Paul's Point of View

"8:00 AM" my clock read. "Shoot!" I yelled so loud I thought people downstairs could hear me. Ignoring that embarassed feeling, I quickly got dressed, brushed my teeth, and headed for Dawn's hospital room.

"Hey Dawn," I said, walking into her room.

Much to my dismay (I mean HORROR), I saw Ash sitting next to her bed, deep in conversation with her. They both looked at me as I shut the door.

"What's up, Paul?" Ash asked me.

"Nothing much," I said.

"Good morning, Paul!" Dawn cheerfully told me.

"Good morning," I replied, sitting down on a nearby chair.

"So, Dawn, as you were saying?" Ash said, turning to face Dawn again.

If I were in a cartoon you would probably see steam marks coming off my head right now, like there was something cooking on top of my hair. I wanted to yell at Ash, "OH, WELL EXCUSE ME, BUT DIDN'T YOU NOTICE I WAS HERE, DUMBBUTT!"

But instead, I calmly gave him a death stare. Dawn continued to talk to him as well.

I couldn't just sit there and let them chat.

"Dawn?" I asked. She barely seemed to notice.

"Dawn?" I tried again. Nothing.

"Dawn!?" I said, raising my voice a bit louder. THAT finally got her attention.

"What is it, Paul?" she asked me.

"Well, I need to talk to you," I said to her, then glancing to Ash. "In private."

Dawn smiled at Ash warmly. "It'll only be a few minutes, 'kay?"

"If you say so, Dawn," Ash agreed, standing up from his chair. But as he turned around, he shot me a sharp gaze. His eyes seemed to be sending me a message: "Stay away from her." But it only lasted for about half a second. He turned to leave, leaving me and Dawn alone.

"So, what is it you wanted to tell me?" Dawn asked me.

"Well..." I began to say. "It's a bit complicated."

Dawn's Point of View

At first I was rather puzzled. I recognized this conversation.

"In what way?" I asked Paul.

"First of all, there's one thing you need to know about," Paul started.

"And what is that?"

Paul sighed.

"You need to know that..." Paul steadily said. "You and I were together. Like, dating together."

What? I thought Ash was the one I was dating!

I was severely confused, and I made no attempt to hide it whatsoever.

"What? That can't be! I thought I was dating Ash before I lost my memory! I exclaimed.

"Where in the world did you get that idea?" Paul said, shocked. He obviously didn't know what I was talking about.

"Ash," I began to stutter. Then suddenly it felt like someone had run needles in every inch of my brain.

I yelled out in pain, clutching my head. I saw images of my past. First I saw my mom, Joanna, handing me her first ribbon. Then I saw Ash shocking my pink bike with a lightning bolt, courtesy of Pikachu. I saw myself competing in a pokemon contest and winning a ribbon. But the last and most surprising one was one of me and Paul sitting on a park bench together and talking.

I could hear Paul calling for a nurse. The nurse picked up the emergency extension on the phone and I could hear her calling for mental and medical treatment with a worried air in her voice. I eventually blacked out, hearing Ash and Paul yelling over something. Probably me.

Later that day...

I woke up again. In yet another hospital room. This one was more like the ones depicted in children's books. Paintings of vases filled with colorful assortments of flowers. Medical charts and x-rays on one side of the door. That kind of stuff.

"Where am I?" I asked the nurse. She was young, about Brock's age. She had long waist-length pink hair. She set down the tray she was holding and smiled.

"Oh, hi there! This is the amnesia therapy hospital. It's on the opposite side of the city of your old hospital," the nurse replied.

"Did you see two boys?" I asked her.

"Yes, do you know what they looked like?" she asked me.

"One of them has spiky black hair with a cap, and the other had purple hair and a blue jacket," I told her.

"Those were the two I saw, then," the nurse said happily.

Then I heard yelling and heavy footsteps coming towards my room.

The door loudly opened and slammed the wall next to it, leaving a small cluster of cracks in the white paint of the walls.

"Hey! You two are gonna have to pay for that!" the nurse yelled at them.

Ash and Paul were fighting over a bouqet of flowers, which had saffron daffodils, lilies, roses, and other beautiful little blossoms.

"I paid for it!" Paul yelled at Ash.

"Well that's too bad, 'cause I'M the one who's gonna give them to Dawn!" Ash smugly replied.

The once-pretty flowers' petals were scattered all over the floor now. Ash and Paul were exchanging insulting words, with the bouqet of flowers clenched in both of their fists. I couldn't take it anymore.

"Stop it right now, you two!" I scolded them in a loud voice.

Instantly they both dropped the bouqet of flowers and looked at me.

