Dawn's Origin: Researching Kabbalistic Science

[Italics]

Dawn's Origin: Researching Kabbalistic Science
Rated T for coarse language, sexual themes, and for the abuse of innocent Pokemon (and Bidoof).​

Or D.O.R.K.S. (DORKS), for short.

Yes, I based a title around an acronym. Yes, now shut up.

Canon: Game-based (Platinum Version), with a few changes here and there.

Summary: Dawn is an aspiring Pokemon researcher. Above all, she wants to be appointed as Professor Rowan's newest research assistant. All that's standing in her way? One simple, undercover project, meant to study the Pokemon and current training environment in the Sinnoh region.

The problem? Training in general.

Oh yeah—and the fact that the Apocalypse is coming.

—————​

LINKS FOR CHAPTERS:

Chapter One: Right here.

Chapter Two: Link.

—————​

Spoiler

Want more in-depth information? Then look on my blog, because hell, I'm too lazy to post it here. Small bits, guys, small bits.

Chapter One:

Spoiler

—————

—————

Chapter One
A Dorky Beginning


—————​

"Are you coming out yet?" Barry called from Dawn's bed. "You've been in there for twenty minutes already! I think it's about time you were fined a million Poke!"

Dawn's voice came from behind the velvet curtain, shouting, "Shut up, Barry! I have a few finishing touches to put on!"

"Yeah, you said that ten minutes ago. This is stupid." He pulled out a Poke Ball and began rolling it along the back of his fingers. "And it's boring."

"Oh, Barry, you lovable, attention deficit weirdo." She hummed a tuneless melody. "I'm surprised you're still sitting there."

He stuck his tongue out even though she couldn't see it. "At least I'm not a crossdresser."

"Bleh. I'm so not one."

After another five minutes that had Barry yawning and playing with his hair in the mirror, Dawn pulled the curtain back with a flourish and struck a pose, jutting out her hip and throwing her arms up into the air.

Barry pulled a face.

Pretending to spit into her hands, Dawn rolled up her sleeves and made a "manly" pose into the mirror. Instead of her usual look—which was usually a pink-and-black dress and knee-high boots—Dawn was wearing baggy pants, a blue jacket, and a nice hat. Her long hair had been cut short.

"Who's that stud standing there?" she asked, rubbing her chin and showing off her teeth. "Oh, that's right—I am. Gawd, I'm gorgeous, aren't I? Like, I expected this whole dressing like a guy thing to be all hard and shit, but really, it's like my perfectly feminine face can be molded into adorableness, no matter what the challenge. " She sighed and clapped her hands to her face. "Hell, if it weren't me, I'd be drooling over this guy. What a cutie!"

Barry slouched against the wall, frowning. "Isn't this some form of...nar...nar—er, narcolepsy?"

"Narcissism, you mean, and no, I don't have it." She twirled on her heel. "I'm just admiring my very, very, really cute self in the mirror."

"Well, I don't like your admiring yourself. It's sorta creepy. When're you gonna stop?"

"When I'm done with the project, duh."

Barry seemed tense for a moment.

"Isn't this gonna...be weird for you?" he asked hesitantly, his frown deepening. His foot involuntarily fidgeted. "I mean...you're sorta, kinda, not who I was expecting to do this. Maybe somebody else should do it...?"

She raised her eyebrow. "You don't think I'm good enough?"

"Hey, I didn't say that! Just...you don't seem...like this." He gestured vaguely around the room. "It's just weird. You haven't travelled since you were ten, and even then it was only to Jubilife."

Dawn fussed with her hair in the mirror. After another five minutes of personal grooming, she looked at him and smiled, stood up, and placed a hand on his messy head. The two stared at each other, Dawn appearing calm, Barry anxious and frustrated.

"Don't worry," Dawn said in a soothing voice. "I know what I have to do, and I know that I'll be able to do it. I know that you're upset about me going by myself—but you don't need to protect me anymore. I love ya, Barry, and I'll be back soon."

"In a year," Barry muttered, looking away.

"A year," she murmured. "Yep. But it'll be a quick year, I'll have all the logs written out and finished, and you can go back to training for the Battle Tower. Then I can grow out my hair, pretend to be my own age again, and we'll have a party, okay? Your birthday will be a few days away after that, so we can celebrate by getting drunk out of our minds, if you want."

Of course, that managed to make him brilliantly smile. He jumped up and pulled her into a hug, making her cry out for her ruined hair and make-up; but after a minute, her protests died down and she returned the hug with equal gusto.

"I'm gonna miss you, Dawn," Barry said, ruffling her hair and smiling sadly. "What's gonna happen to the Dynamic Duo now? What, am I going to be the Dynamic Uno or something? That's kinda stupid, and I don't like it. I mean, think of all the cooler names I could make later on and I'd be stuck with something stupid like that, and I'm really gonna miss you, and I'm gonna have to fine you a billion Poke just for this—"

"Eh kent breed!" came Dawn's muffled cry.

