J: Hello my lovely readers, I've got a treat for you here. I'm not the most experienced with Paul's character so be sure to point out any flaws I make. But you should all know that this one shot was inspired by an excellent picture of Paul I found on deviantart, after I post this I will get the link on my profile.
Thanks to my Beta Khalthar.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything Pokemon related.
What Rain Can Do
There were two things in life Paul Shinji couldn't tolerate. Failure and rain. So far failure wasn't that much of an issue for him, rain on the other hand seemed to particularly love the Eterna Forest. For some crack brained reason he thought it would be a good idea to go into the forest for some one on one training with his Torterra after getting back from the kanto region. Not even a full day of training was put in before a massive storm front blew into the sky and kill any of the good mood he'd had.
Stuck in a cave Paul sighed, he was soaking wet and there wasn't any fire wood in the cave he'd taken shelter in. Seeing no productivity in letting himself get sick he stripped off his wet sweater and shirt. Thankfully the towel in his knapsack was dry, well it was until he finished drying his hair and skin.
The towel wrapped around his shoulders he stood at the cave entrance and glared up at the dark grey clouds that insisted on dumping endless buckets of water on his area. The clouds responded with thunder and lightning, "Hmph." That was the only voiced complaint the sky would get from him.
"PIPLUP!" 'What?' Paul had turned to go further in the cave but was stopped by the cry of a familiar pokemon. Thinking he'd just been hearing things Paul took another step away from the cave entrance, this resulted in his back being pelted by bubbles.
Spinning around Paul intended to glare at the attacker, the glare lost some of its strength when he found a small muddy Piplup glaring back at him. The glare brought back a distant memory of a blue haired girl with a Piplup trailing after his rival Ash Katcham. "You're Troublesome's pokemon right? She abandon you?"
Piplup seemed to want to attack him again for the insinuation that his trainer had left him. Instead he shook his head and pointed with a flipper back the way he had come, he pointed urgently with panicked cries. Getting the message Paul sighed again, "Troublesome lives up to her name. Where is she?"
Piplup lead Paul by running and sliding, the sliding moving him faster than running. Their destination came into view when he spotted a large brown blob that was a Mamoswine. The large pokemon was using broken branches on its tusks to shelter a still figure from the worst of the rain. The figure of course was the blue haired girl from his memories, only different in appearances and condition. Crouching down next to her he let the smallest bit of concern creep in, a touch of her forehead revealed a dangerously high fever that probably had something to do with the blood on her right arm. Upon closer inspection it looked to be punctures from a pokemon's poison sting attack, for other pokemon the attack wouldn't do much damage. For a human it could be lethal without treatment. Knowing what needed to be done Paul looked up at Mamoswine, " Help her to sit up so I can get her on my back." Gently Paul pulled the girl into a sitting position, Mamoswine moved behind her and used his leg to keep her up. Moving her onto his back proved to be difficult when he couldn't pull on both her arms to shift her weight against him. Paul thanked Arceus that out of all the pokemon she had that Mamoswine was one of them. As they walked back to his cave at a Slugma's pace Mamoswine used his tusks to keep Troublesome from sliding off his back. Piplup followed along keeping his little black eyes focused only on his trainer, the raging storm had no effect on him.
Back in the cave Paul sacrificed his sleeping bag to get the girl dry and warm. Secured with Piplup next to her to watch Paul went into his bag for his medical supplies. As he searched his mind he compared the Troublesome from the past to the girl in the present. Her hair was longer and had no hat to cover it, she still had yellow clips but kept her hair in a single long braid. In place of a black shirt that showed her shoulders and pink skirt, she wore a long sleeved white shirt and black track pants, her pinks boots were still the same. Without wanting to his male mind noticed that she'd grown taller and developed more curves for a perfect hourglass figure. She was more or less completely different from the girl he'd only ever remembered as Troublesome.
