Chapter 13
May 30th, 2006
Paul jumped slightly as the door to his room was slammed open, he turned around from the desk he was sitting at and looked at the person standing there. May had a huge grin on her face.
"Paul! Stand up!" She ordered and pointed a finger at him.
He stared at her, "What?"
"I said stand up! I have very important news!" She exclaimed loudly and grabbed a hold of his arm, yanking it.
He stared at her suspiciously, placing his bookmark in his book then closed it. He stood up and looked down at her, "What do you want?"
May rocked back and forth on her feet before skipping over to him, "Guess what happened!" She smiled up at him.
Paul frowned, "Presuming that I wasn't there, how would I be able to guess?" He remarked.
May rolled her eyes and slapped his arm lightly, "You're not fun!" She whined slightly, "Just guess! It'll be worth it, I promise!"
"I don't know, you ate your favourite food at dinner?"
"Well yes." May nodded, "But something better happened!"
"What?" He spoke in disinterest.
May clasped her hands in front of her chest. "Drew said he loved me!"
Paul chocked on his spit. He covered his mouth with his hand as he coughed, "What?" He said hoarsely. "You said that there was nothing going on with you two."
May shrugged, "Well as far as I knew there wasn't, I didn't see any signs."
"How the hell did you not see that?" Paul retorted quickly, "Do you need glasses like your brother?"
May snorted, "Don't be rude, you know Dawn doesn't like that kind of language."
"What Dawn's likes and dislikes doesn't concern me. I'll say what I want."
She laughed at that, "I don't believe you. Anyway, it wasn't like we were dating then or anything so."
"Are you dating now?" He asked. May looked up at him with a sly smirk; Paul couldn't help the smile that crawled its way up onto his mouth.
May leapt forward, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, "I'm so happy!" She looked up at him with a huge smile, "Also you look adorable when you smile!" She placed a hand on his cheek and pinched it. There was a noise from the door, like it was being closed. Both May and Paul looked towards it but noticed no difference from before. May just shrugged and looked at Paul again, "I'm sure Dawn will adore your smile right?" She gave him a wink.
Paul frowned, "Just because you're in a relationship now doesn't mean that you get to force me into one." He glared lightly at her.
May threw her head back in another laugh and stepped away from him. "It was worth trying right?" She then reached forward and poked him in the chest. "You know, you're definitely my best friend. Drew was a little jealous of me spending time with you earlier you know. He didn't admit it, but it was so obvious, so I thank you for that." An evil glint flooded through her eyes, "I can make somebody jealous too if you ever want me to! I'm just a call away!"
"I don't need help." Paul stated.
"Oh! So you are interested in someone?" She grinned.
Paul rolled his eyes, "Not in the slightest."
"Liar," May spoke cheekily, "anyway, I'm going to go now!" She made to her way, opening it. She was halfway out the door when she waved goodbye, Paul gave her a curt wave back before walking back to his desk, staring at the title of the book, Legendries Legacies.
May 31st, 2006
There was a loud knocking on Paul's door. He ignored it. Though ignoring the cacophonous noise was useless. Whoever was banging on the door wasn't going to give up anytime soon. Paul sat up and got out of the bed, picking his shirt up off of the floor and pulling it back on. He tore the door open, the person standing there almost fell over, Iris was undoubtedly leaning on the door. "What?" Paul demanded harshly as he glared at her, she hardly seemed fazed.
"Important meeting." She stated plainly, "Get properly dressed and meet in the big living room. Make sure you're presentable, somebody important is here." She turned and stalked down the hall, annoyingly hitting the next door. He glowered at her. Paul shut the door loudly and snatched his pokégear off of his bedside table, turning it on to see the time. The clock read barely 4:30 in the morning.
"What the hell?" He grumbled and flicked on the bedside light. "Who decided to show up at four in the morning?" He spat to nobody in particular. Paul picked up one of his pokéballs on his bedside table and released his pokémon.
"Weavile!" It seemed slightly angry but also relieved to be out; it yawned and rubbed an eye tiredly.
"You can be out for a bit." He said and picked up his bag, sitting back on the bed. He pulled out various pieces of clothing, making a mental note to wash his dirty clothes again. "There's some meeting or whatever, you can come with me there too." Weavile smirked up at Paul and climbed its way onto his bed. "You better not shred anything with your claws.
