First Date

“Huh? What do you mean, Zoroark?” N stared inquisitively at his best friend, the attention he had been giving to the magazine now focused on the Zoroark sitting in front of him at the Café table.
“I MEAN,” The fox Pokémon said, waving his finger in a circle. “You and Touko have been together for almost five months, and you haven’t even taken the girl out on a date yet!”
N raised an eyebrow. He had read about the human custom of couples taking each other out on “dates”, but…
“I never thought it was necessary,” he replied. “Touko and I are happy and have done tons of things together; I don’t see why we need to go on a date…”
“Because it’s human tradition!” Zoroark exclaimed, hitting his paw on the sun-bleached table.
“How can you hope to help this relationship take off if you don’t ask her out on a date?!
“Listen, N. Women LOVE dates. They love to gush to their friends about the romantic date their handsome man took them out on the other night. They will spill all the details and make a huge deal out of it, so you need to make it a big deal, even if you feel it isn’t! Got that?” he said, poking N’s forehead sharply.
N grazed his fingers along his forehead where Zoroark poked him, the skin tingling uncomfortably.
“B-But…I don’t even know what to do! What would we do, where would we go?” he sputtered.
Zoroark held up his paws.
“Whoa, N. You’re getting ahead of yourself. You need to actually ask her out first.”
“BUT!” Zoroark leaned in close to N’s face so that they were less than an inch apart.
You have to make sure to ask her out in a clever, persuasive way she won’t be able to resist! Presentation of the proposal is half the work! If you don’t pull off a witty way to ask her out, she’ll reject you outright! So start thinking!”
“O-OK…”
N suddenly felt quite overwhelmed. It must’ve shown on his face, because Zoroark flashed a grin.
“One more thing. When you ask her, you can NOT have the terrified look on your face that you do now.”
He puffed out his chest.
“Women admire CONFIDENCE, N.”

“Which makes me wonder sometimes why she’s even into you at all,” Zoroark muttered under his breath.

Touko tugged her brush at the stubborn tangle in her hair. The tangle, ever stubborn, refused to straighten out. Irked, she grabbed the knotted lock of hair in her fist and yanked her hair brush sharply through it.  
The result was an untangled yet very frizzy section of her usually soft, wavy brown hair.
Touko shrugged and tossed her brush onto her bed.
She gathered her mass of brunette hair and bunched it up into her usual high ponytail.
She gave herself one last glance in the mirror before descending the stairs.
She trotted into the kitchen and pulled open the fridge, the chilled air swirling around her.
“Food,” she muttered to herself, grabbing an apple.
As she took a rather large bite, she heard a knock on the door.
She pulled it open to see N standing there, looking more flustered than usual.
She waved merrily at him and tried to greet him through her mouthful of apple.
“’Fup,” she said, little bits of apple flying from her mouth.
N pulled a face as some tiny apple bits landed on his sleeve.
“Professor Juniper said she wanted you in her lab,” N said, brushing them off.
Touko swallowed the food in her mouth.
“What does she want?”
“She needed help with some files,” N said.
“Aw man, FILES? Couldn’t she have Bianca do that?” Touko groaned.
She let out an exasperated sigh from her lips.
“Fine. I better go help her. There’s some food in the fridge if you’re hungry,” she said before setting off to the lab.

Touko swung open the door of her house so hard it hit the wall.
“No WONDER she needed my help, the new Pokémon starters had trashed the place!”
She looked around the room and found N sitting on the couch, his face buried quite literally buried in a book.
“N…” she said, sounding almost pitied.
“What?” N asked, somewhat apprehensively, but he didn’t look up.
“The book is upside down.”
There was a brief moment of silence. N hastily flipped the book over, his forehead reddening over the top.
Touko smiled affectionately.
“Dork,” she muttered.
She went to the cupboard to grab a glass for water, when a folded slip of paper fell to her feet.
Touko bent over and picked it up. She unfolded it and read it.
Meanwhile, N was still immersed in his book, or at least it looked like he was trying to be. A shadow fell over him, and he looked up. Touko was standing over him, holding up the slip of paper, with a look of suppressed amusement on her face.
“N, if you wanted to ask me out, you could just simply ask.”
