My first Ikari fic, so be kind, please X) Paul, yes will PROBABLY be OOC … no, scratch that –

VERY OOC in this but again – this is my first story with Paul as a main character, unless you count Dare Time!
Now think, do u REALLY think I own Pokemon? I don't. And another thing. I don't want flames, either.

The Winner Takes It All

Dawn's POV

Ash, Brock and I walked along the streets of Veilstone City, we heard a squeal.

"Ash, is that you?"
"May, calm down."
It was May, Ash's former female traveling companion and her rival, Drew. "Hey, May," Ash and Brock smiled at the brunette. "May!" I laughed and we shared a sisterly hug. "Good to see you all!" she chirped. As she let go, I looked over to Drew. "Hey, Dawn. It's been a while," he said sincerely. "I know," I whispered back. He then beamed at me, pulling me into a hug. I heard them all gasp a little and I giggled, taking myself out of Drew's grasp. "We've known each other since we were babies," he explained, as he smiled and me. I smiled back. "We're practically brother and sister!" he added. "Well, we were until somebody moved to La Rousse!" I glared at him, until we both burst out laughing. "Though seriously, what did you to La Rousse for, anyway?" I asked. "Dad's business, ya know," he said before passing me a rose. But a not a red rose, but a yellow rose. Yellow roses mean friendship. "Aw, thanks!" Dawn beamed and Drew smirked.
"That's a different colour to mine," May realized.
"Really, May?" Drew asked sarcastically.
"Yellow means friendship," Brock pointed out.
"Really, Brock," Drew responded sarcastically.
I smirked at Drew. "Red means love. Right, May?" I was referring for his love for the brunette. His face started to turn light pink, before he forced it down. "Ugh, you're no fun anymore, Drew." I complained. He laughed.

"Drew?" Ash asked.
"Yeah?" he responded.
"Why do Dawn's childhood friends call her Dee-Dee?"
Drew opened his mouth to explain it, when I cut him off.
"Tell them and I'll tell May about Drewbie." I smirked wildly.
"Drewbie? Dee-Dee? Wow, and I thought Troublesome was bad," we all turned around to the source of the voice. It was Paul. I stepped back, slightly shocked. He actually remembered my name. Well, nickname, anyway. For once, I smiled at him.

"What?" he snapped at me.

I shrunk back and whimpered a soft "Nothing,"
"So, Paul, you wanna battle?" Ash challenged.
"No. I have better things to do than waste my time knocking out your weak and pathetic Pokemon." he glared, sending him dagger eyes. Drew and May stared at each other in shock. Ash was about to yell back at him when Brock stepped in. "Are you doing the Battle Of All Battles?"
"It's for strong Pokemon Trainers, so what do you think?" he smirked.
"…So you're not doing it," I smirked, mine just as big as his.
"Wow, you're stupider than you look, Troublesome." he said, he smirk getting wider as mine fell.
"At least she's not a jerk!" Drew countered. Paul glared at him and walked off.
"What's the Battle Of All Battles, Brock?" May asked.
"It's a giant battle arena with thousands of seats in the bleachers and the prize is a Pokemon Egg, containing a Phione, a Master Ball and a thousand pokedollars." Brock explained. Everyone's mouth dropped open at the sound of the prize.
"Wow, no wonder he's going for it," I said, my jaw now back in position.

Paul's POV

Why would the breeder, uh, Brock, I think, care if I was signing up for The Battle Of All Battles? Oh well, the idiot was frustrated with me, and Troublesome hates it when I tease her. I stopped in my tracks as I thought that. Why did I care what she thought of me? Or, my teasing, rather. I sighed exhaustedly and made my way to the Pokemon Centre.

