Pokémon 1. Chapter 1

I don't own any of the characters in this story (FYI if it wasn't obvious) but I hope you like my story!

Chapter 1

Dawn laid wide awake, unable to fall asleep, as the time read 11 pm. She sighed, having too many thoughts run through her head, feeling overwhelmed.

Dawn hasn't seen or even heard from Ash since when he left a few weeks ago. She's lucky that Brock has been keeping in touch with her through email, but she wondered why. Maybe he didn't even care about her, or forgot...

*Flashback*

"I can't believe our journey together...is over. I just...can't believe it at all!", Dawn whispered so quietly, nobody heard her. Having the thought of Ash leaving her made tears from in her eyes, as she quickly wiped them away with the back of her hands. She was hoping earlier in the day that Ash would ask for her to tag along again, as he was going to make another journey to a different region, Unova. On the other hand, Brock, he was going separate ways from Ash, which both him and Ash felt heartbroken, but they both knew they needed to go their own seperate paths for their own goals in the future.

She still had a small crush on Ash, but she knew it was never meant to be, especially because he was waiting for the right time to ask his first and only crush, Misty. She wasn't jealous, not even, but having to see her close friends leave for their own goals, it was bittersweet. Dawn didn't even realize the boat was here until Ash and Brock pointed it out since she was spacing out for a few minutes.

"Hey...Dawn, you okay?", Ash asked, poking Dawn lightly on her shoulder.

Dawn immediately blinked a couple times, before realizing that Ash was trying to get her attention.

"Huh? Oh, no need to worry Ash, I'm fine, I'm just a little sad you guys are actually leaving, but it was gonna happen either way. Just promise to keep in touch with me while you're on your next journey!", Dawn spoke quickly, nervous that either him or Brock would notice her unusual behavior, since she was only partially telling the truth, but lying at the same time.

"But that's when we worry the most Dawn, but I'm glad that you aren't making a huge deal because I'm leaving you!", Ash spoke, obviously to dense to notice that what he said made Dawn wince a little on the inside, but shrugged it off.

Brock took this opportunity to speak, "Dawn, both Ash and I will miss you greatly, just like missing everybody else we've met in Sinnoh. I'll make sure to send emails to you to let you know how my breeding is going, to stay in touch." Dawn smiled, knowing that Brock will keep his promise, as she watched them both walk onto the ship they were sailing on.

"Pika pika, Pikachu!", Pikachu said to piplup, who felt just the same as Dawn, depressed, emotional, bittersweet, and sad.

"Piplup, pip pip-lup piplup!", Piplup cried, forming tears in his eyes, as he watched Pikachu, Ash, and Brock, as they all were saying their last goodbyes, while waving their arms.

"Goodbye piplup and Dawn! The next time I meet up with you, I wanna have another battle!", Ash yelled towards Dawn.

Dawn felt her legs wobble a little, as she noticed her legs were getting weak. She started to run across the dock to the very edge, waiving her last goodbyes towards Ash and Brock, until they were no longer in sight.

Dawn stood in that spot for a few minutes, watching the breathtaking sunset, as the slight breeze ruffled her deep blue hair. "Goodbye... I hope we can see each other again in the future..." Dawn cried under her breath, as she hugged Piplup, and walked back home.

*present time*

Dawn finally managed to fall asleep, with a few tears slipping down her cheek, falling onto her pillow.

*Next Morning*

"DAWN! WAKE UP! Someone yelled, barging into her room, almost knocking over some things off her dresser.

"Grooaan...ugh I still wanna sleep though..." Dawn mumbled, throwing her pillow on top of her head.

"But I haven't seen you in forever! It's the one and only, MAY MAPLE! Didn't you miss me to- OW!" May yelled in pain as she hit her knee on the dresser.

Dawn quickly threw her blankets off of her, and rushed to hug her best friend, who was still on the floor whining about her knee.

"MAY! I've been missing you so much since last month! I can't believe you came all the way here just to visit me." Dawn said excitedly, as she helped may stand up. She noticed that may wasn't wearing her green biker outfit anymore, instead, wearing some grey basketball sweatpants, a pair of the latest air-jordans, and a red basketball t-shirt.

May replied, calmly "but that's what best friends do, right? Hey we should go downstairs and eat some breakfast, cause I'm really damn hungry, to be honest. Your mom was cooking up some really delicious pancakes, but I waited so I could eat with you."

Dawn smiled, " I'm so glad that you came to visit me, but I'm pretty sure my mom had to tell you to wake me up before you ate anything, huh?"

"Well, you could say that...actually, you're right. But let's go!", may said, as she grabbed Dawns arm and ran downstairs, forcefully pulling Dawn along.

once May and Dawn reached downstairs, they couldn't resist getting a delicious scent of fresh chocolate chip pancskes, eggs, and bacon.

"Well, hello there girls! I'm glad you were able to wake up her up May, considering she was probably up till 2 am texting, but I've made breakfast for you guys, so dig in!" Johanna said, putting the food on the table.

"Thank you so much!" Both of them said in unison, as they rushed to the table to eat and to catch up on the adventures of what they've missed from each others lives for the past month.


	2. Chapter 2

Ok, this is going to be chapter 2! I may not be writing that many chapters until next week after my finals (ugh I hate studying) but until then, I hope this chapter will be OK :

Chapter 2

"So, has you contacted Ash since he left you? He's rarely kept in contact with me, which I don't find suprising, because Misty told me it's very difficult to keep in touch with him." May said, curious to find out if it's just Ash to not talk to people much, or if he's just ignoring her.

"Pshh, hardley, he's probably off being a dumbass trying to catch another pokemon right now if I had to guess. But now I do know how you feel, kinda being replaced already by Iris and that other guy... oh yeah! Cilan, that's his name. But I do keep in touch with a few other people." Dawn spoke, gulping the last of her milk before setting her dishes into the dishwasher.

"Yeah, I know, but because of Ash traveling to Sinnoh, I got to meet you! Hey, yeah, I'm assuming you've met a variety of people from Sinnoh while traveling with Brock and Ash, any rivals you've got?" May asked, helping Dawn with the dishes.

"Oh yeah, I've got plenty more than enough people that I know. One of my closest friends and rival, her name is Zoey, and she's a fantastic coordinator, I think you should enter a contest with her because she sure isn't anything easy, that's for sure. There's Kenny, he's kinda of a little kid, but friendly, even though I know he has a huge crush on me, but I don't think I'll ever date him!" Dawn laughed, as both of them went outside.

May instantly stopped and turned around and replied "What?! Awwww that is so ADORABLE ! Why not? Wait, ohhhhh I know who you're talking about he's not that cute anyways. Anybody else?"

"Well, there's my friend Barry, he actually lives in Twinleaf town too, and he's a goofball, if you remember watching the Sinnoh league on TV, you might remember he's the one with yellow hair and battled against Paul, but Conway, ewww what a creep! He's so perverted, I'm glad I don't have to see him again!" Dawn exclaimed, glad that Conway won't be creeping up on her again.

"Wow! Sounds like you've got a variety of people. Didn't you tell me about that girl with the pink hair...is it Ursula?", May asked, trying to remember if that was the right name.

"Yeah, that's the one. Uhg I hate her from the bottom of my heart I swear! She's so stuck up and cocktail about everything like she's the best at everything, especially contests, which I practically beat her every time, but she's still my rival so I can't let my guard down." Dawn spoke, expressing her hate towards the name of Ursula.

May grabbed a basketball and starting dribbling while talking to Dawn."Geeze, what a bummer. I think I remember watching her battle once or twice, but I honestly don't see any potential in her or her pokemon, they're literally all stuck-up. Well, it's kinda the same thing for me and Harley, but I haven't ran into him for quite some time, it's actually nice not seeing that weirdo for once."

"I feel you, no need to worry about that right now! Besides, how's DREW been? Isn't he a famous coordinator in the Hoenn region? He's pretty cute, but someday I wanna go up against him in a contest, see how my skills are increasing, well, hopefully!" Dawn spoke, right when she swished a three pointer.

May laughed "Oh geeze Dawn, I'm pretty sure you've gotten much stronger since the Wallace cup, so we should have a battle later, but right now I'm feeling in the basketball mood, you know? Let's play one-on-one, first one to ten, and it's 1 and 2 pointers."

"You've got yourself a deal May, but I wouldn't be so confident if I were you in this case, because I'm not going easy, as always." Dawn exclaimed, passing the ball towards May, checking the ball to start the one-on-one scrimage.


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry, I've been super busy, but I have gone through my chapters and made some corrections, and tbh, it's my very first story so I'm new to this but leave any comments if you see something I could correct! Thanks a bunch!

Chapter 3

*Barry's POV*

'Hmmmm.. I wonder where Ash is, I haven't seen him in WEEKS! I really wanna have a battle with him, considering I couldn't even beat Paul! That's it, it's fining time! I'm gonna try finding someone who may kno- hey, I could ask Dawn!' I thought to myself, as I started to sprint full speed, because one: I had to find out where the hell Ash went, and two, Dawn lives in Twinleaf town, so it won't be long before I get to her house.

As I was still sprinting , suprising I was already burning out of steam, and, and uhhh, wait! Focus! Geeze, I can't even keep my thoughts straight. Maybe that's why I'm crazy...I started to see Dawns house just ahead, but I didn't recognize who was with her. 'I better find out who that is..' I thought.

I arrived at Dawns house, watching her and the brunette girl giggling and laughing with each other. "Hey DAWN! Long time no see since the Sinnoh league!" I yelled, grabbing the attention of Her and her brunette friend.

Dawn instantly smiled, "Barry! What are you doing here? Well, who cares, I haven't seen you in a long time, too. How have you been, since having a tough lose to Paul?", she asked, obviously curious and interested, considering it feels like forever since I've seen her.

I shrugged my shoulders, "Well, I've been pretty good, still training as always, but I came here to ask about Ash and Brock, I haven't seen them around, and when I do, I'm gonna fine them BOTH for not telling me where they've been!" I yelled, making Dawn giggle a little bit, while her brunette friend jumped a little, shocked from my sudden outburst.

"I'm sorry to say, but Brock went back to become a breeder and nurse, while Ash left to make another journey in Unova, because he wants to compete in the Unova league. I haven't heard rarely anything from Ash, but I do get quite the updates from Brock, and from the sound of it, he's got a great job." Dawn spoke, making me suprising that Ash left without telling me!? Geeze, he's gonna get two fines!

"Ah maaannn I wanted to have a battle with him, since I didn't even get an opportunity in the Sinnoh league, if only I beat Paul, then we would've battled! Well, I need to contact him, and he's gonna get two fines this time." I spoke, ready to take off to the closest pokemon center to use one of those phone thingies with the screen.

Dawn quickly grabbed my wrist before I could even take off, " Hey, wait up! Since you came all the way here, I want to introduce you to another one of my closest friends, who is also a very popular coordinator in the Hoenn region. Barry, this is May Maple, and her dad is a gym leader also. May, this is one of my friends that lives in Twinleaf Town, Barry, and his father is Palmer, who is the leader of the Battle Tower here in Sinnoh. He's the one who always happens to run or bump into ash!", Dawn said, trying not to laugh at the last comment she said about me.

"Hey! He was the one who was always in MY way! And you bumped into me at the Sinnoh League, so I wouldn't talk if I were you!", I yelled, proving my point that I was right.

Dawn and May both tried to not laugh, but failed, miserably. "Oh Barry, you've got to know that I'm only teasing you a little bit. Besides, I'm glad that you stopped by. But hey, since you're here, why not stay for lunch with me and May?", Dawn questioned, while giving me one of her looks as in the way of 'I haven't seen you in forever, and I wanna know how you've been'.

"Sure, sounds fine to me, how about you?", May asked me, considering that it wasn't a bad idea to talk for a bit.

"Okay, sounds good to me!", I yelled, pumping my fist into the air.

*at lunch*

I looked at what Dawn and May ordered, as Dawn ordered a salad, but May, oh geeze, how can somebody eat that much ramen?! She's a ready eaten a few bowls, and she just ordered another.

"So, Dawn, how have you been doing with contests lately?", I asked, before chewing on another thousand fries.

Dawn sighed, then replied," I've only competed in a couple so far, but I'm focusing more on training, but I can tell you a few members pokemon I've got! Well, only one of them is new, I've had the others for a long time, but I'm starting to train with them."

"That's cool. So, what are you're pokemon that you're training?", I asked, I didn't expect Dawn to have a new group of pokemon, but I'm very interested.

Dawn pushed her bowl to the side, resting her hands on her lap while talking, "I've just caught a new Luxio, and the other pokemon are Turtwig and Riolu. My mom caught them when I was very little, so she's basically passing them on into my hands, and they're really great pokemon. But I also have something else to say that probably will shock you. I've already talked to May about it and she says it's a good idea for me."

I glanced at May, who was listening also, so I chose to speak, "So, what's the idea? I'm curious since you brought it up."

Dawn smiled, but she had a worried look on her face, but I had no idea why,"Just don't go telling everybody, because I'm still only considering it, I just wanna hear an opinion."

"Dawn, I promise I won't do anything to hurt you, only help, and you can count on me.", I said, easing the tension for her.

She took a deep breath, wondering what my reaction would be once she told me,"Well, it's just that... I was considering,to start battling, to change it up a bit."

I was completely SHOCKED. I never ever thought Dawn would even be interested in battling! I realized my jaw was hanging open, so I quickly shut my mouth. I knew Dawn was acting a bit nervous about something, but not that.

I was trying to come up with something to say, " Wow, Dawn... I think that's really cool! I never thought you would be interested in battling, but I was wrong. I think that you've got great potential to try and start battling if you put your mind to it." I said, as Dawn sighed in relief, probably thinking I was gonna freak out, considering I usually do all the time.

"Whew, that's a relief. May and I are leaving in a few days for our journey, and since you agree with my decision, maybe you would like to tag along with us for a little bit? No need to worry, because it's your decision", Dawn said.

I was so pumped, I had tons of energy from excitement,"That sounds pretty cool to me! If that's okay with you, May."

May happily smiled, "that sounds like a good idea to me!"

We paid for our food, and walked out of the restaurant, talking, for a few more moments,

I remembered I had to get home really soon, or else my dad might get mad,"Hey Dawn, text me when you guys are leaving, cause I gotta get back home, if you don't mind."

Dawn replied, smiling, "Okay, no need to worry! I won't forget!" She said excitedly, and then I took off, happy that I have people to travel with for a bit.


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks for reading my story so far, and hopefully I'll be able to make some more chapters really soon!

Chapter 4

*Dawns POV*

We watched Barry run off home, then May tturned and faced me,"Hey, I'm gonna go back to your house and rest a little, so I'll see you in a couple hours."

I thought for a few seconds, thinking that maybe going for a walk by myself would be nice, "Yeah, no need to worry, I'll be back soon, I'm just gonna take a walk for a little while."

We both agreed, then split into different directions. I wonder what Barry really thinks, about me battling. I've been thinking about this for a long time now, because I thought maybe battling would also benefit me in contests, too. I also think having Barry around will help, because he has tons of experience. I kept thinking, walking randomly on the sidewalk, until I decided to take a break and practice with my pokemon on a grassy field for a little bit.

*Paul's POV*

I had absolutely no idea what the hell Reggie was thinking, for me, to travel with that crazy blonde kid I defeat at the Sinnoh League? Talk about pathetic, because there's no chance in hell I would ever do that.

"Paul, you need to stop being by yourself, and go make friends. Besides, you're still depressed over that loss from the Sinnoh League, aren't you?", Reggie questioned me, even though he knew the answer.

I didn't answer. I hate talking about that stupid battle, how Ash probably just got lucky, I hate thinking about it, godammit." Why do you want me to travel with that idiot? He's freaking crazy, and just plain loud, I wouldn't even survive a full week without being irritated! I refuse.", I told him, obviously knowing that it would irritate me.

Reggie didn't say anything for a few minutes, thinking of what ways to make me accept. "Hmmm, well since you don't want to do that option, I think I've got an even better idea," Reggie spoke, making me question him.

"Hmf, you can't make me do shit, just sayjng," I told him, then started to walk off.

Reggie stopped me, and said, "Well, your going to find out, but we're gonna have to drive there, so get in the van," grabbing his keys, and obviously I didn't have a choice, so I just went along with my brothers stupid idea.

After a long drive, we finally arrived at a house somewhere in Twinleaf town, and I had no idea who's house this even belonged too. Reggie rang the doorbell, and soon enough, a young woman with short, blue navy hair answered the door.

Reggie smiled, introducing himself, " Hello there, I hope I'm not interrupting anything, but I'm Reggie, Paul's big brother, who is Ash's rival, and I was wondering if I could discuss something with you?", He asked. I had no idea who this was, or what he was planning, but I had a bad feeling about this.

The woman smiled back, greeting us inside her house, "Of course, and my name is Johanna, top coordinator." While she led Reggie into the kitchen I believe, I glanced around, still trying to figure out who this was.

I finally spotted something, which to me looked like awards from contests and shit. I looked at a huge trophy, reading the description it said this:

Top Coordinator award

Johanna Berlin

I recognized the name, but I couldn't think from where. I looked over, and saw a picture of Ash and that other guy, who's name was like, Brick or something. I wondered why the hell this woman had a picture of them, did Ash know her? Geeze, I was getting more confused each minute. Glancing, I saw tons of ribbons, and then a separate case of 5 more ribbons, except those five ribbons looked like they were brand new. Why the hell did Reggie come here in the first place, and tag me along? I decided to sit on a couch and mess around on my phone while I waited for Reggie.

About ten minutes later, I heard footsteps coming from the stairs. I turned around, and I saw a brunette, and I quickly recognized her, but couldn't pinpoint on where from. She looked at me, confused.

