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Chapter 2: Awakening
Location: Team Galactic Headquarters
POV: Normal
Cyrus sat in his chair, drumming his fingers on his desk. His people had once again stuffed up. Was it too hard to ask for them to do their jobs right? Maybe he was setting his expectations too high. Though it was more possible that he needed new people. A knock on the door caught his attention and he muttered "Come in,"
A man with a terrified expression entered. He wore a long, white, lab coat and large, circular glasses.
"Y-you called s-sir?" The man said nervously, pushing his glasses further up his nose.
"Phillip, do take a seat," He told the man, gesturing to the chairs in front of him.
Phillip sat down quickly, careful not to anger Cyrus further.
"The girl... she is vital to our plans succeeding, yes?" Cyrus asked.
"Yes, she is s-sir," Phillip replied.
"So without her everything we have done so far will have been for waste?" Cyrus continued.
"I don't know about it being for waste-"
"Don't lie to me Phillip," Cyrus interrupted.
"Y-y-yes sir, without her e-everything we have done will have been u-u-useless," Phillip squeaked.
"Then WHY DID YOU LET HER ESCAPE?" Cyrus yelled.
"She outsmarted me sir, I am terribly sorry," Phillip told him, cringing in his seat.
"You were outsmarted by her? Outsmarted? How old is she? Ten?" Cyrus boomed.
"S-she is f-fifteen sir," Phillip stuttered.
"I don't care how old she is," Cyrus continued "The only thing I care about is how you plan to fix this,"
"I... I... I," Phillip continued, glancing anywhere but at the man in front of him. He had no idea how to fix this.
Another knock on the door saved him from having to answer.
"What is it now?" Cyrus yelled.
A new man stepped into the room, a smug smile on his face. "The girl has been located," He told Cyrus "I have sent a team out to retrieve her,"
"And where is she, Saturn?" Cyrus asked, rubbing his throbbing temples.
"She ran into the forest, but we have reason to believe she is at a boy's house. A boy she knew from previous travels. He lives in the area and often trains in that forest. A local from the city saw him carry a girl into his house," Saturn replied.
"Then get to it!" Cyrus commanded "And take Phillip here to a secure room. I would like to watch him. I have reason to believe he helped the girl escape,"
"As you wish, Master Cyrus," Saturn replied with a bow. He grabbed Phillip's sleeve and dragged him down the corridor, towards the dungeons.
"I never helped her," Phillip cried.
"Shut it. If Master Cyrus says you did then you did," He told the blubbering man.
If everything turned out today, Saturn would be rewarded highly. He shoved Phillip into one of the cells and turned back towards his room. He needed to call his troops and see how they were going. He was not going to let them stuff this up.
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Location: Paul & Reggie's house, Veilstone City
POV: Normal
Paul grabbed his pokeballs and headed outside. Dawn hadn't woken up yet and he knew Reggie would ring him when she did. He had a prinplup to train.
When he reached his usual training spot, he released the prinplup.
"Prinplup!" It cried.
"Now, let's get some things straight," Paul told the pokemon "I only keep strong pokemon on my team. If you are anything but strong, you will be released,"
The prinplup nodded and Paul was surprised to see determination, not fear, in her eyes.
"Okay then. Use metal claw on that tree," Paul told her, pointing to one of the many trees surrounding them.
She nodded, raising her fin. It turned a brilliant shade of silver as she ran towards the tree. Paul noted that she was pretty fast, but he still had some work to do in that department. Her hand smashed into the tree, sending it down.
Paul raised his eyebrows in surprise then put on his usual, bored expression.
"Again," He told the prinplup, pointing to another tree.
By the time Paul had finished his training, he was surrounded by fallen trees.
"Return," He told the prinplup before adding its pokeball to his belt.
He then made his way out of the woods and back to his house.
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Location: Paul & Reggie's house, Veilstone City
POV: Dawn
I was being followed, of that I was sure. I'd had that prickly feeling on the back of my neck but every time I turned around, no one was there. I turned around once more before heading into the bushes. Taking the shortcut home suddenly seemed like a good idea. I wasn't that far away now anyways.
Piplup looked up at me with concern and said "Pip?"
I glanced down at him and smiled "No need to worry," I told him.
He shook his head but kept following me.
A loud noise caught our attention and a group of people stepped out of the bushes, surrounding us. They were almost all dressed in Team Galactic uniforms and they were all staring at me intently. A man stood in the centre, the only one without a uniform. He raised his arms in a grand gesture and stepped towards me.
"Dawn," He said "I have been looking for you everywhere,"
"You have?" I asked, taking a step backwards.
"Of course," He replied "I am Cyrus, leader of Team Galactic,"
"Th-that's nice," I told him, taking another step back.
"Dawn, what do you think you are doing?" He asked me.
"I... I... uh," I replied, getting flustered. Piplup stepped in front of me and puffed out his chest.
"Pip, lup, lu," He said, glaring at the people who surrounded us.
Cyrus laughed. "You think you can defeat me with that?" He asked, shaking his head. He pulled out his own pokeball and threw it, releasing his weavile.
"Night slash, followed by ice punch," He instructed.
"Piplup, dodge and use whirlpool," I cried.
Weavile's ice punch hit piplup's whirlpool, freezing it and the tops of his fins.
"Piiiip," He cried.
"Piplup! Are you okay?" I asked.
"Lup," He replied, falling to the ground from the weight of the ice.
"Okay then, come out Togekiss. Use aura sphere," I cried.
"Toge!" Togekiss called, throwing her aura sphere at the weavile.
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I returned buneary to her pokeball and clipped it to my belt. Piplup stirred in my arms and let out a soft moan. Cyrus had managed to defeat every one of my pokemon with ease.
"Piplup, I'm sorry, but... you need to go in your pokeball," I told him, tears streaking down my cheeks. I returned him then turned to face Cyrus.
"Ah, Dawn, I thought your pokemon were a little bit better than that," He told me.
"You can't have them," I yelled, clutching my pokeballs to my chest protectively.
"My dear," He said with a smile "What an earth makes you think I want your pokemon?"
I felt my heart thud in my chest. He didn't want my pokemon?
"Then what do you want?" I asked.
"I want you, Dawn," He replied.
I awoke with a loud, piercing scream. I had been having the same dream ever since the night Cyrus had found me. It wasn't really a dream, but more of a memory. I glanced around the room and realised I was in a clean, spacious room that was sparsely decorated. I was no longer in the Team Galactic Headquarters. The bed I lay in was large and comfortable.
"Dawn?" Someone yelled, crashing into the room.
"Paul?" I said in disbelief.
He breathed out a sigh of relief. "Don't scream like that, someone would think you were being murdered," He told me, then hurried out of the room, his usual scowl on his face.
Another person walked in, carrying a tray of food and drink.
"And so the sleeping beauty awakens," Reggie told me with a grin.
"Hey Reggie... where am I exactly?" I asked him.
He placed the tray down beside me and sat down on the bed.
"You're in Pauls and my house," He replied.
"And how did I get here?" I asked him.
"Paul found you in the woods," He replied.
"Paul found me?" I repeated.
"Yep... and he brought you here," Reggie said "Now, enough questions. I brought you soup, so eat up and get your strength back,"
"Thanks Reggie," I told him, grabbing the soup bowl.
"You're welcome, Dawn," He replied before leaving the room.
I'm pretty sure Dawn is younger than fifteen, but I made her older for my fanfiction. She doesn't look like any ten year old I've ever seen! I hope you like this chapter and please review!