A/N

Hey everyone! Here's the third chapter of Hide and Seek. This chapter is really important, only because it introduces more characters and actually hints at a plot! Trust me, I do have an actual plot to this, though it doesn't seem like it at first. Sorry about that.

Okay, so to make things easier for y'all, I made a Character Sheet:

Aerin Alucio

age: 17

hometown: Floaroma Town

trainer class: Coordinator

Team

Typhlosion

"Neuro"

Male

Glaceon

"Cryptic"

Female

Tropius

"Cashmere"

Female

Electrike

"Lucid"

Male

Rufflet

"Zanza"

Male

Paul Allen

age: 18

hometown: Veilstone City

trainer class: Trainer

Team

Ursaring

Torterra

Electivire

Froslass

Magmortar

Shiny Gyarados

Dawn Berlitz

age: 16

hometown: Twinleaf Town

Trainer class: Coordinator

Team

Piplup

Buneary

Pachirisu

Mamoswine

Quilava

Togekiss

Ash Ketchum

age: 18

hometown: Pallet Town

Trainer Class: Trainer

Team

Pikachu

Infernape

Staraptor

Sceptile

Gabite

Buizel

Brock

age: 22

hometown: Pewter City

Trainer Class: Gym Leader

Team

Croagunk

Other characters will be introduced, depending on plot. When this happens, I will post the update in the author's note, just like I have here. So I figured this would help y'all get an understanding of the characters and their ages, which I have tweaked. And, when new characters are introduced, I'll add their little summary into the author's note.

Well, that's basically it. Review and Favorite if you like! I appreciate the reviews, I really do. It makes my day. So yeah, it would be awesome if you would. :)

Shelby


Hide and Seek

Chapter Three

I awoke the next morning in a haze. Well, that is until I saw that Paul's bed had been made neatly, almost as if I had dreamed that he was there. But, I knew better because I was still in the cozy Pokemon Center bed. Light streamed in from the open window, the breeze coming flowing to help cool down the somewhat hot room.

I climb out of bed, stretching my arms above my head and let out a loud yawn. Heading to the bathroom would be my first priority, but the fact Paul seems to have disappeared has me leaning out to open window. The road outside looks clear, except for the occasional person that heads in any general direction. No sign of Paul, though.

Maybe he did leave me behind. I think to myself as I sink back onto the bed. If he did, he would be long gone. According to the clock on the bedside table, it's almost twelve o'clock. He would be to the Eterna Forest if he left early in the morning. Hanging my head, I get up and head to the shower. The searing water doesn't help my mood, which grows worse by the minute.

I head out to the front of the Center, where hopefully some kind of lunch is being served. I first head to see if Nurse Joy has finished healing my Pokemon.

"Nurse Joy, are my Pokemon ready?" I ask her when I come up to the counter.

"What was your name again?"

"Aerin Alucio."

She walks through the door to the back room. I turn around, scanning the dining hall for certain male with onyx eyes. However, before I can finish, Nurse Joy comes back and hands me my five pokeballs. I take them and thank her profusely, before attaching them to my belt and heading to the buffet line to grab some lunch. I pile my plate high and make my way to find an empty seat. Figuring it as good time as any to get acquainted with my new friend, I grab the Luxury ball off of my belt and let my shiny Rufflet out.

"Ruff, let," it says as he ruffles his feathers. He peers around, confused as to where he is.

"Hey there little guy. I'm Aerin; I'm your new trainer. I do have a habit of nicknaming my friends when I first catch them, and I let them decide. So, how about it?" I ask him as I watch him. He seems very keen, quizzically peering outside to the road and then back to my food I've been nibbling on. I did remember scanning his ball earlier and seeing that he's the keen type.

"Ruf?" he says, his big black eyes looking back at me.

"What about Reckle?" I ask him. Rufflets and their evolutions are known to face against any foe, no matter the danger, so I shortened recklessness. He frowns at the name I've said, and I begin to think of another one for him.

"How about Zanza?"

He smiles at me and jumps around, chirping his name over and over again.

I smile back at him. "Sounds good to me too."

After our introductions, I let Zanza nibble on some Poffins I made in advanced. I did my research on this little guy, that's for sure. I'm already thinking about the next Pokemon to add to my team, due to the fact I have one slot left open. Most coordinators don't carry all six, but I figured the more Pokemon the merrier.

I clean up my plate, and allow Zanza to ride on shoulder. The one thing about being a coordinator is the bond between you and your Pokemon. I've been bonding for years with the others, so he's my new priority. I head over one of the computers against the wall, and email my mother that I would be visiting in a few days. If Paul did in fact leave me, then I figured I would just head back to Floaroma for a few weeks of relaxation.

I thank Nurse Joy and head on my way. I head down the road, to the Pokemart to purchase some supplies. After all of those days in the forest, my supplies have been dwindled. After purchasing my supplies, I make my way to Route 205. I train Zanza, but eventually enter the Eterna Forest. After all of those days in the hidden forest, the shaded undergrowth makes me want to turn right around. But, the only other way would be to go through Oreburgh City, and I swore I would not go back there.