"Vile!" Weavile said with a roll of its eyes.
Paul walked down the stairs, Weavile trailing after him closely. Paul pushed open the door to the designated room that he was expected in. He noticed that a few people were already inside. Serena was sitting on the couch next to Cilan; the blonde girl was a great contrast to the connoisseur. Serena looked like she was almost dead, her head was resting in her hand while her eyes were half lidded, she quickly moved her free hand up to cover her mouth, hiding a yawn. Cilan on the other hand, was wide awake, staring intently at two people on the other side of the room. Paul followed his gaze and his eyes locked with the Kalos Champion, she gave him a polite wave, which he returned, then went back to talking with Clemont who was next to her along with a girl with bright pink hair who he didn't recognise. He was caught off guard; he didn't expect this 'important person' would be the champion herself. He recalled seeing something on the news that claimed that Diantha was fairly close with the Sinnoh Champion Cynthia, but really, who knows if that was another thing made up by the media or not.
"Paul!" He turned his head in the direction that he was called; May was standing there, beaming and having a firm hold on Drew's arm. Drew's face broke out in a small blush of embarrassment as he made eye contact with Paul. Drew quickly looked away from him. Paul approached them regardless.
"You don't have to explain, I was told last night by her." Drew's head quickly turned to May who giggled behind a hand.
"He's so embarrassed, isn't that cute?" She poked his red cheek.
"I never once thought Drew was cute." Paul rebutted.
"And I'm glad about that." Drew replied.
"Are you three actually being serious?" A loud voice was heard, causing Paul to wince slightly. He recognised that angry voice, hearing it last night as Ash annoyed his girlfriend to no end. This time though, Paul felt a little bit of remorse for the frustrated girl, she was literally dragging three people, who were lying on the ground, still half asleep. Paul wasn't surprised to see Ash as one of them; however, he was surprised to see Brock and Tracey also being dragged, especially the green-haired artist. "Get up, the champion is here!" She ordered, glancing nervously in Diantha's direction. "Are you really going to be this disrespectful?"
Brock jumped up upon hearing his friend's words, rushing over to Diantha and grabbing a hold of her hand, "My lovely! You're just as beautiful as—" He was caught off when the champion pulled her hand away from him.
"I'm sorry." She said. "You are indeed a very attractive person but are you not with the Pike Queen, Lucy Morinelli?" At that Brock collapsed and began to weep on the floor.
"Oh my beautiful Lucy, how I miss her so!" He exclaimed through sobs.
Misty glared at Brock who was grovelling on the ground, she then turned to Ash, Tracey had gotten up and collapsed on the couch between Serena and Cilan. Serena began to lean on the artist slightly. "Ash honestly, get up."
Ash waved a hand from where he was lying on the carpeted floor, "She knows me, plus it's too early." He mumbled into the floor.
Misty sighed and just walked away from him, standing by the large bookshelf. "I'm sorry Diantha." She apologised.
"It's fine," Diantha waved her hand, "it's early in the morning, I expected nothing less, it is my fault for coming so early."
Weavile looked at Paul curiously, "Weavile?" It spoke as it eyed the two men still lying on the floor. Suddenly a flash of bright red light appeared from Misty's hip and a Psyduck appeared.
"Psy!" It shouted and began to race around the room, running into various things, furniture and people.
Misty rubbed her temples, "Not you too!" She groaned, "Psyduck return." She muttered as she placed the strange water type back into its pokéball.
Iris walked into the room with Gary by her side; everyone was there, all but Dawn. "Where's Dawn?" May asked.
"She's sick." Iris replied quickly, too quickly for Paul's liking. "She's not coming."
"That's awful." Diantha said sadly, "She'll just have to be informed after I suppose." Diantha cleared her throat, "Anyway, this here is Carrie," she gestured to the pink haired girl beside her, "she is currently representing the seventh Gym Leader in Kalos, Olympia. Since some of you might not know, Olympia is a psychic user; she not only specializes in that type, but she can also see premonitions with her use of the psychic powers that she can manipulate. Olympia is busy working within her own gym for the world issues happening right now, and cannot be here today, so Carrie has been sent here to gather the six people who of which will travel to Anistar City with me and will be told of the rest of your mission of sorts. Please do not ask questions as this is to be kept as secret as possible, but I will allow you to know that these six will not be staying in the region after their travels to Anistar." Dianthia turned to Carrie, "Do you remember the faces?"