When I got my key-card from Nurse Joy, I heard the Idiot, Troublesome, the Breeder, Lettuce-head and Mrs. Lettuce-head walk in. I turned and looked to them, and caught a glimpse of all of them, though kept my gaze on Dawn for a few seconds longer. She was laughing at something Lettuce-head said. I grumbled and looked away, before the Idiot said: "Hey look, it's Paul again."
Why must he always say that? I sighed and kept walking.
"What's you're problem, Paul!?" Troublesome almost shrieked and I smirked.
"Nothing, you're all just to …… nice. It's stupid." I said icily.
"You're stupid," she mumbled.
"And you're not?" I said.
I walked away, smirking. I thought she whimpered before she screamed out something that shattered me.

"You're such a heartless jerk, Paul! No-one will ever love you!"

I turned around, not caring about the emotion on my face. Usually, my face was hard, cold, uninviting. But right now, you could of sworn I had suffered from depression for years. "You don't mean that, right?" I whispered, although it sounded like I was begging.

Her face was overwhelmed with worry. "No. But you are a heartless jerk," she said, and it startled me that she was angry, but she said it softly.

"Ash!"
"Drew! Dawn!"

Everyone's head turned and saw to girls and a boy standing there, smiling. The boy had black shaggy hair and black eyes. The taller girl had black, waist length hair and was brown at the tips. And the other girl had shoulder length green hair.

"Monica!" Drew and Dawn shouted to the girl with the green hair. She was Drew's sister, Monica. She also had blue eyes. She was wearing a pair of navy jeans and a red tee-shirt. She also had a Riolu resting on her shoulder.

"Junaid! Cecilia!" Ash called to the other two. Junaid, the boy, was Ash's brother. He was wearing a black jacket and a pair of blackish-grey jeans, with a Shelgon at his side. And the girl, Cecilia, had brown-almost-black eyes, a blue shirt, loose jeans and boots, with a Politoad in her arms. She was Ash's (and Junaid's) cousin.

"So, you're the famous May Maple." Monica smirked at Drew, though kept her focus on May, and Drew fell silent. Monica and Troublesome burst into laughter at the same time.

"Why do people keep mentioning me whilst smirking at Drew?" May asked.
"Wow, Mrs. Lettuce-head is stupider than the Idiot!" I snorted quietly, though Troublesome heard me.
"Will you be nice for five minutes? Or is nice out of your vocabulary?" she smirked.
"I'm surprised the word vocabulary is in your's," I smirked back, wider, crossing my arms triumphantly. She fumbled a little bit before she hit me on the upside of the head. "Ow," I whispered back. She stuck her tongue out at me playfully. I chuckled softly.

Drew's POV

"Is it just me or are Paul and Dawn are flirting with each other?" I asked. They both shot me a death glare, scaring me. I put my hands up as a sign of surrender. "Yeah, you better give up," Dawn scowled. I watched as Paul smirk slightly at Dawn before walking off. "He likes you, you can tell," Cecilia said, eyebrows raised at the blunette. She blushed slightly before scoffing "Whatever…" Ash stared at Dawn for a minute.
"You don't like him, do you?" he asked. Dawn stared at the sky before responding:
"I don't know, Ash. I don't know a lot anymore," she whimpered before dropping to her knees. May knelt beside her, draping her arm around Dawn's shoulder. "Hey, Saturn got himself fired for what he did!" she comforted, and Dawn winced.

Flashback ~ (told from Dawn's POV)

