Chapter 3

May 7th, 2006

Dawn was busy pulling her tent down from the previous night. They had stayed in the Petalburg forest and should be almost through by now. Just another day or so of traveling then they would hopefully be out or the dark and gloomy place. Many trainers had asked to battle, Paul only accepted ones that he thought were strong enough to help his get stronger. Of course he wiped the floor with them, much to May's displeasure. On the other hand, the other three took turns in battling the trainers, helping improve their own pokémon's skills.

"Good morning..." She heard a sleepy voice and she glanced behind her, smiling at the sleepy brunette standing there still clad in her pyjamas.

"Morning May, sorry if I woke you." She replied sheepishly, placing a hand behind her head, one of the habits that she had caught from Ash in their travels and still continued to have now. May was the last one to wake up. Paul was up at the crack of dawn, Drew not too long after, or so he says.

"Drew made some toast, using Paul's Magmotar, and bread he might have more though it's probably cold."

May laughed, "I'm okay, I'm actually not hungry right now. Did Paul really let Drew use his Magmortar to make toast?"

Dawn snickered and shook her head, what Paul didn't know wouldn't hurt him. "May not hungry is impossible." Drew spoke as he walked up from behind the two girls. Grabbing a hold of a metal pole from Dawn's tent and taking it apart. "There's a berry tree nearby. We can get some before we leave. We're close to Rustbouro City anyway and with the speed Paul's going we should get there soon."

Dawn grabbed a hold of a pole herself, taking it apart, and shoving it in her bag. "What's your hometown like Dawn?" May suddenly asked.

Dawn placed a finger on her chin, scrunching her nose up in thought. "Um, I think Ash said it was similar to Pallet Town, have you been there before?"

"Yep! That's where I got my Wartortle! I met him when we went to go and visit Professor Oak!"

Dawn nodded, "Yeah Twinleaf is a small town, I think it's bigger then Pallet but I'm not sure. I have a couple friends that live there named Kenny and Barry. Kenny's a coordinator like me and Barry is a league challenger like Paul, he's pretty strong too."

"Strong? You must have low standards then." Dawn looked behind her and noticed Paul standing there. "You done packing? I want to hurry up and go." He glanced between the three, "Wake up earlier tomorrow or I'm leaving." He added, "I don't have time to waste." It was a surprise that Paul had even put it into himself to stay at their small campground while the other slept, only disappearing with one pokémon to train while he let his others eat and wake up more.

Dawn huffed, "Sleep in for a bit, give yourself a day to relax or something, you'll feel good after it."

"And maybe be less cranky." May muttered, "You need it."

"Sleeping in is for those lazy people who don't care about reaching their goals and becoming stronger. Like Ash, he still hasn't won a single league; he's becoming famous for it. I'd rather not be humiliated like him."

"Hey didn't he beat you is the Lily of the Valley Conference? I'd say that's pathetic, whining about somebody who's stronger then you, you never said anything about winning a league yourself, what makes you all high and mighty?" May stood up and poked her finger into his chest, "You're going to be famous for the same reason, at least Ash understands people feelings and is nice, people will like him much more than you." She glared up at him.

"And what have you done? Have you won any of those stupid Grand Festivals yet? I doubt it, it's a surprise that that red-headed girl even won Sinnoh's two years ago, if anybody it should've been Nando, who is also a League Trainer and actually knows what they need to have for a semi-strong pokémon team not some lazy over pampered bratty pokémon like that one right there!" He pointed directly at Piplup who was having an innocent conversation with Drew's Roserade and May's Glaceon, the three had become very good friend in the short time that they had known each other.

"Hey! Piplup is plenty strong and I was the runner up for the same Grand Festival that Zoey won! It was also my first year competing in Sinnoh anyway; I think that I did extremely well for being a beginner! And how would you even know that Zoey won it? Were you watching it or something, I thought it didn't concern you and that coordinating shouldn't even exist?" Dawn hissed at him, "Here we are trying to be nice to you and actually want to get to know you, and you have been nothing but mean and arrogant this whole time. Why are you like this? Why be mean to people who are actually putting in an effort to get to know you?"

