"Are you okay, N?" Purrloin asked, climbing onto N's bed and into his lap.

N sniffled. "Yes my friend," he said, his voice sounding raspy, "I'll be-" He sneezed, "Fine"

"You won't be if you don't rest" Boldore commented.

"No he'll be fine. He'll be fine. Right? Right?!" Pidove panicked.

"Friends," N said, "I'll be fine"

N sneezed again, and Pidove flew about the room, screaming about how N was going to die.

N's head pounded from the constant screeching.

"Pidove, stop. N is not going to die" Zoroark said calmly.

Pidove fluttered down and sat on N's shoulder.

"He's not?"

"No, he's not. He's human, he gets sick just like we do" Zoroark assured.

All the Pokémon in N's room let out a collective sigh.

"But Boldore is right," Zoroark began, "N, you'll never get better if you do not rest"

"I know, but I'm afraid I'll have those dreams again" N sighed, falling backwards onto his bed. At N's movement, Pidove fluttered off his shoulder, and Purrloin jumped from his lap.

"You're still having those dreams?" Joltik asked.

"Yes" N mumbled, flipping over and shoving his face in his pillow.

N heard a knock on his door.

"Come in" he said, his voice muffled by the pillow. Somehow, the person who knocked still heard him and opened the door.

"N? Are you alright? I heard a ruckus" the voice asked.

N flipped over and sat upright, "Yes Anthea, I'm fine"

Anthea walked over to N's bedside and held the back of her hand to N's forehead.

"You still feel warm..." she noted, removing her hand "Have you been sleeping?"

"No"

"Natural Harmonia, you have to sleep if you're going to get better"

N shook his head, intensifying his headache, "I don't want to sleep"

"Why is that?"

"I'll dream"

"That is a bad thing?"

"Yes" N said, grabbing a pillow and hugging it to his chest.

Anthea looked to Zoroark with a confused look. Zoroark simply rolled his eyes.

"Are you having nightmares, Natural?" Anthea asked, worry seeping into her words.

"No..."

"What kind of dream is it, then?"

"They're good dreams"

Anthea's confusion grew, "Isn't that a good thing? Shouldn't you want those?"

"No!" yelled N, clutching the pillow tighter, "Well...yes but...I don't know" he sighed.

"Would you like to tell me about them?"

"I can't"

"Why not?" Anthea asked.

"Because I'm not allowed to"

"N, I'm your sister. You can tell me"

"I really can't"

Zoroark had had enough of this. He used his Illusion ability to take the form of the reason N was loathing sleeping. N blushed and pulled his covers over his face so he wouldn't have to look at the illusion.

"A girl?" Anthea asked curiously.

"No" N denied.

"N...do you...?"

"No! Zoroark, stop this"

"Just tell her, N. What's she gonna do?"

"She'll tell Father" N groaned.

"N have you met a girl?" Anthea asked.

"I know plenty of girls" N protested.

"This girl is different and you know it"

"She's not different!" N argued to Zoroark.

"Natural..." Anthea pressed.

N sighed and removed the covers from over his face. He didn't look at Zoroark as he said, "Drop the illusion, Zoroark I'll tell her"

N saw Zoroark change back into his normal form out of the corner of his eye.

"The rest of you," N said, addressing his friends, "return to your Pokeballs for now"

Each Pokémon, except for Zoroark, retreated into their Pokeballs.

N sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "You know the girl that's been trying to stop us? Team Plasma?"

Anthea nodded faintly.

"Well that was her- Hilda. She's been haunting my dreams" N admitted.

"Oh. You're simply scared that she's going to stop you?"

N sighed, "Not exactly..."

"What were your dreams about, then?"

"If I tell you, you can't tell Father"

"N..."

"Please, sister" N pleaded, giving her his best Lillipup eyes.

"Fine" Anthea agreed.

"I've been having dreams about me and Hilda"

Anthea waited for more, but N said nothing else. "And?" she pressed.

N cringed. "And...there have been dreams where she has become my queen..." he admitted, his face growing redder than it already was due to his fever.

Shocked, Anthea soaked in the information.

"But isn't she your enemy?" She whispered, as if someone was listening.

"She's not so bad..." N defended dreamily.

"N-"

"-don't try and lecture me" N cut off, falling on his back in his bed "I know it's wrong"

"I'm not saying it's wrong," Anthea assured, "but how did it get this way?"

N closed his eyes and smiled. Somehow, the smile made his brain pound harder, but it wouldn't fade.

"I can't recall exactly," N said honestly, "but I just know that it did, and I would do just about anything to see that smile of hers- even for just a second"

Anthea made a noise in between a sigh and a laugh. "Would you like anything?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Any chance you could make my blanket smell like Oran and Pecha berries?" N asked jokingly. Suddenly, his blanket was ripped away from him, and his eyes shot open. His sister walked out the door with his blanket, and N shivered from the loss of warmth.

"I had only been joking" N muttered. Zoroark laughed.

N lay on his bed staring at the ceiling for about an hour, before Anthea opened the door to his room, chucked his blanket at him, and left the room. The blanket landed on his face, and he inhaled the scent of Oran and Pecha berries. The blanket was warm as well, which was a plus. N wrapped the blanket around him, bringing it up to his nose so he could smell the familiar scent.

"It smells like her..." N whispered to himself.

Zoroark sniffed the blanket. "She smells girly" he noted.

"I like it"

"Weirdo..." Zoroark said, jumping onto the end of N's bed, curling up into a ball and closing his eyes.

N closed his eyes as well, and drifted off to sleep, this time, welcoming his dreams.