Chapter Text
Everything started with Diamond. Diamond, who had been plagued by an endless wanderlust after winning the position of Sinnoh Champion, Diamond, who later on got tired of exploring and wanted to settle, before deciding he was too young to actually do it. He was fourteen then, fourteen - not legal, but apparently way too old, old enough to have finished his first Pokemon adventure, old enough to have conquered the league, and then relinquished the position (but not the title, once you’re a Champion, you’ll always be known as one until the day you died, or when your name faded from history). Old enough to have stopped a villainous team from taking over his home region, old enough to confront a legendary Pokemon all on his own -
Problem was, he was just so tired.
When he’d voiced that out, his best friends had given him conflicting replies.
“Oh, Lucas.” Pearl had sounded genuinely sincere in her sympathy over the phone, but he could tell she didn’t know what to say. How could she, when she was entirely content with Sinnoh, with her then-still-blooming relationship with Ryou?
Platinum’s reply had been a little harsher, but that was to be expected from her. She hadn’t said anything at first, except for look at him incredulously, before pressing her lips together and giving him a frown.
“You’re only fourteen.”
And that was the problem, wasn’t it? He shouldn’t be getting tired at this age, and after spending days moping about in Steven’s - actually, it belonged to him now, although he never felt like it - villa, roaming around the too-wide hallways and the numerous empty rooms, he’d called out Staravia - Rapidash and Empoleon were especially annoyed by his moping, and seems like if he didn’t step out and do something soon, his Pokemons might just do something drastic, like kick him out of his own property - and decided to go out for a ride.
He pondered about a lot of things while in the sky - how Dialga was doing, if Cynthia was all right with taking over the league again, and where he was headed from now on - and was glad that Staravia stayed silent throughout.
What he didn’t expect, however, was for his Pokemon to bring him all the way to Unova.
There, in Striaton City, housed a small, cosy and modest café.
That was where Lucas, trainer name Diamond, got his long-desired break in his seemingly never-ending ennui.
The city of Lumiose was a beautiful place. It never sleeps in the night - for the Prism Tower was always shining brightly, golden rays illuminating the rustic stone pavements - and was always busy in the day. It reminded N a lot of Castelia back in Unova, in an entirely different way.
Castelia was all tall buildings and busy streets, Lumiose was more laid-back, and less oppressing with its small alleys and shophouses.
“Emolga!” N barely had the time to react before he felt a small pair of paws coming to rest on his hat, and a person crashing into his back.
Good thing he knew Touya and his Pokemon well enough to have expected this, he smiled in amusement as he braced himself to catch his companion’s weight. Touya groaned.
“Good save.” He chuckled, reaching up to scratch at the electric-type Pokemon’s head, before realizing that he was happily munching on a Galette - Touya shot his Pokemon an exasperated look, before reaching into the paperbag in his arms and handing a pastry over to N.
“Here’s your share. Don’t feed him anymore, he’s already had two.” The brunet sighed. There was just no way to wean Emolga off his food-stealing habits, it seemed.
“Why, I would never.” N replied, smiling, reaching towards his Pokeballs and releasing his team. It wasn’t too convenient letting them out in the City, but N still insisted that they walked along with them when they were out of major settlement areas. Zekrom and Reshiram were, of course, exceptions, but they were perfectly content with staying in Pokeballs when need be, despite protests from both N and Touya - they would let the dragons go for a period of time, when they feel like the Legendaries needed to roam about and stretch for a little, but for most part, the duo was comfortable with them.
Zoroark was the first to be released, and shot him a chirpy grin before accepting his offered treat happily.
“Where should we go next?” Touya asked - more like mumbled - with a galette in his mouth, head tilting to the side as he examined their copy of the map of Lumiose, his team surrounding him - except Emolga, who has yet to leave his perch on N’s hat - each holding on and enjoying their special Lumiose treat.
N hummed in thought.
“We should save the Prism Tower for the evening, I heard the view of the sunset is brilliant, comparable with the one we saw in Nimbasa,” He smiled at Touya’s slightly flushed face at the mention of the Ferris Wheel, “Maybe we could go to -“
“Excuse me, coming through!”
He never got to finish his sentence, as a boy on a bicycle - about Touya’s age - passed by a bit too close to them, and landed face first into the lamp post they were standing beside.
N blinked, Touya gasped.
“Hibiki-kun?!”
The boy - Hibiki, it seemed - hissed, slowly bringing himself up from his position on the floor, rubbing at his forehead. He had black hair, peeking through his snap-back cap (that was worn the other way, with the shade facing the back, N never understood people who did that), and was wearing a black jacket, a silver-coloured clover printed on the left chest area, with a pair of dark-washed jeans and sneakers.
He looked up at Touya’s exclamation.
“…. Black? Touya? Hey!” Golden eyes closed in a grin, and he hopped towards them, “What are you doing here in Kalos?”
The brunet looked confused, “I could say the same for you, Hibiki-kun… Don’t you live in Johto...?”
“Not anymore, I’m working here now!”
“Huh?"
“Mm! With Silver and Leaf and two others. Oh! And Green sometimes come by too!” He was bouncing on the heel of his feet now, and N had to wonder if the kid was all right. Perhaps the impact to his head was a little too much..? He started when the other directed his gaze towards him.
“Who’s your companion?”
“Ah! Um, this is N… N, this is Hibiki… or Gold, depending on who you know him as…” Touya trailed off towards the end, glancing at him sheepishly. “I met him when I was, you know, still searching for you.”
That makes sense, considering the other wasn’t from Unova.
