Chapter 5

A/N: Well golly! I never thought I'd be writing for this story ever again! But when I got two "PLZMOAR" messages in one month, I decided I'd do it! Anyone who still reads this, you have Figiena1998 and Yana5 to thank for this chapter! I hope it's enough to make you all at least a teeny tiny bit happy :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.

The forest is quiet, and Paul looks over the treetops. He didn't get a lot of sleep last night. He ponders on Arceus' words. And on Ash's. "I don't think I can love another..." A shiver runs up Paul's back, and he smiles. Arceus was a nice pokemon. He told Ash to love another. In any other case, Paul would've been devastated, but he knew that Arceus was giving him a great chance with this. If Ash let go of Paul... He would be open to Espeon Paul.

Paul licks his paws in thought, his tail twitching in renewed hope. There is still a chance ! A chance for both of us to be happy ! He jumps down from the treebranch he's sitting on, and carefully walks over to Ash. Even though he's rubbish as a pokemon trainer, I should try my best to be a bit more … nice... He smiles at Ash's sleeping face, amused by the tiny trail of drool hanging from the boy's lips. He blushes heavily. If …. if I want to get closer... I better start... right now. He leans forward, his pink paws on Ash's chest, and flicks his feline tongue over his cheek, close to the lips, but not quite daring to touch them just yet.

Ash stirs in his sleep, and he lets out an incoherent moan. Paul blushes at his action. That was WAY over the line. WAY over the line. He growls at himself, and his claws dig through Ash's clothing and into his chest. "...zzSNRTFRT ACK ! OW" Paul immediately draws back his claws and mewls apologetic to Ash. Ash stares at Espeon for a moment, and then a shaky laugh forms on his face. " Gee Espeon, can't you find a better way to wake me up ? I might just get a heart-attack from all those early-in-the-morning kitty-attacks !" I said I was sorry ….. you should just learn to listen. Ash sighs and looks away.

"We... We better get going Espeon... We need to find the others soon..." He brushes some dust off his pants and stretches himself. "Alright, we got a lot of traveling to do, so let's go!" He only takes two steps before coming to a halt again. "Eh... Espeon? Do you remember where we came from..?" Paul hisses in frustration. Your idiocy is making it hard for me to be nicer to you, you know! Paul closes his eyes and calls upon his psychic powers again, mapping the entire forest with his mind alone and scanning for a way out.

He finds it soon enough, in the form of a small pathway, too nearby to be coincidental. Paul smirks slightly. Arceus knows how to make things work. When he opens his eyes again, Ash' hands are cupping his head, and a worried expression is staring him right in the face. "Espeon? Are you okay?" Paul jerks himself away with a snarl, and quickly starts jogging to the path he'd found. Ash catches up with him and walks besides him from a safe distance, looking a bit dejected and disappointed.

"I'm sorry Espeon, I was just worried okay?" Paul ignores him, and it's silent for a moment before Ash' mutters almost inaudibly under his breath. "God, what did Paul DO to you to make you so mean?"

Paul comes to a dead stop.

His first idea is to attack, to become mad, to claw and screech, but he can't. Ash will have to stop loving the old, human Paul, and start liking the... the Espeon one.

Who is he kidding? It's so hopeless. What sane person would act on a pokemon's love declaration? It's all idle hope, Arceus' help, it doesn't matter. People don't fall in love with pokemon. Besides, how would this curse ever break? A kiss? Hah, the idea of Ash kissing a pink feline's snout was as ridiculous as a hoppip defeating a salamence. Plainly impossible, insane.

His ears droop and he stares at the ground, the universe surrounding them suddenly bursting with dark energies and depressing thoughts. "Espeon?"

Ash kneels besides him, and a hand hesitantly rests between his drooping ears. "It's alright Espeon... You're with me okay? I won't... I won't mistreat you like Paul did. I promise." It's good he's starting to dislike Paul, it's a step in the right direction, it's favorable, and absolutely TERRIBLE.

Paul mewls and rubs his head into Ash' hand, fighting away a few tears. Ash' hesitant hand is soon replaces by a hug and Paul curls into it desperately. "Is it okay if I carry you Espeon?"

He doesn't even THINK about saying no. This is probably the only contact with Ash he'd ever have for the rest of his life.

…

Night seems to be falling only moments later, and Ash practically falls down next to the road in exhaustion. Paul can't sleep, be it for the hoot-hoots crowing in the distance or his troubles, he just can't find sleep. He slumbers next to Ash, and he can almost feel it when their minds start to mingle again.

He pulls back from Ash' mind, getting away from him in the physical world as well. He needs a bit of time by himself.

He shoots one last look at Ash before walking into the dark woods next to the path. Strange how he was afraid of fighting only a few days ago.

It doesn't take long for his psychic mind to pick up on a nearby lake, and he calmly walks towards it, hanging his front paws into the water and staring at the reflections of the stars. There is no moon this night.

"How do I get Ash to stop loving my un-cursed me, and start loving my cursed me so I can be my uncursed me again?" A small ripple in the water shakes Paul out of his thoughts, and he comes eye to eye with a luvdisk. He tilts his head in a humorless fashion. "Oh what, a pink little skin flake has something to say now?"

The luvdisk splurts ice cold water into Paul's face and he jumps up with a curse. "AH! You little-!" Before he can pull the thing from the lake and smash it into a tree, it has already dived all the way down to the bottom. Paul swats angrily at the water. "Pokemon of LOVE? Yea right! What good are you HUH! Weakling!"

