Chapter 9

May 23rd, 2006

Dawn held onto Ash as tightly as she could, she was so happy to see him again. "What happened to you guys?" Ash asked pulling away a bit to look over both girls. "You're holding a bloody kleenex too Dawn!"

"That's Paul's," Dawn rasped, Ash frowned at her voice. "It's a long story." Ash looked behind him at the three blonde people standing there.

"We could take them back to our house?" The blond boy with glasses said.

"Clemont look!" The little blonde girl squealed, dashing forward and going down on one knee, holding both arms out in the direction of May and Dawn. "You're both so beautiful, would you please take care of my brother, after he takes care of you of course?" Her bright blue eyes twinkled mischievously.

"Bonnie!" The blond boy, Clemont, hissed. "I told you a million times to stop it! It's not funny, I can find one on my own!" A big metal hand shot out of his backpack and picked the girl up off of the ground, bringing her close to him. Bonnie pouted and stuck her nose up into the air. The other blonde girl bent down and began to talk to Bonnie, though much too quiet for anyone to hear.

Ash watched the three behind him for a moment then spoke, "Going back to your place would be really helpful Clemont." Bonnie cheered up at the sound of that.

"Dedenne we get to see my daddy again!" A small pokémon that slightly resembled a Pikachu popped out of the girl's yellow bag.

"De ne ne ne!"

Ash smiled at the young girl, then looked over Dawn's shoulder at both Paul and Drew who had not spoken yet. "Why is Paul with you guys?"

"Long story." Dawn repeated, "Sorry but can we hurry to that house? I'd like to rest my ankle." At that remark Paul stepped over to Dawn and crouched down in front of her, not without sending Ash a glare. Dawn laughed lightly and climbed back onto his back. "Thanks Paul." He didn't reply to her.

The group followed Clemont and Bonnie as they led the way to their house. It was bear Central Lumiose near the big city gym. They lived in a big apartment building, much like how the majority of Lumiose did, though their home was over a mechanical shop, one that Bonnie had declared happily that it belonged to her father. In order to reach the house, they had to go up a flight of stairs inside the building's wall. Clemont pushed open the door. "You can all have a shower if you want. There's only one bathroom though. You can also sleep her if you want but we have no available beds." He scratched his head, "I actually mostly live in the Lumiose Tower, and Bonnie only has a small bed."

"Why do you live in the Lumiose Tower?" Drew asked.

Paul walked into the Living room area and set Dawn down on the corner couch that was in there. "Clemont's the Lumiose gym leader!" Ash replied for him. "But can you guys tell me why you're in Kalos and why you're all beat up?"

May looked to the others, "Can you explain it while I shower?" Drew nodded to her and she sighed. "Thanks."

"I'll show you the bathroom!" Bonnie smiled up at her, grabbing May's hand and pulling her away.

"Do you have any ice packs?" Paul asked. "She sprained her ankle." He nodded towards Dawn. Clemont nodded and placed his bag down onto the ground, hurrying away to their supposed kitchen.

Drew sat down next to Dawn. "I'll tell you." Drew went into a long story, explaining how the four began to travel together right up until their quick flight to Kalos, talking about the various bombing attacks happening all throughout the region. He explained what happened at the airport as well. By the end of his story, Paul and Dawn had also had their own showers. Serena offered to help Dawn enter and exit the shower, Dawn accepted the offer, not really caring if Serena saw her body. May had fallen asleep, curled up in a corner of the couch.

Ash scratched Pikachu's ears while he sat on the floor, listening intently. "You're serious?"

"Do you honestly think we're lying?" Paul asked him harshly. "How could we make up a story as ridiculous as that? There's people from Hoenn and Sinnoh all over this city. Unova's not much better; they get all the western regions to take care of."

"Why wouldn't they just send you all back to your home regions?"

Dawn adjusted her position on the couch in between Drew and Paul. "Reggie sent all of Paul's pokémon here to Kalos and didn't tell him why. I think something bad is happening to every region except for the two getting the people who were evacuated."

"That means Kanto too right?"

Paul rubbed his head. "Yes, we already said that."

Ash jumped up. "Oh mew. He hurried to his bag and pulled out his own pokégear that he had finally decided to get. He walked into a separated room, tapping wildly on the screen.

