Platinum Witch
Chapter 3: Good Thoughts and Bad Memories
AN: Hey there...
Yeah sorry for taking so long, but it's not my fault, I swear. So for those of you who don't follow my other stories, my USB drive, which contained all my chapter files, got corrupted a while ago. I had to reformat it, which meant I lost all my files, including the new chapters, so I had to rewrite them from scratch. Unfortunately, this chapter may not be as long as the other two, or that action-paced as the other two, but hopefully you enjoy it, nonetheless.
And now, to reply to the reviews ever since the last update:
Guest (Feb 24): Thanks! Glad you like it!
Tony Anderson: Thanks, unfortunately I didn't have much luck updating this one faster than I wished...^^'
I M Poik: Idk it could be the Griseous Orb. And yeah, a lot of people apparently likes that part of the chapter. I bet if had to do with the way Barry always kept calling Lucas some form of French.
Yeah...it was only chapter 2, so technically you shouldn't know her entire team. Oh well, it's my fault for making her initial debut all the way back at CoYS, so it's really not your fault, so no worries.
Will I keep Barry's team the same? Well mostly, but I am planning to remove Heracross and Snorlax. And give him something even better (or worse depending on how you see it).
Anonymous Trainer: Yeah a lot of people apparently liked when Barry kept calling Lucas something that involved the word French. It was hilarious, no lie. Well at least Barry's quick to not hold grudges.
Ultimateheatblast4: Fortunately for you and those who are fans of Lucas, this chapter does dwell on more character development. Among other things, but that's a big one too. Also unfortunately while I will acknowledge Kalos, I will most likely not give her Mega Evolution. I just feel it wouldn't fit with the story. Hope you understand.
ForeverMistake: Maybe being evil isn't so bad. Or maybe it is. Who knows?
EDIT: Ah shit I mixed you up with the person above you. Sorry bout that, fixed it now and thanks for pointing it out.
This is what happens when you do this on a rush :P
Knight of Wings: Yeah this is what happens when you look through a chapter after you release it; you find mistakes that you probably should've dealt with but were really tired since it was like 3 am (assuming). Well, even if you don't like gen 4, I'm glad you're giving this story a chance. In regards to the legendary items, I wouldn't dwell on it too much, since the story's only really gonna focus on the source of Dawn's powers, but I do figure that if the items have such power towards legendaries, then certainly they would have some kind of effect on humans as well.
zGrimLock: Yeah sorry it took so long. My USB was ded :(
BreadNotDead: Thanks! Hm, interesting you would compare this Dawn to Platinum from the Adventures series. I guess I can see the similarities. And do expect some more development on the other characters.
Aight, let's get going already.
No one understood me.
The adults were afraid of me and the kids picked and bullied me.
Everyone treated me like an outcast.
Only Mom accepted me, giving me a warm smile and telling me sugarcoated lies to comfort and protect me.
The Pearl family still treated me like me, and not like some kind of monster. Barry had apologized, and we became friends again.
Gira always talked to me and understood me.
But other than that? No one else.
Just because I could do things they couldn't.
Just because they didn't understand me.
Dad...is this why you left me?
Dawn opened her eyes, having dozed off lightly at a table. She shook her head, before spotting Turtwig and Shinx eating their meals happily.
"-Hm? Are you alright?-" Turtwig asked Dawn.
"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine," Dawn assured her turtle as she looked around, not seeing Barry anywhere. "Where's Barry?"
Turtwig pointed his head to the counter, where Barry had just finished talking to the nurse and returned to Dawn.
"Hey, you're awake!" Barry said.
"Mm," Dawn muttered. "You're all set?"
"Yep, got all the supplies needed and everyone's healed up," Barry said.
"So, where're we headed?" Dawn asked.
Barry nodded, before he rummaged through his bag and took out a Town Map and laid it pon the table.
"Well, we're still in Sandgem," Barry said. "So if we leave soon, then we can make it to Jubilife City before noon, take a lunch break there, and then reach...ah..."
"What's wrong?" Dawn asked as she glanced at the map.
"The next city after Jubilife...is Oreburgh..." Barry muttered.
Dawn stared at the location on the map, her expression not changing in the slightest. In spite of that, however, the name 'Oreburgh' made her mood sour. It brought back bad memories, after all.
"Is there any reason to go there?" Dawn asked.
"W-Well, there's a gym there..." Barry explained somewhat meekly. "And I wanted to challenge it and get the gym badge..."
Dawn didn't respond to Barry and kept staring at Oreburgh, making the blonde trainer more nervous.
"I-I mean we don't have to go there!" Barry made a hasty rebuttal. "There's more gyms out there so we could always go there instead–!"
"It's fine," Dawn replied. "We can go to Oreburgh."
"H-Huh...?" Barry asked.
"There're eight gyms in each region, after all," Dawn said coolly. "Even if we do skip Oreburgh, we'll have to come back here eventually, so might as well get it over with as soon as possible anyways."
"You sure?" Barry asked, still concerned for Dawn.
"Oh please, I'm not that weak of a girl," Dawn scoffed. "I can handle it. What's the gym's type anyways?"
"Huh? Uh...pretty sure it was Rock," Barry answered.
"Then you better get a Grass or Water-type, because I'm pretty sure you won't do so hot with just Wukong and Hawkeye," Dawn teased.
"Right..." Barry muttered, agreeing with her. "Oh! Speaking of which!"
Barry took out his pokéballs and let out Wukong and Hawkeye, his newly caught Starly.
"Alright there," Barry said, getting the starly's attention. "Welcome to the team! From now on, your name is 'Hawkeye'!"
The starly, now christened 'Hawkeye', tilted his head to the side, before nodding, seemingly accepting his new name.
"Alright!" Barry smirked. "That's Wukong. He's your buddy. Play nice, and let's get along!"
"-Hiya!-" Wukong greeted Hawkeye, extending his hand. "-The name's Wukong! Let's get along!-"
Hawkeye glanced at the hand extended to him, then glanced at Wukong, before nodding, extended his own wing and accepted the handshake.
"-Right,-" Hawkeye nodded, replying curtly.
"Alright then," Dawn said, getting up and got Turtwig's and Shinx's attentions. "We might as well go ASAP."
"Alright," Barry nodded. "Ah, what about Frencherton?"
"You mean Lucas?" Dawn asked.
"Yeah, what about Lucas?" Barry asked.
"He's not our responsibility," Dawn dismissed. "I'm sure he can take care of himself."
"If you say so," Barry shrugged as Dawn headed out the door, with Turtwig and Shinx following dutifully.
"Now, Wing Attack!"
