SORRY! SORRY SORRY SORRY! I FINALLY UPDATED! PRAISE THE WORLD THOU IS NOT DEAD!
Really hoped you enjoy this chapter guys, it's a lot darker than normal, very brutal.
Paul raced through what remained of the door, his heart leaping wildly in his chest as he felt Gary and Drew behind him, the others behind them. As he was entering, he'd seen Brock and Reggie race down the corridor, dragging a barely keeping up Kenny behind them.
Of course the penguin was bloody slow.
He screeched to a stop though when he saw Conway smirking at him, his glasses glinting dangerously as he cocked his head to the side, the knife in his hand pressed to a terrified Dawn's throat.
"How nice of you to join us Paulie."
A burst of anger exploded in his chest as Paul's vision turned red. He knew he would've leapt forward and strangled the other boy with his bare hands right then and there if it hadn't been for Drew and Gary's hands on his elbows and the terrified look in those cobalt blue eyes he loved.
"Dawn… are you okay?" he asked, trying hard to ignore the creep leaning over her. She gave a very hesitant nod, probably due to the knife, but Paul could see she wasn't. Could see she was frightened, horrified. He could see the tears welling up in her eyes, the way they screamed for help.
It crushed him inside.
If he could, he knew he would storm over there, rip those handcuffs off, tear away the cloth over her mouth, then kiss her into the middle of next week… and then some. But he had to take care of Conway first.
"Leave her alone Conway," he spat, turning a glare that would scare anyone onto his enemy, watching in slight satisfaction as he flinched before covering up with a smirk.
"Oh? And why should I do that? You left her Paul. You ran out on her. You didn't stick around to make sure she'd be safe." A creepy grin curled up on Conway's face as he leaned closer to Dawn. "You didn't stay around to make sure I didn't… taint… her."
"If you've touched her-"
"You'll what? Kill me? Oh ho, do try! We'll see how far you get before Dawn here-" he smirked and ran a hand down her face, "-gets the chop."
A shiver of anger tingled down his spine and he moved forward, only to be pulled back harshly, making a snarl tumble out of his mouth as he threw a glare over his shoulder.
"Don't do anything stupid," Gary hissed, before suddenly both his and Drew presences disappeared, replaced by Ash and Reggie. Paul managed to keep the frown off his face but he couldn't help but wonder what the other two were doing.
"-and I couldn't have done all of this without the help of my two little helpers! Ginger Ninja and Cutie Pie!" Conway finished as Paul zoned back in on his little speech.
Dawn's sudden gasp made Paul's head snap to her but her eyes were only on Misty and May as they stood looking at Conway.
"No…" Paul mumbled, his eyes widening as he looked at them.
"Hey guys! Lets talk in… in code or something! It'll make this video chat more funner!" Dawn giggled, making Paul's eyes roll from where he sat beside her, out of view of the camera but from where he could see the screen.
"Ooh! That sounds like fun!" Leaf replied, grinning madly as she shouted over the noise of Drew and Gary having a fight in the back ground, Ash and Brock attempting to break them up. Misty and May nodded from where they sat by Leaf before Dawn spoke up again.
"I vote Misty be-"
"Dawn can be Princess!" May cried out, earning nods of approval from the rest of the girls. Dawn blushed but nodded as well, giggling at the name.
"And Leaf can be-"
"El Retardo," Paul muttered under his breath, earning a glare but a small giggle from Dawn.
"-Littley! Because she's so small!" Misty grinned, nodding her head as Leaf sighed.
"Pick on the short ones then."
Misty and May laughed before Dawn decided to say their nicknames.
"Misty! You can be Ginger Ninja! And May can be Cutie Pie!"
"Agreed!"
He couldn't believe they would betrayed them, not Dawn's best friends. Never. But…
"Oh where are you two idiots! You're supposed to be up here!" Conway snarled, his eyes running over the group, and Paul frowned when they didn't stop once on May and Misty. Was he wrong…?
"Sorry boss! We were stuck behind them!" a very familiar, high, womanly voice called out and Paul turned to see Kenny and Harley pushing through them all to stand by Conway.
Wait what?
"K-Kenny?" Zoey asked from where she was standing. "H-How? Why?"
"Because," the ginger headed boy smirked and moved over to stand by Dawn. "Little Miss Tussaud here rejected me one to many times." His grin was feral as he leant in to Dawn's face. "If I can't have her, then no one can. Especially not Paul."