"Uhhh... who are you? And why are you here?" She asked me, which I didn't feel like anwsering, but I decided to anyways.

"It's none of your business, if you want to know, then go ask my brother Reggie, he's in the kitchen talking with that blue-haired woman", I said, adding some rudeness into my words. I knknow I've seen her somewhere, but where...

She gave me a look, "All I was asking is who are you?, Geeze, you're quite the grumpy one, wait... you said you're brother is Reggie,right?"

I looked at her, putting a smirk on my face because that's what I literally just told her, " I just said that, didn't I? Don't question me something I already told you." I said sarcastically, hoping that she'll go away.

It looked like she was thinking for a minute, then she clapped her hands, and pointed at me, "Wait! I know who you are! You must be Ash's rival, Paul!" Wtf?! This girl knew who I was? But right after she said that, I immediately remembered seeing her in the Wallace Cup, with Ash, that red headed girl I hate, and, wait a minute... let me rethink this...

She quickly pulled out her phone, and ran to the kitchen, where my brother was, and I had to think about what the hell just happened. Okay, so I'm in Johanna Berlitz' house, she knows who Ash is, that girl is friends with Ash, she participated in the Wallace Cup contest, so she must be friends with...

Right in the middle of my thoughts, somebody burst through the door so loud, they probably would've broken it, and all I saw was a flash of blue hair, black and pink sprint to the kitchen, hearing her say "REGGIE!" super loud, and I knew who's house this was. I was in the house of where TROUBLESOME lived.

I nearly almost had a heart attack, as I stood up quickly, and turned around, but then someone came running out, which happened to be, well what do you know, troublesome.


	5. Chapter 5

So I'm putting up another chapter or two, and I hope you guys still enjoy the story so far. A reason I chose Dawn to have a turtwig, riolu, and luxio, is because their final evolutions are my absolute favorite ever. I'm planning on putting up more chapters once finals are over! Please feel free to leave comments, but try not to be rude, I know I may make mistakes, but I will go back and review to fix up any errors.

Chapter 5

*Dawns POV*

I was shocked to see Paul, considering tagging along with Reggie. I blinked a couple times, before telling myself to say something.

"So, Paul, how are you? Haven't seen you in a while...", I trailed off, having no idea what to say to the purple haired jerk, already feeling the awkwardness between him and I.

"Why should I tell you? It's not like it's any of your business, anyways",

"What?! You're in my house! Why shouldn't I have a right to know?!"

"Geeze, calm down Troublesome, you're giving me another headache again," he smirked, and that's when I got PISSED.

"Well, excuuusseee me, mr. Grumpy, but I think you should learn people's names by now, and just so you know, the names DAWN! D-A-W-N, DAWN!" I yelled, hoping he'll tell me why he's here.

"Shut up, if you want to know, then go ask Reggie, he's the one who brought us here, and I have no damn idea why!", he yelled, which I was actually suprised, considering that I got him that annoyed.

"Why didn't you say that in the first place? Ugh, nevermind, I'm leaving." I said, turning away from him, then walking towards the kitchen.

Once I walked in, I saw that Reggie and my mom were obviously talking about something, but I wasn't sure what though, while May was half-listening and munching on some food and watching basketball on TV at the same time.

A minute later, Paul walked in, then taking a chair facing the TV to watch the NBA basketball,while I walked over to Reggie and my mom.

They both looked at me, and from the looks on their faces, it looked like they were gonna say something important.

My mom spoke first, "Dawn, you know I'm glad that you, Barry, and May are all going to travel together, and I'm very excited for you, but I've been talking to Reggie here, and I've decided about the group, that someone will be joining you guys."

Ok? That's weird, I thought to myself, wondering about our group.

Reggie spoke after, "I want Paul to be able to have some friends too, and I think this will be a great experience for him and the rest of you guys as well." Oh no, is this what I really think it is? Oh dear arceus, please no...

..." So we've both decided that Paul will be joining you guys!"

I literally froze, unable to even process the I formation I just heard, and I wasn't the only one who heard this, both May and Paul turned around from the TV, and for a few moments, nobody said a word.

"WHAT!?" Both Paul and I screamed at the exact same time, then I turned around to glare at Paul, who was already glaring at me from behind.

"I'm not going to travel with some GRUMP, who thinks he's all that and more! No way!" I yelled, not caring how loud I was.

"What the hell Reggie?! This is even WORSE than you're first damn idea!" Paul yelled, I swear, he looked like he was gonna punch Reggie in the face.

"Paul, sooner or later, you're gonna have to do something with people besides moping around at home like a depressed loner! I'm only doing this because I think this is what's best for you and Dawn." Reggie said, mostly directed towards Paul.

"Fine, whatever, I don't give a shit anymore, just leave me alone," and then Paul walked out of the kitchen, and we all heard the front door open, then close with a little slam.

"I guess I'll have to live with it, but I wanna be alone for a while too," I said, then leaving the house too, suprised that it was already nighttime.

I looked around, and then found Paul walking away on the sidewalk, with his hands in his Jean pockets, and his head tilted slightly towards the ground. I decided to catch up with him, to try and talk with him for a bit. I remember the day of Ash's and Paul's battle, that very early morning, when I dressed Piplup up, and walked downstairs, until I saw him...

*flashback*

"You look absolutely handsome in that outfit, Piplup!" I exclaimed, looking at Piplup while clapping my hands cause he honestly looked adorable!

"Piplup!", Piplup cheered, as he posed in his cheerleading outfit.

"Let's go show everyone your outfit!" I said, while I picked him up and then sprinted out of the room.

I ran downstair, only leading to dead silence, except hearing the faint voices of two people, which I recognized. I walked into the main area of the pokemon center, only to find Paul talking to someone on the screen, which I assumed it was his brother, Reggie. I quickly hid behind one of the seats of a booth table, curious to see what Paul was up to.

"I have one last thing to tell you,"

"Huh?"

"Paul, win this, don't underestimate Ash's skill, then win the whole thing."

"I will."

"Later, Paul"

I watched Paul as the screen blacked out, as he had the tiniest attempt at a smile on his face, but he glanced over, out of all directions, towards me.

I freaked out, worrying if he was gonna get mad, so I looked both directions, then nervously stood up, holding Piplup with one arm, and putting the other behind my head.

"Ahhehehehe...heh..." I nervously chuckled, and he looked away, turning to walk out of the pokemon center.

I spoke up, "That was Reggie you were talking to, so, is he coming here today?", I quickly said, wanting to be able to talk to him, since I've noticed he's been slightly kinder to me than Brock or Ash.

"So, how's he doing?"

"Uh, you mean, how is Ash?" I questioned, looking at Piplup

"Piplup?", Piplup asked me, and I didn't know either, so I decided to follow him outside.

"Wait! If you ask a question, don't you want to hear the answer?", I spoke, still following him. We walked straight out the doors for a few seconds, and I decided to answer him,

"Ash is doing some last minute training with his pokemon, want me to get him?"

"Please dont, no need."

"Why did you ask about him, then?"

"I-..I don't know" Paul replied, then started to walk again. I was suprising he was even talking to me, nicely for once, well, an attempt at being nice I think.

"Oh, great..." I mumbled, then followed him once again. We walked for a few more seconds of silence, until Paul spoke to me again.

"I just don't like him."

"Huh?" "Piplup?" Both Piplup and I questioned, waiting for an answer.

"He talks just like my brother. Friends, trust, my brother says those things all the time, too"

I immediately replied,"But Paul, Ash isn't Reggie, Ash is Ash, and that's that."

"Paul!" I heard someone yell, as I took my eyes off of Paul to look at who was yelling his name, and it was Barry, of course, with Brock and Ash.

"Hey Dawn,...Paul!", Ash yelled, then started to run up to us.

"Look, Ash is like any other trainer I'd have to battle in the quarter finals... and I'm gonna have to beat him if I want to win the Sinnoh League." Paul said, as he was glaring at Ash, and I realized I was staring at Paul, I quickly blinked a couple times and slightly blushed.

I quickly glanced between Ash and Paul, and then I quickly shifted to Ash's left side, blushing ferrous again, and I had no idea why.

Then, while Barry and Brock were walking up, Barry said something ridiculous.

"So, Dawn, I bet you were tryna find out which pokemon Paul's gonna use, right?"

I immediately turned around, glaring at him, "NO...wro-ong!"

Ash spoke to Paul," Cynthia's gonna be watching, Paul, let's make it a great battle!"

"I plan to," Paul replied dully, but as he walked past me, I remembered something instantly.

"I remember, when every life meets another life, something will be born," I spoke, watching Paul suddenly stop.

Barry was shocked, "hold on, I didn't know you were a poet!"

Brock faced Barry, "it's a quote, from the Sinnoh time space legend, and they're also the exact same words Cynthia used to describe Ash and Paul", Brock explained to Barry.

I thought to myself, speaking aloud, "Alright, so when Ash meets Paul, let's see... when Paul meets Ash, something will be born. Maybe we'll find out in today's battle." I saw Paul glance back at me for a few moments, then turn to Ash.

"Ash, I'll see you on the battlefield."

"Right."

*end of flashback*

I stood there, thinking back to that moment, and for some reason, I cherished that moment with Paul, and I had no idea why. I raced towards Paul, who was still walking.

"What do you want, troublesome? Just come here to annoy me again?"

"What? No! I just wanted to take a walk, and I wanted to talk with you." I said, walking by Paul's right side. "I want to know how you feel about traveling with me, Barry, and May, that's all."

Paul sighed, "I don't know, I just prefer to do things by myself, but ever since I lost to Ash in the Sinnoh Leagu, I haven't been doing much, to be honest with you." I was looking at him, suprised by how nice he was being, I mean come on, this is Paul I'm talking to!

"I'm sorry... but I do understand how younfeel, even if it wasn't in battling exactly, but it was in the grand festival. I lost to my rival, Zoey, and I was so close too, I felt like I couldn't do shit after that, and that was right before the Sinnoh league started, and I still don't know how to overcome it, but I am going to try something new." I said, facing the ground, holding a couple tears back.

I didn't expect Paul to listen at all, but apparently he was being serious, "I know, it sucks. Trying to come up with something after a huge loss."

I decided to tell him my plan, the one I told Barry earlier today, "Well, I've got a plan for myself, and since you've got tons of experience, I'm glad that you're coming aling, I guess." I paused and glanced at Paul, who looked at me too, having a questionable look on his face.

"What is it, Troublesome?"

"It's just that... I've decided to..umm... I guess take a break from contests...and uh..wel..."

"Hmm? Sorry, I won't know until you spit it out" Paul smirked, as he said with total sarcasm.

"Okay... it's just that...I've made up my mind... to try to do battling for gym battles instead of entering contests." I said, but now I had to find out what Paul was going to say. He froze, literally stopped walking, and looked at me like I was crazy.

"Hmph, well, this trip might not be as bad as I thought, Troublesome." As he said that, I swear, he showed a smile for half a second, then continued walking. My jaw was hanging open, and I snapped it shut, and followed Paul around the neighborhood, talking for the rest of the way, until reaching my house, letting him sleep on a couch downstairs, while May and I were in my room.


	6. Chapter 6

Hey, guys! Whew , two finals down, four more to come! I've been trying to update as soon as possible, but I promise more chapters will be on the way after two more days of tests. Thanks for reading my story so far!

Chapter 6

*Paul's POV*

I woke up, rubbed my eyes, and checked the time on my phone, which said it was around 8am. I remembered that I was still in Troublesome house, and that her friend May was, too. I didn't feel like getting up anytime soon, so I fell right back on the couch. I heard really loud footsteps coming from outside, which was damn weird, and I shrugged it off.

"HEY, DAWWWNN! I HEREEEEEE!", Barry screamed, bursting through the god damn front door, making me tumble off of the coach from the massive outburst he had.

"CHILL THE FUCK OUT, GODDAMMIT! My FUCKING god!" I yelled at the idiot, who looked like he was gonna run off, probably cause he didn't even realize I was RIGHT THERE, what a fuckin' idiot.

The yellow head stood right back up, not caring about the nasty glare I was giving him. "PAUL! What are you doing here, especially in Dawns house? And why are yo-hey! I challenge you to another battle, since you just got lucky you beat me!"

"Why should I battle with a pathetic weak ass like you?"

"I'm much stronger now than I was before!"

"Whatever you say... it doesn't matter because you're pathetic, and always will be."

"WHAT!? YOU DON EVEN KNO-"

"STOP!" a voice said, obviously coming from upstairs.

Barry and I looked at each other for a second, and then looked at the stairs to see who was coming down, which was Daw-...er, I mean Troublesome. Did I just almost say her name? Dammit...

Troublesome quickly came down the stairs, obviously annoyed at both of us, assuming that because of her glaring at us.

"Will you guys just quit it?! Stop yelling so loud that you're gonna wake up the whole town of Twinleaf! It's still the morning, guys, so calm down. Geeze," She said, turning around and walking to the kitchen. I noticed her pj's, they were just a pair of grey basketball sweatpants and t-shirt, which I've never seen Troublesome wear. 'Does she actually play basketball, or is it just clothes she bought just because?',I thought, then shook my head, trying to forget what I just said.

Barry spoke to me again "So, you still wanna have a battle?"

Out of all the things he says, he says THAT. "No, not right now, how about you go find your pathetic friend, Ash?"

"He isn't even here!"

I stopped, and looked at him like he was crazy. "The hell you mean, he's not here?"

"I mean, he isn't in Sinnoh anymore, he left a couple days after the Sinnoh League, the last person he saw from Sinnoh was Dawn, so go ask her."

I didn't even know Ash left Sinnoh until now. Wtf? I turned around, and walked to the kitchen, where Troublesome and her friend May were sitting at the table.

"Is he seriously coming along with us when we travel?" I said, having an annoyed tone in my voice.

"Yeah, but don't blame me, Dawn asked him before you showed up." May said, pointing her finger at Dawn, who was now half smiling nervously.

"Really, Troublesome? Geeze, I guess nobody can stop you from being so dumb anyways."

"WHAT?! And the names DAWN , D-A-W- hmmpff!" She muffled, because at that point I just put my hand over her mouth to keep her from yelling anymore than that. She quickly swat my hand away, making a dramatic scene of attempting to wipe her mouth.

"What was that for? I could've DIED."

"Hardly, I just wanted you to shut your mouth for once, is that a problem?"

"Uhhh...YES! You don't go up to people, making them shut the hell up, unless it's Barry, but otherwise, you don't do that." Dawn said, pulling out some type of sugary cereal and munching on it.

"HEY! Nobody tells me to shut up!", we all heard Barry yell from the opposite room, as he stomped into the kitchen, glaring at us.

"What's the big idea, Dawn!? Geeze, and I thought you were nicer than that!"

"Barry, I was just kidding, you've got to learn the difference between a joke and being serious. No need to worry, I was only kidding." Dawn explained, trying to cool Barry off from the stress he built up.

"Dawn, that's when we all worry the most, if you didn't know by now.", May said, and Dawn glared at her, so she started to laugh.

I sighed. How was I supposed to ask Troublesome why Ash wasn't here anymore? I know she would ask me tons of questions as to why I'm even asking her that. Good God, maybe I just need more sleep, considering how Barry slammed in the house so loudly.

"Hey, Dawn, when exactly are we leaving? And where are we going?", Barry asked, and I started to wonder about the same thing.

"Well, I was actually going to ask you guys about it, if you wanted to go to Hoenn, or Kanto, or through Sinnoh again. I want all of us to be happy about where we travel," Dawn replied. "I know May wants to travel through Sinnoh, because she's barely even been here, but I know all three of us just did, so what do you guys think?"

Would I want to go through Sinnoh again? Well, whatever, I don't care, as long as I can battle Brandon, the pyramid king, then it's all fine. Maybe I could enter the Sinnoh League again.

"I don't care, as long as you guys don't slow me down, then I guess it's fine," I said, glancing at everyone.

Barry jumped excitedly, pumping a fist into the air, "Alright, let's do it! I can't wait to be able to watch contests and battles!"

Dawn smiled happily, "Well, I guess it's settled then. We leave in two days at 10 am sharp, sound like a plan?"

"As long as you don't forget, Troublesome"

"No need to worry, I wont!"

"Hmph, we'll see if you can make that promise."

"Are you saying that you're doubting me?"

"No exactly, but whatever, Troublesome."

"Hey!"

*two days later

*Dawns POV*

Uhgggg... I barely got any sleep last night, due to studying for an online algebra 3 trig test, which hopefully I passed with flying colors. I picked up my phone, as the clock read 10:15 am, I slowly stretched, got out of bed, and stood up.

"Ohhhhh SHIT I GOTTA GO!", I screamed, remembering that we were supposed to leave fifteen minutes ago, and I was barely even awake!

"NO NEED TO WORRY! I COMING!" I hollered, hoping that someone heard me from the stairs. I quickly brushed my hair, luckily I had already straightened it, grabbed my travel bag, and sprinted down the stairs, literally bumping into the walls, thew sound of 'thump' echoing in the house extremely loud.

*Paul's POV*

The three of us were sitting at the kitchen table, waiting for damn Troublesome to hurry up, or else she was gonna be left behind.

We all heard the words echoing from upstairs, somewhat of "no need to worry!", and all of a sudden, I heard a billion footsteps sprinting down the stairs, and into the kitchen. I smirked, because Troublesome knew that she didn't keep her promise, like I thought.

"Hmph, I'm still amazed that you're even alive right now, Troublesome. From the sound of you stomping down the stairs, I wasn't even sure you would make it.", I said sarcastically, giving her a smirk, which pissed her off.