Zubat swooped down upon the kricketune and rammed his wing into it, sending it into a nearby tree. The kricketune got back up and proceeded to lunge for Zubat, but the bat was able to avoid it.
"Leech Life!"
Zubat spun around Kricketune and sunk his fangs into the bug, before proceeding to drain the vitality out of the kricketune. After a few seconds or so, Zubat let go of Kricketune, where the bug fell down fainted.
"There we go," Lucas sighed in relief.
As the boy petted Zubat for a job well done, Lucas took out his pokédex and scrolled through the data available.
"Bidoof...Shinx...Starly...and now Kricketune..." Lucas murmured. "...That should be all the species in Route 202."
Lucas looked at his pokétch.
10:52; Not bad for time. Lucas thought it would take much longer to track down and capture a member of all the available species in this route. But fortunately he was able to find them faster than expected. He was hoping for some rarer finds, like how he found Zubat, but unfortunately he had no such luck. Finding the kricketune was a challenge in itself, since they're pretty rare and only show up either in the morning or at night; never in between.
The boy glanced to his zubat, the bat already warming up to him. Meanwhile he glanced down to Piplup, who was getting irritated due to not getting to battle for the last few wild Pokémon.
"C'mon, you got to fight a lot," Lucas said to the penguin. "And Zubat needed the experience."
"-...I suppose so...-" Piplup grumbled, conceding.
Lucas nodded before moving on ahead of the route, wanting to reach the next town to heal up his Pokémon and stock up on supplies. He checked his wallet, noting the amount of money he had on him.
"42,000 pd (pokédollars)..." Lucas muttered. "I could buy a set of forty, a few super potions...maybe something for Lucia too..."
Lord knows how Lucia would feel lonely all by herself. Well, maybe not 'alone', per say, since Professor Rowan is taking care of her while he's out helping in his research, but still. Might as well get her a souvenir from whatever town he reaches.
As Lucas was about to move on ahead, he heard a commotion from not too far behind.
"Alright, go Hawkeye! Quick Attack!"
He turned around to see two familiar faces, battling each other. It was that blonde idiot, Barry, with the starly, apparently now christened 'Hawkeye', that he caught yesterday, battling Dawn with her shinx. The starly swooped down at a blistering speed at the shinx, but the Electric-type was able to withstand it and bite the starly by its wing.
"Throw him down," Dawn commanded.
Shinx complied, before hurling Hawkeye down to the ground. Hawkeye growled, before getting back up and glaring at Shinx.
"C'mon, you can do it, Hawkeye!" Barry yelled. "Double Team into Quick Attack!"
Hawkeye rose into the air, before moving so fast that he created duplicate illusions of himself. All the duplicates then proceeded to dive bomb to Shinx.
"Spark," Dawn commanded calmly.
Shinx growled as he discharged electricity around him, shielding him from the multiple Hawkeye clones and dispelling them one by one, until the real Hawkeye got electrocuted. The bird went down, obviously unable to withstand the Electric-type attack.
"NOOO! HAWKEYE!" Barry cried out.
"Nice job, Shinx," Dawn smiled, kneeling down to pet the lynx kitten on the head.
Now watching Dawn battle, she wasn't half bad. Not saying that the idiot wasn't bad, yesterday's competition was proof enough that he was at least competent, but he never saw Dawn battle, so this was a good demonstration to her own battling skills, which weren't half bad.
"Nice to see that you two are already up to pace with your newly caught members," Lucas commented as he approached them.
"Huh?" Barry asked, picking up Hawkeye and glanced up to see Lucas. "Oh hey Luigi!"
Well at least he didn't call him by some derogative French name. That's an improvement.
"Lucas," the beret-wearing boy corrected.
"Right, sorry," the blonde muttered sheepishly.
"What're you two doing out here, anyways?" Lucas asked.
"We're headed for Jubilife," Dawn explained. "And might as well train up our new members here."
"Sounds about right," Lucas mumbled. "Well, since we're all headed to Jubilife, wanna go together as a group?"
"Sounds fair," Dawn said. "C'mon Barry, let's go."
The duo got their things together, before following Lucas out of Route 202.
"So how's the first day out on the journey?" Lucas decided to ask.
"Not too bad, I suppose," Dawn shrugged.
"Easy for you to say, you knocked out Hawkeye!" Barry yelled. "How is he supposed to get better if you keep beating him up!?"
"Then get better," Dawn teased.
As the blonde argued with his smirking friend, Lucas glanced at the duo from where he was leading them to the city. The boy looked somewhat skeptical and nervous, the memory of his last interaction with her still fresh in his mind.
"Try and harm Barry in any way, shape, or form, I dare you," Dawn hissed. "You'll be wishing to Arceus you died another way when I'm done with you."
"O-Of course..." Lucas stuttered in fear.
"Just so that we're clear," Dawn smiled as the shadowy spike disintegrated. "Oh and snitching on me will yield the same results, so don't if you still want to live another day."
Nothing made sense that night. What with that thing that she somehow conjured up to threaten him with, and her sudden jump in malice when she threatened him, how she did it, he didn't understand, even now.
But now, seeing her casually deal with her noisy friend, and how she treated her Pokémon rather nicely (if how Shinx was happily snuggling in her grasp was any indication), it was much harder to believe that the Dawn now and the Dawn from last night were the same people.
But then again, perhaps she was just that good at faking. Maybe that was why Barry wasn't afraid of her.
3 days ever since the successful infiltration the Sinnoh Region. Still no signs of the target.
I have found myself wandering the streets of this city called 'Jubilife' after reaching this region from the Canalave Harbor. The city seems to be a fairly peaceful city, but that shouldn't mean I should let my guard down! There could be some rather gruesome crimes hidden within these streets of Jubilife. Perhaps I should investigate this city for any underground crimes.
...No, I need to focus on the task at hand. The bureau has tasked me with investigation of this region for one purpose: to investigate the rumored potential terrorist cell masquerading as an energy research and development company; 'Galactic Energy Company'.
While this energy company has up to this point not shown any signs to raise eyebrows on the surface, reports suggest that the company may or may not be involved with illegal transactions, such as black market dealing, illegal experimentation, theft of Pokémon, and among others. There wasn't even any confirmation on anything about the energy they were researching on; as far as the reports are considered, this so-called energy doesn't even exist.
And thus, the International Police has assigned me to investigate on this matter. To find the truth behind this 'Galactic Energy Company'.
So even in these calm streets of Jubilife, I must find the truth behind this company.
As an agent of the Pokémon International Police, I must complete this mission–!
Wait, what are these children doing staring at me?
"Uh...are you alright, sir?" Lucas asked, having watched as the strange man with black hair in the trench coat having dashed from street lamp to street lamp.
