My head felt fuzzy as I slowly blinked my eyes open. As I tried to lift my arm up to rub against my eyes they widened as I realized that my wrists were tied behind my back along with my ankles. I also had a cloth gag tied around my mouth tightly. 

Panic briefly surged through me as I struggled against the pieces of cloth that were holding my wrists together. As it became obvious that struggling wasn't going to get me anywhere I breathed slowly in and out through my nose as I took stock of where I was. I seemed to be alone in some kind of living room. The walls had splashes of random colored paint all over, the furniture was all dinged and dented, and most of the chairs in the room were tipped over haphazardly.

If I can't get myself out, maybe I can reach my pokeballs, I told myself as I tried to remain calm. I hope Paul is okay. 

Straining my shoulder I desperately reached for the miniaturized Pokeballs on my belt. Just when I thought it was hopeless my fingers brushed against something blessedly round. Grunting from pain I managed to pop one of them off and my cry was muffled because of the cloth around my mouth as it popped off and rolled away from me. Carefully I got onto my knees and shuffled after my Pokeball. Once I had reached it I awkwardly bent to the side to pick it up in my bound hands. Enlarging the small Pokeball I tossed it and felt like crying from relief as Growlithe appeared.

Growlithe took exactly two seconds to look around and see what predicament I was in before rushing behind me. I felt him grip the cloth around my hands with his teeth and pull, but that just seemed to be tightening it. He had just started to carefully bite on it when the door opened, revealing two teenage boys in the doorway.

"Hey, what's this growlithe doing here?" one of the guys asked in surprise. 

Growlithe courageously leaped in front of me, barking furiously.

'Don't tell me it's the chick's? Dude, how did she release one of her pokemon?" the other guy asked. They both yelped and ducked as Growlithe burst into a Flame Wheel and only narrowly missed them.

"Drowzee, help me out!"

"You too, Raticate!"

Growlithe crouched and growled menacingly at the two pokemon that appeared. I tried to speak but the gag made it sound like muffled gibberish. I watched helplessly as Growlithe blasted a Flamethrower toward his two opponents, but they both dodged with plenty of time to spare. Tears sprang to my eyes as I watched Growlithe trying to fight off the two bigger pokemon. As Raticate came close to bite down on Growlithe with a Super Fang he jumped back but Drowzee fired a Psybeam at him, knocking him over my head where he crashed into a toppled chair.

"Grofith!" I cried out as I fell to the ground and began rolling over towards him.

"Where are you going, missy?" 

A strong hand grabbed my shoulder, halting my momentum and I rolled onto my back, lashing out and kicking the guy's leg. He yelled in pain, jumping back and holding his shin. Turning I furrowed my brow in confusion as I saw Growlithe limping over to my backpack that had been tossed next to a patchy couch.

"Drowzee, use Hypnosis. This chick is too much trouble awake," the guy who I had kicked growled. 

Sitting up I tried to scoot myself back as the drowzee began walking slowly towards me, holding his hands in front of him. Glancing back at Growlithe my eyes widened when I saw that he had managed to open the small pocket on the outside of my backpack and the fire stone I bought fell out of it. I continued scooting away from the drowzee, who had started to hum softly, and Growlithe tore into the wrapping over the fire stone, revealing a corner of the shimmering red color. He looked up at me briefly and I met his eyes before he purposefully stepped on the stone and his body instantly began glowing.

The drowzee stopped humming as we all looked at Growlithe whose glowing body began to grow and grow and grow. A small part of me watched Growlithe's growth with sadness as his darling little nose grew into a longer muzzle, the tuft of fur that I loved to tussle expanded into a thick mane, and his fluffy tail elongated. Once his body stopped glowing he stood as a hulking 6'5" Arcanine.

With a deep growl Arcanine leapt from his spot by the couch and landed in front of me with a thump. I leaned over slightly to peak around Arcanine's thick orange and black striped leg, and relief flooded me at the terrified expressions on both guys faces as Arcanine barked viciously at them. Their raticate and drowzee jumped forward, apparently hoping numbers could help them against their new, much larger opponent, but Arcanine let loose the largest Flamethrower I had ever seen. The force of the move smacked them back against the wall and the paintings on the wall burst into flame. The two boys yelped in fear, running around in a panic as the flames slowly licked against the wall.

"WHAT IS GOING ON IN HERE?" I thunderous voice yelled. 