The Pokemon in the forest are rampant. Who knows why, but it's something I've noticed lately. The Pokemon seem uneasy, restless. Who knows what's going on in their separate world.

It's when I'm almost to the other side when I hear the roars. I rush to the source, Zanza flying swiftly by my side. I've heard those roars before, recently. When I come into another clearing, there's Paul with his Ursaring, battling another trainer. The trainer has a spiky black hair, and a hat sits atop his head. He commands a Pikachu to use Thunderbolt, which Ursaring easily dodges and counters with a Slash attack.

I come to stand a little behind Paul, knowing that if I interrupt him mid battle, he'll really dislike me. Standing off to the side of the boy are two other trainers, a taller, dark skinned man, and then none other than Dawn Berlitz herself stand with her signature Piplup clutched to her chest. They shout encouraging words to the boy, and the name "Ash" gets tossed around in their cheers.

"Ursaring, Hyper Beam," Paul commands.

The bear charges up and lets the powerful beam shoot from his mouth, hitting the Pikachu directly. The yellow mouse flies and hits a tree, where it slides down, fainted. The boy named Ash runs over to the poor thing, and I can't help but sprint over there as well.

"Here, give this to him," I tell the boy as I hand him a Max Revive.

He looks at me uncertainly, before giving his Pokemon the candy. He eats it and immediately springs back to life. "Thanks, um," he tells me as the mouse hops up in his shoulder.

"I'm Aerin, and it's no problem," I respond with a smile.

"Paul, you could have seriously hurt Pikachu!"

We both turn to find Dawn yelling at Paul, who simply returns his Ursaring to it's pokeball. I frown when I realize that he never did thank his Pokemon for a job well done. Paul, though the girl is practically screaming at him, merely stares at her in annoyance.

"Troublesome," he says, which really sets the girl off, "I don't need your advice on tactics."

"MY NAME IS DAWN," she screams.

The man that was standing next to Dawn sweat drops, and Ash sighs loudly. Obviously this is a regular occurrence. Figuring I could easily diffuse the situation and save everyone the uncomfortableness, I make myself known to the coordinator.

"Dawn!" I yell, and it immediately gets her attention. She whips her head around, and smiles wide when she sees me.

Now, Dawn and I aren't best friends by a long shot. We've talked to each other before going out to the stage at the Contest we both attended, but that's basically it. Though because of my absence, I know she'll ask me what I've been up too.

"Aerin, is that you? Holy crap, I haven't seen you in months, we've missed you at the contest. Why did you leave, anyways?" She ask me.

I shrug my shoulders. "I traveled to Unova to visit a close friend for a while. And I caught this little guy while I was there," I tell her as I nod my head to Zanza, who's playing with both Piplup and the Pikachu. I see Paul raise his eyebrow at me, but smirks. I guess he understands why I lied because he doesn't say anything to call me out.

"I can't say I've ever seen that kind before. He's very cute, that's for sure."

"I would recommend heading to Unova, if you haven't been there. They have contest too; they just opened most of them the past year, due to people asking that they be built."

Dawn turns to Ash with a smile on her face. "We should go to Unova. Besides, we've done everything we can here, anyways."

"Hey, I think it sounds like a good idea to me," Ash replies, 'I've been wanting to head over there to try the gyms out and catch some new Pokemon. Hey Brock, didn't you say something about heading back to Pewter City anyways?"

The man, who I now know is Brock nods his head. "Yeah, my family has been missing me."

I notice that Paul hasn't said anything this entire time. Nor has he made any move to leave, and continue his way to Canalave. Which surprises me a lot because he could have left about ten minutes ago. He continues to watch us, his face not giving anything away except indifference.

"Well, it was nice to see you Aerin. I hope to see you over in Unova soon; I do miss competing against you," Dawn says with a wink. "But we're actually meeting people up in Eterna City, so we'll be on our way."

I wave bye to the gang, after giving Dawn my phone number. After I told her I had visited Unova, I realized how much I missed Hilda. The last time I was over there, Hilda was only a week away from beginning on her journey; that was a month ago. Considering that Paul was going to drop me as soon as he got the chance, I thought about calling Hilda as soon as possible.

"Aerin."

Someone saying my name drags me out of my train of thoughts. I look up to see Paul glaring at me annoyingly. I raise an eyebrow at him. The first thing I think of is, is he always this annoyed with the world? The second thing is, why is he still here?

"Are you coming, or not?" he asks me with a small hint of annoyance.

My eyes grow wide with surprise. "Wait, you actually want me to come with you?"

"No, but I know you'll just follow me anyways," he retorts as he rolls his eyes.

I grin back at him. "Yeah, you're right."

Paul sighs loudly and turns to continue walking to the exit of the forest. I follow after him, but no matter how hard I try, he's always one step ahead of me. Not that that bothers me too much. At least he let me come with him. And that in itself, is a mission accomplished.