Now that Piplup and I were on our way I was determined to enjoy the cruise ship and did my best to relax. I managed to leave the pokemon center without bumping into either Nurse Joy or Kenny, ensuring my secrecy. Leaving behind Mamoswine, Typhlosion, and the rest of my dear pokemon had been hard, but Professor Rowan promised to take good care of them when I transferred them over to him. I knew that they would enjoy spending time with all of the other pokemon I had caught during my travels. Throughout my journey, I had switched between traveling with friends and by myself so it didn't feel strange riding a boat to an unknown region with no one to talk to but Piplup, but what WAS strange was my run-in with Paul.
"Piplup piplup pip!" Piplup chirped at me happily as he swam by on his back as we relaxed in the shallow end of the pool on the top deck.
"It does feel great doesn't it?" I replied, smiling at the little creature I considered to be my best friend.
I sighed, allowing myself to relax in the lukewarm water as I felt the gentle sun rays wash across my face. Thinking of Johto's harsh winters made me all the happier to be right where I was and my mind turned once again to Alola. I wondered if I would be any good at the Luau Showdowns Serena mentioned.
I had spoken with a few people who mentioned they were originally from Alola on the ship about them. However, most of them hadn't even heard of them, which didn't inspire much confidence.
Well, even if they aren't a big deal, I can still use the experience for future contests, I thought determinedly, pushing off from my spot on the edge of the pool and swimming confidently towards the deep end of the pool.
Piplup followed me with a happy call, diving down and seeming to cut through the water effortlessly. Piplup and I played in the water for nearly an hour before I got tired and pulled myself out. I accepted a towel gratefully from one of the cruise staff members and rubbed it against my long hair, then along my legs before slipping on my flip flops and walking towards my cabin.
Thirty minutes later I stepped out of the shower, dressed once again in my white knee-length shorts and black shirt with three pink roses of varying sizes stamped on the bottom left-hand corner. Piplup had fallen asleep on one of the bottom bunk beds in our cabin. I giggled, tempted to go scare him, but I decided to leave him to his nap and instead began picking up the three books that I had checked out of the ship's library. One of them had been a wonderful romance story between a girl who could speak to pokemon and a prince who wanted to exploit her gift, only to end up falling in love with her. The other two were practical, one of them a book on the history of Alola and the other on famous contest combinations.
Tiptoeing stealthily, I left our room, closing the door behind me as softly as I could as to not disturb Piplup. Clutching the books against my stomach I walked casually towards the elevator and smiled politely to the other people in the shaft when the doors opened for me.
"What floor?" a girl who looked my age asked with a smile.
"Third, please," I replied and she nodded, touching the button I requested.
After a short trip, the elevator opened onto the third floor and I got off with two or three of the other occupants. I made my way down the hallway and stepped through the open door that beckoned me into the library. Tossing a smile at the worker behind the library counter I slid the books in my arms carefully through the return machine and took a step back as it dinged, signaling that it had successfully recorded their return.
I wondered what I should do until dinner, allowing my eyes to wander towards the rows of books when a pop of purple flashed in the corner of my eye. Blinking as the color registered in my mind, I turned to see that Paul was leaning forward staring intently at a computer screen. Something flashed on the screen that his purple head was covering and my curiosity peaked.
Paul hadn't spoken to me since that first day when he spilled his lemonade on me, but I had seen him several times throughout the trip. His personality seemed the same, which came down to one word. Rude. But I noticed him actually smile when he spoke to his Torterra, so I couldn't help but wonder if he really had changed in the seven years since I last saw him.
Hardly without thought, I found myself meandering over to Paul, stretching slightly to see over his shoulder. My hand flew to my mouth to keep myself from gasping as I saw a pokemon I had never seen before creating a rock the size of a small mountain and dropping it on the pokemon it was battling.
What on earth was that? I thought to myself in horror, which was only slightly tempered as the gigantic rock disappeared to show the pokemon underneath bruised and having fainted, but it didn't appear to be in critical condition. Before I could think to move Paul shut the video and turned, blinking only once when he stood and found himself within inches of me.
"I'm sorry!" I yelped, taking a few hurried steps back from him and trying to not blush from embarrassment.
"What were you doing?" he asked in a flat voice as if he didn't actually care. I glanced up into his black eyes and tried to smile innocently.
"I... just wanted to see what you were watching," I answered honestly. Paul arched one of his eyebrows up at me, which I could only partially see through his shaggy bangs.
"Hmm," he grunted shortly, sticking his hands into his jacket pocket and walking past me without another word. Feeling strangely disgruntled I turned and lengthened my stride so I could walk next to him.
"So, Paul. Why are you going to Alola?" I asked as we exited the library together.
"Why do you care?" he asked bluntly without even looking at me.
I briefly debated whether it was even worth it to keep talking to him. A part of me really wanted to know what happened to him after he left the pokemon league and finally acknowledged Ash's strength as a trainer.