Paul glared at her, "I didn't ask you to come with me. I don't want three lazy and weak coordinators following me around. I don't want to listen to your constant whining and I don't want to be your friends." He said in a scarily calm tone. "Don't bother following me. I'm surprised that I even let you three follow me for this long." He cast his glare over the three of them one last time before turning and leaving.

"Why is he so rude?" Dawn grabbed the ends of her hair and pulled on them, "Why did I even want to be friends with somebody as inconsiderate as he is? Strength and winning is all that he talks about, he isolates himself from everybody, how does Reggie handle him?"

May and Drew looked at each other, "Who's Reggie?"

"Doesn't matter right now, I gotta go and find Paul."

"You said all those things about him yet you still go and try? Why do this to yourself? You will only get hurt some way or another from him, it's not worth it." May said.

Dawn pulled her hat over her head, not bothering with putting her hair up in a ponytail like she usually did now that it was so long. "You and May get along now right? I thought you argued a lot too? I want to act like you two but with Paul, I want to make sure he has at least one person to fall back on when he needs them, his brother can't be the only one he likes." She snatched up her bag, "Come on Piplup, it's time to go." Piplup gazed at Dawn for a moment longer then nodded and sighed turning to Glaceon and Roserade, waving his flipper before scurrying over to his trainer.

"Reggie must be his brother." She heard May whisper. "Wonder what he's like?"

"Are you two coming or what?" Dawn didn't need to wait for the answer; she already knew that they had their own bags ready to leave too.

May 10th, 2006

"I challenge you to a battle!"

The group of four whipped their heads around and stared at a girl with blonde hair. She had a stubborn look on her face and was pointing directly at Drew, her hand then switched to Paul then May and finally Dawn. "Well at least one of you!" She declared. There was a loud sigh from beside Dawn.

"Really?" Paul said, "Dawn could probably even beat you and that's saying something."

Dawn slapped him on the arm; he looked at her out of the corner of his eyes and glared. "The one time you actually say my name you use it like that!"

He ignored her and looked back at the brown haired girl. "It's a waste of our time, get lost."

"I'll battle you." Drew announced suddenly, not looking at anyone but the girl. "Is one on one fine?" The girl nodded eagerly and rushed to go and stand in a certain spot. He walked a reasonable distance away, "Whichever Pokémon faints first loses. She nodded once and reached to her jacket pocket, pulling out a black and yellow patterned pokéball.

"Go Shroomish!"

"Let's go Butterfree!" The Pokémon appeared in a flash of red light. "Quick Confusion!" Wasting no time, Butterfree's eyes glowed a light blue colour; soon Shroomish got outlined in the same blue light. Shroomish was slowly lifted into the air and went flying back towards its trainer. "Now quickly use Gust!" Butterfree furiously flapped its wings, strong gusts of wind coming from it. Shroomish was being pushed back once again.

The girl started to panic, "Come on Shroomish! Stun spore!" It was too late, Shroomish had already fainted. Drew calmly returned Butterfree and approached the trainer, holding his hand out for a shake. She grabbed it awkwardly, her Pokémon held in one arm. "Umm thanks, I hope Shroomish got some kind of experience from that." And with that she ran off towards Petalburg City.

"Pathetic." Paul murmured and continued along the path.

May frowned, "That's mean." She said and walked right up to him, "You could've been nicer." She jabbed him in the chest with her finger. "Try thinking of other's feelings, don't be so heartless." She glared harshly at him.

Drew quickly pulled May back, "Don't bother getting worked up. At least he had the audacity to say it once she was gone."

"If you don't like it too bad, I didn't ask for pathetic trainers like you to join me. You decided to so don't complain." He set his hard gaze onto May, one that May happily gave back to him.

"For your information we only came for Dawn's sake, honestly I don't trust Dawn just traveling around with a guy like you, regardless if you already know each other."

"I didn't ask her to come either. Leave if you're not happy, I couldn't care less about your wellbeing." And with that statement he left.

May let out a furious noise, "Dawn are you sure you want to travel with him?" This was the second time May had asked her this question and Dawn still had the same answer, not matter how much Paul infuriated her, she wasn't going to give up.

