My 15th chapter c:!
I'm having a SUPER amount of fun writing my story and I intend to continue it as long as possible!
Maybe I include too much romance, action, or drama, but whatever it is, if you've had enough of it, please feel free to tell me. I assure you that I can come up with some way to fix it!

Gratitude:
-

Thanks a whole lot, PolarDawn! I really enjoy reading your critiques and sometimes I just can't help but smile at them. Lucas can go suck a truck. But unfortunately, I have to have him in here for a VERY important part of the Ikarishipping in this story. Conflict happens ;-; And I'm glad that what you are reading is unique ^-^

Thank you for reading and reviewing again, Cid Neha. I suppose that you'll just have to see about Glaceon.

Hello again, JustinThePokemonMaster, thanks for reading and reviewing. I hope that your curiosity will always be piqued and that you'll continue to enjoy this story ^ ^

As for Miss ASSASSIN MASTER, I appreciate the time you took to read and review, I'm glad that you liked my cliffhanger! As promised, I've updated ^ ^!

So, that's the end of that.

Alright, let's go!:

Disclaimer:*

I do not own Pokemon.

Chapter 15:

'"Glaceon!" Lifting it up to the air, she pressed the button to maximize it. Closing her eyes, she waited for that wonderful sound of a Pokemon being released into the open.'

Silence.

Opening one eye in confusion, she lowered her arm, inspecting it. Could it be broken? Maybe it was someone else's Pokemon. No. Either way, something would have been released.

"I think it's empty." Drew murmured, lowering his voice in disappointment. His fists clenched in frustration as he flopped down onto the sand next to a pile of even more scrap metal lying about. May's breath hitched as she felt her strong grip on the pokèball diminish. With a short, soft rustle of the sand, it fell out of her hands. Letting out an irritated groan, May plopped down next to Drew, just inches away from the glistening red ball.

Her vision blurred just a little bit as she bit her lip and scowled. Pulling her knees to her chest, May wrapped her arm around them and rested her split on top. Lowering her head, she gazed out into nothing. There was nothing. Nothing in that ball. No hope for her or for anyone else.

"Maple.." Drew muttered. She could feel his stare burning into her sides as she remain silent, slightly turning her head away. The gentle sounds of the whistling wind and the waves coated the atmosphere. He did not utter a single word for fear that he might anger her even more. A mysterious bird Pokemon-like shriek sounded out. However it was a pitch lower and it sounded nothing of what he had heard before. Every so often, he would catch some sort of noise sounding out from the sky. Which he found both intriguing and terrifying at the same time.

After several long minutes in thought, peace, and silence, he decided that it might do both some good to chat. Drew opened his mouth to say something before closing it awkwardly again. He had no idea what to talk about or what she liked. If he tried anything than they'd only end up arguing. And after today, he extremely doubted that she would want to do something like that after discovering that the creature which would've helped them survive is most likely dead or something like that. In fact, what would happen if a Pokemon were to faint and remain without treatment for several days? But what if the pokèball was destroyed too? It would add to their troubles.

Slowly, he inched towards the red and white ball, almost in fear as if he were trying not to 'awaken' the 'beast'. Warm, rough yet somewhat smooth sand spilled over his hands as he crawled over. Although it was bright and sunny, it was still pretty cold out. At least, that's what he had just discovered. Drew flinched as cold wind smacked him straight in the face, which was shocking as he had been in front of the hot, blazing fire for hours.

Clang.

He winced as his foot just happened to kick what seemed like a fairly long strip of metal across the ground. 'Shit.' His eyes screamed as May began to stir from where she sat. Quickly falling backwards onto his bottom, he held his hands up in front of his face as she struck him with an icy glare. However, it didn't last long as she lifted her head and turned her body to face him.

"Hey, look I was trying to get a look at your Glaceo-"

"Shut the fuck up!" May grabbed fists full of sand and hurled it towards him, handful after handful. "There's nothing there! Some useless bitch was carrying around an unused pokèball!" She shouted at him.

"W-whoa! It's not my fault, and how would you know? So what if it isn't your Glaceon?! Maybe the Pokemon inside simply rejected you!" Drew yelled back, scooting backwards while shielding his face and hair. His feet kicked sand straight back into her face as he struggled to defend himself against her 'attack'.

"R-rejected me?! What kind of Pokemon would reject me!? You're just saying that, besides even if there was a Pokemon than it'd probably be utterly useless and we wouldn't be able to level it up!" May shrieked, grappling for something to chuck at him. Her hands found hot metal, which had been sitting out in the sun with them, heating up. Ignoring the pain pulsing through her one good hand, with all her strength she chucked it straight at him without looking in a fit of rage.

