HARMONIA

Once Upon A Time...

Many years ago, in a forest in Unova, there lived two Zorua. The two brothers had lost their mother at a young age, and never knew their father, so they took care of each other. This meant not only helping each other find food and shelter and fending off attackers, but also helping each other spar to grow strong, helping each other practice illusions to be cunning, and helping each other stay out of the clutches of the greedy humans who would sometimes frequent the forest. They had seen too many of their friends captured in the little round spheres humans carried, taken away and never seen again. They would not let the same fate befall them. One of the brothers was a little more curious about humans than the other, sometimes collecting trinkets they lost in the woods. But even he knew better than to get too close.[break][break]

In time, they befriended other Pokemon in the forest, especially a Darmanitan and a pair of Woobat. As their little family, grew, so too did their means to provide for themselves. But a lean winter was soon to come. While Darmanitan could keep them warm, he could not provide enough food for everyone.[break][break]

On a cold but dry day when the Zorua were only about a year and a half old, still juveniles, the Zorua who had been more curious about humans was watching a group of them from the trees, lamenting how they seemed to carry so much more food than they needed. Yet he knew better than to get too close to try to steal any, especially on his own. Huffing, he returned to his den, admiring his stolen treasures in an effort to keep his mind off his hunger. His favorite treasure was a golden box on a chain. It appeared to be some kind of puzzle, but he could never figure out how it worked. He did love the way it glittered and shone, however. Sighing, he slipped his neck into the chain, letting the box fall to his chest like a pendant.[break][break]

In that moment, an epiphany struck. Humans captured Pokemon, but they helped other humans. If he could wear human accessories, maybe he could wear an entire human guise. He returned to the edge of the human camp, still wearing his treasure. He looked for the human that seemed most prominent, a large man with green hair. Then he conjured an Illusion to make himself appear like a human child with hair just like his. Perhaps, he thought, looking alike would inspire more sympathy. Gathering his courage, he stepped forward.[break][break]

The man did take an immediate interest in him! Who was this lost child? The Zorua boy could not speak, his illusions not yet that powerful, but plead with his gestures and his eyes, pointing toward the food laid out before the man's group. The man offered him a place at the table, but when N tried to take some food and run, he insisted the boy stay. Not wanting to rouse suspicion, he agreed, for now. In the meantime, his brother had gotten wind of his actions, and gathered the rest of their family to come keep an eye on the Zorua masquerading as a human boy.[break][break]

The boy ate his fill, then bowed graciously to his hosts as he'd seen other humans do to each other. He could really pull this off, huh? But to his dismay, the man still didn't want to let him leave! He only understood some of the human words, but got the gist of it: a child his age should not be wandering alone. Arceus forgive his hubris, why had he not made his disguise look older? He had thought humans seemed most sympathetic to their young, but now it was backfiring. What should he do? Drop his Illusion to run at full speed? But if they knew he was a Pokemon, they could try to capture him![break][break]

As he tried to fight his way away from the group, his family rushed foward to protect him. The Zorua boy was overwhelmed with such relief to see them, he ran forth to hug Darmanitan and his brother for comfort, momentarily forgetting the danger they'd just put themselves in only to have that fear come rushing all at once.[break][break]

But the man approached. "Boy, do these Pokemon belong to you?" The thought was disgusting, of course not! He shook his head. "...Are they your friends?" Friends... Yes, that was what humans who were close called each other. He nodded this time. "I see... Perhaps you and your friends should come along with us. You must still be hungry, and I'm sure they are, too." This was true... But then the man pulled out a Pokeball.[break][break]

The boy panicked. With all his will he forced a single word into existence: "NO!" He pushed the man back, then stretched out his arms, putting himself between the man and his family as a guardian. The man was taken aback, and for a moment seemed angry, but then he calmed. He promised they wouldn't capture his friends if they would just come along, and promised enough food for everyone if they did. The whole group thought it over, talking amongst themselves in words no true human could hear. They could always try to run away later. They may starve if nothing changed. Could living with a human really be worse, especially if he wasn't going to confine them to the spheres? They agreed, and they all followed the man and his small party when they left the forest. It was the first time the Zorua brothers had ever been outside of it.[break][break]

