Don't Believe it. (Annie<3)

[N]

He wasn't like that... He wasn't like that at all! If those damned sadists wanted to believe it, then they could for all he cared. How on Earth could they spread lies about him around? Or had it been the media? Either way, N was absolutely infuriated. He had never tried to give himself a horrid reputation, yet somehow, when the public looked at him, all they saw was some kind of twisted monster. He wasn't a monster! He wasn't Giovanni... The green-haired boy buried his head in his hands and let himself remain hidden in the tall, shrub-like bushes near the laboratory building's side. People would believe what they wanted to believe in any way they wanted... And he wasn't going to be like them.

"Heh! That's what you get for being so damn weak! Of course, I can't hit a girl... So I'll be taking this. Later, Miss Juniper!" A gruff voice roared out from the laboratory building. N, whom had been hiding in the tall grass, peered upwards just in time to see a tall, bulky figure leaving the laboratory with a pokeball in his hand.

The sleuth narrowed his gray eyes and edged his way through the grass. The burly-looking man didn't look like a very ideal trainer in any way, shape or form... It made N's fists clench at the thought of some innocent Pokemon being forced to associate with him, assuming that's what he had stolen from the laboratory.

"I hate to blow my cover, but I'm not letting this moron run off with that Pokemon. It's better in Juniper's hands than his at this rate." He thought; his nails digging into the soil of the Earth. Without much hesitation at all, the green-haired boy brought himself out of the grass and edged his way over towards the man- whom was much taller and more intimidating than he in every way imaginable. Still, N's eyes held a sort of determination that could scare a flock of Starly or make a child cry with just a simple look in their direction.

The muscular male stopped in his tracks to look at the other boy. He simply rose an eyebrow and spat on the ground; waiting for N to make some kind of move. When he didn't. the stranger took a step forwards and motioned him aside. "Hey, beat it kid! I don't have time to play, if that's what you're getting at." The adult sneered. He seemed thoroughly annoyed with the boy's eyes, and when N didn't move it only made him angrier. "Kid, I said move out of the way! I wont take it easy on some brat!" The man said; taking another pace forwards until he was looming over the young man.

"Try me, you disgusting excuse for a human being. You're lucky I don't tear the depths of your mind to pieces. Disgusting lugs like you make me sick." N told him with a straight expression. The man obviously wasn't going to deal with N's smack talk. He let out an angry growl and lunged forwards; punching the green-haired man in his chest. N quickly clutched his stomach and staggered backwards. However, through stern will and determination he gradually pulled himself together and advanced towards the man.

"Give me what you have stolen. You don't know me? I'm surprised. I'm N Harmonia, the one who nearly overthrew the whole of Unova. If you don't get out of my sight, I'll call Reshiram to tear you apart." He spoke, his voice dark and expression cold. Of course, he would never do something like that... But the adult seemed to think otherwise. After looking at N for a while, the stupid expression on his face eventually showed that he was starting to recognize the boy.

"Y-you were on the news..." He stuttered; holding the pokeball out and letting it fall from his hands. "T-the one with the castle... And that one huge dragon' Pokemon... That was you? T-that was y-you?" He murmured; tilting his head sideways at the boy. After looking at N's cold gaze for another few seconds, the adult left the Pokeball in front of the boy and took of running; clutching his head as if his mind would blow a fuse.

N simply rolled his eyes. "That actually worked? I figured I was going to have to use Lazarus to assist me in convincing him otherwise... What an idiot. He thought. The green-haired boy clutched his stomach and fell to the ground; bringing the stolen pokeball into one hand afterwards. That had taken a lot out of him... N seriously wasn't built for fighting or Pokemon battling, and it didn't take an expert to realize it. "I'll give it back to her... But how?" N thought; half-wondering how he should give it to Juniper. She absolutely detested him, after all... Although, he obviously didn't look very intimidating in his current position.

[/size][/color]

[AUREA]

I lost her... I can't believe I lost my precious Colia...

Professor Juniper sat on her knees, crying silently into her hands over the loss of her Minncino. Sometimes the thoughts of him only stealing her pokemon crossed her mind, but she knew she was everything to her. He could have stolen a Pokedex for all she cared, just as long as everyone was safe. Aurea screamed out in anger as she looked upon the floor to find everything was blurry. Wiping away the tears, she thought it was just her sadness, but then she realized her glasses had fallen off, the ones she used while everyone had their backs turned. She felt around for her contact lenses, but everything she owned was black and white, so everything blended.

