Alright I got this up as quick as I could. I stayed up late working on this so I hope it's ok. And thanks again for all the reviews! I love them mucho! lol
Favor For A Friend? 4: Paul's Past
Nuzzle. Ash turned and moaned in his sleep. Nuzzle, nudge. Ash groaned. 'I don't wanna get up…' Ash thought. The nudging stopped and Ash snuggled deeper into his sleeping bag. Then…Bite. "OW!" Ash exclaimed sitting up. He quickly covered his bitten arm and glared at Pikachu. "What was that for?" He questioned angrily.
"Chu!" Pikachu exclaimed, glaring back. "Pika, pika, Pikachu!" He said pointing at the door. Ash turned his head to look and then heard Steve talking to Laura down the hallway.
"Why don't we go ahead and wake Paul and Ash up now? Get them up for breakfast before we send the two out on the errand for us?" Steve asked his wife.
Amber eyes widened as Laura agreed. Ash quickly jumped up, wrapped up his sleeping bag in a bundle, threw it in his backpack, and literally jumped on Paul's bed with him. Violet eyes opened immediately as he felt the weight of another person almost on top of him. "Ash! What the heck?" He asked angrily as he woke up. He quickly took notice of Ash straddling his waist. "What are you doing!"
Before Ash could answer, the door opened and Paul's parents walked in. The two looked at the door and instantly blushed. 'This was not the position I wanted to be in when they walked in.' Ash thought.
"We're sorry, we thought you two were still asleep." Laura said with a smile. Steve smiled as well.
"Uh, we-we-were j-just uh, just getting up." Paul stuttered. Ash put on a fake, embarrassed smile. Paul did the same.
"Oh it's fine." Laura said with a wave of her hand. "But after breakfast, we'd like for you two to run an errand for us." Steve nodded.
"Um, sure." Paul replied.
"Alright, breakfast will be ready in about 15 minutes. Be out by then." Steve told them and they both nodded. The parents then walked out and closed the door.
The boys sighed. The two then looked at one another and remembered their position. Both instantly flushed and Ash quickly jumped off of Paul and the bed. "S-s-sorry." Ash stuttered. "I-I-I'm just gonna, ya know…" Ash quickly cut himself off, grabbed his backpack with his clothes, and ran into the bathroom, Pikachu running behind him.
Paul laid back down, the blush still upon his face, and groaned. 'Ugh. This is going to be harder than I originally thought….' Paul said to himself. Especially if you keep enjoying things like what just happened. His conscience told him. He groaned, knowing it was true. 'But why? Why suddenly do I care about someone other than my brother? I can't care about him….he'll just betray me as well. Everyone always does.' He thought.
Ash then walked out, fully dressed, a light blush still on his face. "I'm uh, done." Ash said. Paul climbed out of the bed and silently grabbed his clothes, and entered the bathroom, walking right by Ash. Before he closed the door, Ash spoke. "That wasn't the position I was planning on being in when they opened the door, by the way. Sorry."
"It's fine." Paul said. "Don't worry about it." When the door closed, the raven haired trainer sighed and looked down at his partner.
"He doesn't seem mad, does he?" He asked Pikachu. The electric mouse shook his head. Paul listened on the other side of the door. "I hope not. I really don't want him mad at me." He heard Ash say. "I know he's not a bad guy, really I do. I don't know why he acts the way he does, but I really want to break through to him and be his friend." Ash told his partner.
"Chu! Pika, pika!" Pikachu replied. Ash nodded. 'Maybe…..maybe he wouldn't betray me after all…..' Paul thought. 'He seems sincere enough.' Paul then shook his head. 'If you start thinking like that, you'll end up hurt again. He'd be just like everyone else.' Paul's conscience told him. He pushed himself off the door and proceeded to change.
*After breakfast*
"So, these are the two packages that we need you to take to the shops in the city." Steve said as he walked in with one large box and Laura walked in the living room with the other. Before breakfast, Reggie had gone out and gotten Brock and Dawn, and they, along with Ash, Paul, Steve, and Laura, had eaten a peaceful meal. Ash, Paul, Brock, Dawn, and Reggie were now sitting in the living room talking…..well, Paul was just sitting. Steve and Laura had then walked in with the errand for Ash and Paul to run.
"Since these packages are so large, we needed two people to go, and since I'm sure you two would love some time alone together," Laura said winking at the two trainers. "We figured you wouldn't mind going today for us."
Ash and Paul glanced at one another and Paul slowly nodded. "Yea Mom, we'd love that." He said behind clenched teeth. Ash smiled and nodded.
