Summary: "You changed my life and I changed yours, because when we met sparks flew, flowers bloomed, love blossomed. Forget the IOUs; we were destined to be together, forever and always."
Thanks to Ju5t An0th3r H3d63h06, an anonymous reviewer, Swimmer Pichu, Keiian, malory79080 and reppad98 for reviewing. You all are awesomesauce people. *throws cookies and noms half of them*
Also, thank you for the follows and favorites. *showers the rest with cookie crumbs*
I hope you all find this chapter good.
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~ d◦e◦s◦t◦i◦n◦y ~
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~ Chapter 1: Ripples in the Sand ~
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A familiar musical tune played out and with a final 'ding!' his pokémon were ready to go.
Nurse Joy beamed at a worn-out Paul as she handed him his pokéballs and wished him a good day. Paul just nodded at her in acknowledgement and walked out of the Center with his hands stuffed deep into his pockets.
The minute he walked out, he was greeted by a strong breeze that whipped his hair across the face hard, not helping his mood at all. He scowled and took quick steps towards—
Nowhere really.
He didn't know where he was going, and he wasn't really sure if he wanted to know.
He walked on, replaying the events from a few hours back and pondered.
He couldn't figure out where he had gone wrong. He had always been the tough trainer, even being accused of pushing his pokémon to the limit, which wasn't true by the way. He may look cruel, but the thing that he abused his pokémon was just a sick rumor, a misunderstanding even.
Come on now, he wasn't inhuman. That was just stupid.
He may not cuddle with his pokémon throughout the day, but he still cared about them. Not that anyone's opinion mattered.
He reached the beach and the small harbor where ferries were docked and dispatched from. He really had had no idea of where he had been heading. Cynthia and Alder had already left, which he wasn't really surprised to note.
Alder probably scored a date with her after groveling.
Or bribing.
Whichever.
He sighed and shook his head wearily. That man really was an idiot.
Well, at least he wouldn't have to see those annoying sympathetic faces. He hated being pitied upon. Utterly shameful and degrading it was, in his opinion.
He looked up at the night sky, snorting as he recalled what Nurse Joy said earlier. It was hardly day, and neither was there anything good about it. He sighed sadly, his mind going back to the events which he didn't want to think of.
He dug his hands- balled-up fists now- even deeper in his pockets and walked along the shoreline, the breeze making his hair fly and the crashing waves giving him something else to concentrate on.
He took a detour and ended up at the gate which led to Route 16. He was just standing there, staring out into space, in the midst of a bustling crowd. None of it seemed to affect him at this point of time as his mind seemed oddly detached from his body. It seemed like he was a passenger in his own body.
He walked past people and pokémon like a zombie, ignoring the worried and quizzical looks from the onlookers, the thoughts in his head crushing him into powder.
Fine powder.
Fine textured sand.
Sand on which his pokémon had been defeated.
He scrunched up his nose. Ugh, he kept back coming to the same thing, no matter how much he tried to avoid it.
It was all his fault.
He knew it was all his fault.
He should never have challenged the guy.
He should have known his pokémon couldn't stand a chance in front of champions.
He should have known he couldn't stand a chance in front of them.
Now feeling even worse than before, he picked up the pace and finally ended up at the gates of Marvelous Bridge.
He didn't think and just kept moving forward aimlessly. After all, what could really happen?
The sea actually looked beautiful from the bridge but he wasn't in the mood for enjoying it nor was he in the mood for bad puns. He stood there, leaning slightly, with his elbows supporting his weight on the railings. His hair was being whipped across his face in every direction possible, and after a few vain efforts, he gave up, not caring anymore.
Gave up.
At that very moment, those words hit him like a pile of bricks, crushing his throat as his heart beat accelerated, the rush of sorrow and guilt overwhelming him, attacking him together all of a sudden. He tried breathing slowly and deeply to steady himself, and then started walking up and down the breadth of the bridge in a vain effort to pull himself back together.
What if he couldn't beat Cynthia? Would it even be wise to challenge her after such a big upset? After all, he had spoken such big words back in Sinnoh; it all seemed so foolish now.
What if he lost even more badly?
Would his pride be able to take any more?
Would he be able to take any more?
He stood there, eyes wide and mouth gaping, staring at his feet, and ran his fingers through his sweat-damp hair. The huge wave of depression had left him vulnerable and for perhaps the first time, in quite a long while, he was scared.