"You don't have a right to decide who Dawn wants to be with!" Misty suddenly yelled, stepping forward. Paul instantly swung out an arm and pushed her back, shooting her a glare that said to stay behind him.
"Oh don't I? I think I might do when she's in this position," he replied, shifting a hand and running it up Dawn's thigh, trailing it between the two before attaching his lips to Dawn's throat.
"And I just really don't like you guys," Harley spoke up from where he was standing. Everyone ignored him though, all of them focussed more on Paul trying desperately to rip himself away from Ash and Reggie to literally kill Kenny.
"Oi, moron. Step away from Dawn," Conway suddenly snarled, his eyes glinting with anger.
"But boss! You said I could have my fun with her!"
"Fuck off."
"But-"
BANG!
Everyone froze as the gun shot sounded though the room.
And Kenny's motionless body fell to the ground.
Almost instantly the room fell into a mad panic. Dawn started screaming hysterically as Kenny's lifeless eyes stared up at her, Drew and Gary seemed to appear out of no where as they leapt on Conway, dragging him to the ground and trying desperately to avoid the shots he was shooting off, Misty and May began to throw everyone out the door, trying to keep them all safe, Reggie, Ash and Paul raced forward and began trying to untie Dawn while nearby Harley sank to the ground, shot in the neck from one of the renegade bullets.
"Paul! Help!" Dawn screamed as soon as the cloth over her mouth was pulled off, making Paul shiver at the trauma evident in her voice. He tried to yank the cuffs but found it impossible. Luckily, Reggie had the sense to look around for something to retract them back into the chair. A glint of silver caught his eye and within seconds Reggie was standing over Dawn holding down a button on the remote.
And within seconds Dawn was on her feet, crying hysterically into Reggie's shoulder.
"I-I thought-"
"Sssh you're safe now," Reggie soothed, stroking her hair and catching the pained look on Paul's face. After another moment, a loud scream sounded though the room, followed by a "NO!" that rivaled the first scream.
Drew was leaning over Gary, staring down at the gapping hole in his stomach, his eyes wide with horror as Gary's breath began to become shallower and shallower. "Stay with me Gary! Stay with me!"
Nearby, Conway was getting to his feet, a sadistic smirk on his face, his glasses crooked and a bloodied knife clenched in his hand.
"Paul! Get Dawn out of here!" Reggie cried, throwing the bluenette at Paul before both he and Ash charged at Conway. The purple haired boy took only a moment to worry over all four of the others before he quickly grabbed Dawn's elbow and dragged her out of the room.
The bile was raising quickly in his throat as Paul tugged Dawn down the corridor, the sounds of Drew's pained screams of protest, Conway's frantic yells along with Reggie and Ash's almost battle cries made him want to turn around and fight with them. But his priority was in Dawn.
"Let me go Paul. I can run by myself!" Dawn protested, yanking her arm back but Paul's grip was stronger than anticipated.
"I'm not fighting with you now Troublesome-" he inwardly winced as he used her nickname. "-because it's just not worth it. Now hurry up! And keep up!"
She let out a frustrated huff before picking up her speed and began to sprint after him, thankful that she decided to wear flats instead of heels like Harley had tried to get her to do.
…
He didn't even wait for the door to finish swinging open on it's hinges before he was dragging Dawn outside.
"Would you slow down! You've already gotten us lost lots of times! We don't need to crash as well!" Dawn cried as she avoided slamming into the glass. Paul only shot her a look over his shoulder before pulling her down the path in front of the huge contest hall and out on to the road.
Only to freeze in horror.
Standing in the middle of the road was four Rattata's and an Ekans, staring at him with a scary hunger that no pokemon should know.
"They're Conway's."
"How do you know?"
"See the markings on their tails?" he asked, pointing towards the green squiggles that seemed to be engraved on to them. "Conway does that so he knows what pokemon are his. And so he knows what pokemon are strong enough to be under his command."
"That's…" Dawn's mouth open and closed for a moment before she continued talking. "That's barbaric!"
"That's Conway."
Taking a deep breath, Paul pulled Dawn behind him and started walking forward, inwardly flinching when the Ekans began hissing and the Rattata's eyes turned an even darker shade of red then normal. As soon as he pause in front of them, and Dawn began to ask what they were going to do, Paul reached into his pocket and drew out two pokeball's, hoping that the two pokemon in them would be good enough.