"Ah–yes," the man stammered. "I was uh...hm...Exploring the city, as you would say. I am new here. I am in no way suspicious at all."
"Uh huh..." Dawn said skeptically. Neither of them seemed to believe Trench-coat man. He just screamed suspicious.
Barry, on the other hand, predictably bought the charade.
"Hey, then why don't we show you around?" Barry asked.
"Barry, we haven't even been here in how long, exactly?" Dawn retorted. "How is bringing along a total stranger on a tour of a city we aren't even too sure about a good idea?"
"Hey it was being nice," Barry muttered.
"I'm flattered, but I shouldn't give you three any trouble," the man insisted.
"You sure?" Barry asked, before glancing at his attire. "Hey you look pretty cool though. Are you an undercover cop or something?"
WHAAAAAT?! HOW!? HOW DID THIS BOY FIGURE MY IDENTITY SO QUICKLY!?
IS HE SOME KIND OF CUNNING GENIUS?!
"Barry, don't ask stupid questions," Dawn chided her childhood friend. "Look, you made the poor man freeze up from your question."
The man did in fact freeze after Barry asked his question, staring at the blonde as if he just grew a second head.
"Uh...sir?" Barry asked.
"How did you know!?" he suddenly yelled. "How did you unmask me as a member of the International Police?!"
"...You can't be serious right now," Dawn muttered.
"So you are a cop?!" Barry asked excitedly, happy that his random guess was somehow right.
"...We were just making small talk," Lucas said somewhat cautiously.
"...Heh, you only claim you were only making conversation, do you?" the man asked, now smirking as he pointed to Barry. "But, I know better not to believe that. No, no, no. You recognized right away that I was someone extraordinary. That is why you spoke to me, is it not? Your power of observation is fearsome! Quite admirable, you are!"
"Really?" Barry asked. 'All I thought was that he had a cool trench coat so that's what I went with. Man, Dawn must think I'm smart now!'
"Uh huh..." Dawn muttered, eyes narrowed. 'Oh God, Barry must think he's so smart now...'
"So...who are you then?" Lucas asked.
"Well, now that my cover has been blown, let me introduce myself," the man said. 'I am a globe-trotting elite of the International Police. My name...Ah, no. I shall inform you only of my code name.
"My code name...it is Looker. It is what they call me."
"'Looker'?" Lucas asked.
"Cool..." Barry said, somewhat mesmerized.
"Incidentally, is the saying, 'Don't be a thief familiar to you?'" Looker asked.
"No, not really," Barry said.
"What?!" Looker gasped. "You claim to not know it? How could that be? Perhaps your mama has said it, but you have forgotten it?"
Lucas's expression darkened a bit when the police officer asked that.
"...Sure, probably," Dawn answered, noticing Lucas's change in expression.
"It is no problem," Looker chuckled, oblivious to Lucas's darkened expression. "Now listen, my friends. It is wrong to take what belongs to others."
"While that's painfully obvious," Barry interjected. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Yes, while this may be an obvious thing, unfortunately, there are apparently those who do not heed those words," Looker explained. "In Sinnoh, in fact, there are criminals stealing the Pokémon of others and among other heinous crimes that cannot be overlooked."
Even if he didn't have the proof right now, he was sure that was the case; the criminals are experts at hiding their crimes.
"I have, therefore, been on the lookout for characters arousing my suspicion," Looker said.
"OOH! OOH! Can we help?" Barry asked.
"Barry..." Dawn grumbled, not wanting to get involved with the suspicious character in front of them.
"Ah yes, that would be very helpful, actually," Looker agreed. "You three are trainers, yes? Then please, accept these."
Looker rummaged through his coat and revealed three sleek blue devices, before handing them to the trio.
"These are called 'Vs. Recorders'," Looker explained. "They are nifty devices for recording matches. If you do happen to run into these suspicious criminals, then I would like it if you three could record the matches with these and send them to me. It would be most appreciated."
Dawn examined the device that was given to her. They were basically glorified camcorders. Perhaps this could be useful to her in other ways.
"Sure, why not," Dawn agreed.
"You can count on us!" Barry smirked.
"...Sure," Lucas muttered.
"Excellent!" Looker smiled. "My contact number is already pre-installed in them, so you can use these to send the videos over to me. Now, I must be off! Stay safe and be careful, my friends! And you must inform me of any happenings!"
And with that, Looker rushed off into the city of Jubilife, leaving the trio out in the streets next to the pokécenter.
"...That guy was cool," Barry said.
"He was fucking weird," Dawn chided. "Now then, might as well rest up at the pokécenter."
Agreeing with the girl, the boys followed her into the pokécenter, where they went in and let the nurse heal up their Pokémon. While the nurse was busy healing the Pokémon, Lucas went over to the PC, before dialing a few numbers into it and picking up the provided phone.
"Who're you calling?" Barry asked.
"Mm, just my little sister," Lucas replied.
"Little sister...?" Dawn asked.
Before Lucas could reply, a small girl with slate grey hair appeared on the screen.
"Hello?" the girl asked.
"Hi, Lucia," Lucas smiled.
"Ah, Big Brother!" the girl, Lucia, replied happily.
"How's everything over there?" Lucas asked.
"Mh, everything's fine," Lucia said. "Professor Rowan's making lunch right now. How's the journey going?"
"Everything's alright out here so far," Lucas replied.
"Oh? So that's your little sister?" Dawn asked as she and Barry peaked over Lucas's shoulders.
"Are those two the new dex-holders you told me about yesterday?" Lucia asked.
"Ah, right," Lucas said, before making room for Dawn and Barry. "You two, this is my little sister, Lucia. Lucia, they're Dawn and Barry."
"Hey there!" Barry greeted.
"Hello," Dawn said.
"Hello," Lucia replied. "So you two are the new trainers assigned by Professor Rowan to help out my brother?"
"Well, yes, I guess," Dawn muttered.
"Hmm..." Lucia murmured, staring at the two, before smiling meekly. "...Please do take care of Big Brother. He tends to overwork himself if no one's there to stop him."
Dawn looked genuinely surprised, before smiling at the adorable small girl.
"Don't worry," Dawn assured her. "He's in good hands."
"Oh, okay," Lucia replied, somewhat relieved. "Alright then. Be careful Big Brother!"
The call was cut off, where Lucas put the phone back where it was.
"She seemed nice," Barry commented.
"Yeah," Lucas chuckled. "Now then, where're you two headed for now?"
"Well, we were headed for Oreburgh to challenge the gym," Dawn explained.
"Wait, are you gonna challenge the gym too?" Barry asked.
