Dawn had no idea what happened inside that shop, one minute, there was a gut wrenching scream, which made her and Ash stop in their tracks, then the door flew open and John walked out, followed by Laurence! Both laughing! The shop owner hurried back in, and didn't exit again.
"True story?" John asked
Laurence nodded, they stop in their tracks when they saw Ash and Dawn giving them confused looks.
"What?" John asked
"What happened in there?" Ash asked, Laurence and John shared confused looks
"What are you talking about?" John asked. Dawn's eye twitched in anger.
"Don't lie to us John! I heard the scream through the PokeNav, what the hell happened in there?" Dawn screamed, getting up in John's face, Ash went to separate them
"Nothing." All three turned to look at Laurence, he was looking directly at Dawn, there were three things evidently different about him, he was taller, more muscular and his voice was deeper, but they failed to notice the purple tint in his usually brown eyes. Dawn faltered slightly at his gaze, but let go of John.
"If you say so Laurence, if you say so..." she muttered
"Lets go and have some fun, eh?" Laurence suggested, they started to walk off when...
"MR. ROBERTS! MR. ROBERTS!" the four turned to find three people running towards them.
"Yeah?" Laurence replied, knowing what was coming next
"Can we do an interview for The Pokémon News channel?" the women asked, Laurence sighed
"I s'pose," Laurence replied.
"Excellent!" the women exclaimed, she turned to the camera, "we're live in Pallet Town mall, where we have located the Sinnoh Champion and runner-up, Laurence Roberts and Ash Ketchum,
"So, Laurence, what is your view on this uniting of the leagues?" she asked.
"I think it's a great idea," Laurence replied, Sparks perched on his shoulder
"Do you have an idea on your team for the tournament?" the reporter asked
"Yeah, I have a rough idea," Laurence answered.
"Do you have your Rayquaza with you? If so, would you mind showing it?" the reporter asked
"Yes, I do have him with me, and sure, if there was enough room," Laurence replied calmly, the reporter sweat dropped as she noticed the width of the corridor, "and anyway, there's a strong possibility you'll see him in the tourny," he added, as he turned to walk away.
"Thank you Laurence, and good luck!" the woman shouted, Laurence just raised his hand, Ash, John and Dawn jogged to catch up
"How do you stay so calm?" Dawn asked.
"Just forget the camera," Laurence replied, Dawn frowned at the answer, John smirked at Dawn's reaction
"So... where to first?" Laurence asked.
"Lets go to the Pokémon Store, it recently opened, it's HUGE and has soo much stuff in there!" Dawn exclaimed
"Sure, sounds good to me," Ash said, John and Laurence nodded in agreement. They wandered around the mall for around ten minutes until they found the store, it was filled with shelves of equipment, different types of Poke Balls, medicine, there was even clothing, and in the middle was a really big battle arena. There was currently a contest battle taking place, the group immediately recognised one of the coordinators, it was Ursula, then Laurence gasped, the other coordinator? Drew.
Ursula currently had the lead, with her Gabite and Flareon out on the field; Drew with his Roserade and Flygon, Laurence smirked when he saw the scores
"Who is that Ursula's fighting?" Dawn asked.
"Drew, he's a coordinator, obviously, he has a strong dislike for me, and Ash, especially Ash, but me as well because I humiliated him in the Hoenn Grand Festival," Laurence explained, not taking his eyes of the battle.
"You entered a Grand Festival?" Dawn asked
"Yeah, and won," Laurence replied
"With which Pokémon?" Dawn asked.
"Sparks and Vaporeon," Laurence answered, the contest battle finished, with Ursula just winning, both shook hands before walking off the stage, "impressive, I'm amazed she beat Drew, no matter how much of a... prick he is, he's a good coordinator," Laurence said. Drew noticed Laurence out of the corner of his eye, and did a double take, before scowling.
"See, he hates me, with a passion," Laurence told Dawn, not looking away from Drew's glare, who walked over to the duo, Ash and John were looking around the store
"Why are you here, Roberts?" Drew asked.
