Notes: Thank you to the guest reviewer who reminded me this story exists! I actually had this chapter mostly written but got stuck on the ending. Until now!

Enjoy.

Chapter Four

Pokémon Pokégone

Dawn

The scream coming from the stage above us empties every thought from my head.

"What was that?" I whisper in Paul's ear as it stops.

"Stay here. I'll check it out."

I feel Paul pull away from the wall, and a shiver runs through me. If he thinks he's leaving me alone down here, he has another thing coming.

I hear Paul's footsteps quietly climbing the stairs, and I hurry after him. It's still pitch black; I can't see a thing. But he's walking confidently, so I focus on the sound of his shoes on the wooden floorboards and follow.

Muffled voices guide us up to the stage, and as we get closer the words become clearer.

"They're gone, they're all gone!" someone is crying as we pass through a door.

I walk into something hard. Groaning, I step back a couple steps and realise it's Paul's back. He stopped too abruptly.

"What is it?" I ask.

"My Pokémon," someone else wails. "Where are they?"

"All the Pokémon! They're all gone!"

What the hell is happening? I put my hands out, trying to push Paul forward. He's blocking the doorway.

"Standby Magmortar!"

A moment later Magmortar's body of flames lends the stage in front of us an orangey glow. His light doesn't reach far, but even though I have to peer around Paul, I can see the people on the stage.

A woman with curled tawny-brown hair and blue eyes stands in front of the standing microphone, looking horrified. Several couples stand toward the back of the stage, looking around wildly. I recognise Kenny and Leona and Zoey and Barry, but I can't see Ash or Misty.

"Your Pokémon!" Barry cries upon seeing up. "You still have yours!" He races over to us, skidding to a halt in front of Paul. I reflexively clutch Piplup a little tighter. "What's your secret? Are you working with them? I'll give you a massive fine if you are!"

"Whoa." I've had enough and I shove past Paul. "Barry, calm down. Tell us what happened."

Barry narrows his eyes suspiciously at Paul, and then finally looks at me. His amber eyes reflect fear. "Marian was in the middle of announcing couples when the lights went out. Next thing we know, all our Pokéballs are gone! But you still have yours!" His eyes flash back to Paul accusatorially.

"Hold up." I step in front of Paul, catching Barry's gaze. "We were down under the stage and several people ran past us. I bet that's who stole your Pokémon!"

"Oh really? Kinda suspicious that you just happened to be in their exit route," Barry continues dubiously.

Thankfully Zoey comes towards us. "We're all on the same side here," she says calmly. "It must have been Team Rocket."

Next to me, I feel Paul's arm stiffen.

"No way," I disagree. "Team Rocket doesn't exist in Sinnoh anymore."

"Exactly," Barry says, and swings a finger at Paul. "It was him!"

I bat Barry's hand away. "Paul was with me the whole time." I turn back to Zoey. "You really think it was Team Rocket?"

Zoey nods thoughtfully. "My bet is they're not happy about this Marriage Law. If we start having children, they'll have less time to recoup and attempt another invasion before we have enough trainers to defend Sinnoh. Strategically, preventing us from all getting married makes sense for them."

"Yeah that makes sense," says Kenny, as he and Leona join us. "So are we going after them?"

"Of course. Paul and I still have our Pokémon, we can get everyone's Pokémon back!" I announce determinedly. But as I turn toward Paul, I find him already walking away, hands in his pockets. Magmortar dutifully ambles after him. "Hey, where are you going? Team Rocket went that way." I gesture to the passage way we emerged from.

Paul doesn't look back. "Not my problem a bunch of weaklings got their Pokémon stolen."

I gape at his back. Every time I think Paul can't get more heartless, he proves me wrong.

"We don't need him," Zoey says. "You've got your Pokémon, Dawn, and we've got pure determination. Let's go."

"Wait." I scowl at Paul's back in Magmortar's receding light, and then I approach the lady who must have been in charge of running the event and announcing the engaged couples. "Marian, did everyone here lose their Pokémon? Even everyone in the crowd?"