"Whoops! Sorry." He let her go immediately.

Her face seemed as blue as her hair, but after a few shaky pants she was back to her normal skin color and ready to kill him.

"Don't—" she said, punctuating ever word with a jab to his chest "—do—that—again. You messed up my work! Do you know how long it's going to take to reapply everything?"

"Thirty minutes?" he said, laughing.

"You wish."

His face fell, but this time it wasn't for comedic effect; for once, his eyes seemed sad and lonely, and it took all of Dawn's willpower not to immediately stop the whole project in its tracks. If it weren't for the fact her whole promotion to research assistant depended on it, she would've given him a hug, promised not to go, and maybe would have worked on a completely different thesis—but as it was, as she'd strived so hard for this, even her best friend in the whole world couldn't sway her.

This was a step towards her dream.

She looked away from him, glanced at her watch, and began packing all her things. Barry didn't look up.

After ten minutes of silence, she finally had only one more item to pack.

"Sleeping bag, please," she said, holding her hand out towards Barry. "It's...the last thing."

"R-right." Even though he'd tried to hide it, there was no mistake that his voice had quivered. He handed it to her.

The bag was all packed. Her clothes were in order. All her food supplies were ready. While she hated to leave her make-up set behind, she knew that she wouldn't need it; the dirt from travelling would cover anything too conspicuous. The only thing left were good-byes.

She had to make them count. For one year, Dawn wouldn't exist. And though she tried to console herself that she could end the project anytime she wished, it was still frightening to think she wouldn't have contact with anyone she knew. It would jepoardize her experiment to even say "Hello" to an old acquaintance.

"So," she finally said. "I guess I'm going now."

"Yeah."

"I'll see you...soon?"

"...Yeah."

"...Barry...?"

He grunted.

She pulled him down by his green scarf and planted a kiss on his cheek. As soon as she'd let him go, she dashed out of her house—she'd already made her teary farewell to her mother earlier; Dawn suspected the reason her mother wasn't there was to avoid anymore sadness—and jammed the hat onto her head.

It was early spring and a bit cold outside; patches of snow were under the shady trees. Dawn patted herself on the back for thinking to bring several heavier outfits along for the ride.

There was a thumping sound from the air, and Dawn looked up. From her bedroom window, Barry was striking a victory pose, both his hands thumbs-up and his legs spread apart. She wondered if she was imagining the tearstreaks on his face—but it was Barry, of all people, and she knew if he knew that she knew he was crying, she would start crying, too, and everything would go to shit from there, and she did not want that to happen.

So, feeling very much like as idiot, she mimicked his pose and grinned, blinking back a dozen tears that were threatening to escape. It was the least she could do for her best friend in the whole entire universe.

After a long, sad, humiliating, and very happy moment, they looked away from each other, and Dawn began to walk away, towards Sandgem Town.

And just like that, Dawn, the girliest and most ambitious girl in all of Twinleaf Town, was on an extended vacation.

The ten-year-old kid running to Sandgem?

His name was Lucas, and he was just starting out on his journey to become a master trainer.

—————​

The journey to Sandgem was going reasonably well. Although she had no Pokemon of her own to protect her, Dawn knew the easiest way to get rid of the low-levelled Bidoof and Starly—to hit them over the head with her frickin' heavy backpack. As she went on, the trail behind her began to grow increasingly cluttered with unconscious bodies of small, fuzzy animals and cute little birds.

"I'm so getting tired of this," Dawn muttered to herself, watching as she brushed passed another piece of tall grass and another Bidoof came running after her. Without giving a damn about she was about to do, she heaved her bag off her back, waited for the Bidoof to Tackle her and—smack!—she sent it crashing to ground. "It's like they're trying to piss me off. Well, mission accomplished."

At her words, a Starly launched itself at her head. She instantly raised her bag up high, and the Starly, whether from stupidity or from far-sightedness, flew straight into it and crumpled to the ground like a rock.

She pouted. "At this rate I'm never getting to Sandgem in time. Gawd, what would a ten-year-old do in this situation?" She pondered this for a second before bursting out laughing. "Oh, Gawd, thank goodness I'm not ten."

She looked ahead and swore under her breath. There was about a mile left of grass ahead, and from underneath several eaves of limp leaves were shining, malevolent eyes and what looked like buckteeth.

She glanced at her dirty person, and had to restrain herself from screaming Bloody Mary. "My outfit! I am so freakin' sitting down now."

And she did, picking out a patch of trees without any tall grass nearby. Shifting through her bag, she found a paper towel roll, a full bottle of hand sanitizer, and a box of soap, and like a busy little Combee, she started scrubbing her pants and jacket, not caring at all for her own person but intensely focused on her clothes.