Carrie nodded, not saying a word. She closed her eyes and began to hum something faint; her eyes then flashed open, shining a bright blue. She opened her mouth and began to speak. "Six have been chosen, six have been declared..." She trailed off, her hair began to flow around her as her eyes changed from a bright blue to a brilliant green, "Six has become twelve, two hailing from six regions, twelve have been chosen, twelve have been decided. Twelve carriers will be brought forth to this destruction, step forward as you name has been spoken." The air felt heavy in the room, heavy and humid.
"Numéro un, Ash Ketchum." Her voice had changed from what it had sounded like before, it had a very thick Kalosian accent than it did when she first spoke. Paul glanced to Ash who was more awake now, sitting on the ground and scratching his head.
"Numéro deux, Iris Arifiani." Iris jerked her head in the direction of Carrie.
"Numéro trois, Paul Robelledo." Paul felt himself tense up slightly, though he should have expected it, two from each region, there were only two from Sinnoh here.
"Numéro quatre, Drew Hayden." Drew looked up from where he was standing
"Numéro cinq, Misty Waterflower."
"Numéro six, Clemont Lisicio."
"Numéro sept, Serena Paschall."
"Numéro huit, Cilan Griffith."
"Numéro neuf, May Maple."
"Numéro dix, Lyra Noisi."
"Numéro onze, Gary Oak."
"Numéro douze, Dawn Berlitz. "
Paul felt himself relax a bit when he heard the last name be called out. He knew that Dawn was coming, but just hearing her name helped to assure him for sure, but he still felt worried, if she really was sick, how would she be able to make the journey?
"Wait..." Ash started, "There was only one from Johto, and she's not even here." Carrie's eyes began to dim back into their normal amber colour. "There were three from Kanto though and you said that there would be two from each region."
"I was born in Johto." May stated. "We moved to Hoenn when my dad got a job as a gym leader." She shrugged.
"But Serena was born in Kanto." Ash added, "That doesn't make sense." He frowned.
"Why do you think Cilan is bilingual?" Iris spoke.
Cilan nodded slowly. "I don't know if this counts, but both of my parents were from Kalos, my brothers and I were born in Unova however..."
Paul began to walk towards the door, "Where are you going?" May asked.
"I'm getting Dawn." He replied and left the room, ignoring Iris' calls to him.
May 31st, 2006
Paul tested the doorknob to Dawn's room; it was unlocked so he slowly opened it, resulting in a pitch black room, or not so much anymore thanks to the hallway lighting. Her room had a different layout from his, her bed was not right next to the door, it also had a coffee table instead of a desk which was beside the door. He peered into the room and saw a lump of blankets cocooning her sleeping figure. He noticed a tall lamp next to her couch which wasn't too far away; he gently closed the door and felt his way over to the lamp. Finally finding what he was looking for, he switched it on. It illuminated the room just enough with its warm yellow glow, enough to not awaken the sleeping blue-haired girl, and also provide him with a good amount of light to be able to see. His pokégear vibrated in his pocket, he pulled it out and noticed a message from May.
'We're leaving at 9.'
Paul cautiously walked over to the still sleeping coordinator, she had the blanket pooled around her and pulled over her head like a hood, her blue hair was thrown behind her head and stuck out from under the blanket, he could see the various knots and tangles throughout it from sleeping, he placed his hand on her shoulder and gently shook her, "Dawn, get up."
She made a noise of surprise and sat up, "I'm tired," she complained sleepily, "and my stomach hurts."
Paul checked the time; they still had a few hours before they had to leave. If he let her sleep until eight, that would give her an extra three hours of sleep, "Just go back to sleep, I'll come back and wake you up later." Dawn slowly laid herself back down, her eyes already closed. Paul turned to leave when she curled her fingers around his wrist.
"Can you please stay?" One eye was open as he stared down at her, "Please?" She repeated, moving over on her bed to make room for him.
Paul grumbled then lay down in the open space next to her. "This wasn't supposed to happen three times, let alone one." He muttered quietly. "But—whatever."
Dawn quickly sat up, startling Paul a bit. She turned to him with half lidded eyes and said, "Are you Paul?"
Paul frowned as get stared at her, "Yeah?" He spoke slowly.
