Chapter Nine
You and me

The weather had turned from decent, to horrific in a matter of minutes, not helping the fact that he was already a little sea sick anyway. Paul chose to brave the cold rain in favour of seeing the horizon to help settle his stomach as best possible, the sacrifice being his dry clothes and hair.

He closed his eyes and lifted his head to the sky, allowing the heavy raindrops to collide onto the plains of his face, feeling oddly soothed by such a battering. The sound of rushing was making him woozy, and he could have sworn he was hearing things.

Nobody was on the deck other than himself, and he wasn't cruel enough to force his pokemon to endure this weather just for the sake of company, and yet it was company that he craved. It had been a while since he'd been alone for such a long period of time now.

The winds whispered his name as he curled up against a chair, tucking his head between his knees. Nothing he tried worked, and he wished he'd never gone on the ferry. It was like warning after warning not to go to Kanto.

It was a little while before he realised it wasn't the wind calling to him. His imagination had been running wild through his current state of health, and so he simply ignored it.

Until a hand landed on his shoulder gently. He recoiled away from it, and caused the owner of the hand to jump back in surprise too. He looked up and frowned.

"I'm sorry sir, but I was ordered to bring everybody inside the ferry, a storm is heading our way." The young woman wearing a large rain coat yelled over the hungry waves that were tossing the huge ferry around like it was nothing.

"Of course, sorry." He replied, allowing her to assist him in standing, and following her below deck.

"We'll be alright, won't we?" He asked, glancing uneasily at the sheet lightning that flashed above the clouds.

"Yes sir, the ferry is made to withstand much worse than this." She replied confidently, but then frowned at his paling face. "Are you feeling sick, sir?"

"A little." He grunted, but the shade of green he was taking on spoke more truthfully.

"Here, I was told to offer these to anybody who needs them." She held out her hand in an offering, and he took a sickness pill from her. He smiled weakly and nodded, then they went their separate ways. He headed for his room, she braved the top deck once more.

Entering his luxurious room, he glanced at the tiny box containing two pills in and read the instructions. He realised they were to settle his stomach, whilst knocking him out while he waited, and it sounded pretty appealing. Without hesitation, he swallowed both with the help of a glass of water, and got changed while he waited for the pills to kick in. Not five minutes later, he found himself collapsed on the bed and within seconds his vision was blurring at the sides. Sleep took over without any resistance, and he succumbed to the numbness that was forty winks.

Even though her shift was over, due to the storm, she'd been called out to work through the night. She sighed, having gotten the short straw in going to the top deck to get soaked. Today was not her day. She began to scan the place where she'd found the young man before, but nobody else seemed to be up here, nobody was mad enough to get so wet.

Still, a job was a job. She continued walking around the deck.

It was just as she was beginning to come back around the other side did she realise that a little white flash in her peripherals was far too constant to be lightning. She looked in the direction, and saw that the white dot was getting rapidly bigger.

Just seconds later, a large white flying type crashed down onto the decking, and a girl rolled off of it.

"Oh my goodness!" She cried in surprise, hurrying over and placing two fingers onto the girl's throat. She sighed in relief at the feeling of a strong throbbing beneath her ice cold skin.

The Togekiss looked up at her sadly, then hurried to what the lady presumed was it's trainer. The passed out girl before her was dry in no place, and she convulsed at the coldness around her. Without a moments hesitation, the lady released her pokemon; a Sceptile who scooped up the girl with ease and followed her into the ferry. The Togekiss followed.

The four of them hurried to the elevator, rushing the girl to the medical facility. The room was just down the corridor, and it was empty other than the doctor who was on duty. The middle-aged man was a handsome, honey blonde whose features were chisled and yet somehow kind as he smiled warmly.

"What do we have here then?" He asked, looking calmly at the shivering girl in the Sceptile's arms.

"She'd been flying near us on her Togekiss." The woman explained; "They collapsed on the deck."

"Would you take the Togekiss to Nurse Joy please?" He asked kindly, and the woman ushered the pokemon out without another word.

He looked to the girl and sighed. She didn't look in any danger, just as long as he made sure she warmed up quickly.

He began removing her clothes, replacing them with towelling robes. His Flareon, who was gifted with Heal Bell, sat down next to the girl and began warming her up.

"Keep that up." The doctor muttered, as he could already see the girl coming around. She winced against the light that seeped through her eyelids.

"Ma'am, are you in pain?" He asked, gentle concern in his voice.

She opened her eyes to face a man she did not recognise, but understood immediately who he was. His ears were plugged with a stethoscope, she looked down to see he was checking her breathing, so she waited to reply.

"I have a headache." She told him honestly; "and my joints are aching."

"That would be the cold." He offered a drink and painkilling tablets. "What on earth possessed you to fly into such a terrible storm?"

"I was heading for Kanto." She said. "The weather was fine when I left."

He frowned, but didn't question it. "What's your name?"

"Dawn." She introduced herself, sitting up slowly and pulling the robe tighter over her.