Ghetsis, the man introduced himself, said that the boy would need a name as well. "Natural", he quickly decided, for the way he had been living among nature, but the boy turned up his nose. "Oh? Then what about N for short?" That was... better. Simple. He could answer to N.[break][break]

N and his Pokemon family followed the man all the way back to his home, which was far more extravagant than anything they could have imagined. Every day, they would discuss whether or not to start making escape plans, but with each passing day they saw less and less reason to. Their life was easier here than in the forest, at least, with the exception of N's. His life had become something of a mixed bag. Keeping up his illusion so long was straining, but he managed by dropping it any time they were left alone and through sheer strength of will. He feared if Ghetsis learned he was a Pokemon, he would feel N had lied to him (to be fair, he did), and would turn on him and his family. So he kept it up.[break][break]

But this meant he was treated as human. Two young girls, Concordia and Anthea, were brought in to be his playmates and to help care for and teach him. For starters, they were especially intent on getting him to talk, but they also taught him numbers and letters and other things human children learned. It was difficult to learn, and stressful, but also fun and exciting. He had always been curious about human culture, and it contained so many more things than he ever imagined. Learning numbers was hard at first, but once he grasped the concept, math made so much sense to him. He loved living in this world![break][break]

Those idyllic days would not last, however, as Ghetsis developed other ideas. Once N started learning to talk, he would casually convey his Pokemon friends' words as well. Once Ghetsis was convinced he could truly hear the voices of Pokemon, he was unnerved, but it gave him ideas. He began to teach N new things in addition to his regular schooling. Things about how the world worked. How Ghetsis was so proud of him for rejecting Pokeballs, because cruel and selfish people often used them to control, manipulate, and abuse Pokemon. As if his own horror stories weren't enough, he began bringing N new Pokemon to play with, Pokemon who were rescued from abusive trainers who could tell their own horror stories.[break][break]

Ghetsis was kind and good. Concordia and Anthea were young and pure. Those Ghetsis kept in close company could be trusted. But the outside world? N wasn't allowed to see it, and he didn't really want to from what he'd heard. He was told how it was cruel and wicked, full of horrors he never wanted anyone to endure.[break][break]

Over time, these ideals would evolve and Team Plasma would form. And every day, N was told when he was old enough, he would become their king. N had evolved over the years, too, albeit in secret, and he was ready for this responsibility. What started as a ploy for food and briefly turned into a life chasing curiosity had evolved into something more. N had learned that even the most well-intentioned humans could not hear Pokemon, and as such they could not advocate for themselves. But N could speak with Pokemon, and N could speak with humans, and humans listened to other humans. This put N in the unique position to advocate for them. It was something only he could do, and he was fully resolved to make the most of it.[break][break]

In all these years, N was unsure if Ghetsis ever figured out what he was, though he always worried the claw marks N left in his bedroom must have grown suspicious after a while...[break][break]

When Ghetsis saw N as an adult-- though in truth he was a few years younger than his disguise looked-- he finally had him crowned king. Only after this would Team Plasma start traveling the land, and N started traveling for the first time with them. At first, things went well. Ghetsis knew how to choose his words, and slowly but surely trainers began releasing their Pokemon! When trainers seemed on the fence after one of Ghetsis' speeches, N would talk to them one on one. But this was where things began to fall apart.[break][break]

Soon enough, N would discover... Pokemon who loved their trainers. Who saw them as family. Who didn't want to leave. He tried to liberate a trio of starters from a lab, and while one stayed as his friend and one disappeared, one willingly went back to the lab. What was this? Stockholm Syndrome, or something deeper? It seemed an unsolvable riddle. Was the world not what he'd been led to believe? But all his Pokemon friends who had personally been victims, their stories and experiences were real no matter what these other Pokemon felt. So how could one create a world where humans and Pokemon were truly equal, where no one would be a victim again? What was the missing formula?[break][break]

A boy named Black would be especially problematic. Why did his Pokemon want to fight alongside him so badly? And then there was a girl named White. Her Pokemon sincerely wanted to be movie stars... but they also had been denied the opportunity to express their battle instincts and become stronger. Her Tepig told N how she felt watching Black's Tepig evolve, and N and his Servine friend encouraged her to battle for the first time. In doing so, she chose to stay with N over White. The Servine was sent to watch after White, though. In a way, it was sort of an unwilling trade.[break][break]