"Well, somebody could've woken me up! Geeze, we'll leave shortly, I just need to eat something," she said as she walked passed us, grabbing some random food.

After a few minutes, the four of us started walking in dead silence, and I looked at them. May was listening to her music through her headphones, Barry was playing some stupid game on his phone, and Troublesome, she was just walking on the right side of me.

"Hey, Dawn!" I heard someone call from beside us, and I turned to see some boy around the same age as us, calling for Dawn.

Dawn quickly looked around, then saw the boy I saw also. "Lucas? Is that you? Omg, I can't believe I'm seeing you!" Dawn screamed, as she ran up to him and hugged him, but right as she did that, I don't know what I just felt, but I didn't like Troublesome hugging this "Lucas" guy, or whatever. I scanned him, he did sort of dress like Ash, but with different style. Had deep navy blue hair, red classy cap, red scarf, somewhat of the same t-shirt Ash wore, but white, light blue, and dark blue.

I felt really irritated on the inside, but I had no idea from what, was it him, or Troublesome? Uhg...fuck this crap already, this guy just got on my nerves, annoying just like Ash is.

"Wow! I'm so glad to hear that, Lucas! You've really come far in battling, haven't you?", Troublesome said, obviously looking like she was flirting, which pissed me the fuck off. Wait, was I jealous...of them? No way...

"...yeah and I'm starting to travel around Sinnoh again,and my goal is to enter the Sinnoh League!"

"That's great, Lucas. I'm traveling with some friends too, and a couple of them will be doing the same. They did compete in it the last time, and they chose to do it again."

"Thanks, Dawn. Hey, since you're friends here battle, would it be okay if I battled a one-on-one battle with someone? I never got to battle your friend Ash, but that's okay."

"You can battle me, but you'll probably lose," I said, grabbing the attention of everyone.

Lucas looked at me, " Okay then, it's settled. Barry, would you mind being the referee for this?"

Barry instantly jumped with excitement, "YES! I get to referee a battle that Paul is battling in! How cool is that?!"

Everyone looked at him like he was crazy, especially me, cause how is that even exciting? The fuck is wrong with this blonde idiot?

"Okay...fine.. but! This battle will be a one-on-one battle, which means one pokemon per side, Paul from Valestone City versus Lucas from Sandgem Town! Let the battle begin!"


	7. Chapter 7

Ok, I'm back from two more finals? Yes, I'm almost done! Just two more tests to go! Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy it so far. Feel free to leave any comments for advice!

Chapter 7

*Paul's POV*

"Let the battle begin!", Barry yelled, as I pulled out a pokeball, and trust me, I'm not going easy on this guy whatsoever.

"Electivire, stand by for battle!"

"Magmorter, I choose you!"

We called out our pokemon at the same time. Huh, this guy may not be as pathetic as I thought. He's got a fully evolved Magmorter, this battle will be interesting.

"Magmorter, use fire blast!" Lucas yelled, starting off with a powerful move, I guess he wants this battle short and sweet, okay, I'll play his game.

"Protect, then thunder."

"Eleci-VIRE!" Electivire put up protect, having the fire blast have no affect, then quickly shifted to thunder, having Magmorter get his severely by thunder.

Lucas was frustrated already, since the look on his face said it all. "Magmorter, use fire punch!"

"Counter with thunder punch and brick break at the same time."

Electivire charged at Magmorter, who did the same thing, and once they crashed their fists together, a huge explosion happened, creating smokey clouds to appear.

Electivire had the upper hand, as it used it's other hand to use brick break on Magmorter head, making Magmorter stumble back, but quickly recover.

"Isn't it about time that you just quit already? You're Magmorter has already taken lots of damage, so this battle is pointless," I smirked, wanting a reaction from him, just like what I could do with Ash, make him get mentally down, and do something pathetically stupid.

Lucas yelled back at me, while tightening his fists together, "No way! This battle is far from over, I'm just getting warmed up, Magmorter, use fire punch back to back!" Magmorter quickly reacted, but Electivire reacted faster.

"Electivire, dodge it, then counter with thunderpunch."

Magmorter sent tons of punches towards Elective, which he dodged smoothly, then quickly threw a thunderpunch at Magmorter, hitting him square in the face.

"Mag.. morter...,"Magmorter groaned, obviously tired and worn out from the severe thunderpunch it took.

"You can do it, Magmorter! Just a little longer, now, use earthquake, full power!"

Oh shit! I thought. This isn't good, fuck, think of something!

"Electivire, use thunderpunch and brick break on the ground to stop it from reaching you!", I yelled, as Electivire quickly charged his right arm with thunderpunch, and his left with brick break, and launched straight at the ground right when Magmorter clashed down, using earthquake all in a matter of a few seconds. The ground shook violently, as I tried to keep myself from falling onto the ground.

"Ahhhh! We're all gonna DIE! I'm fining you guys for this!" Barry screamed, running around like there was no tomorrow.

Pieces of dirt were flying, and I put up my arm to shield my eyes, until everything calmed down. I quickly wiped my face, making sure no dirt or grass was on me, and I scanned my pokemon. Electivire looked a little worn out, but was still standing, and Lucas' Magmorter was suprisingly, still standing, breathing heavily. A few seconds passed, and Magmorter fell to the ground, too worn out to battle anymore.

"Magmorter is unable to battle, so that means Electivire wins! Which means Paul wins this battle!", Barry yelled, raining his arms like he was a referee in a football game or something.

"Wow, Paul, your Electivire has gotten a lot stronger, and I thought it was powerful at the Sinnoh League!", Dawn said excitedly, as she and May stood up from sitting, and brushed some dirt off.

"Yeah, no kidding! Except I really don't prefer having chunks of dirt fly up my nose and into my face, but it was a great battle," May comment.

Lucas returned his Magmorter, after saying a few words to it, and then walked up to us. "That was a good battle, your Elective is very strong, and has lots of potential and stamina. I look forward to another battle in the future."

I smirked cockily,"Well, whatever, that was so easy, I hope my Elective didn't get any worse," I spat back, making him pissed off.

"What!? Oh yeah? Well, I'm sure that I'll beat you next time, I'll never lose to you again!"

"Geeze, what are you, a damn spoiled five year old kid? Talk about pathetic."

"YOU SHITHEAD! All I said was a good battle, retard!"

"Well, you certainly don't just talk like a little kid, either. You're so pathetic, you can't make it to the Sinnoh League this weak."

Lucas was soooo fuckin pissed, I couldn't help it. It was too funny not to do.

"YOU JUST WAIT AND SEE, YOU BASTARD! AND I AM NOT A DAMN LITTLE KID, YOU SON OF A-"

"Okay! Stop, stop, we've heard enough arguing, just chillax! Sorry about that Lucas, that's how Paul is, always telling people they're pathetic, so no need to worry, don't let it bother you," Dawn spoke, making him shut up.

"Whatever, but you!," he said, pointing a finger at me, "I won't be losing next time, and we'll see when I beat your sorry ass."

I grunted, "Oh, I'm so scared, just, frightening," I said sarcastically, then turning my back towards him. I walked away, grabbing my one strap backpack off of the ground, and I heard them talking quietly, so I pretended to look in my bag for my phone.

"God damn, how did Ash deal with this fuck face, Dawn?"

"He's not a fuck face! He just has a very intimidating-like personality. He's not that rude, once you get to know him."

"Well, whatever. Say, you wanna take a walk with me for a little bit? I just wanna talk to you for a bit, if it's not too much to ask for."

"...okay, I guess May, Barry, and Paul can travel to the next town, and kill meet up with them later," Troublesome said, as I slipped my backpack on, and walked towards them again..

"So, Dawn, we'll be staying in Sandgem Town overnight, then in the morning we'll go the Jubilife City, and stay there because they have a contest in about four days that i want to compete in, sound like a plan?" May asked us, as Barry yelled okay, while I didn't respond. I didn't like this idea, having Troublesome be with Lucas for this long.

"Paul, you okay? You look kinda...sad, is something wrong?", Troublesome asked, as she stepped over towards me.

"I- I'm fine, Troublesome, I'm just tired,that's all," I said, shrugging my shoulders, and she smiled back.

"Okay, but first before I leave, could I have your phone number? I already have Barrys' and Mays', and I want to be able to contact you too."

"Sure, whatever," I said, as we switched numbers, and Troublesome walked back to Lucas.

"Okay, I'm ready, so I'll see you guys very soon!", Troublesome said, turning around, walking on Lucas' left side, as they started to chat right away.

May got my attention, "Hey, Paul, you ready?"

"Yeah, whatever," I said, walking with her and Barry, who was already talking about training his Empoleon. I turned around, watching Troublesome and Lucas walk together, and it still bothered me, every time she got closer to him than me.

'Whatever,' I thought, as I turned back around, and started to check my phone.

*Dawns POV*

I couldn't stop laughing from the joke Lucas told me, until after a few minutes I calmed down

"Hey, Dawn, why does Paul call you Troublesome? It kinda bothers me, since that's not even a nickname that fits you," Lucas said, with a slight expression of anger on his face,

"Honestly, I don't know, but it's the nickname he's called me the whole time we've known each other. It's funny, now that I think about it, he's never called me by my name, ever," I said, thinking about it.

"Huh, interesting, so, why are you traveling with him, especially? Like, I understand our childhood friend Barry, and your best friend May, but why that purple headed jerk?", Lucas asked, stretching his arms behind his head.

"He's not a jerk, that's just his personality. It's a long story, but his older brother Reggie wanted him to, and I hated the thought of it. It was so funny, both of us literally stood up and yelled at the exact same time, but he left to take a walk, so I followed him. He's not that bad of a person, well, to me, but I think I understand him better just by having that coversation when we walked in the evening," I said, as I looked up at him.

"Huh, I see."

"Lucas, why are you so interested, just wondering, because from the way you guys were arguing, I believe you wouldn't even care."

Lucas looked at me, then shoved his hands into his pockets, "Uh- well, I was gonna ask you, about something, but it doesn't matter! I don't want you to like, feel bad or anything, if I asked, anyways," Lucas said, sort of trailing off, and I knew he was wanting to say something to me, but I didn't know what.

"It's okay, no need to worry! You can tell me."

"But that's when I worry the most!", Lucas said, laughing a little, but I knew it was a joke, so I pretended to punch him in the arm, but lightly.

"Okay, I'll just tell you what I was going to ask you. I was going to ask you if you wanted to travel with me, but when I arrived at your house, Johanna told me that you've already left on another journey, and I was dissapointed, but it's okay now because I know I'll see you around Sinnoh as we both travel seperatly," Lucas explained, and I felt really guilty.

"Awww, I would've loved to travel with you, Lucas, I'm really sorry, but I promise the next journey, we'll travel together, just you and me, no need to worry!" I said, hoping to cheer him up, as he had that cute, goofy smile on his face that I love.

"Thanks so much, Dawn! I look forward to it, I already can't wait!", he exclaImed, hugging me tightly, as he lifted me off the ground, since he is a good few inches taller than me.

I laughed, tucking my head into his shoulder, returning the hug, "Omg, Lucas! you're to funny! Oh my god," I spoke, hardley even able to speak because I couldn't stop laughing, as he was spinning me in circles.

Lucas set me down, and the both of us started laughing again, for no reason, and walked the rest of the way to Sandgem town.


	8. Chapter 8

Yes! Finals are over! Thanks for reading my story, and I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 8

*Paul's POV*

Barry, May and I arrived in Sandgem town, and walked into the pokemon center. I had Nurse Joy heal Electivire, and we checked in two rooms, one for May and Troublesome, and the other for Barry and I, which I was not excited about whatsoever.

Since our rooms were right next to eachother, we had a door connected to both of the rooms, being able to walk in without going out into the hallway.

May quickly set most of her stuff down, carrying her Pokeballs, "Hey guys, I'm gonna go outside to train a little for the contest, just so you know where I am," she said, and then ran off.

I looked at Barry, and I knew I was not going to hang out with this idiot, so I decided to do the same thing. I left Barry, even though he was yelling at me to stay, but I ignored him, closing the door, and walked outside.

I saw May training by the beach, and since it was closer to the evening, nobody else was in sight. I decided to maybe talk to her, cause I didn't know her that much.

I walked up, and sat on one of the big rocks, and May turned around,"Hey! Thought you wouldn't be out here, but guess I was wrong," she said, as she told her Blaziken to use flamethrower. When I watched, I could already tell that her Blaziken was super strong, seeing that it was in top condition. Her Blaziken wasn't even close to me, and I could feel the intense heat radiating on me.

"I see that you raised your Blaziken well, I assume," I said, and May looked at me.

"Thanks, Blaziken is probably one of my very top strongest pokemon, since he was my very first pokemon I chose from professor Birtch," she said, smiling, and I could tell that she was proud of him.

"Usually people's first pokemon are their strongest, like my Torterra, started out as a Turtwig, and it's been one of my strongest pokemon for lots of years," I said, watching Blaziken practice some more moves.

"When did you get Blaziken?", I asked, curious to know how she got it.

"Well, I got Blaziken when I was almost 11 years old, I chose him because that Mudkip used water gun on my face, and Ash said that Treeko was too innocent looking, so he chose that pokemon as his first starter in Hoenn," she said, and I immediately froze.

"Wait, you said Ash? I thought he came from Pallet Town in Kanto?", I asked, getting confused by what this brunette was saying.

"That was before he came to Hoenn, he did begin his journey in Kanto, which he traveled with Brock and Misty, having his first rival, Gary Oak, who is the grandson of Profesor Samuel Oak. After traveling with them through Kanto and Johto, he came to Hoenn, only bringing his Pikachu along with him. Then, later on, Ash, Brock and I traveled together for a couple years, and then we went our seperate ways. I traveled to Johto, while Ash decided to travel to Sinnoh." She explained, as she returned her Blaziken back to his pokeball.

"Huh, didn't know that, probably cause I wasn't interested back then, but it it a little bit now," I said, as May told me more.

"Yeah, Ash taught me a lot of things, not just battling, but other things too. I got to watch him battle in the battle frontier league, and it wasn't easy, that's for sure."

She got to watch him battle in the frontier league? "He must've gotten all the badges," I said, as May took a seat somewhat next to me.

"Yeah, the first one was hard, so he brought his strongest pokemon to battle against an Articuno, which was not easy, I thought Ash was gonna lose. The hardest one was battling the Pyramid king, Brandon. Of course, he got destroyed battling him the first couple times, but he beat him. It was the most intense battle I've ever seen him in," May finished, as she checked her phone.

Geeze, he beat the whole thing? How strong is this kid, actually? Then the pokemon he used in Sinnoh were only his starting pokemon here, and that last battle with him, I lost, and I've had most of my pokemon for a long time too, mostly coming from Reggie.

"The last time I got to see Ash is when I entered the Wallace Cup, that's when I met Dawn face to face for the first time, and we've been best friends ever since. I thought it was crazy lucky that Wallace told Ash to enter the contest, but he did okay, I guess."

"Hmph, yeah I teased Ash about that, I remember telling him that why was he even worrying about battling because he was a losing coordinator. When I saw you at Troublesomes' house, I recognized you. You're a pretty good coordinator, if you ask me," I said, ruffling my purple hair

"Thanks, Dawn told me all about it. I was so confident I was going to win the Wallace Cup, because Dawn was only a beginner, but she beat me, and I was suprised! My rival/friend Drew wouldn't stop teasing me, that I lost to her, but she has really great potential to be a strong trainer and coordinator. I don't think I could do that, she's just one of those people who are more dimensional, skilled at things naturally." May said, and right when she finished, her phone received a message from someone.

"Dawn said she should be at the pokemon center in about twenty minutes, so we'll meet her there I guess."

"Sure, whatever," I replied, looking at the view of the beach.

"I did watch the Sinnoh League on TV, since Dawn told me what channel," she said, and I was a little suprised.

"Wait, you did? So you watched me lose to Ash, didn't you," I said, and she laughed a little bit.

"Yeah, but I'm gonna say this only to you, but Ash got lucky that Infernape activated blaze. I mean, the rest of his pokemon were a breeze, right?"

Now that I thought about it, she was right. Most of his pokemon I could take out easily, it was just that infernape activated blaze.

"Yeah, but my brother always calls me out as using excuses," I said, I was suprised she understood what I felt on the inside, too.

"Yeah, but it was a really good battle though. I've had the exact same experience as Ash, I couldn't beat my rival, Drew, until in our second grand festival together, and I barely won, probably by one point, so I was really excited. The difference is that we sometimes get along, while you and Ash never do.", May said, as she started to get up, so I did too.

As we started walking, we saw Troublesome and that Lucas kid. "Why the fuck is he even here?", I said, grumbling under my breath.

"I think Dawn told me he lives around here, so I'm not suprised"

Huh, so this pathetic kid lives here, just great. I watched them with May, and right as I saw Lucas hug Troublesome, I wanted to punch that guy right in the face.

"Can't he keep his damn hands to himself? The fuck is his problem, my god," I mumbled under my breath, feeling irritated by him.

May let out a small laugh "Are you jealous? I think you are!" May sang, obviously trying to tease me.

I looked at her, having a nasty look on my face "Why would I be jealous of that? I just want this guy to leave already, he's annoying and pathetic."

"Huh, suurreeeee, we'll see about that," May replied, flashing a quick smile, then running off towards Troublesome, who was still with Lucas. I decided to walk where they were standing, trying to figure out why my emotions were letting me act this way "Dammit..." I muttered under my breath, and I approached the three of them.

Troublesome saw me, and had a huge smile on her face "Paul! I'm suprising you're even outside, but it's nice to see you again."