"I'm sorry," they both said in unison. But then, seeing that they both said sorry at the same time, they started arguing again.

"Hey! I was sorry first!" Ash yelled.

"No, I was sorry eons before you were!" Paul yelled back.

They started an arguement once again, which made the nurse's face turn as red as a spicy Cheri Berry.

"THAT'S IT!" the nurse yelled, stomping forward.

"If you little rascals don't start behaving, YOU'RE the ones who're gonna end up in a hospital bed!" she said, cracking her knuckles.

"Y-Yes ma'am," they said again.

"Good!" the nurse said, smiling as if nothing had just happened. "Now, grab the broom sand start cleaning up!" she said, pointing to two brooms and a dusting pan in the corner.

"Do we HAVE to?" Ash complained.

"WHAT WAS THAT?" she said, her smile instantly fading.

Ash, terrified, dashed to the corner and went right to work. Paul started cleaning up, too, right behind him.

Then, the door opened again. Brock stepped in the room, saying, "Wow, that was some yelling I heard outside!"

"Sorry about that," she sheepishly said, blushing.

"My name's Brock, from Pewter City," Brock said, holding his hand out.

"My name's Julia, daughter of the Nurse Joy in this city," Julia replied, taking his hand.

Like it were a natural reflex, Brock got on one knee and said, "Julia, you are one of he fairest maidens I have eve-" but before Brock could say anymCroagunk came out of his pokeball and immediately jabbed Brock, dragging him away as usual.

Paul went to get me some more flowers. Ash went to get me something else. I waited patiently and asked the nurse for some food.

Ash's Point of View

I headed out of the hospital to get Dawn a really nice get-well present. I knew what would do the trick. And I saw it on the way here.

I ran to a chocolate store nearby. Not to be selfish, but I wanted to buy something that was cheap and small. Scanning the different assortments of chocolate, I finally found a small one that held only three chocolates. Perfect. And it had a vine of light pink Mago Berry blossoms tied around it, which I figured Dawn would think pretty.

Carefully walking back to the hospital, I thought of my plan once again. Things were going a little bumpier then I had expected, now that Paul was getting in the way. Why couldn't he just back off and realize Dawn doesn't like him anymore? In the way she likes me, at least. It ticked me off that Paul still thought Dawn was still his girlfriend.

As I approached Dawn's hospital room, I straightened my cap to make it look neater. And then I walked in.

Paul wasn't there. Yes!

"Hey, Dawn, I got this for you," I said, holding out the box.

"Awww, that's so sweet, Ash!" Dawn said.

But before Dawn could take the little box from me, Paul walked in.

"Hi Dawn, I got you some more flowers," he said, holding up the bouqet.

"Thanks so much, Paul!" she said.

"Could you please put those in that vase?" Dawn asked the nurse. The nurse nodded and got the flowers from Paul.

Dawn then smiled at me and took the box of chocolates. At first she looked delighted as she untwined the Mago Berry vine. But instead of looking pleased, Dawn looked frightened. Why was that? It was just chocolate. She then surprised me when she screamed and dropped the chocolates.

"What's wrong with you, Ash?" Dawn demanded.

"What? It's just chocolate," I told her.

"No! It's not that! I'm allergic to Mago Berries!" she exclaimed. "Severely! I thought you knew that! I'd been traveling with you for what-a year?"

I watched in sheer horror as Dawn's wrists turned red, and small pimples started forming on them. I got the box of chocolates away from her. But it was too late.

The redness started spreading and spreading until she looked like she had just gotten a really bad sunburn on every inch of her skin. The nurse dashed out of the room like her heels were on fire to get help.

I immediately backed out of the room. She must really hate me now. But everything was going so well. And I couldn't just let things slip back to the way they were.

After Dawn had received immediate treatment

"I'm really sorry, Dawn," I told her.

"It's.. It's ok," she said.

Paul just sat on the other side of her bed silently.

"I got you this," I said, holding out a bottle of lotion for skin irratation.

Dawn looked like she wanted to take it, but instead she just looked down.

"Sorry, Ash, but I don't know," Dawn said, looking away.

"I'm sorry, but you'll have to step out for today," Julia said.

As I walked out the door, I wondered if Paul had set me up, not telling me Dawn was allergic to Mago Berries. But, then again, if he had known, he might've told me so Dawn wouldn't get hurt. Paul just confuses me sometimes.

Third Person Point of View

As soon as Ash and Paul stepped out of the hospital, Paul turned to face Ash.

"What are you playing at?" Paul demanded.

To Be Continued


Author's Note: C'mon, the weekend's over already? Sorry guys, but I probably won't be posting until Friday. I love cliffhangers, though. Keep watching out for more chapters! Thanks. -M