This day was absolutely miserable.
As the teenage Trainer trudged through yet another mud puddle, his black eyes narrowed in disgust. It had been a couple of years since that boy with the Pikachu had been stupid enough to lose in the Lily of the Valley Conference to some guy with a team of legendary Pokémon, leaving the region of Sinnoh to fall back into its usual pattern of peace and quiet. The sound of the rain slamming against the canopy of leaves above his head was literally the only noise in the area. It was a much better turn of events than having that horrible yelling scaring away all of the wildlife. Not only that, but those fools with the strange Pokémon left along with him. It was a relief that they were gone.
It left Paul with far more time to train and try to beat that disgusting excuse for a Trainer that had held the title of Champion of the Lily of the Valley Conference since Ash Ketchum had lost to him.
The purple-haired youth just let out a chuckle of disbelief under his breath before walking on down the path ahead of him. With that boy gone, the region was his to conquer. He would have beaten that kid again, but he insisted on leaving the region before he had the proper chance to earn a rematch. It didn't matter either way. He had become much stronger without the absurd interruptions that followed that kid.
The only thing he didn't manage to loose was the girl that had traveled with him, Dawn.
Everything else that had been with the pathetic kid had faded away, but somehow the girl with blue hair had stuck around and tracked him down in the deepest snows of Snowpoint. At first, it irritated him beyond belief. He didn't need some whinny girl following him around everywhere he went and messing up his intricate schedules. However, as time went on, he gradually got used to having her around. They weren't exactly traveling partners, but Paul could commonly turn around and find her walking after him, a clumsy Piplup on her heels and a Buneary jumping around in circles. It became a strange sort of reassurance, as odd as it was to think of that as something good. He got to know her a bit more than just her endless babbling and her annoying cheerful nature. It turns out, under all of that nauseating happiness, there actually was a normal person under there. And in turn, she found out that perhaps the whole message of positive training hadn't been wasted on him after all.
Still, that didn't explain how he now had her number in his Pokégear and lacked any sort of footsteps following him.
As it turns out, autumn is a strange time for Pokémon Coordinators. The actual Grand Festival-related matches only took place during the spring and summer, with the main event taking place at the tail-end of the warmest season. Once those had finished, that left the losers and winners alike to train during the colder months before any new competitions started the next year. Sure, there was still contest happening around the region, but theses were simply hobbyist and junior competitions, having unofficial standing with the Grand Festival. If anything, they were a waste of a Top Coordinator's time. And as such, Dawn had stopped traveling with him for the time being to practice her routines and prepare herself for the next contest season.
They weren't out of complete contact, though. She still called regularly, running up his Pokégear charges and earning snickers from his older brother, Reggie. His older sibling still had that odd streak of getting in his business and trying to give him advice, even though he was no newbie at Pokémon Trainer. Call it the curse of having a Breeder as a sibling, but he was certain that Reggie was expecting him to bring the girl home one day and give him the honor of introducing him to her—which was beyond stupid, seeing as they had met multiple times by this point.
As Paul let out an annoyed sigh, his pocket started to shake.
His onyx eyes glanced down to his pocket to stare at the shivering area. He quickly remembered that he had shoved his Pokégear in there after a rough training session, leaving it for later. His earlier thoughts dispersed as his hand quickly fished the device out of his pocket and flipped it open, checking to see who was calling. To his slight surprise, it wasn't his brother. Instead, it was Dawn. The new observation struck him a bit odd, seeing as they had already had their daily chat a few hours ago. It wasn't exactly like her to call more than once. And this one fact somehow managed to make him feel a bit worried.
Quick as his Weavile, he pressed the accept button and held it up to his ear. His shoes squeaked as he dashed over to hide under a tree, sparing himself from a further shower from the dismal downpour. He cleared his throat before resting his back against the cold trunk of an oak tree. "What do you want, Dawn?" Despite his wording, there was a noticeable trace of concern in his voice. The purple-haired teen glared out into space as the other line coughed for a bit before finally answering him.
"H-Hey, Paul." Dawn's normally bright voice was not only diminished by the static of the connection, but by a distinct lack of that warmth. The glare Paul had held only seconds ago melted to a look of confusion as the blue-haired girl on the other line let out a chuckle. "I hope I wasn't interrupting your training or anything."
"I wasn't training," he growled. He felt a bit irritated by the way his own voice sounded today, somehow both angry and worried at the same time. It was a wonder he had managed to stay still right now. "I was on my way to Veilstone City. With this rain though, it's a pain to get anywhere."
"Yeah, you're telling me," Dawn mumbled. Paul lifted an eyebrow at the strange switch of mood, but decided to wait as to questioning it. The teenage girl on the other line let out a slight sound that seemed similar to a complaint before continuing, "Quick question, just how fast do you think that you could get to Hearthome?"
