A/N: I own nothing. Paul belongs to Pokémon, and Apollo and Trucy belong to Capcom.

This story will be nine chapters long in total. The next chapter will be shorter and reveal the hurt/comfort aspect of the story. I will try to make updates weekly.

Constructive criticism appreciated. Flames, not so much.


"Apollo, I wanna go to Japan!"

Suddenly, a messy brown mane obstructed Apollo's view of the paperwork he had to do after his latest case. "Trucy! Move your head! Besides, why do you want to go to Japan, anyway?"

"Duh, Apollo!" Trucy did not budge. "They have Pokémon in Japan!"

"What? ! No! That's scientifically impossible! They have the place where Pokémon is made, sure. Is that what you want to see? And can you even speak Japanese? !"

"Hai. [Japanese for "yes".] I've been taking it since third grade. And I just happen to know" – she wiggled her eyebrows – "you took it in college." A slight giggle escaped Trucy's lips.

"What? !"

"You're such an anime nerd!" But she was smiling. Trucy looked at Apollo almost – lovingly?

"Mr. Wright will never let you go by yourself! Besides, how will you pay for –"

"He will and did. Your paycheck."

"Ugnnn… Why my paycheck? !"

The brunette giggled. "You're coming, silly."

"But I'm paying for you, too?"

"It's just the gentlemanly thing to do!"

"But how did you convince Mr. Wright?" Apollo was genuinely confused. Mr. Wright didn't seem like the type to let his daughter wander off all the way into another country.


"Daddy?"

Phoenix patted the area of his bed right next to him. "Yeah, Truce?"

"Can I go to Japan?"

Phoenix nearly choked on air. "JAPAN? ! you want to go to JAPAN? ! Do you have any idea how expensive that would be? !"

"I wanna see the Pokémon. Besides" – Trucy pouted – "we can use Apollo's paycheck."

Phoenix took a minute to think it over. "And your chaperone…?"

The pout on Trucy's face soon morphed into a humongous smile. "Apollo!"

Her daddy raised a zig-zag eyebrow. "Because you feel guilty about using his paycheck (I know I don't) or for some…other reason?"

Trucy looked down. Her cheeks became hot. "Mumble mumble mumb."

What was that?"

"I…like him."

"Uh…you do know that you're half-siblings, right?"

"Of course! And I don't care!"

"Oh, okay. Just making sure…yeah…" Phoenix uttered a very nervous laugh.


"…I have my ways," Trucy said mysteriously.

"…O-kaaay." By this point, Apollo was thoroughly creeped out.

So, one week later, the two found themselves on a plane, heading west.

"You're going to be disappointed," Apollo warned.

"No, I won't be!"

"Why, because you know Pokémon aren't real?" he challenged.

Trucy looked Apollo straight in the eye, in a very intimidating manner. "Apollo Justice. I do know one thing. I know that Pokémon exist. And that they live in Japan."

"Well, then. Y-you know some f-false information." Trucy's tactics worked, and Apollo sweated like Sal Manella.

"It's true," a voice from behind interjected. "I live in Japan, and I'm a Pokémon trainer. Well, I mostly do contests, but still."

Trucy asked, "Then why would you ever leave, even if it's just for…"

"Two weeks."

"…Two weeks?"

Apollo just sat there, mouth agape.

The bluenette giggled. "Well, I just finished a long journey in the Sinnoh region –"

"Hey, Sinnoh! That's where we're going, right Apollo?"

Apollo sat, mouth wide open. He was starting to look a bit pale.

"- About a month ago, and I was starting to miss the adventures, so I decided that I would try my hand at the U.S."

"Didja like it here?" Trucy was bouncing in her seat with excitement.

"Um…not really. Life's really boring without Pokémon. I left my cute babies" – Apollo came to and almost puked – "with my mom to get a feel for what it really must be like for you." The trainer shot the two a pitying look. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have important things to attend to." She turned away from Apollo and Trucy and proceeded to text her friends.

"Bi –" Apollo realized that he should probably watch his mouth around Trucy. Mr. Wright would kill him if he heard him curse in front of the girl. Besides, Apollo considered Trucy as kind of a little sisterly type. "Big mouth that girl had, huh?"

Trucy perceived right through that potty-mouth. "Uh huh. And she's right behind you. And she doesn't seem all too happy."

Apollo gulped.

To be continued…