But he didn't really have to do anything since he seemed to come back to his senses almost immediately when he was almost toppled over by someone. He managed to keep his balance; however the person who bumped into him was not so fortunate.
The girl on the ground moaned loudly as she noticed all her bags lying scattered around the area. She jerked her head upwards to look at him, her mouth trembling, her azure orbs seething with anger. She looked at him expectantly for a fraction of a second before getting up by herself.
"Watch where you're going!" she yelled at him, dusting her skirt, before putting her hands on her hips.
He ignored her and went back to staring out at the sea, hoping that it would at least soothe him a little.
"Why you little-" she broke off as she checked the time on her pokétch. "Oh no, I'll be late if I don't hurry!" She quickly scrambled up her bags and ran off in the opposite direction, her midnight blue hair flying with the wind.
He had paid no attention to any of that and had continued looking out at the now-barely visible horizon, his hair covering his face like a screen.
That little disturbance had made him calm down a little and he was relieved. The fact that it was so uncharacteristic to feel something so strongly like this was so disconcerting, he felt faintly disgusted at himself.
Since when did he feel so low about losing?
Paul had no answer to that.
He stared down at the rushing waves below, feeling oddly soothed, as he slowly started to forget about his surroundings. The water looked so good and inviting, it was so tempting, but he pushed himself off the railing and with a swish of his head, quickly turned away.
He wasn't stupid.
He sighed and began trudging along the rest of the length of the Marvelous Bridge, hands in pockets as always, and himself deep in thought.
He really needed to get it all together. And fast.
At the end of the bridge, he finally decided to hail a taxi. Maybe it would serve as a better means of transport than his own legs since then he wouldn't have to blindly follow a random path.
He would now have a dictated path.
As if. He snorted at his own reasoning.
A cab slowed down and came to a halt in front of him and as the driver's window rolled down, he was met by a strange sight.
To say that even Paul wasn't taken aback by it would be an understatement; in fact, he was himself revaluating his thinking.
"Yo, man! 'Sup?" The man gave him a bright lopsided grin and a thumbs-up, and lowered his sunglasses, which wasn't even the weirdest part of him.
Who the hell even wears sunglasses at this time?
His brightly decked attire made Paul's eyes bleed, but he kept up a stony face.
"Why mooning around here when the right place for partying is just around the corner?" Paul ignored him and yanked open the back door. He then lumped himself into it and slammed it shut.
"Well, well, girlfriend dumped'cha, huh? Wanna find a bar and get drunk? Trust me, it'll help you feel awesome," he heckled, lolling his head around while his eyes trailed Paul's movements into the cab.
"Go." He said simply, already making himself comfortable in the spacious backseat, an elbow propped up against the window, the wrist in turn supporting his chin as he looked out of the window. He evidently didn't plan to explain more so the confused driver turned on his seat and looked at him, hands on the top of the back of his own seat and face slightly concealed by it. His eyes went wide with innocent curiosity and Paul felt irritated by his questioning stare. He scowled.
"Where to, sonny?" The driver finally asked, understanding that he had to specify his demands with the psycho in his car. He then leant forward, dangerous close to Paul, as if trying to stare into his soul, wearing a comical, almost creepy grin as he hiccupped.
The sudden and strong whiff of sherry caught Paul unaware and he suddenly felt sick.
"Anywhere." And this time, nothing more could really be wrenched out from his voice box. The wave of nausea was unbecoming, yet he willed himself to ignore it with all his might and stared down the driver calmly.
"Haha, now you surely can't mean that! There are tons of places to go around in Unova, but you can't be that indecisive!" The guy bellowed good-naturedly, giving Paul a fantastic view of his pearly whites.
More like murky yellows.
Monsieur Driver would have even thumped his back a couple of times, if his stubby and thick arms could squeeze in and reach him. Paul shuddered at the thought. He pressed his left thumb to his temple, closing his eyes and tracing out circles to alleviate some of the pain which had suddenly built up.
"Just drive." He managed to utter and went back to rubbing his temple. The driver shrugged and turned back on his seat, bouncing a couple of times and making the contraption rattle, and faced the steering wheel. The sudden shout of 'Yosh! Now let's get this show on the road! YEAH!' and the subsequent slaps on his thighs heard didn't scare Paul in the least.
Nope, not at all.
It terrified him.
But Paul was Paul and being composed was important at all times.
It was important if he wanted to be a well-respected Trainer one day.
Heck, even Champion.