"Wonder where I put the water," she mumbled to herself, noticing how hard it was to scrub without it. "Stupid birds and their stupid literal shit."

About ten minutes later, Dawn finally gave up and wiped a hand across her sweaty face. The clothes, no matter how briefly she'd travelled, were going to be dirty no matter what she did, and stewing in her anger and irritation, she pulled out her logbook and wrote:

Shay 54, BTE, 10:52, ESRT

Ran into about two dozen Bidoof (Aplodontia rufa) and Starly (Sturnus sinensis); stupid little assholes subjective terms attacked me as I passed their local habitats. Forced to use backpack as blunt instrument. Bidoof and Starly incurred minor injuries.

Examined four unconscious specimens, two of each species. Subjects One and Two Starly; Subjects Three and Four Bidoof. Subject One molting on left side, wings look normal, "fluffy"; plumage fine, not coarse; beak rather short, blunt tip; the rest fine, but developing a cataract on the left eye. Subject Two molting slightly on left side, tail wings had slight clip at the ends; coarser plumage that Subject One; eyes fine, in-grown talon on right side.

Subject Three has several bald patches along front. Nothing else to report. Subject Four's teeth are warped, but general health is fine. Nothing else to report.

The habitats are fine, from what I've seen. Trees are growing back their leaves, plants are returning, and there is a fine layer of grass and undergrowth in-between tall patches of grass. Wild Pokemon are reacting normally, neither entirely hostile nor especially friendly. I estimate that after a few years with at least two good seasons and more people using the trails, the Pokemon will be a bit less populous and will be driven to the outer section of trees.

Nothing but my clothes are badly damaged. Unfortunately.

There was a scurrying noise, and Dawn looked up from her logbook with an annoyed expression. However, it wasn't a dreaded Bidoof or Starly that was in front of her.

No, it was a man.

"Hello there," he said with a smile.

—————​

"May I ask what you're doing here?" the man asked.

Dawn took a moment to take in his appearance before replying. His hair was a light color and was greased back in a professional manner, which looked very nice with his well-cared for suit. His shoes were shiny—how he managed to keep them that way was beyond her—and his face appeared freshly shaven. On his wrist was a glittering, obviously expensive watch.

Dawn immediately grew suspicious. Why was a businessman of all people out here on a obscure route on the edge of Sinnoh?

"Uh..." she began tentatively, wondering whether to lie. "I-I, er, I'm gonna go see...my grandma. Uh-huh. My grandma is over there." She pointed to the direction of Sandgem Town. "I'm gonna go see her...sir."

"Ah." His eyes were like X-rays, the way they were focused on her. "I see. Does your grandmother know where you are?"

"...Yeah." There was something about him that made her want to avert her eyes. "I, er—I phoned her before I left. She knows I'm on my way."

"That's very smart of you, young man," he said.

Even though he was smiling, thought Dawn, he didn't really seem too nice. Of course, that was a red flag to her. A complete stranger striking up a conversation with what appeared to be a ten-year-old boy out of the blue? Yeah—rapist sounded about right.

And right when she didn't have a Pokemon, too.

"Yeah, I guess," she muttered, quickly grabbing everything and stuffing it all into her bag. She slung it over her shoulders. "Guess I'll be seeing you, then."

Before she could leave, the man said, "You're probably afraid of me, I expect. Seeing a man coming up and talking to you doesn't feel safe, isn't it?"

She wondered if she should ignore him and run. But there was something about him that seemed...different. Not in the crazy, I'm-going-to-kill-you kind of way...no, more like his thoughts were on a parallel wavelength way. Almost as though he were, er...inhuman.

Of course, that didn't mean he was safe.

"Sorry, sir, but my grandma's waiting," she said quickly before turning around.

And again, just as she was about to leave, he suddenly asked an unexpected question: "Is your grandmother paralyzed?"

"Uh—what?"

"Is your grandmother paralyzed?" he repeated.

Without thinking, she replied, "Uh, yeah. Both her legs are...gone." Though she couldn't remember her real grandma that well, Dawn knew for a fact that she'd been paralyzed from some sort of illness or another.

He gave her a very intense look that made her feel uncomfortable. "Don't you ever wish to see her walk again?"

"Well...yeah, sure," she mumbled.

"Wouldn't it be wonderful to have her moving around? To see her standing and walking?"

"...I guess, yeah."

He smiled again, and his blue eyes grabbed her own like a magnet. "I'm actually a researcher. I've been working for the past few years on a small project that will help nearly everyone—people, plants, Pokemon—with any sort of problem. I thought, as you are a researcher yourself, that you would be interested."

Dawn's eyes widened. "Wait—how do you know I'm a researcher?"

"I saw you studying those Pokemon earlier. You wrote your findings in that book of yours, correct?"

She averted her eyes. "Maybe."