"Kanto?" Bonnie said, having refused to leave during the conversation. "Ash is from there right? So him mom is there and all his pokémon. He even said that his four first friends live there, including Misty!"

"Misty?" May asked, "Have you met her too?"

Bonnie shook her head, "No, but she and Ash just started dating not too long ago, just before he came to Kalos." Bonnie answered. Dawn couldn't help but notice the slightly dejected look on Serena's face, which also caused Clemont to look over at her with an odd expression.

"Ash never told me that!" Dawn said. "I'm actually mad that he didn't."

"He didn't tell me either." May said.

Clemont scratched the back of his head. "How about Serena and I go and make some food?" He suggested.

Serena stood up and nodded. "Sure, I can also make poképuffs!"

"Poképuffs?" Dawn asked, "What are those?"

Bonnie pulled out a pastry from her bag, "This is a poképuffs!" She handed it to Dedenne who was sitting on a small coffee table, Dedenne nibbled it happily.

"They kind of look like poffins!" Dawn said. "That's interesting!"

Serena nodded, "I've heard of poffins before. They are similar but are still very different. I can make all the pokémon some." She smiled and walked into the kitchen after Clemont.

Ash returned, though he had his pokégear held up to his ear. "Cilan!" He called out, "I need you to do me a huge favour!" He paused for a moment and spoke again. "Can you and Iris go to Mistralton City? There's been a huge attack on most western regions so I need you to pick up my mom and a few other people. Well more like fifteen. Their all family and it's really important that you do." Ash lets out a huge sigh, "Thanks. They might into stay there long; they're going to try to come to Kalos." He paused again. "Really Cilan, thanks." He then pulled the phone away from his ear and tapped the screen a bit more before putting it back in his pocket. "You were right Dawn, for Kanto and Johto at least."

"Fifteen people?" Drew asked.

Ash nodded, "Yeah, my mom, Professor Oak, Gary, Misty and her sisters, Brock and all his siblings…"

"We get it." Paul spoke.

"Paul," Dawn said, he looked over at her, "Maybe you should call you brother and see if he came here too?"

"He still won't answer. I'm mad at him and he's probably keeping the reason why he sent my pokémon here away from me."

"It's been a week Paul, you should call him." Dawn stood up, putting little weight on her foot. A tickle surfaced in her throat and she quickly covered her mouth while she coughed harshly. "I'm going to try and call me mom. Maybe I can try and call Kenny too." She started to walk towards her bag to grab her pokégear out from inside. Pikachu quickly jumped up and scurried to get her bag for her. Dawn smiled and sat back down on the couch. "Thanks Pikachu. I bet you want to see Piplup right and Buneary?"

Pikachu sat back and scratched the back of his head, "Pi pikachu... pikapi." He looked over at Ash who didn't seem to notice his partner's slight discomfort.

"Yeah! Bring them out Dawn!"

Dawn smiled at her friend's enthusiasm and pulled out the two pokéballs from her bag, releasing the two in a flash of red light. Piplup posed It it's flippers on its hips while Buneary spotted Pikachu and shied away from him, hiding behind Piplup.

Pikachu waved and moved closer to the two. Piplup seemed happier seeing Pikachu again. Buneary was hiding her face in her fur and moved even further behind Piplup. Even though Pikachu seemed slightly uncomfortable at first, he now seemed confused at Buneary's shy actions.

Dawn looked away from the pokémon and typed in her home number, holding the pokégear up to her ear. There were no ringing noises, just continuous beeps. She tried again several times and got the same result. "The call won't go through."

Paul took it from her hands and held it up to his ear. "The line's been cut off."

"What do you mean it's been cut off?" She stared at him, "Call your brother."

Paul rolled his eyes and held her pokégear up to his ear, not bothering with picking up his own. There was a few moments of silence before he handed it back to Dawn, "It's the same with Reggie." He pulled out his own and dialled the number, and once again got the same answer, multiple beeps. "Give me yours. "He held his hand out to Ash who frowned but handed him his anyway. Ash's didn't work either. "Phone lines might have been cut off."

"Do you think the call would go through if I tried calling Kenny?" Dawn asked. She couldn't help the sadness that came with Paul's words; it just made her worry about her mother more, and the other people she knew that lived in Sinnoh, even Conway.