"Well, there was nothing better to do, besides, I'm not gonna hang out with Barry in the same room, there no chance in hell that'll ever happen." I said, shoving my hands into my pants pocket. Nobody talked for a few seconds, so I glared at Lucas for a second, as I saw that he was already glaring at me, until I smirked.

Lucas spoke up, irritated "What's so funny, Paul?" Wtf? I didn't even say anything, and this guy was already up in my damn business, again.

May and Dawn quickly glanced at eachother, probably knowing that there was gonna be an argument soon.

"There's nothing funny, all I see is something ugly who acts like a little kid and has his twin brother traveling in Unova." I smirked, referring to Ash, since Lucas was practically just like him.

Lucas was about to yell something in my face, but all of a sudden, he crossed his arms arms smirked, "It takes one to know one."

Did I seriously act this way? Hell no, I was way more mature than this shit. " huh, geeze, it must be really sad to be you, comparing yourself to your mom like that."

Nobody realized that Barry had arrived, and way a few feet from the grouo, and he obviously heard what I said to Lucas, because all of a sudden he started yelling.

"OHHHHHHHH! BURNNNNN!" Barry yelled, almost scaring the living shit out of May and Dawn, and I just put my hand over my face, trying to not show any damn embarrassment to what he just did, while Lucas was getting really angry.

"Shut up, you bastard! You're just... rude! Fuck you!" Lucas yelled, and I just shrugged my shoulders, obviously not caring about whatever he says to me.

"Does it look like I give a fuck? No., I really don't care what you say, cause you talk just like a little pathetic kid."

"I think you should be thinking twice about what you just said to me!"

"Geeze, you sure can get worked up." I said, and turned around, walking towards the pokemon center, cause this kid is so identical to Ash, it's hilarious, he gets so pissed when I say anything to him.

I walked to my room, and closed the door. It was nice having the peaceful silence, nobody was bugging me, but I realized that I was starving, so I chewed on a granola bar I had in my bag. I turned on the TV, and changed the channel to NFL football, once again they were talking about the superbowl.

It was pretty nice, until ten minutes later, someone quietly knocked on my door a couple of times.

"Hmph, what?" I groaned, wondering why someone would knock at a time like this, as I checked the clock, it was a fee minutes past 8 pm.

"Are you hungry? I was just asking if you were, because, uh, I got somethin, and I didn't know if you were hungry at all, so yeah, and-

I recognized the voice belonging to Troublesome, as she kept talking through the closed door, and I got up and opened the door, looking grouchy-like, so she shut up once I opened the door.

"What is it Troublesome? I'm pretty tired, so this better be quick." I said, leaning against the wall, wondering why she came here in the first place.

Troublesome looked at me, but I saw that she looked kinda nervous for no reason, whatever. "I didn't know if you ate dinner, so when I went to eat, I brought you back a club sandwich with some fries..." she said, trailing off, avoiding eye contact with me, so she looking at the bag she was carrying that had the food in it, I assumed.

I looked at her, I was a little suprised, I wasn't expecting her to get me something. "Thanks, Troublesome. I appreciate it." I said, and she looked up, having a huge smile on her face, which I thought was kinda funny.

"No need to worry! Here," she handed me the bag, "We're leaving in the morning around ten-thirty, so make sure you're up by that time, k?" I nodded, "Sure, but where did that dumb blonde go? He hasn't showed up yet."

Troublesome looked around, "He's probably off training his pokemon again, so no need to worry! He'll be back soon, well, hopefully. I'm going back to my room," she walked back into her room, and I closed my door, and I don't know why, but I felt kinda happy on the inside, so I smiled for a second, then sat on the bed, eating and watching TV.

After a while, I heard May and Troublesome from their room, obviously laughing at something, so I walked over to the door that connected to theirs, and pounder on it a few times so they would shut up. I thought it had worked, but they started laughing even louder, so I just gave up. I turned off the TV, got ready for bed, and turned off the lights, and right after a few minutes of trying to fall asleep, Barry barges in, with loads of bags that I don't wanna know what the fuck is in them.

"Hey, Paul! Sorry I got back kinda late, I was just buying a ton of food and other things that I'll need, hope I didn't make you worry!" Barry yelled, turning on the lights, and I groaned, pulling the blanket over my head, hoping he'll understand that I don't really care what he says, I just want to go to sleep.

"Hey, Paul, you alive there?"

"Shut the hell up, Barry, I'm tryna fuckin sleep!" I yelled, as I grabbed my phone and beats headphones, and listened to music so I wouldn't be any more irritated than I already was by that idiotic blonde.

*Next morning, Dawns POV*

I got up around 8 am, so I would be awake by the time we left. I'm usually never a morning person, but today I felt like it. I put my hair up in a cute, messy bun, brushed my teeth, slipped on my air Jordan slides, and went downstairs to retrieve some breakfast. When I came downstairs, I saw that Paul beat me, as he was already finished eating, and just sipping some water.

"Hey, Paul, can I sit with you?" I asked, as he shrugged his shoulders, pretty much the answer of "I don't care", so I grabbed something to eat, then sat down.

"Uhg, I hate being up early" I mumbled, as I put my head down on the table, covering my head with my arms.

"Then why did you get up? You're strange, Troublesome." Paul chuckled, then was looking at his phone. I noticed he wasn't wearing that blue coat he always wore, he was wearing a white cut-off shirt with no sleeves, and I've never seen his arms before. He was muscular, holy crap, perfectly toned skin with strong biceps, I didn't even realize I was staring at him, so I quickly blinked and shook my head, blushing lightly. What was I thinking? Maybe I was still tired, that's all.

"Are you gonna eat, Troublesome? Or are you just gonna poke at it?" Paul teased, as he smirked and took a sip of water.

"I don't want to eat this, that's all." I said, shoving my now cold-burnt toast aside, making a face of disgust.

Paul looked at me, then sighed. "Come on, Troublesome, get up." What? Where was he gonna take me?

"Why?" I asked curiously. "Because I said so, that's why," as he got up, and I decided to also get up, and we walked out of the pokemon center.

"Paul, where are we going?" I asked, skipping beside him, while he was walking with his hands in his pockets. "Somewhere where you'll actually eat something, Troublesome, that's what," he said, and about ten minutes later, we walked up to a Starbucks.

I jumped while clapping my hands, because I absolutely lovelovelovelovelove Starbucks, my favorite coffee place. "Wow, Paul! That's so nice of you! I would've brought my money, but-"

"I'll pay, calm down, Troublesome," is this actually Paul I'm with, or did something steal the real Paul and replace him?

"Really? Wow, thank you, this just made my day." I said, as I ordered a drink and a pastry. We walked back, as I was nibbling on my delicious food.

"Want a bite? It's really good." I said in between nibbles. "Thanks, but no thanks, Troublesome, I already ate." We walked in silence for a minute, until Paul actually asked me something, which I thought would never happen. "Why did Ash leave Sinnoh?"

I thought about it for a quick second, "I knew after traveling through Sinnoh, that he would go somewhere else, assuming from all the stories and trips and journeys he's told me about, with Brock, Misty, and May. I wasn't suprising about him leaving, I was just suprising how fast he left, as if I didn't mean anything to him. Right after the Sinnoh League, him and Brock came to my house, and the next day he was gone."

"He went to your house, Troublesome?"

"Yeah, but he left a few things at the house, which I'll have my mom ship it to him, or something."

"Pathetic, that friend of yours, Lucas, is almost exactly like Ash, and it feels like twice the amount of idiots in the world."

I laughed, "Oh, Paul, Ash isn't always an idiot, you know. He's just super dense about everything, so you can't blame his stupidity for nothing."

Paul laughed for a second, which I've never seen before, so I smiled. Maybe this isn't as bad for Paul and I as I thought, we were getting along well for a first time journey together, so it wasn't even that bad.

We got back to the pokemon center around 10, so we got all of put stuff, signed out, and started walking towards Jubilife City, where the first contest is located in Sinnoh.


	9. Chapter 9

Hey, guys! Another chapter on the way, so I hope you enjoy it, and thanks for reading also!

Chapter 9

*Dawns POV*

'Slurpslurpslurpslur-'

"MAY! Enough with the Top Ramen noodles already!" Barry yelled, being disgusted by May, since she was holding a cup noodle, and literally slurping like a dog.

"Sowwy", May replied, chewing on a mouthful of noodles.

I sighed, the three of us have been listening to May slurp for about ten minutes now, and even I was getting irritated, and I was used to this by now. We were on our way to Jubilife City, and I assumed we were about halfway there by now.

"Stop slurping so much, May!"

"I can't help myself! I forgot to eat breakfast!"

"That's your own fault! Just for that, you've got ten seconds to pay up a fine! TEN! NINE! EIGHT! SEVEN! SI- OWWW-AH! What was that for!?"

"I threw a penny at your ugly face because I want you to STOP!"

"A penny's not good enough! Just for that, you just got TWO fines!"

"Uhg! If you don't shut up, then you'll never get anything from me again!"

"Why you little-"

I mentally groaned. I decided to ignore their argument, so I caught up to Paul, who was about ten feet in front of me.

I didn't know what to say, since he hasn't talked to me or May and Barry this morning after he treated me to breakfast from Starbucks. "Umm... hey, Paul... when do you think we'll get there?" I asked him, nervously playing with a strand of my hair.

Paul didn't even acknowledge I was right behind him, he kept walking.

I got really pissed at this, so I started stomping behind him on his right side, "What's wrong with you Paul!?" I yelled at him, and he still didn't answer me. I started yelling random things at him for a good five minutes about why he wasn't listening to me.

"WHY ARE YOU BEING SO RUDE?! I'VE NEVER DONE ANYTHING TO YOU! YOU'VE SAID NOTHING AFTER BREAKFAST, WHY ARE YOU TREATING ME LIKE I'M ASH, BUT A BILLION TIMES WORSE?! I HATE YOU SO MU- *cough cough* ugh, I hate you!" I yelled, feeling tired and worn out, and my voice sounded like I was sick, so I took out my water and took a few sips, then yelled for another minute.

I stopped yelling, since my voice was starting to crack and my throat felt like it was on fire, so i couldnt talk very loud without it hurting. I could feel tears stinging my eyes, so I quickly faced my head towards the ground, letting tears build up, blurring my vision. "Paul, why are you ignori-"

"What is it, Troublesome? I'm trying to listen to my music, so hurry up- hey Troublesome... are you okay?" Paul asked right in the middle of his sentence after he looked back at me, so he turned around and stopped, which I didn't notice because I was trying to not let any tears fall, and i couldnt let myself cry, especially with Paul around.

I walked slowly right past him, still staring at the ground. I didn't even realize I did, focusing on wiping my tears off of my face, which I did. My eyes still felt slightly watery, and my throat hurt a lot. I kept walking for a few more seconds, until I felt something softly kick the back of my left leg, but just enough so I started falling backwards.

I let out a soft scream, closing my eyes, thinking I was gonna hit the dirt ground, until I felt two strong, muscular arms catch me before I hit the ground. I opened my eyes, and it was Paul that did that whole scene. I started kicking my legs, trying to escape from his grip.

"What the heck, Paul!? You could've hurt me, or I would have-

"Troublesome, if you keep this up, then you will fall on the ground! I wanted your attention to make sure you were okay, because you walked right passed me with your head down, that's why!" Paul answered in an angry and worried tone of voice, and I stopped kicking, glaring back at him. He sighed, then lifted me back onto my feet again, and i huffed, i leaned slightly towards one side while crossing my arms across my chest. I put on my annoyed look while refusing to make eye-contact with Paul, making sure he knew I was really mad and annoyed at him, and had a bad attitude.

Paul zipped up his blue jacket to the very top, and stuffed his hands into his Jean pockets. I looked at him, and I saw that he zipped up his jacket all the way because he hid the bottom part of his face, so I couldn't see his lips or chin, as his shoulders stiffened, looking at the ground. I was flabbergasted, seeing Paul look nervous, I actually thought he never had a nervous side, so I thought it was kinda cute.

"Sorry, for um, tripping you, and..." he said softly, stumbling on his words while mumbling through the collar of his jacket. "If you thought I was ignoring you, I wasn't. I had my headphones on, so I couldn't hear anything, until I paused my music, wondering if Barry and May were still arguing, but I heard you say my name." He finished, he was slightly rocking back and forth on his feet. I saw that he was trying to cover up the slightest blush on his cheeks, and I couldn't hold back, so I softly giggled, as I smiled.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing right now. He was apologizing to me? I looked at him, and it was the cutest thing I've ever seen from a person who was so arrogant and rude all the time.

"It's okay, Paul, no need to worry. It was pretty much my fault, since I was yelling at you for about six minutes over nothing, so I feel kinda stupid too," I said, mentally feeling stupid for not knowing he had his headphones on.

Paul quickly stopped rocking back and forth on his feet, and he let out a smirk, "Geeze, Troublesome, you really need to pay attention, instead of causing trouble, unless that's your Forte."

I instantly stopped smiling, and Paul looked at me, having a smirk on his face, which I wanted to wipe that off. "Hey! I didn't know! And my names is not Troublesome, it's Dawn! D-A-W-hey!" I yelled, as he started to continue walking ahead, smirking one last time. I shrugged it off, so I looked behind me, as I saw Barry and May STILL arguing about pointless things, trailing behind by about 100 meters.

I groaned, rolling my eyes, and I decided to listen to my own music, using Paul's idea. I pulled out my Sony earbuds and listen to music, but right when i checked my phone, i realized i forgot to charge it overnight. I was really tired already, so this put me over the edge. "YOU HAVE GOT TO BE GODDAMN MOTHER FUCKING KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW, YOU STUPID FUCKING PHONE!" I yelled as loud as I could, my voice echoing, making Barry and May stop arguing, and Paul instantly stop walking, staring at me with shocked expressions on their face.

Nobody said anything, so it was completely silent, until I stuffed my phone and ear buds back in my bag, and started walking again. I've never yelled like that to anyone, not even Paul, so they still didn't say a word. After I was ahead of them, they all started walking behind me, and I don't even know why I got pissed for something stupid like that, or what happened with Paul, I was a wreck today.

"Hey, Dawn, you alright? Cause I've never heard you cuss like that in my whole life," Barry said, and I groaned.

"Barry, just leave me alone. I've been dealing with your stupid arguing and yelling at May this whole damn time! God, you're being annoying!" I yelled in a pissed off tone, hoping he would stop talking because of the horrible migraine I had right now.

"Hey! It wasn't my fault I had to fine May for slurping while eating! You're the one who's being annoying for yelling about your phone! Talk about stupid!" Barry yelled, and I started walking faster, trying to ignore him.

"Hey! That's rude for ignoring me! I'm fining you for ignoring me and being a hypocrite! Ten! Nine! Eigh-

"WILL YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP ALREADY!? She obviously doesn't wanna fuckin talk to you! What a fucking pathetic idiot." Paul yelled, making Barry shut up. I felt so stressed and tired, and right when I was about to turn around and punch Barry, I realized that Jubilife City was just straight ahead, no more than half a mile away.

"Thank god we finally made it here, I've got the worst headache ever..." I said to myself, I just wanted to eat then go to sleep, since I've been lacking those two things ever since we've started traveling.

"I agree, Troublesome. The pokemon center is only ten minutes away," Paul said, as he caught up to me, walking by my side. I nodded, too tired to say anything, because honestly I felt like I was going to pass out any minute.

We all made it to the pokemon center, and I took a deep breath, realizing that my whole body was aching in pain and soreness, so I mentally groaned. Paul glanced at me, then walked up to ask for a couple rooms.

"I need to check in two rooms for a few nights please," Paul said, obviously feeling just as tired as I was.

"I'm sorry, but we've only got one large room left for four people, if that works?" The woman asked, and all four of us instantly looked at each other.

"Hell no am I sharing a room with cheesehead again!" Paul spoke in a nasty tone.

"Shut up, Paul! Nobody likes you, especially me!" Barry yelled back, and I covered my ears, feeling like my ears could bleed at any moment from all the noise and arguing between them.

"Shut up! I'm sorry about that, but we'll take the room, please." I said, making Barry and Paul shut up, and May sighed, and I looked at her, and we both knew we just had to deal with it.

As we registered in, we walked to the elevator, since we got one of the top floors. I groaned again, I hate feeling like this, tired, stressed, sore, burning throat, and my migraine keeps getting worse, so I just wanted to literally curl up in a ball and cry.

The elevator opened, and I was the last to step inside. I stood in the corner closest to the buttons in the elevator.

May was just about to press the button to the floor our room was on, and it just so happened that I was in the way, so Barry shoved me out of the way, making me hit the wall and fall sideways.

"Oh, crap!" I yelled, as I tried to grip the railing, but it was out of reach, and i was expecting to hit the ground HARD but right as I was about to, Paul caught me, inches from the ground. I was gripping his jacket from the front, and if anyone was a stranger, they would probably think that we were a couple. I felt tears sting my eyes quickly, so I looked away hoping Paul wouldn't see my face because I was worried he was going to call me pathetic.

We both glared at Barty, who was now arguing about pressing the button to go to the correct floor.

"I wanna press the button!"

"Barry, I was here FIRST!"

"I don't care! Geeze, let me do it-OWWW! What the hell Dawn!?" He yelled, as he was arguing, Paul helped me up, then I went over to Barry, slapping him right in the face, HARD.

"You deserved it, Barry!"

"It wasn't my fault you were in MY WAY!"

"What do you mean!? You're the one who bumped into ME!" I yelled, and I was just about to punch him when Paul grabbed me, picking me up so my feet couldn't touch the ground, as I was trying to get out of his grip because I was really pissed at Barry.

