She takes the long way home, fighting her emotions
She's a loner but tonight she won't go unnoticed.
She can't remember, when she loses her temper
Nobody knows her but tonight the silence is over.
~Bully by Three Days Grace

A bell rang to signal the beginning of the next round. Dawn had told me this is where I'd start enjoying myself, as it was battles. Johanna got the crowd going masterfully, and introduced the matching board for a group of cards to shuffle themselves and sort into pairs. All together they swivelled, and Dawn appeared top of the group. She was through to the second round with flying colours, having the best appeal. Ursula had come second, as her appeal was undeniably good. Which meant they would be up first to fight.

It took a few minutes of preparation, then the two rivals stepped out on opposite ends of the pitch. Johanna set a timer of five minutes, a ridiculously short amount of time for a battle in my eyes, but I didn't understand the concept. I was even more confused at the two yellow rings beneath Dawn and Ursula's pictures. They don't just knock each other's pokemon out?

"Okay! Piplup! Buneary! Spotlight!"

Ursula beamed back in her menacing way and flicked her wrists up; "Vaporeon! Wigglytuff! Come on out!"

I frowned, from the idea I have of coordinating, neither of these teams had the upper hand as whatever Dawn combined, Ursula would be able to do so straight back. Only Ursula's team looked stronger, and I knew that if Dawn's pokemon fainted, her game would be over.

"The clash of the normal/water teams! Five minutes on the clock! And begin!" Johanna cried excitedly, obviously knowing of Dawn's rivals.

"Wigglytuff, Gyro ball, and Vaporeon use iron tail to make it fast!" The pink haired girl crossed her arms over her chest in some sort of signature move while she commanded her pokemon, a wide grin across her face. Wigglytuff was already fast, spinning so quickly it was just a pink blur. Vaporeon leapt behind it and spun round so a blindingly white tail smashed into the already speedy gyro ball. Dawn's pokemon were fast too though, and they jumped out of the way.

"Buneary, use dizzy punch on Wigglytuff!"

To my surprise, Buneary landed on the floor and stayed still. Not moving anywhere but just frowning at Piplup.

"Hidden power Vaporeon!" Ursula took advantage of the time.

Dawn squealed; "Piplup! Bide!"

It turned to her and shook its head. What the bloody hell was wrong with her pokemon?

"What!" Dawn was equally as confused. So it wasn't just a stupid plan she'd thought up. Her pokemon were refusing to fight for her.

The eldest judge stood up, frowning at Dawn; "What is the meaning of this?"

Dawn was staring in a pure state of shock as her pokemon were slammed back by glowing orbs of a hidden power. Her little yellow ring lost a slice of colour, I assumed she was losing points.

"Piplup?" Dawn shouted to her oldest pokemon. It had clearly never disobeyed her before, and this was completely new. It was like she wasn't their trainer, they dodged because they had to, but they wouldn't fight for her.

"This is precious!" Ursula cackled before ordering her pokemon with ease; "Vaporeon! Mist!" It did so quickly, filling the stage with a white mist. "Now use our Hyper Voice and Aurora beam combination!"

Her two pokemon set to work eagerly, Vaporeon setting up the visuals with a stunningly coloured beam that lit up the mist in strange, mysterious ways, then Jigglypuff inhaled and let out a booming, yet harmonious note that caused a ripple in the beautifully lighted mist.

"Incredible, Ursula shows off Vaporeon's ice moves whilst making the most of Wigglytuff's unique abilities to make a show stopping performance!" Johanna couldn't help but exclaim in awe. More of Dawn's points dropped and Ursula's remained in tact.

Dawn had called for a comeback, but they just allowed the attack to hit them. "Guys! What's wrong with you?" She yelled, but another attack landed before she could take no more; "Stop!" She cried. "Leave them alone!"

The judges watched in amazement as Dawn dropped to her knees beside her battered pokemon. They looked sorry, but Dawn was not angry, just confused. I would have flipped my lid then and there, but she simply returned them and strutted off the stage.

"With Dawn forfeited, Ursula moves on to the next round!" The crowd clapped awkwardly. From what I could hear them saying, they were not sure what to make of a failed battle from a coordinator with such a good reputation. I was already making my way out of the stands.

"She was so good at the Wallace Cup!"

"Piplup always tries so hard, what happened?"

"Cyndaquil worked for her, maybe its the pokemon..."

It was the reply to the last one I heard that stopped me. "But Cyndaquil wasn't battling, maybe they're tired of fighting."

