Chapter 8

May 22nd, 2006 (Ash's 17th Birthday)

Dawn pulled her hand in front of her mouth and let out a loud hoarse cough. Paul quickly covered his mouth and coughed too. The group wasn't too far from Fortree thankfully; Dawn and Paul both felt like they were dying to put it into simple terms. Somehow both Paul and Dawn had caught an awful cold, their noses were extremely stuffy and runny, blowing them every few minutes, their muscles ached, their throats were swollen and sore, and awful, awful coughs. May and Drew decided to keep their distance from the two, they were certainly not interested in catching whatever they had. They were out of medicine and needed some; they've been sick for a few days and barely slept at all.

"Is that-" Dawn got cut off by another bout of coughs. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Is that Fortree?" Her voice sounded funny because of the sickness too.

May and Drew, who were walking a good distance in front of Dawn and Paul, not only to avoid their germs but also because both sick people were awfully slow currently. "It is." May said, "The Pokémon Center is the first building you see when you walk into town. I suggest that you two get a room and sleep while Drew and I go get your medicine and restock our supplies."

"Okay." Dawn mumbled. "I want a comfy bed." She rubbed her eyes. "I just wanna sleep." Paul grunted, supposedly in agreement. He hasn't spoken much since he got sick, usually the only noise you heart from him were simple yes or no answers or coughs.

The group walked past a huge sign reading, 'Welcome to Fortree City – The city that frolics with nature.' Dawn felt herself sigh once she saw the sign, though her sigh changed into a cough, Paul coughed not too long after. May winced at the harsh sound, "We need to get you two some bed rest." May pointed ahead of her. "See, the Pokémon Center is right there! We'll get some rooms so you can sleep."

"I really wanna sleep." Dawn said.

"I know." May felt like she was talking to a pair of children. "Look, the doors are right there, just hold on. We're going in now." Together the four walked into the Pokémon Center and up to the front desk.

"Welcome to the Fortree City Pokémon Center! How may I help you?" The Nurse Joy asked cheerily.

Dawn and Paul both coughed again, Dawn doubling over as hers was worse this time. "Can we have two rooms with two beds inside?" Drew asked eying both trainers, "Our friends need to rest."

Nurse Joy frowned, "Oh dear, I'm sorry but we only have two rooms with a single bed left. However the couches do fold out into a bed."

"That's fine." Drew said.

Nurse Joy nodded and handed him two sets of keys. "Okay, here you go. I hope you have a nice stay!"

May took one of the keys from Drew and led the way to the elevator that would take them to the second floor. "You two are staring a room until you get better. Drew and I don't want to get whatever you have." The good thing about Paul being sick was that he didn't argue as much, which made life much easier for May and Drew. May unlocked the door and herded Dawn inside, she was going to lead Paul in too but he avoided her hand, walking around her. "Just lay down and we'll get you the medicine." Dawn and Paul both nodded and May quickly closed the door. Paul laid himself down on the couch, coughing again.

"What are you doing? You can have the bed. You're sick." Dawn said, placing her bag on the ground.

"You're sick too idiot. Just give me a pillow." Paul mumbled. Dawn frowned and walked over to him, grabbing his arm and attempting to pull him off, it was harder to do because she was much weaker right now. Paul pulled his arm from her grasp. "Stop being stupid, just take the bed."

"That's not fair though, you're sick too. Go take the bed."

"The couch pulls out into a bed, just give me a pillow."

Dawn shook her head, looking towards the bed she noticed that it was king sized. "We can both fit on there without touching each other. Just take half the bed."

"I'm fine on the couch."

Dawn opened her mouth to speak but coughed again. She cleared her throat and attempted to speak again. "Just take half the bed. I won't stop bothering you until you do." Paul didn't move, "Paul…" Dawn complained and grabbed his arm again, trying to pull him off of the couch. "Why do you have to be so heavy?" She muttered. Paul tried to pull his arm away but Dawn held it tightly. "Just take half the bed."

Paul opened an eye. "Let go, I'm not taking the bed. Stop wasting energy."