"Weavile! Froslass! Hold them off for us!" he cried as he threw out the balls, watching as they exploded, revealing two of his most trusted pokemon. They cried out their names at the same time, determination ringing in their voices before their eyes locked onto Paul's.
Another deep breath was taken before he whispered "Be careful" to them, watching as they nodded and turned back to their opponents.
Swallowing the lump in his throat, Paul tugged Dawn down the road the opposite way, trying to force the sound of fighting pokemon out of his ears. He knew that Weavile and Froslass only had slim chances of winning, but he was hoping like mad that those chances were bloody brilliant ones that would save their lives.
"How could you do that Paul! Just leave them there!" Dawn screamed in his ear over the noise, and Paul had to bite his tongue to stop from lashing out at her. Of course she wouldn't understand, of course not. But did she have to make it harder?
"They're well pre-"
A huge explosion behind them cut him off, and out of the corner of his eye Paul saw the front of the Contest Hall explode, showering the road and path with splinters and debris as Conway appeared out of the rumble, a deadly smirk on his face.
"RUN!" Paul screamed quickly, taking off into a sprint as Conway pulled out two pokeball's and threw them up into the air, reveling a Skarmory and Gyarados.
"After them," were the simple cold words.
With the two flying pokemon hot on their heels, Paul began to desperately look for some place to hide, his head beginning to throb from the amount of noise echoing through the street from multiple pokemon… and the maniacal laughter of Conway.
"In here!" he called to Dawn, dragging her up the steps that lead into a church.
"What! A church? I don't know whats going on in your head but-"
"GET IN!" he roared, throwing her through the door just as the Gyarados's hyper beam destroyed one of the poles holding up the entrance, causing it to collapse and bury them in. Without wasting a minute though, Paul was on his feet and sprinting through the entrance hall, into the sanctuary itself, hoping that Dawn was right behind him.
The sound of pounding against the rubble made him glance back, luckily just at the same time Dawn cried his name from where she sat, her leg stuck underneath a huge piece of debris.
"Paul! Paul… please Paul help!" she cried out, tears flowing down her face from the obvious pain she must have been in. Not thinking at all as to how exactly he was going to help, Paul raced back towards her and squatted down, checking to see if she was hurt anymore.
"Alright…" he began, reaching out to stroke her hair as he though about how he could move the hunk of rubble off her, trying to calm the bluenette. "Alright Dawn, take deep breaths… come on take deep breaths with me…" Slowly she began to breath slower and deeper, her blue orbs locking with his own black ones as she tried to calm herself. "This might hurt."
A perching scream of pain echoed through the room as Paul pushed the piece of debris off her leg, wincing as he saw the jagged edges rip through her skin, making her bleed profusely.
"You… you fucking ass!" she shrieked, sobbing uncontrollably as she reached forward to press her hands against the wounds. Paul nibbled on his bottom lip and stood up, resisting the urge to scoop her up into his arms and carry her, knowing it would just slow them both down in the long run.
"Come on," he began, offering his hand to her, "We need to go right now."
In glistening blue eyes, Paul could see the amount of pain she was in as Dawn slipped a blood soaked hand into his and allowed him to pull her to her feet.
"Get me outta here. Get us both out of here Paul," she whispered into his ear as she collided with his chest. Paul nodded and gave her a tight squeeze to pass for a hug before pulling away and leading her into the sanctuary, hoping that the rubble would keep Conway at bay long enough for them to find an exit to escape through.
Wishful thinking.
The entrance hall was blown to bit's by a large beam of pure red light, making Dawn scream in horror as Gyarados's head burst through the hole it'd just made. Without waiting another moment that could lead to them possibly being seen, Paul hauled Dawn down the lines and lines of pews, sprinting towards the door he'd spotted on the other side of the room. Knowing that on the other side was the church graveyard… and freedom, Paul ran faster.
"I know you're in here!" came the cheerful, sickening drawl of Conway, making the other two shiver and drop to the ground, hiding in between the wooden seats.
"Keep crawling behind me," Paul mumbled over his shoulder as he began shuffling on his hands and knees towards the door. Dawn gave a small sound of acknowledgement before crawling after him, trying to keep the hysterics building up in her throat at bay.
"Blastoise! Why don't you come join Skarmory and Gyarados in their… search."
The familiar sound of a pokeball bursting open followed by the roar of a pokemon had Paul swearing under his breath as he picked up his pace. Only to throw himself backwards and cover Dawn's mouth to stop her from screaming as three red hyper beams flew through the room, smashing pews, the roof, the altar, windows and anything else into fragments, showering the two with wood, concrete and glass.