A tall man with spiky white hair and garish fashion sense smashed open the door and his mouth dropped open in shock as he took in the scene before him. His eyes traveled from the burning paintings to the trembling teeenagers to Arcanine to me tied up and crouching behind him. He blinked and then rage contorted his features. He marched over to the two teenage boys and whacked them both hard on top of their heads, causing them to cry out in pain and squat down, rubbing their heads.

"What do you two numbskulls think you're doing!" the older man yelled angrily and I slumped against Arcanine's leg in relief.

"We brought you the girl like you told us," one of the boys whined and the man spluttered in shock.

"Like I told you? I asked you to bring her to me, not kidnap her!" he yelled in shock and the other teenager looked up while rubbing his head.

"You said to be discreet though, boss!"

"I wanted her to give me fashion advice, you idiots! I said to be 'discreet' because I didn't want anyone to know I was asking a performer for advice on my threads!" he hissed.

I blinked and would have laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation if the paintings weren't still on fire. As if remembering that fact himself the man released a huge bug-like monster of a pokemon and Arcanine growled threateningly at it. Guzma stepped in front of his pokemon and held up both hands in a calming gesture.

"Heeeey, Big Guy. We don't wanna fight. We're just gonna put out this little fire here, yah?" he said in a gruff but soothing tone. 

Arcanine growled low in his throat, but as the bug pokemon turned and used Razor Shell to douse the fire he didn't move from his protective stance in front of me. Once that was done the man returned his pokemon and began easing his way a half step at a time towards Arcanine, who snarled at him menacingly.

"Easy there, Big Guy. I just want to untie your trainer. I'm not gonna hurt her, I promise."

Arcanine began backing up and I ducked down as he stood protectively over top of me and barked angrily at the two teenagers who were cowering on the side of the room.

"That's fair. We'll get these two numbskulls out of here," the man said slowly, backing up a few steps before turning and whacking the two guys again on top of their heads. They cried out in pain and wrapped their arms around their head. "What's wrong with you guys? I thought you promised no more shady stuff," the man growled at his two punching bags and they hung their heads dejectedly.

"Old habits, boss," one of them said.

"We were gonna ask her to come with us, but she was with a guy. You said discreet so we knocked them out with Hypnosis and then we couldn't find you. We didn't know why you wanted her so we tied her up so she wouldn't make any trouble," the other teenager said, sounding as if that sentence made complete sense to him.

"You WHAT?" the spiky-haired man yelled, slapping a hand to his eyes. "Just get out. Get out before I murder you both!" he growled.

The two guys and their pokemon quickly scuttled out of the room. The man sighed heavily, wiping his face with his hand, and then turned back to look at me where I was huddled underneath Arcanine.

"Can I untie your trainer now, Big Guy?" he asked, sounding exhausted.

Arcanine dropped his head down to look at me underneath him and I nodded. Gingerly he moved back, exposing me, and the man slowly walked over.

"My name is Guzma," the man said as he untied the gag and I shifted my jaw slightly as the cloth was loosened and I could finally breathe normally. "I'm sure you are terrified. I am really sorry about those two idiots." Guzma tugged a bit on the cloth tying my wrists together.

"It's alright. I was really scared until you came though," I admitted and I heard Guzma sigh.

"I used to be the leader of these ragtag kids. Team Skull was our name. We were just punks with too much time on our hands, but we got mixed up in some craziness a couple of years ago and I disbanded our group." 

The bands on my wrists loosened and I pulled my arms in front of me, shaking them out and rubbing my sore shoulder before bending over and starting to untie my ankles.

"It seems like they really respect you," I commented with a smile, forcing back my lingering fear as Guzma came over to sit in front of me. He scoffed and rubbed his hand on the back of his neck.

"Yah, they're good kids. They just are a little on the extreme side of things," he grimaced.

I chuckled awkwardly, pulling on the knot and finally freeing myself. Quickly I stood up and walked over to Arcanine, who was now a good half a foot taller than I was and I inspected his transformation. Arcanine bent his head down and whined quietly, sniffing me all over as if checking to see if I was hurt. Laughing I stroked his muzzle and hugged his neck, burying my face into his soft fur.

"Thanks for protecting me, sweetheart," I whispered into his ear and I felt him lean his muzzle against my shoulder, pulling me into a strange hug.

