Chapter 1: Arrival in Hoenn
Rustboro City.
I stared up at the tall buildings and the people bustling around who were content to make lots of noise and crowd the sidewalks.
Sighing, I made my way through the streets, forcing myself to look for changes in the city since I'd been here four years ago. As far as I could tell, nothing had changed. Not even my lack of enthusiasm for big cities and being in a claustrophobic crowd.
It wouldn't be long until I made it to the Pokemon Center, which hopefully wasn't quite as loud.
"Paul!"
I turned, my muscles tensing as I spotted a familiar looking blue haired annoyance making a Beedrill line straight towards me.
There were a few options, a few different paths I could take:
1. Pretend I was not Paul, but merely someone who looked like someone she knew.
2. Ignore her, which is my most commonly used strategy for pests of all shapes and sizes.
3. Avoid talking to her. We were in a populated area and running would be simple, though unacceptable and cowardly. I was no coward.
4. Talk to her shortly and hope that I would never be bothered by her again because, really, the fact that she just happened to be in the same city, let alone region, was an astronomically large coincidence.
Decisions, decisions.
"Hey, Paul!" The voice again.
Instinct decided for me. Before I could even register what my body was doing, I turned to face the incoming, unwelcome blast from the past.
The girl, blue haired and blue eyed, pushed aside a couple more people on the street and stood before me. She clutched a Piplup in her arms as she breathed quickly. "Paul! How's it going?"
I nodded jerkily, minutely, in return. My decision to allow her to catch up to me now seemed foolish.
"So, what have you been up to?" Dawn stood up a little straighter now that her breathing was more even.
"Training."
"Me too! I mean, I didn't expect to see you here in Hoenn! I've just been checking out all of the Contests. It's been a lot of fun. I've already got two ribbons!"
She pulled out a small case and opened it for me to see. I stared at her blankly, refusing to lower my gaze to look at such a pitiful collection. A waste of time. She lowered the case, her eyes refusing to meet mine as she noticed how repulsive I found how she spent her time to be.
"So, what's new?" she asked.
"I told you, I'm training," I repeated, then turned to walk down the street.
She followed. "What for? I mean, you've been to Hoenn already and been to the Pokemon
League here. Why bother?"
I stopped abruptly and she ran into me. "It's none of your business."
"Well, I thought-"
"You thought wrong," I said bluntly, and continued down the street.
"Wait!" Dawn rushed to catch up to me and grabbed my shoulder, forcing me to turn around.
"Can't we catch up some? I mean, if you're so busy training maybe we could at least battle."
I smiled despite myself. "Battle you?"
"Well, yeah."
"Hmph. Maybe when you stop collecting pretty bows and treat battling seriously I might consider it, but right now you have less chance of me desiring to battle you than the most powerful Caterpie in the world, Shiny or not."
"Wow, talk about a Poison Sting attack," Dawn muttered, seemingly so I wouldn't hear.
I sighed. "Weedle use Poison Sting, not Caterpie. And that just shows how much of a dimwitted loser you are. You're a waste of time." I paused and looked at her hurt expression, feeling nothing. "Nice seeing you again, Dane."
"My name's Dawn!" she screeched over my shoulder.
I smirked and put a hand up over my shoulder as if to wave goodbye, but dropped it. I heard her yell of rage before turning the corner.
Finally free of the pest, I began exploring the town, looking for the nearest Poke Mart to buy Poke Balls and the Pokemon Center to do research on my next destination- Meteor Falls.
Luckily, they were close to each other and I didn't have to waste my time meandering around like an idiot. I restocked my supplies and headed to the Pokemon Center, giving Nurse Joy my Pokemon before heading to the nearest computer.
Thankfully, the Pokemon Center was peaceful and quiet, allowing me to think openly unlike right outside the doors where the bustling city awaited, noisy as ever. I took a deep breath as the internet loaded and began typing.
I sat there for an hour, analyzing data. The locations of certain Pokemon in Meteor Falls, temperature, geography around the area, everything I could that seemed relatively important.
I looked up Dragon Pokemon next. My goal was to catch a Bagon. It was about time I had a Dragon Pokemon considering I'd been a Pokemon Trainer for almost eight years. Weak only to Dragon and Ice moves, not to mention a Salamence's bulky defense, would be a nice addition to my carefully assembled team. Its wide variety of moves also held a lot of promise.
"Look, there's Paul!"
I closed my eyes as if the voice was only in my imagination. Not twice in one day. That'd be unbearable.
I felt a hand on my shoulder and the chair I was sitting in spin around against my will. Blue eyes, far too close to mine, smiled at me as if my insults a couple hours ago had meant absolutely nothing.
"Long time no see!" Dawn waved at me.
I brushed aside her hand in annoyance. "Not long enough if you ask me."
"Who's that, Dawn?" Some boy I'd never seen before walked up next to her, giving me a glare that reminded me of an Igglybuff trying to look as intimidating as a Charizard. How amusing.
What was even more amusing is Dawn's failure to notice the behavior from the boy next to her.
"This is Paul, Ash's rival," Dawn said to the boy.
I cringed at her classification of me. "Ash's rival." Now that was just unnecessary, not to mention degrading.
"Oh, I've heard about you! I'm Kenny." Kenny's smile looked dopey. I disliked him instantly.
"What are you looking up, Paul? Meteor Falls? What's that?" Dawn peered at the screen, but I closed it and stood up, gathering my things.
"I saw a Bagon on that page. That's what it's called, right? I've never left Sinnoh before," Kenny admitted.
I walked away without any further explanation, hoping that if I was quiet they would get bored and leave.
"Hey, wait up!" Kenny caught up to me before Dawn did. "What's wrong with you? I thought you were friends with Dawn. Stop being so rude."
"First off, if anyone's being rude, it's you. You're not taking the hint that I don't want to talk to either of you. Ever. Secondly, your girlfriend forgot to mention that I dislike her and wish she'd leave me alone." I raised an eyebrow at Kenny, who looked abashed.
"He's not my boyfriend, Paul," Dawn corrected, her face contorted with anger. "We're just friends and met up here for the Rustboro City Contest."
"And did either one of you win?" I asked, yet again amused by her expression.
"I did," Kenny said, sounding more defeated than happy about his win. I guessed he was let down by Dawn's refusal to be called his girlfriend. I held back a smirk.
"Congratulations on collecting ribbons." I nodded to him sarcastically. "If you'll excuse me, I have actual work to do."
"If you'll battle me you'll see I'm no pushover!" Kenny clenched his fists.
I studied him-his well manicured appearance, his brown hair and expensive looking clothing that didn't look travel worn. He had a bit of baby fat in his face, looked a bit too well fed and cocky for someone who was used to losing. Still, there was fear in his eyes as he tried to stare me down. Or should I say, stare up at me. I was a couple inches taller.
I smirked. "Actually, you are. You worry more about your appearance than at how strong your Pokemon are. You don't even deserve to own Pokemon, much less prance them around like Ponyta at a circus."
"Paul!" Dawn gasped. "How can you say that to someone?"
"It's called the truth. I can tell just by looking at the two of you that neither one of you has improved since arriving here." I rolled my eyes. "And you, Dawn, are so focused on Contests that you're missing the entire point of traveling somewhere new."
"Which is?" she asked, sounding aghast.
"Becoming stronger, better. You're still the same old Dawn, hanging out with weaklings and playing it safe." I walked away and was satisfied that they did not follow me to Nurse Joy's desk as I took back my Pokemon and left through the front doors.