The next morning I woke up early to the sound of my alarm. Professor Rowan would be waiting for my call soon, so I hopped into the shower and quickly got ready for the day. Paul had insisted we go to bed early and I was impressed with his level of focus. Honestly, I wanted to beat him and win the bet, but a part of me wanted him to win the battle so that he could win the pokemon league and have a chance at challenging Gladion.
After I got changed and was ready for the day I walked down to one of the transfer machines provided for the trainers. I called Professor Rowan and he answered on the first ring. I had said my goodbyes to my pokemon last night and thanked them for their hard work, so I loaded Loppuny's, Typhlosion's, and Pachirisu's pokeballs onto the machine and Professor Rowan sent me back Piplup, Oricorio, and Ribombee. I thanked Professor Rowan for caring for my pokemon while I was away and he wished me luck at the pokemon league today.
With that taken care of, I made my way back to my room and nearly screamed when I opened the door and saw someone sitting on my bed. I let out a shaky breath as Paul looked at me with a mischievous grin and I frowned at him, trying to act stern instead of giddy at this unexpected visit.
"You nearly gave me a heart attack!" I accused as Paul stood up to his full height and walked over to me with an unconcerned expression.
He pulled me over so that we were no longer standing in front of my open door and to my surprise he wrapped me in his arms and pressed a quick, heated kiss to my lips. I melted immediately and wrapped my arms around his neck. He pulled away from me and his amethyst eyes twinkled as he looked at me.
"I just wanted to get a kiss for luck before we head out," he said with a smirk and I quirked an eyebrow at him.
"You kissed me though, so doesn't that mean that you gave me your luck?" I asked teasingly and he cocked his head, giving a sarcastically contemplative look at me. I laughed and he smiled softly.
"Either way, I guess," he said quietly, with his arms still wrapped around my waist.
I raised myself on my tiptoes and pressed my lips gently against his and then pulled back to smile at him.
"Good luck," I said with what I was sure looked like a silly grin. Paul nodded and let my waist go, but took my hand in his and interlaced our fingers.
"Let's go get some breakfast and head to the stadium," he suggested and I nodded.
We were at the stadium thirty minutes early but the seats were already packed. I looked at the battlefields in brief amazement because of the transformation it had undergone in such a short time. Instead of the four battlefields from yesterday, there was now only one large battlefield in the dead center of the large space. Instead of painted trainers boxes, there were actual platforms for the battling trainers to stand on and from what I could tell the main battlefield looked like it would be able to interchange. At the moment the battlefield had a few large rocks placed around it with a man-made river splitting the battlefield in two.
With the new battlefield, all of the trainers that weren't battling were asked to stay in the breakroom. Paul and I chose a table and watched the battles before ours closely. Last night as we had researched each of the trainers, Paul told me who he expected to win the battles today and as the first battle came towards the end it looked like he had been right. As the next battle raged on the screen I began to feel nervousness creep into my stomach and I looked over at Paul. He was watching the battle closely, narrowing his eyes at times and nodding silently at others.
Calm down, Dawn. This is your chance to show him all of your practice and training, I told myself, but my stomach was still flipping around like there were a million tiny butterfree trapped inside. Jumping from surprise I looked over as Paul laid one of his large hands over my clenched ones that were on the table. As I met his quiet smile I felt my body begin to relax.
"It's just another battle, Dawn. No matter what, I'll be there after it's over," he said softly, almost under his breath.
I exhaled through my nose and smiled over at him, moving my hands so that I could hold his large hand in both of mine. Paul squeezed my palm and turned back to watch the battle. I followed his example and felt my body relax more and more as I watched the battle and rubbed my thumb against the back of his hand,
Once again Paul's guess won the battle and we stood up simultaneously. Paul held my hand all the way out of the break room until we got to the battlefield. I smiled up at him and he nodded to me before we separated and made our way to our individual trainer's platform. I climbed to my spot and smiled over at Paul, who smiled back at me.
"And here we have our Sinnoh couple, Paul and Dawn. Dawn was our runner-up for the Showdown Tournament a few months ago and her pokemon have shown great strength in battle here at the pokemon league so far. Whereas her strong and silent type sweetie, Paul, has dominated all of the battles up to this point. Which of these talented foreigners will be victorious?"
I felt myself blush at the commentary by the female announcer but Paul seemed unfazed as he looked over at the referee, who was also taking his place on a platform at the middle of the battlefield. The referee began to explain the rules of our six on six battle and was just about to toss a coin to see which of us would go first when a sudden screeching sound ripped through the speakers surrounding the battlefield. I covered my ears and yelped in pain from the unexpected noise, but as suddenly as it started it stopped.