“Oh! So you’re the N I’ve heard so much about.” Gold grinned at him, giving him a good look from head to toe, “Touya searched high and low for you, you know.” He commented slyly. The brunet flushed and waved his hands about.
“Hibiki-kun!”
The golden-eyed teenager threw his head back and laughed. Before turning his attention back to Touya again.
“Since you guys are in town, might as well drop by our place! I’m sure the others are excited to see you too!” He looked at N and smirked, “And maybe you can introduce your boyfriend to them.” The green-haired man felt his face heat up, and he reached up intuitively to bring his cap down - Emolga, who had been watching the whole scene curiously up until now, protested at his perch being disturbed - eliciting a laugh from the hyperactive younger male.
Touya, sporting a flush himself, sighed in resignation.
“Lead the way, Hibiki-kun.” A grin, bright and quick, and the boy was turning around again, groaning as he saw the state of his bicycle, bringing it up from the ground and mumbling something about “Diamond’s gonna kill me…” before walking towards one of the multiple alleys of Lumiose City. Touya and N recalled their Pokemons back into their respective Pokeballs, and followed the other.
“Is he always this hyper?” N whispered to Touya, who looked back at him and smiled, nodding.
“He’s not a bad person. Just, very enthusiastic.” The kind that both he and N weren’t used to - Gold’s bright personality had honestly threw him off, when he had first landed in Johto - but he got along with the other nicely enough for them to be friends.
But he hadn’t found N in Johto, so he had to move on. Meeting the other here was a pleasant surprise, and it seemed like some of the others were around as well.
“When I first met him, he was the Kanto-Johto Champion.” He added tentatively, not sure how N would take the news. While the other had gotten a lot better at accepting trainers, he still had his distain at times.
However, N merely looked thoughtful, and Gold chose that moment to stop grumbling and bemoaning his fate of doom at the hands of Lucas - Touya bet it was going to be interesting, he didn’t know the two knew each other - turning towards them with his trademark smile.
“Is this your first time in Lumiose?” The Unova Champion smiled back at him, expression not as bright, but conveying the same amount of emotion just the same.
“Yeah, in Kalos, actually. We’re travelling about and looking at new things.” Gold nodded, closing his eyes and humming.
“That sounds fun, actually. I would’ve done it if Silver wasn’t such a prick,” the brunet raised an eyebrow at the mention of the redhead, “But life with Diamond and the others isn’t so bad, actually. Feels like we’re a proper team.”
“The others? You’re all working here?” Touya couldn't hold in his curiosity, just what kind of job would bring four Pokemon League Champions together, outside their home regions? Gold shot him a smirk as he slowed down, apparently nearing their destination.
The black haired boy stopped, and Touya blinked.
In front of the three of them, a sign that read “Café Clover” was displayed proudly.
No way.
Lucas had approached Leaf first - the girl was nice enough (although Green would probably say otherwise) and seemed like the type who would agree to things like this.
And she did not disappoint, even managed to rope Green into the whole thing - although Lucas could not possibly make him leave his Gym (and Red).
She also contacted Gold, and with Gold came Silver, his boyfriend.
Lucas had only met Hibiki a few times at Champion conferences by the Association, but he’d liked the boy enough, so he didn’t object.
His boyfriend, however, could use some work in the emotions and not-being-grumpy-twenty-four-seven department, but he was efficient and good enough. Apparently, he wasn’t happy that Gold had agreed on his behalf, but Lucas could see that the other Champion had him whipped because the redhead had caved in the moment Gold turned his puppy-dog pout onto him.
Pearl and Platinum were next - and both of them were upset that he hadn’t come to them the first thing - and they’d agreed to help, too.
Then, he got around to solving Green’s Red problem. And it was a dire problem indeed, what with the older boy remaining as a hermit up Mt. Shirogane for so long.
It was time for him to come back down and start socializing, Leaf had insisted, as she pushed for Green and Lucas to “go and find him and kick his ass down so hard”.
(If it were that easy, the other wouldn't be a legend, now would he?)
Perhaps that was the reason why she had accepted his proposal that easily.
Lucas still got a headache everytime he thought about that certain encounter with Red. His first loss to the other had been enough - everyone who’s half a decent trainer knew about the kid (at least back then he was a kid, despite being older than Lucas) who had defeated Team Rocket and saved PokeJapan - and Leaf wanted him to do it again?
Sure, battling the other was fun, but Lucas really hadn’t been in the mood to actually get his ego kicked to the curb again.
Luckily, however, he didn’t have to do it alone. Red had, surprisingly, agreed to a two-on-one, and no matter how good he was, Green and Lucas had been better.
That Pikachu packed a mean punch as usual, however.
He would sometimes wonder what made the older boy agree to an unfair battle - even with his pride (Lucas doubted it was for that reason, however), he would’ve recognized that Green and he would’ve overpowered him.
However, Red seemed a lot happier since then, so Lucas had a theory - one that he had to confirm with Red eventually.
But not now.
He narrowed his eyes at the counter-top that refused to shine no matter how he scrubbed at it - damn it! - perhaps he could get Empoleon to…
“I’m back! And look who I found!” Mentally groaning - because everytime Gold made an announcement, it usually meant that there was trouble, and it always gave Lucas a headache - he turned towards the entrance of the café, where their tiny little bell, located at the door, was still ringing from the force of Hibiki pushing the door open, and he felt his mouth fall open in surprise.
The others followed his example.
Touya - Black, as Lucas last knew him as - was standing at the doorstep of the café, an unknown man behind him (he was willing to bet, however, that it was the rumoured N Touya had been searching for), looking around in surprise and an embarrassed flush on his face.
“Um… hi?”