"None of your business Drew," Laurence replied, with an icy voice, the two stood glaring at each other, Laurence being a good five inches taller than Drew, was more menacing, "y'know what? I don't have time for you, come on Dawn," Laurence said coldly, walking past Drew, knocking into his shoulder, Dawn hurried after Laurence.
"You really don't like each other, do you?" Dawn asked
"No, he's a bastard, he's always showing up! And he always gave May roses; I'm surprised Ash didn't smash his face in!" Laurence exclaimed.
"May? The one who competed in the Wallace Cup?" Dawn asked, Laurence nodded
"She had a huge, huge crush on Ash, and I think she had one on Drew as well, Ash liked her as well, but too much of a wimp to tell her, and possibly he didn't know he did," Laurence explained. Dawn giggled, until she realised that they were right next to Ursula, who didn't realise, at first, neither did Laurence, who was looking at the Poke Balls, Ursula turned and jumped when she saw Dawn at first.
"Dawn," she greeted
"Ursula," Dawn replied, Ursula then blushed!
"Hi L-Laurence," she said nervously.
Laurence looked around, for the source of the speech
"Oh hi Ursula, how you been?" he asked, still looking at the Poke Balls
"G-Good, and you?" Ursula asked, still blushing.
"I'm fine thanks, that was quite impressive, how you beat Drew," Laurence said, he turned his head slightly and smiled at Ursula, who blushed even more! Dawn's eye twitched in anger
"Th-thanks Laurence!" Ursula replied.
"That Gabite looks quite well trained, and very powerful, have you ever thought of using it in a normal battle?" Laurence asked, while he looked at some Poke Balls with weird patterns on them, Ursula looked thoughtful, still very red.
"No, I haven't," she replied
"Would you like to try it?" Laurence asked, jerking his head towards the empty battlefield, Ursula looked at the battlefield, and then into Laurence's eyes, she blushed.
"A normal battle?" she asked
"A normal battle, your Gabite against my... well I only have three Pokémon with me, which one would you like to battle?" Laurence asked.
"Can I battle your Rayquaza?" Ursula asked, still furiously blushing.
"Yeah sure, he's a bit rusty though, Dawn, would you mind reffing?" Laurence asked, Dawn nodded, "let's go then Ursula, remember, this isn't a contest battle," Laurence advised as they walked to either end of the battlefield.
"This will be a single battle with no substitutions, battlers, please release you're Pokémon," Dawn said
"Let's rock Ai Sky!" Laurence shouted, releasing his long black snake shaped dragon, Ursula awed at the sight.
"Gabite, let's go!" she shouted, releasing her dragon-type
"Begin!" Dawn said
"Gabite, use Dragonbreath!" Ursula commanded.
"Flamethrower," Laurence said calmly, the two attacks met in the middle, and cancelled each other out, with an explosion, Ursula stared wide-eyed at the scene, 'this is what a normal battle is like? This... this is... exhilarating!' she thought.
"Ai Sky, fly up!" Laurence commanded, the legendary flew up to the roof and looked down at the opposing Pokémon
"Gabite! Another Dragonbreath!" Ursula said.
"She's not used to this," Laurence muttered, "this is too easy," he whispered to himself, "Ai Sky! Dodge and use Ice Beam!" Laurence said, the attack didn't even reach Ai Sky, who flew a little lower, then sent the beam at Gabite, who quickly jumped out the way. Laurence smirked.
"Gabite has an instinct for this, and... it's close to evolving... if it does that... it probably won't be usable for contests..." Laurence murmured
"Gabite use Dragon Pulse!" Ursula said. The blast got closer and closer to Ai Sky.
"Thunder Punch!" Laurence commanded, Ai Sky's right fist crackled with electricity, he thrust it at the beam, which flew off at an angle, and hit the protective barrier
"You can use combinations!" Laurence informed Ursula, who looked at him, then blushed again when she made eye contact.