"Depends on where he is, lines in Hoenn could have been turned off, or if the main phone company buildings were in the cities that had been bombed, most likely they either exploded, or the satellite connection was ruined. He could be on a plane, or his pokégear could have been destroyed since he was in one of the cities that got bombed."

"What?" Ash jumped up, "You're kidding me right? Kenny was in Hoenn and was in a city that was bombed?"

Paul rolled his eyes. "Once again, are you an idiot? How could we possibly make this stuff up?"

Ash gripped the sides of his head and groaned. "When I called Misty she said that Kanto was evacuated too, but she never mentioned bombing, she said that there was lots of pokémon acting really weird, like attacking people and stuff. She said that none of her pokémon or mine turned all weird but two of Brocks did and one of Tracey's did and lots of Gary's did, like five or six."

"You could have said that earlier." Paul muttered. "But that all regions, except for Unova and Kalos, are in an unstable position and that's why we were not sent home."

"You brother might have sent your pokémon here because of whatever is happening in Sinnoh, started before the situation in Hoenn." Drew said. "He wouldn't tell you why right? I think that seems like a pretty valid answer to me."

Paul leaned back into the couch, "Probably. He didn't even tell me where he sent them to, just that they're in this region."

"Oh!" Bonnie turned her head to look at the purple haired man, abandoning Dedenne who was holding onto a small red ball, giving her a sour look. "They're probably at Professor Sycamore's lab!"

Paul looked the young girl over, she didn't even seem of trainer age yet. "How old are you?" He asked her.

"I'm nine! Why?" She tilted her head to the side, bright blue eyes shining with curiosity. She reminded him of a young pichu, her blonde hair added to the resemblance.

"That's not you pokémon is it?" He narrowed his eyes at her. "I don't think you should be listening to this conversation."

Bonnie's cheeks puffed out as a frown graced her face, "No, Dedenne is my brother's pokémon. He caught it for me, Dedenne is going to be my pokémon soon, once I turn ten, and I think I can listen because I'm going to be a trainer soon. I know lots of stuff from my big brother. He's super-duper smart!"

Paul could tell that this girl had recently turned nine, still having a childlike innocence to her that many people lost once they started traveling on their own. "Where is this professor's lab?"

"Just south. It's right by one of our Pokémon Centers." She jumped up. "Just to prove that I'm an adult, I'll lead you to the lab!" Dedenne scurried up onto her shoulders and sat atop her head.

"De ne ne ne!"

"I think I can find it on my own." Paul stood up and picked up his bag, slinging it over his shoulder. He could hear Dawn start to get up, "You're not coming."

Dawn frowned and crossed her arms, "Why not?" She covered he mouth and coughed.

"Did you actually already forget about your ankle?"

Dawn blushed in embarrassment and sat back down, looking away from him. "No."

"Don't worry Miss Dawn!" Bonnie grinned, "I'm going with him and he can't stop me!" She grabbed his hand and begun to pull him out of the room, "I'll be right back Clemont!" She shouted and raced out the door, closing it with a slam.

"You can let go of my hand." Paul muttered.

"No way!" Bonnie said, "Lumiose is a big city, you could get lost!"

"I don't think I'm going to get lost."

Bonnie giggled, "Are you sure? Ash has gotten lost in Lumiose before."

Paul rolled his eyes, "That's not exactly a hard thing for him to do. He's an idiot, of course he's gotten lost."

Bonnie laughed harder, "I guess so, buuuut," she drawled out, "Ash is a million time nicer than you are Mr. Grumpypants! Why not be happy and smile? Scowling will leave you with wrinkle lines!"

"Well you were listening to our conversation before; this isn't really a time to be smiling or happy."

Bonnie paused no longer walking, her grip on Paul's hand tightened slightly. "So?" Her eyes shone determinedly, "Just because something bad is happening right now doesn't mean that you can't smile, don't let bad problems take over your thoughts, there will always be a light that can make you smile, even if it's just a little bit. You only have to look for it." She squeezed his hand and started to pull him to the left side of the street. "We gotta pass through Bleu Plaza, Plaza Bleu est ma place préférée, parce que il est très beau, plus que les autres places!"