In time, N would learn a lot from Black and White and the Pokemon who called them friends, though he wouldn't always have the best immediate reactions. He did not like the way they challenged his ideals, and he was destined, after all, to become the Hero of Ideals.[break][break]

At first, Zekrom rejected him for this role, but in time, he earned its trust and friendship, and truly became the Hero. To his surprise, though perhaps not too much of a surprise, Black would become the Hero of Truth, albeit in a slower fashion. After many ups and downs, he would finally be able to fight Black properly, Zekrom against Reshiram, but if Truth be told, by this time N's Ideals were already starting to waver. Prior to the battle, he released all the Pokemon who had been by his side through these ordeals, including asking his own brother who had helped him so often on his journey to seek his own path from now on. He also told each of them, whatever path they chose, they had to choose for themselves... and if that involved finding a human they wanted to stay with, that was okay, too. N no longer fully believed in a world where people and Pokemon were kept completely separate, even if he still felt compelled to see his battle through. Perhaps that doubt was why Black and Reshiram managed to defeat them.[break][break]

During the end of the battle, a second Zekrom appeared for a moment, but was soon revealed to be N's brother come back for him. Black defeated both Zorua and Zekrom shortly afterward, but to N's shame, it was Black who had to explain to him how Zorua felt. He had told them that if they wanted to be with a human it was okay, but he never expected to be the "human" Zorua would insist upon. N... took a while to just... hold his brother close for the first time in a long time, to a point he completely passed out for a while. As if he needed to be more embarrassed or ashamed on this day, he woke to find he'd missed the battle between Black and Ghetsis, who he'd come to realize had been lying to him for a long time. What he wouldn't have given to see the Hero of Truth defeat such a liar...[break][break]

For a few precious minutes after he awoke, he was able to talk like equals with Black and White, but... even as he tried to bring himself to admit how deeply he'd come to care for and admire them, Black especially, he realized... he couldn't quite do it. He no longer knew who he was or what he believed in. He didn't even know... what he was anymore. A Pokemon? A human? And he didn't feel he deserved to have real friends until he could figure it out. He left them and his brother once again. Only Zekrom remained at his side, and N allowed this for only two reasons. The first was simple convenience in being able to travel, but the more pressing reason was... he wanted to know why. Why, when his ideals had fallen so short, become so muddled, was Zekrom still acknowledging him as the Hero? To find out, he would need to listen much more to Zekrom's voice.[break][break]

But two years came and went, and as they traveled, N learned and saw much, yet the more he knew, the more he realized he still didn't know. The quest for knowledge, for wisdom, for Truth were endless pursuits.[break][break]

Finally, it would be Zekrom sensing Kyurem's power that drew him back to Unova. And here is where N's memory starts to get fuzzy.[break][break]

He remembers reuniting with White, seeing the love she shared with her Pokemon, how close her Serperior had grown to her since leaving N's side. He remembers reuniting with Black inside... the Dream World? Yes, that sounds right, but how did they get there?[break][break]

He has a brief, horrifying memory-- a snapshot-- of Zekrom fused with Kyurem. He remembers they were fighting Ghetsis again. He remembers the words "freak without a human heart"; did Ghetsis know the truth, or was he just attacking N in general? He remembers pain, and cold, and darkness.[break][break]

Then he remembers very little. Zekrom is safe, he feels that in his bones, but where it is he couldn't say. He's been living the last several months in a daze, trying to figure out what to do now. With the sudden emergence of Cruor, though, it seems a path of action may have been decided for him.[break][break]

Appearance

Height: 6'1" (human form); 5'8" (Zoroark)[break]
Build: Lean, wiry[break]
Hair: Soft green, never tame (human); standard for a Zoroark[break]
Eyes: Gray (human); blue (Zoroark)[break]
Other: He has many small scars here and there, and rough hands. No piercings or tattoos.[break][break]

pokemon

None, other than himself, at the moment. N periodically recruits wild Pokemon to be temporary companions.