Chapter 10

May 25th, 2006

A loud ringing noise pounded through the silent darkness of the Lisico's living room. Paul sat up from the spot he was sleeping on the sectional couch that resided in the home. He looked over to the person who was still sleeping on the other side. "Pick up your damn phone!" He said loud enough for the person to hear, and to not happen to wake up any of the others, but he stayed fast asleep. Paul hissed the words again and got the same answer. Reaching behind his back, he pulled out the pillow he had and slammed it down on the other's face.

"What the–what was that for?" Ash said as he glared at Paul, the black haired teen reached a hand up to rub his face where he had been hit.

"Pick up your damn phone." Paul said angrily. "It's been ringing nonstop."

Ash rubbed his eyes and sat up; he pulled his arms back behind his head and stretched. "You could have just talked to me instead of hitting me with a pillow!" His voice was gravely and he sat forward again, his brown eyes watching Paul.

"If you could actually hear, then maybe you would have!" Paul hissed.

It had been two weeks since they had first arrived and Paul was really regretting the decision of letting Clemont sleep in his own room with Drew. Ash yawned and reached into his bag, first pushing aside the blanket that had fallen off of him and onto the floor while he slept, and pulled out his pokégear and holding it up to his ear, silencing it. "Hello?" He asked, his eyes already closing from his tiredness. Paul could hear the voice on the other end of the phone speaking quickly and loudly, after a few more minutes of listening the black haired teen said. "Iris, can you say that slower?" Ash's head dropped down into his hands as he spoke. He look as if he was about to fall asleep again any minute. "I'm not a little kid." He said slowly. "I'm older than you and it's…" He trailed off, opening an eye and looking to Paul. "What time is it?" The voice on the other line was still speaking.

Paul looked behind the couch and into the kitchen, barely making out the blurry numbers on the stove. "Five forty."

"Five forty?" Ash repeated. "Iris it's so early talk slower. I'm not a little kid!" He added.

Paul reached down and picked up his pillow, placing it behind his head. Paul heard footsteps and a voice muttering. Clemont walked past him and Paul heard him say, "Wouldn't it be a good target to be attacked?" He paused in his walking for a moment then he continued on. "Are you sure?" His nightcap was crooked as he walked past Paul and into the kitchen and closed the wooden door.

"Cilan, thank Arceus. It's too early, I'm not awake yet, what was she saying?" Paul leaned back, closing his eyes tiredly. Suddenly Ash jumped up, his bare feet made a loud noise as they slapped against the lament floor. "I'll wake up Clemont and see."

"He's in the kitchen." Paul muttered, not opening his eyes. He heard Ash race by and open the door, he also heard Clemont make a small noise of surprise. The door was obviously left open as Paul could see the red-orange colour from his eyelids. "Clemont, do you have any rooms in the tower?"

"Is this about your friends in Unova?" Paul looked behind him again, only seeing Ash's back. "How many are there?"

"Sixteen… Eight of them are my friend's siblings." Paul raised his eyebrows at that. Eight children?

"Sixteen?" There was a pause, Paul could see Clemont talking on his pokégear, Ash had shifted his position just enough for him to see over his shoulder. Clemont was talking on his pokégear again. "Yeah, there's room."

Ash nodded and put his own pokégear up to his phone. "How long does it take to get from Unova to Kalos? Two hours? Okay bye." He passed Paul again and picked up his backpack. Ash looked at Paul. "You should probably get dressed too."

"What the hell is going on?"

"Orre and Almia got attacked. My friends are coming here since so far this is the safest region." Paul thought for a moment, there were four small regions near Unova, Orre, Almia, Fiore and Oblivia. These four regions all held mainly pokémon rangers, why would regions as small as this be attacked? Other than the use of fear because of its closeness to the high-tech region, he thought it was ridiculous.

Paul had decided to come with Ash to the airport. A reason as to why? He wouldn't be able to fall asleep again and he didn't want to watch the television quietly, flipping through most of the channels that weren't in a language he understood. Both teens had showered and dressed and were anxiously waiting, or at least Ash was. It would also be hard to keep seventeen people from getting lost in a big city such as Lumiose.

"They're here." Ash said, he was looking at a board showing the arrivals of different flights and clearly the latest one was theirs, Mistralton City to Lumiose City. Suddenly a wave of people arrived through a terminal. From the corner of his eye, Paul could see Ash moving back and forth antsy to see his friends.

