Hey readers, I'm back. And here is a new chapter. Hope you like it!

Chapter 25

Barry continued to battle the gym leader while the others decided to sit on the bleachers. The last round finished after 30 minutes, the gym was clouded with smoke. Both Pokémon were standing, after a few seconds, one of them fell.

"And the winner of this match is Barry the challenger." The referee said.

"Nice work Empoleon, you deserve a nice long rest." Barry said to his very exhausted pokemon.

Paul didn't waste any time, he went straight to the gym leader and demanded a gym battle.

"I'm sorry, but I had three challengers today and all my Pokémon are tired, can you just go back tomorrow?" Crasher Wake said

Paul frowned, he wasted his morning going around the town because Dawn said that they need to 'go look at the mall' and now, the Wake is telling him that their battle will be held tomorrow. He was pissed; he walks away with his hand on his pocket.

Meanwhile, Dawn and the others are talking to Barry.

"So Barry, how the heck do you know May?" Drew asked but deep down he wants to strangle him.

'That must be May's boyfriend, ha-ha-ha I'm going to have some fun.' Barry thought before answering. "Oh didn't May tell you? We used to go out, oh how I miss you May~" He suddenly gives her a hug.

May was shocked and couldn't move, the look that Drew was giving him was deadly but somehow Barry ignored it.

"B-B-Barry what are you talking about?" May said

"Just play along for a while May." He whispered

"I really missed you and I want us to get back together, oh maybe we should get married."

"BARRY! Get your hands off of May right now or else" Drew threatened

"Or else what?" Barry challenged

"You wouldn't see another Day, I would be your worst nightmare."

"Okay chill dude, we didn't go out before. I was just joking. The truth is my Mom and her Mom are childhood friends. May and her mom used to visit us until we moved in Sinnoh." Barry explained.

Drew sigh in relief but they smack him in the shoulder "You should have told me before, I'm Drew by the way."

"Oh, I know you. You do know that you're popular here in Sinnoh, even if this isn't your home region."

"We were aware of that." May mumbled

"But still I missed you May, it's so long since I last saw you. And Hi Dawn, since you're here I'm guessing that Ash and Brock are also here?" Barry looked around but found no one but them. "Speaking of, where are they anyway?"

"Yeah Dawn, you never told me where they were. I was going to ask you before but it just slipped out of my mind," May said while shrugging

Drew sighed, "Typical May! Always forgetful and clumsy."

"I'll ignore that comment, so Dawn?"

"Long story short, there was trouble with team Galactic and we got separated. Team Galactic is an evil organization that wants to do something with Palkia and Dialga. Anyway, I was alone for a while, I tried finding them but I only manage to bump into Paul. After many arguments, he asked me to travel with him saying and I quote "It will saves us a lot of time if you just travel with me and you might bump into lozer too, so come on troublesome" that's why we're travelling together. Up until now, we didn't find Ash or Brock. I just hope that they are fine." Dawn explained her eyes filled with water but she won't let them fall; she won't cry in front of them.

"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll find them soon enough." May said as she hugged her friend who returned the hug too.

"Hey where's Paul?" Barry asked

"He's right over th – " Dawn never got to finish her sentence when she saw that Paul was not there. 'Hmm, where did he go? I didn't even notice him.' She thought. She looked at her friends and said "I'll catch you guys later; I'll be back in a few." The others nodded and she ran outside.

She ran from one place to another, looking for Paul. He was nowhere to be found and he just disappeared just like that. Dawn is walking near a forest, and she was about to give up when she heard voices near her.

"Use Thunderbolt, Torterra hyperbeam" the voice said. Dawn knew that voice, so she ran just in time to see Paul standing there, watching his two pokemon battle. She hid behind a tree, observing him.

"I know you're there, you can come out now" He sighed.

Dawn was surprised to hear his voice, and slowly went towards him. "How did you know I was hiding?" Paul didn't bother answering and kept on commanding one attack to another. "Why did you suddenly disappear?"

Paul sighed again; he knew that she wouldn't stop trying to make conversation, so he replied "I need to train."

"Paul, tell me didn't you already challenged Crasher Wake?" Dawn asked

Paul returned Electabuzz and Torterra before stuffing his hands in his pockets; he frowned and then looked at Dawn. "I did, but I lost. So now I'm challenging him again. And before you opened your mouth, Yes – I lied about having 6th badges, I still need to challenge the Snowpoint and Sunnyshore's gym leaders." (AN: Was that OOC?)

Dawn smiled, she didn't know why though; maybe because Paul is starting to talk to her a bit more than usual?

