A/N Thanks to the FANTASTIC idea of elliee0299 there is going to be a never before seen eeveelution in this chapter ;) The artwork was done by an EXTREMELY talented Deviantart artist named  j7663701. I hope you enjoy the chapter :D 

My alarm went off and I instantly reached out to turn it off, glancing over worriedly to see if I had woken up Paul. He muttered something under his breath and rolled onto his back, but then his breathing quieted and he seemed to fall back to sleep. I sighed in relief and laid back down on my bed, stroking Eevee's sleeping form gently as I thought back to what happened last night.

Eevee woke me up in the middle of the night and I was barely able to see anything, but by her hushed whimpering, I knew something was wrong. The sound of a deep moan caused me to sit up instantly. My eyes weren't adjusted to the dark yet but I had cautiously slid off my mattress and made my way over to Paul. He'd been muttering under his breath and sounded like he was in pain. 

Not knowing what to do I had sat on the edge of his bed and tried to shake him awake, almost losing my nerve when I realized that he was shirtless. But he continued to groan and mutter incoherently and I couldn't leave him like that. When he eventually woke up he had seemed panicked and I did my best to calm him down. After he fell back asleep it had taken several hours for me to follow his example.

I wonder what he was dreaming about, I thought sadly as my eyes traveled over to his sleeping figure. 

His bangs had been trimmed but they still hung just above his eyes and it took almost every ounce of self-control not to walk over and brush my fingers through them. Obviously I had recognized when I first bumped into him on the cruise ship to Alola that he was attractive... but it was Paul. Paul, the trainer who bullied and abused his pokemon when we were kids. Ash's rival who stomped over him more times than I could count. But now as I looked at him... I realized that there was a lot more to Paul than I had once thought. I wanted to know more. To be closer to him.

"Oh, Eevee. I think I'm in trouble," I whispered.

Eevee's ears twitched. She blinked her eyes slowly and turned her head slightly so she could look at me then mewed quietly. I smiled down at her and stroked her soft head.

"I didn't mean to wake you, I'm sorry," I whispered.

Eevee's ears twitched and she turned from me, looking over at Paul on the other bed.

"Evoy ee?" she said with a sad little frown and I shook my head slightly.

"I don't know," I said with a sigh. 

Eevee blinked and then stood up, prompting me to remove my hand from her head and I watched as she jumped off my bed and then leaped up onto Paul's. She padded over the mattress to look at his face and sniffed him, causing him to scrunch his eyes and turn away from her cold nose.

"Eevee, don't..." I said, sliding off my bed and tiptoeing over to Paul's bed. 

Just as I was about to pull Eevee away from Paul he raised one of his arms and rubbed his eyes, blinking a few times before turning and looking at first Eevee and then up to me. I felt my cheeks heat up as he stared at me for several seconds without any kind of expression. Feeling ridiculous I broke eye contact with him and gently scooped Eevee into my arms.

"Sorry. She was worried about you,' I whispered, flicking my eyes back to his to find that he was still looking at me but his eyes seemed dull and emotionless. Biting my bottom lip I glanced away and Eevee mewed sadly down at Paul.

"Do you... want to talk about it?" I asked hesitantly.

Paul finally looked away from me, pulling himself into a sitting position and I tried not to notice his flexing abs.

"No," he replied shortly, turning his head away and standing up from the bed.

"Are you sure?" I asked, frowning slightly as I thought back to how upset he had been when he woke up last night.

"Drop it, Dawn," he snapped darkly, glancing over his shoulder and glaring at me. 

I bit my lower lip and lowered my gaze, holding Eevee tightly against me. Without another word Paul bent down to pick up his backpack and discarded shirt before walking into the bathroom, locking the door behind him as he entered. Eevee looked at the door as if expecting him to walk out any second and I sighed, sitting back on the bed and turning her to face me.

