A/N

Hello everyone!

So this is my first story on this site. If the summary was a little too vague, it's basically my OC traveling with Paul as he encounters and deals with Ash and his gang, centered in the Sinnoh region. Yes, there is going to be romance, but I'm not going to tell you who it's between. It may be a little bit of everything!

Well, I hope you guys enjoy my story! Please favorite and review, and follow and favorite me if you like!

Much love, Shelby

Hide and Seek

Chapter One

My mouth is dry, my drooping eyes tinged with exhaustion. It's been a four days since I've seen fresh water, and at least two days since I've gotten a decent amount of sleep. No matter what, I can't seem to find my way out of this forest. The map won't tell me a way out because this forest doesn't exist - in theory. I discovered it after some wandering around, and now I'm positively lost.

I've tried marking where I've been, but no matter where I go, I always end up where I originally have been camping. My team is drained. We've had to deal with the wild ones attacking us left and right. I'm almost drained of my healing supplies and revives. My outcome isn't looking too good. Though, I realize with a weakened mortality that the most likely reason this map doesn't exist is because everyone that finds it doesn't make out alive.

My Typhlosion, a humble male named Neuro, lies at my side, keeping watch for any oncoming attackers. He's my second last to not be completely drained of energy, due to my training. We both give each other a strained smile. It's nice to have some alone time to ourselves, but under these circumstances, we're feeling the stress of our impending doom.

It's growing dark again, and I still haven't found any water. I release my last healthy Pokemon from it's luxury ball. The bright light forms into a shape to reveal a Glaceon, who I nicknamed Cryptic. She's a cunning little creature and by far the most distant, but smartest out of my bunch. She glances around our surroundings with a small frown. She's realized that our situation is the same as before.

"Hey Cryp girl," I say and cough a little into my sleeve. I grab a bowl I used for the Pokemon food and hold it out to her. "I need you to give me some water."

She complies and sprays a small Water Gun into the bowl until it fills almost completely to the top. I dip the bowl back and greedily gulp all the water down. I whip the remains of the dripping water of my chin and hold the bowl back out. She refills it again and, this time I slide the bowl between both Neuro and Cryptic to let them have a drink.

I glance at my watch on my wrist, the second hand ticking slower and slower, until it completely stops. A surge of frustration and annoyance shoots through me, and I tap at the little glass repeatedly. The hands won't move, and I let out a sigh. Now I won't know what time it is, or how late it is. Due to the thick trees overhead, whose branches have curled together, the sun has been blocked from my view. The only reason I knew what was night and day was due to my watch.

With nothing left to give me the time, I lean back against the tree I had been using as my prop and close my eyes. My body is tired, so I assume I should try and get some rest.

****

I don't know how long I've been asleep, or even if I fell asleep, but a noise startles me awake. I expected a creature to be in front of me, one that I would have to face against, but instead a boy stands before me. His presence shocks me so much that I let out a small scream and try to back away, but the tree blocks me from moving.

He stares at me indifferent, his onyx eyes showing no emotion. His purple hair flutters as an unseen wind that I haven't felt before sweeps through the clearing. I'm too much in shock to say anything; I just continue to stare at him.

"Are you lost?"

"Um," I croak out; I clear my throat and try to speak again. "Yeah, I am. I have been for a couple days now, actually."

He simply nods his head, and his eyes travel to my partners, who are both on edge by his presence. "They seem tired."

"They're the only ones I have left that can fight," I tell him.

He reaches a hand down to me, which I take eagerly. He hoists me up, but helps to steady me after my legs almost gave out. Taking an Ultra Ball from his belt, he clicks the button. The capsule opens up and a stream of light shoots out to make the form of an Ursaring, and a powerful one at that. It roars loudly, causing the trees to quiver.

"You can return them to their balls. You won't need them, mine are perfectly fine in their condition." he tells me in a commanding tone, indicating Neuro and Cryptic with a small nod in their direction.

I do as he says because he's right; they're exhausted, and they need a good rest. I put them in my bag and hoist it over my shoulders and sling it across my back. I'm curious as to how he got here in the first place, let alone how he knows how to get out. to answer the questions swirling through my mind, he pulls out a small gadget from his pocket. It's small and circular, with a glass panel almost covering the entire front. I've never seen anything like it.

The glass screen lights up when he presses a button on the side, which shows two small red dots. I assume those dots are us. He begins to walk towards the way he came, holding the little device out in front of him. I follow like a lost puppy because there's nothing I can do about it.

"Excuse me, but I never did get your name," I tell him, hoping I won't offend him with my asking. For all I know, he could be some killer, or he could leave me here in the forest again, alone.

"It's Paul."

"Paul, well thank you for helping me. I'm Aerin, by the way," I respond cheerfully compared to his gruff and short response. He's probably never heard of me, though most people who were coordinators would. I was in the top 5 at the Grand Festival, in Sinnoh. However, looking at his Ursaring, I knew that he was a trainer, and a good one at that.

"Aerin... Aerin Alucio?"

My eyes grew wide. How did he know about me? I wasn't even famous - it was only my second year competing, and I had never gotten higher than 5th place. The coordinator that everyone knew about was Dawn Berlitz, who came in first both times I had competed.

