A/n: Thank you so much for the two lovely reviews! They mean a lot, really! There is nothing like coming home from school to find some people have enjoyed your writing. It made my day! Thank you so much!
So, yeah… I present to you Chapter One of Think Twice in Dawn's POV! Enjoy!
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, Ash and Brock are not in the story! Sorry about that, but they just don't fit in. I don't hate them or anything, but they'd just get in my way… Dawn is now about fourteen and travelling alone. So it's about four years after the anime ends, okay? Good! On with the story!
The first thing she noticed was the smell.
As her consciousness was slowly returned to her, a harsh, stinging sensation assaulted her nostrils.
Disinfectant
Centimetere by centimetere, she cautiously raised her eyelids, and surveyed her surroundings for the first time in what felt like years.
White walls, a tiled floor. There was a white bedside table that had a bottle of water and a digital clock on it. The luminous, green numbers informed her it was three a.m.
So… she was in the Pokémon Center? Fair enough. It was marginally better than being out in a blizzard, she supposed. Now the only had to figure out how in hell she had gotten here in the first place, and everything would be fine. She guessed she had been sleeping for a long time. Her bones were stiff and her hair was a tangled disarray of knots; two very obvious clues. Her hair just seemed to automatically morph into a wild bush as soon as her head made contact with a pillow of any sort, she was used to it.
She sat up, and noted with relief all her belongings, such as her poke balls and backpack had all been safely stowed away in the bedside cabinet. That was one load off her mind, at least.
Stretching, she ran her fingers through her long azure locks. It may have been three a.m., but she wasn't the slightest bit tired anymore. She had no idea how long she had been unconscious. The only thing she remembered was the biting cold, the blinding snow and the exhaustion that had locked down on her body and forced her to the ground.
Shuddering at the memory, she got up and walked over to the window. The sky was beautiful in Snowpoint, as they were so far away from anywhere. She had never seen so many stars in her life; it was truly a sight to behold.
She had been gazing dreamily at the stars and letting her mind wonder fro about five minutes or so, when she became aware of a snuffling sound coming from somewhere outside. She glanced down, thinking it was probably a wild Sneseal scavenging for food or something.
She got quite a shock.
It was an Arcanine, just outside the Centre. She hadn't even known they lived out here. In fact, according to her Pokedex, they couldn't even be found out in the wild anywhere in Sinnoh. She had no idea why one was here, in Snowpoint City, of all places. She decided it was most likely an escaped trainer's pokémon or something. She was about to close the curtains and try to go back to sleep when it looked up suddenly, right at her.
It was a very odd Arcanine; it had a yellow streak in its mane, and a very intelligent look in its coal black eyes. It gazed at her steadily from the street and took a few steps toward her window, its head tilted slightly. She could have sworn from where she was standing she saw a flash of surprised recognition in its eyes. It then proceeded to back away and dart agilely down the street, the way only an Arcanine could.
She stared after it in surprise. That must have been the strangest behavior in a pokémon she'd ever seen.
Still, there was no point in worrying about it. What harm could a stray Arcanine do, after all? It was only a pokémon. There was nothing to be concerned about. Sure, it was a little strange looking, but it was probably a contest pokémon. That would explain that yellow streak anyway. Yellow was a fashionable colour right now.
Sighing heavily, she shut the curtains and padded back towards her bed. Even though she'd spent God knows how many hours sleeping, she was suddenly exhausted. She clambered under the cool, white duvet and pulled it over her head, slipping quickly into unconsciousness.
Later that morning, nine a.m. to be exact, she woke again.
Feeling a lot fresher, she had a quick shower, dressed, and grabbed her pokeballs, wanting to be in time to catch some breakfast.
She hurtled downstairs and towards the cafeteria. Rounding the corner, she skidded to a halt in dismay.
'Closed until lunch' read the white sign. She sighed in disappointment. She would have to out for breakfast now and, quite frankly, she had had enough of snow to last her a lifetime, thank you very much.
She pushed open the front door of the Pokémon Centre and stepped out into the softly falling snow. Pulling her pink zip-up jacket tighter around herself, she began her trek down the white pavement in hopes of finding a suitable restaurant.
A few streets later and still without any luck, she was on the verge on giving up when she spotted something that distracted her momentarily.
There was a girl, a little older than her, sitting on the windowsill of a nearby shop. That was not; however, what attracted her attention.