A little of Marian's horror fades as she focuses on my words. "Well, I—I think so."

"Most of us didn't bring Pokémon!" someone from within the crowd shouts.

"Only those being announced as engaged tonight were asked to bring their Pokémon," Marian explains. "We were going to have you all perform a midnight show of prowess."

Now that she mentions it, I do remember that part of the invitation. I just always bring my Pokémon, no matter where.

"So it was definitely Team Rocket," I muse. "This was a deliberate attack." I look around, but Magmortar's light is almost gone. "Hey, where are Ash and Misty?"

"Not all couples have been announced yet," Marian says. "They're probably waiting in the wings with the rest." Ah yes, the wings where Paul and I were supposed to be.

"Okay, so—"

"No time!" Barry comes up behind me and grabs my arm. "Let's get after those Team Rocket goons! They've probably left the town hall by now!"

"Right! Ugh, couldn't Paul have at least stayed so we could see by Magmortar's light?" I grumble.

"Don't you have a Quilava?" Zoey asks.

"Yes, but he doesn't provide as much light as Magmortar…" I throw his Pokéball. "Spotlight, Quilava!"

My fire type bursts onto the stage, the flames on his head and butt flaring. "Show us the way with your fire, Quilava! We need to catch Team Rocket!"

He nods assent and dives off stage, a small glow of orange light emanating from his body. People scatter for him and I run behind him. It almost feels like the old days when I used to travel with Ash, and Jessie and James were our biggest problems. I've heard nothing about them since before the war started. They stopped bothering me once Ash and I parted ways.

We exit the town hall and I'm vaguely aware of Zoey and Barry behind me, maybe Kenny and Leona too. Everyone else probably stayed behind feeling useless without Pokémon. Hopefully they can get the lights working again inside.

At first, all I see is the empty town ahead. A few streetlights offer some patches of light along common walkways, but Twinleaf Town doesn't really have proper roads—more like dirt-trodden paths between houses and the more recent commercial buildings which have popped up like the one clothing boutique.

Then Quilava points me toward a dark corner at the back of a nearby house—where the shadows seem to be moving.

"Give us your Pokémon, and no-one has to get hurt," a voice is saying as I approach. It must be Team Rocket!

Quilava's body still burns with flames, so our approach isn't exactly subtle. As we get closer, his fire illuminates a man and a woman wearing the traditional Team rocket uniform, facing off against… Paul.

"You chased them after all!" I exclaim, unable to contain my surprise.

Paul glances at me dourly. "No. I just ran into them."

"Well, you're involved now. You may as well help me get the stolen Pokémon back," I point out reasonably.

The Team Rocket grunts turn to me. Their eyes zero in on Piplup and Quilava. I'm instantly on my guard. "Don't even think about it," I warn. "Give back the stolen Pokémon, and like you said, no-one has to get hurt."

They exchange glances and smirk. "Our teammates have the stolen Pokémon. You'll never find them. We stayed behind to finish the job. You two are the last two on our list to take Pokémon from."

"Your list?" I shudder. "So this is some kind of big operation?"

"Enough questions," the female grunt snaps. "Hand over your Pokémon, or else." She holds out her palm towards Paul, who stands closer to her. He must have returned Magmortar, since his large fire type is no-where in sight.

It was a mistake to go after Paul first. He simply scoffs at her. "Or else what?"

Both grunts withdraw Pokéballs and throw them.

"Weezing, use Smog!"

"Golbat, use Mean Look!"

Uh oh.

Paul reaches for a Pokéball, but there isn't time.

"Quilava, use Flamethrower to burn up that Smog! Piplup, freeze Golbat with Ice Beam!"

The flames burn up the Smog attack just as I hoped, but Ice Beam misses. Golbat is fast, and has the advantage of being able to see better in the dark.

"Yes, nice one Dawn!" Barry celebrates from somewhere behind me.

