Hey everyone! I'm back with another totally random one-shot. Enjoy reading!
I do not own Pokémon in any way!
Paul: age 14 . Dawn: age 13
"The enemy gang is up to something," Leaf said, turning to her blunette friend as the two walked down the deserted sidewalk. "We better watch out."
Dawn turned to her friend, surprised.
"Enemy gang? What do you mean, boss?"
Leaf took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment. She opened them again and glanced sideways at Dawn.
"You're still new to this, aren't you?" She stopped and looked at the newest member of the gang. The brunette looked deep in thought before speaking up again. "Well, Dawn, let me explain a little something to you. The point of this gang is that we stop criminal gangs, anonymously. You understand that part, right?"
"Right."
"So, as you know, this is a fairly safe city. That is to say, there is one gang in particular we are aiming to stop. We call them the enemy gang. Now, the enemy gang is a group of boys around our age. Recently, it came to our attention that one of the members of that gang has been caught spying on us. His name is Conway, and he-"
"Wait," Dawn interrupted. "You mean Conway as in the one who goes to our school?"
"Yeah."
Dawn shuddered.
"As I was saying," Leaf continued. "we need to be extra careful now. We don't know what he is up to, and we need to stop the gang before they do anything serious. The boss of the enemy gang is the guy you need to watch out for the most. He's the guy nobody messes with. Understand?"
Dawn imagined a large tattooed teenager holding a cigarette.
"Yes, boss."
Leaf moved off the sidewalk to step on some dried leaves. They crunched beneath her shoes as she began walking again.
"Leaf?"
"Yeah?" Leaf stopped to look at the blunette.
"Imagine you're face-to-face with the enemy gang boss, and he's about to punch you to the ground. But then a prince in shining armour comes to save you."
"Ew."
Dawn glared at her.
"You don't know, Leaf. There probably is a prince in shining armour." Dawn paused to reflect. "And he probably watches you from a distance, and when you need help, he comes to protect you."
"That sounds stalk-ish, and downright creepy."
"Ugh. You're no fun, Leaf."
Leaf rolled her eyes.
The two walked the rest of the way in silence.
'12:06 PM,' the time read on the alarm clock on Dawn's side-table. The girl sat up in bed, having woken up a bit later than usual that Saturday afternoon. Her mind flashed with the dream she had seen that night, and she stared into space.
"Prince in shining armour," she whispered to herself. "He's really real."
She stayed in a daze as she washed her face, brushed her teeth, and combed her hair. Her yellow jeans didn't match her purple tank-top, and her green hair-clips didn't match her orange nail-polish and lipstick. She was too lost in thought to notice. She needed to tell someone the dream. She needed to find her prince.
Paul glanced up from his desk as his younger sister walked into his bedroom, before he turned back to his homework.
"What do you want, Dawn?"
"I have to tell you something."
"I'm busy."
"It's important."
"What?"
Dawn leaned onto the back of her brother's chair, getting an irked look in return, before turning around and plopping onto his bed instead.
"A dream."
"What?"
"A dream, Paul... I had a weird dream last night, in which I saw a prince~. I had a weird dream last night, and been up ever since~."
"Why are you singing?"
"I thought I should let you know, bro. It wasn't like any dream, though. The trees swayed to and fro, yet the wind didn't blow."
"Oh."
"But that's not the weird part, yet. You'll think it's strange, I bet. I walked down an empty street, in the rain, and I was wet."
"No duh."
"Hey! But it was grey. And no sunlight in the day. I could see, around me, steel scattered on the way. As I reached the end of the street, there was a murkrow's face. It floated where? Right there in the air. It was a creepy place. It followed me as I walked around. I was lost, and filled with fear. My footsteps didn't make a sound, and it was rather queer. That's when a prince came by, full armour, sword, and all. Didn't see his face, not gonna lie. But you must believe me, Paul! He wrote two words on the ground-"
Paul turned around.
"A murkrow's face? I know that place. Dawn, that place is real. A place so grey, just as you say, with streets scattered with steel? Dark in the day, with shadows too?"
"That's true!"
"Empty lanes where there's no light?"
"That's right!"
How many words did he write for you?"
"Just two."
"And what words did he write?"
The siblings looked at one another.