"Sometimes there are things we don't want to share, Eevee," I explained as she looked at me sadly. "He might just not want to think about it. So let's act like normal around him, okay?" I asked with a small smile. 

Eevee nodded at me and after kissing her forehead I returned her to her Pokeball. I could hear Paul still shuffling around in the bathroom so I checked the little dumbwaiter where cleaned clothes were sent through and I was happy to see that my new outfit was already finished. I pulled my jeans on underneath the oversized shirt that I had worn to bed, then pulled my arms inside the shirt and awkwardly managed to slip my new shirt on underneath the cover of my pajamas. Once I was decent I pulled off my oversized shirt and put it and my freshly laundered pajamas into my clothes storage capsule.

A faint click signaled that Paul was leaving the bathroom. He walked out in his normal travel outfit with his jacket covering his muscular arms and I noticed that he was pointedly looking over my head, almost like he was trying to ignore my existence. I felt a little sad but it was never fun showing your weakness to others, so I tried not to take it personally.

"I'll just brush my teeth quickly and meet you downstairs for breakfast," I said, doing my best to sound like my normal self. 

Paul didn't look at me, instead, he turned towards the door and folded his arms.

"I'd like to leave as soon as possible," he said and I frowned slightly but then forced myself to smile.

"Okay. I have some protein bars in my pack. Do you want to eat those while we walk?" I asked and he nodded without replying. 

Seeing his back turned to me made me feel more alone than if he hadn't been in the room. A huge desire rushed through me to run over and hug him, but it was obvious he wanted to be left alone so I held myself back.

Paul dropped off the key to our room with Nurse Joy and took his two Pokeballs back from her with a silent bow of his head in thanks. I followed him out of the Pokemon Center and out towards the path that would lead us to the mountain pass. Paul didn't say a word as we walked and the mood seemed too heavy for me to make idle chatter.

It was a relief when we made it to a small stable that housed Mudsdale that travelers could use to get through the pass. Once the mudsdale I was going to ride was saddled I placed my hands on the horn of the saddle, slipped my left foot into the stirrup, and then hopped from the mudsdale's neck to his side and boosted myself up onto his back easily. Paul had already mounted and was leading his mount towards the steep path that led into the mountain pass.

Thanking the stable workers quickly I nudged Mudsdale to a trot to catch up with Paul. Even though there was plenty of space for both of us on the path Paul never once looked over at me or said anything. By the time Paul stopped for lunch it was taking all of my self-control to stay silent.

Paul pulled out a couple of wrapped onigiri from his stock of food and I did the same, wondering absently what fillings he liked in his onigiri. The silence continued and even though I knew better I just couldn't take it anymore.

"Are you feeling okay, Paul?" I blurted out as he took a bite of his onigiri. 

He flicked his eyes at me that looked black as night, with no hint of purple, and I felt a shiver go down my spine.

"I'm fine," he said dully after he swallowed his onigiri, then turned to look off to his left.

"You're quieter than normal," I pointed out and he shrugged.

"Don't want to talk," he mumbled and I frowned.

"I won't ask about the dream, but it feels like you are ignoring me. Did I do something wrong?" I asked and Paul glared over at me with more annoyance than I had seen in his expression for a while.

"My mood has nothing to do with you," he snapped and I felt myself shrink back. 

Tears began to prickle the back of my eyes but I refused to cry. Paul was just in a bad mood. There was no reason to cry.

"I just wanted to help," I mumbled and suddenly Paul exploded to his feet and glared down at me, anger seeming to spill from his eyes.

"When have I ever asked for your help?" he asked darkly and I blinked in shock.

"Paul..." I said, confusion and hurt gripping me but he cut me off.

"You've done nothing but slow me down since I started traveling with you. I told you to drop it but you can't even do that one simple thing. Why would I ever need help from someone who can't do what they're told?" 

Anger exploded through me and I rose to my feet meeting his angry glare without fear.

"Excuse me? You are the one who invited me to come with you," I seethed. I knew that I was really feeling hurt but the only thing I could focus on was my anger.