After a few minutes of just standing there, they both decided to head back to the Pokémon Centre. They found the gang eating in the restaurant connected to the Pokémon Centre.

"Hey guys, eat dinner with us!" May yells once she spotted them. They eat together, May kept on feeding and assisting Sam while Dawn tried to do the same. Keyword: tried. Dawn, being new at this, didn't do a very good job. Paul just smirked at them. Drew just ate there, sometimes feeds Sam too. Barry, on the other hand, is talking about his adventures to them.

That night, they slept peacefully, waiting for the next day to come.

The next day, they quickly ate their breakfast before heading to the gym. The quicker he wins, the quicker they could go to the next town. And the quicker they get to the next town, the quicker they could get to the other town and, and you get the point.

When they reached the Pastoria Gym, they were greeted by the assistant. They let them in, saying that Wake has been waiting for them.

Soon, both Paul and Wake are standing at the opposite sides of the room while the others sat on the bleachers.

"I'm so excited this is my first time seeing a Pokémon battle!" Sam exclaimed

May looked at her with a surprised expression, "You haven't seen a Pokémon battle before? But didn't you see us in the Grand Festival?"

"Mo – I mean May," Sam quickly fixed her error seeing that Barry was there, "That is a contest battle but this is a Gym battle."

May had this 'O.o' face, a five year old child just explained the difference about the contest and gym battles. Drew just smirked at her. 'It's a good thing she inherited my intelligence.' He thought.

"And I get to see Dahhh – Paul battle while using his – and I quote – 'old battling style' as my mommy would always saw to me." Katrina said and quickly glanced at Dawn who looked back at her. Gosh, she was not really used at calling them by their names.

It confused Barry as to why both kids were talking like that, as if they were hiding something; but he just kept quiet and ignored it, after all they were just five year old. He asked the others why that kid, Sam looked a lot like May and Drew but Drew replied that she's his cousin. And now, looking at the other one he looks at her and saw a bit Paul and Dawn in there. He shrugged and just focused on the upcoming battle.

It was a three-on-three battle, the winner will be declared once the opponent's Pokémon are defeated and only the challenger is allowed to substitute. In the center of the room is full of water, indicating that Wake is a water-type specialist.

"Let the match begin!" The referee said as he raised both flags.

"Gyrados, you're up!" Wake said Gyrados was released in the Pokeball and into the water, he roared.

Paul enlarged a Pokeball before throwing it upwards, "Electabuzz, stand by for battle!" and then he caught the pokeball. Electabuzz stood in one of the floating round platforms. "Let's start this with Thunderbolt!"

"Gyrados dod – " but before he could finish his sentence his Pokémon was hit by the opponent's attack. "Are you alright?" Gyrados roared in reply.

"Use Dragon Rage followed by Flamethrower!" Wake said.

Paul's Electabuzz managed to dodge the Dragon range only to be caught by the Flamethrower. Paul thought for the next move for a while. "Use thunder punch."

When Wake heard this, he quickly said "Use Whirlpool!" Before Thunder punch hit Gyrados, said Pokémon managed to release a large Whirlpool.

Paul smirked before saying, "Thunderbolt followed by another thunder punch." He did what he was told too and hit Gyrados. Said Pokémon fell in water, unconscious.

"Gyrados is unable to battle, Electabuzz wins." The referee said as he raised the green flag, saying that Paul won the first round.

"You were great, take a long rest." Wake said as he returned his unconscious Pokémon. "I must say, that was unexpected." He laughed and then threw another Pokeball, out came a Quagsire. "Quagsire, you're up!"

Electabuzz stays, although he was a bit tired, he didn't show it to his owner. "Use thunderbolt"

That attack hit Quagsire directly but he didn't fall down. "Quagsire is part ground you know."

Paul ignored him and commanded another attack "Use Giga Impact"

"Dodge and use water pulse." That attack hit Electabuzz and fainted. He fainted because he's energy is drained and he was tired.

"Electabuzz is unable to battle, Quagsire wins." The referee said, this time raising a red flag.

Without a single word, Paul retuned his Electabuzz back to its Pokeball. He looked at his opponent, thinking of who he will release next. In the corner of his eyes, he could see the girls cheering him on, but somehow he could only hear Dawn's voice. 'Snap out of it, you need to focus on the battle not on Troublesome' he mentally scolded himself. He sighed before releasing his next Pokémon.

AN: Sorry for the long wait, so who do you think he will release next? :D

Review for this chapter! Who wants to do a side story about Ikarishipping? Pm me, okay?

~Claudette14