Paul stared at her, "What?"

Bonnie smiled up at him, "C'est un secret, mais je vais vous dire." She held back her laughter at his annoyed face. "I said, Blue Plaza is my favourite plaza because it's the prettiest out of all of them!"

"How about you speak so I can understand you."

"Aw, vous n'êtes pas amusant."

Paul gave her a look and she just smiled up at him innocently. Bonnie pulled him down a small alleyway, the closest building read, 'Lumiose Press', "I wonder if Alexa's in there." He heard her murmur, then they stepped into a round area that had a big blue statue in the middle. "Each Plaza has a statue like this one in it; each of them is named after the colour of the statue." To the side he could see two girls battling, one had a Kirlia and the other had a Magmar, the trainer with the Magmar seemed to have one egg in her hand and another one in her bag. Paul though it was strange. Bonnie pulled him down another alleyway, not the one the two battling trainers were occupying. "Lots of battles happen in Lumiose, people pretend to be lost and trick people into battles so that they can get help finding their way."

They stepped out onto a large street, with quite a few cars driving, there were people riding pokémon and even people roller-skating down the streets or sidewalks. "We have to cross the road, see, the lab is right there!" She pointed to a building that stuck out like a sore thumb in the highly modernised town; it was a decently sized building, having a glass roof and trees surrounded by a fence. Bonnie pulled on his arm and the two dashed across the street, "You gotta be fast when you're crossing the street, busy people live in Lumiose."

She was still holding onto his hand tightly as they entered the building. "Professor Sycamore!" She called loudly.

A lady appeared from a hallway and smiled, "Oh hello!"

"Hiya Sophie!" Bonnie said cheerfully, "Remember me?"

"Of course I do." Sophie smiled, "What can I help you with Bonnie?"

Bonnie looked up at Paul. "This guy says that his brother sent all his pokémon here from Sinnoh and I was wondering if you had them?"

"Sinnoh?" Sophie tapped her chin, "I think we do. Just follow me, Professor Sycamore is with the other pokémon."

"And Garchomp?"

"And Garchomp.

Bonnie kept her grip on Paul's hand and pulled hint down the big hallway, seeing it brighten thanks to a glass wall leading into an outdoor looking area with lots of plant life and pokémon. There was a man standing there with a long white lab coat and dark hair, a Garchomp was standing next to him along with a Lopunny. Bonnie pushed open a door and raced inside, letting go of Paul's hand, "Professor Sycamore, Garchomp!" Both turned around and smiled.

"Hello there!" Professor Sycamore greeted, Bonnie skidded to a stop in front of him and Garchomp leaned down to allow Bonnie to pet it's head.

"I never knew you had a Lopunny! It's so pretty!" Lopunny flipped one of its ears behind its head and did a little pose.

Professor Sycamore laughed at the pokémon's movements, "Yes, I just got it recently, Lopunny is one of the few pokémon that can mega evolve, would you like to see?"

"Oh yes!" Bonnie clasped her hands together and jumped around excitedly.

"Mega evolve?" Paul asked, Professor Sycamore turned around and nodded.

"Yes, mega evolution. I research the evolution of pokémon and it has been found recently that certain pokémon can gain an extra evolution, usually pokémon that are fully evolved or have no other stages. Lopunny is one of the few, and so is Garchomp. I can show you each one if you'd like. I take it that you're not from Kalos are you?"

Paul shook his head, "I'm from Sinnoh, I just got flown in here from Hoenn last night."

A grim look made its way onto the professor's face. "Ah, I see. You were caught in that."

"His name is Paul." Bonnie said cheekily, "He said that his brother, I think," she glanced at Paul for confirmation who gave her a small nod, "Sent all his pokémon to Kalos and I thought that you had them, Sophie said that she thinks you do!"

The professor nodded, "I think we do, you would just have to give me your information and some of your brother so I can ensure that you are actually the trainer."

Paul nodded, "I can do that." He pointed to the two pokémon. "Can I see the mega evolutions first?"