Ash, Brock and I were walking around Eterna City, gawking at Ash's new badge. The Forest Badge, I believe. We were about to pass a big, tall building. 'Team Galactic' the sign out the front. "It's really pretty, Ash," I said, starting to get a tad bored. He put the badge away as a man with dark blue hair stepped out of the building, followed by a few male grunts. The grunts looked scary and tough. Three of them walked towards us, one grabbing Ash, the other two grabbing Brock. The other three ran to me, picked me up and took me inside the big blue building. "Dawn!" Ash yelled after me. "Ash! Brock! Help!" I screamed before the man with the deep blue hair placed his porcelain hand over my mouth. My eyes smirked up at the man through my eyes. He looked down at me with a confused look on his face. I bit him. Hard. He took his hand away, yelping. The bite mark was bleeding, probably gonna need stitches. The men holding me picked up the pace, dropping (more like throwing) me into a dark room. "Ow," I winced. I heard an evil laugh and I looked up and saw the blue haired man. "My name is Saturn. I'm about to hurt you, badly. You know my work partner's son, Paul. She doesn't want him, she only wanted her first son, Reggie. So, we've been told to hurt everyone Paul knows." Saturn smirked before he hit me. Right across the face. "I don't even like Paul. He's a cold-hearted jerk." I whispered inaudibly.

Dawn's POV

He did get fired for that. I don't know what he was going on about when he said that one of his work partners was Paul's mother. I didn't really get it, but I smiled at May. "Thanks." I whispered and we hugged again. "No problem," May whispered back. I looked up at Ash, who was watching Paul walk away. "What are you staring at?" I asked. "Paul. I don't get it." Ash said.
"Don't get what?" Brock asked.
"Paul. He can sorta be nice to Dawn and not to anyone else." Ash said quietly.
"I dunno, Ash. Maybe he's … different," I smiled when I said that. Junaid quirked an eyebrow at me and I stood up, with May and Monica's help.

The Battle Of All Battles –

Junaid and Ash has signed up and May, Brock, Monica and Cecilia were drinking a bottle of Cola though I was just drinking a bottle of lemonade. I watched the brothers walk over to us and behind them I saw Paul. I smiled at Paul, even though he wasn't looking at me. He turned his head and saw me, and I kept my gaze on him when he looked away. He walked over he got his ticket.

"Troublesome, why were you staring at me?" he asked.

Luckily, Junaid had seen Paul, so he backed me up.

"She wasn't, I was talking to her."

Paul grumbled and began to walk off.

"God Paul! Get a life!" Cecilia and I shouted in unison.

"Why do you hate him?" I asked.

"He's a jerk to everyone! What about you?"

I stopped. "I, uh…he's just mean, ya know?" I tried to sound convincing.

"I am?" Paul asked, turning around.

"Yeah. To Pokemon, to people. To me," I sighed.

"It's just who I am," he shrugged.

"That's not what we hear from Reggie…" Brock smirked.

"That brother of mine has a big mouth." Paul grumbled and turned his head quickly, hoping that no-one would notice a tear slipping down the opposite side of his face.

"Paul? Are you … crying?" I asked.

"No." he said harshly.

"Come on, tell me." I said quietly, stepping towards him. He looked at me meanly before sighing and pulling me away by the hand.

Paul's POV

We made it to the clearing, finally. I sighed. "Come on…"

I heard Dawn's voice and looked at her. "Talk to me," she smiled up at me, warmly. It made me feel … like I was … good, a better person.

"I found out one of Team Galactic's commanders Jupiter is my mother, and she didn't want me. I was an accident. She only wanted Reggie. Never me, so when she told Team Galactic about me, and that she didn't want me, they were gonna hurt everyone who knew me, and I can't live with that constant pain of being someone who caused it just for knowing them … and that I wasn't wanted," I began. Dawn looked at me, sadly, and nodded, asking for me to continue.

"What about your dad?" she asked. I winced.

"I never had a dad…but you wouldn't know what that's like," I spat.

"Actually I do. He used to beat my mother like a punching bag, and then he got bored with him and he started physically abusing me!" she said icily.

"…Sorry…" I apologized.

"Continue," she pleaded.

"Well, now, Team Galactic wants to kill me," I shrugged.

Then, we heard an explosion. It was close, too.

My first reaction was to protect Dawn, so I embraced her as the explosion was about 50 feet away. She dug her face into the crook of my neck, making me feel all nice again. But I couldn't melt now, the explosion was still … blowing up, I guess. When it all ended and the smoke cleared, she stepped out of my embrace and looked at me.