"PAUL! PUT ME DOWN! He deserves to be fucked UP!" I tried to kick him, but Paul's grip around my stomach and waist was too strong. "Calm down, Troublesome, it's okay," Paul said calmly, but I still didn't give up. Barry was yelling at May again, which made me even angrier.

"I don't care! He's been a total BASTARD this whole day, and I'm sick of it!" I yelled, and after a minute of using the last bit of energy I had to free myself from Paul, I gave up, relaxing into his arms and leaning my back against his strong chest.

Paul leaned down, whispering in my ear"Troublesome, I'll fuck him up, I promise you," his minty breath tickling my skin, so I giggled. "Okay, no need to worry, right?" I asked quietly, grinning.

"That's when I worry about you the most, Troublesome," he said, smirking slightly, making sure Barry couldn't hear our conversation, as he was glaring at both of us.

May let Barry push the button to our floor, and it was finally quiet for a few seconds, which I sighed, appreciating the moment of silence, and I could feel my right hip throbbing in pain, but I didn't care right now. I looked at May, who was chewing softly on some recess peanut butter cups, and Barry was looking at us irritated, and I thought he looked sort of jealous. A light blush appeared on my face, and I tried to prevent it, but failed.

"So I don't get a thank you?" Paul asked, teasing me slightly. He saw my blush get redder, and he smirked at me.

"Thank you, Paul. Couldn't have survived without you," I said, making my last comment sarcastic.

"You're welcome, Troublesome, but I already knew you couldn't survive if I weren't here." Paul replied, making his tone sarcastic also.

I smiled, looking up at Paul, who had a now questionable look on his face, wondering why I was smiling, even though he replied with total sarcasm.

"Can you guys stop flirting with each other? It's disgusting to watch, you know!" Barry said annoyed, and I realized I was still leaning against Paul, who's grip was loose around me, leaning his head on the top of mine. I instantly moved to the other side of the elevator, blushing madly, as Paul had a slight blush on his.

May knew how to embarrass me, so she took advantage of this, "Oooohhhhh, I see now why Dawn wanted to share a room, especially with Paul, right Dawn?" May commented sarcastically, and I literally wanted to die right now. As I covered my face with my hands from the ultimate embarrassment from Mays comment, the elevator door finally opened, and since I had one of the keys for our room, I sprinted out of the elevator, while I heard May laugh, trying to stay on her feet, holding her sides from laughing so much.

I could still hear them talking, and I heard May speak to Barry.

"Why do you think it's gross, Barry? Maybe you're just JEAL-OUS!" May teased, still laughing.

"What?! No way! Why would I be jealous of Paul!?"

"Because he beat you in the Sinnoh League!" May said, and I quickly turned around and covered my mouth, trying to restrain from laughing at Mays epic burn.

Barry was furious, "So what! I'll be able to beat him, just watch me you little bi-"

"Can you guys just shut up out there? My god!" We heard a voice come from one of the rooms in the hallway, and Barry quickly shut up, as May instantly stopped laughing.

We saw a door open, as it was two doors away from our door, and I saw a boy around our age, his hair a light green, eyes were a beautiful emerald green, purple coat, green pants, and his skin toned lightly with the slightest tan.

He saw me first,"Can't you keep it down? Some people might actually want some quiet for once." He said to me, smirking, and he had the hottest grin I've ever seen in my life.

I quickly erased the thought from my mind, "What! It wasn't me!" I said, putting my hands up.

He smirked at me, flipping his hair, and as he walked out of his room, I heard May from a mile away.

"DREW! I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU IN MONTHS! May yelled, grabbing the attention of Drew, and she ran so fast he couldn't react fast enough, so he ended up being jumped on from May.

I got out my ipod, which had a camera, and started to video the hilarious scene. Mays gonna so regret teasing me about Paul.

Drew was on the ground, while May was hugging him tightly, "I didn't know you were coming to Sinnoh as well!"

Drew smirked, "Geeze, April, am I that irresistible to you?" May frowned, then quickly got up, brushing herself off, and I spoke right before she did,

"Hey, May, I think you should sleep in his room tonight, since you already know my plans for tonight, apparently." I said, putting a hand on my hip, and her expression was hilarious. That's right, I'd get you back sometime, and this was perfect, I thought to myself, as May was blushing madly, and Drew smirked.

"Yeah! I would love it if you weren't in my way all of the time!" Barry yelled at May, stomping past them, but Drew shoved him into the wall. I mentally goaned, and looking at May, we knew there was going to be a fight.

Drew picked him off the ground, grabbing Barry by the collar of his shirt, and shoving him into the wall again, "What the fuck is wrong with you, twig?! You better keep your damn mouth SHUT before I beat your skinny little ass out of Sinnoh!"

"She's annoying as hell! Now let me go!" Barry yelled back, and Drew let him go, as he grabbed the key out of my hand, and shoved me again, and slamming the door.

I stumbled, but couldn't keep my balance, so I fell on the floor, and what do you know, I fall right on my damn hip I bruised in the elevator, and instantly felt twice as much pain as before, and I winced.

I slowly started to get up, but someone picked me up off the ground, which was Paul, and helped me back onto my feet.

"What's wrong with him!?" I yelled, and I failed to stop myself from letting myself cry, but this was too much. Tears quickly fell from my eyes, and onto my cheeks. I felt someone hug me, as I cried into their jacket, not caring who it was. I heard Drew talking, saying he was going to let the three of us stay in his room if needed, and I heard May start to cry, so Drew led her into his room.

I realized that Paul was hugging me tightly, wrapping his arms around me, and resting his head on mine. I continued to cry, not caring what Paul thought about me, probably because I was so pathetic, letting stupid stuff get to me.

*Paul's POV*

I had no idea why, but I felt really pissed off at Barry, but having a feeling I didn't know what, was when I saw Troublesome have tears flow down her face, and my body reacted faster than my mind. I wrapped her into my arms, having a tight embrace around her, and I rested my head on her hat. I used to only be a few inches taller than her, but I grew a ton after I got home, after my loss to Ash.

I heard her cry into my arms, and I've never had this feeling around anybody else, except for her. God, what's wrong with me? I felt her hands lightly lay on my chest, and it killed me on the inside to see her cry like this, so I cradled her, and felt a blush appear on my face.

I knew she had a rough, long day today, and all I wanted to do was make sure she would be okay.

"Troublesome, you'll be okay... it's going to be alright," I told her softly, as I took my right hand and touched her chin lightly, so she would look up at me. God, what was I doing? I don't even know, but I wiped the tears off her face with my sleeve. Goddammit Troublesome...

"Paul, what're we going to do, about Barry?" She looked up at me, her eyes still glistening from tears, and I mentally froze for a second, admiring how beautiful her deep, navy blue eyes were.

I looked at her dead in the eyes, "I'll go talk to Barry, you should probably go into Drews room," I said, as she gave me a worried look "But I'm the one he's mad at, so I think I should do it."

I shook my head, disagreeing, "If you want to go in, then I'm coming too, Troublesome. I dont want him him hurting you, but he might just be tired like the rest of us are."

She smiled, which relieved a ton of my stress, "Okay, no need to worry, right?"

"Yeah, no need to worry, unless I let you go in by yourself."

"Wow Paul, thanks a lot," she smiled, but I knew she was totally being sarcastic.

"Hmph, whatever, Troublesome."I finally let go of her from the embrace, and I put my hands into my pockets.

"But seriously... thank you, Paul, for being there for me," she said softly, and I quickly felt heat rising to my face as she grabbed my wrist, and we walked into the room as we saw Barry, he looked ticked off, not at Troublesome that much, but I saw him glare at me, which I glared back at him.


	10. Chapter 10

Hey guys! Sorry I've been so busy lately with school work, homework, and sports so I haven't had much time to write, but here is another chapter! Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy.

Chapter 10

*Dawns POV*

I was really mad at Barry, not just for pushing me, but also for the way he was treating May with so much disrespect, I literally wanted to punch him in the face.

"What do you guys want?! I'm gonna fine both of you for not telling me why!" Barry yelled, and I just mentally rolled my eyes.

"Well, Barry, you've been actin-

"You fucking bastard, just shut the hell up!" Paul interrupted me, and I was shocked seeing Paul get mad about one comment Barry said.

"You can't tell me what to do, plum head!" Barry spat back at Paul, and I had no idea how to handle the situation right now.

"You fucking, pathetic cheesehead, get the fuck out." Paul mumbled under his breath, obviously irriirritated from Barry.

"Umm...Barry, I'm just worried about you that's all. I think we're all kinda emotional right now is because we haven't gotten much to eat today, and from the lack of sleep. I think if we just cool down, it would be easier to talk about it. Right, Paul?" I finished, looking worried at Paul, but he looked back at me nodding his head in approval.

"Probably right Troublesome. I just wanna be alone for a bit," Paul said, and walked to the opposite bed Barry was claiming, and laid down while setting his one strapped backpack beside him. I looked around d the room, only seeing two king-size beds, a one seat sofa, table and a pullout couch. The TV was on the wall, more closer to Paul's bed.

I looked at Barry, who looked really mad and irritated, so I didn't know if I should sit by him. God, I hated being in this situation right now, it was so awkward. I decided to make up my mind and do something, but I didn't know what. Grabbing my bag, I walked to the bathroom, closed the door, and took off my yellow clips and hat.

"What is she doing?" I heard Barry say, and I just ignored it.

"Huh, probably already tired of your dumb ass being here, that's what," Paul commented back, and I just sighed, and decided to yell back, just to make them shut up.

"I'm taking a shower! Geeze, maybe you guys should order some food or shop for some!" I yelled, and they didn't talk for another few minutes. I started to brush my hair, until someone knocked on the bathroom door.

I opened it, seeing it was Paul with his phone out, "What do you feel like eating, Troublesome? I don't care," Paul asked, not looking up from his phone.

"Umm... you could just order some pizza or something, I don't feel like anything in particular at the moment," I responded softly, since I knew we all were tired, and I didn't want to start more commotion between Paul and Barry.

"Okay, does a large pepperoni pizza sound...er okay Troublesome?" He said, pausing in his sentence for a second when he looked at me as he had the faintest tint of blush on his cheeks. I smiled, thinking it was adorable for Paul to be like this.

"That sounds just fine, thank you Paul," I replied, and he grunted in reply, walking away so I closed the door, and turned on the shower.

"Hey, you guys! Don't be rude or anything, but I sing when I shower, so just be prepared to hear awful attempts at a girl who can't sing for her life!" I shouted, and I heard Barry start laughing, and Paul chuckle.

"Thanks Troublesome, I'll be prepared by saying it was Barry if anyone asks who it was," Paul commented, and I laughed, while hearing Barry yell.

"Hey! You're gonna get a fine, Paul!" Barry yelled, but couldn't be serious, considering he was still laughing at my pre-warning.

"Boys are so weird," I said to myself, and finally got into the shower.

*Paul's POV*

Troublesome just gave Barry and I a "pre-warning" of her awful singing, and I couldn't keep myself from chuckling at her comment, it was too cute.

Wait, did I just say cute? Hell no, and why did I even blush when I looked at her? As I was talking to her, I looked up, and I literally was tripping mentally from her. I've never seen her without her clips or hat on, so her hair was down all the way, and she looked... different without them. Her hair was so much longer than I thought, thicker, fuller, it just looked better that way. The way she smiled at me, god damn, I couldn't help but stumble on my words. She probably thinks I'm pathetic anyways.

I ordered the pizza, and flopped on the bed, landing on my back as I grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, and of course, they were talking about the superbowl, how the Seahawks actually could've won, but with all the crap and bad calls there was, it ended up with the Patriots winning. I personally was a huge Seahawks fan, and I was pretty bumbed when the pass was intercepted.

I put the volume on low, and scrolled through my facebook, instagram, twitter, etc until I heard humming coming from the bathroom. 'Oh god, this is going to be hilarious' I thought to myself, smirking.

"Uh oh, looks like she wasn't kidding, but if it's too annoying then I'm gonna fine her," Barry said, and I knew he was gonna say something like that. I figured it was just his signature line, like mine was calling people "pathetic", just like how I called Ash, and it was too funny how he got so pissed and emotional over one word, or when I smirked, he'd always say "What's so funny Paul?" Those memories take me back to those times, or when Troublesome yelled at me. The first time though...

*flashback*

"Aren't you gonna stay to watch my battle!?" Ash furiously asked me, and I smirked back.

"What's so funny?" Ash asked, even more mad that I smirked at him, so I shoved my hands into my pockets, and turned to face him.

"That you want me to watch you lose," I said back, not caring for his anger.

"WHAT!?" He yelled, as he clenched his fists, until Troublesome came in between us, putting her hands out, while that stupid Pikachu copied her.

"Alright, timeout! You've already battled Ash once, why not stay and watch?" She asked, as she looked at me, and I looked back, grunting as a response.

She looked at me worried like after a couple seconds, "What... what's wrong?"

"What's wrong? Who are you?" I asked, smirking to myself.

She immediately faced me, looking angry, "Excuse me, you're rudeness but we've met once before! The names Dawn!" She yelled, and I just responded simply, but effectivly.

"Don't remember," I smirked, obviously pissed her off.

"YOU THINK YOU'RE FUNNY, DONTCHA?! Listen mister,you nasty and self spoiled brat! Apologize!" She screamed at me, and right when I thought she was gonna slap me, that Brick guy or whatever his name is, instantly grabbed her from behind, while she kept yelling, kicking her legs until she stopped yelling.

"You're welcome to stay," Roark said, and I decided from the girls Troublesome act, I would stay and watch.

I smirked, putting a cocky grimace on my face, "With that enthusiasm, how can I refuse?" I sarcastically asked.

"Good! And I'm gonna show you a whole new style of battlin! Whenever you're ready Roark, I am!" Ash yelled confidently, and I smirked to myself, as Roark told him that he would battle tomorrow since his pokemon just had a tough battle, which battled MY pokemon.

Ash turned and glared at me, and I smirked back, putting my cocky grimace back on.

*end of flashback*

I opened my eyes, and checked my phone. I've already played trivia crack, and there was nobody who's played their turn, so I just laid on the bed, closing my eyes again, not knowing what else to do.

"Fuck! Stupid game," Barry yelled, and I assumed it was just some ridiculous game he had on his phone.

I can't believe it, time is going by so damn slow, it's only been five minutes since Troublesome turned on the water, and I didn't feel like doing shit right now. I just stared at the TV for another minute, until I heard singing come from the bathroom, and I chuckled. I was expecting to hear the usual, horrible singing girls attempted thinking they could sing, but I heard something completely different. It was really GOOD singing, to be exact.

"You got that James Dean, daydream, look in your eye, and I got that red lip, classic, thing that you like, and when we go crashing down we come back every time, cause we never go out of style, we never go out of style-"

I was shocked to hear her sing that good, but i saw Barry couldnt even hear, since he had his headphones in, but as I heard her turn off the water, I heard her sing a little bit more.

"You got that long hair, slicked back, white t-shirt. And I got that good girl faith, and a tight little skirt, and when we go crashing down we come back every time, cause we never go out of style, we never go out of style."

She stopped singing, and I couldn't believe what I just heard. She was a natural at it, and when I was spacing out, I heard the doorbell ring, assuming it was the pizza guy.

"Thanks," I said, as I paid the guy, closed the door, and decided to tell Troublesome.

"Hey, Troublesome, the pizza just got here," I said through the bathroom door.

"Okay, thanks Paul, you guys can start eating, I don't mind," she responded, so I carried the box to the table, while Barry spring Ted over, opening the box.

"YES! IT FINALLY CAME!" Barry yelled excitedly, as I went back to my bed, deciding to wait for her, since I wanted to make sure she ate enough.

"Uhg, I'm so tired and sore, I don't think I will be able to even get up tomorrow," I heard Troublesome say, as she walked into the room with her pajamas on, wet hair down, and no mascara on either. I stared at her for a few seconds, until I blinked away, realizing I was sort of checking her out. She collapsed onto the chair, grabbed a blanket and threw it over herself, closing her eyes.

I got up and grabbed a couple paper plates, and opened the pizza box grabbing a slice for Troublesome and I. I kinda felt bad for her, considering she's basically been bumped and threw around all day long, so I got a water bottle as well, and walked over to where she was curled up.

"Troublesome, you should eat something before falling asleep," I said, as she opened her eyes, and I handed her the food and water.

"Thanks a bunch Paul, seriously, is there any way I could do something for you?" She replied softly, obviously to exhausted to do anything, so I shook my head.

"No, you don't need to do shit Troublesome. Are you sore anywhere, cause if you need ice I can get some," I said, and I knew her hip hurt a lot, so I didn't want it to be badly bruised or anything.

"No I'm not, no need to worry!" She smiled, but I knew it was fake.

I looked at her, not even believing her for a second, "Don't lie to me, you always say that when somethings wrong,"

She sighed, as she confessed "Fine, I am, but I didn't want you guys to worry about me so much."

"That's the most ridiculous crap I've heard in a long time, Troublesome." I said, chuckling, so she smiled, and I saw her plate was already empty. I got up, took her plate, and got her another slice, then walked out of the room to get a couple bags of ice.

It took me a couple minutes to fill it, getting a bag for Troublesome and one for me. I didn't necessarily need it, I just chewed on ice a lot for no reason.

I walked back into our room, and I saw Barry talking to Troublesome, which irritated me a lot.

"Are you sure you don't need anything else, Dawn?"

"Barry, I'm fine. Paul's getting me some ice, and that's all I need. He's been so nice, I feel bad for not being much help."

I faintly smiled for a second, then returned to my usual look on my face, "Everyone has long days, so it's not a big deal Troublesome." I said, grabbing their attention. I walked to Troublesome, handing her the bag of ice, then went to my bed and laid on it again, as I started crunching on the ice.