Dawn didn't say anything for a moment. "Oh." She eventually mumbled and lay back down. "That's okay. I'm still mad at you. Don't talk to me." She pulled her blanket over her head and rolled over to face him. Her eyes were closed; her breathing was still slow as it was before.
Mad? When did Paul make her mad? He began to run through what he did yesterday. Dawn seemed a little upset about him leaving with May and Ash for some reason. He did also speak to her at dinner; he didn't remember seeing her eat a lot either. Maybe she's sick because she didn't eat, and why would she be mad from dinner, he acted the same way get had always had, did he not?
Dawn sighed loudly in her sleep and a big smile broke out on her face.
Forty-five minutes have passed since Dawn fell back asleep. Paul was getting tired himself. A while after Dawn fell asleep, Paul decided that he would too, like May had said the day before, losing sleep won't help him any. Paul found it a bit strange, the other two times him and Dawn had shared a bed, he fell asleep fast and deeply, this time, however, was the complete opposite. He was wide awake even though he had his eyes closed for the prolonged time and his mind clear, nothing happened. No entering REM, no endless soothing darkness of sleep.
Paul rolled over and glared at Dawn, why couldn't his body copy hers? He was tired and wanted to sleep.
His harsh glare faded as he simply stared at the blue-haired girl. She had cocooned herself again, but she had also given him some of the blanket.
Dawn looked so peaceful; he felt his stomach lurch slightly as he remembered that she was angry with him. He was hoping that it was just something she said as she was mostly asleep, but she was also awake enough to give such an answer.
Dawn shifted slightly, her hair becoming free from the blanket hood and pooling around her head. No matter how far you could stand, you would still be able to see the huge knots taking over her hair. He knew of the pain of brushing them out since his was long enough to pull back into a ponytail, not quite as long as Reggie's, a length he would never allow it to become ever. He grabbed the hair that had cone free and began to pull apart the mat in it. The hair was so tightly caught together; he was surprised that she would actually brush something out like this daily, or more often than that. Despite it being rough with knots, it was still very soft.
Just brushing through the hair helped his eyes start to droop, and before he knew it, he too started to drift off into sleep.
Paul woke up and the first thing he did was check the time, they still had an hour to pack which was very helpful timing. Paul looked down, Dawn had huddled closer to him in her sleep and the blanket was no longer covering her head. "Dawn," he called and shook her shoulder, "get up, we have to leave."
Dawn lifted her head up a little, "What?" She looked around the room, and then looked at him.
"We need to pack up and leave."
"Why?" She sat up, making the blanket fall off of her chest and revealed her bright pink t-shirt.
"Diantha came with a psychic—"
Dawn quickly interjected, "Diantha, the champion?"
"Yes, all we really know is that twelve of us need to leave the region. You need to hurry and get ready because we're leaving in an hour." Paul stood up from the bed, "I'll come back by then."
"Don't bother." Dawn said flatly, looking away from him.
"I kind of have to." Paul retorted, "With you pretending to be sick, you missed the meeting and have no idea what's going on."
Dawn still didn't look at him, making him more frustrated, "If anything, I'll ask someone else for help, like Iris or Serena, they're more helpful than you."
"Of course, because I haven't been helpful to you at all lately, I apologise for actually being nice to somebody for once."
"You were never nice to anybody."
"That's complete bullshit and you know it." Paul spat, "What the hell do you think I was doing to you, May and Drew? What do you think I was doing while putting up with that idiot Ash for three weeks?"
"You hate everybody around you! You always comment on how much of an idiot Ash is, not to mention your constant nitpicking of others. You're always pissed off with everyone, even your pokémon! They probably wouldn't even be with you if they weren't under your torture."
Paul glared at her, "Me being pissy? Like you aren't right now, you're so damn annoying! Don't you dare bring my pokémon into this either, my pokémon have just enough rights as any other, if they wanted to leave then they would have already, it's a wonder how yours haven't with your constant nagging. I wish you never followed me; there was a reason why I said no. You know what? Wherever we're going, I want you to stay away from me. Right now I'd rather be one of the people labelled as missing in Hoenn then be near you." He glared at her and marched out the door, closing it with a loud slam.
Paul clenched his fists and stormed down the hall, ignoring the calls from somebody, whoever they were, from their doorway.
