Misson nine: My heart just won't allow it

When I wake up every day, I feel so uncertain what to do or say. Everything around me changes every day. It's hard to compare yesterday to today.

"That ramen was great!" Ash yawned right after.

"Of course." May grinned. "I always choose the best places to eat."

"I never doubt your great taste in food May." My rival grinned at her afterwards.

"It's a bummer now that the Wallace Cup is cancelled now." Dawn sighed. She had both of her hands under her chin; her elbows placed against the poke centre table and sighed. "I was really looking forward to it."

"Same but complaining for it to come back won't change anything." May comforted her. "Let's just enjoy each other's company instead." She shifted her attention to Ash. "Right Ash?"

"Yup!" He cheered. "We should be having fun instead of mopping like this!" He smiled.

To compare his personality to now and last night seemed impossible. He was nothing to the boy I saw last night. Nothing.

It was only yesterday since Ash and his friend May had come over to visit their friend Dawn. We were all in the dining area of the poke centre and we all were having our lunch. Ash and May had both finished their fourth meal in a row and Dawn wasn't even passed her first. Me, I haven't even touched mine. Everything around me was confusing; I didn't what to do or what I was even doing. I needed to talk to someone and let them explain everything to me. I crossed my arms in an irritated manner.

"Hey Mr. Grumpy Gills." Dawn poked a handful of noodles wrapped around two chopsticks at my left cheek. "Why haven't you ate your noddles yet?" she asked.

"Because I'm not hungry." I replied. I didn't even bother looking at her.

"But you just woke up." She added.

"Do you always have to be hungry after you wake up?" I asked in a sarcastic manner.

"Just one spoonful please?" She asked as she did that usual puppy eye trick. I glared at her and I soon sighed afterwards. I knew that if I ignored her any further she would never stop annoying me for days to come. "Fine, just one." I looked away from her in an annoyed manner.

"Alright." She cheered. "Open wide." I opened my mouth and she stuffed the noodles straight into my mouth. I swallow the noddles quickly before choking.

"Are you trying to kill me?" I asked in a higher talking tone than normal. I held my neck. "Why so much, so quickly?" I heard this May girl and Ash laughing softly.

"How cute." The brunette girl giggled. "Dawn is feeding him, how romantic."

"Say wha?" I lifted an eyebrow in confusion. "Romantic?" I placed my hand down quickly on the table. "She nearly killed me." May continue to laugh.

"Romantic, as in love?" Ash asked in a dense manner. "I didn't see anything romantic with that."

"It's because your just one of does people who won't know what love is, even if it hits you in the head like a rock." May teased. Dawn laughed at him afterwards.

"So true." She added. Both girls high fived each other afterwards.

"Girls." Ash and I said simultaneously. We both looked at each other in a surprised manner. We didn't expect to say the same word at the same time. He laughed right after.

"That was unexpected." He sweat dropped.

Soon I felt an object vibrate from inside of my bag. I lifted the flap over and pulled out my Poke gear and saw the screen light up every few seconds with the name of "old man" flashing at me in thick black bold letters. I pulled out the phone and answer the call. Even though Dawn and her friends were around I really didn't care. I would just pretend I didn't know the man I was talking to.

"I'm surprised you even picked up my call so quickly." He mocked.

"Shut up." I muttered. "I'm not in the mood for your stupid jokes." I heard Cyrus laugh right after.

"You are such a spoiled sport." He added. "Anyway I want you to meet me now."

"Are you stupid?" I asked. "Your still in that horrible cell and it will take me days to get back there."

"You're the idiot out of us two." He added. I heard a faint knock on the window. We were all sitting in the corner of the building and on Ash's side was one huge square window and right there was Cyrus, glaring at me in a scary and terrifying manner. I nearly dropped my poke gear when I saw him so close to me and yet outside.

That evil crazy psycho man was right in front of me, in front of the people that put him into jail. If they saw him there then I was doomed.

I scattered off my seat as I heard Dawn calling my name to come back. I couldn't come back; my life would go into more darkness if I came back and showed them the light of my real past. I pushed the doors of the poke centre and right in front of me was that horrible man I hated to admit that was the man that brought me here. Cyrus. He had his hands in his brown body length coat and underneath was a simple white shirt and blue jeans. He was smiling at me which irritated me and made me want to wipe it off his face with one slap.

"What are you doing here old man?" I pointed at him. He smirked at me once more.

"To see my youngest son of course." He still had that devilish grin on his face.

"Liar!" I yelled. "Just stop it!" I complained. "Stop it!" I repeated. I glared at him. "Tell me why you're really here."

"Don't tell me." He sighed and placed his right hand over his face in a disappointed manner. "That you even forgot your own birthday?"

Underneath his coat he pulled out a brown paper bag. He dug his hand to the bottom of the bag and pulled out a device, it was known as the poke gear but it was the newest one out in the market. It had a much slimmer design than the last and instead of the old black or grey colour, it was blue instead. Cyrus reached over the item to me. I looked at it for a few seconds before snatching it out of his hands. I looked away from him and at my gift. I wasn't able to look at him. Everything he was doing was so…different.

"I'm not that cold hearted as you think Paul." He remarked at me. I looked up him.

"You need to do better than give me a gift to make me actually respect you." I growled slightly. "But I'm not as stubborn as you think I am." I added. He shrugged his shoulders before turning his back to me. I watched him take step by step away from me and back to where he came from. And suddenly words came out of my lips without permission.

At that moment, that seemed to be the only moment where I understood what I was doing was actually…right.

"Thanks." I replied arrogantly.

