A/N: Another update :D Thanks a lot for your support, and here's the next chapter :)

To Guest: Thank you!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or the picture used as cover, though I did edit it.

Days

The day when Paul chokes

Paul

Tuesday, November 12th

"One more time!" Paul called out, his gloved hand pointing at the target painted on the tree, which was only vaguely visible in the impending darkness. Multiple sharp spikes were already lodged in tree, with varying degrees of success.

Drapion's claws started to glow white at Paul's command, and at another sign it jumped and charged at the tree, launching glowing spikes as it went. Green light trailed after the missiles, which joined the others in roughly the middle of the target.

Drapion came to a halt, barely noticeably slipping in the thin layer of snow, and neither its exhaustion nor its reaction to the cold showed. Paul regarded the Pokémon and the tree for a moment, before rewarding Drapion with one of his rare smiles and a satisfied nod. "Well done. Get some rest."

Drapion dipped its head slightly in acknowledgement, and Paul returned it to its Pokéball, finally granting it a reprieve from the biting cold. Nonetheless, the weather was providing him with great training opportunities, and Paul had made the most of it. It was now well and truly dark, and while the snow provided some extra light, Paul was not immune to the cold, either. His fingers and feet had since long gone numb, and Drapion's success seemed like a good ending point for today.

Of course Drapion was able to shoot perfectly in most conditions, but the cold, the slippery ground and the limited sight had provided new circumstances to practice. If the weather continued like this, they'd continue to moving targets tomorrow.

Yes, it was enough for today. Perhaps he'd train inside for a bit after dinner… But no, both his Pokémon and he had been affected by being exposed to the weather the whole day, and undoubtedly he'd spend some time pouring over his strategic notebook later this evening.

A cold wind blew by and Paul hastened himself back to the house, the lights and promised warmth calling to him. But before getting himself comfortable, he first took care of his Pokémon in the specially assigned part of the house. Reggie prepared all the Pokémon food himself, and Paul measured the right amounts, a bit extra for the Pokémon he had worked with today. When all the food was served and small bruises and cuts tended to, Paul left them with encouragements of getting some rest.

By the time he was done, he was already properly warmed up again. He considered having a shower, but disregarded that idea when he walked into the kitchen, where Reggie was just finishing dinner.

Before Paul could do anything or even say as much as a greeting, Reggie spoke, exuberance resounding clearly in his voice. "Paul, you're back again."

Paul raised an eyebrow, but he didn't have to wait long for the good news. Reggie quickly stirred one pan before turning to face Paul.

"Cynthia has agreed, it's official." Reggie beamed. "The Tournament is going to happen, they even have a date already. It's in two months, January 12th."

Paul allowed himself a smile of satisfaction. "Good." And after a moment of consideration, he added, "It should have been no surprise, with how Miss Natochenny has been working on it."

"Cynthia was very positive," Reggie elaborated, and took the pan of the stove, and Paul picked up the remaining pan. "A way to mix Coordinators and Trainers on this big a scale has never happened before, and she likes to try new things. She thinks it could become very big."

"Of course it's going to be big," Paul scoffed. Cynthia was stupid if she thought it wasn't going to be big. Forget the mixing of Coordinators and Trainers, hardly anyone would be interested in that. It was the prize that would draw all the attention.

"You are participating, right?" Reggie gave Paul a sideways look, and Paul raised an eyebrow at Reggie.

"Of course I'm participating," Paul said, dryly. He already knew the answer, but asked anyway. "Are you?"

Reggie hesitated a moment, before shaking his head. "As great it would be, I don't think I'm going to compete. Besides," he added, clapping Paul on the shoulder and smiling softly, "You're already representing our family."

The two of them sat down and divided the food among them. It was silent for a bit, but after the first few bites, Reggie looked slightly more serious and spoke up, "It's going to be difficult, you know."

Paul agreed wholeheartedly. Any Coordinator or Trainer thinking the Wayland Tournament was going to be a breeze was going to come out sorely disappointed. He himself was not arrogant enough to think that he could defeat a Coordinator at their own game, unless they were very inexperienced.

Paul was planning on winning. That big prize, to be allowed to battle the Elite Four (or for the Coordinators, a straight entry into the Battle Portion of the Grand Festival), was going to be his. The last two seasons he had managed to win the Lily of the Valley Conference, and had even gotten through the Elite Four, but Cynthia had always proved to be unbeatable.

Of course one could challenge the Elite Four without winning the Lily of the Valley Conference, but that was very expensive, and Paul's money already went to the more necessary things of life, such as food. The League supplied only until the person turned eighteen, which was why there were so few older people seriously using their Pokémon for battle. Only the very good could manage it professionally, living and training from the money from sponsors, and fortunately Paul was among them.

"The Contest part is going to be the catch," Paul said, pulling himself back to the conversation. "I already have the one required Badge, and my Pokémon are strong, but..."

"Not suitable for Contests," Reggie finished for him, and Paul nodded. "Yes, that's going to be the biggest challenge. Cynthia said that she would make sure there would be extra Contests to accommodate the extra participants."

Paul hummed in response. The Ribbon needed to obtained, but more importantly, he needed to gain experience in Contest battling. The Rounds at the Wayland Tournament would vary between competitive and contest oriented battles, so anyone who wanted to win would have to be well-versed in both aspects of Pokémon battling.

"You could ask someone for help," Reggie offered carefully, and after again a moment of consideration, Paul nodded. He was not someone who liked to be dependent on others, but in this case he would rather succeed with the help of someone than fail on his own. The stakes for this Tournament were just too high and loss was not an option.

Paul would be the first to admit that socializing was not his strong suit. Despite this, he did have a lot of connections with strong Trainers with whom he had friendly rivalries (Ash Ketchum being a prime example, and by far the most friendly), but Coordinators were not people he usually-

He choked on his rice when he remembered that he did know one Coordinator, but he quickly dispelled her from his mind. She was not an option. Reggie patted him roughly on the back and Paul drank some water before he was able to voice another, better option.

"Didn't Maylene have some experience with Contests?" Paul asked, and Reggie grinned.

"Yes, she does. I'm sure she wouldn't mind giving you some pointers," he said, obviously pleased and Paul inwardly rolled his eyes at his brother's lovesickness.

"Good. Then I'll go and visit her this week," Paul said, decidedly.

"I'll ask when she's free," Reggie offered straight away, and Paul nodded his thanks. If not for this reason, Paul knew that Reggie would find another reason for an extra call with his girlfriend.

Paul allowed himself a smirk, and he was quite satisfied to see Reggie look away with a blush.

A/N: Thank you for reading! I hope you liked it, and please let me know what you thought about it! See you soon!

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