"Plight night," said Dawn.
"Darn."
Dawn glanced to the side, before turning back to her brother.
"So..."
"So what?"
"Paul, how do you know that place?"
"..."
Paul turned back to his desk, and continued doing his homework.
Dawn thought for a moment, before she stood up, and slipped on her brother's jacket that lay at the edge of his bed. She began to walk out of the room.
Paul looked up.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm going to find my prince."
"What?"
"You said that the place is real. I want to go ask the prince what he meant by the two words."
"Plight night probably just means a night of plight. Go figure."
"I want to know what he meant by that, Paul."
"Fine. Whatever."
Paul picked up his pencil, and continued to work on his homework. His sister walked out of the room.
The plum-head stared into space.
"She is dead serious," he whispered to himself.
The teen quickly got up, and slipped on his hoodie as he ran out after his sister.
The air outside was chilly, and Paul saw his sister up ahead on the sidewalk.
"Hey Paul," Dawn said cheerfully, as her brother walked up beside her.
"What the heck are you doing?" her brother hissed.
"What do you mean?"
"Look." Paul stopped his sister. "First of all, you have no clue where that place is. Second of all, are you crazy? That is a pretty darn sketchy place. Trust me."
Once again, Dawn mind flashed with the image of what she imagined of the enemy gang boss. She looked up at her brother.
"How do you know?" she asked, slightly tilting her head.
"I've been there before."
"Ooh. Really?"
"We're heading back."
"Aww. But whyyy? You scared?"
"No."
"Oh come on! Please Paul. You should take me there!"
"No."
"We never do anything together, and you never take me anywhere. What kind of brother are you? It's like you don't even care for me. I feel so hurt, you know?"
Dawn's lip quivered.
"I get it, Paul," she whispered, her eyes shining with tears. "I get it. You hate me. You don't even care that there's a prince in shining armour waiting for me. You don't even care about your own sister. My own brother..."
There was silence for a moment as Dawn tearfully looked at her older brother.
"Quit with the drama," Paul snapped. He briskly began to walk. "Fine. Fine, I'll take you there. Just stop crying."
"Oh thanks Paul!" Dawn's eyes lit up as she followed her brother down the deserted sidewalk.
"It's the murkrow's face!" Dawn whispered, grabbing onto her brother's arm. "It's following us."
"Let go of me," Paul hissed back.
The two trudged along the gravel pathway as a ghost-like murkrow's head lingered by their feet. Random bits of steel were visible at the side of the path, and the siblings finally found themselves at an empty clearing. Up ahead, they could see a lamp-post emitting silver light on the person that stood beneath it. He didn't seem to notice them, and he just stood there, occasionally checking his wristwatch.
"It's my prince," Dawn whispered. "I just know it is."
Before her brother could reply, the blunette ran towards the person and stopped beneath the lamp-post, just as the he looked up. His face broke into a slight grin, before he flashed his glasses.
"Hello Dawn."
Dawn took a step back. She hadn't been expecting him.
The person slightly fiddled with his glasses before walking up to the girl.
"It is I, Conway," he continued to speak. "I see you've decided to finally follow your dream. Quite literally if I must add. Heheheh..."
Conway fiddled with his glasses a bit more before walking behind Dawn. The girl stood in shock.
"Let me explain..." Conway said from behind Dawn. "You see, I thought I'd do a little experiment to see how crazy one can be when it comes to a strange dream. See, when a person sees something in their dream, they are more likely to follow it, like you have done so now. Simple."
"I- I don't understand." Dawn finally found her voice.
Conway gave a slight laugh before pulling out a piece of white chalk.
On the pavement in front of her, he wrote down 'Plight Night.'
"Plight night," he read out-loud. Conway took a few steps forward, and stood facing Dawn. "A night of plight. Oh Dawn, you aren't very bright. So dare go white, you know I'm right. What rhymes with that? That word is fright!
"Hear me out, I'll say my plan. Explain to you the best I can... Okay, I'm tired of rhyming. I'll just talk to you like normal. Okay, Dawn?"
There was silence for a moment.
"Okay," the girl whispered in reply, still in shock.