Those words made him stop in his tracks. I saw him about to look over his shoulder but refused to do it. He lifted his hand saying that it was alright or saying no problem. Afterwards he continued on his way. I soon heard the doors of the poke centre open wide and footsteps of a familiar girl came up right behind me. I looked over my shoulder.

"Was that Cyrus right now?" Dawn asked. She asked me in what seemed to be a worried tone of voice.

Then the sound of glass smashed and I was starting to hear the tiny fragments of glass falling down onto the cold dry cement. It was all over, she knew I had to do with something with Cyrus and if Dawn knew, there was no doubt she was going to leave and go after him, with Ash and that May girl by her side. I sighed sadly and turned to face her.

"Yeah." I replied. I showed my new birthday gift to her. "I dropped this today and he just gave it back to me."

"You sure that was all?" she placed her hands firmly onto her waist. "I feel like you're lying."

Lying is what the truth had become. Lying has become the reason to protect. Lying has become my reason to live.

"Yes. That's all."

Night had fallen over Sinnoh and the small flashes of light started to pop up in different areas of the town. Dark heavy clouds started to make their way over the town and the wind began to speed up. As the clouds went over us, each star started to blink out of existence as the cloud ran right over them, minutes later only the strong glow from the moon was the only light that shined through the thick barrier of the night time clouds. I watched all of this happen from the window in the poke centre. I was on my bed watching this from the window, looking at like it was some sort of television documentary. I held out the gift my old man had given to me hours before.

"How could I forget my own birthday?" I sighed. I looked back at the scene outside. "Maybes it's because what's happening around me." A gentle soft knock echoed into the room. I gazed my attention to the door and soon it was starting to open on its own. It was a young blunette that I've come to know as Dawn. She was wearing a light pink night gown that reached up to her feet. She looked somehow worried. "What do you want?"

"I heard it's your birthday today." She spoke. "I wanted to give this back to you."

She walked in and in her hands was my old Turtwig doll. A new leaf was added as its head and the eyes were replaced with fairly modern black coat buttons. The rip on its shell was stitched back on and the dirt on it was wiped off clean. Dawn had a slight faint of pink over her face as she walked closer to me, covering her blush with my doll. She reached out the doll to me which gave me the sign she wanted me to take it from her, which I did. But as soon I took it from her she turned from me quickly and move towards the door in a rather quicker than the normal walking pace. I reached my hand to her and gripped my hand onto her wrist. Her strange behaviour was really starting to bug me.

"What is wrong with you?" I complained. "Why are you acting so weird around me?" she continued to refuse to speak with me. "Tell me." I spoke in a much calmer tone of voice.

"A boy like you won't understand anything." She finally spoke.

"When we started to travel with each other you was so open to everything that you never seem to shut up but now you're so quiet that I'm starting to worry about you." I released my grip on her. She stood where I had stopped her, her arms on the sides of her body with her head facing onto the short dry black carpet, her fringe all over her face.

"You're worried about…me?" I saw her head move up but the rest of her remained still. I didn't respond. I soon saw her body twist to my direction. "Why?" I looked into her eyes and saw she was…crying.

I had never seen anyone like that before, so sad that they cry in their own self pity and shame. To see a girl like her like that, really affected me.

"Why are you so worried about me if I act like this?" She wiped her tears away. I watched her as my mind started to think of an answer.

Why was I so worried about her? Why did I feel so sad when I see her like this? Why do I keep trying to save her every time she just herself into trouble? What is the reason behind all of this?

She rushed towards me and grabbed my jacket. She held it tight and looked into my eyes. Even though she wiped her tears away, she continued to cry.

"Tell me!" She yelled. My mind began to boggle many letters, sentences and phrases together than it all didn't make sense. It was so confusing that my lips made the decision for it instead.

"Because I care for you!" I yelled. She released her grip and I took a few steps back. I looked back on the ground, avoiding seeing the reaction she had after the words I spoke.

Yes, I will admit. She has grown onto me so much that I started to in fact care for her. But why did it feel such a bad move to make?

I looked up at her with the corner of my eye. I saw her reaction was just as shocked as I was, her hands cupped over her mouth and her eyes widen in shock or surprise.

"I care for you okay?" I repeated myself. "I don't know why and I don't want to know. It's just I find you as an important person to me."

"That's all?" she had her eyes fixed onto the ground. Her left hand gripped nicely on her right arm. She was starting to shake. "That's all I'll ever be right?" She looked up at me. "An annoying girl that you care about. A girl that is nothing more but a travelling companion."

"What are you going on about?" I asked. "You're making no sense at all!" She shook head head quickly and opened her eyes after shedding a few more tears at me.

"When will you see me more than that?" She yelled.

"More?" I questioned her. She shook her head once more and ran out of my room, leaving me in a huge state of confusion. I lifted an eyebrow in confusion. "What the hell?" I asked myself. "What just happened?"

"Her emotions are playing up, it's that simple boy." Mesprit spoke as a she released herself out of her ball which was placed deep in the depths of my bag. "Our connection is getting to its final stages." She looked at me. "And since I master in the area of emotions, Dawn's emotions are getting affected. Temporally." She stated. "but." She added as she looked at the door where only moments ago Dawn had rushed through. "What she was talking to you about had nothing to do with our connection as it never gets up to that kind of level. Well maybe slightly but mostly it was in her own doing."

"Get to the point already." I sighed. I looked at my doll Dawn has repaired for me as a gift for my birthday.

"I think what she was trying to say is that..." the spirit formed pokemon turned her attention to me. "She loves you."

Author's last minute notes:

I love the cliff-hanger. has to be my most teasing one yet. hehe.

~midnight