Chapter 3

The last chapter I posted didn't seem long enough! I got lazy, so here's a new chapter. I hope you enjoy!

I DO NOT own Pokemon

"What are you doing here!?" Ash half yelled, but soon after had a violent coughing fit.

"That's none of your business..." Paul snapped. "I'd ask you the same thing, but I don't think it's worth the effort." He scoffed, folding his arms. Doing so somehow looked as if it caused him pain.

Ash sat up and pushed aside Paul's remark, then just looked at him blankly with his eyes half closed and a slight frown on his face. He was too tired to actually do much. And facial expressions would only make his headache worse, so he had to be careful. There was an awkward silence for a while before Paul broke it.

"Well, you look awful..." He said finally. Paul had studied Ash in the moonlight within that few moments of silence, and it didn't look like he should be out there. Ash's clothes were dusty, his hair looked like it was soaked with sweat, he was shivering, his face was pale, and the region around his nose and under his eyes was red.

"Y-you don't look too great yourself." Ash sniffled, studying Paul. He was sitting on the ground, leaning against a tree. Paul seemed to be fine, but then Ash looked at his right ankle. It was caught in a pokemon poacher trap. 'I thought so...' Ash remembered seeing them during his walk here. Then pointed to the trap, catching Paul's attention.

"What's it to you?" Paul said closing his eyes.

"Well, I c-could help." Ash sounded a little hoarse.

"If my Weavile couldn't open this trap, why would I think that you could?" His eyes still closed and arms still crossed.

"Because I've seen them before..." Ash crawled over to Paul's right foot and examined the trap.

Paul opened his eyes and sat up straight, "Hold it, I didn't ask for your-Ngh!" He grunted, clearly he was in pain. His eyes closed tightly.

Ash didn't look it, but he was now very concerned. "Paul, you shouldn't move too much. Your ankle might be hurt pretty badly."

"Ugh,...so, I don't care. I have to get back to my pokemon away." Paul had a camp set up about fifteen minutes away from where he was now. He didn't like camping out, but it seemed like a good opportunity to train his pokemon. "Just leave."

Ash couldn't just leave him, there were wild pokemon and he was injured. Leaving was not an option, unless Paul were leaving with him, of course. "I can't leave you like this, that wouldn't be...," Ash paused for a moment, "...ah-ahchoo, great..."

Paul wanted to protest, but before he could say anything Ash started to open the trap. There was a slight clicking sound, then a short beep, and the trap opened. Paul was completely confused, but astonished. "How did y-...?"

'Weavile spent an hour trying to open it.' Paul was silent for a second, then sighs. "Weavile obviously didn't try hard enough. It's useless."

"N-no, i-it's made so pokemon c-can't open it." Ash was getting colder by the second and head felt like it was going to explode. He didn't want to look weak in front of Paul, though. "A-achoo...!"

"Ugh, keep your germs to yourself." Paul brushed off his sleeve, then examined his ankle for himself. For the first time in a long time, Paul was a bit worried. He had never gotten injured badly before, and his brother Reggie was always for there for him even if all he did was trip or fall down. 'paul,...Paul...'

"Paul,...hey Paul! Earth to Paul, you there?" Ash waved his hand in front of Paul's face. "Paul!"

Paul snapped back to focus. "Huh..?" He had forgotten where he was for a moment, but soon remembered.

"You looked kinda weird. You were just staring at the ground, it almost looked like you weren't breathing."

"Yeah, whatever..." Paul didn't want look weak in front of Ash.

Ash then carefully tried to move Paul's ankle off of the trap, but his shaky hands made it difficult and he accidentally bumped right into the part of his ankle that hurt the most.

"AUGH! WHAT IN ARCEUS'S NAME DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!" Paul yelled through clenched teeth, which is really hard to do. He shut his eyes so tightly that tears formed. Ash could only see them because of the moonlight.

"S-sorry! Sorry!" I-I didn't mean to-"

"Just don't...!"

"I'm o-only trying to help you. You can't do everything for yourself, ya know..." Ash felt a sneeze coming on, but let it escape as a sigh. 'It must be really late' Ash tensed up to force himself to stop shivering. "I'm gonna try this again." Ash readied himself.

"What?" Paul's eyes are now open.

Ash moved Paul's ankle swiftly, but gently upwards. It was half-way out until Ash sneezed and the trap turned on again. It suddenly clamped on Ash's wrists, making him drop Paul's foot.

"ARGHh! They both screamed.

"...ugh..." Then, fainted from the pain.


"Oh, Ash. Where are you...?" Dawn said quietly to herself. She and Brock had been looking for Ash for a while now. It was already eleven o'clock and they couldn't even imagine how terrible Ash's condition may be.

Pikachu let his ears droop. "Pika Pi..."

"Don't worry, you two." Brock went to lay a hand on Dawn's shoulder. "We'll find Ash. We have to make sure he doesn't get too cold or too warm."

"What do you mean, Brock?" Dawn looked more worried than ever.

