A Paul in Need
In the depths of Stark Mountain is a troubled young boy. Who better to save him than the boy he saved once before? ColdCoffee

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With eight shiny badges placed accordingly in his badge case, the purple-haired boy, going by the name of "Paul," was once again planning to go on his way for yet another training session to work on his Pokèmon before the big Elite Four battle. Though, unlike last time, he wasn't going to the top of Mt. Coronet for the reasons of horrible weather and an uncanny meeting with an annoying fan. His current destination was Stark Mountain, another training area with even stronger Pokèmon to train with than Mt. Coronet. Even though it was a longer way there, it was definitely worth it for the stronger Pokèmon. Plus, what were the chances of meeting that nuisance again?

As he exited the Sunyshore Pokèmon Centre, he fished out a Pokèball from his pocket and threw it in the air, a red light escaping to form a peculiarly shaped blob. When the Pokèball magically levitated its way back to Paul's hands, the blob in turn turned out to be a giant, black crow—a Honchkrow—that proceeded to spreads its wings in its mirth of being released once again. The Big Boss Pokèmon then hunched its back over to allow its trainer hop on with ease. Then, as if it was already told before, the giant black bird took off airborne into the translucent blue skies, heading for Stark Mountain in a speedy but careful flight. Many cities and towns have they passed (even passing over a small stretch of a salty sea) when they finally reached the bottom of Stark Mountain.

Paul smoothly hopped off of the giant bird and recalled him, pocketing his hands in his stuffy jean pockets. His dark ebony eyes gazed up at the majestic, fiery mountain in front of him, the ash from said mountain falling gently upon his nose. In disgust, he blew it off and started hiking up the mountain. He passed a plethora of roaming Rhyhorns and Numels on his way up, though he barely ever acknowledged them. The Pokèmon he sought for were mainly their evolutions, Rhydon and Camerupt, as they would give Paul and his Pokèmon more of a challenge, but so far on his little hike, there were surprisingly none to be found.

With Paul venturing deeper and deeper into climbing to the top of Stark Mountain, the falling ash was ceasing. The same could be said for the "weak" Pokèmon aforementioned further on to the top.

Even though a hike for Stark Mountain usually took a while, Paul made it up in just a few hours with little signs of exhaustion (though, he did come fully prepared, taking short rests in-between and chugging down a small measure of water every so often). There was a noticeable cave entrance just beyond him, and thinking the strong Pokèmon were hiding in there, he made his way to it, a Pokèball firmly held in his hands.

Once the purple-haired boy entered the cave, he was partially startled by the Golbats screeching at him. He got out his Electabuzz to zap the Golbats away and went on deeper into the cave, avoiding as many Golbats and Gravelers as possible. Fortunately, he was lucky enough to spot a Camerupt here and there, sometimes even seeing a Rhydon herd with their babies. Paul took every chance he got in training every single one of his Pokèmon, even if their type was at a disadvantage. It came down to the point where he was practically at the deepest part of the cave with every single one of his Pokèmon thoroughly tired out. That meant, no matter how he detested it, training was over.

Paul looked around in an attempt to find the exit, but through every secret chamber he entered and still no sign of freedom, he found himself getting more and more livid. He was thirsty, frustrated, and, as much as he denied it, lost.

Usually, when one was lost, that person should've stayed put and wait for assistance. However, who was actually sane enough to venture into Stark Mountain's cave without any proper knowledge or sense of direction? Paul almost slapped himself silly as he unknowingly referred to himself as that very idiot.

Frustration caving in, the young boy started to walk around again in a second attempt to get out of the cave, but like last time, to no avail. He did, however, find himself in a new chamber, and from the looks of it, he wasn't the only human being in the cave.

In front of him were two indistinguishable people in skin-tight attire. They both had turquoise bowl cuts, though one was female and the other was male. The male was holding an enigmatic and flamboyant stone of some sort, and that seemed to be the main focus of the conversation between the two. However, once they heard the rock crack beneath Paul's feet, they turned their attention to him, smirking.

"If it isn't a little cutie," the female drawled out in a perky tone, Pokèball appearing in hand. She threw it in the air to reveal a Golbat, making Paul's nose wrinkle in disgust. He got out a Pokèball from his pocket and threw it up in the air in the same mannerisms as the girl, though the Pokèmon he revealed greatly differed from hers; it was his Honchkrow, the least exhausted Pokèmon in his party.

"Honchkrow, Dark Pulse now!" Paul commanded as the tired bird released a beam of a mixture of purple and black swirled together. It was slower than usual, thus missed the speedy Golbat, the other two humanoids smirking arrogantly.

"Feisty too," the boy said, sending out his own Pokèmon. It was an Ariados, though there was an evil aura lurking around it just like the girl's Golbat. The both of them ordered their Golbat and Ariados simultaneously, the two of them using Wing Attack and String Shot respectively. The Golbat's attack pretty much knocked down Honchkrow to an exceptionally weak status (something it has never experienced before) and, with Ariados using String Shot, it wrapped both the purple-haired trainer and his Pokèmon in its silky thread tightly.

The two partners started cackling evilly in their succession and ran out of the chamber with the stone in hand, leaving Paul and his Pokèmon inside. Paul growled in hatred and struggled to get free, but there was no use. His Honchkrow wouldn't even listen to him with its weak status, and he was pretty sure there was no other person in this cave that could help him escape.

Nonetheless, his struggle continued, attempting to at least free one of his other Pokèmon to rip out the strong thread suffocating him.

Barry looked at the tall tower in amazement as his father gently patted him on the back, letting out a wholehearted and husky laugh. "And this is the Battle Tower, home to yours truly!"