The boy twisted his face in bewilderment before shaking his head and looking down at his new Pokétch. To his surprise, the clock on the red electronic displayed that the time had already long passed evening. In fact, is was nearly after seven-thirty at night. He let out a grunt at the discovery before closing his eyes and thinking on the possible ways to get to the city she had mentioned. Where he was on Route 215, he was closer to his destination than he was to Solaceon Town. Walking all the way back to Hearthome City would take long into the night, which wasn't the smartest of choices at such a late hour. However, on his Honchkrow, he could probably be there within five minutes. He had mainly decided to travel on foot so as to not become accustomed to laziness, but he might as well be a bit quicker in going backwards.
With a sigh, the violet-haired boy turned his attention back to Dawn's voice. "I could be there within five minutes if it's important." He lifted a free hand up to his forehead to brush aside his bangs, not particularly enjoying the way that the drenched ends of his hair were directing the falling water to gush into his black eyes. He flicked them aside before turning his head towards the way he came, his eyes focusing on the grey beams of light flickering down through the dying leaves. "Why do you ask?"
"Well..." Dawn's voice was hesitant as Paul leaned back against the tree, waiting for her reason. "I was practicing this new move with Mamoswine when I kinda fell off his back and fell on some of his ice-boulders and might have accidentally broken something." Her voice was quick to finish her sentence, almost as if she was anticipating his reaction. Cold fear slipped in his veins as the teenager pulled away from the tree. Had she really been so careless? She just had to go and do something dangerous in the rain no less and get herself injured. Well, it only stood to reason. This was the same girl who trailed after a hard-headed idiot for over a year. She might have caught the same type of recklessness and poor decision-making that came from hanging around those types of people for so long.
With a sigh, the young teenager stepped back to the muddied road. "I'll be right over," he growled. Without waiting for her response, Paul snapped his device shut and tucked it away, nearly fumbling as he tried to pull out Honchkrow's Pokéball. He was slightly surprised at how fast his heart was beating, but it did stand to reason that he would worry. Having an injury such as a broken bone in the middle of a downpour would only lead to pneumonia. The red and white capsule in his hand burst open as he hurled it high, releasing the navy blue plumes of his Pokémon. Honchkrow fluttered in the air before looking down at his Trainer, waiting for orders.
Paul reached up to grasp on of the Pokémon's feet, his eyes narrowed against the drops of rain that escaped the leaves. "Hearthome City, and hurry." The Big Boss Pokémon quickly swooped down, allowing his Trainer to grab on and hang by only his bare hands. The navy blue Pokémon then lifted them up, stopping just a little ways above the tree-line. Then, with a harsh narrowing of his eyes against the rain, the Honchkrow took off to Hearthome.
True to his word, Paul landed in Hearthome five minutes after he hung up.
His blue sneakers skidded against the mud as he quickly found Dawn on the ground, her Pokémon surrounding her and trying to provide a sort of shelter from the rain with only their bodies and a few large leaves that they must have found. To his relief, the girl was a ways away from the bustle of the city and instead was training in a clearing on the outskirts. He stopped dead as he found her right leg twisted awkwardly, sticking out at an impossible angle. The sight made him cringe and try to divert his eyes to her face, unable to look at such a thing for very long—as weak as it was.
"Paul," Dawn breathed. To his surprise, her voice was still strong. She couldn't have been in the rain long, even with the makeshift umbrella her Pokémon were providing for her. "You came!" The boy just shrugged before kneeling beside her, the rain slipping down his back despite the jacket that he had hoped would have stopped such an attack. "I was kinda worried that you would have called my mother..."
"Why would I do that?" He lifted an eyebrow at her words, earning a dash of pink on her cheeks. "Why would I waste time in calling your mother when she's all the way in Twinleaf Town? What good would that do you?" He then turned away, his black orbs searching for some sort of object in the rain. His vision caught on strong branch and the young teen lifted himself from the ground to go retrieve it. Dawn just fumbled on her words, trying to find an excuse. She stopped when she looked up and found him walking back over with the branch, his hands rubbing the edge of his jacket against it in an effort to remove a bit of water and mud from the strong wood.
"Uh, what are you going to do with that branch," she asked.
Paul didn't even so much as give her a glance. Instead, the boy kneeled beside her once again and placed the branch on his lap. He then looked up with a slight trace of warning in his eyes. "Look, I'm going to have to move your leg back into place." The blue-haired girl cringed at the thought before she swallowed hard and gave him a nod. Her helper gave a nod of his own before tapping the leading Pokéball on his belt. An abrupt flash of light revealed his Torterra, the Pokémon eying the girl on the ground with bewilderment.