Brock didn't like to see Dawn like this, but he was just as worried himself. "Well, Dawn, back when we first noticed that Ash was sick, when I told him to stay down, my hands were on his shoulders and I could feel Ash's temperature."

"Yeah, I remember that. He was shivering, too. Like, he was cold or something." Dawn thought back to when they left Angie's house. "He looked really tired when we waved goodbye to Angie and her family."

"Pika...?"

"Piplup..." Piplup leaned closer into Dawn's arm and nuzzled it.

"I'm sure that Ash had a fever, and if we don't find him soon he could get worse." Brock pondered for a while.

Brock and Dawn both heard a loud yell. "That sounds like Ash!" They said simultaneously. Dawn gasped, and then darted towards it as fast as she could.

"Dawn wait!" Brock shouted and ran after her, Pikachu following close behind him.

Dawn could hardly see in front of her, all she knew was that Ash was out there, somewhere, in danger. "Ash...!?" Dawn wasn't aware of where she was going. "It's so d-dark." She coward slightly. It would have been useful if I had a light. Dawn mentally facepalmed, 'Brock has the flashlight!' She was going to stop, but ended up tripping into a small ravine.

"Dawn!" Brock dropped his flashlight and then slid down the ravine under Dawn, catching her bridle style. While sliding, a few sharp rocks hit him, but he just held on to Dawn until they made it to the bottom.

Pikachu grabbed Brock's flashlight in his teeth, then carefully made his way down the slopes.

It all happened so fast and Dawn couldn't catch her breath. She looked down at Piplup. He had his wings over his eyes, trembling. "I'm sorry Piplup." She said with tears in her eyes, it had shaken her up pretty badly as well. "That must've been really scary for you, too." Dawn pulled Piplup into a tight hug, she stayed like that for a brief moment until she realized she was sitting on Brock's chest. "Brock,...!?" She gasped. "Are you okay!?"

Brock didn't say anything, he was trying to catch his breath as well.

"Brock, are y-!?"

"I'm fine, Dawn. Are you alright?"

He said, finally.

"Yes, I'm alright. ...thank you..." She said quietly, recollecting what happened.

"Um,...well. Can I stand up now...?"

"Hm...?" Dawn looked down. "Oh! Sorry." She stood up and moved aside. "There..."

"Thanks." Brock sat up and prepared himself to stand, but a jolt of pain prevent that. "Gh!"

"Pika Pika!" Pikachu walked towards them with the flashlight now in his paws. It was pointed at the to trainers before him. Pikachu looked at Brock and tilted his head. "Chu?"

"What...?" Dawn looked down at Brock. "Brock, you're still on the ground...? Get up, or here, let me help." Dawn extends her arm to him. Brock attempts to take it, but then Dawn suddenly gasps. "Oh my gosh! What happened to your arm!?"

Brock looks down at his arm. He had a deep cut from the top of his wrist to his elbow. 'Hmm, I wonder...' Brock then felt his back, 'wow the rocks hit my back too.' Brock was silent for a while.

"Brock!" Dawn shouted at him. She could have attracted some wild pokemon in the forest and who knows how awful that would be.

Brock gave a sudden jolt, "Gah...!" He was startled by how loud Dawn was. "Y-yes, Dawn?"

"Let me see,...!" Dawn sat on her knees, Piplup sat in her lap. She then took Brock's arm.

Pikachu moved closer to give them more light. He held it steady.

"Just be careful... " He watched as Dawn looked over his cut.

"Did you bring any bandages with you?" Dawn asked, she had a very serious tone and a sort of determined looked on her face.

Brock reached into the chest pocket of his vest and pulled out a bandage roll along with an alcohol towelette. "Yes, I did, but..."

Dawn opened the towelette and wasted wiped no time cleaning his cut. "Ow! Hey-Dawn take it easy." Brock hissed in pain.

"Sorry, Brock." She then took the bandages and began wrapping Brock's arm. She was gentle and paid very close attention to how neat it was. "But,...?"

"Huh? Oh,... I was saving them just in case Ash may have injuries when we find him. He could get hurt out here."

"You wouldn't be much help to him if you didn't take care of yourself. Anyway, I was certain that I heard Ash's voice." Dawn said while holding out her free hand, the one that wasn't handling Brock's arm. She needed something to cut the bandage so she could secure it in place.

Brock the gave her a small pair of scissors from one of his other vest pockets. "It did sound like him, but also like someone else."

Dawn took the scissors and then made the cut. "Yeah, I thought that was weird." She held out her hand again.

Brock knew exactly what she needed, and gave her some tape. "It's strange to think that others would be out here this late at night."

"Well,...we're out here, ...and done." Dawn released Brock's arm. It was now neatly wrapped and secured. "Now for your back."

"Oh,..." Brock blushed faintly. He didn't seem to like Dawn helping him. He was so used to helping her and Ash with whatever they needed, not the other way around.

Long enough for you? I typed whatever I could think of to make this chapter interesting. Also, I tried to write it the best I could. Let me know what you think, I'm always looking for reviews!