I frowned, wondering what the difference was. I had to keep moving though, knowing she'd want to get out of here before Ursula came to mock her. I'd just managed to see her running through the front door, so I started running too. By the time I was outside, she'd flown round the corner, and I had to sprint to keep up with her. Thankfully, I was naturally faster than her, and I caught her up in no time, but as soon as I reached out to grab her arm she'd disappeared from my grasp and appeared further away. I growled, calling out to her; "Just stop a minute!"

She did as I asked, stumbling to a stop and falling onto her knees. I'd never seen somebody so dramatic, but I guess I'd be pretty overwhelmed with frustration if my pokemon turned around and said no to my command.

"Dawn, calm down." I hesitantly placed my hand on her shoulder, she didn't disappear, but she shrugged me away.

"I'm back to square one!" She cried, "it's like all the work and effort we put in was for nothing!"

I pursed my lips, then crouched down beside her. I was crap at comfort, something that I'd realised long before I met Dawn. "It was just a slip up. You haven't been in a contest a while."

"Did you see the way Piplup looked at me?" She snapped back at me; "That wasn't my fault! Piplup flat out refused to fight!"

The words of that woman in the crowd came back to me, it worried me that she could be right. I frowned; "Have you battled with them recently?"

Dawn sniffed; "Yeah, they battled against me all week!"

I shook my head, that wasn't what I asked. "I mean have you battled against somebody together?"

"No, not since..." She droned off, letting it sink in. She paled as we both realised what had changed. "Me neither." I muttered.

"You think it's this?" She raised her hand and tugged off the glove, her scar reclected in the sunlight. She stared at it quietly. I shrugged; "I don't know, but why else would they stop? What else has changed?"

"But Cyndaquil-"

"Didn't battle." I interupted. "They're not fighting for you when they're making appeals."

She went quiet, I gave her time as I stood up to stretch my now aching legs. It hadn't quite sunk in for me either. If Dawn's pokemon had stopped obeying her, then that meant mine had stopped too. My days as a trainer were over.

That was it, I was no longer able to battle, the thing that had completed me for so many years now, my goal that gave me purpose in life. Gone. What made it worse was that I couldn't fulfill my vow of completing Reggie's frontier set.

I wasn't even moving, but I stumbled backwards as if dizzy. This thing had ruined our lives.

"My dreams..." Dawn seemed to be on the same lines as me, she'd pulled out a little ribbon case with six ribbons in, and ran her finger along the one that looked oldest. Her first ribbon, I guessed. "I'm not a coordinator anymore." She stood up. "And you're not a trainer."

It hurt so much worse when it was slapped in my face like that. I knew it needed to be done so I could come to terms with it, but holy Murkrow it hurt.

"What are we going to do?" She asked me, as if I had an answer. Something that would make this all better, like I was magic. Only I didn't have answer. I didn't know what we were, what had happened, how it would stop, if we'd ever change back...

"I don't know."

She nodded, seeming to know I couldn't give her an answer anyway.

Desperate to give her something, I thought about our situation. We could still learn how to fight from Maylene, it seemed even more essential now we had no pokemon to protect us. We could learn how to fight, then search the regions for something that could help us, enlighten us to what we were now. But we'd need an alibi, something that could let us travel without being caught by scientists to be studied like aliens or new species of pokemon.

"We have to go back to your house, we'll go to Veilstone and learn to fight, then to Kanto just like we'd planned." I decided, heading back to the Contest hall. I was numb from the constant pain going on in my mind, I marched like a soldier; mindless and obedient. I could hear Dawn skittering after me in her heels. "But we can't-"

"We'll have to pretend if we're to keep this a secret." I told her, then looked at her hand; "put your glove back on." She nodded and did as she was told, looking so lost that she'd do anything I said just to get a sense of direction in life. Her gloved hand found mine as she laced her fingers through my own. It was comforting, not being lost alone. I knew as long as I had her by side, I would always have a sense of direction. Protecting her would have been my goal in life no matter what I was. I wasn't usually such an optimist, but having her next to me meant the bright side to this was right there too.

Ew, Paul's cheesy line stinks of cheese. Sorry guys, I fancied pizza. But I burnt my lip yesterday on chocolate poptarts and now I have a gaping hole on the skin of my lower mouth. So cheese would not be the best idea... :(
"Say what Besanii?"
I'll shut up.

So yeah, twisted huh? I know this means no more contest battles, but it also means Dawn and Paul are the action, not their pokemon. Huh, huh, huh?

...I'll shut up again.