"You've got some powerful pokemon. That ground type eevee last night was wicked!" Guzma said with a grin and I pulled away from Arcanine.

"Thank you. Do you... know where Paul is?" I asked nervously and Guzma frowned.

"Sounds like the numbskulls left him behind," Guzma said apologetically and I frowned, feeling strange to know that Paul wasn't nearby.

"And where am I exactly?"

"Po Town. This is Team Skull's old base of operations and we never really left," Guzma said, once again rubbing the back of his neck.

"And.. you wanted my fashion advice?" I asked curiously and to my surprise Guzma's cheeks turned red.

"Well, I just became a member of the Elite 4 and I figured that I should probably dress a little less like a gangster. I really liked your threads from your performance last night so I thought you could help me come up with something cool but more... Elite 4-y," Guzma said while blushing furiously and my eyes widened in surprise.

"Wow, congratulations!" I said and Guzma smiled awkwardly.

"Thanks... Uh... Dawn, right?" Guzma asked and I smiled gently at him.

"That's right. I would love to help you with your outfit, Guzma, but I don't want Paul to think that I am in trouble," I said hesitantly and Guzma brightened.

"I'll have some of my crew go find him for you!" he offered brightly.

Even though I really wanted to see Paul right away, I didn't want Guzma to think I blamed him for the kidnapping thing. It's not like they had hurt me, after all.

"Alright," I agreed reluctantly and he grinned, motioning for me to follow him into the rest of the house. 

I raised my Pokeball to return Arcanine but he shook his head and woofed quietly, seeming to say that he wanted to stay out. Smiling I nodded and clipped his Pokeball back onto my belt before following Guzma. To my surprise, it turned out that we were inside a mansion of some kind, although the entire house was spray-painted and looked like it was in complete disarray. Blue-headed boys and pink-headed girls wandered around, many of them dancing and moving their arms expressively as they went. Several of them gawked as Arcanine walked by and I was surprised that he wasn't growling at all of them. I could see him watching everyone carefully, but he seemed to trust Guzma so he remained quiet.

After sending one of the bouncing teenagers to go find Paul and tell him I was okay, Guzma led us up the grand staircase and I was glad that Arcanine fit okay going up. It's going to be really strange getting used to how big he is now, I thought wistfully. I would miss my cute Growlithe that I could cuddle with, but I was glad that he was the one who had chosen when he wanted to evolve. At the end of the hallway, he opened a door and gestured for us to come in. Arcanine had to bend a little bit to fit, but the room was spacious so he stood off to the side of the room as a silent sentry.

"So, as I said, I want to keep my edgy look but still look like someone Alola can be proud to call one of their Elite..."

For the next hour, I combed through Guzma's wardrobe, mixing and matching colors and styles until I had three outfits that I thought would be good. I instructed him on what accessories went with which outfit then Arcanine and I stepped out of the room so he could try them on. After showing me the first two outfits I was waiting outside his room with Arcanine, who had started to calm down and was studying his knew body with excitement.

Suddenly the building began to shake, causing dust to fall down from the ceiling and I held onto Arcanine's neck to steady myself. All the teenagers in the house began yelling and asking what was going on, but I noticed that Arcanine had his nose in the air as if he was trying to pinpoint a scent. The rumbling continued and Guzma ran out with his shiny black collared shirt half-tucked into his dark jeans.

"What are you numbskulls doing now?" he roared as the building continued to shake. 

All of the teenagers, almost as one, said that they "weren't doin' nothin'!" as the building continued to shake. The sound of the huge front doors blasting open rang out through the mansion. Two boys with blue hair flew through the open door, skidding along the floor and crashing against the bottom step of the stairs.

"Where is Dawn!" a deep, enraged voice called out and my eyes widened. 

Before I could even think I flew down the stairs and stood on top of the first platform of the staircase where it divided into two forks, one going to the left and the other to the right. As I looked down the stairs I could hardly believe my eyes. Paul and Torterra stood in the open doorway, glaring at all of the team skull has-beens with murder in their eyes.

"Paul!" I yelled and his eyes jerked up to me, relief flooding his expression. 

All of the fear and confusion that I had pushed down suddenly rushed back and, two steps at a time, I ran down the stairs. I jumped over the two boys that had been knocked through the doors and were groaning at the bottom of the stairs and I rushed to Paul, throwing my arms around him and burying my face into his chest. To my surprise, I felt Paul's strong arms wrap around my back and he cupped one hand around the back of my head. A slight pressure on top of my head signaled he had dropped his forehead against it and I heard him let out a long sigh.

