Cause holy cow, I love your eyes
And only now I see you like
Yeah, lying with me half-awake
Stumbling over what to say
Well, anyway, it¡¯s looking like a beautiful day
~One day like this by Elbow


We'd spoken the night before, and waited for her mother to return from work so we could talk to her too. Dawn had made her favourite meal, thinking that we could sweet talk her.

"Is she really that opposed of you leaving?"

Dawn smiled; "I haven't really spoken about going on a journey again, but it's best to be on the safe side isn't it?"

I nodded, watching as she busied herself with several pots and pans. She wouldn't let me touch anything, so I sat and waited. "So do you want to go travelling?"

She rolled her eyes to me; "of course, we spoke about this last night."

"Yeah," I replied; "but I don't understand why you'd be asking to leave straight away."

She sighed, putting down a pan lid and turning to face me; "because I'm home, Paul. It's not like being stuck at somebody's house."

I met her eyes and she sighed, she'd just explained how I was feeling exactly. Only I didn't really have a home to go to any more. "Oh..." She whispered.

"I wonder how Ava and Payton are..." She changed the subject, "did you hear from them?"

"Yes." I assured her; "they knew Reggie, so they came to the funeral."

She gulped, turning back to her food that had began to bubble. "Were they okay?"

I knew she hadn't finished mourning, her voice was weak and she sounded like she wanted to cry but was too stubborn to.

"They're moving to Kanto, they have a second home there so they'll stay until their insurance fix their house here." I said, I hadn't really paid all that much attention, but it eased another guilt on Dawn's list. It was my fault their house had burnt down, but I knew Dawn would put the blame on herself. I left her alone, knowing if I comforted her she would just get worse. Instead, I changed the subject again; "how's your detect coming?"

She seemed thankful for the change, and nodded with her back to me; "Piplup and the others were freaked out at first, but once they got the hang of firing attacks at me, I was able to dodge faster and faster!"

I smiled as she continued to ramble on; "I still can't control where I'm landing but I think I'll be able to if I practice more. It's like I'm getting sucked through a hole and the tunnel moves with me as I transport myself. Only, I can't stop or direct where the tunnel leads me to."

"You'll get there." I nodded, but she turned and rose an eyebrow at me; "I'm pretty sure you wouldn't say that to one of your pokemon."

I stiffened, knowing that I could flip out if she got into a touchy subject like this.

"Maybe you should push me like you do with your pokemon, they seem to do alright." She mused, walking to the fridge. I focussed on deep breaths, she hadn't said anything bad, but I was so competitive, more so than ever.

The bell rang before I could reply to her, and she began cursing about her mother always forgetting her keys, then a much louder; "Oh, hello. Can I help you?"

I snorted and walked over to the cooker to turn everything down a moment. I could hear somebody asking her if they could come in, to which she openly agreed. I flicked the kettle on just as she offered tea to the visitor.

"Paul? Can you turn the cooker down and switched the kettle on please?"

I didn't want to correct her, so I just shouted; "sure."

"Paul is here too?" The woman asked, and I wondered where I'd heard her voice before. I walked toward the kitchen door and lingered there as I saw an Officer Jenny perched on the arm chair. I bowed my head politely to her as she greeted me. "We've been looking for you." She said.

"Is this about Attila and Hun?" I asked, just as I heard the kettle click. Jenny nodded; "Yes, but I came to question Dawn. I guess I can hit two Murkrows with one stone."

I turned into the kitchen, collecting up the cups and milk to serve. As I re-entered, I could see Dawn was physically shaking.

"Dawn... I know this is a touch subject for you, but I must ask you a few things to continue our investigation." She spoke with a mixture of authority and sympathy, but Dawn was not comforted by either. I sat down next to her, but she didn't even notice as she stared at her hands.

"We spoke to your friend Ash shortly after the accident, but he said he was unconscious for the most of it."

"-Accident?" Dawn interrupted, leaving Jenny with her mouth wide open. Dawn shook her head; "It wasn't an accident, Attila set off the explosion."

Jenny had yanked her notepad out and began scrawling down Dawn's words. She prompted her with other questions; "did he say why?"

Dawn looked at me and shook her head; "They said we had something of theirs, but we didn't."

Jenny nodded furiously, but Dawn's eyes met mine, full of fright.

"Officer Jenny, I don't think Dawn's ready for this..."