"Thank-you, Paul!" she chimed.

I grunted, looking down.

"Oh, your jacket!" she sounded slightly worried.

"Meh, tch. I don't care." I shrugged again.

"Well, just leave it here and don't worry about it. You can always buy a new one," she said optimistically.

"Yeah…" I said, bored. "Come on, lets head back," I complained and I heard her foot steps behind me.

Back with the others –

"Dawn!" they all shouted to her. She waved and then they all looked at me. "Paul, where's your jacket?" Lettuce-head's sister, uh, Cabbage, I mean, Monica asked me. I grunted. "Explosion. Scary." Dawn sighed.

"Everyone competing in The Battle Of All Battles, could you please make your way backstage. You can have up to two to three people with you. Thank you."

The announcer called from over head. "Okay, so, Junaid has Drew and May and I have Brock and Monica, what about Cecilia and Dawn?" Ash asked.

"I can take Cilia," Junaid offered.

"Dawn, looks like you're stuck with me," Ash joked.

Troublesome turned and looked at me. "You got anyone?" she asked.

"Nope." I responded.

"Want some support?" she asked.

"I guess so, whatever." I shrugged, again.

"No thanks, Ash. Thanks for the offer, but Paul's got no-one." she smiled apologetically at him, then turned to me. "Ready?"

"Yes," I said and walked backstage, followed by Dawn.

3 days later – Paul's POV

"Ready for the semi-finals?" Dawn asked.
"Just about … I just kinda feels weird with out my jacket, ya know?" I chuckled quietly and turned to her. She passed me a jacket, exactly like my old one, but better.

"Good luck," she smiled.

"Paul versus Ash for a place in the finals!"

"Thanks," I shrugged the jacket on and walked on stage.

AN: I can't be bothered writing the battles so this is after the battle:

"Congratulations Paul! You made it to the final stage!" Troublesome smiled wildly at me.

"You don't think I know that?" I asked harshly.

She winced. I felt bad for it. "Sorry…" I mumbled.

"No need to worry!" she smiled and we walked back to the clearing.

Dawn's POV

Paul and I were walking to the clearing when we saw Ash. "Paul! Great battle!" he yelled to us before running over.
"I know, Idiot." he muttered back.

I sighed. "Must you to be mean to each other?" I asked.

"I act like this because he's like this to me," Ash answered.

"I act like this because he travels with you and I don't get to," he whispered.

"What?!" Ash and I asked, or, more like shrieked.

Before he could answer, all three of us were pulled into bags and dragged away. "This is just like the last time I got pulled away!" I thought worriedly as I heard the boys call my name.

Again, I was thrown into a dark room. "Ow!" I winced again. I fell on something.

"Troublesome?"

"Paul?"

They had thrown me onto Paul. I scrambled off quickly and awkwardly.

He sighed. "What do you think they're gonna do to us?"

I whimpered and began to cry. I felt him drape an arm around me and pull me closer. I put my face in my hands and whispered: "This happened before,"

"This time, I'll protect you," Paul promised.

We heard an evil laugh that made me cower into Paul. A spotlight flickered down, shining onto a woman with purplish-pink hair behind a tall man with steel blue hair. He was holding Ash tightly. "I am Cyrus. The leader of Team Galactic. This is your mother, Paul. Jupiter." the man said, pointing to the woman. In her hands was a black item that I couldn't figure out what it was.

"Mother," Paul spat. The word came out in disgust.

Cyrus pushed a test tube into Ash's chest. It was filled with a red, thick liquid.

"What's this?" Ash asked.

"Drink it!" Cyrus ordered. Ash nodded in fear and unscrewed the cork. He sniffed it and winced.

"It's awful…"

"DRINK IT!" Cyrus ordered again. Ash chugged it quickly. He shuddered and his pupils turned black before his pupils turned red.
"A-A-Ash?" I stuttered.