"Gary, Tracey, Mom..." He muttered and started to wave. "Hey guys!" A tall brown haired woman immediately looked over and began to run, or more like speed walk, over to them. Once she reached them she pulled Ash into a hug.

"I missed my baby so much!" She exclaimed while cupping his face, Paul couldn't help the smirk that appeared when she called him her baby. Ash was close to her in height, maybe a little bit taller. He pulled away from her with a smile and more people surrounded them.

Paul recognised the tall breeder guy in the back who was holding onto a little girl that greatly resembled him. There were a few other people that looked like they would be older than he was.

"Sorry we called so early," A purple haired girl said as she pushed her way to the front. "But I really didn't want to stay in Unova especially concerning who I am." She gave Ash a look. "Alder and Drayden wanted me to leave too." She added.

Ash scratched the back of his head. "It's fine, we already have people from Sinnoh and Hoenn with us." He pointed to Paul. "Like him."

The purple haired girl looked Paul up and down. "I'm Iris, who are you?" She said bluntly, another tall man in the back made his way to the front.

"Sorry, she's a bit stressed." He said. "I'm Cilan by the way." He smiled and held out a hand.

"Paul." He answered plainly; not taking a hold of Cilan's outstretched hand.

This time an orange haired girl made her way over. "Sorry, but can we do introductions after? I'm super tired." Paul watched as Ash took her bag for her, and his mother's. Paul could see Ash's facial expression change slightly when he looked at both women.

"We have to go to a small house first so we can wake up the other three, then we're going somewhere bigger." Ash explained, he then looked to Paul, "Could you take some of Brock's siblings' bags?" Paul was agitated that Ash was telling him what to do but decided not to argue, at least not in front of exhausted and cranky people.

He shot Ash a look. "Who is that exactly?"

"Brock was with me and Dawn in Sinnoh."

Paul walked towards him and took a very pink bag that was hanging off of his wrist. "Thank you Paul." Brock said, he didn't answer him.

Paul was happy once they finally reached the Lisico's house. Dawn, Serena and Bonnie were still dressed in their pyjamas and were very surprised once they saw the group of people stuffing into the living room. The three promptly left to go and get dressed.

Drew who was now leaning against the wall spoke up. "Okay wait, so Orre and Almia got attacked? Two of the Ranger regions, and now we're going to stay in the Lumiose tower?"

"Yes."

"And Kalos is the safest region?"

"Yes."

"Let me go get my stuff then... and wake up May." He said.

Dawn, Serena and Bonnie appeared again. "Hi Iris, Cilan!" Dawn waved with a smile.

"Hello again Dawn!" Cilan said. "I still expect that you still have a wonderful bond with your pokémon, such a delightful sweet flavour your relationship with them is." Iris waved from where she was standing next to him.

"I do!" Dawn said cheerfully, "If you don't mind me asking, why are you all here?"

"Long story." Brock said from where he was sitting on the couch, the little girl was still fast asleep but was now laying on him.

"Brock!" Dawn's eyes lit up. "I didn't see you! Is that one of you sisters?" She pointed to the girl.

He nodded, "This is my youngest sister, Suzy. She's eleven now!" He stated rather proudly.

Dawn smiled, "You look alike."

"We all do." Another one of his siblings spoke up. Dawn looked around the room, noticing many people that did greatly resemble Brock.

"Go pack your stuff." Paul instructed. "We're going to the Lumiose Tower to stay instead."

"Why?" Dawn asked.

"Do you really think all these people will be able to stay here?"

Dawn shook her head. "I guess not. I'll be right back then." She left once again.

Finally everybody was ready to leave. Clemont had informed his father of the move and then they left right after. It was hard to keep all of Brock's siblings in order even if they were the same age as Dawn or younger. His oldest sibling was named Forrest and he had taken over through Pewter City gym while Brock went around Kanto as a doctor.

"Wait," May spoke up, "If some of you are gym leaders, shouldn't you be helping your region?"

"Brock's parents took over for us." The red-headed girl said. Paul now understood that this was Ash's girlfriend Misty, it wasn't just obvious about their closeness to each other but also they were holding hands, Ash was carrying three bags, not letting Misty or his mother hold onto their own. "Brock's mother always wanted to run a water type gym so she was glad to let us leave. Brock's father took over the Pewter Gym and they sent all of Brock and his siblings over too."