There came an almost soundless movement, and the man was looming overhead in front of her. For a brief and terrifying moment, she thought that he was about to do something—something horrible—but no, he reached into his suit's pocket and pulled out a business card.

"My working name and business address are on this card, young man." He handed it to her. "If you ever feel that you are in over your head with your grandmother, please come contact me. I'll help you if you need any assistance." He smiled. "I'm rather short on research assistants these days. It would be deeply appreciated if you decided to come work with me."

She didn't know whether to be happy at the business prospect or severely creeped out. Nonetheless, she nodded her head and tried to smile, secretly crumpling the card behind her back.

"Thanks, sir," she said. "That's really nice of you to ask."

"No trouble at all."

He held out his hand and she shook it.

"Good-bye," said the man, "and tell your grandmother that she is a very strong woman."

"See ya," she murmured.

He smiled one last time before leaving.

Once she was sure he was gone, she pulled out her logbook and wrote:

Five minutes after: Met a really freaky guy who just happened to be watching me earlier. Gotta put the police on speed dial in my PokeGear.

Underneath, she drew a quick sketch of the man, and then wrote a caption:

Creepy pedo that wants young boys to work on some "research project" or another.

She smoothed out the business card and read:

Elian Asashi
Research Scientist and Engineer
221 Garden Boulevard​

Unfortunately, the rest of the address and the phone number had been too damaged to make out. She tucked the card within the folds of her logbook, closed it, and let out a long breath.

"Gawd, I really am too adorable for my own good."

—————​

 

[Italics]

Chapter Two:

Spoiler

—————

Chapter Two
Bidoof is Not a Dork

—————​

Dawn pulled herself from the bushes, or at the very least, tried to. Unfortunately, no matter how hard she clawed at the ground, the barbed vines had her stuck in place by the legs. She kicked, but nothing but a stinging pain came out of it.

"Fuuuuuuck," she whined. "Whhhhhhhy?"

Just a few yards away was Sandgem Town in all its sandy, gem-like glory, and she was stuck by her pants to a stupid bush. It was more than unfair—it was an outrage. A stupid, bushy outrage.

"Gaaaaawd. Why now? Why?" Her head dropped to the ground. "Hell, if that pedo is around, I'd even go with him. I'd freakin' help him with that 'research project' if it ever came to that, damn it. Come back, Pedo!" she cried, snapping her head up. "Come baaaaaaaack!"

Late, she thought—she was going to be fucking late. Late, late, late, late, late. And being late? Yeah, that meant she wouldn't get a Pokemon. No Pokemon? Then she was going to have to catch one. And yeah, in a route full of Bidoof and Starly, that was not going to happen if she could help it.

But of course, all of that meant nothing if she never got out of the fucking bush.

"I'm going to diiiiiiiiiiie here. Diiiiiiiiiie!"

A shifty sound came from the bushes near her, and Dawn stopped mid-wallow to listen closely.

"Mister...Mister Asashi...?" she called uneasily. "Are you...out there...?"

A weird growling, clicking noise replied that indeed, it was not that Pedo-man at all. If anything, it sounded very much like a—

"Oh, fuck."

—a Bidoof. A Bidoof. Her savior. Whoopee.

The Bidoof was a little smaller than the other ones she'd seen before; however, its large, beady eyes and oversized buckteeth more than made up for the difference in mass. Its nose was red and pudgy, like a giant squashed berry, and the fur along its flanks was ratty and not very thick. All in all, it was a very, er...doofy Bidoof.

If it'd had any eyebrows, it probably would've raised them.

"Uh...hi," Dawn said, knowing very well that she looked ridiculous in her current position. "Nice to...see you, little fella."

It sniffed the air suspiciously, sticking its tongue out, and then gave her an intense look—or rather, gave the bag on her back an intense look.

"W-Whoa!" she quickly said, knowing very well what would happen if she didn't nip those thoughts in the bud. "Look, you, I'm not sharing anything in my bag, okay? No. All right? No."

To emphasize her words, she pointed to the Bidoof, snapped, "No," and then pointed to her bag and said, "No, unless you want to die."

Despite her very harsh warnings, it gurgled happily, crawled up to her side, and poke her cheek with its teeth.

"Oooooow," she whined. "Cut that out, you—you glorified can opener!" She tried to swat it away, but it easily dodged her flailing arms. "Stop, now! Stand still!"

It jumped onto her lower back and proceeded to claw at it, as though she was a pillow in need of fluffing; after a moment of agony, Dawn shrieked—with its wet nose, the stupid rat-thing had nuzzled the nape of her neck. Thinking to squish it before it could reach her bag, she rolled over onto her back. The Bidoof crawled using its sharp claws like metal grips along her side and onto her head, shoving her cute beret to the ground.