"Well Dawn," he fiddled with his glove and then picked up a device which he placed inside her ear. "It was a good job Togekiss found the ferry, there was no way you would have made it to Kanto, even in perfect weather."

"Oh, I guess you're right." She muttered, not wanting to tell him she was really aiming for the ferry.

He checked the device and then placed it for cleaning. "I think you're good to go, Dawn. We'll get you a room and you can have a warm bath, and then things should be taken care of."

"Thank you, doctor." She bowed her head gratefully. "But where's my Togekiss?"

"Being taken care of in the pokemon centre, I'll have her sent to you as soon as she's ready." He informed her.

"Okay, thanks!" She beamed, and allowed him to escort her to the reception area.

With a room key and pokeball in her hand, she decided to retire, as her body was still shivering slightly. She could not afford another luxury ticket, which she would have loved at the moment in time to use their grand bath tubs, but alas, she'd spent enough money on the last ticket. She would make do with the average bath.

Just as she was turning a corner to her corridor, she paused. In her peripherals, a flash of purple had caught her eye, and she glanced over. Her heart felt like it had momentarily stopped, but when she realised it was a boy with a purple cap on, she sighed and went to her room.

Her room was by no means basic, despite the fact it was called a 'standard suite'. Her bed was still huge, and there was a television, phone and en suite that would do her just fine until she reached Kanto.

Why did I even bother coming? I'll never find him now, I'm lucky to be alive. She thought, throwing herself onto the bed whilst her bath ran.

She released Piplup for comfort, and he cuddled up to her whilst she curled around him. "What are we going to do...?"

"'laaa?" The tiny pokemon chimed cutely, staring up at her with his large innocent eyes.

"Ash might still be in Kanto. It would be nice to see him and Pikachu, yeah?" She suggested, and Piplup's expression lit up at the idea.

That probably won't be the best of ideas. She told herself. It was hard enough to say goodbye last time. Just the thought of it was making her teary-eyed. Piplup patted her face sweetly.

She stood and distracted herself by checking the bath. The water was overwhelmingly hot, she had to suck on her finger to cool it down.

"Well, I better leave this for a little while. Want to come and get some food, Piplup?" She raised her voice so the pokemon could hear. When she reentered the room, the water pokemon's stomach rumbled. She laughed; "Some things never change, huh?"

"Piiiplaaa..." It grumbled, allowing her to pick him up and be carried out.

The two were chatted one-sidedly as they followed their noses toward wherever the wonderful scent they could smell was coming from. Piplup's stomach rumbled fiercely and so Dawn picked up her pace.

She swivelled around the corner, expected to see an array of delicious food choices. Instead, her nose rammed into something, and she sprang back in surprise.

It was not the only thing to surprise her.

"P-Paul."

He stared down at her like she were a mild inconvenience he couldn't stand. Though that was probably because that's what she was to him.

He did not ask anything, he simple turned on his heels and walked the other way.

"Wait, Paul! Please!" She cried, hurrying after him whilst returning Piplup. He didn't need to hear this.

"I have nothing to say to you." He growled back at her, eyes darting around for a route of escape. It didn't help that the pills had worn off, and he was feeling nauceous again.

"We still need to talk!" She insisted, running around him to stop him. He skidded to a halt, then tried to turn back. She grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. He glared at her hand, and then followed it to glare at her. It was enough to make her recoil back, but she persisted.

"Please. Let me explain." She begged.

"I think you made it perfectly clear the last time, don't you?" He inched his face closer to her threateningly, and she craned her neck away, feeling nervous under this new anger he was emitting.

"No," she muttered, looking down out of cowardice. "I didn't explain myself at all. I... I-I'm so sorry."

"Please." He scoffed taking a step back. "You couldn't wait for an opportunity to jump down my throat. You'd just been building up to knock me down. Was it your grand plan? Was your little friend in on it?"

"No, please listen to me-"

"You listen to me this time, if your airy little brain can do that for more then two seconds." He looked up from underneath his hair, his signature look whilst belittling someone. "You mean nothing to me. I don't want anything to do with you. You're a liar, only out for yourself and I'm not going to stand here and let you play me like every other poor soul you deceive."

She stood, speechless, her mouth hanging open slightly and her eyes wide and unable to tear up. He shoved her aside, and she clattered against the wall without resistence.

He winced at the sound of her body thumping down to the floor, but did not look back as he stormed past.

"See how easy it is to lie?" She whimpered, her body still facing away from him, slumped against the wall with her legs curled up.

He stumbled to a stop, pausing at her words, but only to snap back. "I'm not lying. Go back to Sinnoh you silly little girl."

But as he continued to walk down the corridor, her words haunted him, how easily had she seen through him, or had she called his bluff? He prayed it was the latter, for the thought of her reading him like a poker professional terrified him.

Angsty Paul. *drools*
Apologies for delay. Major block. Loads of work. Blah blah you've heard it all before. Next chapter should come easily to me.