Oh, hey there!

So guys, this is definitely my best chapter yet. It sets up the stage for a LOT of things.

And when I say a lot, I mean a LOT of drama is yet to come in the next few chapters, trust me.

So read this one well if you want the full experience. Or don't, it's up to you :)

Don't be afraid to review, no matter how short or long it is!

Lemme know what you think will/want to happen in the next few chapters!

K so enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 7

"Hey, Paul! Yeah, I think that I will come to watch!" Dawn informed us.

"Hm. Good. See you there. Ready to get your butt handed to you, Dusty?"

This guy was a little brat.

"No, because that won't happen." I shot back at him. "Dusty? Coming from the guy who has more hair on his eyebrows than his head?"

Payback.

"See you on the field." Paul went outside to get ready.

"ASH!" Dawn yelled at me. I was so surprised. "Alright, do you want to know why I'm on bad terms with Ursula? It's because she keeps making fun of Paul. And that really annoys me. So you'd better stop doing that RIGHT now!"

"Dawn!..."

She stormed out. She definitely doesn't see the Paul that I see. I thought to myself. I rolled my eyes and put my troubles behind me. I had to focus on the tryout.

"Alright, everyone bring it in!" Coach was calling us in to meet. "Now that we've done attendance and warmed up, I want you to meet our team's captain, Brock. Brock's going to be running the drills today so I want you to treat him with respect and do what he tells you to. Any disobeying of Brock is a disobeying of me!"

Brock started us off with a few passing and dribbling drills, nothing too serious. I caught a glimpse of Dawn sitting in the bleachers but I made nothing of it. I had to focus on the task at hand.

Finally we got into scrimmages. I was on the opposite team to Paul. Yes! Time for revenge. I got the ball, turned towards goal, and saw Paul charge at me. I slid the ball to the side and he ran right past me. I shot the ball and scored. I just straight up embarrassed Paul.

Things didn't go so smoothly after then, however. At one point, I got the ball. Paul clipped my ankle and tugged my shirt. I fell to the ground. Coach started yelling at me that I tripped over the ball.

"Coach, he pulled me down!" I tried to argue.

"We don't need clumsiness on this team, son!"

More scenes like this repeated, and now Paul was embarrassing me. It was a nightmare. Even Dawn took Paul's side, constantly cheering for him. By the time the tryout was over, I was glad to go back inside. I avoided Paul and went to change in the bathroom.

"Ash?" Someone was calling me. I had no idea who. I turned around.

"Ash, that's your name, right?" It was Ursula.

"Yeah, it is. What are you doing here?"

"Library, to study."

Something Dawn told me popped into my head, so I decided to ask Ursula.

"Um, Ursula? I hope you don't mind me asking, but why are you on such bad terms with Dawn?"

"Dawn? Ugh. She gets upset every time I make fun of Paul. I don't get why she's so defensive around him."

"But, why do you hate him so much. I mean, I can name you a thousand reasons why, but why do YOU hate him?"

"Oh, I dated him."

"I think I just threw up a little!" I joked.

"Haha, very funny. Now let me finish. When we were dating, he was very demanding. He thought I was too slow, so he always tried to do things to me. I broke up with him soon after."

Huh. So, Paul was a rusher? Couldn't keep a relationship for long, eh? Couldn't say I didn't expect that.

"Wow. I didn't think..."

"Hey! Ash! You haven't forgot about me have you?" Flint came rushing at me.

"Oh yeah!" I exclaimed. I turned to Ursula. "Thanks for sharing with me. I can feel your pain. Paul is a jerk to me, too."

"You know Ash," she informed me, "you're not half bad. In fact I kinda like you!"

"Uh, thanks!" I said. She entered the library.

I quickly changed and went back out to find Flint.

"Come with me." I followed Flint to his car and he drove me all the way to his house. The car ride was completely quiet because he told me not to say a word.

Finally we entered his house. It was huge! He led me to his basement. At this point I was overcome with curiosity. He opened a small door.

"Go in here." He told me. I entered. As the lights turned on, I could see tubes and containers everywhere. I had no idea what it was.

"This, my friend," Flint said proudly, "is my pokemon laboratory."

No way! Impossible!

"A pokemon laboratory?" I asked.

"Check this out"

He pressed a button and a container lifted from the ground with six balls. They looked similar to "pokeballs" that my mom used to show me pictures of when I was little. Apparently they held pokemon inside.

"I've already got my party all planned out and ready right here!"

He released them all and I was astounded. There really were pokemon in there!

There was one that caught my eye. It was a small yellow mouse. It smiled at me. It said something like "paku" or "pachu", I couldn't tell. I started petting it and it climbed onto my shoulder.

"It seems like pikachu has really taken a liking to you, Ash. Yeah, I caught that one on my dad's business trip to Kanto."

Caught?

"Flint, surely you don't mean to say all of these pokemon are yours? I mean they must be your dad's or something, you're underage, it's impossible to simply GET a pokeball, let alone catch a pokemon!"

He flinched and stared at me.

"Yeah. These a-are all my dad's. I'm going to inherit them, of course!"

Wow. Could you be a worse liar? I knew something was up. He sent me home earlier than expected. He said it was because something unexpected turned up, but I knew it was because he knew I was catching on. So I just went home.

On my way home, I thought little about Flint's secret pokemon lab. This was because Dawn, as she so often did, crossed my mind. I really couldn't see what she saw in Paul. He was mean to others, mean to her, and who could forget, he was pretty ugly. She was still pretty mad at me about what I said to him, even though he insulted me first! I just hoped that eventually she would see the Paul that I saw. My train of thought was interrupted when I felt my phone vibrate. It was Misty calling. Ah great.

I ignored it. She immediately called back. I hesitated, but finally decided that I should probably pick it up.

"Hello?"

"Ash! Hi! How are you?"

This was really weird.

"Great, you?"

"Decent. I went home early today. That's because I was thinking too much of you."

Wow. Way to be straight up about things, I guess.

"O-oh. Really?"

"Yeah! Listen, Ash. Kenny's hosting a party tomorrow night and everyone's gonna be there. His parents are out, and his parties are always wild! So I was wondering if you wanted to go with me!"

No, no, no! Not with her! I was immediately going to say my answer when I heard Jasmine's voice in my head. "Don't be so hard on her!" Ugh, am I ever going to regret this! I thought to myself.

"Yeah, sure, Misty." I said hopelessly. "I'll go with you."

"YES!" I had to take my ear away from the speaker; she was so loud! "Okay, see you there then Ash! Tomorrow night at 8!"

She hung up. Wonderful. Dammit, Jasmine. Why'd you make me do that?

I went home, ate supper, finished my homework, and went straight to bed. Tomorrow was not going to be fun, and I had a gut feeling that something seriously bad was going to happen at this party.