I strip my eyes from the battle just long enough to yell at him, "Go find the grunts that have the stolen Pokémon!"

"Right!" Barry and Zoey take off into the darkness, Kenny and Leona hurrying to catch up.

Now I'm alone with Paul, facing down two Team Rocket grunts on my own because Paul is still stubbornly refusing to help.

"Weezing, Sludge!"

"Golbat, Air Cutter!"

It becomes clear in that moment that these grunts don't know how to work together. Those two moves issued at once are counterproductive in such close quarters.

"Quilava, Flame Wheel around them! Piplup, catch them with Whirlpool!"

"This isn't a contest battle," Paul scoffs as my Pokémon team up just like they have countless times before. "Magmortar, bury them with Rock tomb!"

"So now it becomes a matter of proving you're better than me, you choose to join the battle?" I hiss at him. "I don't need your help, Paul!"

"Yes," he says with a smirk. "You do."

Golbat's Air Cutter slices through Weezing's Sludge just as I expected, with both their attacks aimed in the same direction, but it doesn't stop the Sludge from coming—just breaks it into smaller pieces. And in smaller pieces, it's more dangerous.

Quilava growls as he throws himself into Flame Wheel and encircles the enemies just as I directed, his fire blazing bright against the dark night. Piplup throws out his Whirlpool, catching both enemies as they try to dodge but can't get through Quilava's flaming circle.

Unfortunately, while Piplup successfully incapacitates them, it doesn't stop their attacks from closing in… on me.

I'm barely aware of Magmortar's Rock Tomb crushing down on Golbat and Weezing while they're trapped in Piplup's Whirlpool. I realise too late that tiny pieces of sliced Sludge are travelling a direct route to my face.

I dive sideways with a scream.

I hit the dirt hard.

Something sizzles against my cheek.

My eye is burning.

I reach a hand to my face as I curl into myself.

Instant pain flares under my skin at the contact. Tears bubble in the corners of my eyes and nausea overcomes me.

Paul

I see Dawn throw herself to the ground in my peripheral vision. I don't understand why at first. I watch Magmortar's attack strike perfectly, knocking out the Golbat and Weezing. Dawn's Pokémon let their attacks fade away and then start looking around for more direction. The enemy grunts return their fainted Pokémon and reach for their next Pokéballs.

I use the brief break to look for Dawn—and find her curled into a ball in the dirt, clutching her face.

"Told you you aren't capable of—" My words die in my throat as I notice the bubbling patch of purple poison spreading from under her fingers. "Dawn? Did that Sludge attack hit you?"

She whimpers a faint, "Yes."

I struggle to comprehend it.

"It's illegal to use Pokémon moves moves against humans," I growl at our enemies. I shouldn't be surprised Team Rocket doesn't care about legality—they used Pokémon to kill during the war, but as far as I saw that was during fast paced large scale attacks during mayhem that made it hard to separate humans from Pokémon targets.

The announcement of the Marriage Law must be making them desperate.

"As if you can talk," sneers the male grunt. "Marrying together all eligible trainers isn't exactly the epitome of morality."

His words strike close to home, but an urge to defend the Marriage Law rises within me. I disagree with it as a strategy but it is Sinnoh's official response to the ongoing threat from Team Rocket, so I will stand by it in defence of Sinnoh. "We defeated you and exiled you from our region. When will you learn you'll never stand a chance of taking over Sinnoh?"

"Your Marriage Law is a direct attack on us," the female grunt spits. "We don't have a choice but to cut you off from your Pokémon by any means necessary. We might not be able to match you in numbers, but we have no qualms about getting our business done with any means necessary. Your need for ancient morality laws will be your undoing, trainer."

I don't like to be put in a box. I won't be underestimated.

Their assumption that I agree with Cynthia's choices, and that I am no more than a mindless follower, makes me angry.

"Prepare to learn why you will lose in the end," the male grunt growls, and they both reach for Pokéballs.