Barry looked at me really irritated like after a minute, "Really Paul!? This is why I got so frustrated at May and-

"Can we just not argue anymore? Seriously..." Troublesome interrupted Barry, as she got up from the chair, and sat on the edge of my bed. I saw she had dark circles under her eyes, so I decided she could sleep on the bed.

"Hey, Paul, I think I now know why you're so cold to everybody," Troublesome said as she giggled, so I looked at her funny.

"And why is that?" I said, chewing on another ice cube.

"It's because you eat ice cubes, so of course it would affect your mood, acting like a cold ice cube to everybody!" She said, laughing at her own joke as I sighed.

"What the hell made you think that Troublesome? Who knows what goes on in your troubling brain anymore," I said as I smirked, and she huffed at me, throwing a little anger tantrum.

"Hey! I was only kidding, no need to worry!" She laid on her left side, facing away from me, so I went back to scrolling through my phone.

It was pretty quiet for a long time, until I decided to go to sleep, so I went and grabbed my sleep clothing and went to the bathroom the change. I threw on some black Nike basketball sweatpants and a plain white t-shirt with a v-neck collar, brushed my teeth and walked back out.

Barry had already fallen asleep, which I was suprising to see considering that cheesehead never shuts up. Troublesome was brushing her damp hair, probably drying it. I walked back to the bed and laid on my back, staring at the ceiling. I was exhausted, so I closed my eyes, resting my hands on my stomach.

"Hey, Paul?"

I opened my eyes, turning my head slightly towards the girl, "What is it?" I grumbled, I didn't feel like talking right now.

"Uhh, well I wanted to say thank you for helping, and to also say goodnight." Troublesome said, then got under the sheets, laying on the very edge of the bed facing away from me.

"Night Troublesome, and just so you know I don't bite, so you don't have to look like you're gonna fall off the damn bed." She turned around after I said that, and I looked away from her as I closed my eyes again. It was really quiet for about three minutes, and those were the best minutes I appreciated today.

"Don't you get cold Paul? You're not even using the blanket," Troublesome asked, and I smirked lightly.

"I never get cold, since I'm an ice cube apparently." I replied, and I saw her smile at me.

"Okay, just making sure, but now I know I don't need to worry!" She said happily, as she moved away from the edge of the bed, snuggling about a foot away from me.

"Hmph, whatever Troublesome, just go to sleep." I said, turning on my right side so my back faced her.

"Hmph, whatever 'ice cube', just go to sleep," she mimicked me, and I immediately turned around to face her, as she tried to hold in a laugh but failed so she stuffed her face into her pillow, laughing.

"I see how it is, Troublesome," I said, as I pushed her off the bed, making the blankets and pillow fall off too, considering she was all wrapped in them.

"Hey! What was that for? You asshole" she said, as she tried to throw a pillow in my face, but I hit it away.

"You can try Troublesome, but it won't do shit to me" I smirked back, and I saw her expression of 'what did you just say?'

"Oh, okay, it. Is. On!" She yelled, throwing another few fluffy things at me, and soon she was chucking every soft thing she could find at me. I easily blocked them, until she didn't have anymore fluffy things to throw at me.

"Oh, come on Troublesome, is that the best you can do? Cause that was pretty pathetic if you ask me," I smirked, putting my pillow back on the bed and laying on my back again as I closed my eyes. Sheesh, how can this girl have any more energy?

"YOU FREAKING ICE CUBE!" She yelled, and I ignored her until a second later she literally tackled me, scaring half the life out of my damn soul.

"What the!? Get the fuck off you Troublesome girl!" I yelled, trying to push her off of me.

"No!" She yelled, and soon we were wrestling, rolling off of the bed creating a huge thud sound as I hit the floor and she was on top of me, grabbing the front of my shirt.

"Excuse me, but you didn't have to be so rude! Or else I wouldn't be doing this!" She yelled, as I pushed her slightly. I saw her face, and I knew she was thinking of something, and I didn't want to know what.

"What are you thinking of doing Troublesome?" I asked, giving her a glare. She slightly smirked as a response, then asked me something.

"Are you ticklish Paul?"

"What the fuck Troublesome? What kind of stupid question is tha- hey! Sto-op! Goddammit!" I was talking, then in the middle of my sentence she tickled my sides, and I tried to hold in from laughing during my sentence.

"Who knew that Paul the ice cube had a ticklish spot? I sure didnt!" She said as she was giggling, and I tried to escape without bursting from laughter, but I couldn't hold it anymore.

"Trou-ble-ssome! I- go-ddamm-it, I'm gon-na fuck-in' di-ie!" I said in the middle of laughing, trying to protect my sides with my arms, and then I thought of an idea.

I quickly rolled us over, and then I picked Troublesome up, not letting her feet touch the ground.

"PAUL! PUT me down! Oh god!" She screamed, and I threw her over my shoulder, having her head behind behind me as I held her from her back and waist.

"Oh my god I'm gonna die! Paul!" She kept screaming, trying to escape from my grip by kicking her legs and balancing herself by grabbing the back of my shirt.

I went to the bed, and threw her down on it and tickled her and she couldn't stop laughing. I was actually smiling for the longest time in my life, having FUN, which was really strange, and we kept laughing until we heard Barry scream at us.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING PAUL!? GET OFF OF HER NOW!" He leaped from his bed, and tackled me to the ground as he tried to choke me, but I punched his face, and soon we were literally fighting eachother, throwing punches like we were killing each other.

"BARRY STOP! Stop hurting Paul! He didn't do anything!" Troublesome yelled, trying to make Barrystop, but he didn't let up.

He charged at me, so I used his momentum and threw him against the wall, and got up immediately and tackled me.

*Drews POV*

"I haven't seen Harley either, maybe he didn't come to Sinnoh for contests," May said, and I nodded my head, but then smirked.

"Maybe he didn't come because you scared him off October," I smirked, making May throw one of her signature angry moments when I pissed her off, and everytime I did, it was too cute not to resist.

"Hey! Maybe it was because the competition here is hard!"

"So you're admitting that I'm a challenge? Never thought I'd here that from you," I smirked back again, and I knew I had her beat, because she couldn't think of something to say back.

"What!? Uhg, whatever lettuce head!" She said annoyed, turning her head towards the window. I laughed softly, May was sometimes easy to crack open, and I couldn't resist from making her a little angry again.

We suddenly heard a 'thud' against the wall, and then slams. May and I quickly made eye contact, and I think I knew what was happening. I bet Barry and Paul were having good a fight, so May and I sprinted out of the room, and slammed the other door open, as we saw what I expected.

"Oh my god! Drew, we have to do something!" May yelled, as she tried helping Dawn seperate the two.

"Come on Paul! Fuck that shit head UP!" I yelled, cheering Paul on as he threw another punch at Barry's bloody face. I took out my phone to video it, and I kept yelling for Paul to beat his ass.

"DREW! That's not helping one bit!" May and Dawn yelled at me, but I totally bet my money on Paul to win this: I wanted that fuck face to learn some damn manners.

I saw Dawn walk straight to the fight, as May didn't know what to do anymore while I was hoping Paul would knock Barry out.

*Dawns POV*

I pushed Barry and Paul apart, as I walked between them.

"STOP!" I yelled at my loudest, as Barry immediately stood up, trying to get to Paul, but I tried stopping him

"BARRY! What has gotten into you!? Stop it! It's over!" I yelled at Barry, as I looked at his bloody face, and he looked back at me

"THEN TELL ME WHAT THE HELL WAS PAUL DOING TO YOU!?"

"I wasn't doing any fucking thing of your concern!" I heard Paul yell behind me, as he stood up too so I put my hands out, stopping Paul and Barry from fighting again.

"It is my fucking concern Paul! I think you were trying to HURT HER!"

"I wasn't hurting her!"

"YES. YOU. WERE! I saw it with my own eyes, and you're getting the biggest fine I've ever gave to ANYONE!"

"Then you need to get your fucking eyes checked!"

Paul and Barry kept yelling at each other, while I couldn't keep up with it anymore.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP BOTH OF YOU!" I yelled, making Barry and Paul instantly stop yelling and arguing, as they both looked at me. I turned and faced Barry, trying to keep my tears from falling and my anger under control.

"He wasn't hurting me Barry! I was the one to start it, so you should be blaming this all on me!" I yelled.

"I don't care! He shouldn't have been doing it anyways!" Barry yelled back at me.

"He wasn't doing anything wrong!" I yelled back again, clenching my fists tightly.

"He was too! He's the biggest jerk in the whole region of Sinnoh! How can you side with that bastard!? You're being a bitc-" before he said the last word, I slapped him across his face as hard as I could, making him stop yelling.

"Come on Barry! We were supposed to be traveling together to have fun, not to have this happen! Please calm down." I said, and Barry walked by me, pushing Paul aside as he went to the bathroom.

"I think it's time for everybody to go to sleep..." May said, as her and I looked at each other, and I nodded so she walked out of the room and entered Drews room, and Drew followed her.

I looked at Paul, who was facing the opposite direction, looking down at the ground with his arms crossed.

"Paul?" I asked in a scared voice, as he turned his body around making eye contact with me.

"What's up Troublesome?" He asked while shoving his hands into his pockets, and I looked at his white shirt, which was now covered in blood.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry for the way I acted, I shouldn't have done it in the first place," I said quietly as I turned around, walking slowly towards the door until I felt Paul softly grab my wrist, stopping me in my tracks.

"I should apologize as well, but this wasn't your fault Troublesome." He said, and I turned to face him, blinking my tears away.

"Yes it is Paul."

"No it isnt. Come on, the room looks pathetic right now, it's eleven fifty at night, so let's just pick up the sheets and pillows from the bed." He said, as him and I picked them up, placing them back onto the bed.

We both got on our sides of the bed, and I didn't say a word, as I pulled the blanket closer to me, stuffing my face into the pillow.

'I'm really pathetic aren't I? God, I shouldn't have done anything' I thought to myself as I drifted to sleep, hoping tomorrow would be a better day.


	11. Chapter 11

Hey guys here's another chapter and thanks for reading and reviewing. Sorry for the wait, but I've been trying my best to make my chapters longer, but hopefully it paid off.

Chapter 11

*Dawns POV*

I woke up earlier than everybody else, as I got up around six thirty. I changed into some sweatpants and a t-shirt, and walked out of the room. May and I both decided to get up earlier just so we didn't have to be around any of the boys for probably a good three hours.

I walked downstairs and I waited for May, which only took a few minutes for her to show up.

"Hey! Hopefully you slept well." May said, as she munched on a granola bar

"Luckily I did because I was so tired, I fell asleep right away. So do you wanna go outside and train together for a bit?" I asked, and May agreed so we both walked outside. It was really nice out today, the sun was just starting to rise and no cloud in sight. We walked for ten minutes, so the pokemon center wasn't in sight.

"Okay, this seems like a good spot to train! I really need to figure out a good combination for the contest tomorrow, let me think..." May trailed off, as I thought of training one of my newest pokemon, or sticking with a pokemon I've trained a ton already when I traveled with Ash.

"Wartortle, come on out!" May said, as she threw a pokeball into the air,as her Wartortle appeared.

"Okay Wartortle, I want to use you for the contest tomorrow, so today we're gonna spend a while training and brushing up your moves." May said excitedly.

"Okay, let's start off using bubble into the air, then rapid spin, but go slow at the start while using water gun."

Wartortle used bubble in the air as told, then started using rapid spin very slowly while using watergun lightly, so it looked like a small sprinkler.

"Okay, now let's progressively get faster!" May said, as her Wartortle began getting faster, as it used watergun more powerfully, making the spinning water appear faster and larger.

"Let's do it Wartortle! You're almost there!" May directed, and after a few seconds, Wartortle spun as fast as it could while using watergun at maximum power, so Wartortle jumped into the air while doing the act. The water popped the bubbles, creating a sparkling and gleaming affect, as I watched the spinning water that was now above me. I gasped from the beautiful sight, this was the perfect combination.

"Good job wartortle! You did a fantastic job!" May yelled happily, hugging her pokemon.

"Wartortle!" Wartortle said, and I clapped my hands, I definitely loved the magnificent combination.

"Wow May! You don't need to worry at the contest, you're gonna kill it!" I said excitedly, and May smiled at me.

"Thanks a lot Dawn. It's probably one of my favorite combinations." May said, as she gave Wartortle a 'Mays pink suprise'.

"It was really great and beautiful as well." I said, and I decided to train a newer pokemon I got from home. I picked one out of the three pokemon I had with me, I didn't carry more than that right now just in case if I saw another pokemon to catch.

"Hey! Come on you stupid pokemon! You're so weak!" May and I heard, so we both turned to see a few guys abusing and yelling at a pokemon.

"You know what, I don't want you anymore, go somewhere else!" A guy yelled, as he released the pokemon, then they walked off, leaving it scared to death.

"Let's go May! We have to help!" I yelled, so May and I both ran over to the pokemon, which had a teeny flame on the tail.

"We should take it to nurse joy!" May said, and I nodded in agreement, as I picked up the orange pokemon, and we sprinted back.

We got there in just a few minutes from our insane sprinting, and burst through the doors.

"Nurse Joy! Please help this pokemon, it was just being abused from some trainer and then he released it, so it's in very bad shape!" I yelled, and Nurse Joy quickly reacted.

"Chansey! Bring the pokemon back to the emergency room! Let's hurry!" Nurse Joy instructed, as she set the beat up pokemon on a cart, then her and Chansey sprinted to the back and we followed her.

We looked through the window outside watching Nurse Joy and Chansey help the poor pokemon.

"I hope it'll be alright..." May whispered to me, and I nodded my head slowly, and for some reason, this scene was almost similar to something I've seen before but I couldn't pin point it.

"Me too May. I wonder what type of pokemon it is but that trainer back there has a horrible heart. I can't believe what we saw, how that boy abused it..." I mumbled, feeling emotional and sad for the hurt pokemon.

A couple minutes passed, and Nurse Joy came out of the room "The pokemon is going to be fine, it's just been badly hurt so it needs a lot of rest, so it will be many hours before it will be able to come out." Both May and I released our breath we held in, relieved that the pokemon is going to be okay.

"Nurse Joy, do you mind if I ask what kind of pokemon it is?" I asked, wondering about the orange pokemon.

Nurse Joy smiled "Of course not. That pokemon you saved is called a Charmander, and it is a fire type."

I nodded "Thank you so much for all the help Nurse Joy, I'll be back in a few hours to see how Charmander is doing." I said.

"Thank you for saving this pokemon, it wouldn't have made it if it was brought in just a couple hours later." Nurse Joy said, and May and I said goodbye until later, then walked to the front.

May looked at me curiously "What should we do now Dawn? We could go get something to eat." I smiled and rolled my eyes cause I knew she was going to say that.

"Whatever you want May, but I'm kinda tired so maybe we could just find something to eat here." I said, and I saw her looking up food places on her phone.

May gasped excitedly all of a sudden, and I looked at her funny "Uhhh...May? What did you find-"

"I'll be right back! There's a noodle place not far from here, and I promise to bring you back some!" She yelled, and she sprinted out the doors faster then I could say something else.

"Well, no need to worry! I can probably find a snack to eat." I said to myself, and I turned around and started walking until I heard my name being called.

"Dawn!" I looked up, seeing Drew and Barry run towards me.

I smiled at both of them as they approached me "Hey guys! What's up?"

Barry looked at me like I was crazy "What's up?! Where have you been this morning! I was worried about you!" Barry yelled, grabbing my shoulders and shaking them lightly making me laugh.

"Barry, no need to worry! May and I got up early to do some training together that's all. May ran out of here just a few minutes ago." I said, brushing Barry's hands off of me, as I saw Drew have a questionable look on his face.

"Where did April go now?" Drew asked me while looking at his phone.

"She ran out of here to go to a noodle place she located on her phone." I said, and Drew smirked.

"Well well, guess February can't get enough food in her life, and considering her going by herself, Hmph, she's probably gonna get lost and run into a tree." Drew smirked as Barry and I laughed for a second, and Drew walked towards the doors "See you guys later" he said, and walked out of the pokemon center leaving Barry and I by ourselves.

Barry looked at me, and I saw that he had a black eye on his left eye, probably from the punch Paul threw at him. "You wanna get something to eat?" He asked me, and I just shrugged my shoulders.

"I would, but I already have May bringing me back something, but we could find a snack if that's okay" I said, and Barry agreed so we went out and bought a few apples. Luckily it didn't take us long, so we got back to the center in less than ten minutes.

We walked through the doors, and after a few seconds, we spotted Paul sitting on a chair staring down at his phone until he glanced up. He looked at us for a few seconds, then got up and walked away. As I watched him walk away, I didn't know what I felt inside me, but I felt guilty watching him leave, so I called out his name hoping he would look back.

*Paul's POV*

When I woke up, I heard Barry outside the room talking to Drew, and I had the worst headache ever.

"Uhg...Fuck my life.." I grunted, and I listened to them talk. I thought they hated each other, but I guess they talked it out, and after a minute I heard them walk away from the doors, probably going somewhere.

I took a quick shower, putting on my usual clothes, dark grey pants, dark green-blue shirt, dark and navy blue zip up sweatshirt and dark blue sneakers. I dried my hair, making sure it was decent looking, grabbed my phone, wallet, pokeballs and room key and walked out. I shoved my hands in my pockets as usual and walked downstairs, only to see Barry and Troublesome walk out together.

I instantly felt some type of emotion, and I blinked a few times trying to forget it.