May looked to Iris and Cilan, "What about you guys? Dawn said that you were both gym leaders."

"Many gyms have popped up throughout the region so now the one Striaton City has closed and is now just a restaurant." Cilan said.

"Drayden has taken over mine again." Iris added.

"We're here." Bonnie announced cheerfully to the group as they rounded a corner. "Not a lot of people drive in Central Plaza because so many people walk through it to get to other parts of the city." The group crossed the street, bring led by Clemont, Bonnie, Serena and Ash. Misty was there too as she was holding onto his hand. They reached an entrance and Clemont typed in a password and the mechanical door opened up allowing everyone inside the tower.

"Now that we're inside, can someone please tell us what's really happening in the world?" May asked quite loudly, catching each person's attention.

Each of the gym leaders looked at each other, Gary too; whom Paul had forgotten was still with them. "I don't see why not." Gary said. "To make it easier on the other's I'll just say it outright,"

"Inside a safe area first." Misty interjected. "Only certain people can know too." She looked over at Ash, "You obviously know who's the most trustworthy, I know you don't want to leave people out, but I think the people who traveled with you should listen, and a few other who you trust if they're here."

"But Mist, I can't-"

"You're going to have to Ash; this is too serious for everyone to know about. Why do you think that none of this was put onto any news stations?"

Ash looked down at his feet. "Alright fine." He looked around, his eyes landed on Paul. "I want Paul and Drew to come." He then bent down and placed a hand on Bonnie's head. "Why don't you go and show people to their rooms and stuff? It would be really helpful."

Bonnie crossed her arms with a huff. "But I want to know!"

Delia rested her hand on Bonnie's shoulder. "This is scary stuff, why don't you help me; I bet you're strong enough to help us carry the other's bags." Bonnie's eyes instantly lit up and she raced to grab any bag in sight. Delia smiled at her son. "Go and do what you must."

"Thanks mom."

May 25th, 2006

The group had squeezed in a small room, another one of the many bedrooms hidden away in the depths of the Lumiose Tower. It was vacant from all furniture except for a small bed quilted in white of which Ash had sat himself on top of. The light sheets wrinkled around him and it squeaked under his weight. "Why didn't you mention that you had so many bedrooms in the tower?" Serena asked, breaking through the silence that had fallen over the thirteen of them, her head was tilted to the side slightly, "Don't you think it would have just been easier to stay here for the past two weeks instead of trying to stuff us all in your home? You don't even have a bed in your room, I think you would have been more comfortable here than on the floor."

"Or Drew on that futon." Ash added, "You can feel the springs pokin' out at you." Ash made a slight expression of discomfort.

A blush dusted across Clemont's cheeks at Ash's comment, but quickly shook it off, "I've been worried that with all of this happening right now, that it would be a target for whoever's doing this. I wanted us all to be safe." He shrugged, "Diantha called me this morning, she told me to prepare the tower for any future refugees that happen to come here, and well, we got some." He gestured to the people placed all around the room.

"Oh, I guess that makes sense." Serena nodded slowly.

"Let's get this over with." Misty interrupted with a sigh, she looked beyond tired, dark circles were nder her eyes and her red hair was a mess, she looked between Gary and another tall green haired man with an orange headband. "Gary you said you know a lot so I'm assuming that Tracey does too." Both named men looked at another and Gary shifted to lean against the plain white wall.

"Yeah, my grandfather told us since he has connections with the other pokémon professors." He looked around at the group. "So we really don't know what's causing all this other than in Hoenn, that's a given though. Weird things have been happening all over the world. In Kanto many pokémon are angry for an unknown reason and there have been many reports of pokémon harming people and others, only certain species are affected, such as the Geodude line and many bug types." From the corner of his eye, Paul could see Misty shiver slightly. "They're not sick, they're not injured in any way, they're perfectly healthy. All of the Nurse Joy's we contacted had the same results; there was no physical problem with any of them. Brock's vene looked at them and said the same thing." He gestured to the tall tanned man. "My grandfather and myself have looked at some of my own pokémon and Tracey's and even Brock's that have been affected, the way they're acting is similar to the red Gyarados from the Lake of Rage. Which brings me to Johto, it has completely disappeared."

"What?" Ash said; his eyes almost popped out of his face in surprise, "A whole region just, disappeared? How does something like that even happen?"