It was an awkward position, with her backpack bulging from excess amounts of supplies, the Bidoof clinging to her scalp, staunchly refusing to move, and the now sweaty, dirty clothes that clung to her body uncomfortably. It didn't help when she realized that her clothes had been tailored with a boy's anatomy in mind, and that the fabric of her pants was clinging to her thighs...strangely. Even worse was the sock she had indelicately placed...in an indelicate place.

"Oh, fuuuuuuuuuuuck," she whined. She tried to push herself to a standing position, but having about twenty extra pounds added to her back and head was a rather harsh impediment to overcome. She fell backwards with a loud thwacking sound.

"...Hell."

The Bidoof seemed to laugh, or at least made a strange noise that sounded like two wooden blocks hitting each other. It rubbed its wet nose on her hair, dodged her hands, and jumped to the ground, gurgling and drooling like an infant.

Dawn screamed in frustration.

As quick as a Rapidash, the Bidoof rushed up Dawn's legs and stomach, gnawed at the straps of her backpack, and took off again before she could reach it. It was sitting in front of her feet, licking its body of dirt—and for some reason, that was what set her off, made her pissed beyond anything imaginable, that had her up onto her feet, free from her bag, and chasing after it up a tree. She clawed wildly at the branches, shouting expletives at the top of her lungs, ready to murder—and there, a few limbs short of the top, was the Bidoof, snickering at her homicidal rage.

"You're so fucking dead, rat," she said in a low, guttural voice, launching herself from her perch.

The Bidoof dodged easily, hopping like a graceful dancer onto another branch, using its teeth to ease its descent. Dawn, half-crazed, pushed herself up to a higher tree limb, clenched and unclenched her fists rapidly, and then jumped down onto the Bidoof's branch, shrieking. Again, it moved out of the way, using its teeth and claws to climb the bark of the main tree, and Dawn landed badly, cutting the branch clean in half.

During the split-second that occurred between landing and breaking, Dawn heard the Bidoof laughing. She swore an oath right then to kill anything with buckteeth.

—————​

"Hey. You. Wake up."

Dawn felt something poke her cheek. Immediately, her first thoughts went to the Bidoof—but, considering her head hurt like all hell let loose, she decided to let it slide.

"C'mon. Get up. I don't have time for this."

"Stop doing that, damn it," she muttered groggily, her tongue feeling heavy and hard to move. "Let me sleep."

"Fine. But when it's dark out you'll get hy...hy...er, hypoxia, or something, if you stay out too long. That's what my mom told me."

"It's hypothermia, and I don't care what the hell your mom thinks." She groaned at the pain in her head. "Ow."

Whatever had stopped poking her decided to pinch her instead. As she tried to bat the pointy things away, she heard the voice say, "Don't talk about my mom like that."

"Sorry," she growled, and the things—which she realized were fingers with long nails—instantly released her. "Oh, thank gawd."

"My mom says that using a religion's sacred deity in vain is a mark of an ignorant fool."

Deciding that she didn't want to be pinched again, Dawn snapped her mouth shut before she could say anything unflattering. Instead, she peeled her eyelids open, peeked out of the corner of her eye, and saw a young girl with long blonde hair giving her an emotionless expression.

Some weird girl then, Dawn thought as she pushed herself to a sitting position and rubbed her head. She looked around the clearing and found her backpack lying in tatters behind her. Like a flash, she quickly ran to it, swearing under her breath as she realized the Bidoof had taken a sizable chunk of her food and nice clothes with it.

"Huh. What happened here?" the girl asked, walking over to Dawn. Her eyes, green and composed, briefly met Dawn's, taking in her infuriated expression. "Hey. Why are you biting your lips? You're bleeding."

"No reason," Dawn managed to say. "Just a Bidoof. A very dead Bidoof."

"Oh. Well. I would be sad if someone killed my Bidoof," the girl said monotonously. "But you're strange. So that's okay, then."

Dawn had the sudden urge to hurt the girl, but suppressed it when she saw the extent of damage done to her bag. The front pockets had been torn off completely, and the side and back pockets were so hurt that they wouldn't be able to hold even a small, empty water bottle. The inside was a mess: In its hurry to get the food, the Bidoof had knocked over everything, including her books, her extra clothes and underwear, her canteen, her maps and traveling gear—even the tent inside its can had been partially destroyed from premature eja...well, half of the tent was outside of the can, and that was a bad thing. The only things that hadn't been maimed were her pills and "lady products," which she'd stored inside a hidden pocket.

"Great," Dawn muttered stormily. "Just great. Now I have to get new gear and clothes and food and items and bite me."

"That doesn't sound too nice," the girl said. "My mom says that—"

"Something about vampires, right?" Dawn quickly suggested. "Well, that's nice. Cool. Now how about you go home so I don't subject you to more stuff 'Mommy' wouldn't like, okay?"