"Are you hurt?" he whispered and a thrill of shivers ran up my spine at the concern in his voice.

Slowly I shook my head, doing my best not to disturb his head against mine. I wanted to stay in Paul's protective embrace forever, but he raised his head and let go of me quickly as if he had just realized that he was hugging me. Reluctantly I released my grip on his back and stepped away from him.

"Arc arc!" 

Paul glanced up and his eyes widened as Arcanine leaped down the last flight of stairs, landing with a loud crash on the ground and causing several of the teenagers in the room to squeak in fright.

"Growlithe evolved?" Paul asked, flicking his eyes to me and I smiled sadly.

"I'll explain what happened later," I said just as Guzma came down the stairs, his shirt still only half tucked in, but it kind of worked for him like that.

"You must be Paul," Guzma said awkwardly. "I sent someone to tell you that Dawn was alright but..." 

Paul stepped forward, putting himself between me and Guzma. As I peaked around Paul's back I saw Guzma flinch and I imagined Paul was glaring at him hard enough to nearly set him on fire.

"Are you the one behind this?" Paul asked darkly. 

Guzma rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and I slipped my hands around Paul's arm. He looked down at me, still glaring, but I smiled up at him.

"Guzma asked his friends to bring me to him, but he just wanted some advice. He didn't mean for them to kidnap me," I explained gently and Paul frowned.

"What kind of idiot misunderstands inviting someone over for advice and kidnapping them?" Paul growled, scanning the room at all of the teenagers milling about and Guzma sighed.

"They have some circumstances," I said quickly and Guzma gave me a grateful look.

"Fine. Then are you done giving advice?" he growled and I glanced at Guzma. 

He opened his mouth but Paul didn't wait for him to speak. Instead, he turned his back on them and placed his hands on my shoulders, confidently spinning me around and pushing me out the door. If I hadn't felt so excited by the fact that Paul was so concerned about me I might have fought against him, but instead, I just waved at Guzma over my shoulder and I saw him bow slightly at me in apology.

Arcanine walked after us and I reached down to caress Torterra's head lovingly before Paul pushed me past him. My eyes widened as I looked at the scene of mass destruction in front of me. Pokemon were laying on the ground unconscious on either side of what looked like had been a cobblestone road, but now looked like someone had dropped a ten thousand pound anvil and made the road ripple up and down in a haphazard mess. Digging in my heels I halted my progress and Paul's chest bumped into my head.

"What are you doing? We're leaving," Paul growled and I looked up at him incredulously.

"Did you and Torterra do this?" I asked in astonishment and Paul shrugged.

"They were in our way," he answered nonchalantly and I looked down at Torterra.

"You are amazing Torterra!" I exclaimed and he smiled proudly up at me.

"Could have done less damage," a bored voice commented and I turned to see an older man with grey hair in a loose police officer's uniform standing at the end of the upheaved road.

"Who are you?" Paul asked as his grip on my shoulders tightened.

"Nanu. Some know me as a police officer. Others know me as the island kahuna. But plain Nanu is fine for me," the man said with an indifferent shrug and Paul's grip loosened on my shoulders

"You're the kahuna?" Paul repeated and once again Nanu shrugged his shoulders.

"Dawn and I are taking the island challenge, would you battle us?" he asked, seeming to completely forget his desire to leave as soon as possible.

"Very well. Follow me." 

Nanu turned away from us and began walking towards the outer wall of the penned-in city. Paul dropped his hands from my shoulders and I wondered disappointedly if his dramatic rescue was out of a feeling of responsibility rather than potential feelings for me.

As we walked Paul returned Torterra and I returned Arcanine after another heartfelt thank you. Nanu led us out of Po town and began leading us up a large hill until we stood on top of a cliff overlooking Po town. Nanu walked a few feet away from us and then turned, nodding to me.

"Ladies first?" he inquired and I glanced up at Paul. He shrugged and I frowned, not really in the mood for a battle.

"Paul, you can..."

"Are you ready?" Nanu called over, looking directly at me. 

Paul stuck out his chin, telling me silently to go on, so I took a step forward and bowed slightly.

"Thank you for the battle," I said, trying to hide my reluctance, and Nanu waved a hand in dismissal.

"No need to be formal. Let's begin." 