"We don't know, but it did." Tracey spoke up. "I traveled there with the professor and it was gone, it was just a huge cliff. I was able to feel the side of the rock, but you can't see any of the water from the ocean, only fog. It's disappeared right along the border which is along the Silver mountain range."

"What about the League building?" Paul asked, "Isn't it halfway in Johto and Kanto?"

"It is." Tracy said. "They haven't said anything about it but I suspect it has with the rest of it." He shrugged. "I doubt half the building is just hanging over the side of the endless cliff."

"Also, I'm sure you've all heard about what's happened to Hoenn," Gary started up again, "that's the only thing that's been publicised because of all the people being flown to Unova and Kalos, but if you have not, Mauville City, Slateport City, Mossdeep City, Petalburg City and Victory Road had all been bombed." He said rather grimly.

Three sets of eyes turned onto May who was staring at Gary in shock. The tears in her eyes were visible and she raced out of the room. Drew cursed before rushing out after her. Everyone watched the two race away, the door still left open. Cilan, who was standing closest to the door, moved to close it.

"She didn't know that Petalburg was bombed." Dawn spoke quietly, "We haven't heard from her parents or brother." She paused for a moment, "Or Kenny..."

"Kenny Hudson? He was in Hoenn too?" It was Brock who spoke this time; there was a look of familiarity on his face, but also one of sadness.

Paul looked at Dawn who was staring at her feet; her face was blocked by her blue hair that hung down around her cheeks. "He was challenging the league, for more battling experience." Paul spoke for her. "He was going to challenge Norman and should have been in town by the time it was hit."

The whole room was silent for a moment, "I bet you two want to know about Sinnoh." Gary said.

This immediately caught Dawn's attention. She looked at the brown haired man, her eyes were red yet she didn't leave. Paul felt sorry for her. She had already gone through one round of tears for a friend; and now most likely another round for her mother. Then there was the question, what would he do?

He wanted to know what happened to his brother, Paul was close to Reggie even if it seemed like he wasn't sometimes. Reggie was really the only person left in Paul's family that he had actually cared about, he was worried too.

He looked to Gary who seemed hesitant upon looking at Dawn. Paul decided to push the young researcher into saying it. "What's happened to Sinnoh?" He demanded, locking his gaze onto Gary's matching dark eyes.

Gary turned his gaze onto him then spoke, "Weird distortion spots have appeared all over the region. Three different types have been spotted. Two of them just look like a mix of black swirls, one kind has red in it, and the other has purple in it. Then there's been sightings of floating islands, random buildings appearing in cities, giant gaping holes that appeared out of nowhere, there's a mass of random natural disasters happening, and all electronic devices don't work."

"Then how do you know what's it like there? How would you have contact with Sinnoh if electronics weren't working? That goes for even written letters, you would need to fly them over or by boat and most navigation devices now are electronic." Paul challenged with his eyes narrowed into a slight glare.

"I was there working with Professor Rowan again when it started happening. I left by boat in a safe pier. You're right though, the boat's mapping system was down."

Paul looked at Dawn again, "That's why the phone lines were dead." She muttered.

"Has anything happened to Veilstone or Twinleaf?" Paul demanded.

Gary shook his head, "Nothing affected them when I left but it could have changed since then, it's been a few months."

"And Unova and Kalos are stable right now." Misty added.

Ash frowned at that, "Yeah, for now."

Drew raced after May down the halls. "May slow down! Please!" He shouted, she didn't listen and kept running. She rounded a corner, Drew almost ran into her because she had stopped. Even from behind he could tell just how broken she was. He could see her shoulders shaking slightly as did the fists by her side. "May..." He said softly, she didn't look at him but spoke in a cracked voice, Drew winced once he heard it, he didn't want to hear her voice sound like that, the only way it did when she was this upset. He wanted to help her feel better. It was something that he had to do.

"What if they're dead?" She stared up at him with red rimmed eyes, they shone with unshed tears and her cheeks were stained by the wet trails left by the ones that had made their way out. Drew could feel his heart clench at the sight, he has never once seen her this upset, he has never once seen her crying. He has never once seen her this vulnerable. Drew knew that she could be this way, but he never wanted to see it for himself, seeing her in this state made him hurt too.

"I'm sure they're-" He attempted to say, but stopped, useless sentences like this wouldn't help.

