"N... I think I'm in love with you." I just... couldn't let him leave. Not without saying something. I don't want to be alone. I want to be with him.
"Really? I love you too!" N beams with a too-wide grin. Porcelain tombstones all in a row. I love them too. A scarlet flush floods my face.
"Can I be your girlfriend?" I pull myself together and blurt it out without a stutter.
"What's a girlfriend?" He's genuinely confused. What IS a girlfriend? How do I say this?
"It's. A woman. That you love and spend time with." Defining things has never been my strong point. Do first and think later. Or don't think at all. My teachers appreciated my drive, but not my lack of homework. So being asked to define basic vocabulary is... unexpected. I don't mind, though a flutter of nervousness ripples through my chest. Is he really this alien?
"Like a parent?"
"No! No. On equal footing. One supporting the other."
"So, like a Pokemon." I see a little clearness appearing in his eyes.
"Uh. Kinda. Except human. And can't fight in battles. And there's more... passion. Romance. Sex." Those thorny words, hiding their danger with blood-red petals. I suppose it's expected that I stumble over them. For some reason, I'm not too put off by his naivete. Just drawn in, as always, into his magnetic, manic energy.
"Ohhhhh, I get it." He understands! Victory, once again. A smile fills my face as I begin to speak, but I'm cut off.

"That's an enormous commitment of mind, body, and heart. However, I am unable to fulfill it in the way you desire." He nods solemnly, as my heart begins to slowly crumble. A breath, and he continues at the regular breakneck speed. "You are the most intriguing person I have ever met. You challenge my beliefs with your unbreakable bond with your Pokemon. It goes against everything I thought was true, that Pokemon could only exist happily separate from humans, and that interaction between the two could only cause suffering. Yet here you all stand, pursuing glory tirelessly as a team, as equals. It is only fitting that you defeated me at Dragonspiral Tower, and ended the reign of terror Ghetsis would have imposed beneath my paper throne."

"That bond I could seek with you. It is one of love, of friendship, of working together. I cannot be placed in a Poke Ball, nor put into a computer, nor traded about. But just the same, I could be with you. You're crying. That means you're sad. Is this not what you want?"
I numbly shake my head no. I, Sisyphus, and his affection, the summit of that insurmountable hill. How dare I think myself on par with the gods?
A tinny voice in the back of my head is worrying about my eyeliner streaking. A sigh escapes his perfect, untouchable lips.
"So I thought, from your words. I have heard of this sort of love, the kind you want... lust for?" It's the first time I've seen him uncertain about a word. "That love is an abstract concept that defies my understanding. My body is my own and whole and does not need to be formed with yours. My visage does not need to be spread, nor do I have needs to be sated. My answer, thus, can only be a no."

I nod. It's okay, Touko. You are going to be okay. This is what I say to myself when I am definitely not going to be okay. It is a lie and I hate it, but I have to say it anyways. It's called hope. That's a thing I still have. I think.

"I'm sorry." He pulls me into a definitely platonic hug and gives me an awkward peck on the head, as I watch myself begin to sob into his chest. The tinny voice is apologizing for the mucus stains my senseless blubbering is leaving. I see the legendary beings we're partnered with watching impassively from far above our heads. He's starting to shake a little. I slowly unclench my fingers from his shirt as he gently pushes me away. He's not comfortable with physical contact more than this, though he cares enough to try. It can't be anything more than this.
"Farewell, Touko." He turns, and slightly unsteadily walks over to Reshiram. They begin to converse. A roar of fire fills the air. He's gone.

I'm... going to be... okay.