"Very well." Steve said. "It's the jeweler's shop right by the Pokémon Center." He told the teens.
"Awesome." Ash said. "I can stop and get my Pokémon."
That confused Laura and Steve. "When did you drop your Pokémon off?" Laura questioned. The five teens then realized what she meant. If Ash had been on that 'date' yesterday, he wouldn't have had the time.
"Oh, well I-I-I-"
Brock cut him off. "We took them for him, along with ours. Dawn and I were going so we figured it would be easy if we just took his as well." Brock explained. Paul made eye contact with the breeder and silently thanked him.
"Oh very good then." Steve said.
"Speaking of which," Dawn said. "Since you're going to go by, why not pick ours up as well?" She asked Ash.
"Sure, no problem." He replied.
"Alright, well here you two go." Ash and Paul stood up and took the packages. "Be careful, alright?" Laura said. The two nodded.
"We'll see you guys later." Reggie said. Brock and Dawn waved and Ash, whom had his hands full, nodded.
"Pikachu, let's go." The electric mouse jumped off the couch and followed his trainer out the door that Steve opened. "See you later, Steve." Ash called out happily.
"See you Ash." He said with a chuckle. "Take care, son." Paul nodded and the two trainers walked out of the yard.
Halfway there, Ash couldn't stand the silence anymore. Sensing Paul wasn't in the best mood, he turned to electric partner walking at his feet. "Veilstone sure is busy during the day, huh Pikachu?"
"Chu! Pikachu pika pika!"
"Yea, a lot bigger than Pallet." Ash said with a chuckle.
Paul arched his eyebrow. "You can understand it that perfectly?" Paul questioned.
Ash turned to his rival. "Of course I can. I can understand all of my Pokémon. After you've become friends, it's really easy." Ash explained.
"Hm, maybe there actually one good thing that can come out of being friends with your Pokémon." Paul said thoughtfully.
Ash laughed and Paul gave him a look that asked what was so funny. "There's more than just one reason." Ash told him. "My Pokémon and I are always in sync because we're so close. Even if I haven't seen or talked to a certain Pokémon in a long time, we can still fight as if we've been together for a very long time without any breaks in between. There are many good reasons to be friends with your Pokémon." Ash told the younger trainer.
"I'll take your word for it." Paul told him.
Ash sighed. He really thought he was getting through to him for a minute there. 'Oh well, guess you can't always change someone's mind.' He thought. Before Ash could reply back, the Pokémon Center and the jeweler's shop were coming into view. Paul walked a little ahead of Ash, balanced the package in one, then opened the door to the shop, holding it for the older trainer. Ash thanked him. "You'll have to stay out here, Pikachu." Ash told him. The electric mouse nodded. The two then walked in.
An old man behind the counter looked up when the two entered. "Ah! Paul, is that you? My gosh, you've grown." The man said. Paul nodded.
"Where do you want these packages? Mom said she called you." Paul said.
"Back behind here, thanks." He told the duo as they walked behind the counter and put the boxes on the ground. After, the two stood up and Ash looked around. "Well don't just stand there," The man said. Ash looked at him. "Come here, let's see how you've grown." Paul lightly blushed but walked over the old man.
"You know, Mr. Lee, I look pretty much the same. Just taller." Paul told him as the old man circled him.
"Nonsense, you look completely different!" Mr. Lee exclaimed. "My goodness, you look so much older. Five years does that to a person your age though, I suppose." He said. Paul shrugged. The shop owner then turned to Ash. "And you must be Paul's boyfriend, I hear." As Mr. Lee was looking at Ash, Paul outwardly sighed, making Ash smile but he nodded.
"Yes sir." He said.
The old man walked up to him and shook his hand. "Well I'm the owner of this shop, and everyone calls me Mr. Lee." He said.
"Nice to meet you, my name's Ash Ketchum." Ash replied with a smile, shaking the old man's hand as well.
"Ketchum…Ketchum, where have I heard that before?" Both Paul and Ash arched their eyebrows. "Oh, yes, you're the fellow that saved Viridian City in a massive army attack years back, were you?"
Ash blushed. "That was actually my father."
"Yes, of course it was. You're not that old." He said with a chuckle. "Yes, I remember. I had the pleasure of meeting him once. You do look a lot like him."
"Yea, I get that a lot." Ash said with a laugh.
"I'm sure you do. Very nice man, though."
"Thanks." Ash said.
The old man turned to Paul. "It seems like he is very much alike to his father, that means, you've got yourself a very nice young man here. Don't you blow it." He told Paul jokingly. Paul fake smiled.