"Ok..." she muttered
"For example!" Laurence said, "Ai Sky, use Zap Cannon, followed by Flamethrower!" Laurence shouted. Ai Sky built up the electric ball, launched it, and then blasted out a Flamethrower, which hit the Zap Cannon, and sent it flying into the ground, in front of Gabite, the rocks flew up, hitting the Dragon, then the fire smashed into Gabite. The Pokémon fell to the ground, hurt.
"Gabite! Can you stand up?" Ursula asked
"It's going to evolve," Laurence said calmly, Ursula looked up at Laurence, and yet again, blushed at his gaze.
"Really?" she asked, and as if to prove her point, Gabite stood up weakly, roared, and started to glow, Laurence smiled, he recalled Ai Sky, and walked over to the glowing Pokemon, Ursula looked at Laurence, and saw him smile at her, his face illuminated by the glow. It blasted away from the newly evolved Dragon-type.
"GARRR!" it roared, Ursula smiled happily at her new Garchomp
"That was my aim," Laurence told her, "but the only problem is, that Garchomp... he's probably unable to compete in contests," Laurence said, inspecting the Pokemon closely.
"That's alright," Ursula said softly, "I plan to use him in gyms," she added, Laurence looked up at her, smiling.
"So, I'll see you in the battle circuit sometime?" Laurence asked, Ursula nodded, and blushed as they made eye contact again, "where do you plan to go first?" Laurence asked, looking back at the Garchomp.
"I... I don't know, I was thinking about watching the tournament first, before actually entering gyms," Ursula said, Laurence looked thoughtful for a moment
"How would you like to join me?" Laurence asked, Ursula was taken aback.
"Huh? What do you mean?" she asked
"Would you like to come with me to the tournament? As my guest?" Laurence asked, Ursula thought about it, "you could learn a few things about battling from me, I did it with Dawn, and look where she is now," Laurence added.
-TPLU-
Ash and John were wondering around huge store, checking out the various items
"Well look who it is," someone behind them said, Ash looked over his shoulder, and instantly his face turned deadly serious, and looked like there was some anger in there.
"Shrubby! Good to see ya... not!" John said, muttering the last part to Ash, who started to laugh
"Dunno what you're laughing about, ketchup," Drew replied coolly, but he still looked pissed off, Ash just raised an eyebrow at Drew.
"That's the best you could do? I thought you were the amazing Drew who could only be beaten and humiliated by Laurence?" John asked, Ash smirked, Drew glared at John
"I don't have a problem with you, John, so don't make me have one," Drew said.
"Well, I have a problem with you, you're a stuck up, arrogant prick, so yeah, I will make a problem with you, 'coz there's no reason for me not to have one," John replied, his usually cheerful demeanour suddenly turned dark and angry.
"You've made yourself a powerful enemy, Miles," Drew sneered.
"You've made yourself several, shrubby, so just piss off, and leave us alone," John said, before he walked up to Drew, "especially May," he said, Drew was about to say something about May being his, before he noticed the look in John's eyes, it was a look of pure rage, and there looked to be a slight hint of... sadness?
"Yeah, cause that's gonna happen," Drew replied, he kept his cool, but inside he was actually concerned about something, the look in John's eyes, that sadness, something happened, and Drew wanted to know what. Drew walked off, still thinking about that sadness in John's eyes.
"Twat," John muttered, before the cheerful look return to his face, "anyway, before we were... rudely interrupted by shrub boy," John said, turning back to the items they were previously looking at.
"Guys, I need your help," a voice said from behind them, again
"What's wrong, Dawn?" Ash asked
"It's about Laurence," she said, blushing.
"What about him?" John asked, as he picked up a pair of finger-less gloves, he looked at the colour, and instantly put them back
"He's invited Ursula with him to the tournament," Dawn said, John looked up.
"Seriously? Ursula?" John asked, Dawn nodded, "did you hear her response?" John asked
"No, I didn't, I left straight after I heard him ask her, she was really nervous around him, kept stuttering and blushing, Laurence didn't pick it up though," Dawn explained.