"I didn't know Skarmory knew hyper beam," Dawn breathed to Paul as he pulled his hand away, trying to find his way through the mess without hurting himself and Dawn too much.
"It doesn't. Conway's Skarmory does." By the look Dawn gave him, Paul knew she was confused. "You've seen the way he handles his pokemon. He's cruel, crueler than me. His pokemon will do whatever he asks if they want to live."
"Who'd want to live in an existence under him…"
Paul didn't even answer as he began to devise a plan, trying to ignore the continuous shouts from Conway and the red beams flying over top… that was until they were suddenly drenched in water.
"He's using hydro pump!" Dawn cried, staring at Paul and wishing he'd hurry up.
"Shut up! I know!" he snarled back, hoping she'd understand he was just stressed and didn't mean to snap. "Look, I have a plan but you might not like it."
"What is it?"
He quickly explained it to her, expecting the reaction he got and he managed to subdue her loud protests before taking a deep breath and telling her it was final. After a few more moments of silence, Dawn suddenly leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to Paul's lips.
"I'm sorry for being a cow," she whispered, wincing as another rain of debris showered down on them. "But please don't get yourself killed. Not for me."
With a small smile on his face, mostly from the tingling feeling on his lips, Paul cocked his head to the side and nodded his head. "Are you ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be."
More silence…
"NOW!"
The room burst into a flurry of movement as Paul and Dawn stood up, the purple haired boy shoving the bluenette behind him as he dragged out three pokeball's.
"URSARING! ELECTIVIRE! DRAPION!" he screamed, throwing the balls in the air and pushing Dawn, giving her a glance to make sure she was running towards the door, hoping her leg wouldn't cause her to much trouble. Turning his attention back, he saw his three pokemon standing on either side of him, glaring menacingly at Conway and his own pokemon.
"Well well well," Conway chuckled, his glasses glinting evilly. "Seems you've decided to stand and fight. Skarmory…"
Paul's pained scream echoed through the building, making Dawn turn around just in time to see Paul fall to the ground, his left arm hanging uselessly by his side while both that and his back hosed out blood from multiple cuts. Nearby, a satisfied Skarmory was flying off, followed by a very pissed off Electivire. Huge roars echoed through the building as Ursaring and Drapion flew at Conway, attacking both him before taking on Gyarados and Blastoise respectively.
"Paul!" she cried out, changing the plan and racing back to his side, slipping an arm around his waist and pulling him to his feet.
"Dawn… what the fuck are you doing. Get out of here." There was no fire in his voice, only pain and Dawn just about burst into tears as she caught the sight of his face. It seemed his back and arm weren't the only pieces of anatomy that were struck by Skarmory.
"I'm taking you with me," she hissed, pulling him along beside her while trying not to fall from the extra weight. After a few moments of being dragged, Paul seemed to realise she wasn't letting him go and began to put some effort in, hurrying them along with his own legs. As soon as they reached the door though, they faced a problem.
How would they open it?
Fortunately that was soon fixed when a stray hyper beam slammed into in, tearing it in half and flinging it wide open. Dawn quickly pulled herself through, hauling Paul with her until they got to the steps leading down to the graveyard. Almost instantly, Paul pulled away from Dawn, his head exploding with pain but determination running through every fibre of his body.
"Now go. Go Dawn. Go and get the others." He gave her a stern look when she looked about to argue. "Now!"
"I can't leave you!"
"You can and you will." He stepped forward and cupped her cheek, staring into her once again glistening eyes. "Please. I won't be able to live with myself if you get hurt anymore."
"But you might die!"
"Thats a risk I'm willing to take." They flinched as a painful roar pierced the air, before Paul pulled her down the stairs and pushed her in the direction of the small black, wrought iron gates a few meters away. "I'll be fine. Now go!"
"Paul…"
"Get out of here Dawn," he gazed at her, feeling tears prick his own eyes. "Please…"
She gave a small tearful nod before walking forward and kissing his cheek, making sure to let her lips linger for a long moment, "Be safe."
And then she was gone.
…
"Oh my, how very touching."
Paul stiffened as the voice curl around him like a whip, ready to snap tight and strangle him. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Conway exited the church, completely unfazed by the hideous roars echoing out from inside the building. Paul felt his hands ball up into fists, all of the pain coursing through his body turning to a dull throbbing as anger took over.