"Sure thing." He told him. He rolled his eyes at Ash when the man walked back behind the counter, causing Ash to silently laugh. When Ash smiled, Paul felt the corners of his own mouth move up.
"Yes, and when you two need it, you come here for your engagement rings, and I will give you a very good discount." Mr. Lee continued.
Both Ash and Paul instantly flushed. "Ha, let's, uh, let's not go that far, that fast." Paul said, holding his hands up in front of him. Ash quickly nodded in agreement.
"Nonsense, I can see it. You two are completely falling in love and will end up marrying each other. No use in denying it." He said with a smile. Ash and Paul looked at one another, made eye contact, and looked away blushing. This just made the old man laugh even more. "See, see?"
"Yes, Mr. Lee, whatever you say." Paul said, trying to hide the blush on cheeks. Gosh, he'd been blushing way too much the past couple of days. He hated feeling embarrassed and he most definitely didn't like showing any weakness to anyone, especially his rival.
The old man chuckled. "Yes well," He said searching for something around the counter. "There's something I wanted to show you, Ash." The two trainers looked at the old man. "When Laura told me Paul was going to come here with his boyfriend, I had to get this out to show you. I think you'll find this amusing." He said picking up a piece of paper. Ash walked up to the counter and when he saw what it was, he couldn't help but laugh out loud. He glanced at Paul.
"Wow, I had no idea, Paul." He said with a smile. "Who knew?"
Paul looked absolutely confused and embarrassed and ran forward to look. He glanced at the photograph and his eyes widened, completely flustered. He saw himself, about eight years old, covered in mud, smiling like crazy for the camera, holding an equally smiling and dirty Pichu. Paul groaned. "Where did you get that?" Paul questioned the old man.
"What do you mean? I took it." He then turned to the smiling Ash. "You see, Paul here, and all his friends used to love coming around the Pokémon Center waiting for trainers to come out with their Pokémon so they could see them up close and personal. They weren't allowed to actually wait outside the Pokémon Center, but they could wait here. Trainers would come out and notice Paul and his friends, and let them play with their Pokémon. The trainer who had this Pichu came around quite often, and Paul made quick friends with the Pichu. For quite sometime, I thought that trainer was going to give Paul that Pichu when he got old enough, but when Paul here was about nine and half, he stopped coming around. It was too bad, that little Pichu was always looking around for him when she and her trainer came to the Pokémon Center." Mr. Lee explained to the older trainer.
Paul felt a pang of pain, guilt, and regret in his heart. "Speaking of which," He turned to Paul. "Why did you stop coming around?"
Paul closed his eyes and turned. "It doesn't matter," Paul said coldly. "It's past." Ash noticed how cold Paul had just turned and knew he was masking some sort of pain again. Paul walked to the door. "We should go." Ash walked towards him, waving to the old man.
"Alright, see you kids later." Mr. Lee said. "It was nice meeting you, Ash."
"You too!" Ash called as he ran out the door Paul was holding for him.
"Good-bye, Paul!" Mr. Lee called.
"Bye." Paul said and let the door close. He watched as Pikachu jumped into Ash's arms when he came outside. He felt another pang of pain watching the electric mouse nuzzle his trainer. "Come on, go get your and your friends Pokémon so we can get home." Paul told Ash. The older trainer, sensing the mood Paul was now in, just nodded and ran towards the center.
"I'll be back in just a few!" Ash called. Paul barely nodded to show Ash he heard him. The mauve haired boy sighed. He then noticed the small field on the other side of the Pokémon Center and a bench. He looked around, shrugged, and walked towards it. He laid down on the bench and watched the sky. 'I really do miss that Pichu.' Paul thought. He sighed. 'I wonder if Travis would have given her to me. He said he never used her in battles…I wonder if he didn't use her so I could be the one to train her.' He pondered. "Oh well." He said out loud.
'That sure was weird though. It almost seemed if Mr. Lee knew we were faking. The look in his eyes….that old man always did know too much for his own good. I wonder what Ash thinks of me now that he knows I used to be friends with Pokémon. He probably just wonders what the hell happened to me, just like everyone else. He doesn't care. No one does.' Paul thought to himself. He sighed.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't little Paulie." A malicious voice said and laughter filled his ears. Paul's eyes shot open.
Omg, I actually tried to do a cliffy…..I hope you all don't kill me lol. I hope this works out. No worries though, I have most of the fifth chapter done so it will be up soon. My guess is tomorrow. Also, I tried making it to where we actually see Paul had nice side once upon time. There will be more on Paul's past in the next chapter but I didn't want to make this one so long so that's why I did the small cliffy. I apologize, it will be up soon! I promise!