He hit his forehead repeatedly with his fist, albeit gently, trying to get rid of the pounding which had coincidently increased with his most recent thought. And the fact that the stupid driver's car wasn't starting made problems worse, making him claw at his forehead now.
The engine's wheezing irritated him.
Suddenly, he shot open his eyes and sat up straight. He wrenched open the door and jumped out, landing quite gracefully on his feet for someone feeling so uncoordinated.
He ignored the frantic yells of, 'Hey, where do you think you are going? Stop!' and ambled aimlessly along Route 15, muttering incoherent profanities under his breath while trying to make his respiratory system feel better.
This was just not his day- night.
Whatever.
Before long, he had reached Nimbasa City and he stood there in the brightness of it all, eyes burning. After the eerie quietness and darkness of Route 15, Nimbasa's merry lights and sounds made him cringe.
It was as if the world was gaining happiness from his misery.
He scowled and walked past the lovely sights and happy people, not giving a second glance to anything, not even the lovely Ferris Wheel which was known to make heads turn a second, a third, a fourth time in the least.
No longer being able to bear the radiating happiness, he made his way out of the city as soon as he could. He just couldn't take it today.
Man, was he being moldy.
He glared his way out of Join Avenue as well because he couldn't stand pathetic people asking him to buy stuff or help with their business.
Did he look like a Good Samaritan or something?
And soon enough, he found himself in the bustling crowds of Castelia City.
Man, he had travelled far.
Not that distances like these were anything great for him. He was a Pokémon Trainer, not some pansy.
The sea of people slowly pushed him towards the other side of the city, and he found himself drifting towards the harbor along with the flow of the crowd.
Paul stood there staring at the place with empty eyes, no coherent thoughts forming in his head any longer.
Nothing, whatsoever.
It had been a while since he felt this miserable.
On a sudden impulse, he reached the port and got himself a ticket for a random ferry. He slowly walked up the gangplank, wondering what he was doing.
This wasn't like him.
But it didn't matter where he was headed because this time he knew where he wanted to go…
"All aboard!"
The anchor was being lifted and the horn was blown, signaling departure.
"Almost… almost… almost…" panted a blunette as she ran as fast as her legs could manage, towards the ferry which was about to leave. She ran up the gangplank and collapsed onto the deck, sighing in relief.
At that very moment, the gangplank was taken up and the ship set sail, the deck already starting its rhythmic swaying.
"M-made it," she croaked to herself, looking completely busted. But then she suddenly stood up and took up a victory stance, grinned widely, as she pulled herself together and hurried away, searching for her cabin.
It was enough to weird anyone out, this being proved by the astonished and incredulous looks she got from people, but luckily no one she knew was there to witness her 'winning' moment.
And that's all she cared about.
Maybe not even that.
He reached his cabin and flopped down on one of the bunks. In normal circumstances, he would be annoyed with the fact that he would have to share it with someone else, scratch that, why would he be on a measly ferry in the first place? But right now, he just couldn't give a damn.
He lay back and stared at the ceiling as unwanted thoughts began invading his mind.
Was he doing the right thing?
He didn't know.
Wasn't this equivalent to running away?
Probably.
But wasn't running away for cowards?
Paul wasn't a coward.
But, was he?
He growled in frustration and punched his pillow. He didn't know what he was doing any more and it made him feel pathetic. He didn't like this feeling. It was alien to him. And knowing that made him angrier.
He buried his face into the same pillow and turned his body to face the wall, advertently curling up partially into a ball.
He would sleep over it tonight and feel better tomorrow, he decided. He was just overreacting and a little time off was probably just what he needed.
He just had to calm down and train harder, that's all.
Yeah.
His eyes began drooping and after all that had happened today, for that fleeting moment, he finally felt at peace.
And then the door crashed open revealing a panting figure, scaring the daylights out of him.
Not that he would ever admit it.
She ran along the passage looking for her cabin. I knew I shouldn't have stopped at that last store, but that dress was so cute! Anyway, I made it, didn't I? Now just to find the stupid cabin…
Why was she running about when she had already boarded the ferry?
Well, that was a question that was never likely to be answered logically.
"F-f-f-finally," she stammered as she found her cabin. She swung open the door with unnecessary force and it crashed open, startling the person already inside, who sat up suddenly in shock, the poor soul.
"S-sorry 'bout that," she stuttered, managing a weak smile, before recognizing the person in front of her.