"Fuck you."
"Now now, thats not very polite-"
"Fuck you Conway!" Paul practically roared, turning to glare with more menace then even he thought he could muster. Conway seemed to flinch, his eyes widening slightly before a smirk raced over those disgusting features.
"Paul, darling-" Paul shivered at the pet name, it was just too weird. "-you know I like you, I wouldn't have spent so many years following you around if I didn't! So lets be friendly here, and let me kill you quickly? I hate to see you suffer."
Paul just spat at him, his face twisted up into anger and pure rage. "Why don't you go fuck yourself."
Conway's laugh echoed across the graveyard, making Paul flinch on the inside at how creepy he was, and sounded. Of course he made himself look stony and hard on the outside, but he was really quite terrified.
"I wonder Paulie, do you remember these guys?" the green haired boy asked as he pulled out some pokeball's, grinning madly as he threw them up into the air and laughing as the pokemon burst out of their home with loud roars of their own names.
Names that made Paul freeze.
A familiar duo of Raichu and Infernape burst out of the balls, their faces turning up into feral grins as they stared with almost hungry eyes at Paul, Raichu flicking it's tail while Infernape cracked it's knuckles. Paul could feel a familiar sense of dread fall over him as he recognized the two, his heart pumping madly as it seemed to crawl up into his throat while the memories surged through him.
Strong arms, strong non-human arms were wrapped around him, like an unrelenting force that refused to ever let go of him. He so desperately wanted to rip himself out of these arms, these smooth arms that should've been easy to escape from. He so desperately wanted to help tear his older brother out of the arms of that stupid monkey pokemon, the one that was steadily burning Reggie just because it could, the one that had jagged arms thats stuck into Reggie's arms and sides, slicing through the skin every time Reggie struggled.
He heard himself scream out, tear viciously at the stupid Raichu, trying in so much vain to reach his mother as she was slowly killed before his eyes. He heard Reggie's cries, telling him not to look, but the only thing he was truly registering was the immense pain coursing through him as his father ran into the fray, leading him to his death, his parents both dying in front of him while these arms, these arms just stayed around him, forcing him back, forcing him to just watch and slowly be destroyed.
"DADDY! HE HAS A KNIFE!"
Paul snapped back to reality as his own childish voice screamed through his ears, making him let out a gasp as the very very familiar Raichu waved at him with those arms that Paul had nightmares about for years and years. His heart was just about crawling out his mouth now as Conway laughed manically at him, an insane grin taking over his features.
"Oh my, seems Paulie has a good memory after all!" he cackled, and Paul realised that Conway must've know what he was thinking about, the memory. His father must've told him all. "Why don't my lovely pokemon here give you a taste of the past? Refresh your memory just that little more... physically."
Within seconds Paul was trying to fight back screams as Raichu's arms were suddenly closing around him again, making him thrash wildly as the memory continued to assault him over and over again, while Infernape reached out and slowly began to burn him, much like it'd burnt Reggie, it's hand trailing down the front of Paul's chest and leaving behind burns that would've made the devil himself cry. Conway's maniacal laughter filled his ears as he squeezed his eyes shut and bit the inside of his cheek, hard enough to draw blood, and he tried not to let the bloodcurdling screams tear through his throat as those burning hands trailed over his navel and down towards his groin, stopping just above the hip line before shooting back up to touch his cheek.
The cheek that had be brutally scratched by Skarmory's earlier attack.
He couldn't keep back the scream as the cuts were almost set on fire, enough heat to make it unbearable and torturous, but not enough to cauterize his wounds. As Raichu readjusted behind him, he let out another whimper as his useless arm was practically shoved inside his body with the amount of force that Raichu was using to restrain him.
"Enough now, more later," was all Conway had to say to make Infernape step back, but not before sticking a finger in Paul's mouth, burning the purple haired boys tongue then turning away with a sickening grin. Conway sniggered before stepping up in front of Paul, reaching out to tap his nose and stare at those black eyes.
"Is Paulie gonna cry?" Conway goaded, smirking even more when Paul just forced back a swallow and meet his eyes with a level glare. "Gonna run home to your mummy? Oh wait… that's right!"
Suddenly the green haired boy was letting out a gasp as Paul somehow managed to raise a leg and knee him straight in the stomach, before viciously tearing himself out of Raichu's grip, almost getting free besides one hand when Conway looked up, his eyes burning.