"Ow! What the hell, you psychotic gorilla woman?! Shouldn't you be grateful if we even get anything out of that dumb ball?!" He bellowed back, rubbing his aching leg which hurt more from the impact rather than the heat. Drew was very much tempted to take the ball and walk straight back without her, however if he did that, then the others would think poorly of him. And he was certain that he already aggravated them all enough after the earlier incident with May.

"We're all going to die here, why should we even bother living?!" She spat.

"My god, you're just like Paul! Except you know what's the difference between you and him? Unlike you, he actually tries to live like everyone else, even if he knows that there's most likely no hope for us! Besides, it's only been four days! Four mother-fucking days, May!" Reaching past her with speed, Drew wrapped his hand around the pokèball and pulled it to himself, holding it to his chest.

"We don't even know where we are, Drew, what makes you think anyone else does?!" She screamed, making several attempts to pry the pokèball out of his firm grasp.

"There's always hope!" He shouted angrily, standing up and brushing the sand off of his pants and shoving the ball into his pockets. Drew roughly shoved her away as she reached for it once more. "I'm going to head back. Follow behind."

"Whatever." May frowned, getting up and moving after him. She personally had no idea why she was following after him after their fairly cold-hearted argument. Although, the fact that he could have simply said that he was returning to camp without telling her to come with meant that he must've cared at least a little bit. Thus surprising her a little on the inside as she had never met someone who was willing to put up with her this much. Not even her parents nor brother would have survived this long with her. In fact, they might've abandoned her completely. However, maybe it was just her imagination running and exaggerating. Something so little, two simple words.

She could feel her frustration and fears slowly disintegrating.

Moving her feet quietly after the green haired boy, she stared directly down at her feet. Step after step, they crunched upon contact with the sand. Since when had things like this become as entertaining as the things she used to do at home? Was it always like this? Soon enough, May felt a complete mood swing switching on. The brunette was curious as to why she suddenly felt this way, it was as if all of her negative emotions had dissolved completely for the time being. Soon enough, she found herself hopping along in between the mounds of fluffy, white sand and flat, dark, damp sand, wetted by the ocean waters. Drew came to an abrupt halt as he caught May's actions out of the corner of his eye.

"What are you doing...?" He grumbled, glaring at her.

"None of your concern." She hissed, stopped and strutting straight past him without another word. An exasperated sigh entered her ears from behind as she made her way to the dark gray smoke rising and floating up into the air above. Several familiar figures were in sight, although the one called Lucas had joined them once again. This piqued her interest as she had just now noticed that he had disappeared up until now. Although maybe he was there from the start, but in her flurry to get to the plane crash she hadn't noticed it.

Hope.

That's right. They hadn't completely and thoroughly searched the crash site yet, right? There's still a good possibility that they could salvage unbroken pokèballs. A sudden change in heart and mind ran through her, but she still had no idea why. Could it be that Drew actually put up a good argument? May unconsciously shook her head. 'No. No way in hell.'

'For her'

"Paul?" Dawn shifted in his tight grip, confusion coating her voice. Lucas wasn't here. He wasn't here now. Nothing could possibly bother them now. The feeling of her much smaller body in his arms was one that he had never felt before. Had physical contact always been this nice? Warm? Pacifying? Wordlessly, he shut his eyes and rested his chin atop her head. Although, that didn't stop the seemingly endless squirming that overtook her as seconds passed.

"W-wait just a second!"

"Shit!" A low cry escaped his throat. It was white. Pain searing through his jaw, Paul opened his eyes to try and comprehend what was currently going on. Aside from the blood splattered everywhere around them and the two bodies slumped on the ground and against the tree, everything seemed to be alright. What had just happened? Why did the warmth leave him? Glaring upwards, he gently rubbed his jaw with his good hand.

"I-I'm loyal to Lucas!" Dawn had scooted backwards, as far away from him as possible. Her breathing was heavy and her eyes were wide. The afternoon sun gazed down and through the shadows of the trees at them. It brought out the beautiful navy blue color of her hair and seemed to sparkle on her pale bloodied skin. Lucas. So painful it was. A tainted yet gorgeous angel was sitting right in front of him and yet she was so far out of reach.

