'I can't see . . . it's too dark . . .

Where am I? Where are my Pokémon?'

"Damn it Paul!"

'Huh? Who said that?'

Looking around through the thick of black surrounding his floating figure, he saw small sliver of light. Fading in was a black and red figure but too blurry to make out, only for it to be thrown away by another.

"…that's enough!"

Like a blanket of fog surrounding it, the colors of blue and black couldn't be made out.

"…nothing is going to get through that thick skull of his!"

As quickly as it came, it was gone. Shadows and voices echoed through the heavy air. Continuously ringing in his ears.

"It doesn't matter what you do or say." "…you don't attack people like that!"

"His pride will end up getting the best of him." "I don't want my pokemon being subjected to that thing!"

"Until you choose to change, you will be sentenced to a life as another."

The echoing quieted for a voice to speak above the rest. Again he looked around, in the distance a bright green flame,

"The green represents kindness…"

"Well I do want him to like me…"

Vanishing quickly for a bright blue,

"The blue represents friendship and family…"

"If there's anything else don't hesitate to ask…" "She does like you well enough, even if she isn't showing it now."

Like the first, the flame dispersed into the ocean of black.

"The last one represents love."

"Aawwee! He's sooo cute!"

The flame never came but rather a figure. In the distance, it was too far to see who it was.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you…"

…then it was gone…

'No wait.'

Trying to run after it but gaining no ground. He wasn't moving, he was frozen, suspended in the air. Left alone in the surrounding shadows of his mind.

'Wait!'

His voice echoed into the nothing, silence overcoming him.

'…Don't go…'

He was alone, no one was here. He knew that he was always going to be alone.

"Pa . . . "

'Huh?'

A soft sound came through.

"Wa . . . up . . ."

Someone was talking, someone was talking to him.

" . . ake . . . up . . . "

'No, don't go!' he called out to the fading voice. 'Come back!'

" . . . Paul . . ."

"Pichu…wake up…"

!?

"CHU!" – ('WAIT!')

*GASP!* "Ow!…"

Paul looked up to see the blue haired girl sitting in front of him clutching her hand to her chest. She had a frightened look on her face and she was staring right at Paul.

"Dawn are you alright?!" Ash pulled open the tent door in a huff, "I heard you shout, what happened?"

She gave Ash an apologetic smile. "Oh it's nothing Ash really."

"Then what happened?"

She turned to look at Pichu, trying to find the words to explain that wouldn't make him feel bad.

"It looked like Pichu was having a bad dream so," she looked up at Ash, "I wanted to see if I could help."

Ash seemed to get it, "So what happened?"

"It was an accident Ash, he didn't mean it." She was on the defensive now.

"He shocked you." It wasn't a question.

"He was having a bad dream, it wasn't his fault."

Seeing how she was defending him, Paul was still trying to put together what had happened.

`I shocked her?`

He had hurt her, and she was defending him.

"He needs to be careful; he has no control over his moves."

`Sounds like he wants to get rid of me.` The feeling was mutual.

"He can learn." She was standing up to Ash, with a "Don't mess with me" look in her eyes. She was serious and both guys could see it.

"Just be careful." The last thing out of his mouth before he left them there.

Dawn relaxed back down on the blankets, letting out a heavy sigh. She looked at Pichu with a worried look in her eyes.

"I know this situation has been hard for you, Ash doesn't understand what it is that you're going through."

She wasn't looking at him, she was focusing on a piece of blue fabric sticking out of her backpack.

-heh- "Like I'm one to talk…"

Paul didn't know what to do, he was dumbfounded that she even bothered to care at all. Looking at her, he could tell that she was trying not to cry, confused mostly.

"Well," her mood perked up drastically "everyone is outside eating breakfast; I made a fresh batch of poffins for you whenever you're ready."

She gave him a kind hearted smile before she left the tent. He heard her call to her other Pokemon to come and eat.