She stumbled around for a while, then finally made a break for the door, tripping over her own feet, and falling to the soft grassy floor. Juniper felt like curling into the fetal position and falling asleep until morning...

But what if people were watching her?

[N]

When the pain was finally starting to grow less intense, N felt something blunt ram itself into his right shoulder blade. The blow sent N tumbling forwards in slight bewilderment. Before he could comprehend what was happening, a hand grabbed him by the neck and pulled him upwards. N grimaced at it's touch, but as soon as he opened his eyes he had the overwhelming urge to fight back. Standing in front of him was the man from before, and his apparent friend. Neither of them looked very friendly.

"Is this the brat?" A heavy voice sneered. "Oh, it is! Green hair n' everything! He oughta' drag in lotsa money if we turn him in! How much you think the officers will reward us?" He bellowed. Like his friend, this man was very large, but not so muscular... It almost made N want to laugh, because he figured even he could take this guy on. However, all N could do was continue to be angry as the man lunged his fist forward and hit him in the jaw.

It went on like that for a while. The two men continued to kick him back and forth; putting bruises all over his body. Still, N didn't say a single thing. After twenty minutes or so of putting up with it, he put a hand over a pokeball on his belt and a tall shape gradually took form around the area. N's Zoroark let out an angry hiss before pouncing towards the two men with it's claws glowing.

It didn't take very long until Lazarus had put identical bruises all over the men's bodies. N had acquired Lazarus as a small, baby Pokemon that had been abused by it's trainers. This wasn't much different, N figured... And he had hurt all over. He still did. The last thing he wanted to do was get his Pokemon hurt, but he was confident that Lazarus would know how to handle the two. It was his Pokemon that chose to handle it with violence.

"Lazarus, let's go." N murmured; wiping blood from his lips and limping over towards the laboratory with the Pokeball in his hands. He wasn't sure what was in the pokeball, and to be frank, he didn't care. He had just gone through all of that trouble to save Pokemon, and if he got shunned for it then he had a right to be pretty upset. He had just left the men on the ground to bleed, but the town wasn't all that big. People were bound to find them and help them eventually... Or arrest them. Either or.

When the green-haired man finally reached the laboratory, he was rather confused at the sight before him. Juniper sat on the ground, and by the looks of it she was certainly less than happy. N said nothing. Instead, he knelt down on the ground and held up the pokeball. The gash on his cheek had started to bleed again, and there were obvious bruises on his face and body.

"This Pokeball is yours, right?" N inquired; not caring if he was caught or not at this point. Juniper could hate him all she wanted, N decided. It wasn't really his job to save her Pokemon, but hell he had gone and done it anyway...

"Zoro-Zoroark!" N's Pokemon murmured in a frantic tone; motioning over towards a large gash on the boy's right arm that had been dribbling blood for quite a while without him actually realizing it.

Still, N put one gentle hand on the Pokemon's mane to quiet it and continued to hold out the orb for the Professor to take.

[/size][/color]

[AUREA]

The next thing she knew, a headache was cascading into the back of her head, it was very intense, making her vision mush worse than it already was for the professor. She held the back of her head, trying to release the pain. It barely worked, but it was good enough for her, anything to lessen the pain would help the circumstances Aurea was going through right now.

When she heard the stranger’s voice, she jumped and let out a yip of shock. Looking up at the blurry figure, she couldn’t figure out who it was, but when she noticed the long green hair, it instantly gave the answer to who it was. She couldn’t believe she was staring at the leader of the old Team Plasma. And he was holding her Colia! She could tell to by the floral pattern on the pokeball.

”Thanks, but wouldn’t a guy like you want to take it away from me? Just like your army of grunts?

[N]

N stared down at professor Juniper with a rather expressionless face. So, she thought of him as that kind of person? N had only really talked to the professor once, and neither of them had made a good impression on one another. The green-haired boy set the pokeball down in front of the woman and eyed her intelligently.