"Just curious," I replied nonchalantly, following him down the hall in the opposite direction of the elevator. "If you don't want to tell me, then what about what you've been doing up till now? Have you beaten the Sinnoh League yet?"
Paul shrugged his shoulders, finally glancing down at me for a second before turning his attention back to the hallway.
"I lost in the final round of the Sinnoh League when I tried again a few years ago. But I won the Hoenn League two years ago, and this year I won the Unova League," he said with hardly any emotion and my mouth dropped open in shock.
"Really? That's amazing, Paul!" I exclaimed, shaking my head in wonder.
A pang of inadequacy shot through me as I thought of my own disappointing attempts at chasing my dream in different regions. Mentally stomping down on that depressing line of thought I looked back up at Paul.
"Did you choose to challenge the champion after you won?"
Paul frowned slightly, meeting my gaze for a moment and slowing his pace.
"Of course I did," he answered with a hint of annoyance in his voice. I bit my bottom lip and looked away, realizing that if he reacted like this then he must not have been happy with the results.
"So... I guess you are planning to challenge the Alolan Pokemon League now, right?" I asked awkwardly.
He regarded me out of the corner of his eye before nodding his silent agreement. We had reached the end of the hall now and I followed him as he turned left and began heading towards a set of stairs.
"Why didn't you ask me how my battles against the Champions went?" Paul asked suddenly.
I looked up at him with surprise, slightly shocked that he had chosen to carry on the conversation.
"Well, it didn't seem like you wanted to talk about it," I answered hesitantly. I thought I saw surprise flash briefly in his black eyes before he slid his gaze to the staircase and began descending.
"So you've learned how to be observant," he remarked in a tone of voice that made me feel like he was surprised I had a shred of maturity in me. I felt my cheeks heat up with anger.
"What, did you think I was still 10?" I asked, hearing the annoyance come strongly through my voice but hardly even caring at this point. What was this guy's problem?
"It's not like you've changed much, You're still carrying that weakling Piplup everywhere you go," Paul said with a shrug, looking over his shoulder at me where I had stopped at the top of the stairs.
"Piplup is not weak! He's one of my most experienced Pokemon," I retorted angrily, folding my arms stiffly as I tried to not let him rile me up.
"Please. It's been seven years and the little wimp hasn't even evolved? Of course it's weak," Paul scoffed, turning and looking up at me from the middle of the staircase with a completely serious expression.
"He hasn't evolved because I gave him an everstone, genius. But that doesn't mean he isn't strong," I said emphatically.
Paul scoffed, leaning a shoulder against the wall and looking at me with slightly narrowed eyes.
"How could any pokemon get strong while doing contests? You coordinators care more about how sparkly you can make your moves rather than how much power goes into the attack," Paul retorted mockingly and my anger instantly cooled into a frosty rage.
"Don't look down on coordinators; we train just as hard as a normal trainer does," I said icily, bringing my arms down to my sides and clenching my hands into fists. "Forgive me for bothering you," I snapped sarcastically before whipping around and marching back down the hall towards the elevator that would take me to my room.
"What a jerk!" I yelled, closing the door roughly behind me and making Piplup jerk up and look around in confusion.
"Lup piplup?" he chirped, rubbing his eyes sleepily.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Piplup. I forgot you were sleeping," I apologized quickly.
He yawned widely before jumping down from the bed and coming to nuzzle against my leg like my mom's Glameow. Chuckling I scooped him into my arms and gave him a quick hug, slowly allowing my feelings of anger and frustration to melt from me.
"Are you hungry?" I asked after releasing him from our hug and he held up an eager flipper.
I decided to order food to eat in our cabin, not to avoid Paul or anything, but just because I didn't feel like socializing that much. I fell asleep watching the newest Pokemon Rangers movie that Piplup was obsessed with.
The next morning I woke to light filtering through the circular window in our cabin and I smiled as my excitement from yesterday bubbled up again. I couldn't wait to start my journey in Alola! Reading the Alolan History book had been fascinating and I couldn't wait to see all of the different regional variants that the book described.
After taming my wild bedhead into a manageable fashion I packed up my pajamas and did a once over of the cabin, making sure I hadn't forgotten anything. Piplup followed me, even going so far as sliding underneath the cabin beds to make sure nothing had rolled down there and I laughed at his antics.
A loud horn sounded and I grinned. Reaching down I pulled Piplup, who was halfway underneath the bed we hadn't slept in, up into my arms. I excitedly left my cabin, closing the door with my foot before racing towards the steps that led to the top deck. I dodged slower moving passengers easily while making my way up and towards the salty ocean breeze. Once I emerged from the stairs I felt a grin spread across my face and I followed the crowd to the railing of the deck where a land mass was slowly growing closer to us.
"There it is, Piplup! Our first look at the Alolan Islands," I said with an excited squeal.
Piplup waved his flippers up and down as he chirped happily. I stayed by the railing for several long minutes, watching as the island became larger and larger by the minute. Piplup's growling stomach awakened me from my trance and I turned away from the majestic sight in search of a buffet table.