"Hmmm…her ears do appear to be slightly damaged," Juniper hummed, using a tool to look into Dawn's ear. "But it's nothing that can't be easily fixed. Dawn, can you hear me?" She asked slightly louder.
"Not really" Dawn shouted. "There's a really loud buzzing in my ear."
"Yes, you should experience that for a few more hours, but it'll calm down in intensity after a while. You should be back to normal and ready to travel by tomorrow," Juniper told her.
"What?" Dawn yelled.
"You'll be fine in the morning!" Paul snapped.
"Alright, Alright, jeez." Dawn huffed, looking away from him.
"So, Cheren, you ready to choose a pokémon?" Juniper asked.
"Yes actually," Cheren nodded. "I'd like to choose Tepig." Juniper smiled and picked up a pokéball and handed it to him.
"Well then, here's his pokéball, and here are you starter pokéballs," Juniper smiled. Cheren nodded and collected the items, putting them in his bag. "And here are your pokédexes." Juniper held out three sleek devices. Paul took one that was purple and black one, and Dawn grabbed the light pink and white one, leaving Cheren with the blue and grey one. Juniper stepped next to Paul and tilted his device up. "Using this port here you can connect it to your watch and trade the information so the ones you've recorded on one device can travel to the other. You can even use it between yours and Dawn's." the professor whispered.
"Thanks," Paul said gruffly. "I'll explain it to Troublesome later." Juniper smiled and patted his shoulders.
"Well, seeing as how Dawn currently can't hear, how would you like to stay the night until she's returned to normal?" Juniper asked.
"Fine," Paul huffed.
"What are we doing?" Dawn asked loudly. Paul growled, his eyebrow twitching.
"We're spending the night here!" He shouted back in anger. "As if she wasn't annoying enough," he grumbled.
"It was nice meeting you two," Cheren told them quickly. "I'm gonna get going." With that the new trainer turned around and ran out of the lab.
"What's wrong with Cheren?" Juniper asked, packing away the medical tools.
"He's probably in shock," Paul sighed.
"What happened?" Oak asked.
"A Galvantula tried to eat the pokémon and almost got us," Paul lied. "His journey hadn't even started and he'd already seen the cruel things pokémon can do."
"That is hard for a new trainer to digest," Juniper agreed. "By the time he gets to his first town, he should be fine. Come, I'll show you to your room."
"No way!" Dawn shouted in shock. After a night's sleep, Dawn's ears had stopped ringing and bleeding, leaving her safe to travel. Just as they were about to set out, Professor Juniper stopped them, giving them shocking news.
"Zekrom was here?" Paul said in equal shock.
"Yes, I'm afraid so," Juniper frowned. "It was here a few days ago. I created a file on what happened for you. It's the least I could do. I'm sorry you missed it." Paul took the file and opened it.
"Zekrom sucked the electric energy out of a pokémon in Nuvema town. Later that day it appeared above your lab and returned the electricity to the pokémon," Paul read.
"So it was an accident that Zekrom stole the energy?" Dawn asked.
"Most likely," Juniper nodded. Paul turned the page and groaned.
"What's wrong?" Dawn asked. The male held out the file for her to see and she looked it over in shock. "Zekrom took the electricity from Ash's Pikachu?"
"I can never get rid of that guy," Paul huffed, crossing his arms.
"You know Ash?" Juniper asked in surprise.
"Yeah," Dawn nodded. "Before he came here apparently, he was in Sinnoh, I travelled with him. Paul was his rival."
"Well then, I'm sure you'll run into him sometime," Juniper smiled. "Have a safe journey!"
"Thanks!" Dawn waved as they left.
"That 'safe' part didn't even last before we got our pokédexes," Paul scoffed.
"Sorry," Dawn sighed.
"Not your fault for that one," the older teen shrugged. "We're new to this; mistakes are going to be made. As long as we learn from them, things will be fine."
"That is true," Dawn agreed. The two walked through the forest in silence. "I vote that we get a few first aid supplies in the next town."
"Agreed," Paul nodded. "You're going to need it."
"What?" Dawn shrieked, causing the purple haired teen to smirk.
The two walked in a semi-tense silence. Dawn looked around nervously before she sighed and took out her pokéball. She held out her arm and released Snivy. The grass type appeared in her arms. Dawn smiled and returned the pokéball.
"What's wrong milady?" Snivy asked.
"Nothing, I just can't stand the silence," Dawn said quietly. Snivy looked at her owner before looking over at Paul, who was purposefully ignoring them.
"He's not a very…talkative person, is he?" Snivy asked.
"No, he's not," Dawn agreed with a chuckle.
"You do know that I can hear you right?" Paul growled.
"Yep!" Dawn laughed.
"Is it so hard for there to be silence around you?" Paul huffed.
"No, not as long as it's a comfortable silence," Dawn said. "But in a tense silence like this, it's uncomfortable."
"I was just fine," Paul said.
"Well I'm not! Especially with knowing that you're so silent because you hate me," Dawn said.
"I don't hate you." Paul sighed. The blunette looked at him in shock. "Don't get your hopes up. Just because I don't hate, doesn't mean I like you, because I don't. You're annoying and way too happy."
"Well, it's a start." Dawn smiled.
The two looked down from the hill.
"According to the map, that's Accumula town, and after that it will be Striaton city, the first gym badge," Dawn announced, looking at her watch.
"Does this thing say when the sun should set?" Paul asked, holding up his watch. The holographic map came up, and changed to the time along with a sun chart.
"Wow, this does everything," Dawn said in shock.