"I see..." Paul murmured silently, laughing light-heartedly. Was it ignorance or stupidity that blinded him from the reality that was the truth? All this time, he had believed that he had the best chance of becoming her love interest, even if he hated to admit it. Which was mostly because he was the first and only one to have seen her split-personality. No. He knew that Dawn had a very close relationship with Lucas from the moment he sat down across from them on the plane. It was his own stubbornness that stood in between his imagination and reality. Reggie himself had always laughed and told him how stubborn he could be. He never listened, brushing off his comments and advice as if they were mere specks of dust. Would he have felt this way if he had listened to what Reggie had to say? Maybe he shouldn't have walked out of the room when Reggie tried to discuss love with him.

"Uhm... If you didn't already know, Lucas and I are going out. I'm sorry if this is news to you." A sincere apology spilled out of her mouth. That's the worst. It was the last thing that Paul wanted to hear. Why should she apologize for something that was completely out of her control? It wasn't her fault that he refused to believe it even after seeing so many obvious clues. Pain. This internal pain that pulsed through him and made him feel cold and hollow seemed to override the burning sensation that came from his wounded arm and hand. The gusts of cold, icy air the blew past them, it felt as if they were passing straight through him. Like thin, delicate shards of ice were being shot through his head and his chest. Had it gotten even colder out? He wanted very badly to scream, shout, and hurt her in rage, but of course, not even someone like Paul could do such a thing. No matter who it was or what they had done.

"No, I didn't intend to make a move on you, I... I thought you were someone else for a second." On instinct, succeeding in holding an emotionless, firm voice, Paul made a quick excuse for his actions. When exactly did he fall for her? He was most certain that the feeling he had for her was love. Or maybe he was only feeling this way out of desperation and this was his coping mechanism for the current situation he and his group were in. Either way, it hurt. Dying would probably feel much better than this, but of course, he must remain strong, for crying or speaking in a weak tone was for children. So really, when did he fall in love? More importantly, why did he fall in love?

"O-oh! That's good, I guess. Who were you thinking about?" The innocence in her question and response burrowed it's way under his skin and was slowly becoming a burden. Good? How was it good? Was it good because she wouldn't have to worry about any drama? Clutching his spear, he brought it away from his body and jabbed it with all his strength in his good arm into the ground. Surely this action would give off a confident and distant vibe that he so desperately needed at the moment.

"None of your concern." Paul spat bitterly, keeping his guard high. Using the spear for support, he stood up, pressing his wounded arm to his stomach. Pain that he had once felt in his arm and hand were now gone. Maybe his emotions were preventing him from noticing it? Either way, it would be good to get it looked at soon.

"We're going back." Ripping the spear out of the earth, he shouldered his way past her, heading back the way they came. As soon as there was a good amount of distance in between them, he heard the rustling of clothing as Dawn stood up. She dared not say a single word as the situation was awkward enough. Paul did not look back, certain that she would follow him and if not, arrive back at camp at some point.

A familiar silence rippled through the dry air as they walked. It had been several hours since they had last taken off on a short journey to explore the woods and so much had already happened. He couldn't wait to get away from her and talk with someone like Drew, Leaf, Red, or even Ash. As long as he could escape the foul mood he was currently in.

His fists and aching jaw clenched as he remembered that Lucas would be there. And Dawn would surely be all over him, rushing to his side as soon as they got back. For once, he wished Reggie was here next to him. There to pester him with his stupid logic and life-lessons and there to tease him about going soft. Or even get mad and scold him for the way he treated his Pokemon. With a million different memories of his family and Reggie running through his mind, Paul pressed forward through the woods in silence.

Everything was just...

So...

Irritating.

Yey~! Chapter 15 is finished!

So, I'm not sure if I did a nice job showing Paul's feelings and emotions. In fact, they may have been all over the place. Usually I'm good at writing that type of stuff, but maybe I just wasn't in the right state of mind, haha.

I'm sorry, fellow Ikarishippers, but I'm one of those screwed up people who love to temporarily break up ships for unrequited love stories ;~;

Now, that doesn't mean I don't have anything in store for Lucas... Oh, hell, is he really as innocent as I make him seem? I guess we won't know until the next chapter.

I didn't get a chance to write about it, but I assure you that next chapter will have a fairly important event related to Gary and Red.

Maybe it will explain why Red had disappeared for the entire morning?

And did Lucas really go to check up on Gary?

If not, then what is Lucas doing right now?

Oh, and did I include too much romance this chapter? If so, just let me know and I'll dial it down a little bit and get back to the main plot, I promise c: Ehehe

My last little thought that I figured you all should think about:

The mysterious pokèball. What's the deal with that? What do you think? Is it broken, is it empty, is the Pokemon there but simply rejected May, are there Pokemon on this island?

Predictions. Predictions.

Uheuhuehue.

Feel free to drop by and leave a review! I'd love to hear what you think c:

Until next chapter!,

~Bear