"I'm not going to leave you alone until you do!" Paul thought for a moment, all he wanted to do was sleep, and he did want to sleep on the bed rather than the very uncomfortable couch. Paul pulled his arm out of her hands and walked over to the closest side of the bed. Laying down on it, keeping his eyes closed. He didn't dare look at the overjoyed expression Dawn no doubt had on her face. Paul could feel the bed move beside him, bending under Dawn's weight. He could feel her crawl under the blankets and finally let out a big sigh. Paul adjusted his position slightly, though he was too tired to care, he could already feel the pull of sleep.

May unlocked the door, holding a paper bag full of stuff, Drew had gone into their room so he could unlock the door joining the two rooms together. May almost dropped her bag at the sight she saw. Dawn and Paul were not only sharing a bed, but were in a close embrace. Dawn's face couldn't be seen because of her hair and because her face was also hidden by Paul's sweater. Her face was pressed right up against his shoulder while Paul had his head resting on top of hers. He had his arms wrapped right around her too. May set the paper bag down on the table and whipped around to the door she heard Drew unlocking. Once he opened it May flew forward and covered his mouth.

"Shhh!" Drew stared at her bewildered. May grinned and pointed to the two sleeping sick people. "Isn't that cute?" She whispered. Drew eyed the two.

"What?" He eventually said. "I don't really see a problem other than Paul actually giving someone affection…" Drew just stared at the two, really unsure what to think of them, though he was happy to see Paul even caring for someone, even if it could be unintentional.

"It's cute!" May repeated. "I want to cuddle with somebody like that someday, don't you?" She turned to him with a smile.

Drew nodded. "Yeah… I do."

May walked over to the paper bag, taking out the medicine and a few food objects that were easy on the stomach. Drew watched her every movement, unbeknownst to her. May crumpled up the bag, freezing once she realised what she had done, she turned to look at Paul and Dawn and let out a breath once she saw that they were still fast asleep. May smiled again. "Hopefully they'll have a good long sleep."

Dawn snuggled closer to the warmth, she had a good sleep and was feeling much better after some rest, her throat had cleared up and wasn't sore anymore. Her eyes quickly opened as she coughed, though she couldn't move her arm to cover her mouth, it was restricted by something. Dawn's eyes widened once she realised what, or rather who, was actually restricting her movement. She couldn't help but blush at the current circumstance; it was strange, Paul never touched anybody unless it was needed, like when he prevented her from falling off the cliff after crossing the bridge onto route 119. Though the circumstance she was in was embarrassing, she didn't feel uncomfortable in the slightest, she was very comfortable.

Dawn raised her head slightly, the room was still dark. She glanced toward the digital clock that she saw earlier, though it was easy to see the bright red shining numbers in the darkness. It was nearing six in the morning, leaving them both sleeping for over ten hours. Even with the long sleep Dawn felt very tired, there wasn't much she could do when her body moved out of command, cuddling back up against Paul and falling asleep once again. She was warm and felt very, very safe.

May 23rd, 2006

A loud alarm rang through the night. Paul immediately sat up, Dawn jumping up next to him. She turned and looked at him with wide eyes. "Paul what's happening?"

Paul shook his head. "I don't know."

May burst through the door that joined their two rooms, "Get the stuff off of the counter and into your bags. We need to leave, now." Drew appeared next to her, both were still in their pyjamas.

"What's happening?" Dawn asked. She hurried to get her bag while Paul grabbed the stuff off of the table and into his bag, slinging it over his shoulder.

"Check for your pokéballs." Drew instructed. "This is an evacuation alarm, though it's usually in places near the ocean, for tsunamis."

"We're nowhere near the ocean." Paul stated checking his belt, while Dawn dug through her bag, sighing when she counted six total pokéballs.

"There can be more emergencies than just tsunamis."

The four hurried down the stairs, the lobby of the Pokémon Center was packed with people. They were ushered by a Chansey towards a door. There was a massive line up and a group of Police Officers were lined up at the door, each having a trainer sign papers and show their identification before having them leave the building.

"Hoenn Natives please line up over here!" One officer shouted over the noise. "Any others line up in the shortest line!"