Dawn nodded, "Yes. I want to be friends with him." She replied simply. "I'm sure he'll be nicer once he gets to know us better too." She flashed the two a smile. "Just have faith in him. He's just like us." She turned around to follow the oldest person in the group.

May glanced at Drew who shrugged. "I take it back, Paul's more annoying than Ash, or least has more brains for a positive statement."

"When did you say that Ash was stupid?" May asked, both her and Dawn were staring at him intently. "Ash is smarter than you think."

"He's more of an on the go thinker, he plans better while he's doing things." Dawn added.

May placed a hand on her chin, "We still need to figure out what to get Ash for his birthday, how hard can it be to find him something?"

May 11th, 2006

A loud, deep rumbling noise reached each of the group member's ears once again. It had been going on the whole day, and the day before too. "I am so hungry!" May said while clutching her stomach as it let out another groan of hunger.

"Of course you are," Paul said in scarily calm, but still harsh, tone. "Between you and your stupid Munchlax, you ate all of our food, yesterday. We're all hungry." He glanced over his shoulder and glared. "We haven't eaten for a day; you have, so shut up." He had been furious with the brunette and in all honesty he was barely in control of his anger, her recent complaining had just fuelled it even more.

May was too hungry to even care about what Paul had said. "Can we please just stop at a restaurant somewhere soon?"

Paul clutched the strap of his bag in frustration; they have already gone through this whole conversation seven times since they left the Petalburg Forest. "I really don't care; you're buying all the food anyway. Now be quiet!" He hissed the last part to her. They walked down a few more streets of the big Rustboro City, hoping to find somewhere that could successfully fulfill their needs of food.

"Ugh, I'm-" Paul quickly grabbed May from the shoulders and pushed her across the street. "Go in there!" May instantly brightened up when she saw the small cafe and ran toward it. There was an audible sigh from behind, "I'm gonna take her to the bathroom. The thought of using a real toilet is much more pleasant than using a bush." Dawn sighed a second time and rubbed her temples, she looked very tired. "Find us a table okay?" She said gently as she turned her gaze between Paul and Drew.

Drew nodded once, "Sure." And with that Dawn was racing after the other coordinator. "I wonder how May and Dawn feel." He said, looking up at Paul, "Having another girl to travel with, I mean." He clarified, "Travelling with Ash and Brock, and in May's case, her little brother, must have been annoying at times. Ash is hyperactive, Brock has that women problem and Max is annoying with his constant observation of pokémon and the obnoxious 'I'm better than you' attitude he used to have." Drew pulled out the door for Paul. "Yet they still all ended up being best friends." Taking a short break from their conversation to find a reasonable seat where Dawn and May could find them easily, deciding on a spot relatively close to the bathroom, Drew picked up the conversation again, "Also sorry for May, I know she's pretty much a female version of Ash, but Arceus had a second chance," Paul slightly smirked at this remark, "Think of May as a better version of Ash, and after the three years I've known her, the only thing worse is her eating, really she's not that bad. I found her really annoying at first too."

Paul shrugged, "I'll admit, she is better than him, hardly though, just more tolerable. I'd like her better if she didn't eat all of our food and we had to go hungry up until soon." He crossed his arms across his chest.

"Woah!" A loud voice shouted, the two turned to where the voice had come from and Paul instantly pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Really? Don't look or talk to him when he gets here." Paul said, staring sternly at Drew, "Do not." The green haired coordinator furrowed his brows in confusion but nodded his head anyway. Drew didn't bother to question Paul's motive, Paul was a different person. Then again, pretty much everybody Drew has ever met was considered different. Especially another purple haired man he knew.

"Hey Paul!" The voice said. Paul ignored him, seeming to be too interested in his menu to notice him; the guy rolled his dark eyes and pulled it from his hands, "I know you already saw me, no point in trying to ignore me. So why are you in Hoenn? Are you challenging the gyms here?"

Paul turned his head and glared at the guy, "Why else would I be here?" He said coolly.