“W-What?! What makes you t-think I would-“ N stuttered.
“Well, to start, you picked one of the most cliché methods EVER. Slips of paper that eventually ask ‘Will you go out with me’?”
“Secondly,” she said, holding up two fingers. “You’ve been acting jumpier than usual ever since you came here. The excessive blushing…the upside-down book…”
N looked down, his face turning completely red.
“But Zoroark told me I had to think of a clever way to ask you out or you’d reject me!” he protested.
“Well, you don’t know that until you ask me, do you?” Touko responded. She stood there, waiting expectantly.
N bit his lip, and stood up, fiddling with the hem of his shirt.
“Touko….will you, uh….go out with me?” he asked.
Touko grinned.
“Yes.”
N’s face lit up.
“Really?” he said.
Touko ruffled his hair.
“Of course! Even though you screwed up the proposal and ended up looking like a dork.”
N blushed again.

“A DATE?!” Bianca squealed.
“Hahaha…” Touko gave a small smile. “Yeah. He was so flustered, he didn’t really know what he was doing. He was so dorky, it was adorable. In the end, I let him ask me, though I was the one who really asked him, I guess.”
“That is SO CUTE!!” Bianca shrieked. “So, what are you going to wear?”
“Wear?” Touko looked at her friend.
“I’m going to wear what I always wear.”
Bianca gave Touko a look of pure shock before shaking her head so vigorously her glasses almost flew off the bridge of her nose.
“Noooooo! You can’t do that, Touko! This is a DATE! You need to look cute! You need to look irresistible! What is N going to think if you show up in your usual grubby outfit? He’s going to think you aren’t taking the date he worked so hard to plan seriously!
“Hey, this outfit is really nice! It’s my favorite!” Touko protested.
“Well, it isn’t going to be your favorite for the date. You need something nicer and super cute.”
Bianca grabbed Touko’s hand, pulling her toward town.
“C’mon, hun, we’re going shopping!”
Touko surrendered to her friend’s relentless tugging.
“So,” Bianca said as they walked along. “Where do you think he’s gonna take you?”
“I dunno. Knowing him, probably a museum,” Touko said.

“Definitely not a museum,” N said, pacing back and forth.
Zoroark opened one eye lazily to observe his friend walking anxiously in circles.
“Why not?” he asked.
“Touko would get bored in five minutes! Then she’ll think I’m boring and not want to hang out anymore!” N said fretfully.
Zoroark yawned.
“N, you’re freaking out too much about this. Just take her somewhere you think she’d enjoy. Think about it. What does she like?”
N stopped, frantically ranking his brains.
“Well, she likes roller coasters, but I’m not riding one of those. A movie wouldn’t exactly blow her away, either. She also likes cooking, but we can’t do that for a date…”
Zoroark waited patiently, letting N think it through on his own.
N paused. “And, she DOES like Pokémon…”
“Well there you go!” Zoroark said. “Have you considered taking her to see wild Pokémon? You know…there?”
N turned and looked at his friend.
“You’re familiar with the place, and there’s tons of Pokémon there. Not a lot of people hang out there, so you guys would be alone.”
N considered.
“I guess that wouldn’t be such a bad idea…”
“Oh, and N?" Zoroark said.
“Yeah?” N answered.
“We need to get you something new to wear.”

Touko tugged at the hem of her new frilled shirt as she waited by the exit to Route 16.
Her ankles felt oddly exposed in her black leggings and flats, and she had the feeling her jean skirt was going to fly up, even though the material wouldn’t allow it.
“This is why I don’t wear skirts…” she muttered to herself, gripping the strap of her bag tightly. Her eyes wandered about her surroundings, trying to find something entertaining to break the boredom of waiting. Touko sighed. Bianca had insisted she show up early, in case N came earlier as well.  Touko tried to shove down the sudden uneasy feeling she got in her stomach. Had she gotten the time right? Was she at the right location to meet him? Did she miss him?
Touko stopped herself, feeling utterly ridiculous.
Why am I freaking out about this? I am POSITIVE I got all the information correct, stop freaking out! she scolded herself, annoyed by her own anxiety.
“Touko?” a voice suddenly called her name.