Paul finally found his medical kit at the bottom of his knapsack, thankful that his brother Reggie forced him to carry it, Paul turned around to start treating the wounds only to stop short. The punctures were on her upper arm, her shirt sleeves wouldn't roll up that high or stretch that far down. Paul knew he wasn't a man with a bright and shining personality, even with his attitude he wouldn't stoop to the levels of a pervert and take her entire shirt off to get to her arm. "Right, I only need to get to the arm." His course of action clear Paul reached into a small pocket to pull out a small pocket knife he usually only used for peeling fruit or opening cans.
Piplup watched without blinking, he didn't entirely trust the purple haired human, especially not with a dangerous weapon. But with his master needing help Piplup would let Paul do what was needed.
Paul put the knife under the fabric near her under arm to make a cut that leaned towards her arm and not her chest, he did the same thing on her back. Piplup didn't understand what was happening until Paul took hold of the shirt and ripped it right off from the rest of the shirt. Piplup agreed with the thought behind this idea, however that shirt was one of her favourites, when she recovered she was not going to be grateful.
Using a salve composed of a pecha berry for poison and herbs to reduce the fever Paul covered every inch of the area that had been punctured and wrapped it up tight to put pressure on the ones that still bled a bit.
Sitting against the wall opposite of his new cave mate Paul looked to Piplup, "What exactly happened?" Piplup shook its head in denial of explaining, Dawn would answer his question when she woke up.
A low grunt from the cave entrance reminded Paul that Piplup wasn't the only pokemon out of it's poke ball. Forcing himself up Paul went to see what was wrong with Mamoswine.
There wasn't anything wrong, Mamoswine just wanted to give Paul her knapsack. Taking it off of Mamoswine's tusk Paul took notice of the continuing rain and flashing lightning. "Where's your poke ball? You can't stay out in this weather."
Piplup overheard and answered, going under the cover of the sleeping bag Piplup went into the pocket that Paul hadn't seen on her anywhere. He crawled out backwards a moment later with Mamoswine's poke ball between his flippers. Taking it Paul was curious to see the ball was dirty and dented in a few places. 'I didn't think they could be used in such bad condition. What has she been doing?' Deciding it wasn't his business nor his concern Paul returned Mamoswine to the poke ball. The important things taken care of Paul relaxed and sat down on the ground with a sigh. All he wanted was to train in peace with his Torterra, instead he got a storm and a sick injured acquaintance. "Pip?" Paul opened his eyes to see Piplup sitting beside Troublesome but looking over at him.
"I'm fine." Health wise this was true, mood and mind wise not so much. What exactly happened to the girl sleeping in his sleeping bag was gnawing at his thoughts.
"Mnnn. You…don't sound…fine." A weak dry voice caught Paul off guard. Piplup got to his feet to peer into his trainer's face.
Paul would have stayed seated if not for the part of him that was able to be nice to people. He stood and went over beside Piplup just as Troublesome was trying to sit up. "And you sound worse than me. How do you feel?"
"Like a stampede of Tauros ran me over. Though surprise is right up there as well….I wasn't sure anybody else would be around with the weather looking to turn sour." Troublesome's cheeks were still flushed and the more she talked the raspier her voice sounded. Paul had a single bottle of water with him, his tolerant side taking dominance Paul fetched the bottle and helped her drink some.
To appease the still worried Piplup Paul forced her to lay back down afterwards. "Why would you enter the forest if you knew the weather was going to be bad? Actually scratch that and tell me what happened."
Having a tolerant side didn't mean it was always there to keep him civil. It didn't help his attitude when Troublesome only smiled at his not-so-considerate interrogating.
The smile left when she answered, "You don't need the whole story just the facts. I got hit with a poison sting attack from a Beedrill. Just bad timing with the weather." Paul may be oblivious to some things such as a joke that he would take seriously, but lies on the other hand were something he'd gotten good at spotting.
"That may be the facts, but you're not telling me all the facts. What really happened?" Paul wasn't going to budge, his mind wouldn't allow him.
Troublesome looked away from Paul to meet the eyes of her Piplup. Piplup's concerned eyes and small nod must have been the answer or encouragement she needed to give in. "It was a member of Team Rocket that attacked me with their Beedrill. It was a surprise attack I wasn't expecting."
Paul was stupefied, "You're telling me you actually got hurt by those two clowns and their Meowth?"