"But I can't," the girl said. "I have to go to Sandgem Town and get a Pokemon. My mom says that's how a trainer starts their journey. Mister Rowan gives them away."

"It's Professor Rowan, kid, and I really can't talk anymore, all right? Just go on to Sandgem and get your Pokemon and I'll stay here and—" She stopped herself.

Wasn't she supposed to be in Sandgem by now? After all, that was where she, a ten-year-old rookie trainer, was to get her very first Pokemon, right? And here she'd been, fighting with a Bidoof, getting her priorities skewed when she should've been ignoring it and running, and dear gawd]/I], she was only a few miles from Twinleaf and she hadn't managed to get past even the first route.

How was she supposed to do this for an entire year?

"You okay?"

Dawn looked over to the girl and smiled malevolently.

"Would you like to travel with me, kid?"

—————​

The last mile to Sandgem Town had been much, much easier than the last few. With her new meatshield—whose name was apparently Berry; Dawn felt very sorry for her—Dawn managed to pass the hoards of wild Pokemon undetected. There was something about Berry that calmed the Pokemon and made Dawn, who would hide behind her when near any tall grass, almost invisible. Although progress was slow, they managed to make it to Sandgem in a little over an hour.

"Fucking finally," Dawn said underneath her breath. She glanced surreptitiously at Berry. The girl would quote her mother's preaching whenever Dawn cursed openly.

"We're here," Berry said.

Sandgem Town was located on the coast, with a beach on the southern side and a small hamlet to the north. While it had all the accouterments of a regular training town, its main draw was the beach; in the summers, swarms of Clampearl would make their nests in the underwater plants, mate, and then most likely evolve. Their discarded pearls would end up in the tides and thrown into the sand of the beach. Tourists came during warmer months to try their luck at grabbing a pearl.

Dawn told Berry all of this hoping that it would start something—perhaps a tear-streaked confession session, maybe an epiphany that would trigger the start of a beautiful, blossoming relationship, or hell, maybe even an actual conversation.

Berry's only reaction was a shrug.

That did not endear her to Dawn.

"Ungrateful little—" Dawn stopped herself. Berry was looking at her.

"Where's Mister Rowan's lab, Lucas?" she asked.

"First, it's Professor Rowan," Dawn said, glaring. "Second, it's near the Pokemon Center, so if you see the red roof, then you know it's right around the—"

Before she could finish, something that was both heavy and lumpy knocked and fell right on top of her. She screamed in exasperation—couldn't she get just one break?—and squirmed out from underneath whatever the hell it was, stood up, and dusted herself off.

Berry asked, "Are you all right?" Her voice hadn't changed tone in the slightest.

"Fine!" Dawn barked. "And thanks for the help!"

The thing turned out to be a chubby kid, about the same age as Berry. His hair was brown and very, very curly, much like an afro, and his eyes were black and rather small for his pudgy face. What struck Dawn the most was his skin: It seemed so...sticky, and gross, and clammy, and just...ugh. Fearing for her own skin, she ducked behind Berry, muttering an incantation she'd read about on a website that would protect her precious epidermis.

"Pimples, wrinkles, damn crappy spots, go far, and away, and keep the fuck off," she chanted. "Discolorations, unwanted hair, and stupid damn lines, I know all the lotions, the facial masks, all the brands and kinds!"

"What are you doing?" Berry asked, glancing back at her. "Are you from a cult? My mom says those types of people are not true believers."

"Hell to your mother," Dawn muttered under her breath.

"What?"

"Nothing."

The boy moaned, picked up his head, and despite her first impressions...Dawn could say that he was, well—kind of cute. Not in the way a baby Skitty or Growlithe was...but in a "He's going to be a looker when he's older!" sort of way. Nothing special. Just...cute. His chubby cheeks were obviously baby fat, his eyes had a slant that was nice for his face, and er, his nose was pretty symmetrical. He was...okay.

"I'm sorry," the boy said, giving Dawn a sad face. "I'm very, very sorry. I didn't mean to bump like that into you. I was just horrible to you, I was. I'm very sorry, Miss, I didn't mean to—"

Stifling a curse, Dawn slammed her foot into the ground, pulling up a large dust cloud. She coughed a little—she'd overdone the intimidating thing a bit—and glared.

"I'm not a girl!" she said, crossing her arms. "I'm a manly, manly man, boy, and you'd best recognize that!" She struck the pose she'd practiced in the mirror. "Look at this! Look at this! Does this look like a girl's physique, boy? Huh? Huh?"

The boy mumbled something inaudible, and then looked up. "I'm very, very sorry, Mister! I didn't think that through at all. I was being impertinent, so punish me any way you see fit!" He pressed his forehead to the ground. "Do what you must!"

Dawn glanced at Berry. Berry shrugged.

"Okay...what?" Dawn asked nervously. "I didn't mean...that is, well...I don't want to...you know, hurt you or anything...." She trailed off.