"Cross Poison, Drapion." I toss his Pokéball while the grunts are still fumbling with their belts.

"W-wait," the male grunt stammered. "Who're you aiming that attack at?"

Drapion screeches as he somersaults out of his Pokéball and slashes his tail down in the space directly between where the grunts were standing a second ago. His tail glows white, indicating the deadly poison ready to release upon contact.

"Not fair!" the female grunt shrieks. "You—you're a Sinnoh trainer, you can't use your Pokémon to hurt us!"

"That's what you just did to Dawn," I remind her coldly. "If you want to play with poison, you better be ready to feel the burn."

"But it's against your laws!" the male grunt wails, both of them scrambling to create distance from me.

"Feel free to stick around if you want to test that theory," I respond.

Drapion hisses, scuttling towards them.

"Eek!" they cry and climb to their feet, taking off into the night without another word.

Before I can do anything else, someone calls out from behind me.

"Dawn? Dawn, are you okay?"

Ash. I grit my teeth and turn around to find him running towards Dawn, the redheaded girl right behind him.

Dawn is still on the ground, but she's trying to sit up.

Ash helps her up without pausing for breath. "What happened?"

Dawn teeters on her feet, leaning on him.

"I got hit with a Sludge attack," she mumbles, clearly trying not to cry again.

"What? That doesn't make sense, Pokémon don't attack humans," Ash says idiotically.

"Don't just stand there!" the redhead yells, and with a start I realise she's talking to me. "Help her!"

I stare at the redhead. I just chased away Team Rocket, what more does she want from me?

"There's only a thirty percent chance you've been poisoned," Ash says, trying to peel Dawn's fingers away from her face to look at the wound. "You're probably fine."

"Say that to my sizzling skin," Dawn hisses. Her Piplup and Quilava gather at her feet, nuzzling into her legs.

"We have to go after Team Rocket," I say. "They went that way. They'll lead us to the stolen Pokémon."

To my utter surprise, the redhead reaches out a long pale arm and slaps the back of my head. I don't react. I'm not going to give her the satisfaction of knowing her swipe is strong enough to sting. "Your fiancé is injured, you're not going anywhere! Ash and I will get the Pokémon back. Right, Ash?"

"Right!" Ash steps away from Dawn.

"You're fine, aren't you?" I say to her, while glowering at the redhead.

"No, you need to stay with her," Ash interrupts, seeming to realise I still plan on chasing after Team Rocket. Occasionally, he has a sentient thought.

"I'm the only one with Pokémon to fight them," I point out. "The longer we talk about it, the less chance we have of catching them."

Ash squares up to me before I can take chase. "Paul, Dawn is going to be your wife. You can't keep treating her like this. You have to take care of her when she's hurt."

She's not my wife yet. It makes no sense for the only trainer with Pokémon able to fight to stay behind.

"You're right," I say instead, with a shrug. Ash's antagonism almost made me forget who I am. "I don't care if you recover the stolen Pokémon or not."

Ash looks like he wants to continue arguing, but his wife-to-be pulls him away and they begin to chase after the grunts in the direction I indicated.

"Paul?" Dawn's quiet voice pulls my attention back to her. "I think I need some medicine."

I look at her properly for the first time. In the light of her Quilava's flames, her skin is tinged faintly purple.

"Fuck."

Dawn

I don't really comprehend the walk back to the Pokémon Center. I hang onto Paul's arm, somehow managing to walk while my body weakens with every step. Eventually he curses under his breath and picks me up. I vaguely remember to call out for Piplup and Quilava, not wanting them to be left behind, and Paul assures me they're following us.

I have no option but to trust him. My eyes are already closing.

I wake up on a hard cot with plastic sides. My hands are restrained in plastic cuffs by my sides. My head feels heavy, and it's hard to keep my eyes open.

The room around me is fuzzy; it takes a while to come into focus.

"What happened?" I ask. My tongue feels too thick.