"Because he's as dense as Ash," John said, Dawn giggled slightly, Ash just looked bewildered
"But anyway, what can I do?" Dawn asked
"Go all out," Ash replied, Dawn and John looked at him quizzically.
"Do you know what we're talking about?" John asked
"Yeah," Ash said, as he walked over to Dawn and patted her head, "my little sister is in love with my best friend," Ash said, grinning.
John and Dawn were amazed
"Whaddya mean go all out?" Dawn asked, looking up at Ash, Pikachu smiled at her.
"Literally, go all out, the only way you're gonna drill it through Laurence is to completely amaze him, I dunno what you could do, but you need to go all out, if he's as dense as me, then that's what it's gonna take," Ash explained.
"Go all out, you say?" Dawn mused
"What you got planned?" John asked, curious
"Just a few things," Dawn said, winking at John, who raised an eyebrow.
-TPLU-
It had been two hours since Laurence and Ursula's battle, the latter yet to make a decision, Laurence gave Ursula his mobile number and told her to call him when she had made her decision, before he bought some stuff in the store, he bought some new clothing and some fingerless gloves, and some Poke Balls and medicine. Laurence couldn't find the others anywhere, so after about ten minutes of looking, he decided to shop somewhere else, he ended up at a electronic store, where he spent a few minutes browsing their stock. He ended up in the food court at the middle of the shopping centre, so he rang the others, and they agreed to meet up ten minutes later, Laurence sat down on a bench and looked at his new clothes, a white sleeveless shirt, and a white zip hoodie, with the upper third blue. Sparks sat on his lap, and Laurence scratched the formers head, the electric mouse closed his eyes and smiled contently. Laurence heard something that sounded like a squeal. Laurence lifted his head up and looked around, he saw two girls pointing at him and talking.
"Can I help you?" he asked
"Are you Laurence Roberts?" one asked, Laurence nodded, "can we have your autograph?" they asked, Laurence nodded again. The girls rushed over.
"We're really big fans!" one said, the other remained silent, too nervous to speak
"Who to?" Laurence asked, as he took the pen and the piece of paper
"Lily," the other one said nervously, Laurence wrote it and signed it, then froze in place.
"Wait, what's your name?" Laurence asked, looking at the girl again, she had brown hair, which hung freely and delicately just below her shoulders and sparkling blue eyes
"Lily," she repeated.
"Can I ask your last name?" Laurence inquired, Sparks looked at his trainer, confused by his actions
"It's quite coincidental, my name is Lily Roberts," Lily replied shyly, Laurence's eyes were open wide.
"Who were you raised by?" Laurence asked, he seemed in a trance, very distant
"Raised by?" Lily asked
"Who was you parent, carer, guardian?" Laurence asked, Lily looked sad.
"I don't think I have parents, I never knew them, I was raised by an old couple," Lily said sadly
"Were their names Mr. and Mrs. M? Did they refuse to tell you their first names?" Laurence asked, in a knowing fashion, Lily looked astounded.
"Yes, they did, but... how do you know?" Lily asked, she was surprised when Laurence hugged her!
"Lily Roberts," Laurence said, holding her at arm's length, "my sister," Laurence added, smiling, Lily's jaw dropped, so did her friends jaw.
"You're... you're my brother?" Lily asked, Laurence smiled and nodded, "b-but... they said I was the only one?" Lily said
"Who did?" Laurence asked.
"Mr. and Mrs. M," Lily said
"That's because," Laurence said, "they were Mew and Mewtwo in disguise," he whispered, "there's lots you need to know, but all in good time," Laurence added.
Lily just stood there, dumbfounded, she'd just been told her favourite trainer, her idol, was her brother, and that she was raised by two Legendary Pokemon, disguised as an old couple!
"Yo-you've got to be joking!" Lily said, Laurence was about to respond
If I'm young and stupid
At least I'm doing it while
I'm young and stupid
Not when it's out of style
"Hello? Oh hey, mmhmm, oh, you sure you can't? Yeah that's fine, it is a shame though, so I'll see you around though? Bye," Laurence answered, on the phone.