'Why do I kept feeling this whenever Troublesome is with some other guy? Maybe I'm overreacting about nothing, just forget it...' I thought to myself, and sat on a chair thinking to myself while scrolling through my phone. I've been noticing these weird feelings inside of me for a while now, and traveling with Troublesome isn't helping. Ever since she yelled and screamed at me in Roark's gym, I've looked at her differently, but I don't know what. Everytime she talks to me, I feel like opening up to her more than anybody else I've ever been around, like the time before battling Ash in the Sinnoh League. I remember my heart beat louder and faster when I saw her, or when I stumbled on my own words.

I blinked a couple times, realizing that I've been thinking about Troublesome for almost ten minutes, I quickly checked my phone until I heard the front pokemon center doors open again. I looked up after a few seconds, seeing Troublesome walking with that Cheesehead. For some reason I couldn't stand the sight of them together, so I got up and started walking away to our room again.

"Paul!" I froze in my tracks, and I looked back slightly to see the girl walk up to me, standing by my side.

I looked at her "What do you want?" I spat at her rudely, and she didn't even get mad at me. I was a little shocked mentally, seeing how she didn't start accusing me of being rude.

"I think you and Barry need to straighten some things out, considering that fight from late last night that's all." She said, and I saw in her eyes that she was a little bit worried.

I grunted at first, then decided to question her. "Why?"

"Well, because I've been worrying for hours about you guys, and I don't want there to be any friction between the group when we're traveling." She quietly said, looking at the ground. I glanced at Barry, who was munching on an apple while scrolling through his phone, obviously not listening to our conversation.

It was quiet for a few seconds until the door burst open once again, seeing May sprint towards us with something that looked like food.

"Here you go Dawn! Whew, im...so...exhausted from...all of...that run..ing!" May managed to finally say, handing Dawn the bag, then leaning over on her knees taking deep breaths.

"Geeze June, you don't have to run that fast just because you're scared of me, or is it because you don't want to admit that I'm irresistible?" Drew sarcastically smirked as he walked up to us, making May suddenly stand up.

"Excuse me cabbage head! I was just bringing Dawn some lunch as a good friend that's all!" May yelled, then turning away from Drew, having a pouty look on her face.

"Whatever you say July, we all know those were just your leftovers to save for later." Drew smirked again, flipping his hair and causing May to cross her arms in anger.

"No it isnt! Ugh whatever.." May trailed off, then she walked back to one of the rooms upstairs.

"Really Drew? I think I know what's happening here," Troublesome said sarcastically, making Drew have a slightly flushed face.

"What are you even talking about? May is just a dense rival, nothing more, nothing less," Drew said, and Troublesome and I glanced at each other, as I smirked while she put her hands on her hips.

"You are so in denial, I didn't even say anything specific, and you completely jumped to that idea. We all know that you've got yourself a crush on May." Dawn said as Drew huffed, then walked away from us, probably going back to his room.

"Hey! We can talk later!" She yelled at Drew, who stopped and rolled his eyes, then walked away from our sight.

As we stood there for a moment, we both looked at Barry who was approaching us, and I grumbled in anger as he reached us.

"Hey I'm gonna go outside and train, so I guess we can talk later, but if you guys forget I'm fining both of you!" Barry yelled, then sprinted out the doors leaving Troublesome and I alone.

"Thank Arceus he's gone" I said to Troublesome.

"Oh well. Do you wanna...umm... sit at a table with me?" She asked, having a goofy smile on her face, and I grunted in response.

"I don't care," I said, so I followed her to a table, taking the seat across from her.

"I'm so tired today...and it's only just about noon. Talk about a long day." She said, pulling out her food that May got her. I gave her a look, not saying anything. What has she even done today to make her tired?

She sighed, " I know, you're probably thinking about what the hell I've done so far today," I looked at her suprising for a second, then quickly went back to my normal grumpy face before she noticed.

"So Troublesome, what have you done today? Or is it because your out of shape." I sarcastically commented lastly, smirking as she pouted for a second.

"No, it's not that! It's just that May and I got up early to go train, and we saw someone abusing a pokemon so I carried it while we sprinted back here and Nurse Joy is healing it right now. I hope it's alright," she said sadly, and I didn't say a word.

We sat in silence for the rest of the time while Troublesome finished eating. We got up, but I saw that she wasn't following me, instead I saw her walk to Nurse Joy.

"How is the pokemon Nurse Joy? I hope it's feeling better." Troublesome said, and I watched them talk as I leaned against a wall.

"Definitely still recovering but it's much better. Do you mind waiting for just a little bit longer?"

"Of course not, no need to worry! Could I check how it's doing?"

"Absolutely."

"Thank you," she finished her short conversation, then started walking the opposite way from where I was, and I usually didn't care if someone didn't follow me, but for some reason inside me I decided to catch up to her.

I walked by her side, and we arrived at the room the pokemon she saved was inside. The pokemon was small and orange, and it had a small flame on the tip of its tail.

Troublesome had already sat down in a chair, so I sat in the chair next to her.

"Troublesome, what happened to it?" I asked her, as we both watched the sleeping pokemon through the window.

"Well, after May finished a combination, we heard someone yelling, so we both looked and saw a boy around the same age as us abusing it, calling it worthless, pathetic and weak. He released it, and walked off, leaving it scared to death, so I decided to bring it here because I didn't know what else to do...I found out the pokemon is a fire type and it's called a Charmander." she said sadly, and it left me speechless. I felt a pain of regret inside of me, remembering how I treated a pokemon the same way.

Chimchar. That's all I could think of, how I wanted only power, not caring about Chimchar. I called it pathetic, weak, and trained nonstop until... someone stopped me. Ash tried to stop me, but I didn't listen. The only person I gave up to was... Troublesome.

I couldn't stop thinking of the past, so I got frustrated, resting my elbows on my knees, and running my hands through my hair. Why does that girl tie in with everything that happens I swear. I remember it so clearly, that memory was so similar to what happened today with Troublesome...

*flashback*

"Chim... Chim..." Chimchar breathed heavily from the small break I gave it. I crossed my arms, still not close to being satisfied with the training I had Chimchar go through.

I had Torterra, Ursaring, murkrow, and Elekid beside me, waiting for a command.

"Elekid, use thunder," I said, as Elekid got prepared to launch another attack by spinning his arms at ultra lightning speed.

"Torterra, hyper beam," Torterra obeyed what I said, and started charging for the attack.

"Murkrow, shadow ball, Ursaring, focus blast," I finished my commands of attacks, and waited until they were all prepared. They fired all at once, and I waited for the right time to give Chimchar a command.

"Chimchar, use flame wheel" I said, as I watched the scene. Chimchar used flamewheel so the attacks didn't have any affect, instead it just hit the flames.

I heard someone gasp behind me, but I ignored it. I let Chimchar settle down from the flamewheel, and was about to say something until I heard ASH.

"Hey Paul! What's going on here!?" He shouted behind me, but I didn't answer him. Instead, I told Chimchar to use an attack.

"Flamethrower, let's go." I said, and Chimchar obeyed, but the accuracy and control was way off. I clenched my teeth, as the flamethrower hit Ash instead, knocking him to the ground.

"Chim! Chimchar!" Chimchar gasped in worry as he ran to Ash's side, hmph, like I even cared for him.

"My head... hey, wow! Man, you just keep getting stronger and stronger you know." Ash said happily, as Chimchar gleamed a smile towards him. I turned my head so I could glance at them, getting their attention.

"We're not through yet Chimchar," I spat, and I saw Chimchar look at Ash sadly, then start to walk towards me.

"Grrr... what're you doin' Paul? Why's Chimchar the only one you put through such intense special trainin' anyway?!" He asked me furiously, but I heard footsteps behind him, and I wondered who it was.

"It's Ash... and Paul's here too." I heard someone say quietly, but I ignored it.

"It's none of your business," I spat at Ash, grunting. Why did he need to know? It's not like anything he says is gonna change my mind.

"Yes it is! We're a tag team" Ash replied, and I rolled my eyes. "Your point?" I asked rudley.

"I still don't understand why you entered this thing!"

"You wouldnt."

"Huh?" Ash questioned, and I sighed, knowing that this was a complete waste of my time.

"It's a good chance to get my pokemon use us some real combat." I said.

"Wha-

"What do you mean!?" I heard a female voice cut him off.

"Dawn!" Ash said, shocked from her sudden appearance.

She ignored his comment, and pointed at me, "Don't you think you're being a little rude to the other trainers and pokemon in the tag battle?" She spat at me, and I grunted in response. For some reason, maybe it was the way she demanded me to tell her, I felt like opening up just the slightest to her and only her just because she was there now.

"I needed Chimchar to be struck by that surf in our match today, get it?" I smirked at her, but I felt my pulse beat slightly faster after telling her.

"But what if Chimchar would've lost?" Ash questioned me AGAIN.

"Then Chimchar would be useless." I said, irritated from just talking to the pathetic boy.

He lectured me for a bit of making a pokemon strong by its strong points, and I disagreed, saying it was pathetic and a complete waste of my time, as usual.

"I assume you treat all your pokemon that way?" She asked me, and I didn't say anything, as Elekid stood up arrogantly, and Chimchar acting like he was scared.

"No, this is exactly what Chimchar wants." I said, making Ash question Chimchar, and Chimchar nodded his head confidently.

"Chimchar..." the girl said sadly, and I felt a slight sudden shock of emotion inside of me. I didn't know what it was, was it guilt? No way, I thought, and erased the thoughts from my head.

"Chimchar, there are other ways to get stronger, you don't have to do it the hard way you know." I heard Ash say, but I started to walk away, calling Chimchar.

"Come on Chimchar, don't listen to them." I spat over my shoulder, and had all my pokemon follow me to a different spot to train.

"Poor thing... Chimchar looks so...sad." I heard the blunette whisper, and I felt another small pain of emotion in my chest, but I shrugged it off quickly.

I stopped walking, thinking it was a good place to start training again.

After a minute of training, Chimchar couldn't stand up, so I tried telling him to get up, but it didn't help.

"Wake it up with thunder," I instructed elekid, and he launched a thunder attack, and I saw in my eyes that elekid launched a very, very weak thunder attack but I didn't mind. I just wanted to somehow have Chimchar activate his strongest ability, but I couldn't figure out how.

Right before the thunder hit, I saw a pokemon sprint in front of Chimchar, and I saw that it was Pikachu. I expected Ash to come running up to me, but what I didn't expect was that girl "Dawn" to come as well.

"Knock it off!" I heard Ash yell, as he kneeled beside Chimchar, and I was about to say something to him until she stood between Chimchar and I.

"You've done MORE THAN ENOUGH!" She yelled at me, and I felt my pulse instantly increase speed. After Ash said he was taking Chimchar to the pokemon center, I would've said no, but since the girl was there, I changed my mind.

"Be my guest."

*end of flashback*

I kept thinking of that scene over and over as Troublesome and I sat in dead silence for a long time.

'Am I still the same person people see from a year and a half ago? I need to find a training style, battling style that helps both me and the pokemon I have, but I'm not good with all of this relation stuff...fuck!' I had tons of thoughts swirling in my head all at once.

"Gimme back my Charmander! I know that it's here!"

"I'm sorry but it's not fully healed yet, so I'm not allowed to give it back, and I assume you're the trainer who released it so I refuse."

"What?! I want it back NOW!"

Both Troublesome and I instantly sat up and looked at eachother thinking the same thing.

"We've got to help Nurse Joy!" Troublesome said, as she quickly got up, but right when she did, the same boy who had been yelling at Nurse Joy was already sprinting around the corner and suddenly stopped when he saw Troublesome and I.

The trainer had shoulder length messy ocean blue colored hair, an ugly pink t-shirt with a thin brown vest over, black pants, a small gray bag on his waist, red scarf and some old-fashioned sunglasses.

"Hey, you stupid girl! You took my Charmander!" He pointed at Troublesome, then came marching up to her until he was two feet away. He was a bit taller than her, so he was intimidating her with his height.

"What?! Excuse me but you released it after you got done abusing it from my point of view!" Troublesome yelled back as she crossed her arms.

"Geeze, calm down babe, I was just in a bad mood this morning, and that pokemon is just a weak starter anyways so I was just training that's all, right gang?" He said over his shoulder, as a couple guys came around the corner and stood behind him.

I clenched my fists in anger, as Troublesome immediately got pissed as well "Babe!? Don't call me that! And that was not training either! You've done more than enough to the poor pokemon, so let it rest!"

"Well well well, we've got a feisty girl over here, kinda cute too. Hey, if you give me back the Charmander, I can hook you up later tonight, if you know what I mean." He said, giving Troublesome a flirty wink.

"You're disgusting!" She screamed as she took a step backwards, and I furiously got up from my chair so forcefully I had knocked it down.

The three guys stepped towards her while having flirty grins on their faces, and Troublesome kept backing away.

"My names Damian by the way hotshot, how about getting your number so I could call you later?"

"Not on your life!"

"You're too fine for a lady without a man who deserves you, you've got features and curves baby,"

"STOP! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"Get the fuck outta here you bastard" I said angrily, as I pulled him back harshly as he stumbled backwards into his "gang", and I stood between him and Troublesome, who was hiding behind my back.

He got up after a few seconds, then faced me. Is he really trying to intimidate me, because if he is, it didn't make me flinch one bit. These guys were nothing compared to what I've seen.

"Hey, buddy, get out of the damn way before we beat your ass up," he said, and I looked at him dead in the eyes.

"No."

"Fine then, if that's what you say then I'm just gonna have to do this the hard way." He smirked, and I was ready for whatever he was gonna try to do.

I saw the blue head reach to grab Troublesome, and I felt rage inside of me, so before I could think of anything, I swung my fist back and punched the guy right on the side of his face, making blood spew out of his mouth. The other side of his head hit the wall, and he stumbled while losing balance, then fell to th gound.

"FUCK! You fuckin' grapehead! Get em' guys!" He shouted as he coughed, and the two other guys launched themselves at me. I punched the smaller one in the jaw and kicked him in the stomach, knocking him down, but the larger guy grabbed me, picking me up then slamming me into the ground on my back.

"Paul!" I heard Troublesome yell in worry, but I quickly scrambled up again trying to ignore the pain in my back.

"Let's see if you can handle this no- OWWWW SHIT!" The big guy screamed in pain during his sentence, as I saw that Troublesome had jumped on his back and pulling his hair and ear painfully back. I was shocked to see her react, I was expecting her to run away but I thought wrong.

"Get off of me you bitch!" He screamed again, and then I punched him in the face a few times before his lip and gums were bleeding like crazy.

He tried throwing a few punches back but I dodged them all, and I saw that the other two guys were trying to stand up but failed.

"That's IT! Take this!" He yelled through his teeth, and I saw him grab Troublesome right when she was getting off of him. My eyes widened, and I felt my heart beat a million times faster than before.

"Troublesome get off!" I shouted, as I tried to make him release her from his grip by repeatedly punching him.

He kicked me in the knee and the stomach, making me crash downwards a few feet, and I got back up. He still had her in his grip on his back, so he smashed her into the wall and then I tackled him.

"You can't mess with me you twerps!" He shouted as us, as he still had a grip on Troublesome with one arm, and he grabbed my throat with his other free hand.

"Let...her...go!" I managed to say as his grip tightened around my neck.

"OWW! DAMMIT!" He screamed, as I punched him in the face while Troublesome did something to pissed him off which I couldn't see since he threw me into the chairs.

"Let her go!" I heard voices come around the corner, and I saw Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy sprint around the corner.

"Right after this! You're gonna be dead little girl!" He yelled, and I tried to get up as fast as I could, but I was too late. He jumped into the air with Troublesome still on his back, and he turned his body in mid air so that his back was facing the ground, intending for Troublesome to be smashed against a plastic chair.

"PAUL!" She screamed, and I dove right where she was going to land, knocking the chair away and right when they were about to smash right on me, I kicked the guy, sending him to the right side of us and I quickly grabbed Troublesome and rolled to the left, barely managing to dodge the guy.

"You three are under arrest right now!" I heard Officer Jenny yell, and soon a few police came and chained them up, dragging them away.

As they were doing that, I took a deep breath, relieved that they were gone now. I opened my eyes, and I noticed that my arms were around Troublesome's waist protectively, hugging her slightly. I could feel her hands shake from fear and hear her breathing shaky and un-even. I unwrapped one of my arms from her and pulled both of us up.

"Troublesome... you alright?" I asked, and she didn't say anything. I didn't know what to say either from what just happened, so I nervously put my hands in my pockets.

"Could we go back to our room?" I heard Troublesome ask quietly as she looked at me with her eyes filled with worry. I nodded my head, but as I started to walk, I didn't hear her take a step.

I turned around "You coming?" I asked.

"Yeah...just a minute." She replied, and she took a few baby steps and I sighed. I walked to her as she was still taking baby steps. I didn't know what else to do, but I thought of an idea I was going to regret, but I was only doing this once.

"You don't really want to walk Troublesome?" I asked, grabbing her attention.

"What? I'm walking just fine." She crossed her arms, and I mentally groaned.

"You're taking a damn long time, so I'm offering this only once okay" I said, and she looked at me curiously.

"Sigh... you want a piggy back ride?"

"What?"

"You heard me, or else I'm leaving" I said back, and I turned around and started walking until I felt Troublesome jump on my back.

"You're the best Paul! Now there's no need to worry! Run like the wind bullseye!" She said happily as she quoted Woody from Toy Story. I made a small horse noise so she started laughing as I cracked up just a teeny bit. I made sure she was secure on my back, and started to jog.

She wrapped her arms comfortably around my neck and nuzzled her head on my shoulder as I held her thighs gently, and during this I felt a warm, fuzzy feeling inside of me. I enjoyed every second of it, her laughter, her smile, it was all contagious to me. I had no idea what this feeling was, but I know that nobody could ever bring out the soft side of me except Troublesome.