"The sun will set in about an hour. We'll go to the pokémon center and stay the night there," Paul told her.
"Sounds like a plan to me," the coordinator agreed. The two walked down the hill, speeding up the closer they got.
Once they entered the pokémon center Dawn looked around.
"Hey Paul, do you mind if I go look around the stores for a while?" Dawn asked.
"Whatever," Paul shrugged. "I'll get us a room. Just be back before it gets dark."
"Why should I? You're not my dad." Dawn growled, sticking her tongue out.
"No, but you get into enough trouble when the sun's out, who knows what'll happen to you at night," Paul said with a smirk.
"I'm sorry, but I must confess that I agree," Snivy chuckled nervously.
"What? You agree with him?" Dawn asked in shock.
"I think that means that you should have a curfew," Paul smirked.
"Dawn? Paul?" A voice called. Dawn and Paul turned around, seeing Cheren. The younger boy stood nervously, his hand twitching.
"Hi Cheren, how are you?" Dawn asked happily.
"I…need to talk to you," Cheren told them.
"Later," Paul said, stepping towards the reception desk.
"Welcome to the pokémon center, what do you need?" Nurse Joy asked.
"A room, two beds," Paul answered.
"This isn't something that can wait! I need to talk to you guys now," Cheren huffed.
"Whatever it is it can wait until later," Paul sighed.
"You're in luck, we have one room available, you'll be in number 22! Here are your room keys," Joy smiled, holding out the cards. Paul took one and held the other out for Dawn. Just as she grabbed it, he pulled the card back.
"Don't lose it," he warned her.
"I won't," Dawn told him. Paul looked at her and handed the card to Snivy.
"Make sure she doesn't lose it," he told her.
"I won't." Snivy smiled, taking the card.
"Oh come on." Dawn groaned.
"Please, can I just talk to you guys about what happened in the forest?" Cheren asked.
"Fine," Paul huffed.
"Aw, I wanted to go shopping too," Dawn moaned.
"You can go tomorrow, they'll be plenty of sunlight out and you won't get into any trouble," Paul said. "Let's go."
The three were in Room 22. Dawn was flipping through a guide book, looking through the pages. Snivy sat in her lap, looking at the pictures. Paul was laid back on one of the beds, scrolling through the pokédex. Cheren sat on the other bed, fidgeting in his seat.
"Are you going to speak or not?" Paul asked in a bored tone.
"Paul, let him think over what he wants to say," Dawn told him. "Oh, the Nimbasa gym leader is a model. Wonder if I could get fashion tips when we get there."
"I don't care if you do, it just better not get in the way of my battle," Paul warned her.
"It won't," Dawn told him.
"Just…what are you?"Cheren shouted.
"So he can speak," Paul said. They both placed their activity down and faced Cheren.
"What do you mean, Cheren?" Dawn asked.
"I mean, you can talk to pokémon, which isn't that strange, my friend Touko could do that," Cheren confessed.
"Touko?" Paul repeated with interest.
"She was my friend when I was a child," Cheren told them.
"What about now?" Dawn asked.
"I…I don't know actually, she left Nuvema town a couple years ago and I haven't heard from her since," Cheren confessed.
"If you want, we could have our friend Emi look into it," Dawn suggested.
"Thanks, but that's not what I'm concerned with," Cheren told her. "I want to know about you. What are you?"
"We're people," Paul answered.
"But you're not just people," Cheren argued. "People can't transform into…whatever that was! People can't use pokémon moves! So what are you?"
"Like I said before, we're people," Paul answered. "100% pure human."
"We're people, but we've been given special gifts," Dawn told him. "We're Legend Catchers. Our job is to find the legendary pokémon and protect them. Our powers were given to us by Lord Arceus."
"Arceus gave them to you?" Cheren asked in shock.
"Not exactly," Paul corrected. "Arceus gave them to our ancestors. It became a gene that was passed down through the generations. And we inherited it."
"Are you the only ones?" Cheren asked.
"No, our friend Emi is one as well," Dawn answered. "She actually found us and awoke our genes. She said that we're the last three left. The other Legend Catchers died in a battle several years ago before we were born. Our parents survived."
"But still, even then, they disappeared when we were kids," Paul added.
"I see, so the talking with pokémon is a side effect?" Cheren asked.
"I wouldn't say it like that. I'd say being able to understand pokémon is a power of its own. Every Legend Catcher can do it," Dawn said. "It's one of our many abilities."
"And the transforming, that's another thing," Cheren said, getting the hang of it.
"Yeah, that's our main power," Paul replied. "When we transform, we absorb our pokémon. We can use their moves, as if we were them. What they know, we know. And apparently, we're also more susceptible to pokémon attacks as well." Paul glanced at Dawn, who laughed nervously.
"That wasn't really my fault you know," she muttered.
"Moving on," Paul huffed, waving her off.
"So…what are you doing in the Unova region?" Cheren asked.
"The Unova region has been unexplored by the Legend Catchers. We're here to find them and befriend them so we can protect them!" Dawn explained.
"I see," Cheren nodded.
"Is that all you wanted to know?" Paul asked.
"Y-Yeah," Cheren nodded. He stood up and walked over to the door.
"Hey Cheren," Dawn called. Cheren looked back at the smiling blunette. "You can't tell anyone, you do realize that, right?"
"Yes, of course," Cheren nodded. "Well, um, goodnight."
"Goodnight," Dawn smiled, waving as he left the room. Dawn stood up.
"I'm going to get ready for bed, come on Snivy." Snivy jumped off the desk and followed her trainer into the bathroom.