Touko spun around, and saw N walking towards her. N was wearing a completely different outfit, which consisted of a black jacket over a dark forest green shirt, and dark blue jeans. To Touko’s bewilderment, her heart doubled in speed, and she felt as though Beautiflys were flapping wildly in her stomach, itching to burst out.
N looked at Touko, his face slightly flushed, as if he’d been running.
“So uh…I’m glad you could make it,” N said.
“Yeah! I’m excited,” Touko said with a grin, shoving down her jittery feelings.
N smiled and suddenly grabbed Touko’s hand.
“Follow me!” he said, pulling her along.
Touko, surprised by the firmness of his grasp and his assertive confidence, followed him down the paved road. Together, they turned off the road and made their way through a natural path in the trees.
“N, where are we going?” Touko asked as they ran along.
“You’ll see,” N replied.
The light dappled faintly through the trees, which were steadily growing denser. Eventually, N slowed, and stooped down, brushing leaves away. Touko peered around his shoulder, and saw a small tunnel burrowing through the undergrowth. N craned his neck around to look at her.
“Do you want to go first?” he asked her.
Touko snorted.
“Nice try, buddy. You go first,” she said, nudging him with her foot to make him go forward.
N blinked in innocent confusion.
“Well, OK. But stick close, it can get dark in the tunnel,” he told her, before crawling into it.
Touko got down onto her hands and knees and started to crawl after him. The floor of the tunnel felt hard and rough against her knees, and the dense leaves tickled her arms. Ahead of her, she could make out N’s figure. She wanted to ask, yet again, where they were headed. Eagerness and slight annoyance from having to wait pricked at her, but she held her tongue. The tunnel started to open up, the light filtering through the leaves becoming brighter. She saw N straighten up and get to his feet. He reached into the tunnel and offered Touko his hand. Touko grasped his hand and pulled herself out of the tunnel. She and N were in the middle of a large clearing, not unlike the one they were in earlier. But this one was filled with Pokémon. Touko spun around on the spot, her mouth hanging open in awe, trying to take in all of them. N grinned at her stunned reaction.
“This is where I grew up,” he told her.
Touko whirled around to stare at him.
“You grew up here?”
N nodded, and turned to look at the old sights, a slightly wistful smile forming on his lips.
“ For a few years, anyway. That silent woman in the trailer in front of the woods…is the female Zoroark that found me as a very small child and raised me. She disguises herself as a woman and silently stands guard over the forest, so no one will find this place. It has many rare Pokémon, so she uses her Illusions to hide it from Trainers.”
He turned back to Touko.
“I’m the only human that knows about it. Well, me and…Ghetsis. But he never came here again after he found me.”
Touko saw N bite his lip at the topic of his father. She felt a pang of sympathy for the green-haired boy that tightened her chest.
N blinked hard, as if to shake away the memories, and smiled again.
“There are a lot of Pokémon here, so I thought you’d like it. They can be shy, but when the female Zoroark tells them it’s OK, they warm up to you very quickly. And this part of the forest is hidden from people so it’s…just the two…of us,” he said, his cheeks tinting pink.
Touko opened her mouth to say something, but a loud rustling behind them interrupted her. Touko watched as a woman’s head peered out of the brush. The woman spotted Touko and suddenly snarled, baring a mouth of startlingly sharp teeth. Her eyes glowed teal and she leapt out of the brush, tackling Touko and pinning her to the ground. Touko was so startled by the fact the woman had sharp teeth like a Pokémon’s that she didn’t even try to fight back.
“Mamam, no!” she heard N yell.
The woman snapped her head around to stare at him.
“It’s OK! She’s with me, she’s not a threat!” he insisted quickly.
The woman’s eyes widened.
“N? Is that you?” she asked.
N gave a weak smile, apparently relieved that she had stopped attacking Touko. The woman leapt up and ran to N, embracing him. Touko watched in amazement as the woman transformed into a Zoroark before her very eyes.
“Oh, my N…I never thought you’d come back. After you left with that man…”
N squeezed the Zoroark tightly.
“I’m fine Mamam. Zoroark and I are doing well.” He buried his face into the female Zoroark’s long, soft ponytail. “I missed you.”