"This is so cool, dad," the hyperactive blonde exclaimed, noting every single "cool" feature about the Battle Tower: how tall it was, how shiny it was, how his very own dad was the leader of it, and pretty much everything else about the Battle Tower that the blonde didn't notice in his first glance.

The older blonde wiped a sole finger on his nose sheepishly. "I know, I know," he said in an almost pompous way. "Here, let's go inside now. I'll give you the grand tour!" Another hearty laugh escaped his lips as he pushed his little son into the building, quickly running around the entire place to show him basically everything in the tower. They didn't even bother taking the elevator as the stairs were a faster way of transportation for the energetic duo.

The journey to the top took the two blondes a longer time than the norm, as Barry's father was persistent in showing his son everything in the tower (except, of course, for the ladies' rooms) and even explained every single one in what seemed like rehearsed but surprisingly concrete paragraphs.

Once the blonde-haired due reached the top, which was his dad's special room, Barry took the liberty to view every single possession inside the room, making silly comments about every single one. Then, he decided to look out the window to awe at the beautiful view of the entire Fight Area. Though, at the corner of his eye, he found something amiss.

In the direction of Stark Mountain, Barry squinted to look at plumes of smoke coming out from the mountain. From all his times gazing at the mountain from various other cities that supplied a telescope, he has never seen the plumes of smoke ever come out of the mountain.

Barry quietly nudged his hyperactive father and pointed outside, the older blonde gawking in huge shock at the sight. "S-S-S-Stark Mountain?"

The younger blonde took his father's gawking expression and stuttering that something really was wrong. With his father panicking and calling every single police station in the Fight Area, Barry quietly slipped away to investigate on the manner himself.

He sent out his Staraptor and told it to head for the smoke plumes up ahead, the huge bird obeying its trainer happily. Then, off they went to the direction of Stark Mountain, Barry smiling at some newfound excitement.

Paul had succumbed to kicking his Honchkrow in hopes it would come to its senses and break him out of the thread already. However, the Honchkrow was still heavily beaten up and couldn't bother to be aggravated by its trainer's relentless kicking.

"Good for nothing bird," Paul said under his breath, sighing. Wasn't there any way to free him and escape from this hazardous mountain? If he knew this was going to happen, he would've gladly made his way to Mt. Coronet even with the nuisance.

Though, he spoke too soon.

Small tapping noises could be heard from outside the chamber. Paul's head turned to the left to see the hyperactive blonde in all his glory, searching hurriedly around the chamber, still oblivious to Paul's embarrassing position. "Of all the times to get lost!" the young boy moaned loudly, walking deeper into the chamber. That was when he noticed the purple-haired boy and felt a spasm rush throughout his body, making his way to him. "Paul! I'm so glad to see you!" He eyed the silky string tied around Paul's arms and waist and looked at him in confusion. "Huh? What happened?"

"Just untie me, you fool!"—and people thought Barry was impatient? Paul scowled as the blonde before him chuckled.

"Fine fine." Barry's hands quickly brushed against Paul's body as he attempted to untie him, but the attempt ended in failure. "Wow, this is some tough thread."

Paul rolled his eyes, obviously furious. "Why don't you send out your Pokèmon, Blondie?"

Barry laughed nervously, scratching his head in a meek manner. "Well, I would, but you see, they're not so good on targets yet. They might miss and cut you in half. Not sure if I'd take that chance." Paul sighed, meaning to ask for any help besides this.

The blonde, persistent, kept on trailing his hands around Paul's body, trying to find a possible weak spot in the thread. Paul winced ever so often at the times the blonde would randomly grab roughly at a possible weak spot of thread, but all that ever accomplished was squeezing Paul's flesh in-between his slender, bony fingers—and yes, Paul minded it very much. It was even much more torturous than the hail pellets that kept knocking on his head back in Mt. Coronet!

"Listen, Blondie, stop it!" Paul finally heaved out in frustration as Barry retreated his hands back to his sides, looking at the purple-haired boy with both worry and bewilder written all over his face. "You're not even helping at all!"

"S-sorry," Barry stuttered rather quickly, his cheeks burning in a red sensation. He was sure he was acting like a huge idiot in front of the one he was trying to please. Sheesh, why did it always end up like this? "Here, if you want, we can take a chance with my Empoleon."

"Whatever," Paul said, diverting his gaze from the flushed blonde.

Barry took out a Pokèball from his back pocket and threw it up in the air, revealing his mighty and proud Empoleon. "I'll take that as a yes. Empoleon, cut that thread, but make sure not to hurt Paul or I'm fining you." Empoleon looked timidly at the wrapped up boy in front of it and nervously readied a Steel Wing attack to set the purple-haired boy free. Then, with a careful slash, it sliced through the thread quickly, letting Paul finally breathe again.

He stood up and brushed the dirt off himself, returning his own Pokèmon in its Pokèball. Then, he turned to face the hyperactive blonde and sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Thanks, Blondie. I owe you one… I guess." Did those sickening words actually escape his mouth? From the looks of the blonde's glittering eyes, he was pretty sure they did, and sighed in regret yet again.

"Really? Thanks! I'll think of something soon." Barry gushed, returning his Empoleon. "Uh, in the meantime, let's get outta here." He grabbed Paul by the hand and started rushing out of the chamber, running around the entire area of the cave to search for the exit. Paul actually let the blonde drag him around willingly with no complaints. After all, if it wasn't for his… ahem, "hero"… then who knows what kind of trouble Paul would've been in? He figured this was trouble enough.

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Lame title, I know. xD Ah Paul, he's in such denial. :D This is a prequel to "Similarities" but a sequel to "Achoo!". I'll get all this organized... someday.

This is just a reupload (again) to clean up my story archive.