"Uh, yeah, that's me."

"You competed with Dawn, didn't you?" he asks me, his onyx eyes glancing in my direction before returning to the device in his hand.

I nod my head. "I did, the past two years. I took a break this year though, to make a special trip here to search for a shiny Pokemon since all of the rumors and stories about this forest say its filled to the brim with them, but I ended up getting lost - as you can see."

"If you had done more research, you would have known you needed to get a Locatomonoter to navigate through it."

I hang my head shamefully. He was right, I had done hardly any research, but the basics. I knew the device in his hand was what he was referring too. Somehow, the thing lead us to a new area that I hadn't passed since discovering the place. A lake, filled with pristine, clear water was located in the center of a new clearing. Trees lined one side of the lake, casting a shadow.

Wait... A shadow?

I immediately look up to see the sun shining down on the clearing. It's a welcoming sight to see.

"Finally, sunshine," I sigh with relief as I let the sun dance across my face.

Paul doesn't even crack a smile. He stares out into the clearing, his eyes scanning from left to right. If he did his research, then he knows that the shiny Pokemon here are abundant. I read somewhere that it was this place, the clearing and the lake, that caused so many to appear here. The continuous sunlight, which never stopped shining for some unknown reason, caused them to mutate more often.

"Which one are you looking for?" I ask him.

I receive no answer, and I let out a huff. Paul is a reserved person, that's for sure. He walks away from where I've seated myself, and I watch him with curious eyes. It appears to me that he's heading towards the lake. Ah, a water Pokemon. Makes sense, since water Pokemon are hard to come by in Sinnoh.

I'm hoping that this place contains creatures from Unova. I want a shiny Rufflet, and then I want to evolve it into a Braviary. It's been my dream Pokemon ever since my friend from Unova, Courtney, fought against one in a battle of her's I attended.

Deciding that it couldn't hurt, I release my four creatures from their balls to let them rest in the sunshine. Neuro and Cryptic are the first to appear, then Lucid and Cashmere. Cashmere is my Tropius, a large beast with a long neck and long leaves for feathers. Lucid is an Electrike, a small, green and yellow pup with a large ego, and one that doesn't battle, but only does the first half of the contest. They bask in the sunlight and begin to glow, almost like that of synthesis. I pull out my Pokedex and scan them. To my surprise, they are all fully healed and recharged.

I look over to where Paul has wandered. He stops at the very edge of the water, peering over into the clear abyss. His creature stands next to him at attention, waiting for a command to be made. I watch him with curiosity. I wonder what Pokemon he's looking for, anyway. I think to myself as he continues to peer into the depths of the lake. Suddenly, he starts back, his Ursaring letting out a ferocious roar.

Next, a psyclone of water hurls into the air, then dissipates with a start as a large Gyarados opens it mouth with a screech. Unlike most Gyarados, which are blue, this one is red, and it's skin coloring reflects it's immense anger. I believe that this creature is the guardian of this place, judging by his anger and size.

Paul seems unfazed by the dragon-types appearance. "Ursaring, Hyper Beam."

His beast opens it's mouth and begins charging the attack, releasing the beam with enough energy for my Pokemon's hair to stand up on edge. It hits it's mark, squarely in the dragon's chest. Obviously, it wasn't expecting an attack because it never moved. However, it simply shakes the attack off, and charges at Paul, reading what looks to be an Ice Beam.

The beam releases from it's mouth, which both Paul and Ursaring dodge, but only barely. Paul orders an attack, and the bear's claws light up, and he jumps to slash at the Gyarado. Again, the dragon takes the hit. Why won't it dodge any attacks? I think to myself as it falls sideways into the lake, the lake water forming a wave that goes over the edges to spill out onto the land.

It pulls itself back up, looking worse for wear. I know it can't take much left, but Paul pulls out an Ultra Ball and throws it at the creature. The ball hits its mark, turning the Pokemon into a stream of red light that the capsule encloses in on itself. It falls to the ground and lands with a thud, swishing back and forth until it stops with a click.

"Hey, good job!" I call to him as I stand myself up and begin to head over to where he is. He picks the ball up and puts it in his pocket nonchalantly. "Was that the one you came for?"

He says nothing as he walks past me, completely ignoring my question. I'm incredibly peeved by his actions. The least he could do is acknowledge my presence. I stomp after him, returning my Pokemon into their Pokeballs. He continues to walk towards the direction we came from, much to my annoyance.

"Hey, could you wait up a second? I need to find a Rufflet, and I don't wanna get lost again-"

My ramble stops when a rustling from the trees in front of us grow louder. To my complete excitement, a shiny Rufflet pops out of the brush, plucking the berries with it's beak and eating them. Paul orders his Ursaring to slash the creature, while turning around to raise his eyebrow at me. I feel my face heat up as I pull a free Luxury Ball from my pocket and throw it at the fainted bird. It captures the poor thing, and Paul picks it up before tossing it in my direction. I catch it in my hands and place it in my bag.

Even though he can be mean, Paul seems like a nice guy, underneath all that rough exterior. I think to myself as I follow him out of the forest. He seems extremely distant, but I can't seem to figure out why. Who knows, maybe I'll figure him out?