Touko got up and brushed herself, off, watching the two converse. But all she heard was the Zoroark growling softly, and N responding to her. N broke apart from the hug and walked over to Touko.
“This is Touko. Touko White. I wanted to show her my old home. She doesn’t know PokéSpeak, but she treats Pokémon very kindly, and she won’t tell anyone about this place. Right, Touko?” he asked, turning to her once more.
Touko allowed her head to bob up and down, still trying to take everything in.
Mamam slipped up to Touko and sniffed her.
“She’s a lovely female! Is she your mate?”
N choked and his face turned a furious scarlet.
“Wh-Wha-“ he sputtered, rigid with shock.
Touko snorted and quickly pressed her hand against her mouth to keep the laugh rising in her chest from escaping.
“No, Mamam, I’m not. Not yet, anyway. You see, N and I are doing a special human ritual, to see if we’re compatible to be mates,” she explained, trying hard not to burst out laughing.
N’s face, if possible, turned even redder.
“Touko-“ he spat out in embarrassment.
“Ah, well then, I shall leave you to it. Good luck, you two!” Mamam said, smiling. She turned and dashed off into the brush. The rest of the Pokémon, which has been watching intently, now turned and started to meander around. Some wandered off into the forest, other curiously slunk up to Touko and N, sniffing them curiously. N still seemed to be rooted to the spot. Touko waved her hand in front of his face.
“So, where to first?” she asked him.
N blinked and jumped slightly, as if he had been snapped out of a trance.
“W-Where to…what?” he stuttered.
“Well, you know this place better than I do. Where are we going next?” Touko asked, smirking slightly at N’s flustering.
“Oh…right,” N muttered, trying to collect himself. He pointed off into the brush.
“How about the place where the younger Pokémon play?” he suggested.
Touko slipped her hand into N’s hand grasped his fingers.
“Lead the way,” Touko said.
N jerked and his eyes darted down to Touko’s hand suddenly clasped in his.
“U-Um, sure. This way!” he said, clenching Touko’s hand a little too tightly. He pulled her behind him through the brush.
Touko winced.
“N…you’re squeezing too tight,” she said.
“Oh! Sorry!” N let go.
“No, you can hold my hand, just don’t cut off the circulation in it,” Touko told him.
“Oh.” N intertwined his fingers with hers once more and continued on through the brush.
Touko watched him quietly for a few moments before speaking up.
“You don’t have to be so tense, N,” she said. “We’re here to have a good time, and we can’t if we’re tense. So relax.”
N was silent, and looked down as he ran.
“…You’re right. I’m sorry. I was just…nervous. I want this date to be perfect,” he said quietly.
“It doesn’t have to be perfect to be good,” Touko said.
“Besides,” she grinned. “It would be boring if it was perfect.”
N turned and looked at her with an unreadable expression, before pushing through to a large grove full of trees.
The grove was tinged green, with small pockets of sunlight poking through the thick, leaved branches. Thick vines were dangling from several branches of the trees. All around Touko and N, young Pokémon were scampering about, climbing up the branches and swinging from the vines, calling out in excitement. Some larger Pokémon; the parents, Touko guessed, were sitting off to the sides, keeping a watchful eye on their young. They turned to look at Touko and N as they entered the grove before turning back to their offspring. Touko guessed Mamam had come by to let them know it was okay. N immediately trotted over to some young Pokémon rolling in the leaves. With their shiny blue and black fur, golden eyes, and star-tipped tails, Touko realized the young Pokémon were Shinx. She was surprised; Shinx weren’t native to the Unova region. Then again, N had told her a lot of rare Pokémon resided in the deeper parts of Lostlorn Forest. It wouldn’t out of the ordinary to see Pokémon that weren’t from Unova, she assumed.
N stooped down.
“Hello, little ones,” he murmured gently.
The little Shinx eyed him warily and turned to their mother, a magnificent Luxray. She gave a short nod, looking at N with trusting eyes. One Shinx that had a tuft of fur covering a bit of its right eye, stepped forward and sniffed the fingers of N’s outstretched hand before licking it.