"Might as well," Dawn shrugged. "Although you should consider adding a new member."
"Huh? What's wrong with Wukong and Hawkeye?" Barry asked.
"What?" Lucas asked.
"Chimchar and Starly," Dawn told Lucas, before shifting her focus back to Barry. "Last time I recall, Oreburgh was a mining city. So tell me, what type is mostly associated with mines?"
"Rock-types?" Barry asked, before realizing what Dawn was eluding at. "Oooh..."
"I highly doubt you'll go far with a Fire-type and a Flying-type," Dawn said. "At least catch something to deal with Rock-types."
"Well, there's always Route 204," Lucas said. "You can find psyducks and budews there. While they might not be the best answers to Rock-types, it's something."
"Budews...Ooh! A Grass-type sounds nice!" Barry exclaimed. "Where's Route 204?"
"It's up north from here," Lucas explained. "You could also train there while you're at it."
"Alright! Let's go!" Barry exclaimed excitedly as he rushed out of the pokécenter.
"Son of a..." Dawn grumbled. "Get back here!"
Dawn rushed out of the pokécenter and followed Barry, leaving Lucas by himself. The boy sighed, before following the girl, having nothing else better to do.
"Alright Hawkeye, Wing Attack!" Barry exclaimed.
It hadn't taken too long for Barry to make his way to Route 204, considering how fast the boy runs when he's motivated. By the time Dawn and Lucas caught up to the blonde, he had already ran into a wild budew and was in the middle of battling it with Hawkeye.
"Well that was quick," Dawn said as she stood to the side.
"You aren't gonna look for anything for your team?" Lucas asked.
Dawn glanced around; she spotted a few starlies, kricketots, and some shinx. All Pokémon she had already seen; it'd be redundant for her to get a Pokémon that Barry already got, kricketot looked boring to her, and she already has Shinx.
"Mm, nothing interests me here," Dawn shrugged.
"If you say so," Lucas shrugged.
The two watched as the budew hastily side-stepped out of the way of Hawkeye's attack, before it opened its two vines up and released a yellow powder at the bird, paralyzing him.
"Agh! Hawkeye!" Barry yelled as the bird struggled to remain airborne. "Get back!"
Hawkeye reluctantly nodded, before returning to Barry as he switched him out for Wukong and commanding him to attack the budew. Dawn and Lucas were content with watching the boy try to capture the budew.
"...Your sister said Professor Rowan was making lunch," Dawn said to Lucas, making the boy stiffen. "...What about your parents?"
"...Hehe, you're pretty sharp," Lucas chuckled somewhat emptily. "...My parents...they're dead. Died from a car accident when I was young. Lucia was barely two years old."
Dawn looked shocked from that revelation. Lucas simply looked sheepish.
"Ever since then, Professor Rowan took us in and raised us as a surrogate father of sorts," Lucas said. "I'm actually participating in completing the pokédex as an internship or sorts, so that I can get an actual job to support Lucia, so we don't have to keep relying on Rowan.
"While he may not have been the 'best' per say, and had to leave for Kanto for a research trip, we still love him and are grateful for him taking care of us in our time of need."
"...I...Sorry..." Dawn muttered. "I shouldn't have pried at something that sensitive."
"Huh? No, it's no problem, it's not your fault," Lucas assured her. "It wouldn't do anyone any good if I brooded about it up to now. But how about you and Barry? What about your parents?"
Dawn glanced at Lucas with a curious eye, before glancing back to Barry, who was still in the middle of battling Budew.
"Barry's mother is a former professional chef," Dawn decided to dwell. "And his father's a veteran trainer, who's currently traveling the region."
"So his dad left the family?" Lucas asked incredulously.
"Not exactly," Dawn said. "He still calls the family and transfers any money he earns on his trip to them to support the family. Barry's Mom's still pissed that he just left for a journey though..."
"And what about you?" Lucas asked.
"...My mother's a retired top coordinator," Dawn said.
"Uh huh, and what about your father?"
"...I don't know."
"Huh?"
"He left the family when I was young. And unlike Barry's Dad, we never heard from him ever since."
"Oh..."
Lucas scratched his head nervously. Now this time he ended up prying into a rather sensitive topic to the girl.
"It's alright," Dawn sighed, noticing Lucas's nervous expression. "He ran out when I was like six. It's a long time ago. I couldn't care any less of what happened to him since."
"I see..." Lucas mumbled.
Just as they finished their conversation, Barry let out a cheer as he rushed over to pick up a pokéball.
"Yeah! I caught Budew!" Barry announced to the world, before rushing over to Dawn and Lucas. "Did you see, Dawn?"
"Yes, I saw," Dawn reassured Barry, giving him a genuine smile. "Nice job."
Lucas watched Dawn as she watched Barry release his newly caught budew out into the open, interacting with the rose pod.
"Hiya!" Barry said to the budew. "My name's Barry. You're a part of my team now. Let's get along, and let's be the very best we can!"
"-Uh...okay...-" Budew nodded shyly.
"Hmm...We need to give you a nickname..." Barry mumbled, thinking hard as to what to call Budew. "...Ooh! How about 'Chloris'?"
"-'Chloris'?-" Budew asked, tilting her body to the side.
"You're a girl, right?" Barry asked, where Budew nodded in response.
"Well, Chloris is the name of a nymph who's associated with flowers, namely roses," Barry said. "So I figured that would work, since you'll evolve into a roserade eventually. So, what do you think? You like it?"
"-'Chloris'...-" Budew mouthed, before smiling and nodding. "-It sounds pretty.-"
"Alright!" Barry smirked. "Your name's now Chloris! Oh that reminds me."
Barry also released Wukong and Hawkeye to allow them to meet their new teammate. Wukong landed to the ground, while Hawkeye fell face-first, still paralyzed from his battle.
"-Ugh...-" Hawkeye muttered.
"Hang on," Barry told the bird as he took out a paralyze heal and sprayed it at the bird.
"-Uh...S-Sorry...-" Budew, now Chloris, meekly apologized.
"-Ugh...It's alright," Hawkeye grumbled as he stretched out his wings.
"-Anywho!-" Wukong smiled. "-I'm Wukong! And grumpy over there is Hawkeye!-"
"-Oh put a sock in it,-" Hawkeye growled at Wukong.
"-Oh uh...I'm Chloris,-" she introduced herself. "-Nice to meet you.-"
"Alright, now that that's settled," Barry said. "Let's train up here, and then head for Oreburgh. Is that cool with you Dawn?"
"Sure, why not," she shrugged as she let Turtwig and Shinx out into the open. "Alright you two, go beat up Barry's Pokémon."