Dawn sat on her bed, knotted hair hanging messily around her as tears streamed down her face, leaving long wet trails down her cheeks and onto her chin. She pulled the white comforter up to her face and cried, and cried, and cried. She couldn't help the flow of tears. She would never be able to stop them if she tried, they would keep coming until she had run dry of all the tears that resided in her body. Why did people have to cry when upset? Why did she have to be upset? Why did she have to be angry? Why did she have to be hurt when she saw what she did?
Her whole body ached, not only from the searing pain in her lower abdomen, but the majority of it radiated from her heart, why was this so painful? She now understood how it was possible for people to actually die of heartbreak. It was the most painful thing she has ever experienced. The explosion of emotions didn't come from the same thing that had created her abdomen pain, if anything it aided in only the tiniest amount.
Tears still surfaced and fell from her eyes, soaking her comforter, not that it actually provided any comfort to her as it smelled exactly like he did, she remembered asking him to stay. She wished that he still stayed, she wished to take back everything, she didn't expect this much hurt, she didn't think that this was even possible.
Ever since she first met Paul, she thought he was different. She always wanted to for a strong and unbreakable bond with him, and she started to build it up strongly, but all at once it crashed down.
She often caught herself thinking about him during her journey through Sinnoh and even after, feeling lonely when she hadn't seen him after a long stretch of time. Hoenn was like a relief to her, she was overjoyed to see his face again, she was even happier than when she reunited with Ash and Brock again in the past month.
Dawn always felt the need to be with him. She had had his pokégear number for a very long time, but whenever she would try to call she would get a rush of nervousness, like she felt in Petalburg City. Her excitement to actually see him again, the thrill of making eye contact and speaking to him in real life, face to face. She didn't regret following him, not at all, but he did as he clearly stated.
"I wish you never followed me."
Thinking of the hatred in his voice pierced her heart with more pain. She cried more. She wished that she could be in his hold, embracing him like they had happened to do back when they were both sick before the threat of evil coming to the world. She felt safe while he held her even though he was fast asleep, she never felt so safe and warm and even loved as she did then. She hoped that he felt the exact same three things she did. Especially the last one.
There was nobody that she ever felt as strongly for as she did to him. There are stories, even proof from science, that people know when they have met the one person that they can't live their lives without. That person is always in their mind, the first person they want to see, the last one to see. The only one to see. They are the person that they always want to be with for as long as they can. People know when they have met their soul mate and Dawn knew that she had met hers back when she was a measly twelve-year-old girl.
Joining him in Hoenn has made her finally figure out why she always thought of him, why she missed him so much, why she wanted to be his best friend, why she wanted to be around him.
Hoenn helped her solidify their bond, one that Dawn was pleading and wishing for the most in her life. She was pleading that he felt the same as she did, that he thought of her the same as she did. That Paul's soul mate was Dawn. She loved that strange, moody and quiet man, she couldn't help it.
Dawn knew that her mother wouldn't be thrilled to know that she was in love with somebody who was two years older than her, at least not now. Dawn didn't understand why it was weird for a sixteen-year-old to be in love with somebody who was barely an adult. Was it the adult title? It didn't matter; all she knew is that she ruined any chances at all.
He could never love her. There was no way after the hatred that came from his voice, the harsh stare that she had avoided purposely, but still knew was there. She wished that she could bring back time and prevent this from ever happening.
But if she had looked into his eyes, she would have been able to see that he had let his guard down and his emotions were completely readable, though she would never know what he was thinking because she didn't look.
However, one thing did see it. A tiny little round blue head was watching the whole thing unfold from a pillow on the floor under the coffee table. This thing had uncharacteristically ran after the purple-haired trainer in a frantic hope to drag him back to her room.
However, one thing did see it. A tiny little round blue head was watching the whole thing unfold from a pillow on the floor under the coffee table. This thing had uncharacteristically ran after the purple-haired trainer in a frantic hope to drag him back to her room.
Hey guys! For those of you who celebreate it, Merry Christmas! I would have wrote something Christmasy in this chapter but right now in this story it's early June. Christmas in June...?
Since it's winter, even though there's no snow, it got me thinking of my favourite pokemon, Glaceon! Sure none of the Eeveelutions are all that powerful, but I've had a Glaceon in my party since 2007 in Pokemon Diamond! I love my little guy!
In the comments tell me about your favourite pokemon! I love to hear about the variety and why they're your favourite!
Happy Holidays everyone!