With an angry cry he fires up a shadowball, shooting it into the water where the other dimension hints at other pokemon.

He can hear their scared cries as the shadowball obliterates a good part of the lake flooring, and with an frustrated yowl he prepares another one. Before he can fully well start his next shadowball, an overwhelming darkness presses him down, disables him completely, and sucks away all the psychic power around him. The shadowball forming between his fangs sparks and dies, leaving Paul to collapse on his paws.

"Stop making such noise Pinkie. I'd like to get some sleep tonight."

With a pained grunt, Paul slowly turns his head towards the source of the voice. A shady pokemon, bursting with dark energies. Black with red. A Zoroark. Paul's eyes widen at the sight of the extremely rare pokemon, and almost out of instinct he moves his paw to his side to grab non-existent pokeballs. "Zo...Zoroark?" The Pokemon laughs. "I would make some sarcastic comment, like 'did you think I was a magicarp or something' but since I transform and all, this occurs a lot more often than you'd think. Yes. I am a Zoroark, and I'm feeling up for a little talk. You woke me up, so I better make the best of it, hm? Now what did I hear, some cursed bitchy drama?"

Paul shakily pushes himself up and shakes his head, feeling weak and disarmed with the Dark pokemon sucking away the light powers to replace them with heavy darkness. "It's none of you business." He starts walking away, threatened by the big fox pokemon.

"Hm, A good thing I overheard your dramatic 'WHY ME' moaning when you were at the lake." The Zoroark sneaks up besides Paul and gives him a nudge. "Didn't you say you were sleeping?" Paul hisses harmlessly through his teeth. "Trying to sleep and sleeping aren't the same thing toots." The pokemon lets out a barking laugh and slaps Paul on the back, sending an unpleasant shudder through his back.

"Well mister Pinkie toots, lemme tell you this! To me, your problem is nothing hard. It's fixable, easily fixable. Really!" Paul already knows where this is going. "... What do you want from me so I can hear your so-called 'wonderly' advice?" The Zoroark pulls back with a feigned gasp of shock. "Ah! Espeon my friend! You didn't truly think I'd be asking a good friend like you for something in return? What kind of pokemon do you think I am?"

"A dark type..." Paul mutters to himself, to which the Zoroark laughs again. "Hah! I like you Pinkie toots! You're not like most Psychics! Hehehe! I have a feeling you won't be paying for anything I say, so I'll just give you a little advice... for free-" Paul gives Zoroark a look. "- if you catch me a big magicarp."

"You call that free?"

Zoroark shrugs. "They basically flop themselves onto shore don't they, might as well be free. I just don't feel like gettin' my paws wet, and you're plenty soaked already aren't ya?" Paul grumbles angrily, but he turns around, fishing a Magicarp onto the shore with a shadowball to cause panic once more ,and a Psychic to lift it up.

"Here's your fish." Paul has to resist the urge to smack the flopping creature into the fox's face as the Fox leans back and makes a smacking sound. "Ahhh... Thank ye kindly Toots!" Moments later the forest floor is littered with Magicarp-bits, and the black fox makes disgusting eating noises. A few minutes later, the Magicarp is completely gone, and the Zoroark gets up, stretching itself and yawning.

"Well. Better get to my important nap-time now! You swallowed up quite a few minutes of my time tootsie!" Paul growls indignantly as the Fox starts to walk away. "Where's that advice of yours, rattatta-snouted bastard?" A backlash at his mind is his answer and Paul crumples to the ground again. The Zoroark crouches besides him with a sneer. "No need to get all rude Tootsie, Pokemon aren't perfect, we forget things too. Right?" At the last word a thick blanket seems to smother Paul, and he nods frantically, eager to get the dark fox off his back.

"Here's my advice; make him fall in love... with a third you."

Paul stares at him, and through the choking blanket of darkness he manages a toothy snarl. "That is the most unhelpful advice I ever heard." The Zoroark chuckles and shakes her head. "You just don't get it do you? Humans think they're all sooo very smart. And yes, I know you're a human. In my days as a Zoroark I never met such a clumsy psychic pokemon. Really, when it comes to feeling, reading and hypnotising, you are nothing but a child."

The blanket of darkness is lifting, and Paul gasps desperately for breath. "What...what are you saying? Please... explain more!" The Zoroark nods and leans down to his ears.

"Hypnotizing isn't half as hard as it seems, and adjusting reality for a single person, is merely child's play. Take it from someone who knows."

A moment later, the dark fox is gone, darting through the woods and leaving a wet Paul to stare after her in surprise.

Hypnotizing Ash. Make Espeon disappear, let his psychic powers create a hull of a human around his Espeon body, making it seem as if Ash was traveling with a human, and not a pokemon! He could get Ash to love him, breaking the curse, yet not losing his Ash! Zoroark is right! This is doable! Possible!

Paul wobbly gets up, and screams after the Fox as loud as he can.

"YOU ARE THE LOUSIEST DARK TYPE I EVER MET!...THANK YOU!"

A barking laugh in the distance is his answer.

A/N: So yea, writing that Zoroark was fun as hell! Happy I did it! I'm feeling awkward with the Ash-scenes, but that's mostly because that guy barely has any character besides: I WANNA WIN. POKEYMONS ARE MY FRENDS :D DERP. Anyways, as always:

~SIGNED REVIEWS ALWAYS GET A REPLY~

Lanny-Sama OUT!