"K-Ketchu-m?" Paul asked.

Ash, or, Evil Ash, turned to Jupiter who threw him the black object. I gasped when I realized what it was. A gun.

"Oh, by the way, Drew and May are there," Cyrus said as a spotlight came down to the left of Paul and I. It was May and Drew, tied to a chair each with rope and their mouths duck-taped shut. "Junaid, Brock, Cecilia and Monica are fine, they're just waiting for you. Though, Paul won't be showing up," Cyrus smirked as Jupiter nodded at Ash, who pointed the gun at Paul. "Oh, and Ash, don't hurt the girl. Yet." Cyrus said.

I stood in front of Paul protectively as he stood up.

"Dawn, get out of the way!" Evil Ash ordered.

"What are you doing?" I cried.

"Dawn. Move!" Evil Ash ordered again.

"Why do you wanna hurt Paul?" I was crying. Officially.

"He put your life at risk!" Evil Ash pointed out.

"He's not the one pointing the gun at me." I shot back.

"Dawn, I am NOT bluffing. Move, NOW!" Evil Ash bellowed.

"No!!"

"I'm going to do it!" Evil Ash threatened.

"You wanna shoot Paul? You go through me."

"You're bluffing." Evil Ash thought out loud.

"We both know you are and I'm not. We both know you ain't capable of hurting a Beautifly!" I challenged.

"That was Good Ash. I am Evil Ash. I will shoot you!"

"Go on, then. Do it!"

Evil Ash shut his eyes tightly and pulled the trigger.

"Dawn!" Paul screamed as I fell backwards into his arms.

Paul's POV

Ash's pupils went back to the warm brown and he groaned. "What happened?"

"You shot Troublesome!!" I screeched as I laid her on the ground. I looked up, noticing my mother and Cyrus had gone.

"I WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!" Ash yelled.

I heard Dawn gasping. "Paul … don't leave me … Ash, get Drew and May…"

Ash nodded and untied May and Drew.

"Shit. I'm calling the ambulance," I swore and dialed the number.

"Dawn!" Drew ran to her.

"Oh my god! Dawn!" May began to tear up.

"…Thank you!" Drew hung up the phone. "They'll be here as soon as possible,"

"Troublesome … come on … don't leave me … please … don't leave me ..." I whispered.

"I won't … I promise." she whispered back.

"Let's see the pa – guys, get her into the ambulance, now!" the ambulance guy lifted her into the back of the ambulance. I heard her mumble something to the guy.

"She wants Paul!" he said, still looking at Dawn.

I stumbled on my feet a little before stopping next to her, grabbing her hand.

"We'll meet you at the hospital!" May said, gripping Drew's hand.

"Let's go," Drew pulled May closer.

"Right."

At the hospital – Dawn's POV

Man, did my head hurt. And I felt so … groggy … "Ugh, what happened…?" I asked tiredly.

"Troublesome, you're awake!" Paul smiled as he ran to my side.

"Oh Dawn, I am so sorry!" Ash apologized.

"Dawn! You're okay!" May stood up.

"Oh my god, Dawn!" Drew stood up next to May.

Brock, Cecilia, Junaid and Monica smiled. "DAWN!"

"Will someone PLEASE tell me what happened to me? Preferably Ash because he's sorry for some reason," I said.

"I was poisoned … and I … shot you … but I am so incredibly sorry! You know I would never shoot you!" Ash frantically apologized.

"It's okay, Ash," I smiled weakly.

Paul stared at me. "No, it's not! He shot you! You could of died!"

Monica punched him in the arm and May ignored him. "Do you what brought you back, Dawn?" she asked. I shook my head.

"Paul," Drew answered.

"…Huh?" I was confused.

"You kept whispering 'Paul' in your sleep." Brock told me.

"Well…that's…embarrassing…" I blushed deeply.

"Uh-huh." Junaid agreed.