`I attacked her again,` disappointed that he had no control of himself 'I need to train…I need to learn fast if I'm going to be living like this for a while.'

Jumping out of the tent, he could smell the food that was being cooked by the breeder. He saw the other Pokemon on the floor eating the high pile of food in their dishes. He was still getting used to his new height limit as he scurried over to the table. He looked at the distance between him and the seat, it didn't look too far up, he had seen Pikachu jump up on top of the table with ease, the jump to the seat shouldn't be any more difficult.

Positioning himself for the leap, he pushed himself off the ground. He was surprised at how light he was to himself. However, that didn't mean his aim was as planned out.

-Thump!-

"Huh?"

Dawn felt the small thud on the bench she was sitting on. Looking down, she saw Pichu just barely hanging on, struggling to pull himself up.

Letting out a small giggle, she gave him a small nudge on his bottom, giving him just enough of a boost to get up.

"Pi Pichu pi!" – ('I could have got it!') he snapped at her, jumping and just barely making it on top of the table.

"Nothing wrong with a little helping hand." She told him, placing the plate of poffins in front of him.

'Helping hand…'

Paul didn't bother to interact with any of the Pokemon that were out and about. He was thinking about what he had to do to gain control of himself. Pikachu would be the wiser choice to ask but the fact that he was always with Ash threw him from going through with the thought. Then there was the breeder, but as knowledgeable as he was, Paul never had seen him in a battle of any sorts. That just left the girl. She was a coordinator, not a very good one at that.

He could see her with her Pokemon, she was training them for the next contest she was talking about.

"Alright! Pachirisu use Sweet Kiss, Quilava Swift!"

"Pachi-pa!"-('You got it, Dawn!')

"Quii!"-('Right!')

A barrage of little pink hearts floated into the air at random, while the organized bright yellow stars circled them, rounding them up in a vortex. Squeezing them together until both moves clashed and the sky sparkled down over both posing Pokemon.

"That was great you guys!"

Dawn rushed to her Pokemon as they both leaped into her arms with so much joy.

Paul looked over his options again and again but the more he thought about it the more he knew that Dawn was the best choice to help him in his situation.

Jumping down from the rock he sat on, he gradually made his way to the preppy coordinator. Trying not to catch the eye of any of the other Pokemon that were playing. But he wasn't so lucky.

'Hey pipsqueak!'

Paul looked back to see Buizel, standing with his arms crossed. With him not being in the mood for any encounter, Paul gave his signature death stare.

'What?'

'We still have a score to settle from yesterday. Just apologize and I won't hurt you.'

'I'm not apologizing for anything you over grown water rat.'

'What did you say?!'

Buizel got into a fighting stance. Teeth bearing and the fur on his back standing on end.

'I'm pretty sure you heard me.'

Paul got into his fighting stance, charging his fur surging with blue purple sparks.

'You asked for it!'

Buizel jumped in the air, shooting a Water Pulse at Paul.

Two things quickly ran through Paul's head; one, he had the advantage as an electric type and two; he had no idea how to use any of his moves.

Instead of jumping out of the way of the blast, Paul ran forward. Rushing to get close to Buizel, he remembered the moves he was able to do, giving it his best shot, he jumped and bit Buizel on his arm.

He was aiming for Thunder Fang but it came out to be Crunch instead, it still did damage and Paul didn't let go. His small stature gave him the advantage of getting in close, with another attempt, he released a jolt of electricity, Shock Wave, and it hit.

Jumping off to get ready for another attack when…

"Enough!"

The two looked back to see Dawn running up to them, a look on her face that looked like she was gonna throw an attack herself, Quilava and Pachirisu on her heels.

She looked at both of them, giving her own form of a death glare, and very effective.

"None of this fighting anymore, do you understand?!"

Both Pokemon lowered their heads and flattened their ears back.

Quilava looked at the two impartial while Pachirisu just chuckled.