Paul's face, all hard angles and pale darkness, pops into view above me. "You were poisoned by Sludge. I took you to the Pokémon Center and Nurse Joy healed you."

My brow creases with difficulty as I mull on his words. "Pokémon Center? But… I'm not a Pokémon."

"The poison antidote made for Pokémon worked, so maybe you are…"

"I'm not a Pokémon," I repeat faintly.

"Team Rocket thinks you are." Paul's face tightens.

It takes me some time to think back to the incident and figure out what he means. "Are you saying they aimed the attack at me on purpose?"

Paul winces at my high-pitched squeak. "Yes."

"They can't do that!" I exclaim, my voice still coming out pitchy. I try to sit up, straining against my plastic cuffs, but my head begins to throb.

Paul frowns as me as my face scrunches up. When I don't move, he sighs and extends his index finger to apply light pressure to my shoulder. It's the tiniest of touches, but a shiver runs through me at the contact. I lay back down obediently. My headache obligingly lessens.

"You're still recovering," he says, the crease in his brow remaining. "Team Rocket don't care about our laws, Troublesome."

"I'm not troublesome," I murmur as my brain swirls with his words.

"You got poisoned on a thirty percent chance. What do you call that if not troublesome?"

"Unlucky and unfair," I mutter. "Wait—where are Piplup and Quilava? And what happened to the stolen Pokémon? Did you get them back?" My eyes flare wide as I try to sit up again and scan the room.

Paul pushes me down with a little more force. "Stop. Fighting. Your. Recovery," he grinds out through gritted teeth. "Nurse Joy is taking care of your Pokémon, and yes, the stolen Pokémon were retrieved."

Speaking of Nurse Joy, she enters the room as if summoned. I seem to be in a private room, or at least I'm the only patient in the room on a plastic carrier clearly meant for a Pokémon like an Empoleon, roughly the size of the average human.

"You're awake," she says, almost as if she's surprised.

"Yes, thanks to you." I give her a smile even though it hurts my head to stretch my lips too wide. "How did you know a Pokémon antidote would work?"

She comes to my side and lays a cool hand on my forehead. "I didn't."

She doesn't sugarcoat it, but I can't exactly complain now. It worked, and that's the main thing. "Well, thank you. I don't know what would have happened if Paul hadn't brought me here! Ugh…" Being too bright is hurting my head.

Nurse Joy grunts; a very un-Nurse-Joy-like sound. She's really not been the same since the war. "You'll live," she says after a short assessment and a scan of the machine by my bed. I didn't notice the wires sticking out of my arms until now. "Try to avoid Sludge attacks in the future. It's not like being poisoned by manmade toxins. There's been no research on the effects of Pokémon poison on humans."

"No need to worry! I'm not keen to experience this again."

Nurse Joy grunts again and leaves.

"So what happened to Team Rocket?" I ask in the ensuing silence.

"Some other trainers arrived and chased after them," Paul states matter-of-factly.

I stare up into his onyx eyes, trying to decipher the emotion there. "You didn't finish them off yourself?"

"I had to take care of my wife-to-be," he says, faking sweetness. Coming from him, it's an ugly tone.

"I never asked you to do that." I'm immediately angry; it sounds like he's blaming me for getting hurt.

"I have to marry you. It is my responsibility," he says expressionlessly.

"I don't need to you save me," I say with a glare that hurts my head. "I can look after myself, Paul."

"Tonight's events suggest otherwise."

He's looking at me as if he blames me for something—for getting poisoned? No, it's something else.

"Well you don't have to stay. I'm recovering, you can go." My tone is surprisingly cold. Recovering from my poisoning is making me short-tempered.

He stares down at me, not speaking. I become uncomfortable under the intensity of his scrutiny, but I don't look away.

"I can't," he says eventually. "I realised something after you took the Sludge attack."

"Oh, while you were chatting with Team Rocket instead of helping me as my face burned off?" I nod.