"Yeah, so as I was saying," Conway continued. "I decided I would try to alter someone's dream through my own calculations and expertise of psychology, and see if that would make them think any differently compared to if they hadn't seen that dream. Now my hypothesis stated that a girl like you, Dawn, is more likely to act on a dream rather than just ignoring it. I purposely put some dramatic aspects to the dream, such as the location, and the words 'plight night' because I knew it would make you curious. Why have I chosen the words plight night you may ask?" Conway looked thoughtful for a moment. "Because they rhyme."
Conway took a step closer, and flashed his glasses once again.
"My point is," he continued. "in reality, this has nothing to do with you. It was just an experiment to see if you would come or not. Mind you, you're not my only subject to this experiment.
"Ah. But my life is somewhat miserable being unable to prove my expertise to anyone else. I've just been left as part of a gang I wish to get away from. Trust me, the boss sucks. I've gotten so far in my discoveries, but of course, nobody believes me that I can alter dreams. Got no reputation as a scientist, got no proof of my discoveries. I'm just a nerdy teenager who's ended up in a street gang."
There was silence for a moment.
"But while you're here..." Conway slowly edged closer. "I was wondering, would you like to join me? I'll do all the work, and you just keep me company. We may be of enemy gangs, but, well... With your help, I might be able to prove my discoveries and get the reputation I deserve. You are the only one who actually stands witness to what I can do. None of the other subjects have come after me, so I've gotten no proof whether or not I have successfully altered their dream. So... What do you say, Dawn?"
Conway held out his right hand.
"Back off from my sister."
With a slight jump, Conway looked up to see Paul standing not too far from the lamp-post, his arms crossed in front of him.
"B-boss," Conway stammered, instantly taking a step back.
"Did he just call you boss?" Dawn turned to her brother.
"We're in the midst of a pandemic," Paul continued, glaring at Conway. "No sense of social-distancing, have you? Dare standing so close to my sister one more time... You'll regret it."
"Y-yes boss." Conway took a deep breath, and turned around. "I'll be off now."
"You're not going anywhere."
Conway froze. He slowly turned around and looked at Paul.
"Yes boss?"
"Apologize to my sister," Paul demanded.
"Yes. My apologies, Dawn," Conway said, slightly fiddling with his glasses.
"Leave."
"Yes boss."
Conway turned around and hurried off.
"We're leaving," Paul said with a slight glance at Dawn. He turned around to leave, and his sister followed along.
The two walked silently until they reached the end of the street.
"Paul, what was that all about?" Dawn spoke up, looking at her brother questioningly. "What did he mean by boss?"
Paul ignored the question.
"Paul?"
"Don't say a word about this to Reggie."
"Right."
Dawn turned back to the front, and sighed.
"I didn't know you're the leader of Conway's gang."
"What?"
Paul looked at Dawn.
"Nothing," the girl said quickly.
The two walked silently the rest of the way home.
The time was 11:52 PM, and the moon was visible through a crack in the curtains of her bedroom window.
Dawn sat on her bed, staring into space once again. The scene that had taken place earlier flashed through her mind.
The boss of the enemy gang was not the large tattooed teenager she had imagined.
The boss she was told to watch out for.
The boss that nobody messed with.
The boss was her own brother.
"Leaf, change of plans," Dawn whispered into her cellphone once she had dialed her friend. "I'm leaving the gang."
"Dawn, what do you mean?" Leaf asked in surprise. "Why?"
"Remember how I had said yesterday of how there must be a prince in shining armour?"
"...Uh, right."
"Well I think I found him. It's my own brother."
There was silence for a moment.
"Yeah. So what exactly does this have to do with you leaving the gang?"
Dawn sighed.
"Leaf," she said. "There is some stuff that you just can't understand. I can't keep going on like this. I can't go against the boss of the so-called enemy gang. I care for my brother, and I need to save him. So I can't stay part of the gang. I hope you understand, Leaf."
"Wait," Leaf said slowly. "Are you saying that the enemy gang boss is your br-"
Dawn turned off the phone before her friend could finish speaking.
"Yes," Dawn said to herself, closing her eyes. "My own brother."
She put the the back of the hand to her brow, and dramatically fell to her bed.
"My own brother."
How was it? Should I write more like these? Don't forget to favourite, and tell me what you thought of it in your reviews! Have a wonderful day, and stay safe. Byes!