I had been perfectly happy on my lonesome. I had been indulging myself in some people watching in Nimbasa City. I saw the trainers chatting animatedly. I saw the girls with their poor sense of fashion. I laughed at the fools who fell for clever scams, and watched children gleefully run with stuffed prizes.

I noticed how they were never alone, like me. Surely if they were aware of how peaceful it is to be by oneself, they wouldn't look so happy. The other trainers always found each other. The ignoramuses at the stands had their ignoramus friends to pat them on the back. The children excitedly showed their mothers their new stuffed friends. How silly of them.

The sillies of them all were the giggling couples, basking in each other's body head, and laughing for the sole reason of togetherness… I mentally mocked them for their stupidity. As the flaunted their 'love' for each other, I sat on a lonesome bench, unnoticed. Oh, how happy I was by my lonesome. They kissed at random, indiscreet moments, in plain sight, and embarrassing themselves. Yet, they showed no remorse for their actions. And here I was, all by my lonesome, and certainly nowhere close to the amount of happiness that was radiating off of them. As the night grew colder, the closer they got to each other, cooking in each other's body heat. I was quite happy to be by my lonesome, especially now that the environment was coming into homeostasis with the cold my lonesome left in my heart. How silly of them, I convinced myself.

I only became happier as I saw more of them. The more I was confronted by their grotesque displays of affection, the less motivated I was to look at them. Eventually, I had become so engrossed in the loneliness, that I'd stopped watching. I had never been happier. Maybe.

That is, until that weirdo showed up. Don't go thinking that I'd expected this mint-haired freak to randomly approach me, in the middle of an amusement park. It's funny that they call it that; I was not amused. I was just minding my own business, and passing the time as daylight slowly became night. He just walked up as if I know him or something, and the sad thing: I do know him, the pokemon-speaking-wack-job-freak. He's a complete waste of my time, and yet here he was… I didn't say anything. I was too busy doing nothing while staring at nothing pretending to be nothing as nothingness began to surround me. I was too unmotivated to look up. It was a good thing, I'd convinced myself. I hated him.

"I thought I'd never run into someone I knew, here." He said silently. "Hello, Cheren."

I did not acknowledge him.

"Aw, come now. I didn't come to bother you. I'm simply lonely."

My eyes moved on its' own. The word 'lonely' definitely did not interest me, but I looked at him. The sudden motion made my head hurt, so I looked away. Fucker.

Something obscure clicked in his head, and he took the acknowledgment as permission to sit next to me. He was warm; so warm, that it made me realize how cold id gotten, despite that it had never gotten as cold as id felt on the inside. He was so warm it made me HURT. Loneliness wasn't supposed to hurt this much! It was supposed to be happy, like I always wished it would be.

"Well, enough of this." He suddenly spoke.

He stood, the warmth leaving me so abruptly that my hands reached out toward him, before I could think. It forced me to stand. He took my outstretched hand and began to walk away. I stumble. I followed him. It was because he was warm, not because he was captivating, not because he was someone… he was warm. I was cold. That was all.

I paid no attention to the direction of our travels. I wasn't as if I needed to. There was nothing dangerous here, most certainly not the man dragging me to wherever. Why do I trust him? Maybe cuz he's warm, or something.

Occasionally, he would look back to me. I think he may have smiled, also, but I never bothered to actually look when he turned around. In fact, I don't know how I saw his head. I was staring intently at our hands, leaving that sphere of vision uncovered by my contorted glass lenses.

His hand was so warm, but what disturbed me was how the warmth ran up my arm, touched my face and slowly forced the pain away. This is happiness, I think. Maybe.

Suddenly, he stopped. He turned, and waited. He was waiting for me to look up, I know, but I simply didn't want to shift my focus the short distance what was required.

He still waited. I took a swift glance upward, my focus reaching only to his chin, I think, and back down again. He gave my hand a squeeze, knowing exactly where I was looking.

"Do you want to ride the Ferris Wheel with me?"

It took my by surprise.

"I'm sorry?"

"Come now, don't tell me you were willing to follow me here, only to tell me no."

I said nothing. I couldn't think, really.

He let go of my hand.

He began to walk away.

Suddenly, I was overcome by an alarming sense of fear. I felt as if the cold was physically pinching my body and leeching like a parasite. I felt it burrow into my skin as I ran forward, and grasped onto N for dear life. The warmth began to fight the cold, but I was scared, breathing heavy and unwilling to let go of—

"Oh?"

… N. I froze. What had I done?

I stepped away, and he stepped closer.

"What?" He insisted, "What is the matter?"

"Nothing." I muttered.

"Then, do you want to ride with me, or not?"

I look into his eyes as he spoke. I don't know how my focus got there, but there it was. The color of his eyes reminded me of the sea, and the rich green the water takes in the sunlight. The miniature seas were shimmering and mysterious, crystal clear, yet showing no sign of having a bottom. The depths of these irises beckoned me closer, begging me to follow ever closer and deeper to discover the extent of these expanses, which may or may not even exist. I was captivated, and motivated for discovery.

I followed him onto the Ferris Wheel.

He paid for my ticket.

I was so happy.

I think.

I had barely taken a seat before he sat right next to me. He embraced me, rubbing my arms, and began telling me things. He told me about liberating pokemon, and how mine loved me so severely. He told me about his father, who had planted the idea. He told me about his childhood. He told me of his friends, or lack thereof. He cried, he laughed, he held me so tightly that I became a physical part of him.

His words enticed my imagination. I found myself watching great epics of love and childhood. Our heads were becoming merged together, bringing our thoughts into synch. N ceased to speak, but I found the stories continued with even greater fervor. It wasn't long before no words were spoken at all, and we cried and laughed together.

It wasn't until he kissed me that I was abruptly reunited with a vague sense of reality.

No more pictures littered my consciousness. It was dark. It was cold. The Ferris Wheel had stopped our cart at a rough midpoint.

N was just as stunned as I. He stared blankly in my general direction. You would have though him comatose, if not for his occasional, flurried blinks.

The ride began again, and we refused to move. He was too close, yet that mind that I had been attached to seemed too far away. My hands shook. My breath refused to conform to rhythm. I began to contemplate whether people were till wandering about, so I may watch them. I mused whether that bench was still unoccupied. I was starting to hurt again, but I figured I would be quite happy to be by my lonesome once more. Forever more.

The ride slowly stopped, and the doors slid open. A rush of near-Antarctic temperature atmosphere assaulted my skin.

"Well then." I sighed, and stood to reunite with that bench from before. A hand on my wrist stopped me. One turn of my head, one readjustment of the angle of my center of focus, one moment lost again searching for the bottom of an unknown sea, and I brushed the surface of a phantasmagoric realm that was now comfortably familiar.

He smiled. I couldn't help by twitch the corners of my mouth in a half-hearted grin.

"Come back here tomorrow?" He asked softly.

"Of course."