"Throw him," he snarled, and Paul was confused until suddenly he felt himself being lifted and thrown, straight into a headstone.
A loud cry echoed through the air.
"You… You little bitch…" Conway sneered as he got to his feet, one arm wrapped around his stomach while the other sought out another pokeball. "You're going to pay."
Paul managed to glance up from where he was curled into a fetal position, just in time to see Conway throw his pokeball which exploded with that powerful red beam. He instantly dropped his head and squeezed his eyes shut, the flash making him want to cry out as his head pounded with a headache. Of course the added sound of another pokemon's loud roar ripping through the air made him gasp in agony as his head split, and he felt tears gather in his eyes. He refused to allow them to fall, knowing that Conway would just laugh at him, call him pathetic, spit in his face and rub it in.
"Venusaur, do me a favor?" Conway's voice floated over to Paul, making him cringe as he forced himself to his feet, refusing to stay on the ground. "Use vine whip."
The purple haired man let out a loud gasp as almost instantly a vine came out of nowhere, wrapping tightly around him and lifting him up into the air, maniacal laughter accompanying him as he went. His already bruised sides made his body scream and he felt himself almost double over, only held up by the thick wraps around him.
"You don't just do things without suffering consequences Paul. Your father learnt that the hard way." Paul cracked open an eye to look down at his tormenter, seeing the victorious smirk curling up on Conway's face and he felt a overwhelming wave of hate fly over him. This bastard dared to bring up his father?
"You will pay Conway, I swear you will pay."
"Yeah yeah, empty threats. Currently I'm the one holding all the cards Paul, how are you going to make me 'pay'?"
Paul just continued to glare, wishing that looks could kill, oh how he wished it. Because frankly, if the could, then Conway would never have existed in the first place.
His train of thought was stopped when a loud explosion rocked the ground Venusaur was standing on, making the pokemon let him go and his whole body had a quick love affair with the ground as he smashed into it, his vision exploding into a thousand black and white dots when his head smacked against it.
"Fuck…" he swore under his breath, using some of the last of his strength to roll over and look towards where the explosion had originated from, his throat running dry and eyes widening dramatically when he saw the smoking ruining of the church… followed by three figures walking towards them out of the smoke, none of which looked like his pokemon.
"Well well well, Paul. Looks like someone finally won," Conway commentated as the three pokemon emerged into clarity, and Paul gasped as the three lifeless bodies of Ursaring, Electrivire and Drapion were deposited in front of him. Somehow his body managed to find one more burst of adrenaline and he was soon racing over to the pokemon, ignoring Conway's laughter as he dropped to his knees besides Electrivire, his eyes welling up with tears as he saw how destroyed the body in front of him was. His mouth slowly opened, his pokemon's name straining to come out, but nothing happened. He just sat there in stunned silence, fighting back the tears that so badly wanted to escape him.
He tried to think of something to say, some words to cut Conway to the bone as he gazed at his dead pokemon, their lifeless eyes staring at him and he felt his heart break. But he was shaken out of his stupor when more roars joined in the rest, and he turned to see the Ekans and Rattata's from before come walking towards them, the barely alive forms of Weavile and Froslass being dragged behind them.
"Ha! It seems all of your pokemon are dead or dying Paul!" Conway was obviously reveling in Paul's pain, grinning maniacally as the other two pokemon were deposited beside their master, and Paul was soon draping himself over them, whispering words of comfort as he tried to avoid the wounds itched on every surface of their bodies. "But there is only five here, and I know you have six. Where is that lovely Torterra of yours?"
"What?" Paul spat, his voice nothing but pure venom as he got to his feet on wobbly legs, his eyes showing nothing but pure hatred while his hands curled into fists. "You want to try take him down as well?"
"Try? Why, I'll succeed. Come on, one more battle? For old times sakes?"
Paul knew he was stupid, more than stupid as he reached for his last pokeball, his hand tight around it while his heart thundered in his chest. If he made a mistake it could lead to Torterra's death, much like the others. He bit back the tears again, squeezing his eyes shut as he tried not to think about his pokemon behind him, and instead focused more on throwing the ball in the air and crying out Torterra's name at the top of his lungs.
The sight of the large turtle like pokemon made relief flood his body, and he felt his legs tremble from that. Knowing his pokemon was there, ready to support him was the best feeling in the world.