"-Okay,-" Turtwig and Shinx replied as they faced Barry's team.
"Wait, what?" Barry asked as Turtwig and Shinx lunged at Hawkeye and Wukong.
As Dawn's Pokémon engaged Barry's Pokémon into battle, Lucas noticed how genuinely happier Dawn looked. She seemed to be enjoying herself as her Pokémon battled his Pokémon. It was a stark contrast to her usual aloof upfront or when she threatened him.
Eventually they all fell down, tired from the mindless and intense training.
"-Ow, my everything...-" Wukong moaned.
"-You hit too hard...-" Turtwig groaned.
"Alright, let's head back to the pokécenter," Dawn decided. "You all deserve a good rest."
The two trainers recalled their Pokémon, before getting their belongings ready.
"So what are you gonna do now?" Dawn asked Lucas.
"Hm? Oh I'll stay behind here to search through the route some more," Lucas said. "You two go on ahead."
"Hm, if you say so," Dawn shrugged. "Don't push yourself. You'll make your sister worry."
"Haha, yeah, yeah," Lucas chuckled.
Belaying their farewells, Dawn and Barry headed back to Jubilife, as Lucas saw them off, before heading into the route to survey the wildlife there.
Lucas couldn't get a grasp of Dawn's true motives and personality. On one hand she's mysterious, cold, and you couldn't guess what she was thinking. On another hand she was perhaps the most dangerous girl he'd ever met with a power that's far beyond the human understanding. But regardless, she does have her soft side, and she's not as intimidating as she presented herself as at first.
'There's more to her than I first thought,' Lucas mused to himself as he released Piplup and Zubat to help him explore the route. 'She really is an interesting girl.'
"Hm, shouldn't be too much longer," Barry said as he checked his Town Map once more.
Barry looked up from his map as Chloris shot another Absorb attack at an incoming geodude, promptly taking it out. The blonde smiled at his new Pokémon; he only caught Chloris just a few hours ago, yet she's already catching up to Wukong and Hawkeye. The Grass-type smiled proudly to herself as she defeated another wild Pokémon.
"Nice job, Chloris," Barry complimented her, where she blushed happily in response. "We should reach Orebugh in a few minutes, Dawn!"
Dawn nodded as she checked the time on her newly-obtained Pokémon Watch, aka Pokétch. She counted her and Barry lucky to have stumbled upon and participated in an ongoing campaign that was being held by the Pokétch Company. The task was to answer three braindead-easy questions, and collect the promotional coupons, before presenting them to the president and accepting the prize.
"Right," Dawn muttered. "C'mon then, let's go."
Turtwig glanced up to his trainer, noticing her expression. It was much colder than usual. Sure she was pretty neutral most of the time, but it was much more noticeable here.
"-Are you okay?-" Turtwig asked. "-You don't look happy.-"
"Hm?" Dawn asked, noticing Turtwig's worried expression. "Oh it's nothing. Don't worry."
"-Is it because of this Oreburgh place we're going to?-" Turtwig asked cautiously.
"...You're pretty sharp," Dawn replied to Turtwig.
"-Sorry...-" Turtwig glumly said.
"Why are you apologizing? You did nothing wrong," Dawn reassured her starter. "It's just...this place brings back some...rather bad...memories..."
Turtwig looked up to Dawn, glad that he didn't do anything to upset her, but curious as to what she meant by bad memories. Did she come here before? If so, what exactly happened there that would give someone like Dawn bad memories?
"C'mon, let's go," Dawn told Turtwig. "The exit's just up ahead."
Turtwig snapped out of his thoughts, before noticing a light at the end of the cave. Nodding, he followed Dawn as she and Barry headed towards the light. Emerging out of the cave, the group found themselves at a large, rather dusty mining city of sorts.
"Welp, here we are," Barry said somewhat uneasily, glancing towards Dawn.
"Oreburgh..." Dawn muttered, her gaze hardening at the sight of the city. "...Well? Aren't we going to go challenge the gym leader?"
"R-Righ–wait, we?" Barry asked.
"I never said you alone were challenging the gyms," Dawn rolled her eyes. "They're here, so might as well challenge them myself."
"Well when you put it like that..." Barry said. "Alright then. C'mon, let's go rest up at the pokécenter and then head for the gym!"
Barry excitedly rushed on ahead, eager to challenge his first gym.
"Typical," Dawn sighed, but couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm before proceeding to follow him. "–ugh?!"
Dawn stopped in her tracks, feeling a sharp pain course through her. She held her gut in pain; feeling like she was going to vomit.
"Wha...?" Dawn gagged silently.
'It's here.'
From amidst the sharp pain that was invading her body, Giratina's voice rang through her head.
"What's here...?" Dawn painstakingly demanded.
'A shard,' Giratina explained. 'One is in this area.'
"Seriously?" Dawn asked. Another shard? Already? "Where?"
'It's somewhere in this city,' Giratina said. 'I can't pinpoint exactly where, but its presence is more close to north east from here.'
Dawn looked up to the city, before glancing towards northeast like what Giratina said. From the outskirts, she could see some cranes and bulldozers in front of an entrance.
"The mine...?" Dawn asked.
'Perhaps,' Giratina answered. 'If we could investigate that area, then I can be certain of its location.'
"...Fine," Dawn muttered.
"Dawn?"
The blunette looked up to Barry, a look of concern obvious on his face.
"I'm fine..." Dawn muttered. "C'mon, let's go."
Barry kept his skeptical yet concerned gaze at Dawn, but relented regardless as the two headed for the city's pokécenter. As they approached the pokécenter, the pain grew stronger, forcing Dawn to clutch her head in an attempt to endure the pain.
"We should get a nurse to look at you," Barry suggested. "You seem to be in a lot of pain."
"I-I'm fine," Dawn asserted herself. "Now c'mon."
As the duo went to have their Pokémon healed, Dawn contemplated on what to do now with knowledge that a shard was in the city.
'Are you sure it's in the mine now?' Dawn asked Giratina mentally.
'The presence became stronger when we approached the pokécenter,' Giratina replied. 'I'm sure now. It has to be in the mine.'
'Great...' Dawn grumbled.
'Good luck,' Giratina snickered as he decided to leave Dawn's consciousness for the time being.
'Yeah, fuck you too, Gira,' Dawn mentally cursed at her imaginary friend.
"There you go," the nurse informed them. "Your Pokémon are all better now."
Dawn snapped out of her mental conversation with Giratina to see that her party was healed up.
"Thank you," the duo said as they accepted their Pokémon.
"Uh, can I get an aspirin for my friend here?" Barry asked the nurse. "She's suffering from a major migraine."