Confused murmuring rushed through the audience and a flicker of light caught my eye. I looked up at the jumbo screen and took a step back as Mr. Faba's enlarged face appeared on the screen. Gone were his weird protective goggles and white lab coat. He was now wearing a smart pinstripe suit with a yellow silk hanky in the jacket pocket and his arrogant smile filled the screen.
"Ah, right. That's better. Hello, people of Alola!" Mr. Faba's voice rang through the speakers of the stadium. I looked over at Paul and was shocked at the disgust that was marring his normally expressionless face.
"My name is Faba. As many of you know I am the Chief of Operations at Aether Foundation, a very prestigious and important role," he explained and the audience members began to whisper once again. "However, as the years have gone by I have determined that a man such as myself deserves better than just a high position in a company. Indeed a man with my talent and knowledge truly should be the very image of Alola."
An outraged cry raised from the audience and I furrowed my brow in confusion. What the heck is he talking about? I wondered.
"As such, I have decided that I will become the ruler of Alola. Of course, I could not do this alone. Which is why I will be taking the beautiful Dawn to rule by my side..." the picture on the screen suddenly was showing me and I saw the horror reflected on my face on the four large screens around the stage before it switched back to Faba's arrogant one. "...and I will be sending an army to dispose of any of those who get in my way. Now that you all understand what is going on, I'll just take my queen and await the letters of surrender from each island's kahunas at the Aether Paradise. Thank you, and good day."
The screen went blank and I looked over at Paul, whose face was filled with a terror I had never thought he was capable of. Then the ceiling exploded. Screams and yells of panic ripped through the stadium as three huge holes burst into existence right underneath the ceiling and creatures I had never seen before began streaming through.
My eyes widened in shock as the huge beasts poured through the holes that must be portals of some kind. Glancing over I saw Paul leap off his platform, pulling one of his Pokeballs off his belt. My body was frozen, whether from fear or just confusion I wasn't sure, but even with all of the commotion going on around me my focus sharpened and narrowed in on Paul's running form. Things seemed to go in slow motion as I saw Paul opening his mouth, yelling something that I couldn't hear. Blinking slowly I tried to calmly tell myself to move.
As my arm came up and I took one step towards Paul though a huge red and black creature dropped from the sky and landed right in front of me. I looked up and up and up at the giant creature that was built like an Olympic bodybuilder but had the face and legs of an insect. Suddenly whatever had frozen my body snapped and I whirled, jumping off the platform. My fall was halted almost immediately though as a muscular arm wrapped around my waist. I screamed and flailed against the gigantic creature that held me, beating my fists uselessly against its tree-trunk sized arm. I tried to reach to my hip where my Pokeballs were but the creatures arm was so thick he was covering them completely.
The creature bent his legs and suddenly we were propelled into the air. I screamed as the air rushed around me, making my braid toss crazily in the air. Tears streamed from my eyes as our upward trajectory stopped and we began falling towards the stadium seats. I looked down at the battlefield and my tears flowed even harder as I saw that Paul had released all six of his pokemon and they were all trying to fight there way through the hordes of creatures still spilling from the portal things.
"PAUL!" I screamed and I saw his head jerk up towards me.
He was too far away for me to see his expression, but even so, I reached my hands out to him, telling myself desperately that this was a dream. A familiar green vine shot through the air towards me and I reached out, stretching my fingers towards Torterra's vine. My whole body jerked as the creature who'd captured me crashed to the ground. For a split second my fingers brushed against Torterra's vine, but the next second the bug beast launched himself into the air, snatching me out of Torterra's range.
"NO!" I screamed, feeling more helpless than I had ever felt in my entire life as the monster pulled me through the portal.
My stomach roiled and I couldn't keep myself from throwing up the contents of my stomach as a strange sensation tugged on my body from every direction at once. Lights flashed past me crazily, like I was looking through a kaleidoscope and my head felt like it was going to implode. Suddenly it was over and I was dropped unceremoniously onto the ground. My entire body shuddered and I tried to stand but my legs gave out and I fell back onto the grass-covered ground.
"I'm so sorry if that was unpleasant for you, my dear. I've heard that portal travel can be quite excruciating for a human," a sympathetic voice said from above me.
I turned away from it and began trying to desperately crawl away. My eyes were seeing four or five of everything I looked at so I closed them and continued my desperate attempt at an escape. I whimpered as hands the length of my thigh gripped me and hoisted me up. It felt like I had been tossed over something's shoulder and I retched as my stomach came into contact with it.
"Be more careful you oaf," Mr. Faba's voice demanded.