Touko watched as the litter of Shinx, and several other Pokémon, clambered onto N, knocking him onto his back. Touko let a chuckle escape from her mouth as she watched the scene, her chest swelling with warmth. That was the one thing she liked most about N; his gentleness and kindness towards all Pokémon. She was so busy watching, she didn’t notice the long strand of white thread that had landed on her shoulder. When another plopped on the sleeve of her shirt, she craned her neck to upwards.
“What the…” she looked up into the thick branches of the tree she was under.

N was busying himself trying to gently push a Swablu that had landed of his face off of his mouth and nose. But every time he sat up, a little Shinx pounced playfully on his chest, pushing him back down.
“OK, OK, get off me!” N laughed.
A sudden shriek from Touko made him sit up abruptly and look around.
“Touko?” he jumped up and looked around. She had vanished.
“Touko?!” he called again, his heart starting to pound. The Swablu landed on his head again, apparently unaware of his unease.
“I’m up here!” he heard a voice from the tree Touko had been standing under.
He ran over to it. There was a creak, a snap, and Touko fell from the leaves, almost falling on top of N. He jumped back in surprise. Touko was being held in midair by what looked like several strands of web.
“Hey,” she said, dangling like a marionette. A tiny Spinerak was perched on her head, clicking its minute pincers proudly, happy to have captured such large prey.
“These little guys are really happy to have caught me it seems,” Touko said. She pointed up at the large family of Ariados and Spinerak residing in the tree. With short but sure motions, the spiders started to haul Touko back up into the tree.
N watched her feet disappear into the lowest branches, too stunned to try and pull her down.
“Hey, it’s been real nice hanging out withl you guys, but can you let me go? I’ve got a date waiting for me on the ground,” N heard Touko say. He could hear the Ariados clicking their pincers. He peeked up into the tree again.
Before he had any time to react, Touko tumbled out of the tree with a shout of surprise, landing on him. The two lay in a heap on the earth.
“Thanks for breaking my fall,” Touko groaned, rubbing her backside.
“Anytime,” she heard N mumble from underneath her.

Touko and N now strolled down a forest path deep in the woods, their fingers intertwined. They had spent about an hour playing with the young Pokémon in the grove. Touko had had to ward off hungry babies from eating N’s hair several times.
“Are you hungry yet, Touko?” N asked.
“Oh no, I ate before I came here-“ Touko started to say, but she was cut off by the loud rumbling of her own stomach. She stopped dead in her tracks.
N looked at her expression, which was one of horror.
“Was…that…”
“No! No it wasn’t!” she said shrilly, digging her fist into her stomach. Despite her attempts to silence her stomach, it growled loudly again. N smiled.
“Your body is telling me otherwise. Would you like some berries?” he asked.
Touko nodded, feeling her ears heat up.
“The best berries grow by the river. Let’s head there next.”
Within a few minutes, the two of them reached to large stream. Every type of berry Touko had heard about was dangling from the branches of the trees. She felt her mouth water as she gazed at the plump, glistening Oran berries above her head.
N followed her gaze up to the round blue berries.
“You want some Oran berries?” he asked.
Touko nodded, still staring hungrily at them.
“I enjoy Oran berries myself. They’re my favorite. The best ones usually grow near the top.”
“You don’t have to get the ones at the top, N…”
“No! You deserve the best berries!”
Touko blinked and saw N scrambling up the trunk.
“What are you-“ she said.
“Don’t worry Touko. I’m pretty good at climbing -oh, sorry Ariados- I was always able to get to the ones at the top,” he called to Touko on the ground.
“Well, I’m sure that was when you were a hundred pounds lighter and twice as small…” Touko muttered quietly.
Sure enough, she eventually heard a branch give a low, deep creak, and less than five seconds later, the branch snapped and fell. N dropped out of the tree with a yelp, and plunged towards the water below. There was a loud splash, and Touko saw N dangling precariously, String Shot twisted around his ankle and foot. It saved him from being completely drenched. Unfortunetely, the upper half of him had not been so lucky.
“Thanks Ariados,” Touko called up to the tree, as N was slowly reeled out of the water. Touko reached out and helped him ashore.
N blinked rapidly, trying to get water out of his eyes. Water was dripping from his hair, and his jacket and shirt were soaked.