"How can she trust you?" the other girl asked
"What's your name?" Laurence asked
"Grace," she replied.
"Well, Grace, have you see Mew's eyes, ever?" Laurence asked, Grace nodded
"Look at mine, look deep into them, and tell me what you see," Laurence replied, Grace obliged, and she seemed to fall into a trance, but snapped out of it quickly.
"They're purple!" Grace muttered, Laurence nodded
"Purple?" Lily asked, she turned Laurence's head and look into his eyes, and noticed the same thing,
"The reason for that is because... I... have..." Laurence muttered the rest inaudibly
"What?" Lily asked.
"I'll tell you some other time, but right now, I'm waiting for my friends, we're supposed to be meeting up for food, care to join us?" Laurence asked, Lily automatically nodded, Grace checked her watched.
"I gotta go, I need to be back by two, see you Lily, bye Laurence," Grace said, Laurence raised his hand in farewell
"So, let me get this straight, we were raised my Mew and Mewtwo?" Lily asked when Grace had left.
"Well more so you, they needed us... for something, I'll tell you when the time is right, what that reason is, but I did what they needed quicker, so they looked after you more," Laurence answered
"When?" Lily asked.
"When they allow it," Laurence replied simply, Lily understood who he meant
"Hey Laurence!" the duo turned to the sound of the noise
"Watch out for that kid, he's a little... off it," Laurence muttered.
"Crazy?" Lily asked, Laurence nodded
"John! Where are Ash and Dawn?" Laurence asked
"They're coming but, you know Dawn and shopping, she got sidetracked," John answered, before he noticed Lily.
"And who is this?" John asked
"This is Lily," Laurence replied, putting an arm around her shoulder, "my sister, well twin to be precise," he added.
"Nice to meet you," Lily said, extending her arm, John looked at it for a second, before realizing that she wanted to shake hands, he obliged
"So, do you know any decent food places?" Laurence asked looking around.
"I know a couple, but the best place is quite expensive," Lily said, Laurence noticed something about her, she seemed really confident of herself, when she didn't give that sense earlier, he put it to one side, but he had a theory why.
"Money is no problem," Laurence said, as he glanced around, something felt out of place, Lily appeared to be doing something similar, "can you sense it to?" he asked, she nodded
"Sense what?" John asked.
"Something's out of place here," Laurence said, he turned away from Lily, and his eyes started to glow purple! He looked in all directions, without moving his head
"Hmm... must've just been a feeling," he muttered, turning around, eyes going back to normal. "Anyway, shall we find somewhere to eat?" Laurence asked
"Shouldn't we wait for your friends?" Lily replied
"S'pose so, no harm looking for somewhere, is there?" Laurence suggested.
"Not really, but it would be polite if we did," Lily responded, before noticing something on Laurence's left wrist, she gave him a quizzical look
"Later," Laurence mouthed, Lily understood that he meant he'd give her an explanation. She had a feeling they were gonna be having one long conversation; she had so many questions for him. And another one would soon be raised, with the arrival of Ash and Dawn, who Lily and John noticed over Laurence's shoulder, Lily saw John smirk, Laurence turn, and his jaw physically drop. He quickly snapped out of it, but his eyes remained fully open, she was pretty certain that he whispered "bloody hell," but she wasn't completely sure.
"Whaddya think?" Dawn asked, smiling slightly, but inside she was upset, she didn't think that Laurence had reacted at all
"Looking good Dawn," John said, Dawn looked at Laurence expectantly, but he was still speechless, he was so amazed, his eyes were blinking one at a time! Dawn had her hair running freely but slightly curled, she was wearing a purple tank top and black jeans, her lips glistened lightly and she had mascara on, which made her eyes sparkle. Laurence was still struggling to recover, he'd never been this blown away, by anybody. Dawn knew she wasn't going to get a reaction, so she looked away, disappointed, she then noticed Lily.
"Who's this?" she whispered to Laurence, her words snapped his trance
"Lily, she's my twin sister," he replied, Dawn was surprised
"You never told me you had a twin sister," she whispered.
