I wouldn't consider decent clothing, part of me wonders if she gets cold running around in shorts like that, but she doesn't seem bothered by the chill of the autumn air as crystal blue eyes land on me.

Her eyes are pure, like a Pokemon that's never known abuse or cruelty.

I've never seen any human that pure before, whose eyes aren't tainted or blind when I look at them. I think I can grow to like these eyes, even if they are attached to a human who puts Pokemon into tiny prisons. If her eyes are anything to go by?

Touko, as I find her name to be, could be converted to my side. She's listening intently, not saying anything, just listening... unlike that idiot Che-something. Lowly clown, he's beneath my notice at the moment, with his eyes so tainted by selfishness, they're almost the same color as his hair.

He is useless to me, lower than even the servants at my command.

I'm still talking to them as I start calculating their reactions, responses and what their threat is to my dream, or their usefullness.

That pure eyed girl could be very useful, even with the odd look she's giving me as I scold her for going down the wrong path. Pokedexes, Pokeballs... none of that is needed, she should know better than that. Someone with eyes as pure as hers should know better.

It's up to me to remind her, she's been tainted by people like that boy next to her and that was why she couldn't hear the voices like I could. Up to me to remind her that there is so much more than what her tiny little world has shown her, has offered her... so much more than what she's been blinded with.

It's up to me to remind her that she could be a Queen.

I couldn't help myself, I challenged her to a battle. I wanted- no. I needed to hear the voices of her pokemon, I wanted to hear them reveal her heart to me. I wanted to see more of her than just a pretty face and pure eyes, wanted to see what it was she valued. Someone always said a Trainer's worth shows up in how they fight their battles.

I was not disappointed, even as I took my leave and left her with something to think about. As I released my friend back into their natural world, too preoccupied with thinking about where I was going to wait for her next, to see if Touko had learned anything from what I'd told her to see the sad look on the Purrloin's face as I walked away.

It was probably sad that I had to put it into a Pokeball just for a little while, now that I think about it. I'll have to apologize to all of them in the future, that way they know I don't mean it when I put them in there and they'll know they'll be free in no time.