"Torterra, you're going to have to make some vines for this splint." Paul's eyes didn't even shift to his Pokémon as he carefully picked up Dawn's ankle. He reached out to lift her leg, but his hand stopped halfway there. His eyes then shifted to the girl with clouded eyes, lost in thought. He quickly motioned to the bag on her shoulder with his free hand before looking back to the task at hand. "Grab one of the Watmel berries you keep in your bag." When Dawn let out a questioning sound, he just shook his head and gave her a stern look. "I'm going to move your leg back into place, and when I do, it's going to hurt. I want you to bite down on that berry when I do. It'll bit tough to bite, and it'll keep your mouth from screaming."
"Okay." Dawn then turned towards her bag as little as she could, nervous about moving her legs. Her hands shuffled in the abyss of her items before she pulled out a large green berry, her hands shaking in a silent worry. Her blue eyes shifted back to the purple-haired boy as he then used his free hand to pick up her leg from below the knee.
"When I say now, I want you to bite that thing." She gave him a nod as he let out a sigh, his eyes fogged with worry. His fingers tightened against her skin, turning the pale flesh into a reddish color from his pressure. "Okay..." He paused as he straightened his back against the rain. "Now!"
Dawn bit down in the hard skin of the fruit just as Paul reversed the ninety-degree angle her leg had taken and gave it a much more proper one-eighty-degree instead.
"There," Paul sighed. He then turned to his starter Pokémon with narrowed eyes, the rain dripping from his face. He motioned towards the branch in his lap before taking a sharp breath. "Torterra, I want you to make a splint for her now." The Grass Type let out a snort of agreement before reaching out with a careful vine. The green quickly twisted around the branch in his Trainer's lap before placing it against the girl's leg. More vines soon followed, wrapping it around her leg and creating a makeshift brace for her broken leg.
"That should work for now." The teenager lifted himself from the ground as his Pokémon severed the excess vine, leaving the girl with a natural splint. The Continent Pokémon then looked to his Trainer, waiting for his next command. Paul looked to Dawn's Pokémon with curious eyes, watching as the smaller Pokémon tried their hardest to cover their Trainer with their leaf-umbrellas. "You're going to have to stay still for a while, though."
"But I can't sit out here in the rain!" Dawn looked up with worried eyes as the purple-haired boy just narrowed his eyes. "If I get wet, I'll get sick! Then my training will really be behind. I can't just wait out here and—"
"I wasn't suggesting that you wait in the rain, idiot." Paul's voice was sharp with irritation before his shoulders eased and he looked back to the girl. "Look, you can't walk. You can't get wet. You are currently sitting on a mud puddle in the middle of a downpour with a broken leg. You're not really going to be able to get anywhere." Her blue eyes widened with realization before they closed with a bit of sadness. The teenager felt a bit of guilt over his words before he took a deep breath and shook his head. "It's not like I can carry you either; you would just complain about your leg hurting the whole time."
"Well," Dawn shouted, "what do you want me to do, Paul? I can't keep sitting out here!"
"I know!" Paul flinched after he spoke, watching as a few tears jumped to the girl's blue eyes. He let out a disappointed sigh before looking down to his muddied shoes. "I'm sorry." He lifted his eyes before he continued, "Please, just let me finish. I think I could get you to a hospital on Torterra's back, but you'll have to stop complaining." Dawn watched him for a bit before nodding roughly, her eyes showing a bit of eagerness. The purple-haired boy just rolled his eyes before motioning to his starter.
"Torterra, put Dawn on your back." The Continent Pokémon let out a rumble as his Trainer walked back over to the girl's side, his hands carefully trying to lift her legs and keep them straight. The chill of the rain hid her blush as the boy then looked to his Pokémon. "You grab her under the shoulder and try to lift her up. I'll keep her legs from flailing around." The giant Pokémon then reached out with his vines, carefully embracing the girl and lifting her into the air. Paul let out a huff of air as he rose to his feet and helped move the injured Coordinator over to rest under Torterra's tree. The girl blinked as Paul placed her down and looked away, the boy trying desperately to catch his breath. He then looked to Hearthome City, his eyes narrowed with his own thoughts.
"I'll take you to the hospital, alright?" Dawn let out a slight confirmation before she recalled all of her Pokémon with the exception of her prideful Piplup. The blue Pokémon jumped to sit beside her as the Continent Pokémon below her shifted, ready to walk towards the giant tower of white that his Trainer was eying. "You finish off that berry of yours and we'll be there before you know it." He then turned away and walked on, leading them with his hands in his pockets.
"Thank you," Dawn breathed. Paul just let out a grunt of acceptance before walking around another mud puddle, trying to navigate through the minefield of slick spots. He tried not to smile as he heard her chatter on behind him, just as she had all summer. The Piplup beside her added to the noise as the quartet entered the swarm of the city, cutting through the crowd with relative ease with the combined efforts of Torterra's sheer size and Paul's warning glares.
Looks like training was going to be delayed for both parties.
Author's Note: A little bit of IkariShipping for SilverSpecterSwirl, after she gave me a prompt on Tumblr. This is like, my first time ever writing these two, so I'm pretty much writing them by memory. orz
I hope you like it!