May, Monica and Cecilia looked at each other. "Out, guys!" Monica said, pushing Brock out the door, followed by Junaid pushed by Cecilia and Drew pushed by May. Cecilia came back in and pulled Ash out of the room.

"So." Paul began.

"Sorry," I sighed.

"What for?" he asked.

"Worrying you," I answered.

"It's not your fault for being shot. What is it you always say? No need to worry, right?"

"Thank-you," I smiled.

"No problem, Troublesome. I need to talk to you."

"Go for it,"

"I love - " he began.

"I love you, too." I cut him off.

He smiled at me. "Smile. It suits you." He chuckled and kissed me. I smiled when we broke apart. I closed my eyes. "When are they letting me out of this Nut House?" I asked. We laughed.

"Tomorrow." He responded easily.

"Really?" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah, you were fine after the operation and yeah. Now get some sleep." he informed me and kissed my forehead before walking out.

At The Battle Of All Battles – Paul's POV

Troublesome was getting out today. I could see her once I kicked Junaid's butt. I was to face him the final round. I sighed. This was the first battle she hadn't watch. And it was the most important one.

AN: Again, I can't be bothered typing a battle, sorry! My bad XD

I walked up to the announcers, Fabian and London. Fabian looked fancy. He had dark brown hair and eyes that looked almost white. Creepy. I thought. He wore a black dress shirt, a red tie, black dress pants, black belt and black dress shoes. He had a Dragonair around his neck and a Flareon at his feet. London had liquid honey colour eyes, platinum blonde dead straight hair. She wore a white dress shirt with black skinny jeans, blue stilettos, a crimson colour belt and a chunky gold bracelet. A Growlithe, Porygon2 and a Vaporeon at her heels with a Smoochum on her shoulder.

"Congratulations!" they both said to me.

I nodded as I got passed an egg, a check and a Master Ball.

"Junaid put up a good fight but Paul pulled through!" London smiled into the television camera.

Though, as much as I was happy I won, it still didn't feel right. Something felt … out of place.
Troublesome. She wasn't here.

"Thank-you," I smirked and walked back stage.

As I walked backstage, Brock passed me my bag. I slid the egg, check and Master Ball in there. I was going straight to the hospital to get Dawn. The other competitors, even Junaid, were cheering and clapping. They were making a pathway for me, towards the door. I stood about five feet away from the door. I smiled wildly at the person in front of the door.

Troublesome.

She walked towards me. I wrapped my arms around her waist. Her arms snaked around my neck. "Congratulations, Paul." she smiled at me with her beautiful smile.

"Thanks, Dawn." I said before I pulled her into a kiss.

"I love you," I whispered in her ear.

"Love you too," she whispered back.

I rested my forehead on hers and she giggled. "Nice jacket,"

"Thanks. My favourite girl made it for me."

"You know that was the first thing I every made?" she asked.

"You are awesome at it." I complimented.

"Yeah, I did a good job," she said, admiring her work.

"Hello? Are we having a moment here or what?" I asked teasingly.

"Oh, right…" she smirked before kissing me again.

We walked out of the stadium, my back slung over my back, with my arm around her shoulder, her arm around my waist.

This is what love feels like.

Okay – Cecilia Garcia and Junaid Mahmood –

I'm guessing you two wanted to be in a PearlShipping story, but this was my epic story so trust me, it would have been more fun to be in this. Trust me. But I apologize if you wanted to be in a Pearl fic.

Now, here are the OC's –

Monica – M the Gate.

London and Fabian – some randoms I made up.

Junaid and Cecilia – people who wanted to be OC's.

I apologize (again) if Paul was OOC, this is my first IkariShipping fic. Well, actually, other than Dare Time !, this is my first story where Paul was a main character. X]

1 – No flames.

2 – Just because I wrote Ikari doesn't mean I am Ikari. Although it is cute :D

3 – No flames.

Signed –

hollista

xx