With that Nanu tossed a Pokeball lazily into the air and I was surprised when a Sableye popped out. Lots of immunities and only one weakness, I thought as I recalled one of Paul's lessons on dual types and how to determine their weaknesses. Here we go, I thought.

"Ribombee, spotlight!" 

Ribombee appeared from her Pokeball and executed a perfect mid-air backflip in excitement. Nanu nodded, as if in approval of my choice, and I felt my confidence increase slightly.

"Sableye, use Fake Out," Nanu said and Sableye jumped forward, smacking his hands in front of Ribombee. She flinched while rubbing her hands over her tiny ears.

"Ribombee, use Fairy WInd," I said but Ribombee still was rubbing her head as if she couldn't hear anything.

"Night Shade," Nanu said in a bored tone. 

A dark light began spiraling up from the ground around Sableye. it arched through the air and then hit Ribombee, knocking her to the side, but she managed to catch herself before she fell to the ground. Shaking her head once she zipped back up in front of me and looked back at me with obvious determination.

"You think you're ready?" I whispered as Nanu told his sableye to go in for a fury swipes attack. "Then dodge and use Dazzling Gleam!"

As fast as a bullet Ribombee flew around Sableye as he jumped up to hit her with his glowing fingers and then she spread her arms out and let out a quiet, "Bee!" as sparkles radiated out from her. I shielded my eyes as the move spread from Ribombee and the sparkling wall smacked into Sableye's unprotected back and threw him to the ground. As the light faded Sableye shook his head and slowly stood up.

"Use Draining Kiss!" I instructed.

"Detect," Nanu said, seeming unconcerned. 

Ribombee sped forward but bonked into a shimmering barrier before she could connect her attack. She quickly flew back as Sableye hid behind his protective shield.

"Use Pollen Puff right when the shield comes down," I ordered.

"Dodge and use Night Shade."

"Fairy Wind, full power to knock it back," I ordered, watching with frustration as the Sableye was able to avoid the brunt of the Pollen Puff but I smiled in relief as Ribombee's Fairy Wind broke apart the streams of darkness heading towards her. The move continued and threw Sableye back, knocking him out and ending the battle.

"Well done, Ribombee!" I squealed and she spun around in the air in excitement. Nanu returned his Sableye without comment and sent out a Krokorok. "Ribombee, come back for now," I said after a moment's thought and she disappeared in a red light back to her Pokeball.

"You still had the advantage against, Krokorok," Nanu said with his bored tone and I nodded.

"I know, but I like to give my other pokemon chances to battle as well," I explained and he nodded. "Piplup, Spotlight!" 

Nanu grunted as Piplup came out and puffed his chest out proudly as he looked up at the bigger pokemon.

"Sand Attack," Nanu ordered and Krokorok sent a cloud of sand towards Piplup.

"Use Surf," I ordered quickly. 

Piplup closed his eyes and raised his flippers, riding up a large wave that absorbed the Sand Attack. As Piplup raced towards the krokorok to my surprise it immediately dove underground, without waiting for Nanu to speak.

"Shoot a Hydro Pump into the hole, Piplup!" I said as the wave washed over the open hole. 

The water vanished and Piplup ran up to the hole, breathing deeply before letting loose a jet of water into the hole. Water filled the hole and Krokorok exploded out from the ground tumbling end over end as the force of the water shot him up. When he landed on the ground and didn't get up, I was a little surprised; since this was a kahuna battle I had expected Krokorok to put up more of a fight than that.

"Krokorok doesn't have great defense, and this particular one is skittish around water type attacks," Nanu explained with a slight drawl to his words and I wondered if he was teaching me or just wasn't taking our battle seriously.

"Persian, it's your turn," Nanu said as he released a blue persian with a large circular face.

What in the world? I thought with confusion. Paul had told me to research the alolan variants a few days ago, but I didn't get very far so I had no idea that persian was so different here in Alola. Looking at it I decided that it must be at least partially a dark type since that was the connecting type of Nanu's other pokemon.

"Come back for now, Piplup," I said and Nanu's expression didn't change as I released Ribombee again.

"Use Draining Kiss," I said but at the same moment, Nanu called for a Fake Out.

Before Ribombee could land the attack Persian reared on his back legs and clapped his front paws together harshly, creating a sound as loud as a massive thunderclap. Even I had to cover my ears from the force of the sound. Poor Ribombee fluttered jerkily, her hands held up against her head.

