Thunder And Flames (N x Reader)

You and Unfezant land in a back alleyway of the dreary city to avoid as much attention as possible. You navigate the wide streets, getting a little damp from the light rain. There are flickering streetlights, and tall apartments that lean against each other in a crooked way, giving the streets more personality than they already had.

The Virbank City Gym is apparently a music club of sorts, so you follow the sound of heavy guitars and noisy drums until you get there.

It's a small building, crammed between two different apartment buildings, bearing the Gym logo in a neon sign. Posters of Roxie, Piers from Galar, and other bands are plastered all over the door and outside walls.

So you decide to wait outside the Gym for trainers coming out. It doesn't even matter if the trainers had won or lost, because their Pokémon would be tired either way. Perfect for snatching.

Even from outside you can practically hear the music clearly, so it must be impossibly loud inside.

The song is catchy though, so you end up nodding your head to the rhythm as Roxie sings her song with her band members.

"D-O-G-A-R-S! Dogars!"

The song becomes slightly louder as the Gym door opens and someone comes out.

You quickly turn around to jump them or something, but the two of you run into each other.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I should have been looking where I was going!"

It's a young man with green hair tied behind him. He's actually kind of attractive, with soft features and a concerned yet kind looking smile.

"Are you al...right?" His eyes fall to the Team Plasma emblem on your uniform, and all kindness leaves his expression. "Team Plasma."

You step back at the sudden change in attitude.

"What are you doing here? Why have you chosen this path?" He fires question after question, speaking so fast it's hard to understand.

You give him a little push to get him to stop. "Hold on, who do you think you are? You'd better not get in my way, or I'll let the higher-ups know about you!"

He stares at you, silent, then starts laughing. "Ha, ha! Listen dear, I don't have to worry about that kind of thing anymore. Go on, report me if you want, I don't care. I don't have to care." He sighs with a content smile. "It's wonderful, really."

Now it's your turn to stand there and struggle for a response, which only adds to the stranger's amusement.

"Haha, now this is interesting. What happened to all that moxie you had earlier?" He bends over slightly and talks to you as if you're a child. "Aren't you a big bad Team Plasma grunt?"

This guy is totally annoying! We need to put him in his place!

"You must think you're all that, don't you? Let's settle this with a battle!" You're about to throw Liepard's Pokéball, but the stranger catches your hand.

Time seems to freeze when the two of you make eye contact, your hands touching as you both grip the same Pokéball.

"I'm not a trainer. I actually quite dislike Pokémon battles." He lets go of the Pokéball, and your hand, and takes a step back.

"Then why were you in a Gym?" you can't help but retort.

He offers a smile. "I was told that everyone must see the Gym Leader Roxie perform at least once. She's very talented, though I'm not into that particular type of music." He adjusts his baseball cap, and the several bracelets on his wrist jingle. "I like to experience different things. You of Team Plasma, I cannot get behind your motives, not anymore, but I think I understand why you've chosen this path." With that, he just leaves.

So he runs into you, practically interrogates you, teases you, and gives you a little lesson in philosophy? What a weirdo!

With another messed up mission under your belt, you decide to head back to HQ.

When you get back, Colress is very quick to notice your sour mood.

Please don't say anything please don't say anything please don't say anything.

"Y/N? Did everything go alright?"

He said something.

Hm...you could tell him about the pretty- I mean, mysterious stranger you saw earlier. What do you think?

a) Let's report his ass! He got in our way!

b) Nah, let's just forget about it.

a) Colress looks surprised as you tell the story of how this random guy came up to you and said what he did.

"A stranger, hm?" His glasses glint."How interesting. Why don't we discuss this further in my office?"

b) "It was fine," you lie. "Just lost a battle on the way back."

Colress crosses his arms, not entirely believing it. He puts a hand on your shoulder. "Losses can be hard. Here, let's have some tea in my office. I need to ask you a couple things."

You're now sitting in Colress' office, with a hot cup of tea in front of you.

"Roselia leaves, imported from the Sinnoh Region," he says, but you aren't really paying attention.

This isn't your first time in his office, but it's different every time. The walls are plain white, as are the floors, with sticky notes and papers stuck and taped everywhere. The room is lit up with fluorescent lights, which is most likely why Colress goes out on so many walks. He's got a couple potted plants in the corner, and a messy pile of takeout containers spilling from a small garbage can.

Colress' desk is fairly neat, with a large computer and pile of notebooks, and no less than thirteen thousand pencils.

He sits down in his rolling chair, then wheels it over to where you're sitting- on a much more comfortable chair with a small table beside it.

"So...tell me exactly what happened."

Why's he even so interested? You and other grunts have had rough runs before, and he didn't even bat an eye.

Shrugging, you give him precise details. "Just some guy, about yay tall, came out of the Gym and totally got in my way! He asked some pretty weird questions too."

Colress pulls out a notebook and begins to ask questions of his own. "Green hair?"

"Yeah."

"Blue eyes?"

"Yeah."

"Quick speaker?"

"Y-yeah."

"Claims to dislike Pokémon battles?"

"...Yeah!"

Colress slams the notebook closed and gets up, startling you. He types something on his computer. "Could it really be..? Y/N, come here for a moment, will you?"

You go over to him and there's a picture of a small child on his computer.

He looks exactly like a kid version of the guy you saw earlier, and is playing with two plushies resembling the Legendary Pokémon of Unova.

Somewhat hidden behind him is a small Pokémon, a Zorua.

"Is this what the person looked like?" Colress asks, seeming like he doesn't want you looking at the picture for too long.

"Yes, that's him," you tell him. Something about him seems familiar, now that you can look at him closer, but you can't quite put your finger on it.

Colress straightens, and lets out a sigh. "So I've finally found you."

A/N: hello everyone! How's the story so far? I'd like to clarify something I mentioned earlier in this part for anyone who was confused. In the japanese versions of black and white 2, Roxie says "Dogars" instead of "Pokémon," and Dogars is the japanese name for Koffing. I thought that was cool so I chose to implement it.