"No it wasn't Jessie or James. It was two other Team Rocket members that are higher up in the rankings. Victor and Victoria." Her eyes grew clouded as they glared up at the ceiling of the cave, for dramatic effect thunder growled and lightning flashed briefly shadowing her eyes.
Just from the way she had said their names Paul could tell that she wanted nothing more but for them to fall off the face of the earth. "Sounds like an unnecessary tactic to capture a trainer's pokemon…They weren't after your pokemon were they?"
"You don't need to know anymore than what I've already told you…Thank you for all your help. I'm glad it was you of all people I know." Her smile while saying this made Paul wonder why he was the best person to help her.'Because you're less likely to care what's happening to her.' The answer sprung up along with the realization that they were barely acquaintances. He didn't even remember her real name, the whole time he'd been with her he only knew her as Troublesome.
Taking a seat at the foot of the sleeping bag Paul asked in correspondence to his thoughts, "Would it bother you to know that I don't even remember your name?"
She laughed, Paul was even more confused. One of the things he remembered about her was that she'd blow up in his face for not using her name or asking who she was. "It doesn't bother me in the least, I prefer it this way. The less you know the less you'll get into it. And I want it to stay that way. Trust me Paul, you don't want to know."
"Suit yourself. You can be as cryptic as you want, just get some sleep so you'll feel better and be on your way." Paul figured that whatever she was keeping secret could stay a secret. It wasn't his problem so he didn't have to deal with it. His only concern was that Troublesome got better.
Smiling even bigger she closed her eyes, "Alright, alright. I'm going back to sleep. Piplup you need your rest too." She conked out at the end of her sentence.
The wall he was leaning back against was neither comfortable nor warm on his bare back, it wasn't the worst he'd ever endured but it wasn't the best. Everything he'd put his body through caught up all at once, laying his head back against the wall Paul fell asleep while watching Piplup make himself comfortable beside Troublesome. 'She better feel better in the morning because I'm not staying.' His last thought hung around until the darkness claimed his mind.
When he woke up he was the first awake. His back and neck felt terrible, how he didn't wake up several times throughout the night was a miracle. The storm had stopped which granted Paul some peace of mind. The rest of his mind was focused on Troublesome, glancing over at her he was relieved to see that her cheeks weren't flushed and the rest of her skin had regained some color. It was just a matter of her being unable to move that kept him from feeling normal.
On his feet he stretched to crack his neck and back, light from the cave entrance caused him to watch as the morning sun rose above the horizon. He'd managed to find a cave that had two trees framing the exact spot that the sun would rise up from. As he thought of the time Troublesome's name surfaced from the back of his mind. "It's beautiful." Troublesome had woken up without Paul noticing and joined him in watching the start of the new day.
"It seems you've recovered enough to walk. I'll be packing up my sleeping bag and be on my way." Paul didn't say her name for the sake of agreeing with her. If he acknowledged her name out loud he would start to get into her business and all he wanted was to get going back home.
"Thank you for everything Paul, I'm sorry if I was a lot of trouble. I'm going to leave now and head for the nearest pokemon centre…I've spent more time here than is safe." This puzzling sentence said she stuck to her words and gathered her knapsack. Piplup was barely awake but did his best to follow since her arm wasn't in the best condition to be holding a pokemon.
Paul decided that he was just a little insulted, for a reason she wouldn't tell him she didn't feel safe with him. He wasn't going to do anything to her, and his Torterra would be able to protect them both from any trainer and their pokemon. Instead of telling her all this he went to his sleeping bag and ignored her departure.
Well he would have ignored her if a Beedrill didn't come flying out of the tree tops and launch a poison sting attack straight at her. The sound of the attack got him out of the cave to see two figures jump out of the trees to land behind the Beedrill. Paul ran over to Troublesome to stand just a bit in front of her, "Let me guess, Victor and Victoria?"
"Unfortunately." Her word was bitter and hateful, Piplup put himself next to Paul to cover her other side.