“Are you okay?” Touko asked.
N nodded.
“Your shirt and jacket is soaked,” Touko noted.
“Yeah…I’ll need to dry them off. You stay here and eat the berries,” he said.
“Let me help,” Touko offered.
N suddenly tensed. Touko saw his eyes dart away, avoiding her.
“No, that’s fine. You stay here,” he said tersely.
“N-“
“Please! Just…stay here. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” N quickly walked off into the bushes, gripping his arms. Touko watched him go, feeling perplexed.
Ultimately, her curiosity got the best of her, and she followed him into the bushes.
She peeked out of the foliage just in time to see N peel off his shirt. She popped up with a loud rustle, scattering leaves everywhere.
“N?”
N gave a horrible jolt and whirled around, his eyes wide.
“T-Touko?!” He clutched his jacket to his chest.
“N, what’s wrong-“ Touko began to ask.
“Don’t look at me!” N shouted.
Touko, taken aback by his sudden change in mood, took a few steps back. Her eyes fell on his shoulders, and she let a gasp escape.
“N-?!”
“DON’T LOOK!! STAY AWAY FROM ME!!” N hollered. He turned on his heel and took off into the woods.
N! Wait!” Touko called after him, but he didn’t stop. She ran off after him.
Touko looked around quickly. She couldn’t see N anywhere. Then…
She saw a tuft of tea green hair poking out from behind a thick tree trunk. She quietly went around it, and saw N sitting on the ground, his knees drawn up to his chest, his arms pulling his wet jacket tightly around him. Touko gently put a hand on his shoulder.
“N?” she said quietly.
N flinched away at her touch, but he slowly looked up at her. His face looked scared, and his eyes were sparkling with unshed tears.
“I didn’t want you to see…” he whispered.
“N, come out,” Touko said gently.
N pulled himself into a tighter ball and squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head.
“N, you don’t have to be afraid. I’m not going to say anything.”
She held out her hand to him. N looked at it, hesitated, then grasped it with his.
Touko pulled him up and led him out from behind the tree. He still had his jacket wrapped tightly around him, and he wouldn’t look Touko in the eye. Touko lightly touched his arm.
“N, you can show me. It’s okay,” she said soothingly.
N bit his lip, but loosened the grip he had on his jacket. He turned to face her, and took a deep, shaky breath. Then, his hands trembling, he let his jacket slip past his shoulders.
Touko clenched her teeth to keep herself from gasping aloud, and her hands flew to her mouth. N’s arms, chest, and stomach were riddled with countless scars. Many of them were deep and crisscrossed each other. Touko reached, forcing her fingers not to shake, and lightly touched a particularly deep one that ran across N’s chest, over his heart.
“That one was from Ghetsis’ Bisharp,” she heard N say in a soft voice.
Touko looked up sharply at him. Did she just hear him right?
“Most of these scars are from abused Pokémon that lashed out at me. It wasn’t their fault, they were scared. But some of my worst ones…those were from Ghetsis.”
He forced out a short, scornful laugh.
“If I wasn’t behaving, he’d send his Bisharp into my room. At first, I thought it was another abused Pokémon. But it kept coming back. It wasn’t until years later I figured out he was sending it in to ‘teach me a lesson’.”
“N…” Touko couldn’t find the words. They were stuck in her throat like dense ball, choking her.
“Why do you think I always wear long-sleeved shirts? I don’t want anyone to see these…these defects!” N spat out the last word like it was a vicious poison, but Touko could hear the shake in his voice, and when she looked up at him, tears had started to pour out of his eyes. Her mind drifted back to what Ghetsis had said after she defeated N at his castle.
A warped, defective boy…
Is that what N saw these horrible scars as? Defects on an already defective person?
Touko felt her heart wrench, as if someone had grabbed it in their hands and was twisting it, tearing it. Breaking it.

N felt like his stomach was turned inside out, and his heart seemed like it was getting pierced again. This was not at all how he wanted the date to go. The last thing he had wanted to do was show Touko all his scars, his secret shame. One of the things he wanted to keep hidden the most, and now the person he cared about the most knew. She knew, and how would she react? He looked down at Touko, almost dreading to see the look on her face, and was shocked to see her head was down. She was crying.