"Of course," the nurse said understandingly, before producing an aspirin from the counter and handing it to the girl. "Here you go."
"Thanks..." Dawn mumbled.
"Alright now, stay safe out there you two," the nurse smiled.
The two nodded in response as they left the pokécenter, before heading for the Oreburgh Gym.
"Alright, now time to challenge the gym and get my first gym badge!" Barry declared, excited for the gym battle to come.
"You know what you're doing?" Dawn asked. "Don't expect an easy win just because you have a Grass-type."
"Don't worry!" Barry smirked. "I know what I'm doing!"
"If you say so..." Dawn muttered. 'Although I need to find a reason to go to the mine and find that shard. Now how am I supposed to do that...? I can't just ditch Barry...'
"Wait–huh?" Barry asked, snapping her out of her train of thought. "Whaddaya mean the gym leader's not here?!"
"Sorry kid," a man with glasses said apologetically. "But Roark is out at the mines right now. Apparently something's going on there and Roark was asked to investigate it."
'Well, how convenient,' Dawn thought.
"If you want, you can go visit him at the mines and see if you can get him back into the gym," the man offered. "But be careful. The mines are pretty dangerous."
"Will do," Dawn said as she ushered Barry away from the man.
"Huh? You wanna go to the mines?" Barry asked as they left the gym.
"I mean the gym leader's there," Dawn reasoned. "Might as well see what's up."
"Right," Barry agreed. "Oh that's right. Did you take your aspirin? Is your migraine still there?"
"Oh, that, it wore off," Dawn said. "No need to worry."
"You sure?" Barry asked, concerned. "You still look like you're in pain."
Truth be told, Dawn was sweating, doing her best to endure the pain in her head. It was quite clear that the migraine hadn't worn off like she said.
"It's fine," Dawn reassured him. "Don't worry. C'mon, let's just go to the mines."
Still skeptical, he still let Dawn lead the two of them to the mines, which wasn't too far from the gym and the pokécenter. There were several construction workers gathered at the front.
"Huh, I guess that guy was right," Barry said.
"Yeah..." Dawn muttered. 'What if it's the shard...?'
As Dawn stepped forward, her eyes widened, clutching herself as the pain grew even more.
"Ggh..." Dawn hissed in pain.
"Dawn? Dawn!?" Barry cried out in worry.
"I'm...fine..." Dawn grumbled.
"No you're not," Barry argued. "You're clearly still in pain. C'mon, take the aspirin."
Barry rummaged through Dawn's pocket and took out the aspirin.
"C'mon," Barry urged her.
Dawn glanced up to Barry, before begrudgingly taking the aspirin and dry swallowing it. Barry quickly took a water bottle out from his bag and gave it to Dawn.
"There," Barry said as he watched her chug down the bottle. "Better...?"
"...Yeah...actually," Dawn admitted. The aspirin did mitigate the pain somewhat.
"Thank god," Barry sighed in relief, as he took a good look at her, where his expression contorted in surprise. "Wha–Dawn, your eyes...!"
"What?" Dawn asked, before Barry quickly brought her to a glass window of one of the nearby cranes. To her shock, the sclera of her eyes were pitch black and her irises were glowing more brightly.
"Wha...?" Dawn asked.
'It's close,' Giratina suddenly informed her mentally. 'The shard in your body is reacting strongly to it. Your eyes are proof enough.'
"Oh great..." Dawn hissed.
"Dawn...?" Barry asked in concern.
"Barry...listen carefully..." Dawn muttered, her tone having no room for argument. "There's something in that mine that I need to get. Or else this migraine, along with my powers starting to lose control, won't stop. You'll help me, right?"
"Yeah, of course!" Barry instantly agreed.
"Good, thanks," Dawn said. "Now, we need to get into the mines. It's probably in there."
"R-Right..." Barry nodded.
"Also...make sure no one sees me..." Dawn said, glancing at all the construction workers busy doing their own jobs. 'They're all old enough to have possibly been here at least eight years ago...'
"Gotcha," Barry said. "C'mon."
Nodding, Barry helped Dawn up as the two cautiously made their way into the mines inconspicuously; Dawn making sure to not make eye contact with anyone. The interior of the mine was, predictably, dark; with wild geodudes roaming around peacefully and the occasional onix slithering through the several tunnels of the mine.
"Where?" Barry asked Dawn as she managed to stand up.
"Deeper..." Dawn muttered, pointing to an opening down the stairs.
The two traversed deeper into the mines, following the conveyer belt-like platforms that were trailing throughout the mines. As they ventured deeper into the mines, they noticed a large crowd gathered around the end.
"What's going on over there?" Barry asked to no one in particular.
"...Oh don't tell me..." Dawn grumbled as they approached the crowd.
"Uh, excuse me...?" Barry asked one of the miners. "What's going on here?"
"Oh, Commissioner Roark discovered something within the mines," one of the workers informed them. "We're here to investigate and check out what it is."
'I swear to God if it's the shard...' Dawn internally growled.
"You alright, Roark?" another worker asked in concern.
"Yep! Just hang on...!"
The two glanced besides the crowd to take a closer look. In the middle of the crowd was a tall, lean man with short red hair wearing a miner outfit, and wearing a red helmet and glasses, examining a hole in the wall. Carefully, the man slowly extracted a brilliant, amber-colored shard, which gleamed magnificently.
Dawn was struggling to keep the malevolent power within her from bursting with the sight of the other shard.
"Dawn...?" Barry whispered in concern.
"Hey kid, you alright?" the worker that was with them asked.
"Oh goddamn it..." Dawn grumbled.
"This is...!" the other man gasped.
"What's wrong, Roark?" one of the workers asked.
"Ah–No, it's nothing," Roark said. "For now, let's just bring this back to examine it..."
"You sure?" another worker asked skeptically. "It just looks like a normal revive shard to me..."
"Ah, yeah..." Roark said. "I'll just bring it back to examine it to see if it really is anything important."
"Well, you're the boss," the worker shrugged. "Is that everything?"
"Yeah, there's mothing else here," Roark said. "Alright everyone, let's head back."
"Aye!"
As the group began to head back up, Roark noticed Dawn and Barry.
"Huh? Can I help you two?" Roark asked as he approached them.
As Roark approached them with the shard in his hand, Dawn cringed in pain, glaring at the redhead. Roark glanced at Dawn curiously, before his eyes widened slightly.
"Wait...you...!" Roark breathed.
"Ah–Uh well actually we just wanted to know if you would be heading back to the gym," Barry quickly replied. "But we don't want to get in your way, so we'll just go now!"