"I forgot, I've only met her once before today, and I was seven, and didn't even know it was her," Laurence explained, Dawn nodded in understanding
"Hi, I'm Dawn, I'm a friend of Laurence's," Dawn greeted, extending her arm.
"Hey, I'm Lily, Laurence's sister," Lily replied, shaking Dawn's hand, but she noticed something in Dawn's voice, a slight sadness when she said 'friend' and Lily had another question for Laurence, or maybe even Dawn.
"And this is Ash, but I s'pose you know about him?" Laurence said, glancing at Lily out of the corner of his eye
"Yeah, seen all of your battles, all of you," Lily said nervously, scratching her arm and looking down at the floor. 'She switches between confident and shy? Maybe... could be that, well I'll ask him later' Laurence thought.
"Just need to wait for Zach and George," Laurence said, glancing around for the aforementioned duo, he noticed them out of the corner of his right eye, over his right shoulder, when they arrived and were introduced to Lily, they searched for somewhere to eat.
"So, Lily, how did you find Laurence after all this time?" Dawn asked, as the two lagged slightly behind the boys.
"Complete luck to be honest," Lily replied, with a shrug of the shoulders, "I never even recognized him on the TV… is that bad of me?" she said, looking at Dawn with her blue eyes, Dawn could see pain and sadness etched all across the girls face. She put a comforting arm round Lily's shoulder.
"Of course not Lily, Laurence said it himself, you've only met once or twice before!" Dawn said, trying to lift Lily's spirits, it worked, Lily smiled at Dawn.
"Thank you," Lily said
"Any time Lily, now, we better catch up before we lag behind," Dawn said with a slight chuckle, Lily's smiled grew bigger in response. They increased their speed and blended in with the large group,
"Seriously, you'd think that he'd get the idea wouldn't you?" Dawn heard John say to Laurence, she caught a glimpse of his face, it was blank, but with a tint of fury.
"He does my head in," Laurence said, rubbing his forehead with his fingers to emphasize his frustrations, Dawn curiously listened in.
"Keep calm Laurence, we don't need another burst…" John said calmly and quietly, Dawn only just heard what he said
"I know, I know, I've got it under control this time, but… What if that happens again during the tournament? Or Arceus forbid, if I'm alone with Dawn?" Laurence asked. Dawn was shocked, surprised and extremely confused, she needed to know more, but she knew she couldn't but in now or they'd know she'd been eavesdropping. The thing concerned her the most, was the fear that was evident in Laurence's voice.
"You did the right thing, a good thing, your selflessness saved lives, and lots of them, you have got to remember that!" John replied.
"Yeah, but it was my fault in the first place, my arrogance and my immature behavior almost cost everyone, and almost destroyed everyone I care about…" Laurence's voice was quiet, and filled with pain.
"Laurence, you can't keep doing this to yourself, you'll destroy yourself!" John whispered in a pleading tone, Dawn was immersed in the conversation, she kept stride with the duo, who were slightly in front of everyone else, but not aware of Dawn's presence.
"John, its way too late for that…" Laurence said, choking slightly, Dawn saw John's eyes widen and his heard turn towards Laurence, her own heart had skipped a beat
"What do you mean?" John asked sternly.
"The pressure, the bursts, the insecurity, the uncertainty of what I'm about to do… it's tearing me apart… I need a drink, every morning, just to get through that day, I go to bed at night telling myself it's going to get better, that tomorrow will be better, but nothing ever changes! I'm still the same reckless, hopeless, idiotic, unpredictable prat that made it through the previous day!" Laurence exclaimed, Dawn and John were shocked, but it was his next sentence that made both their hearts sink.
"I just want to die."
TBC
Sorry guys for the tremendously long wait and the boring nature of this chapter.
If Laurence's storyline affects you in any way, please feel free to contact me, I've suffered from a similar type of depression and if it upsets you don't hesitate to PM me.
Rightio, on to writing the next chapter, hopefully without the mini hiatus in the middle…