A New Dream

Z-Research: Paul's POV

While I was making my way back home from Unova I decided to make a major detour and visit Kalos to learn more about Mega Evolution. During my time researching, I saw Ash (my old nemesis back when I challenged the Sinnoh League when I was eleven) and to my annoyance he recognized me. 

He instantly challenged me to a battle that I accepted without reservation. However, I had been near livid when it ended in a draw. As dense as ever, he stuck around to chat after the battle and told me about his time in Alola and the amazing power of something called a Z Crystal that he was able to use while in the islands. The thought of using a crystal to unlock a move so powerful that it could one hit KO almost any pokemon was so intriguing that I hardly noticed the ringing in my ear after he finally stopped talking and rushed off to follow after his girlfriend.

The thought of Ash on one hand made my blood boil, while on the other a small piece of confusion seemed to wedge it's way through my mind. Ash was as pathetic as they came, always saying how any pokemon could be strong if you just 'worked together' which I had to scoff at. 

A Pachirisu would never be able to beat an Agron, I had always thought stubbornly, which I knew was true. Yet after he beat me back in the Sinnoh league and I saw the loyalty and the depth of determination in all of his pokemon, that affected me more than I would admit to anyone. Ever. It hadn't changed my mind about intensive training being necessary to achieve a pokemon's greatest strength, but I found myself over the years trying to instill trust between myself and my pokemon.

Yet he still almost beat me, I seethed inwardly, wanting to lash out and kick the leg of a bench as I waited for the people to finish disembarking. I remained still though, not moving even an eyelash to give a hint to the anger rushing through me. 

When the last person finally walked down the steps and onto the dock I was the first to go up the stairs. Showing my ticket to a waiting steward he directed me to where my room would be and suggested a few amenities that the ship offered that he thought would interest me. The mention of a battlefield on the main deck did pique my interest, but I simply nodded and followed his directions to my room so I could drop off my backpack.

The sounds of girlish giggles outside my cabin grated on my nerves so to distract myself I glanced at a few pamphlets that had been left on my nightstand. One of them was the ships itinerary and I inwardly groaned when I saw that we weren't scheduled to pull into Melemele harbor for nearly two weeks. Ruffling through the pamphlets proved fruitful as one of them held a list of all of the rooms on the cruise liner. I was happy to see that there was a rather large library on the third floor of the ship. 

Without further ado I grabbed my black jacket from my bed and pulled it on over my dark blue T-shirt. My bangs shifted to fall into my eyes and with an annoyed grunt I ran my fingers through them, pushing them off to the side.

I need a haircut, I grumbled to myself, rubbing the back of my head where my hair was cut to only a few inches in length. When I got back from Unova, Reggie insisted that spiky hair was the newest fad and had all but dragged me to the barber where they cut my hair short on the back and sides and left my bangs long so I could spike them up. But to be honest I could never get myself to care enough in the mornings to actually gel my hair, so my bangs just flopped in my face constantly.

Ten minutes later I found myself in the library, engrossed in my research of Z Crystals and their power that they gave the alolan pokemon. To my amazement and glee, I found that once a trainer and his pokemon had gotten strong enough to use a Z-move they could use that move even outside of Alola. I'd never seen a Z-move be used in person so I had worried that it would only be useful in Alola, but if this was true and I could master Z-moves then there was no way I would lose against anyone again!