Sycamore nodded, "Of course." He lifted up his arm and touched a bulky bracelet. "There are a few necessary components to it, you have to have a key stone, which is this little stone here," he pointed to the rainbow coloured stone on his bracelet. "Then you need a mega stone which is what goes on your pokémon." He touched a stone on a collar that Garchomp was wearing and then a bracelet that was on Lopunny. "These two stones are connected with the friendship you have with your pokémon." He turned to the two pokémon, "Ready?" Both pokémon nodded. Professor Sycamore touched the key stone, "Garchomp, mega evolve!" A bright light exploded from both Garchomp and the key stone, Paul watched as the pokémon changed while being enveloped in the light. The light suddenly disappeared and Garchomp let out a cry, slightly different than the cry it had as a regular Garchomp. Paul stared at the pokémon in awe, a pokémon that had supposedly finished evolving, had a fourth form.

"Mega evolution is only temporary, the pokémon can go back to its previous form at any time it wants, and a trainer can only evolve one pokémon at a time." Paul stared at the Garchomp, it was different but also the same as it was as a regular Garchomp, it looked stronger and fiercer. The bright light appeared around the pokémon once again and it changed back to the way it was before. Professor Sycamore looked at the Lopunny, "I'm not certain if Lopunny's mega evolution will work for you, since I got it so recently." He looked over at said pokémon, "But we're willing to try, ready?" Lopunny nodded and gave the professor a thumbs up. Sycamore touched his bracelet again and said, "Lopunny, mega evolve!"

When the light didn't show up right away, Paul assumed that it didn't work, but suddenly a burst of light erupted from Lopunny and it changed in the blink of an eye, letting out a shrill cry. "Sometimes with mega evolution, pokémon can gain or lose typing, in Lopunny's case it gained a secondary type, fighting." Paul guessed that it was fighting, because Lopunny was standing in a stance similar to what a Medicam would do.

"What other pokémon can mega evolve?" Paul asked.

Sycamore rubbed his chin, "I'm certain that we haven't found all of them yet, but for now we know of quite a few actually. There's Charizard which gets two evolutions, Blastiose, Venasaur, Blaziken, Swampert, Sceptile, Garchomp, Lopunny,Lucario, Aagron—"

"Aagron?" Paul asked.

"Yes," the professor nodded, "Aagron becomes a single steel type when it mega evolves."

"And they're more powerful when the mega evolve?" The professor nodded again. "Where can I find these stones?"

"There's no specific area and there's no area which they are not in. They've been found all over Kalos and recently in Hoenn."

"In Hoenn?"

"Yes, that's where the three starters that originate from there get their stones, other than Blaziken. The Swampertite and Sceptilite are found in Hoenn only, for reasons unknown."

"Can I get my pokémon now?" Paul asked.

The professor nodded, "Yes of course, just follow me; they should still be in their pokéballs." The light flashed around Lopunny and it returned to normal, then the professor led both him and Bonnie out of the room and down the hallway. He pushed open a door to another room; Paul could see the system used to transfer pokéballs sitting inside. "Could I have your name, hometown and your brother's name please, oh and his residence too."

"Paul Robelldo, Veilstone City, Sinnoh and Reggie Robelldo, Veilstone City, Sinnoh."

The professor nodded and held a box out t Paul, "All of them should be there. I can hold onto the ones you're not currently using, and if you'd like then they can be with the lab pokémon, a few other trainers have their pokémon in there too."

Paul took out one pokéball and placed a different one inside; he placed the new one on his belt and looked at another. "What pokémon is that?" Bonnie asked, pointing to the one he was looking at.

"My Aagron."

"Oh?" This caught the professor's attention, "So you have one, that's why you were so interested right?" Paul nodded.

"Well," The professor scratched the back of his head, "I don't have any extra Aagronites, but I do have a few key stones, you could have one if you'd like."

Paul stared at his pokéball for a few moments and shrugged, "Sure, it'll make my pokémon stronger eventually."

The professor nodded and turned to rummage some more in the room. He turned back to the two and handed Paul the rainbow coloured stone. "There you go." He smiled.

Paul nodded, "Thanks." He looked over at Bonnie. "We need to leave now." He placed Aagron's pokéball back on his belt.

Bonnie let out a dramatic sigh and leaned over, "Aw really? You're only switching out one?"

"Yes."

Bonnie crossed her arms with a pout, "Aw okay, but you gotta show me all you pokémon later 'kay?"

"Sure, whatever."