"Why are you doing this? Let me go!" I demanded in a shaking voice as I tried to open my eyes again. Now I only saw double, which was an improvement, but still made my head spin.
"Oh no, I can't do that, Dawn. You are exactly what I have been looking for! Beautiful, strong, capable. A queen that Alola can be proud of," Mr. Faba said with a strange purr in his voice and I shuddered.
"You won't get away with this," I seethed as my vision slowly settled and I saw Mr. Faba looking up at me with pity.
"Poor Dawn, you haven't caught my vision yet. Don't worry, I have a way of fixing that," he said soothingly.
"You're crazy! Where is Ms. Wicke?" I demanded to know.
Ms. Wicke was the new president of Aether Foundation and she had greeted all of the performers at the tournament. She'd seemed sweet and motherly and I couldn't believe that she would have let Mr. Faba get away with something like this.
"All those who opposed me have been locked away to be dealt with at another time," Mr. Faba sniffed and my eyes widened.
This guy is nuts!! I thought fearfully.
"I'm sure you're wondering where I got such a fantastic army," Mr. Faba said with a sparkle in his eyes and I glanced over at the behemoth that was carrying me over its shoulder.
If there had been anything in my stomach left I probably would have thrown up again when I realized that, whatever this thing was that was holding me, it didn't have eyes. It had a long, sword-like nose that looked like a demonic version of a Beautifly's mouth set on top of his ridiculously muscular body and insect-like legs that ended in sharp points. I turned away from the grotesque sight and looked down at Faba, who was at least two feet shorter than this thing.
"What... what are they?" I asked, fear and disgust lacing my words and Mr. Faba grinned.
"They are commonly known as Ultrabeasts. About ten years ago there was an incident and the previous aether foundation president let loose many of these Ultrabeasts in her quest to find her missing husband, who had been sucked into a portal much like you traveled through. Over the past years I have continued her research and found a way to control not only the portals but the beasts themselves," Mr. Faba explained with an arrogant grin. I frowned and glanced around me.
"And... how are they controlled?" I asked, trying to keep my fear out of my voice.
Maybe if he thinks I agree with him he'll let his guard down and I will be able to escape.
"Why with the help of a special machine I created," Mr. Faba said with a grin, apparently completely happy to share his success with me. He pointed down the hall we passed and I strained my neck to see over the creatures bulky shoulder. "With the use of hypnotic waves tuned to a frequency only Ultrabeasts can hear, I am able to control them and give them commands both simple and complex. In fact, hypnotic waves can be used to control and manipulate many things. Even humans...."
My shoulders stiffened and I slowly looked over at Mr. Faba. He was looking at me with a wicked glint in his eyes and there was something evil in the smile he was giving me. Cold sweat began forming between my shoulder blades and I swallowed hard, trying to keep myself from panicking.
"I-is that so?" I asked shakily and Mr. Faba continued to grin.
He stopped in front of a door and I reluctantly pushed against the ultrabeast that was carrying me on the back of his shoulder so I could crane my neck around and see what he was doing. Mr. Faba inputted a passcode to a lock on the side of a large door. It opened with a quiet expulsion of air and my eyes widened when I saw a lone chair in the middle of the room with what looked like restraints where a person's wrists and ankles would go.
Instantly I began to struggle fiercely against the ultrabeast, but I might as well have been a wurmple for all the good it did me. I scratched and kicked at the beasts thick, leather-like skin but with all my struggles the giant creature still managed to keep me firmly in the chair while a yellow hypno moved out of the shadows and fastened the straps around me. I looked over at Mr. Faba in his pinstripe black suit and told myself that I was NOT going to cry.
"Please let me go," I whispered as I heaved for breath after my desperate struggle.
"My dearest Dawn, have no fear. I will set you free," Mr. Faba said with a disgustingly sweet expression and I shuddered. "But first, you need to see how perfect we are for each other."
I yanked my arms against the black straps tying me to the chair, closed my eyes, and turned away as the Hypno began walking towards me. Huge, beefy hands held my head and wrenched my neck up so that I was facing forward. Stubbornly I kept my eyes closed and I could hear Mr. Faba tut.
Suddenly something rammed into my stomach and I gasped, my eyes popping open automatically and I saw a small golden disk swish past my vision. Suddenly my body slackened and even though I was inwardly screaming at my eyes to close, they remained open and followed the back and forth motion of the small golden coin Hypno was swinging in front of me.
"Paul," I managed to whimper as my vision began to go blurry. "Paul...."
Slowly my vision went black and I desperately clung to the image of Paul's smiling face as my mind sank into nothingness.
A/N So..... that was probably not what you were expecting... thoughts?