"Punish me! Let me eat my just desserts, Sir! Please, I'll even help you!" Without holding back at all, he slapped himself hard on the cheek. "See? See? Take your vengeance upon me and my evil ways! Sir!"

"I won't..."

"Sir!" He punched himself in the gut. "Please! Look!"

"Okay, look, kid, I'm not hitting you!" she said, adopting a tone she heard Rowan use whenever he was pissed off. "Why the hell would I? It was a damn accident! Quit your groveling and stand up!"

There was a tense moment that followed.

"...You...you mean that...?" the boy asked. "You—really do...?"

"Yes, you fu—" Dawn quickly looked at Berry. "I mean, yeah, I do, okay? Get up. You're embarrassing me and yourself."

Suddenly, quick as a flash, the boy had grabbed her legs.

"Thank you!" he sobbed. "You are so wonderful! Just wonderful! Fantastic! Incredible! Utterly superb!"

"Hey, let go! Idiot, get off!"

"I am your servant, as you have proven yourself my better and master! Allow me to assist you however I can!"

"Then get off!" She kicked hard, missing his head by mere inches. "Seriously, get off!"

"I am groveling at your feet, and you, you may do whatever you want, and—"

"You don't sound like a kid," Berry said, oblivious to their fight. "You sound grown-up."

The boy immediately let go of Dawn's legs and stood up. He was much, much taller than Dawn had expected. He was probably, at the very least, six feet tall.

"You," he said, speaking to Berry, "have seen through my disguise. Very, very clever. You would make a fine detective, but alas, you are a young girl." He bent his head a little, rubbing his chin. "Or are you?"

"I am," Berry said, not at all freaked out by this, unlike Dawn, who was hiding behind her. "But maybe I'll become one when I grow up. My mom says I'm pretty smart for my age."

"Your mother, she is a very clever woman," the boy—no, man, said. "Amazing."

"Yeah, she is," Berry said, smiling.

Dawn gaped. When had Berry become capable of expressing emotions?

"So who are you?" Berry asked, back to her deadpan expression. "You're not one of the trainers that's here for a starting Pokemon, right?"

"Ah! Why, I have struck a deal with Mister Rowan here."

"Professor Rowan," Dawn muttered. "And why the hell are we still talking to him?"

"I will receive a Pokemon from this region to help me with my investigations," the man continued, ignoring Dawn. "It will, alas, not be an infamous starter Pokemon you two shall receive."

"Oh, that's nice of him. What are you investigating?" Berry asked.

The man smiled. "Why, something so horrible I cannot describe it to you! But rest assured, I have the situation under control."

"Well, that's good."

"Yes, it is! Very good."

"Very touching and everything," Dawn said loudly, "but all trainers that got a journey to start? Yeah, those guys gotta go. And by those guys, I mean me and Berry here. So we'll be leaving. All right, see ya, have a nice day, Man-boy, good to meet you—"

Just as she'd put her hand on Berry's shoulder, the man clapped his hands together and...giggled.

Very disturbing, thought Dawn.

"My, you've got a crush, dear young one!" the man tittered. "And you're jealous of me! Taking all her time, isn't that right?"

Dawn simply stared at him.

"Oh, look at this face! Your fury, you're almost unable to suppress it! You wish to hurt me for occupying the young girl's time and attention! Ah, young love! So beautiful!"

"You've got the 'fury' part down," Dawn said, her expression still blank. The urge to hit him right in his fucked-up face was overwhelming.

"Oh, I was right! Well, of course, considering I am a incredible detective, I would obviously see something like this happen from a mile away! Ah, such a beautiful thing, love! What wonders it spreads! Oh, when I was a young boy, I dreamed of such a time in the spring when—"

"C'mon," Dawn muttered, pulling Berry away from the man in the direction of the Rowan Research Facility.

"But he's still talking—"

"He won't notice."

And indeed, even after twenty minutes of talking to himself, the man did not notice that the "young couple" had left his side at all.

"—and that was when I decided to join the International Police, took the codename of Looker, and decided to fight the villainous infection known as..." Looker trailed off. For a moment, he swiveled his head around quickly, trying to discern the shapes of the young ones—

"Friends?"

—but, of course, they weren't there.

"Friends?" he called out hesitantly. "...Are you there? ...Friends...?"

Nothing but the whistling wind answered him.

He dropped to his knees and shouted dramatically, "My friends! Where have you gone? Frieeeeeeeeeeeeeends!"

—————​

In front of the Rowan Research Facility, Dawn sneezed.

"I think he realized we're gone now," Berry said.

"Huh?"

"You sneeze when people talk about you."

"Oh. Right."

Dawn knocked on the door. When nothing happened after a few minutes, she rang the doorbell. When, again, nothing happened, she decided ringing several dozen times would catch someone's attention. And when still nothing happened, she decided to be a bit more forceful.