Touko? Crying? N felt tempted to pinch himself to make sure this wasn’t some sort of weird dream he was having. Then she spoke.
“N, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”
She leaned forward, and her lips grazed N’s shoulder, gently brushing along one of his scars.
“You don’t have to hide these anymore.”
She pulled his jacket farther down his arms, exposing his lower back. It bore just as many scars as his front. Her hands found a long scar along his spine, her fingers gently running along it. N felt goosebumps race up his arms and back, up his neck.
“You’ve been through so much. These scars remind you of that. But you don’t have to hide it all to yourself. Allow me to ease some of your burden,” Touko said softly.
N’s throat tightened. He tried to speak, but no words came out. He wrapped his arms around Touko and started to cry silently into her shoulder. The brunette hugged him comfortingly, not saying anything, but at the same time, saying more than she ever could.

The sun was still shining brightly, but had begun to dip lower in the sky by the time Touko and N clambered out of the stream, their feet pruny and freezing from the chilly water, and their lungs heaving for air from laughing so hard.
“OK, for the record, I totally got you more wet!” Touko gasped, grinning broadly.
“No way! You’re way more soaked than I am!” N shot back playfully, shoving the sleeves of his almost dry jacket farther up his arms. He seemed to have forgotten the events of earlier, and had been relentless in splashing Touko in the stream.
“Unless you count the moment when your entire upper body got doused!”
“My clothes dried before our little water fight, so it doesn’t count! I win!” N said.
Touko grinned playfully and shoved N, who lost his balance and toppled into the large flowerbed by the stream.
“You take that back!” she said, pinning him to the ground with her foot.
N huffed, then grabbed her foot and flung her off, sending her tumbling into the flowers as well.
Touko rolled over and sat up on all fours, a flower dangling from her ruffled hair.
N snorted and shoved his fist in his mouth to keep from cackling.
Touko tackled him. “What’s so funny wise guy?!” N let out a whoosh as the breath was knocked from his lungs. As a last method of defense, he reached up and grabbed hold of Touko’s hair sprigs, and gave a firm pull.
“Ow ow ow ow ow! N not my hair!” Touko squeaked loudly.
“Then admit I’m the winner! Then I’ll let you go!” N demanded.
“OK OK! You win! Just stop pulling my hair!” Touko begged.
N relented and let go, a rather smug smile pasted on his face. Then, Touko leapt up and grabbed a fistful of hair on the top his head and yanked.
“OW!! Touko!” N yelped, reaching up to try and pry her fingers off. But Touko kept a stubborn grip.
“Haha, sike! Now take it back!” Touko shouted triumphantly.
“Ow! Never!” N grabbed her wrist in an attempt to loosen her hold  on his hair.
After several moments of tussling, the two toppled over and landed into the soft grass. They both let go at the same time, and turned to look at each other, their scalps tingling unpleasantly.
Touko snorted, then the two burst out in a fit of loud laughing.
“Wha…What was that, even?!” Touko wiped away a small tear, her stomach cramping from her giggle fit.
N turned onto his back and stared up at the sky.
“I don’t know, but let’s not do it again. I would like to keep my hair on my head, thank you,” he said.
Touko mimicked him and rolled onto her back, gazing up at the blue sky, watching the large fluffy clouds drift by.
“Hey, N?” she said at last.
“Mmm?”
“Remember when we were enemies?” Touko asked.
N was surprised. He hadn’t thought about that time a lot recently.
“Yeah…” he said hesitantly.
“Our little play-fight just…reminded me of that time. We fought almost every time we met.”
A short laugh escaped from her lips.
“I mean, in the end, we tried to kill each other! It was fight to the finish. According to the way these things work…we shouldn’t even be here. We shouldn’t have reconciled, we shouldn’t have become friends. And we most certainly shouldn’t be out on a date.”
N’s stomach dropped. What was Touko saying? Did she not want to be with him anymore?
Then she spoke again.
“But, we did all that. We proved that we can set aside our differences, and move on. What I’m trying to say is…” Touko turned and looked straight at N, her sapphire eyes shining clearly.
“I’m happy to have met you, N.” She reached over and took hold of his hand.