The girl was wearing shorts, and a short sleeved black and red t – shirt. She couldn't help staring. She wondered if the girl was aware it was most likely about minus ten degrees. Mornings were cold in Snowpoint.
Her straight black hair fell past her shoulders, and she was wearing a blue headband. Her skin was pale. She didn't appear the least bit uncomfortable in her current surroundings. She was intently focused on her nails for some reason, and showed no sign that indicated she noticed Dawn who had been standing there for about two minutes, shivering. Then she noticed something else quite…unusual about the girl.
She had a long, jagged scar that extended up her left calf and ended just above her knee. She shuddered. She could only imagine how someone so young could get a scar like that.
Suddenly, as if Dawn had yelled her name or made some sort of sign to make her presence known, the girl's head jerked up, Dawn jumped a little and took a few uneasy steps backward.
The girl looked at her with a puzzled expression for a split second, then tossed her hair over her shoulder and stood up abruptly. She looked… pleased to see her, although she couldn't imagine why.
'Hey' said the girl. She had an English accent, which surprised Dawn a little.
'Um..hi' mumbled Dawn nervously. There was something about the older female that made her just a tad wary. She looked up, and noticed the girl's eyes were a deep green.
The girl put her head to one side and smiled, as if something about Dawn's nervousness was amusing. She flicked her fringe out of her eyes.
'Look, I know this is kind of random, but do you know anyone called Ka- I mean Paul?' she asked. Her eyes glittered, as if she had just told a good joke.
Paul? She thought. Wow. I really didn't see that coming. How long has it been since I last saw him? Three, maybe four years? I wonder how he's doing?
She realized with a start the girl was still waiting for an answer to her question.
'Um…y-yeah, I know him. He's got purple hair, right?'
She nodded. 'That's the one. You don't happen to know where he is, do you?'
She blinked in shock. 'No. It's been a long time since I saw him last. Probably about four years ago. I have no idea where he is now.'
The girl smiled. 'You may find he's closer than you think. Do have any idea who saved you from that blizzard?' She was watching carefully for Dawn's reaction.
She started. 'How do you know about that?' she blurted out before she could stop herself. She ducked her head, embarrassed by her outburst.
Seeming to be satisfied with what she saw, the girl inhaled deeply and grinned, displaying her pearly teeth. 'I was talking to him about two days ago, when he brought you here. He was worried about you, but he had things to do. My friends and I said we'd stick around until you were better. He wanted me to give you this.' She held out her white hat. 'This is yours, I believe?
Dawn nodded, and took the hat. 'Thank you' she said quietly. She wasn't really concentrating on the girl anymore.
It was Paul who saved me? I thought he went somewhere else after the league. He's still here? Why didn't he stay? I wonder where he is now… he can't be far. She said it was only tow days ago. He couldn't have gone far, could he? Do I have a chance in catching up to him? I never said thank you…I miss him…
She stopped herself right there.
She didn't miss him. He was an arrogant, egotistical bastard. She only wanted to thank him for saving her life. She owed him one, she supposed.
'You're welcome.' The stranger's voice interrupted her reverie. She stuck out her hand. 'My name is Emma, by the way. It's nice to finally meet you.'
She shook her hand. 'I'm Dawn. It's nice to meet you, too.'
Emma smiled. 'Well, I'd better be off. Listen; if you see Paul – her lip curled – be sure to mention Emma was looking for him.'
Dawn was a little confused at why she found Paul's name so funny, but something told her not to ask. 'I will. Although knowing him, he's probably in Johto by now.'
Emma laughed. 'Perhaps, I wouldn't bet on it though. Look, I have to go now. Maybe I'll see you round?' Her eyes were gleaming, and it made Dawn a little nervous.
'Sure… maybe…' She said hesitantly, fiddling with a loose thread on her jacket.
Nodding, Emma flicked her hair again. 'Bye then' she said, and waved briefly as she walked away.
Dawn stared after her. This had to be one of the strangest mornings of her entire life.
Only when her stomach rumbled impatiently she remembered why she had come out in the first place. She still had some breakfast hunting to do! Worrying about Paul, Emma, and Arcanines with yellow streaks would have to put on the back burner until she'd had a good meal.
A/n: Done! Whew, this turned out to be a lot longer than I intended. Oh well!
Look, I'm sorry to say I won't always update this quickly. I have to be 'in the zone' if you know what I mean, so you'll have to be patient and bear with me! I doubt I'll have any new chapters up until at least next week, so yeah.
Reviews are wonderful! One review is worth a thousand favorites!