She stopped scribbling and looked up at us, she noticed how Dawn was not clinging to me as memories flashed in her mind, and how stubborn I looked. She sighed; "I know it's hard, but we have little time left for the investigation. We left it as long as we could for you to... mourn your loss..."

Dawn shivered violently, but nodded slowly. Officer Jenny seemed almost proud of her bravery. "Thank you." She muttered, and got straight back to asking questions. "Now Dawn, I know this will be hard, but can you tell me what happened before the explosion?"

"Hasn't Ash already told you?" I snapped, slightly annoyed she would put this on Dawn when living through the trauma once was too much for her.

"It's alright Paul." She put a hand on mine, and it trembled, but she managed to squeeze my fingers. "Me and Reggie managed to get through a vent into the building, and we found Brock locked up like I was..." We both shivered at that, the horror of seeing her in such a mangled mess made me want to hyperventilate. My palms burned.

"Reggie got Brock out, as you know, but I went to look for Ash. Hun found me first, and... And tried to drown me."

Dawn had never told me this, and I could understand why, if I felt physically sick, I wondered how she wasn't cowering in the corner yet.

"A form of torture, and he was looking for this object you supposedly had?" I knew Jenny was trying to make things easier for us, by piecing most of it together herself, but I was getting more and more annoyed.

Dawn nodded still, sucking up her fears; "I had nothing to tell, so he brought Ash in." She turned to me; "Can you go check on the food please?"

I stood up, and I knew it was because she didn't want me to hear what she was saying. Already guilt was swallowing me up, and I pitied both Dawn and Ash for living through torture because of something I did. If only I'd told Dawn about the stone before, she would have caved and sent them for me. Reggie would still be alive and I would pay for my actions, like I was supposed to. Fate was cruel to me.

I practically flew for the kitchen, and though I could still hear them, it was only just a muffled noise. I focussed on the food, and prayed Johanna would be back soon to sent Officer Jenny away so we could eat and discuss our plans.

I served the food up, and placed the cutlery out ready for us to eat. Jenny came in just as I finished. "Paul?"

I looked up, a little calmer now I'd been focussed on something else. She took her hat off and bowed her head to me. "On behalf of the police force, we are sorry for your loss. We have blocked off your house and it will be maintained until you are ready to return."

I blinked repeatedly; "Uhh, thanks."

She nodded and saluted one hand at me before turning back to the living room and leaving. I followed her to watch her leave, to find Johanna had come in and had Dawn coiled up in a ball on her lap. As soon as the door shut, she let out a loud sob, of which nearly made me collapse right there. Instead I jerked a thumb awkwardly to the kitchen; "dinner's ready."

Johanna nodded as she stroked her daughter's hair, and Dawn peeped through her hair to meet my eyes with a look that assured me we were safe.

But perhaps tonight would not be the best time to ask if we could travel together. We sat at the table in silence, until Johanna perked up; "I'm hosting a contest soon Dawn, and I thought you might be interested. You know, get back into the swing of things."

Dawn looked at her with red, swollen eyes; "Wouldn't you be bias?"

"Of course not, besides, I'm hosting, not judging!" She turned to look at me; "What about you, Paul? Can we convert you to a coordinator?"

Even in the depressed mood we were in, both me and Dawn snorted. She answered for me; "Fat chance, Mom. Have you ever seen him battle?"

"I think I'd rather watch." I chuckled darkly, knowing I'd wipe Dawn at a battle, but then again she would be better in her own area of expertise...

Dawn shrugged and turned to her mother; "actually, I was thinking about travelling again, but this time with Paul."

Johanna frowned; "are you sure you're ready sweetie?"

"I've been so bored these last few months, I've been cooped up for what seems like forever! I just want to get back into coordinating, and I know my pokemon do too."

Johanna nodded, her face lightly graced with a smile. "Well, I think it's a lovely idea."

"We'll still go to your contest, of course." I said, and Johanna beamed at me. Dawn needed to do something before she fell back into her muted, frightened ways, and by the looks of her, I wasn't sure she'd make it to another region. I felt a hand reach my knee under the table, and she squeezed gently to show her excitement. We looked at each other and smiled, her eyes once again punching the breath out of me as they dazzled with happiness and the remains of her tears.


Never heard of that song? LISTEN TO IT, it's AMAZING.

Boring chapter is boring but necessary.