May and Drew looked at the two, "We'll be fine." Drew assured, "Just follow their orders." With that Drew grabbed May's hand and pulled her to the Hoenn Natives line.

Dawn stepped closer to Paul; thankfully he didn't seem to mind at the moment and didn't move away from her. "Paul, what do you think is happening?"

Paul shrugged, "I have no idea." People shoved past Dawn, pushing her even closer to Paul. It got to a point of chaos where Paul pulled her in front of himself and had his hand securely on her shoulders; she was as close to him as she was when they were sleeping. She blushed as she remembered the awkward moment. People kept pushing past them, and then were pushed back by more officers.

Eventually it was Dawn's turn to talk to the officer. The man had her sit down at a table. She looked over at Paul who was watching her closely.

"Where are you from?" The man asked.

"Twinleaf Town, Sinnoh."

"What are your means of traveling to Hoenn?"

Dawn quickly covered her mouth because of a cough then answered, "I wanted to compete in the Grand Festival."

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

The man pushed papers towards her. "You are old enough to not need parent consent as a pokémon trainer. You must sign this paper saying that once you arrive in the Kalos region you are to be interrogated by Kalos officials."

"Kalos?" Dawn said in a panicked tone, "What am I going to Kalos?"

"Classified information. You may be told once you arrive at your destination."

Dawn looked at Paul again who nodded to her to sign the papers. She took the pen from beside the papers and signed her name on different lines. The man looked over the papers once she was done, nodding. "You will be escorted out of the building and will be directed to the airport."

"What about my friends?"

"If they are from Hoenn or Sinnoh than they will be headed to Kalos. However if they come from Kanto, Johto, the Orange Archipelago or the Sevii Islands they will be sent to Unova. Take your leave." Dawn stood up, her arm was grabbed by another officer, she looked behind her at Paul who kept his gaze on her while he moved to go and sit with the man.

"Ma'am, you have to head to the Fortree airport, it's down by the gym." Dawn nodded and watched Paul for another moment before she was pushed away by the officer.

There were other people walking, walking through underbrush, nobody was using the bridges. Since she didn't know the layout of the city, she followed the other trainers. A hand touched her shoulder; Dawn looked over and saw that it was Drew.

"Where's May?" Dawn asked.

Drew shrugged, "She went before me, I have no idea."

"I don't know where Paul went either, he made me go first."

He nodded and manoeuvred Dawn past a large group of people who were arguing with Officer Jenny. "Do you know what's happening?"

"Hoenn's under attack by terrorists. Bombs were going off in Slateport, Mauville and even by Victory Road." Dawn felt her heart drop. "Petalburg was also bombed."

"May's family..." Dawn muttered. "Did they tell May?"

"I don't think so. I heard her tell the officer that her father was the gym leader. Don't say anything to her." Drew instructed. "We're already forced out of our region and the news of her home would make it worse. May isn't as strong as she seems. Right now we're all she has."

They reached the airport and surprisingly not many people were inside as they were outside. "A flight just left." Drew noted. He kept a hold on her shoulder and walked them both to a full body scanner. Dawn noticed a head of purple hair on the other side, a shorter brown one beside it. It looked as if the shorter brown haired one was clinging into the other's arm.

"Paul!" Dawn shouted.

Paul turned around and looked at them. "Drew, Dawn!" May shouted from beside Paul, it was strange seeing her holding onto Paul's arm the way she was. Even stranger that Paul was letting her do so.

They made their way to a surprisingly open full body scan. Drew stepped forward, placing his bag on a conveyer belt and took off his pokéballs and placing them in a separate box. He handed the worker an identification card. He stepped through and there was no loud beeping noise, the airport worker nodded to him to pick up his stuff while Dawn placed hers down the exact same way he did. She handed the worker her trainer id and her pokédex. She took out her hair clips and placed them in her bag before stepping through herself, and there was no beeping noise. She waited a moment while the worker looked at her bag contents and nodded for her to proceed. She collected her stuff and hurried to go and join the other three. May had now let go of Paul and the four were awkwardly standing. More people were entering the airport, making it louder and stuffier.