That was until he let out a loud scream as a vine whip came out of nowhere, smashing into Torterra and sending him flying through multiple rows of headstones, followed by a smirking Infernape and laughing Raichu come sprinting towards him.
"You're such an idiot Paul!" Conway laughed as he watched his pokemon grab an arm each, dragging him towards the green haired male. "You should've known not to pull your last pokemon, the only one that quite possibly could've saved you, into this! You're a moron, an utter moron!"
Paul felt a scream build up behind his lips as he watched Torterra struggle to his feet, only to cry out as vine whip after vine whip slashed him, beating him to a bloody pulp. He tried to yell out, tell Torterra to fight back, anything! But the restricting paw of Racihu's over his mouth made every attempt redundant, and he was forced to watch as his last pokemon was torn to shreds. His most loyalist friend. He forced his eyes to stay open, hoping Torterra would look his way and see the clear message, the message to get away, fight back, just not give up and accept his fate.
And this time he did scream, in happiness though, when Torterra slammed a foot on the ground and root upon root came out and slammed into Venusaur, sending the pokemon flying.
Conway didn't seem to happy about that at all, and Paul gasped for breath as the two pokemon holding him let go and charged for Torterra.
"TORTERRA!" he screamed, ignoring everything but his pokemon, "DODGE!"
The loud, confirming roar rocked his world as he watched Torterra leap out of the way of Raichu's thunderbolt, only to land in the path of Infernape's flamethrower. He managed to hear Paul's scream of "defend!"and he was instantly stomping his foot on the ground to make a wall of roots surge up and deflect the attack. Tuning into Paul's shouts and cries, Torterra instantly began to fight back, dodging the attacks thrown by the electric and fire pokemon, throwing up root shields and when possible attacking them himself, using such attacks as Wood Hammer, Razor Leaf, Earthquake and Leaf Storm. The whole cemetery was rocking with the power being used by all the pokemon, making Paul have to kneel down to keep his balance, and pray that Conway wasn't going to come over and finish him off while he wasn't looking. But luckily the other man was too busy frowning as he watched the fight, clearly trying to figure out a way to stop the unstoppable force that was Torterra.
It wasn't until Paul saw an opening and screamed for Torterra to use bite, only to realise he'd misjudged the situation. As the grass pokemon lunged forward to sink it's teeth into Raichu, Infernape came out of nowhere, it's hand covered in a glowing a light blue as it's eyes flashed a horrible shade of yellow. Instantly Paul recognized the attack as Mach Punch and knew, that no matter how hard he screamed, how fast he ran or thought or did anything, Torterra…
Torterra was done for.
The master joined in with his pokemon as they screamed, both in pain with one collapsing in a dead faint while the other crumbled in a sobbing mess.
"Huh, he put up more of a fight than I thought he would."
Paul's hands tightened into fists, and the stinging sensation followed by the feeling of wetness made him hiss slightly, knowing his fingernails had finally broken skin. He felt his whole world crumble down around him, knowing he had failed his pokemon, knowing that everything was at a loss now. He had no strength to stand up to Conway anymore, he'd killed off all of his pokemon by being foolish enough to think they could take on Conway, he was nothing.
So he didn't even flinch when the feeling of a vine wrapping back around him turned up, nor at the feeling of air whipping past him as he flew through the air, and the scream refused to leave his lips as he slammed into the headstone, feeling the bones in his body break a million times over and blood come leaking out of every wound to cover him. He didn't move when the sound of cackling was over him, he didn't react when Conway rolled him over and spat in his face, he didn't care when the bastard seemed to pull that knife he'd tried using on Dawn out.
Dawn… at least she was safe.
A small smile touched his lips as he thought of the beautiful girl, the one he loved. She was safe, she was going to be happy. Gary and Drew would look after her, and she'd be fine with her life. He couldn't help but wonder if she was thinking of him like he was, and that small smile grew slightly.
His eyes slipped shut as he swung into unconsciousness, his last sight not being of a screaming Conway swing his knife down to claim his revenge, but of a brilliant, beautiful girl who had melted and stolen his heart.
I'm so sorry I haven't updated guys! I didn't abandon the story, I really didn't. I just got halfway through writing this chapter and crapped out. Writers block, but only for Pokemon. Weird.
Good news! This is almost finished! I put my head down, wrote this chapter! Although how to finish... XD
Hope you enjoyed it! SORRY ABOUT THE LATE UPDATE!
Promise to update again in another week if not soon :D