Paul scowls. "Are you going to listen, or not?"

"I'm listening!"

"Team Rocket alluded to the reason they're striking out at us now as being due to fear of the Marriage Law. They said it's immoral to force people to get married just to have children to repopulate the region… So…" He sighs reluctantly. "I have a plan."

I try to sit up again, but the cuffs hold me down. "Are these really necessary?"

Paul frowns. "Did you hear what I said?"

"Yes, and I want to sit up so we can have a proper conversation."

"Hn. Never mind." Paul turns away from my cot. "You need to recover."

I stop struggling and lay back down. "No, wait, don't go! Finish what you were saying!"

For a moment I think he's walking out, but then his face floats back into the edge of my view.

"We need to lower Team Rocket's guard by making these stupid marriages look real. If we get them to believe that, then we can strike when we're ready and they won't be expecting it."

"Make it look real?" I wonder aloud. "What exactly do you mean? It's already real that we're getting married."

"We have to make it look like… we want to get married." The way his face twists as he says that makes it clear he wants anything but to marry me.

Nurse Joy comes back in the room at that moment, carrying what looks like more medicine for me. But I don't get a chance to see, because suddenly Paul's face is getting closer and closer to mine.

"No time like the present to start," he mutters before his mouth presses to mine.

It's not familiar yet. This is only the third time we've kissed, and it still sends little sparks of electricity throughout my whole body when his lips meet mine. I wonder when it will stop feeling like this. When I'll be so used to the surprising warmth and softness of his mouth that it will be just an ordinary sensation that my brain can just ignore. It must be because this is only my third kiss ever, that I react this way. It doesn't seem to affect him at all.

This kiss is short and cold. Emotionless, for him. He's trying to make a point. But my entire being is alight with warmth as he peels himself back.

"Nurse Joy," he says with a note of surprise in his tone, as if he hadn't realised she'd come back.

"Excuse me." She coughs awkwardly. "I've brought one more dose of the antidote, Dawn. I recommend you stay another six hours, and then you can go home."

"Oh… Thank you." I eye the antidote spray nervously. I was unconscious when it must have first been used on me. At least I can blame the red flush on my face on being anxious to experience the antidote fully conscious.

"All right. Close your eyes…"

I oblige, and feel a soft mist settle over my face.

And then it starts to burn like hell.

"…shouldn't have any scarring," Nurse Joy is saying, but it's difficult for me to concentrate through the pain.

I'm gritting my teeth like my life depends on it, trying not to scream. I will not let Paul see my weakness.

Then Paul's voice starts up, carrying a note of caring that I didn't believe possible from him.

"I'll make sure she rests and heals properly, Nurse Joy. But if there is some scarring, it doesn't matter to me. She'll be beautiful on our wedding day either way."

My eyes burst open, unable to comprehend the tenderness in his voice. I have to see if this is really Paul, or a Pokémon pretending to be him.

No, those are definitely his black eyes, staring sincerely at Nurse Joy over my cot.

Nurse Joy nods briskly. "Good. I'll check on you once more before you go home. Get some rest, Dawn." She seems unaffected by walking in on our kiss, or by Paul's sweet words, and she leaves the room without dallying.

I look back at Paul. He's staring after her, a contemplative look on his face.

"Was that really necessary?" I groan. "Nurse Joy isn't the enemy, you know. She's well aware these marriages are due to the law and nothing else."

Paul looks down at me, his gaze sharpening.

"You trust too easily, Troublesome. That's always been your problem."

I close my eyes and sigh, already tired again. "What's that supposed to mean?" I mumble half-heartedly.

"Get some rest," he says instead of answering. "Don't want to be scarred on your wedding day, do you?"

One of my eyes cracks open to see if he's joking. "You just said you don't care if I am."

"Like I said. You trust too easily."

I want to retort back, but I'm already falling back into sleep.

Author's Note: Thank you for reading! Please leave a review if you'd like to encourage me :)

~Jay