"Looks like were rivals then!" He grinned, "I decided to change it up a bit you know? Challenge the league instead of entering contests..." He trailed off as he caught eye of Drew. "Hey I recognise you!" He pointed to Drew, "You're the guy who won the Johto Grand Festival! Wasn't DeeDee in that one?" Drew glanced at Paul, who seemed to be angrier now then he's ever seen him with Dawn or May.

He frowned, remembering what the brown haired boy had said, "Who's DeeDee?" Drew asked.

"What a stupid name." Paul commented.

Kenny's cheeks flared pink in anger. "Hey! It's not stupid!"

"Oh yes it is!" Dawn said as she walked up to them with crossed arms and a frown plastered on her face, "Will you just drop that nickname Kenny, please? It's old and annoying." She had never liked the nickname and still didn't. May who was behind Dawn, still clutching her stomach, grabbed a menu and started to walk over to the counter, to obviously order their food.

"Not even surprised that I'm here?" Kenny asked, feigning a hurt look on his face. His cheeks still tinted a slight pink from earlier.

"I am but please don't call me that and I'll give you a real hello." Dawn retorted, she was already in a slight mood from being both tired and hungry and she really didn't want to argue with her childhood friend.

Kenny rolled his eyes but nodded; he pulled up a chair and sat down. "So when did you arrive in Hoenn?" He asked, a smile coming back onto his face. "I came here back in the fall, I figured that I should come relatively early considering that I never challenged the league before. I could use the training since contest battling isn't as competitive as league battling, so basically I'm like a relatively new trainer here just with slightly stronger Pokémon." He shrugged lightly.

Dawn took her seat next to Paul, "So this is the secret region you went to..." She trailed off in thought, remembering that he had told her of his next travels, though he refused to tell her where exactly. "Wait? You're challenging the league?" She stared at him incredulously.

"Just as a change," he waved his hand, "trust me, contests are way more fun!" He eyed Dawn, Paul and Drew, "Are you traveling together?" He seemed slightly tense as he eyed both Drew and Paul.

Dawn nodded, "Yeah, I came here not too long ago and ran into May, who's also traveling with us," Kenny visibly relaxed at that remark. "Then we went to LaRousse and stayed with Drew who's a really good friend of May. After the contest, May's brother called and said that somebody from Sinnoh was challenging their dad, we rushed over because why not? I thought I knew them and I did." She looked over at Paul who was glaring at the table.

"Hey guys!" May approached with a large container full of various sandwiches and berries inside. "I didn't know what you wanted so I just got an assortment." She looked up at Kenny, "Oh hello." She said kindly and smiled then took her seat next to Drew, now too busy with opening a sandwich from its plastic wrap that she had already taken out of the container.

"How many badges do you have Paul?" Kenny asked, "I'm going to get my fifth soon, I'm going to go to Petalburg City."

"Five." He grunted and took a bite of a ham sandwich with lettuce and some kind of sauce, maybe mayonnaise.

Kenny quickly stood up, "Oh right!" He exclaimed then smiled to the four, "Sorry I gotta go, I made an appointment with Norman for a battle in a few days, I should probably get going now." He snatched his bag and slung it over his shoulder, "I'll be seeing you around DeeDee, see you later rival!" He nodded to Paul with a grin and gave Dawn a sly look, "See ya!" And with that he quickly turned around and left.

"I think Barry's rubbing off on him," Dawn looked at Paul, "He's usually arrives in the town almost a week early."

"Who was that?" May asked around her very stuffed mouth.

Drew sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Please swallow your food first."

May opened her mouth and showed him the half chewed food; he wrinkled his nose in disgust and pushed her bottom jaw closed. "That was Kenny, an old childhood friend of mine." Dawn said, reaching over to get her own sandwich.

"Another idiot," Paul interjected, "there is no way he can be my rival."

"Don't be so mean." Dawn said around her mouthful of food, "Kenny's a really kind person and a good battler, him and Ash had a really good battle back in Sinnoh and he's undoubtedly gotten better since then, just like you have. I know you're basing your opinion on his battling skills because you don't like his general personality, but don't be quick to judge his skill just because you don't like him. You didn't like Ash and he was still a good battler."

Paul stared at her from the corner of his eye, "I'll keep my opinion on him as it is."