"The next flight is in ten minutes, we have to take that one." Paul said. "Terminal three." Dawn coughed and nodded to him and the four made their way over. There was another line and another airport worker was standing. She requested their id and pokédexes if they owned one, or extra identification if they didn't. Each one of them gave the necessary items and were allowed to board the plane.

"Sinnoh Natives stay to the left of the plane while Hoenn Natives stay to the right please. It makes our work easier on board. Please hold onto small bags and put bigger ones up into the compartments, we are making extra room in the luggage area of the plane, please do not argue wherever you are placed, safety precautions will be made for where you are seated."

Dawn was confused by the first seating rule but nodded. She was the one who led the way to the plane. An attendant was standing by the plane's doors. "Please take the first open seat you see, do not save seats for people who are not currently present." Dawn nodded again and began walking up the aisle; Paul pushed her to a row that wasn't full yet.

"She said take the first ones."

"Just sit there." Paul said. Dawn didn't argue and moved down the row, sitting in the window seat, Paul sat next to her. She looked around for May and Drew and saw them sitting farther behind them, the right side of the plane was filled more than the left, though that was to be expected.

The plane filled up with people quickly; there were many people, from nervous, crying ten-year olds to elders who were trying to soothe the upset young trainers. Dawn wanted to help but she wasn't able to get out of her seat, many people blocked her from the closest crying child. "I want to help them so bad." She said, "Imagine just starting out your journey and being forced out of your region because of terrorists."

"Terrorists?" Paul looked at her.

She nodded, "The officer Drew was with told him. There's been bombing all over Hoenn, Mauville, Slateport, Petalburg, May's family lives there, her parents and brother." Dawns said quietly. Suddenly her heart plummeted. There was sharp pain of dread in the bottom of her stomach. "Kenny…" She whipped her head around to face Paul, her eyes were wide. "Kenny was in Pertalburg! What if he's…?" She couldn't bring herself to actually say it. Her eyes stung and she placed her hands over her eyes, she could feel her tears slip out and wet her hands. She couldn't help but cry, her childhood best friend could be dead for all she knew. The crying didn't help her throat or nose any, making her cough more and having an incredible stuffy and running nose, she hardly paid any attention to the mess she was, she was too upset to care.

Dawn couldn't help the memories of her kindergarten days with Kenny and Leona, when they would play together outside and after school. She even though fondly of the moment she got the nickname 'DeeDee' or in long terms Diamond Dandruff. She didn't hate the nickname; not really, it was nice having a nickname from a close friend that was at a personal event with her, it made it even more special many years later. There was a pressure on her shoulder, it was Paul's hand.

"I'm sure he's fine." Paul said. "He may be stupid, but I doubt he'd actually be killed. He actually has a decent Empoleon to protect him if he needed it to."

"He could have been sleeping when it happened Paul; it's only seven-thirty!" She used the heels of her hands to wipe off her tears, then her nose. "Please Kenny…" She whispered.

"Please buckle in passengers, we will be taking flight." A male's voice said over the intercom. The plane immediately quieted down while a flight attendant went around checking that people were putting on their seatbelts. Dawn wiped her tears again and grabbed a hold of her seatbelt, bringing it across herself and strapping it in. Paul was right, Kenny might be okay, she needed to think positively and focus on herself for now even if it was a hard thing to do.

Suddenly another thought occurred to her, "Why aren't they sending any of us home? If we come from Sinnoh wouldn't it just be easier to fly us back there and not to another region?" She wiped her eyes and looked at Paul again. "Is something happening in the other regions too?"

Paul shrugged, "I have no idea, I was told that we were going to get more information once we arrived in Kalos."

"I was told that too." She muttered. "Ash!"

Paul looked at her from the corner of his eye. "What does he have to do with this?" Suddenly the plane lurched forward, obviously starting to take flight. Paul dug through his bag and took out a pack of gum, taking a piece for himself and another for Dawn, handing it to her which she gladly took.