"My mom says that kicking someone's door is a violation of their rights as a citizen," Berry said. "And not to mention it's horrible for trust-building."

"Well, they should—just—get—the—damn—door!" She punctuated each word with a kick. "Open up, you idiots! You get paid by the hour, so do your damn job!"

"How do you know their pay?" Berry asked. Though Dawn probably was imagining it, she thought she heard suspicion in the girl's voice.

Dawn glanced back at her. How the girl kept on making such statements was both puzzling and irritating.

"Just...a generalization," Dawn said, trying hard to keep her voice even.

For once, Berry looked confused.

"What's that mean?" she asked.

"Like...you know hyperbole?"

Berry nodded.

"Yeah...like that, almost."

"Oh. Okay."

How she knew "hyperbole" but not "generalization" was beyond Dawn. In any case, though, Dawn continued to kick the door, but a little more softly. After all, she was this girl's role model at the moment. Lord help her.

The kicking continued for almost five minutes before someone inside cried, "Oh, for Heaven's sake!" and pulled open the door.

It was Professor Rowan who greeted them. Dawn, for a second unaware the door had already opened, accidentally kicked him right in the...in the place where she'd had to stuff a sock for authenticity.

The professor fell to the ground with a long groan, his face turning a shade of blue.

"I don't think that's too good," Berry said.

Dawn gulped.

—————​

 

[Kyuuketsuki]

Hi. i just finished reading Chapter 1.

I'm kind of on the fence with this one. I really like the story so far (which just happens to be almost the same as an idea I was considering writing), I like your style of writing as well, and I couldn't find any mistakes.

What I didn't like is how Dawn seems so... there's no word for it but different. Although I still like this Dawn, I couldn't help but feel awkward for her... It's kind of weird...

However, your writing style is really great (I'll probably say it again), keep it up. I'll read Chapter 2 soon.

 

[some colour no doubt]

After reading both chapters i have to agree with Kyuu.... It's....different.
Your take on Dawn is certainly interesting, and some of the scenes made me laugh, but by the end i was losing interest a bit, as it kinda, drags on.

When its good it's great, and your interactions between characters are great, and how you portray Dawn's emotions, particularly her anger/frustration is epic.

My only fault is, Dawn is meant to be ten correct? If so, she seems to be very, mature, for her age.

I'll try keep looking in on this as you update!

 

[Italics]

After reading both chapters i have to agree with Kyuu.... It's....different.

Er, I'll take this as a complement. <

Your take on Dawn is certainly interesting, and some of the scenes made me laugh, but by the end i was losing interest a bit, as it kinda, drags on.

Thanks for pointing that out. I'll work on that. Though honestly? When I reread it I thought I was going too fast -- but maybe my brain's...just off, or something. Maybe it has something to do with it being my own writing?

When its good it's great, and your interactions between characters are great, and how you portray Dawn's emotions, particularly her anger/frustration is epic.

Oh, d'awwww. That was what I was going for! Yay for me...!

My only fault is, Dawn is meant to be ten correct? If so, she seems to be very, mature, for her age.

Actually, she (and Barry) are meant to be older than sixteen, but younger than twenty-five. (I haven't decided yet.) Dawn was Rowan's assistant when she was younger, which is what's motivating her right now and -- I'll stop. I'm getting all Chatty Cathy just because someone is actually reviewing my stories! Ah, bliss.

I'm kind of on the fence with this one....What I didn't like is how Dawn seems so... there's no word for it but different. Although I still like this Dawn, I couldn't help but feel awkward for her... It's kind of weird...

Eh, she's my designated Butt Monkey. (Oops, excuse me, my troper is showing.) She's supposed to be all awkward, get into awkward situations, and have to awkwardly figure things out.

Oh, thank you, you two! THANK YOU. I feel so damn REINVIGORATED after reading these two reviews! I'm gonna pay you guys back by throwing THOUSANDS of reviews down your throats! c':

 

[Der_Neuevenmenschen]

This is some epic fanfiction, man. All the right things are done in the way of humor, Dawn is a bitch, and Berry provides perfect contrast. And, also, Looker is true to character, being able to disguise himself as anything and all that. You must continue.

 

[Hadesiro]

As she went on, the trail behind her began to grow increasingly cluttered with unconscious bodies of small, fuzzy animals and cute little birds.

LOL. Perfect. Just perfect.


I agree with El Noobio on the point about Dawn and Berry.

Dawn is frustrated, annoyed, and violent (I don't blame her!) while Berry is quiet and polite.


I got your joke about Looker when Dawn was 'admiring' him.

All in all, I really like it, it's very different, but good. What's that about an Apocalypse, though?

One funny thing to me is the irony of me having Dawn be a Pokemon professor in my '40+ years in the future' original story.