Roark raised an eyebrow in confusion as Barry hastily grabbed Dawn's arm and tried to escape, but Roark stopped them by grabbing Dawn's other arm to stop them.
"Ah..." Barry muttered, glancing back to Roark.
Roark glared at Dawn, who glared back at him. Roark then proceeded to bring the shard in his gloved hand right in front of her face, which increased the pain she was experiencing tremendously.
"So you are from that time..." Roark muttered.
"Get the hell away from me...!" Dawn snarled as two shadowy spikes shot out from underneath her shadow and shot out to him.
"Dawn no–!" Barry cried out.
Roark quickly stepped back and put the shard up in front of him, where the shadowy spikes suddenly stopped right in front of the shard.
"Looks like you find this too important to destroy," Roark commented.
Dawn growled at Roark, while the pain lessened as the shard was moved away from her.
"You're that girl from eight years ago," Roark accused.
"Tch..." Dawn clicked her tongue in annoyance.
The redhead stared at the witch without any fear in spite of the murderous glare she was giving him, before sighing and backing off. Roark went to his belongings and took out a glass case, where he put the shard in it. To her surprise, the pain lessened even further, allowing her to keep a stable breathing, but the pain was still there.
"...So it would appear that any insulation like this weakens the connection between you and the shard," Roark noted, before glancing at the confused Barry and the enraged Dawn. "...Let's go talk somewhere in private. I'd assume you'd prefer that."
Dawn kept the leer on Roark as he led the two out of the mines.
Eventually the miner had led the two into the Oreburgh Museum. Upon witnessing the facility, Dawn had a sour expression on her face.
"It must've been a while since you've last came here," Roark said somewhat sympathetically to Dawn.
Dawn merely scowled at him as they entered the museum, before Roark brought them into the back and into Roark's office. The two kids walked into the office as Roark closed the door behind them, and placing the case on his desk.
"So, judging from how your friend isn't all too surprised by all of this," Roark said, noting Barry. "I'm gonna assume that he knows?"
Barry nodded in response.
"Hm," Roark said. "It was eight years ago..."
Dawn glowered as she subconsciously recalled the events that happened at the Oreburgh Museum eight years ago.
The event that made her into who she was now.
A young six-year-old Dawn gazed around her with curious, slate-grey eyes. Her parents had decided to visit the Oreburgh Museum after hearing of news of a new exhibit. She eyed all the artifacts and exhibits with interest.
"Mommy, Daddy, what's that thing?" Dawn asked as she pointed to a large skeleton of a large dinosaur.
"That's a skeleton model, sweetie," Johanna told Dawn.
"Hm, I do believe it's a rampardos," Dawn's father commented, noting the skeleton's abnormally large cranium. "Rampardos were known for their powerful headbutt attacks, which could break even diamonds with ease."
"Wow..." Dawn stared at the rampardos skeleton with awe, before smiling. "That's so cool!"
The girl looked around, seeing what other cool exhibits the museum had to offer. Eventually, her eyes led her to a glass case, which was housing a brilliant, amber shard.
"What's that?" Dawn asked.
"That's the new exhibit," Johanna answered. "But...what is it indeed..."
Dawn and her parents walked over to the new exhibit. Dawn stared at the shard intriguingly, seemingly mesmerized by it.
"It's pretty..." Dawn said dreamily.
"Yes, it is rather impressive," her father agreed as he glanced at the sign. "Hm, a 'strange fragment with no conclusive origin'...well that's an odd thing to put. They don't know what it is?"
Dawn didn't exactly hear her father's words; she was too mesmerized by the shard. It was just so pretty to her. She wished she could just reach out and hold it; to see how it felt.
Which was why she didn't even see the man next to her smash the case with his fist and grabbing the shard, before grabbing her and taking out a gun before it was too late.
"DAWN!" Johanna screamed.
"Huh? Mommy?!" Dawn began to panic, before the man squeezed her in his grip.
"Alright, nobody move!" the man yelled, before pointing the gun at Dawn's head. "Or the brat gets it!"
Johanna was about to hysterically run to try and save Dawn, but her father grabbed her to stop that.
"No!" her father whispered. "If we make any sudden moves, then Dawn..."
"I-I know...but–!" Johanna cried.
"Alright, no funny business," the man threatened as he backed away with the shard and Dawn to the entrance.
As he approached the entrance, several sirens could be heard from outside.
"Damn it, already?!" the man swore as he glanced out through the door.
"This is the police! Come out with your hands up!" a police officer's voice could be heard from the outside.
"Fuck you! You want the kid to die!?" the man yelled out as he opened the door and showed the several police officers his hostage.
While the man was yelling angrily at the police officers, Dawn was scared out of her mind. A gun was pointed to her head. She was separated from her mommy and daddy. And the man who was keeping her captive looked very angry and mean. She wanted to cry for her parents, but was afraid that would provoke the man to end her life.
And yet she found herself glancing to the shard in the man's hand. Even in spite of this peril, it glowed adamantly. She should be worried more about her own life than the shard, but it somehow brought her attention away from all the chaos.
It looked like it was beckoning for her. As if it wanted her to free it from this man's grasp.
Deciding to do so in spite of the situation, Dawn quietly reached out to the shard in the man's grasp. The moment she touched the shard, the shard began to glow brighter.
"Wha–OW?!" the man blurted, letting go of the shard and Dawn when it suddenly felt like it burned him.
The shard seemingly floated in Dawn's palm, as if it was staring at Dawn intently. As Dawn tried to touch it again, the shard suddenly burst in light, before seemingly melting into her hand and disappearing.
"Agh?!" Dawn yelped in pain, a sudden burning sensation coursing through her.
"What the...brat, what the fuck did you do?" the man asked, grabbing Dawn by the neck.
"Uh...I..." Dawn squeaked in pain.
"Let the girl go!" the police officer yelled.
"Where did you hide the shard?!" the man demanded, choking Dawn further. "Don't fuck with me you little shit, where is it?!"
"I..." Dawn gagged, stuck between choking and suffering from the intense burning feeling.
*THUD*
She couldn't feel the pain from the choking anymore as the burning sensation overcoming it all.
*THUD*
She couldn't even hear the man yelling at her, or the police officers yelling.
'Finally. I have a chance.'
'Huh?'
Before Dawn could even think, a tearing noise cut through the chaos, stopping the choking. She looked up to see two black spikes stabbing through the man's arms, making him let go of her.
"Wh-What the...?!" the man stammered.
"Wha...?" Dawn asked, confused.
She glanced at the spikes, and saw that the strange black spikes were emerging from her own shadow.
"What...? What is that...?" Dawn asked.
"Wha...?! What is this!? Brat, what the hell is this?!" the man growled, reaching out to her to grab her.