"Ash is traveling through Kalos! He told me that he was going there next!" She frowned and stuck the piece of gum in her mouth, "But I can't contact him while we're flying. I don't even know where we're landing. Ash is also busy getting his badges…" She broke out in another bout of rough coughing; she could hear Paul trying to keep his quiet.

"It's still somebody who can help us." Paul scowled, no matter how much he disliked Ash; he'd be lying if he said that he was no help. Ash was the type of person who would do anything and everything to help anybody in need, and that's what they needed right now even if he was insanely annoying to Paul. Hopefully he's changed in the five years that they haven't seen each other, though Paul felt that was a hopeful stretch.

There was another loud ringing noise, and presumably the pilot spoke again. "Ladies and gentlemen, please stay in your seat for the next hour, we're going to cut this flight as short as we can, we are going to reach Kalos in two and a half hours if we are making good speed. Staying in your seat will ensure your safety for the duration of the flight. Thank you." Dawn leaned back in her chair. She might as well try and catch up on sleep as much as she can.

Dawn was chewing on another piece of gum Paul had given her. The pilot was right; they had made the flight in over two and a half hours; he was close though, cutting the regular flight time from six hours almost in half. She was very glad that nothing bad happened on their flight over. They had landed safely in Lumiose City; it was easy to tell because of the city's giant Prism Tower that also worked as a pokémon gym, according to a young trainer whom she had overheard talking. It wasn't hard to do that because once all the young trainers calmed down, their plane ride was very quiet. Dawn wondered if Ash had already beaten that particular gym yet.

Everyone from the flight was instructed to wait in a line for more identification and background checks, separated into different lines, Hoenn in one area while Sinnoh was in another, though this time they were allowed to be in pairs if needed as long as one was of adult age in the region, like Paul was. Young trainers were not considered adults, just more independent minors, given a little more leeway with laws, such as flight or not needing parent consent, like Dawn back in Hoenn, than people who were not trainers. Dawn didn't feel that Paul needed to be there with her. But Paul insisted that he should be, since Paul stated that this interrogation would be much more intense than it would have been the first time back in Hoenn, that that one was just brief to make sure that they were able to fly out of the region for their safety, now it would be full background checks and a deep analysis.

It was their turn next and they entered the room, there was an inspector sitting in a chair with papers in front of her and a pen. A man was standing in the corner watching the two intensely. She nodded for the two to sit opposite of herself. Dawn took the seat on the right while Paul took the one on the left.

The lady smiled at the two, she had black hair and dark skin. "You may call me Essentia; could you please tell me your names and ages?"

"I'm Dawn Berlitz and I'm sixteen."

"Paul Robelldo, eighteen."

She nodded and wrote this down on two different sheets of paper. "I assume you're both from Sinnoh since you have come to me," She smiled slightly at them. "Can you tell me what city you live in?"

Dawn nodded. "I'm from Twinleaf Town."

"Veilstone." Paul answered.

Essentia nodded again and wrote this down. "What relation do you two have with each other?"

"We've known each other for five years, we met on our journeys in Sinnoh, and we're traveling together in Hoenn with two others." Paul replied. "The other two were from Hoenn."

Essentia looked them over; she seemed to be around the same age as Paul and Dawn. "What is your trainer occupation?"

"I'm a coordinator." Dawn replied. "I was in Hoenn to compete in the Grand Festival."

Essentia cast her blue gaze onto Paul. "I'm a league trainer."

She pushed papers towards them. "I want you to fill out any contact information you can give us regarding family members, guardians, or caregivers." Dawn looked down at the sheet and began to fill out her mother's name and other personal information, then handed the sheet back to her, Paul was finished his soon after her, though he took a little longer to fill his out despite both of them only had one name to fill out.

They were asked many more questions, and halfway through an interesting pokémon appeared, apparently called Mimi, Dawn was unsure if this was the pokémon's legitimate name or a nickname. Either way they were done now, the interrogation wasn't as bad as Paul made it seem, but she was still glad that he was there.