If someone didn't know what the large red 'R' on their outfits stood for the two Team Rocket members would have passed for a regular set of twins. Victor had a face most men would die for and most women looked for. His dark brown hair was short and slightly flared in the front. Victoria was equally beautiful with a face that could lure even the smartest of men to do stupid things. Her dark brown hair was cut short with longer strands in the front to frame that delicate face. Even without the black clothes and giant red 'R' Paul could see their ill intentions in their eyes and slight quirk to the corner of their mouths.
"Oh come on Dawn, you're not going to introduce us to all your friends like that are you?" Victoria's voice was light and musical, contrasting the small scowl that now ruined the beauty of her facial features.
Her hands clenched into fists Dawn stood her ground, "That's not even close to how I would really describe you two. In fact you don't deserve any introduction at all."
Victor had kept his face straight with a smile, as the argument went on between the girls Victor's smile showed amusement, "Now, now, ladies, no need to dig claws into each other. Purple Head if you would be so kind as to step away from our little sister it would be much appreciated." Victor's eyes crinkled at the corners in delight at Paul's expressions to being called Purple Head and the mention of Dawn being their sibling.
Looking closer Paul saw the resemblances in the facial features and that Victoria had the same heart shaped face. The situation not warranting an immediate investigation of the unmentioned relationship Paul settled for getting into action. "I don't need your appreciation, I'm not going anywhere. Torterra I choose you." Paul's Torterra must have overheard everything going on through its poke ball because he planted himself in such a way that the plants growing on his back blocked their view of Dawn.
Victor stepped forward to meet the challenge with confidence oozing out of his body, "Once I take care of your boyfriend you be a good girl and come along with us quietly Dawn. No big escape attempts like last time. Father wasn't too happy to hear you'd gotten away."
'That's it. Whatever happens after this she is giving me more answers.' His mind set Paul ignored the growl of "He's not my boyfriend" from Dawn. "Torterra use rock climb." Eager to get to work after their training sessions Torterra went charging towards the Beedrill that had come forward when Victor snapped his fingers.
"Beedrill dodge and use bug bite." Victor gave the commands as if he was bored, in fact he was barely giving the battle any attention.
Beedrill rose up into the air to avoid the swipe Torterra made with his extended claws. Flying around to get behind Torterra, Beedrill dove down with its stinger hands glowing for the attack. Paul was already two steps ahead, "Torterra use dig to dodge." Faster than anyone anticipated Torterra got into the ground away from the attack that would have done a decent amount of damage.
Not knowing where its target went Beedrill hovered above the ground watching and waiting for an order. Victor was watching a little closer now but he still fell right into Paul's trap, "Beedrill go in the hole and use poison sting."
The second Beedrill got right over the hole Paul launched, "Torterra use vine whip and rock climb." Vines flew out of the darkness in the hole to snare around Beedrill. His wings powerless against Torterra's weight Beedrill was pulled down into the hole, a second after being pulled in Beedrill was tossed out as Torterra slashed through it with rock climb.
Beedrill hit the ground unconscious declaring Torterra and Paul the winner. From the look on Victor's face Paul guessed that Victor hadn't lost a battle in a while. "Beedrill return. I'll admit I'm impressed Dawn, you actually found a guy that's not a pathetic loser. Not like those other two, what were their names? Ash and Bobby? No, Barry, that was the name of that annoying blonde idiot."
Paul was taken back, he'd battled Ash and Barry multiple times and they'd both given him a hard time once in a while. To hear they'd been beaten by this pretty pageant boy meant that Paul had gotten better or Victor didn't take Paul seriously. "You shut up about Ash and Barry! You only won those battles because you cheated by double teaming when it was only suppose to be one on one."
"Blah, blah, blah. Dawn sweetie, we're members of Team Rocket, playing fair never happens and never will. Like right now for example. Combusken use flamethrower!" Victoria seemed to materialize a poke ball out of nowhere and released Combusken to attack the unprepared Torterra.
"Piplup use whirlpool!" Piplup rushed forward up onto Torterra's back and launched the biggest whirlpool attack Paul had ever seen. In midair Combusken couldn't dodge and took the attack full force, its flamethrower attack barely left Combusken's mouth.