"N-No!" Dawn cried as she backed away.
At response to the act of aggression, more dark spikes shot out from her shadow and stabbed at the man all over him.
"Augh?! Agh...!?" the man cried in pain.
"Eh...? Eh?" Dawn asked, confused and scared.
'He'll pay for harming you.'
The spikes began to sink deeper into the man, earning more blood to leak out from him and an even more agonizing cry of pain from the man.
"W-Wait, stop, please!" Dawn cried out, reaching out as if that would stop the spikes from harming him any further.
To her surprise, the spikes seemed to stop and pry themselves out of the man, before residing back into Dawn's shadow. Under the midst of the confusion, the police officers rushed over and apprehended the man.
"Eh...?" Dawn asked, not understanding a single thing going on.
"We need to treat this man's wounds first," an officer said.
"Right," another officer said. "But still..."
Dawn looked up to see the police officers grabbing the man and carefully hauling him away. But when they glanced at her, they all had a fearful expression on their faces.
"Eh...?" Dawn asked, before looking around. She noticed that more people have gathered around in response to the commotion.
"What was that...?"
"Did you see that...?"
"That was freaky..."
"How is she able to do that?"
"Did you see what it did to that guy? What if that was us?"
"What a freak!"
Dawn looked around frantically. Everyone around her was talking amongst themselves in hushed voices that she could somehow hear, either sneering at her or looking at her as if she was some kind of scary monster.
"She's a monster! A Witch!"
"She's a witch!"
"Witch!"
Dawn glanced around frantically, but everyone was leering at her, muttering quietly or outright branding her as a 'witch'. She wasn't a witch. She wasn't anything scary. She was just a small girl, confused and scared herself. Wanting to hide it all, Dawn curled up into a ball, shutting herself away from everyone.
"I'm not a witch...I'm not a witch..." Dawn quietly cried to herself, trying her best to ignore everything and everyone. "Mommy...Daddy..."
Eventually Dawn's mother and father were finally able to rush out of the museum and come to their daughter's rescue, before taking her away from the crowd and away from Oreburgh. They assured her that she did nothing wrong, but the damage had been done. When Dawn returned home, she glanced at a window.
Her eyes were gleaming platinum.
Dawn glared at Roark, who held his hands up in defense.
"I was there, y'know," Roark admitted. "I was the one who called the police. Fortunately they came very quickly before things got messy, but...I never expected things to go that far."
"...I see..." Dawn narrowed her gaze at him.
"And then news caught wind of the whole incident...labeling you as the witch who almost killed that burglar," Roark said. "...You must have suffered quite a lot ever since."
Dawn said nothing, merely glaring at the redhead. Stuck in the middle of the tense atmosphere, Barry squirmed slightly, before deciding to break the ice.
"So, if you do know about Dawn and her 'powers'," Barry said. "Then do you know what caused it in the first place?"
"Yeah," Roark nodded, before bringing up the shard. "This. There's no other logical explanation. She was the last person to have the shard before that incident."
"So, what is that shard, exactly?" Barry asked.
"We don't know," Roark shook his head. "We were going to examine the first one, but you know what happened to that...and we couldn't find another one until now. Although it's fairly obvious that it's something out of the ordinary. It's something...sinister."
Roark glanced at Dawn.
"And you want it," Roark deduced.
"So what of it?" Dawn sneered.
"...I can't imagine what you would want or do with another shard like this," Roark shook his head. "You were able to almost kill a man as a small child with just one shard. I can't imagine what you would be capable of by obtaining another shard. It would be unwise to just hand this over to you. However...
"I'm willing to at least allow you to prove yourself."
"Prove myself...how...?" Dawn asked cautiously.
"Battle and win against me," Roark declared. "I am the Oreburgh Gym Leader. If you can beat me, then I'll give you the shard."
"Wha–really?" Barry asked.
"I think it's fair," Roark replied. "If you can beat me, then I can trust you with the shard."
"...And what if I do beat you, but were to use the shard for anything...evil?" Dawn tested.
"True, you have enough reason and motive to try and do something like that," Roark said. "But would you really? Especially with your friend here? You seem to care about him greatly."
Dawn scowled, before glancing towards Barry for a moment, before glancing back at Roark.
"...No..." Dawn grumbled.
"See? You aren't a bad girl," Roark smiled. "So, what do you say?"
"...I accept," Dawn reluctantly agreed. "Might as well kill two birds with one stone."
"Hehe, funny you should say that to a Rock-type expert like me," Roark chuckled. "Alright, I'll be waiting for you at the gym."
And with that, Roark took the shard with him and left the room, leaving Dawn and Barry by themselves.
"Sorry about that," Dawn apologized to Barry. "Looks like I go first."
"Huh? No, it's alright," Barry assured her. "I can always go after you...and this is real important anyways."
"Thanks," Dawn smiled. "Now, let's go. Might as well not keep him waiting."
"Right," Barry agreed, before heading out the room with Dawn.
'Hm, looks like things became interesting,' Giratina decided to chime in.
'At least it's better than killing the man for it,' Dawn mentally replied.
'And do you think you'll be able to defeat him?' Giratina asked. 'He is a gym leader after all.'
'...It's not like I have any other option,' Dawn shrugged. 'And besides, I can always re-challenge the gym if I lose with any knowledge about his team on the rematch.'
'You thought this through,' Giratina commented. 'Well, good luck. The gym leader is a powerful trainer.'
'I know, but thanks for the vote of confidence,' Dawn thought back.
She knew what she was getting herself into. Having to fight a gym leader with little prep time wasn't very wise, regardless of what kind of team she had. Personally she had hoped that Barry would challenge him first, and she could watch so she could see what his Pokémon were and come up with a decent strategy. But now, she was going in blind.
Oh well, it's not like she could do anything about it. She would just have to fight Roark, beat him, and obtain the shard. The gym badge and TM were just bonuses.
And if not, there were always other ways of getting the shard from him anyways.
To be continued
AN: And that's that. We learn some more about Lucas, learn that Barry doesn't hold grudges (but is terrible at remembering names) run into everyone's favorite Interpol cop, Looker, and now Dawn has to fight Roark for another shard. So yeah gym battle's next chapter. I mean it's better than having Dawn outright kill him, right? I certainly think so.
And now for the team rosters:
Dawn: Turtwig / Shinx
Barry: Wukong (Chimchar) / Hawkeye (Starly) / Chloris (Budew)
Lucas: Piplup / Zubat
And let's end it off here. Sorry it took me 4 months this time. And hopefully the next chapter won't take as long (hopefully). Anyways, thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I'll see ya next time.