Paul and Dawn: First Light

Chapter 1: Arrival in Hoenn

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."