Maybe I had to ask Reggie. I couldn't ask Barry because he probably wouldn't know a damn thing, and I barely even know Drew.

But I could ask May, since asking Reggie would be the very last thing I would do if there was literally no other choice in the world. I decided to ask May once I meet up with her again.

"We beat the crap out of those mean guys right Paul? All because of one pokemon." Troublesome commented, and I nodded my head.

"Whatever Troublesome."

"Hey, um, could you run around the pokemon center a couple times? This is kinda fun!" She asked , and I stopped jogging instantly, processing what she just asked me.

"Really?"

"Pretty pleaseeee? I won't stop asking until you say yes! Or I'll make Barry fine you, or make May be really mad at you because I blamed that you ate her food."

"...Fine you Troublesome girl, but only a couple times."

"Yes!" She said excitedly, and I started to run faster this time. Along the way we passed May, Drew, and Barry, and their expressions were priceless. Well, I'm gonna have to explain myself to why I was doing this in the first place to them, and I felt like it was going to be a long day.


	12. Chapter 12

Here's another chapter everyone! If you have any ideas feel free to Comment. Sorry for the wait because of school and basketball tryouts, but I'm still continuing the story!

Chapter 12

*Dawns POV*

I convinced Paul to run around the Pokemon Center a couple times just for run, and it definitely paid off, well, maybe for me but not so much for Paul.

We burst in our room, and he set me down on the bed.

"That was so fun! Right Paul?" I asked, then laughed as he shot me a glare.

"I will not be doing that again for a long time Troublesome" he said as he grabbed some clothes and went into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

I heard him turn on the shower, and I just rested on the bed thinking to myself. Yes, my back ached in pain and soreness from being smashed into the wall, but I was thinking about how he saved me from literally breaking my back in half.

I was still thinking when I heard knocking on the door, so I opened the door to see May standing there.

"Hey May! How is the training going?" I asked, already knowing that she probably has her combinations perfected by now.

"It's been great! But the reason I came up here was to tell you a message from Nurse Joy saying that the Charmander is alright, so I guess you can come see it." May told me, and I excitedly jumped and smiled.

"Yay! Charmander is finally recovered! I'm going downstairs, see you in a bit! And no need to worry!" I yelled as I bolted out of the room and ran downstairs, not even using the elevator.

*Mays POV*

"Well, that took care of everything for a bit," I mumbled to myself, and I decided to do a little bit more training for the upcoming contest.

I walked out of the pokemon center, and right when I walked out I heard my name being called. I looked around, and instantly froze when I saw who it was.

"Oh, MAY DARLING! I haven't seen you in AGES! Girl, I guess you're going to compete in the contest in just a couple days, riiighhtt?" Harley said as he ran up to me, pinching one of my right cheeks.

"Harley?! What are you doing here in Sinnoh? Uhg, nevermind, of course I am," I mumbled, obviously not excited to see the purple haired freak in front of me. He was still wearing those awful cacturn clothes, and I mentally groaned.

"Girl, you know you can't live without me here! Besides, it'll be more fun now! Now all we need is Solidad and Drewy to be here! That would just be fantastic!" Harley said very enthusiastically.

""Honestly, it would be better without you here." I said, then Harley made a fake sad face, obviously pretending he was soooo heartbroken.

"But May! How could you even say that? You just don't know anything! Besides I'm going to be winning this contest, and you're going to be the lose who's gonna be crying once I get that ribbon!" Harley spat at me, and I got angry so I put my hands on my hips.

"There's gonna be someone crying, but it's not gonna be me! I'm winning that ribbon!" I yelled back glaring at Harley.

"No May, I'm winning it"

"No you're not"

"Yes."

"No!"

"YES!"

"NO!"

"YES!"

"N-O! That means NO!" I screamed, and soon we were arguing about the contest for several minutes.

"Well well, I can't believe the cacturn bastard would show up huh? Considering you didn't do that we'll in the last region, I would expect you to go crying to Solidad," we heard, and we turned our heads to see Drew standing a few feet away from us, hands in his pockets.

"Oh DREWY! I can't believe you're here too! This is just wonderful isn't it Drewy? Great minds think alike!" Harley squeled, and he ran over to Drew and ruffled his hair.

"Hey! Get your nasty hands away from me! Not the hair!" Drew yelled, swatting Harleys hands away, and I started laughing as Harley tried to hug him.

"Well, I guess if they're distracted then I might as well leave," I thought to myself, and I started walking away from the two boys as I still heard Harley squealing and Drew yelling.

*Drews POV*

"Oh come here Drewy! I just want one hug!" Harley laughed creepily, and I punched him in the face, making him palm his face from the pain.

"Ouchiesss! I'm getting an ice - pack," Harley said, then he ran into the pokemon center. I sighed in relief, then suddenly had a heat flash in worry, as I checked the condition of the deep red thornless rose that was tucked in my coat. I let out a huge breath in relief, seeing that it wasn't squished and it was in perfect condition. I had spent a lot of time finding the perfect rose, I always gave the best ones to May. I don't know why I even do, all I know is that she probably throws them away after they go bad. I know one reason though, and that's because I've fallen for my rival, as in big time. I always tried to convince myself to say the roses were really for her, but everytime I do I always make the same excuse as before, even though it's me expressing how I feel about her. I'm sometimes happy that she's so dense, but these times I wish she wasn't so she could see the hints I try to give her.

I blinked back into reality, realizing I was just standing there thinking about May this whole time... again. I looked at the direction she went, and started walking, putting my hands in my pockets.

About ten minutes later I saw May training with her pokemon, obviously working on new combinations.

"So June, I suppose you're training so hard because I'm competing right?" I mocked, making her spin around to face me.

"What?! No, for your information I'm training to get better and sharpen up my skills, unlike you Mr. Rose!" She yelled angrily, putting her hands on her hips and then spun back around to face her pokemon.

"I have no need to train since I'm already perfect. Just to let you know, I'll be winning this contest over you and Harley." I smirked, but I was suprise when she didn't react. I stood there confused until she responded.

"There you go again, just like always. Keep on talking big mouth, but you'll be sorry once I've got that ribbon in my hand Drew."

Woah. I wasn't expecting May to say anything like that. She was acting so different right now, maybe it was because of me... again.

I half-laughed, putting a hand on the back of my head " May, I was only kidding, don't take it so seriously."

"So you're admitting that I'm winning tomorrow, Whew I thought you were only saying that but I guess even you can't hide the truth." May smirked over her shoulder at me.

My jaw hung wide open. I just literally got BURNED by May. I was always the one who made her speechless, I couldn't keep my thoughts straight right now.

"If you keep that up, you'll get flies in your damn big mouth Drew." She said without even looking at me, and I mentally gave up. How did she just burn me like that? She never acts like this.

She returned her pokemon, and I walked up to her. I stood in front of her, glaring slightly in her beautiful blue ombre eyes that were crystal clear.

"Are you okay May? I didn't mean to be mean to you, I mean, uh, we can go get a snack or something, or go do somethi-

"Drew! I'm fine, what'd you expect me to say after all these years I've been around you? At some point you're arrogance was going to rub off on me!" May laughed and I chuckled.

"I knew you couldn't resist me July." I smirked, and I had her in her place, as always. I took off like a bullet, and May started to chase me.

"Get back here Andrew DAMN Hayden! I'll get Barry to fine you!" She yelled while laughing, and I realized she was catching up fast, so I tossed the perfect rose over my head right into her hands, leaving her suprised.

*Dawns POV*

I was in the room where Charmander was resting, my back facing the door. I sat on a chair thinking to myself as I pet the small orange pokemon a few times, making him yawn and then curl up in a ball.

'He's so adorable... I wonder what moves it knows. This could be a good pokemon to have on my team... but I'm already working on a new team... shoot... no need to worry! Maybe Barry might want it, or May... or Paul...' I thought, and right when the purple haired boy came in my mind, I heard the door open halfway, revealing the very same boy in my thoughts.

"Hey Paul," I said, as he came into the room. He leaned against the wall with his hands in his pockets and grunted slightly as a response, and we stayed silent for a few minutes until he broke the silence.

"How's it doing?" He asked, showing no sign of emotion.

"Well, Nurse Joy said he was all better now, but I'm thinking of what to do with him. I already have a few pokemon, so I was thinking if someone else had it for a new pokemon." I responded honestly. I didn't want the pokemon to suffer in the wilderness.

I pulled out my pokedex, and checked the Charmanders' moves. It said it knew scratch, growl, and ember.

"Paul.. if you want, you could keep charmander. I think it'll be a good new pokemon for you to add to your team." I suggested.

"... sure. I'll keep him." Paul said, and I smiled in relief. 'Hopefully he'll take care of him' I thought as I got up and left the room, giving Paul some alone time.

I sprinted up to the room, grabbed my bag and ran downstairs with my room key and went into the gym without being noticed.

*Paul's POV*

I saw Charmander was looking at me curiously, and I grabbed an empty pokeball from my belt, and sat down in the chair thinking about what to say.

"Hey... I'm not good with this fluff talk stuff, but if you want..." I paused in the middle of my sentence while putting the pokeball on the bed right next to charmander, as he looked at it then back at me with a hopeful look "...you could come with me. I think you've got some real potential in you to become a strong member on my team. Your choice." I said, and Charmander smiled happily.

"I'd take that as a yes." I said, and I picked up the pokeball, and Charmander clicked the button in the front, then returning to my pokeball. It flashed a few times, then settled into the pokeball, and I stood up, walking out to tell Nurse Joy he was all right.

AfAfter telling her, I started walking to the room, passing the gym. I heard someone dribbling a basketball, but didn't mind. I was going to tell Dawn that I've added Charmander to my team, but when I walked in our room, nobody was here.

I glanced around, and saw that her bag and her room key was gone, so that must mean she isn't far away. I was thinking to myself for a few minutes on where she could have gone, until I thought of a conclusion. The gym.

'No... she wouldn't have gone there, anywhere but there... right?' I mentally thought, and shook my head as I went downstairs and stood by the gym door for a minute, trying to hear what was in there.

I heard a basketball and a lot of running, so I slowly and quietly slipped my room key in the slot, unlocking it. I opened it slightly, then looking inside.

I saw a few pokemon running up and down the court, which was a riolu, turtwig, and a luxio. I watched them run, as I saw they were running a set of lines, touching the free throw line and sprinting back to baseline, then half court and back, opposite free throw line and back, then the other baseline and back.

I was shocked, I've never seen someone train pokemon that way. As the riolu approached finishing, it caught a pass at the three point line and shot it, swishing it. I was mind-boggled, and I quickly saw who had passed it, which was Dawn. She didn't even notice I was there, and let the pokemon rest as she grabbed the ball after the shot.

"Nice job guys! That was a good training today. You guys are done for today, so rest up!" Dawn said happily, giving the pokemon some food. I decided to come in, so when I closed the door, she was already dribbling down the court at an insane speed, dribbling behind her back and between her legs.

'What the?!... she has insane ball handles! I didn't think Troublesome could play like THAT', I mentally thought, as I was still suprised.

"Hey Troublesome!" I yelled, having my voice echo across the court, and Dawn suddenly froze. She then turned towards me, fake laughing as she threw the ball behind her head. "Paul?! Oh, hey, uh, well... you know, I was just-um... h-having some fun with my pokemon! I mean, gotta try something new every once in a while! Yup!" She nervously said as she walked around, and it was obvious that she was lying.

I looked at her and made eye contact, " Don't lie to me Troublesome. I saw you handle the ball across the court." I said, and she didn't reply right away.

"Well, it was just a lucky first-time try!" She quickly said, as her face flushed slightly pink, and she knew I wasn't buying anything she said.

"Hardly, you obviously play basketball, why are you hiding that?" I asked. She suddenly stopped walking, and the only movement was the ball rolling across the court.

"Well, I don't actually PLAY it, but uhh... I just, you know, do it for fun every now and then."

"That's bullshit." I said, making her go silent. " What's the position you play, or you're favorite position" I directly asked.

"Uhhh.. I don't know, I don't pay attention to it..." Dawn quietly said, and I shook my head. Why was this girl being so stubborn? I picked up a boys basketball from the rack with one hand, then spun it on my fingertip.

"That's also bullshit, and you know it Troublesome." I said, glancing from the spinning ball to her, and she didn't say anything.

She finally spoke after a few minutes, "Fine. I like playing point guard and shooting guard, but I'm not good okay!" She yelled, making my ears hurt from her yelling, and she slammed the ball on the ground, marcmarching over to her pokemon and returning them.

I watched her leave the gym, slamming the door, leaving me alone in the gym. I mentally sighed, 'what is with that girl? Why wouldn't she tell me she played basketball, she didn't have to lie. Maybe it's something from the past' I thought, but I shrugged my shoulders. I decided to shoot around for a bit, since I didn't feel like doing anything else.

*Barry's POV*

Sheesh, where was everybody?! I'm gonna fine someone! I shouted in my mind, walking back to our room from training all day long. I saw Dawn walk down the hallway, and decided to catch up with her.

"Hey Dawn! How's it going?" I said, grabbing her attentiom.

"It's fine Barry, no need to worry!" She said, and we walked back to the room together, and stayed there until nighttime.

May and Drew showed up and stayed in their room, but Paul was missing.

"Hey Dawn... where's Paul?" I asked curiously, and I saw her make a face, but she responded.

"I dunno Barry, he might be strolling around or something, but there's no need to worry, he'll be back." She said, and it was quiet for a few seconds.

"Oh well, when he gets back I'll fine him! Hey, by the way, isn't the contest tomorrow?" I suddenly remembered, I think the Jubilife City contest started tomorrow around 3.

Dawn smiled at me, and my heart fluttered, "Oh yeah! Thanks a lot Barry, I almost forgot! I'm pretty excited for it, but I wonder who I'll use..." she said, then went off into her thoughts. I checked the time, revealing that it was already 10:30 pm.

"Hey Dawn, I'm gonna go to sleep now, see you in the morning!" I said, then jumped onto the fluffy bed, snuggling in the blankets, and quickly fell asleep.

*Paul's POV*

I arrived at our room around 11:40, and quietly entered the room, not wanting to wake anybody up. I quickly grabbed a towel and took a 3 minute shower to wash off, then put on some boxers and sweatpants, not bothering with a shirt. I glanced in the mirror, and trailed into my thoughts. I used to be a really skinny, pale, short, weak and ugly boy when I was ten years old. Now at the age of fifteen, I almost looked completely different, and I was actually happy with myself.

I still had a couple scars from my abusive father, but I didn't let it get in my way anymore. I was so much taller for one, but all of the conditioning paid off. My skin was a light golden tan that was healthy and smooth, I was in shape, I had strong abs, bicepts, muscle, broader shoulders. I didn't change my appearance for myself, but it was always for someone else...

I leaned my hands on the edge of the sink for a few minutes, still thinking to myself. 'Why am I thinking about Troubleso- nevermind, she'll never notice me, wait, why do I even care?!' I mentally snapped at myself. Uhg, maybe I was just too tired to think straight.

I walked out of the bathroom, and noticed that Dawn wasn't asleep yet, she was sitting outside on the deck in a chair. Without thinking, I walked to Dawn, standing a few feet behind her. She was curled up, hugging her knees and resting her chin.

"Hey, Troublesome, you should get to sleep." I mumbled softly, grabbing her attention.

"Wha- Paul, what are you doing? Leave me be." She said, facing away from me. I walked right in front of her chair and squatted, then made her put her feet on the ground.

"You've got a contest tomorrow, so you're gonna need some rest." I mumbled, looking into her eyes.

She rested her arms on her knees, then mumbling into her hands which I couldn't understand whatever she said.

"I can't understand what you're saying if you mumble into your hands Troublesome." I said as politely as I could without having to make her mad or anything.

"I don't wanna go to bed, I'm not tired." Dawn said, and then she yawned right after, making her cheeks have a slight blush to them.

"Right, now what's keeping you up this late?" I asked, taking her hands away from her face and resting them on her lap, then looking right at her.

She sighed " Well, I don't know how I'm going to perform tomorrow, and I still haven't decided a pokemon, or a combination for the appeal, or who I'm using for the next rounds, or-

"We can figure that out tomorrow, you've already used you're damn brain enough today. You'll be able to think of something in the morning when you wake up." She sighed after it was quiet again, then nodded her head slightly in agreement.

"Okay... no need to worry! I'll think of something... hopefully..." Dawn trailed off, and I stood up, cracking my knuckles.

"I'm not the best at contests, but I could help Troublesome, only if you want it." I said, assuring that she shouldn't worry over some small contest, heck, it was the very first one.

She looked up at me with a worried look in her eyes, "You sure? I hope it isn't too much of a burden to ask for."

"Not at all Troublesome, you may just have to wake me up in the morning that's all. Come on," I said, and I grabbed her hands softly and pulled her up from the chair, making her jump a little bit.

Dawn looked up having a slight blush on her cheeks and flashing a huge smile to me happily "Thanks Paul! You do have a soft side! Now there's no need to worry about tomorrow." She happily said, then suddenly hugged me, wrapping her arms around my stomach and nuzzled her head on my left shoulder. I felt heat rising to my face, and my heart pump like a billion times faster than normal. I softly wrapped one arm around her back, and the other by her shoulders.

'God, why am I feeling like this? I always act so different around her, maybe I'm just tired,' I thought to myself, and after a minute we pulled apart and went inside to get some sleep. I knew it was going to be another long day tomorrow, and for some reason, I was a teeny bit excited for the upcoming day.


End file.

Pokémon, Adventure, Romance