I think this drawing takes place relatively early in the journey, around Nacrene City ?

In my opinion it's very likely that, because of Ghetsis' awful education, N learned to completely dehumanize the grunts and merely regards them as tools to further Plasma's goals. So when N gathers a party for the Nacrene gym, he is surprised to see that Dardanne seems to genuinely care for pokémon, whether they are "his own" or wild ones

credit appreciated but not required, just interact with the post to use!

putting the rest of the stamps below a cut because there's a lot