A/N: Thanks a lot, everyone! Here's the next chapter, I hope you enjoy!

To cake0108: Yeah, he's not completely at ease… Thanks a lot for taking the time to leave a review :D

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

Days

The day Paul comes home

Paul

Sunday, December 22th

Travelling alone was surprisingly quiet. Despite his earlier aversion to travelling with a companion, it appeared he had gotten used to it.

The sounds of nature were suddenly clear again – and sometimes it even seemed too silent – without Dawn's chattering, or even the sound of her footsteps next to him. At times, he had wanted to make a remark about a strange plant or a Pokémon scurrying around, only to find himself without a human listener.

Ninjask was buzzing next to him, as it had become his habit to have at least one Pokémon out while travelling, but still it was… different.

Maybe he was just thinking too much about it. It was partly Dawn's fault, since her departure had been a bit odd. It almost made him wonder if he had done something wrong, if he had missed something crucial in their social interactions, but he came up blank.

"Nin, nin, ninjask!" His Pokémon's excited sounds pulled him back to reality and he smiled slightly at the sight in front of him, Veilstone City's buildings appearing in the distance against the hills.

Almost home.

He picked up his pace and while it would still be a long while, the end of his journey coming closer encouraged him on. As he travelled the sun started to set and the temperature dropped, though it was far from cold. With this kind of weather, it was unlikely that Sinnoh would have a white Christmas this year.

As he had expected, the house was decorated with lights and colorful Christmas decorations. Despite the incoming dark, there were still some Pokémon outside, though he recognized none of them as Reggie's or his own.

Paul went inside, shrugged his backpack off his tired shoulders and then left it inside the hall. He recalled Ninjask before he started to look for his brother. He heard no sounds from the living room or kitchen, but he soon found Reggie the Pokémon area of the house. Reggie stood in the middle of the room designed for ice types, speaking softly to something in his arms.

"Need a hand?" Paul offered, and smirked when Reggie jumped and whirled around.

"Paul! You're back!"

Before Reggie could say more, the two baby Pokémon which he had been in the process of shushing started their crying again. Smoochum, Paul recognized the Pokémon in Reggie's arms, and inwardly shook his head, before moving to help his brother.

With the temperature in the room, he was glad he hadn't taken off his coat yet. Reggie, too, was dressed for the cold environment in the room. Paul took one of the Smoochum in his arms, and after minutes of rocking and humming to the Pokémon, he had managed to calm her down, just after Reggie had put his one back in the bed of leaves and dried grass. Paul carefully did the same, before following Reggie out of the room.

After Reggie closed the door, he explained quietly, "They were found abandoned at Mount Coronet."

Paul grimaced. It was a fate that was sadly not uncommon for baby Pokémon, to be left to their own devices when their parents were captured by Trainers. Ever since he had found out about that, he had gotten more careful with the capture of new Pokémon.

Paul left his coat in the hall and then they settled in the kitchen. Reggie made tea for himself and coffee for Paul, and Paul let himself fall into one of the chairs. He stretched his legs, feeling the miles he had walked today in his feet, despite the endurance he had built over the years.

"So, everything under control here?" he asked.

Reggie hummed in reply, pouring their drinks and then sitting down opposite of Paul.

"The Smoochum came in today, so they're still settling in, but other than that it's all fine," Reggie answered, then added, "Your Pokémon are well, too, of course."

Paul nodded, then blew at his coffee in an attempt to get it to a drinkable temperature.

"How were your travels?" Reggie asked, settling comfortably in his chair. "You sure have been busy, haven't you?"

While he could see that his brother was mostly teasing, Paul had the grace to look apologetic, because usually he would have called Reggie at least once a week, but with Dawn... It had been weeks since he had called, and he had only sent Reggie some short messages telling him that he was training for the Tournament and bits about his Pokémon.

And since he had seen no reason to mention Dawn in his messages, it seemed that he would have to tell his brother now. An unusual amount of foreboding filled him. While nothing was going on between Dawn and him, Reggie would certainly not see it as such.

"Sorry," Paul said, buying himself some extra time by taking a sip of his still too hot coffee. "I have been training for the Tournament."

"So you told me, yes," Reggie said, and then gave him that one look that meant Paul better tell him more.

Well, no need to prolong it. "Do you remember Dawn? She was at Maylene's Gym when we went there to train."

The expression of confusion on Reggie's face would almost be funny if Paul hadn't know that the tables would soon turn. "Yes..."

"She has been helping me with training."

For a moment, Paul relished in Reggie's gaping-like-a-Magikarp look – it was not often he could truly surprise his brother – before quickly taking his chance with Reggie's silence and continuing, "We met at several Contests, and she beat me. She offered her help and I accepted. We have made the deal that I will help her get a Gym Badge if she'll help me get a Ribbon. Which she has done so."

He pulled the Ribbon out of his pocket to show it. Reggie stared at it for a moment, before looking back at Paul with surprise still on his face, though there was a twinkle of amusement appearing in his eyes. "You're saying... you traveled together?"

Paul inwardly sighed, already knowing what was to come. "Yes."

Slowly but surely a wide grin spread across Reggie's face. "Really? Really. You two travelled together and trained together and there was no one else..." He wagged his eyebrows.

Truly, his brother was so predictable. It was also ironic that, for once, Reggie's insinuation was spot on, even if it had not happened in the situation his brother was describing.

Paul gave him a warning look pro forma, doubting that it'd have much effect.

Reggie leaned back in his chair and folded his arms behind his head, a smug expression on his face.. "Well, I completely understand that you were too busy to call your older brother then."

Paul pressed his lips together, and glared some more.

"How did it go? Travelling with someone, and a girl nonetheless?" The amused sparkle in his eyes was still there, but the smirk was toned down and Reggie seemed serious enough in his question.

Paul almost sighed, before considering his answer seriously. It had taken some time to get used to her, but after that, he had found that it had been… kind of nice. Her departure had been a bit fast, but still, he supposed he could understand her wanting to be at home, especially if she was sick – she had not completely recovered from the bout of sickness that started in Wayward Cave. Some off time would be good for her, and then they would meet up again and they would continue training, and Dawn would get her Gym Badge.

"It went well," he finally said, and because it was Reggie and he always needed to talk more with Reggie, he added, "It took time for us to get used to each other. But we work well together." He gestured to the Ribbon now laying on the table.

Reggie raised his eyebrows, and then slowly nodded. "That's good. And where is she now? Did she get her Gym Badge?" He looked in the direction of the hall, as if he expected Dawn to suddenly appear.

"She's spending the holidays at home. We'll continue with training and getting her Badge after New Year's," Paul said. They actually hadn't decided on a specific date, but he supposed it would be around that time.

"Right." Reggie nodded, and then smirked. "Well, I'm glad you've finally found someone to travel with. Especially such a charming young lady like Dawn."

Paul resisted the urge to put his head in his hands. He knew he would regret telling Reggie, and if the look in his brother's eyes was anything to go by, this would only be the first of many times that he would regret it.

A/N: Thank you all for reading! This was a fun chapter to write, a bit lighter than the others. I hope you liked it as well! I love reviews *hint hint*

Thank you!

Recommendation:

Hobbit: Stolen Heir by kaotic312. FFN. This is a long multi-chaptered story which is not yet finished but also not yet forgotten. It has a really well-developed world, focusing on the dwarves. And by giving Kíli's father a surprising identity, it changes canon. For the better, perhaps, hm… Also features TaurielxKíli.

If you have any stories you want me to recommend, I'll gladly have a look at them!