"You!" she shrieked loudly, pointing a shaking finger at him, and for a second there, it looked like she was going to pounce on him but she grinned widely and sat down on her bunk hard, making her bounce a little, her bags scattered messily all around her.
"Hi there, I'm Dawn! And it's perfectly okay about before, it was just that I wanted to get to a sale my friend May told me about," she said perkily, her eyes fixed onto him, unwavering, filled with an excitement quite foreign to him.
Now, if Paul wasn't so stony, plus wrapped up in his own depressing matters, his jaw would drop. Like, literally, right to the floor. He was surprised to see her mood change in a flash, but didn't show it. He just glared at Dawn, who was unfazed by the murderous look coming her way.
"You know May? May Maple? Well, she lives in Petalburg City in Hoenn and I was there visiting her and another friend of mine. He's got such unusual hair, just like you, mister, like I'm one to talk. Anyway, its green and he's so cute because he's secretly crushing on her. See this picture of them? They'd make such a bee-yoo-tiful couple! Don't you think so too? Oh, and his name is Drew Hayden, silly me, I didn't even say his name-"
He clicked his tongue in disapproval and annoyance, especially at the picture being pushed into his face, but even that didn't affect the blabbermouth who continued rambling like there was no tomorrow.
"Arceus, I'm so absent-minded, aren't I? So, as I was saying, I was visiting them there before I was to go back home. I live in Twinleaf Town in Sinnoh with my mother, you see. Anyway, so she told me about this region's musicals through a mutual friend of ours, he such an awesome guy, although he's as stupid as a rock, that dummy. And I was also here for Elesa's fashion show. She's so gorgeous! You should've seen her! Though you'd probably get a nosebleed, haha-"
Paul had, by then, tuned out her mindless ranting and tried to focus on thinking about what he should do now and what excuse he should give to Cynthia. He wasn't supposed to disappear suddenly now, was he? No, he was supposed to be there for some stupid meet-and-greet tomorrow, the whole reason why he'd been dragged to this stupid region. He grimaced.
Her monologue was now becoming increasingly random and annoying, but it was doing a good job of distracting him from what his mind was wandering to from time to time.
Too bad he couldn't think of anything at all.
"…and then we…" she muttered in her sleep, as Paul finally gave up.
"Stupid girl," he muttered as he shuffled out of the cabin, slamming the door behind him hard.
Even though the girl's incessant yammering had proved helpful for most of it, he felt the anger and bitterness clawing him once again the minute he walked onto the deck.
Well, his plan of 'sleep-over-it' had now failed miserably, thanks to a certain someone but he dismissed it from his mind.
It wasn't meant to work if it didn't.
He smacked his forehead. Since when did he think of things like that?
That's it; he was completely messed up now.
Great.
Just great.
Absolutely fantastic.
Shaking his head, he went towards the railings and rested his elbows on it, staring straight ahead.
It was like staring into space was the only possible thing for him to do, for the time being.
The blunette stirred when the door slammed. She looked around sleepily for her 'roomie' but couldn't find him anywhere. Darn, just when she wanted to tell him all about the time when- never mind that now.
She fixed her appearance in the nearby mirror, admiring her reflection for a few seconds before walking out, holding down her pink miniskirt with one hand. But she forgot all about her beanie, which got blown off by one of the stronger winds.
"Dang it," she muttered, as she hurried after it.
She ran behind it as fast as she could. Eventually the wind died down and she spotted her beanie lying some distance away on the deck, a little near the railings.
She heaved a sigh of relief before bending down to pick it up.
"Thank goodness it didn't fly off. I would have been so miserable without it! It just wouldn't feel right any more, without it I'd feel as if-"
But she broke off when she noticed someone standing nearby, looking into the deep water, his face blocked from view because of his slightly long and shaggy hair. She couldn't really make out the color from where she was standing since it was dark now, but that didn't matter. She giggled softly because of the way he was probably staring at the water below and swaying with the breeze.
The wind started blowing again and she groaned as she tried to keep her hair, her beanie and her skirt in check, all at the same time. She looked around to find her way back to the cabin. She had had enough of this.
And then, suddenly, her eyes widened.
"NO!"
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Hidden (notreally) reference for those of you who know my previous stories (Mari, you're bound to get it). And Harley's cookies to anyone who can't figure it out. *evil laugh*
Reviews might make me reconsider though. *shotSHOT*
Haha, I hope you enjoyed this chapter~! I hope to see you on the 21st~!
Ja ne~
Dated: 7th September'13