"They were bombed Drew, they're not okay." She paused, taking a deep shaky breath, "I want to go home." Her voice quivered, just like her breathing did. "I just want to go home…" She repeated quietly.

Drew sighed, "So do I but we can't. We're safer here." Drew didn't want her to leave; he needed to know that at least she was safe; nobody else mattered to him, not his own parents, just the broken brown haired girl in front of him.

She moved towards him and rested her head on his shoulder and he quickly wrapped his arms around her in a hug, her own arms making his middle, he rested his head on top of hers. "I know, but I don't want to stay here." She spoke as he began to rock them back and forth in a soothing way. "I feel like I'm intruding in a way, we just randomly showed up one day. I feel like I'm annoying people by just being here, I want to go home and see my family. I want my family to be safe."

"I feel the same way." He spoke softly.

"Why do these things have to happen?" May let out an angry laugh, shaking her head in the process, "What good does any of this make?" One of her hands moved towards a blue eye to wipe a stray tear. "I just want to be at home."

"I want to go home too, but I want you to stay here so you're safe. I'd feel the same way you are right now if you weren't with me." He tightened his grip on her. If it was possible, May moved herself closer to Drew.

"I want to stay like this for a bit." She said quietly, Drew had no intention of rejecting that.

Dawn sighed as she sat on the bed in her given room. She wasn't one of the people needed to share, Brock had volunteered that him and his siblings would share. Misty had also stated that Tracey and her sister Daisy would end up sharing a room anyway; this caused the tall man to blush profusely.

The room was fairly small, and not very much furnished, just the basics, a single bed and a white bedside table. A closet and a small desk were inside too. The nicest thing in the room was the large television planted on the wall. After the discussion, everybody went their separate ways. She still hadn't seen May or Drew anywhere.

There was a light knock on the door, Dawn didn't need to get up to open it, it had already been pushed open by the person inside. Misty smiled and walked into the room, closing the door gently behind her. "I wanted to make sure you were okay,"

"I'm fine." Dawn smiled at her. Misty walked over and took a seat next to her on the bed. "I think the person who really needs to be checked in on is Paul."

Misty looked around her room briefly before answering her. "He's was the purple haired guy next to you right? I'm still trying to learn names; it took me forever to remember all eight siblings of Brock." The red head laughed lightly. "Why would he need to be checked on?" She questioned.

"Paul's a very… introverted and passionate person. He thinks highly of his opinions but isn't really the type to talk to people about them." She explained. "I'm worried about what he's thinking."

"I'm curious, is he your boyfriend?"

Dawn felt her face heat up and she quickly shook her head. "N-no," She stuttered, "he's not. I've just been traveling with him and May and Drew in Hoenn, but that was cut short…" She trailed off slightly, "We're only friends, I think?"

"You think?" Misty said while giving her a quizzical look.

Dawn nodded. "With Paul it's hard to tell, but I know he likes me better than other people. I like to think of him as a friend."

A smile graced its way onto Misty's face, "I think he considers you a friend, he seemed very concerned for you during out 'meeting'. I could read his expressions pretty clearly after the report on Sinnoh."

Dawn nodded slowly. "He's changed a little in the past few weeks, not much. I don't know why, but I've noticed that he has."

Misty sat back a little farther and swung her legs back and forth over the edge of the bed. "Change like he's become more mature?"

"No…" Dawn said with a slow shake of her head. "Friendlier, even to Ash who has been his rival since we all met back in Sinnoh. I like that he's nicer, but I don't want him to become another super kind person like Ash, that wouldn't suit Paul at all." She laughed at the thought.

"For just a friend you seem to know a lot about him."

"No, I barely know any of Paul." This was the truth. She only knew of the stuff she got to experience, like his personality. She had no idea what his whole life had been like, she doesn't know his family other than Reggie and his soon-to-be sister-in-law Maylene. Dawn wanted to know much, much more.

Misty suddenly jumped up from the bed, a spark of remembrance danced across her face. "I almost forgot!" She said rather loudly. "Brunch will be served shortly! We have the best chef's cooking or us, Brock, Delia, Cilan, even Clemont and Serena, it'll be a huge meal so you won't be hungry until dinner!" She grinned. Dawn's stomach rumbled, she barely got to eat once the massive group appeared in the Lisico's home. She was in the mood for eating Brock's delicious food again, and trying some of Delia's.

"I'll be right down!"