In about another hour May and Drew had finished their interviews and the four were getting ready to leave and hopefully find a room in the Pokémon Center or in one of the many hotels that were in Lumiose. Suddenly a large weight tackled Dawn to the ground, her head bounching off of the hard tile flooring, she felt her ankle move in a way it shouldn't have. Dawn struggled to push the weight off her but it was futile, she could see a dark uniform on the person. They grabbed a hold of her neck and started to push down on her windpipe. Dawn could feel her eyes bulge out and heat slowly turning her face red. She could barely hear the screams in the background. Dawn kept squirming, trying to get the offender off of her; however the offender was much heavier than her, crushing her ribs. She could see her vision start to tunnel but she wasn't going to give up. Somehow Dawn had pulled an arm free and swung it in the face of the person on top of her. The weight was lifted off of her, she gasped for breath and something yanked her arm upwards, she quickly stood up, stumbling a bit as an intense pain rocketed through her ankle. Dawn struggled to regain her breath, holding onto whoever was helping her stand upright tightly. A light flashed in each of her eyes, making her flinch.

"She doesn't have a concussion." A voice said. "And I don't think her ankle's broken." Her vision cleared slightly and she saw a person standing in front of her with a flashlight while security guards held back five people all dressed the same, in a plain dark shirt and pants. Dawn looked behind her and could see her friends battered too. May had big scratches on her face and arms; she was the one holding onto Dawn, while Drew's eye was all red, blood coming from a cut on his head. She looked to her other side and saw Paul holding onto one of his arms and blood seeping out from his nose. "Are you feeling okay?" The man who had the flashlight asked her. Dawn swallowed, though it was extremely hard and painful before nodding. The man nodded and asked the others brief questions before deeming them fit to leave if they wished, apparently this guy was a doctor. The security guards hauled the five individuals, leading them down a hallway separate from the rest of the airport.

"Take my bag." Paul said, handing it to May.

"But she needs help walking!"

"What do you think I'm doing?" Paul said and crouched down in front of her, "Get on my back, it'll be easier."

"But your arm." Dawn's voice was hoarse and funny, even more so than with her sickness. "I saw you holding it."

"It was only dislocated, its fine now, just get on so we can leave." Dawn climbed up onto his back, he stood up and adjusted her before beginning to walk, Drew was carrying her bag for her.

"Tissues are in my bag." She said. "For your nose and your head." She looked at Drew, "Front pocket." Drew pulled her bag up and unzipped it, ignoring the other certain necessities she had in there and pulled out a small bag of tissues, pulling a few out. Dawn held her arm out. "I can wipe his nose for him."

"Don't bother." Paul said. Drew still handed Dawn some and she looked over his shoulder, wiping away some of the blood. "I told you not to."

"Paul just shut up and actually let somebody help you for once." May snapped. "I'd be thankful for somebody to help me clean up my blood." She muttered something quiet after that. Paul shot her a glare but stayed silent as Dawn continued to wipe away the blood from his face.

The four walked for a long time, struggling to find where the hotels were placed. Lumiose was much bigger than any city in Sinnoh, even Jubilife or Hearthome or Sunnyshore. May even claimed it to be bigger than Slateport. If Paul's back hurt from carrying Dawn, he didn't say anything about it, though Dawn could see May begin to walk funny, probably because of sore feet.

"Paul?!" A voice shouted. Paul stopped in his tracks; Dawn could feel his grip tighten on her slightly. "What the… Dawn? May and Drew too?" Dawn looked behind her, Paul didn't turn around, he was too busy angrily glaring at the ground in front of him. He didn't want to see the speaker, let alone have them see him in such a condition as he was.

"Ash…" Dawn couldn't help the tears that escaped her eyes. "Put me down Paul." She instructed and he listened, placing her on the ground gently, she was still holding onto the bloody tissues. May had run forward and enveloped Ash in a hug, Dawn was making her way over as fast as she could to give him one too, ignoring the three very confused blondes behind him. Ash wrapped an arm around her waist and held her tightly. He had grown since the last time she saw him in person, more muscular too. She swore that she could even see tiny bit of stubble on the bottom of his chin. Yes she had seen him in Unova not too long ago but he still looked very different from then. She felt very safe hugging her best friend again.