"I wouldn't." He retorted, his tone calm without any hint of betrayal or negative emotions. "My intention was never to hurt Pokemon. That was my father's. To me, Pokemon are to be treated kindly, and not to be kept locked up. I'm sorry if my first impression on your end was bad, but the worst possible thing to happen to any living being is to be locked up in one area for a very long period of time." He told her, a slight sorrow sounding in his voice as he spoke.

"You don't look well." He told her. "Would you like some help?" And with that offer, the once leader of Team Plasma extended an arm down towards the professor without a hint of malice in his eyes.

[/size][/color]

[AUREA]

She stared at his figure, nothing was fidgeting even the slightest and his voice wasn't wavering, in fact is was almost perfect. He passed her own lie detector test, and all the emotions that flowed through him just now shown brightly in his tone.

I believe you, N, she confessed, then stared at his arm for a while. She knew that taking it was a sign of weakness, but also friendship. The professor didn't want to seem like she was much better than him though, so she took the hand then smiled at him with a bit of confidence, but the fact that she was practically blind made her a bit awkward and shifty.

To tell you the truth, I can't really see right now... So if we could find my contacts' box, it might be just a wee bit easier for me.

[N]

N felt a wave of relief wash over him as Juniper accepted his apology. With one came others, he figured. Of course, the last thing he wanted was Ultimatum to figure out what he was doing... He'd never hear the end of it from his father. "He's already mad that I let Reshiram go..." N thought; clutching his chest as if he himself were in pain in more than just a physical way. Reshiram... He really did miss the Pokemon, but if N had kept the legend the way it was, team Ultimatum could have used her and done terrible things.

And only then had it dawned on him that the professor couldn't see anything, thus explaining why she hadn't said anything to his multiple wounds. The green-haired boy glanced around and finally saw the professor's lens case. He pulled it into his hands; contemplating on handing it to her or not... If she saw his wounds, what would she say? Holding his breath; N handed the case to her and waited anxiously for her to put them on, half-regretting whatever reaction she may give him.

"She'll probably think I'm some kind of thug..." N thought with a light sigh as he ran a hand through his hair. That was the last think he wanted to come off as... Ultimatum was already taking a blow to his growing reputation, after all.

"Zoro!" Lazarus hissed sternly. N looked down to what the wolf-like Pokemon was motioning towards only to see a small pool of his own blood dripping down his knee and soaking his clothing. Great, just great...

"Don't worry about it, Lazarus." N told him; speaking in a light-hearted manner as if it would brighten the mood.

[/size][/color]

[AUREA]

[/b]

Just as Professor Juniper opened the case, the Zoroark barked at N. The low growl sent shivers down the professor’s spine, making her flinch and drop her contacts into the pool of blood on the floor. Her eyes widened as she scaled up to the ex-villain’s face, focusing as well as she could.

“Are you okay? That’s a lot of blood…” She wasn't one to work with blood, especially a lot of it, only scrapes or bruises could she deal with. She gagged a little at the sight, and the act that her contacts were swimming in the pool, so she staggered a bit, though trying to keep her composure so there wouldn't be more of a mess made than needed. [/size][/ul]

[N]

N winced as the professor's contact fell from her hand and into the small puddle of his own blood. He honestly doubted she'd ever use that again, so all N could do was answer her curtly and ask another question. "I'ts fine, I just have a few scratches. It isn't anything to worry about." N lied; placing a hand over a large bruise along his shoulder. "Do you have glasses, professor? Or a new pair of contacts?" He inquired. What on Earth was he doing? N hadn't planned to stay, all he had wanted to do was give the professor her Pokemon back... Of course, he wouldn't have had a heart if he just got up and left the professor in this kind of position.

"Zoroark... Zoro, Zoro." Lazarus barked; tugging on N's sleeve. The green-haired boy turned in his Zoroark's general direction see the thug from before with a tall woman that looked very much like a cop of some sort. The last thing he needed to do was get arrested...

"Let's look inside." N spoke quickly. Without giving Juniper any time to answer him, he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into her own laboratory in hopes of escaping the cop. When he, Juniper, and his Zoroark were inside he put pressure against his wounds in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

"So... yeah, about those glasses?" He continued; breathing a sigh of relief as he heard a set of foot steps pass by the lab's entrance.

[/size][/color]