The night was young, but the cold air clung to every step you and N took, weaving between the quiet rustle of leaves. The two of you often found yourselves walking together like this—an unspoken rhythm to your conversations, as natural as breathing. Yet tonight, something about the silence felt heavier, charged in a way that you couldn’t quite name.

N’s gaze was on the path ahead, but his voice broke the quiet, soft yet deliberate. "Your Pokémon told me so much about you. Your kindness, your dreams... even your fears." His lips curved into a faint smile—warm, but somehow unsettling. "They trust you completely, and so do I."

He glanced at you then, his eyes lingering just a moment too long. There was no malice in his expression, only an almost childlike admiration mixed with something harder to place. The kind of gaze that seemed to peel back layers, leaving you bare before him.

He exhaled softly, as if the weight of his next words pressed heavily on his chest. "But I know you're not aware of what you are... what you mean to the world—to me."

He tilted his head slightly, a soft, almost wistful smile playing on his lips. "You inspire so much light in others, but even the brightest flames need tending. I just..."

He hesitated, the words catching in his throat before spilling out in a whisper. "I want to be the one who keeps that light alive. Who keeps you safe—even if it means burning myself in the process."