“I’m really enjoying myself. Thank you for taking me out.”
Touko…
N made sudden motion, as if he intended to stroke the side of her face, but thought the better of it.
He instead took hold of her hand again, and continued to stare up at the sky, which was steadily turning a faint orange.
I’m glad we met, too.

“N? Are you sure it’s safe?” Touko looked at N, who was crouching on a branch just above her head.
“Of course! C’mon,” he said.
“I dunno. The last time you climbed a tree, the branch snapped and you fell out, remember?”
“All the branches on this tree are thick and sturdy. They won’t break under our weight. Trust me!” N held out his hand for Touko to take.
Touko let out a short huff.
“OK, fine. But if I hear the branch creak even once, I’m getting out of this tree, got it? Not to say I love a little risk, but I don’t want this date to end with my back being broken." But she grabbed his hand and let him hoist her up anyway.
“Follow me. I want to show you something.” He started to climb up. Touko followed him, stumbling to find a foothold.
“How far up are we going?” she called up to him.
“All the way to the top!” N called back.
“To the top?!” Touko looked down. The forest floor was already far below.
“How far up does this tree go?!”
“Keep up!” N said, as he climbed higher.
“Oh Arecus…why did I ever agree to this. He’s trying to kill me all over again!” Touko muttered to herself.
As she and N climbed higher, Touko could see the sun dipping lower in the sky through the leaves, dying the forest and sky a gradient of warm colors.
“Right up here. C’mon,” N said, placing his foot on one last branch. Touko hoisted herself up through the hole in the leaves after him and gasped. She could see the entire Lostlorn Forest. It was much more vast than she had imagined. It stretched far beyond her line of sight, seemingly disappearing into the darkening sky. To her left, she could see the lights of Nimbasa City twinkling faintly.
“I had no idea the forest stretched so far…” she murmured.
She settled down next to N on the leafy treetop.
“So, what are we up here for?” she asked him after a long silence.
“That.” N pointed.
Countless Volbeat and Illumise were rising from the trees. The Illumise flew up high, and started to dance in complicated, harmonious patterns. The Volbeat followed suit, the lights on their tails lighting up to match the Illumises’ dance in perfect synchronization. Touko watched the lights flicker; the last rays of the dying sun illuminating the Bug Pokémon and making them glow softly.
She had never seen anything so beautiful. Touko leaned against N with a contented sigh.
“This is nice,” she murmured.
N smiled.
“I’m glad you like it,” he said.
He sat there for a while, thinking.
“…Touko?” he said at last.
Touko sat up and looked at him.
“Zoroark told me…and I read…that at the end of the first date, I’m supposed to ask you something,” N said slowly.
Touko cocked her head slightly, confusion clouding her eyes.
“I know we’ve been together for a while, but I want to make it official. So…”
N looked at Touko, their faces illuminated by the last rays of the day.
“Touko, will you…will you be my girlfriend?” N asked.
Touko smiled happily, and nodded her head.
“Yes,” she said. She leaned forward and gave N a quick peck on the cheek.
N’s eyes widened slightly, and though Touko couldn’t see it well, his cheeks flushed pink.
His eyes flickered down to her clothes.
“Your outfit is pretty,” he told her.
Touko leaned back abruptly.
“Eh-?! Isn’t that something you should be saying at the beginning?!” she said indignantly.  
“Oh, sorry.” N placed his hand on top of Touko’s.
“I was distracted by your pretty face.”
He gently placed his fingers on the side of Touko’s face, slowly sliding them down under her chin and tilting her head up.
Before Touko could say anything, he leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers.
Touko felt her heart and stomach give a tremendous leap. Warmth shot up her body and filled her chest. When they broke apart, N gazed at the stars reflected in Touko’s deep blue eyes.
He leaned forward again for another kiss, his mouth grazing along her check before locking with her lips again.
“I love you, Touko,” he whispered.
“I love you too,” she replied softly.
The two leaned against each other and continued to watch the Illumise and Volbeat dance slowly through the sky until the last glows of the sun dipped below the horizon.
A gentle breeze rustled the trees, and the stars shimmered brightly.
A single star shot through the sky, leaving a brief, glimmering trail behind it.