Stepping up next to Paul, Dawn glared at the two Team Rocket members she shared the same blood with. "That trick won't work two times in a row Victoria. I haven't just been running I've been training. I will never go with you and I will never acknowledge that monster as my father. Piplup use hydropump!" Piplup's chest expanded right before an intense hydro pump erupted from its tiny little beak. The blast hit both the weakened Combusken and Victor and Victoria. Just as Jessie and James had done over the years of them pursuing Ash, the twins were sent flying.
As they grew smaller in size Victor's voice managed to reach them, "We'll be back little sister, you haven't driven us off for good. Father will never give up until you're part of the family!" Faded in the distance.
The threat gone Paul faced Dawn with an expression demanding answers. Dawn got the meaning of Paul's expression but chose to refuse him "Thank you for your help again, but this is my business, my problem to deal with."
She turned to leave Paul hanging just like that. Paul wouldn't have any of it and grabbed her arm to stop her. "You and the other two stuck your nose into my personal business with Reggie. You owe me the full story."
Dawn hadn't anticipated the 'you nosed, I nose' card from Paul. She wanted to tell him off, she didn't, because Paul had the right to know. Especially after so much of it had been revealed by Victor and Victoria. She'd told the whole story once before to Ash, and that had lead to a bit of a rift in their friendship. Since there wasn't even a friendship between her and Paul nothing could really change. "Do you know who the leader of Team Rocket is?"
"I've only heard rumours, the most common being a man named Giovanni." From what Paul already knew he could see where this was leading.
"Giovanni is the leader of Team Rocket, he's also my father. After the Sinnoh league tournament Ash went on to the Uneva region, Brock went back to his family to look into getting into a medical institute. I went home to think about my next move. While I was home my mom let slip that she never wanted me to run into my father. This naturally rose my curiosity, without telling her I went out to find him. My investigations took me to the Kanto region and Team Rocket. He found me first thanks to my constant appearances on television."
"How did he know for sure you were his kid?" Paul was drawn into this whole bizarre story that under different circumstances he wouldn't believe.
Dawn reached into another pocket Paul had never seen on her and pulled out a worn picture. In the picture there was a blue haired woman that looked a lot like Dawn. "This is a picture of my mom when he met her. She was in the prime of contest battles and that had drawn his attention. My mom said he'd been the greatest man ever to date her. Giovanni told me he never loved my mom, he only wanted her to get pregnant. Besides being the leader of Team Rocket Giovanni wanted a grand legacy, children he could cultivate to see things his way. Victor, Victoria and myself are only three of the twenty children Giovanni conceived. All nineteen of them are in Team Rocket. I'm the odd ball Giovanni is determined to conform."
Paul was positive that if ANYONE told him all this without the encounter with Victor and Victoria Paul would have told them to shove their lies where the sun don't shine. He took all this information and the current Troublesome bit of attitude hand in hand. He imagined that all the crap going on in her life had hardened her to handle it. The Troublesome he remembered from two years ago would have accepted his help from the beginning and would try and make him her friend. "Why haven't you gone to the police for protection if you know what's going on?"
"That's the first thing Giovanni anticipated me to do. He's got my mom under watch by his men, if I say even one more word to Officer Jenny he'll hurt her. I have to deal with this on my own." Dawn looked ready to punch Paul having reminded her of the extra problem on top of everything.
Even though she'd said she would handle things on her own Paul could see that she really needed someone else with her. Her eyes betrayed her thoughts. Paul couldn't see any other answer to her problem other than the first idea that came to mind. Sighing in resignation he returned Torterra to its poke ball, "You're coming back to my place before you do anything else. The treatment I gave you for your arm needs to be looked over properly by Reggie. Then you're coming with me to the Uneva region."
"Wha? Are you deaf Paul? I just told you more than once that -"
"You need to take care of things on your own. And you will while you travel with me. If Victor and Victoria show up again you're the one that will handle them unless they directly threaten me. Now let's go, we've already lost enough time." Paul left Dawn to go back to the cave and finish getting his things together. If he had turned around he would have seen Dawn's brilliant smile accompanied by the tears of gratitude rolling down her cheeks.