"Slash," Nanu said with his normal bored tone.

I winced as Persian leaped forward, faster than I could hardly believe, and smacked his large paw against Ribombee. The hit jettisoned Ribombee to the ground where a small dust cloud puffed up as she fell hard.

"Ribombee, can you get up?" I asked fearfully. Her wings fluttered and she sat up slowly, taking a second before launching herself back up. "Get close and use Draining Kiss," I said, knowing that Ribombee was low on stamina. 

Ribombee sped forward and to my surprise, the persian seemed to be a match for her speed. He dodged and rolled as Ribombee tried to get closer. Finally, she was able to snag his tail and kissed it. As she flew away her speed seemed to be boosted slightly as energy drained from the Persian and back into her.

"Use Power Gem," Nanu said.

"Dodge it, Ribombee!" 

I watched in horror as metallic gems began firing rapidly at Ribombee. Her speed wasn't enough to dodge them all and she was hit right in her little body with a large gem. She dropped down to the ground without a twitch.

"Oh, Ribombee," I breathed out sadly, holding out my Pokeball and returning her tiny form. "You were absolutely wonderful."

Glancing over at the persian I bit my lip and wondered what I should do. Piplup's moves were powerful but this persian was going to outspeed him without question. Biting the bottom of my lip I pulled off my choice and hoped that I wasn't making a big mistake.

"Arcanine, Spotlight!" 

Arcanine appeared and barked loudly as he glared down at his opponent, which was nearly half the size of himself. Nanu raised one lazy eyebrow but didn't comment.

"Arcanine use Overheat," I said, hoping that my gamble would pay off. 

Arcanine snarled and to my relief, a ring of fire burst into life around his body. There was nowhere for the persian to run as lines of fire burst along the battlefield and then exploded up underneath our opponent. Persian yeowled in pain, stumbling to the side and I could see that some of his fur had been singed, but amazingly he was still standing.

Shoot, I thought as I tried to keep from panicking. Now Arcanine's special attack is lowered.

"Flame Wheel," I said, trying to not let my disappointment show and Nanu shook his head.

"Use Power Gem." 

Once again a barrage of gleaming gems shot towards my pokemon and I winced as the super effective attack hit, causing Arcanine to stop his huge flame wheel and drop to the ground. My eyes widened as I realized that Nanu had begun to move his arms.

"Arcanine!" I yelled, not even sure what to do as the collar that had been hidden behind Persian's fat head began to glow. 

A dark orb of black and red energy appeared in front of Persian and he fired it. For a second I was relieved as the orb swung around Arcanine and shot towards the sky, but my relief turned to horror as the orb exploded into what looked like a black hole.

Arcanine barked in shock as his feet left the ground and my hands flew up to my mouth as I watched him get sucked into the black hole. A huge explosion of energy sent ripples of power across the entire battlefield and I felt my beanie get blown off my head. Arcanine fell from the sky and landed on his side as Nanu's persian regarded him smugly.

"Arcanine?" I said shakily, beginning to walk towards him when to my shock he raised his head and growled menacingly at the persian. 

I watched in stunned silence as Arcanine got back to his feet and held himself to his full height. A desperate idea came into my mind and I prayed that it would work.

"Arcanine, use Reversal!" I said, trying to sound confident. 

Arcanine's entire body began to glow a deep yellow color and he launched himself forward. He headbutted the persian before it could move and all of his pent-up energy exploded on contact, knocking the persian over Nanu's head where he crashed and rolled along the ground for several feet before coming to a stop, unconscious.

"You did it," I breathed out in relief. "Arcanine you won!" 

I ran onto the battlefield and threw my arms around Arcanine's neck as he barked tiredly.

"Well done, miss. That was a surprising strategy," Nanu complimented without a smile and I glanced at Paul awkwardly, not sure how I was supposed to respond.

"Will I be able to battle you later today?" Paul asked, stepping over to stand next to me and to my surprise he handed me my red beanie. 

Nanu shook his head. "Can't really be bothered to do more than one battle a day. Why don't you come back tomorrow? I'll meet you here at the same time," Nanu drawled. Paul narrowed his eyes but nodded briefly in agreement. "I didn't bring my Darkium Z's with me, so I will give you your stone tomorrow." 

I nodded and after returning Persian he turned and walked away without a backward glance.