"Go on Buizel, before I really get mad."

Buizel lowered himself to the ground defeated, and stalked off.

She looked at Paul, no change in her face, going up to him picking him up by the loose skin behind his neck and carrying him to where she was training her Pokemon, and placed him on the ground.

"Quilava, other end, Pachirisu next to Pichu."

Both did without question, ready to take their next orders.

"Now Pichu," Paul looked at her skeptic, "listen and listen good. To keep you from getting into trouble, you're going to be training with my Pokemon where and when I say."

Paul wasn't in any position to reject so he just lowered his head. This is what he wanted anyway.

"Buneary," the little rabbit bounded up to Dawn a smile on her face, "go next to Quilava, please."

In a single leap, Buneary jumped from Dawn's side and landed next to her fire companion on the other side.

"Alright," she was speaking to Quilava and Buneary, "you two are going to be our opponents. Give us everything you got and remember, work together."

"Bun!" "Quii!" - ('Right!')

"This leaves you two," she looked at the two electric Pokemon in front of her, "Pichu, since you don't have much experience battling, Pachirisu will take point. This means that you need to follow him the best you can."

"Pachi!" – ('Got it!)

Though Paul understood what she was planning, he didn't like taking orders from her. He certainly didn't like that he had play sidekick to one of her most hyperactive, bouncy, and cheery annoyances.

As soon as Dawn gave order for the match to begin, Paul's new developing senses started picking up. From being able to actually feel his body serge with power, to hearing his surroundings of the situation at hand. As much as he had hated to admit it, but do to his current state, Dawn had trained her Pokemon to work remarkably well with each other.

Buneary and Quilava were in synced with their moves so well that they didn't need to communicate verbally on their strategy. Between Buneary's ice moves and Quilava's fire, the two were well balanced. The two were the perfect training partners for Paul to practice against; trying to keep up with Pachirisu's speed and combinations was a different story.

Pachirisu followed Dawn's commands to the T. while Paul was reluctant to take orders, he did try to perform as well as the little white and blue squirrel. Though he took quite the bit of damage, Paul was getting the hang of the fast reactions and movements.

Training with a coordinator was something Paul never thought he would ever do in his life. Aside from the fact that he still didn't think it was real battling, he was able to see the value in combining two Pokemon moves.

Dawn had called the match over and congratulated all her Pokemon on a job well done, even complimenting Paul's efforts despite his lack of obedience.

With everything packed, it was time for everyone to head out.

"So how did Pichu do during training?" Brock had just finished returning his Pokemon to their pokeballs.

"You can tell he has Paul's competitive and stubborn streak, he wouldn't listen to any of my commands but he did try to one up Pachirisu." Dawn let out a slight sigh as the two turned to look at Pichu sitting on a rock munching on a yellow and pink poffin.

"Well on the plus side he is warming up to you." He said with a sly smile.

"What makes you think that?" She looked at him with defeat, one eyebrow raised.

"Just look," he pointed at Pichu leaping off the rock.

She looked over seeing the little Pokemon scurry over to her, stopping at her feet. She looked at him giving a sweet smile and he looked at her, quickly looking away, flattening his ears as his little face turned slightly pink. She could hear him grumbling to himself but she couldn't help to giggle as he lifted his arms to her, still looking away.

She leaned down picking him up. He was still grumbling and wouldn't dare look at her until…

*peck* 3

Paul's face turned crimson. She had given him a tiny kiss on his nose just before she hugged him to her chest.

"….. Ch-Chu pi Cha pichu-pi Pichu pi-cha!? Pichu pi picha pipi-pichu, pichu Pichu pi Pi-pichu!" - ('…..W-What the Hell did you do That for you stupid girl!? I am not one of your plush sized annoyances, don't you Ever do that to me Again!')

*giggle* "Love you too Pichu." With the sweetest smile he ever saw, he just crossed his arms and continued to grumble to himself.