"And now you've won two of your stupid performances. So what do you need me for anymore?" Paul asked snidely and I clenched my hands into fists.

"You said you wanted my help with the Z powers," I pointed out angrily and Paul scoffed.

"Yah, and you've been super helpful," he quipped.

All of my anger vanished instantly, replaced with confusion, hurt, and terrible inadequacy. I turned away from his flashing eyes, trying to keep my tears at bay as I walked over to my backpack. Trying to act like I was angry I pulled open the top of the backpack jerkily, reached in, and grabbed a box that I had wrapped the day before in a calm gray color. Placing my backpack on my back I turned, marched over to Paul, and shoved the box into his chest, surprising him enough to make him grab the package as he stumbled a step back.

"Sorry to be a burden." 

I had meant to make my voice sarcastic and annoyed, but my voice cracked as I tried to hold back a sob and I quickly turned away from Paul.

"Dawn..." I thought I heard Paul say my name softly, but I wasn't sure and I didn't want to look into his accusing face anymore. 

Running as tears began to spill from my eyes I launched myself into Mudsdale's saddle, spun her around, and kicked her into a gallop. Mudsdales were sturdy, almost stocky in their build, but apparently my mudsdale like to run because within a minute I had left Paul far behind me. I held onto the reins tightly as Mudsdale charged forward. Tears were spilling from my eyes and I could hardly see so I hoped that Mudsdale knew where he was going.

Way to go, Dawn. Why couldn't you just keep your mouth shut? I thought to myself miserably as I tried to rub my eyes with the back of my hand. The realization that I had left Paul made it feel like someone was reaching into my chest and squeezing my heart in their fist. I've only been traveling with him for a month or so. Why do I feel like this?

Tears continued to spill from my eyes and blur my vision so I tried to wipe at them with the back of my hand but I pulled too far back and I felt Mudsdale jerk to the side. Suddenly I felt Mudsdale rear up and jump over something. I gripped Mudsdale's sides with my knees, completely terrified as we flew through the air. When she landed it kicked up a dust cloud of sand that mixed with my tears and blinded me even more effectively. I coughed as the sand entered my nose and I tried to tug on Mudsdale's reins to make her stop

Finally we came to a halt and I slid off of Mudsdale's back, coughing and spitting out sand as I gingerly rubbed my battered eyes. Once I finally cleared my eyes out I blinked and looked around, shocked to see that I seemed to have found my way into a desert.

"Can Mudsdale use teleportation?" I asked myself, turning around to look at Mudsdale only to find her gone.

"Mudsdale?" I called, spinning around and looking in every direction. Where did she go? "Mudsdale!" I called out, coughing as a stray gust of wind sprayed sand into my face. 

Trying not to panic I reached for my belt to call out Piplup when something wet and thick smacked into my back, propelling me forward as I landed on my knees. Scrambling through the shifting sand I stood back up and turned to see two black eyes peering at me from the sand.

"Piplup!" I called while throwing my Pokeball, but to my surprise, the pokemon that appeared in front of me was Eevee, not Piplup.

"Evoy?" 

Eevee looked around her curiously and I shook my head, looking down to see that I had indeed picked the wrong Pokeball. But before I could take off Piplup's from my belt, small mounds of sand began wiggling nearby. Eevee looked up from her exploration of the sand and my eyes widened as a dozen sandile popped up from the sand and looked down at Eevee and me with their beady black eyes.

My hand went to my hip slowly, hoping to appear non-threatening. It didn't work though because as one the sandiles stomped their little feet back and forth on the sand and the sand underneath me and Eevee began swirling underneath us. My feet disappeared into the swirling sand and before I could even blink the sand had swallowed me all the way up to my hips, covering the rest of my pokeballs.

"Eevee!" I cried out, looking over at her where she was desperately trying to swim through the shifting sand. "Eevee, hold on!" I yelled, fear ripping through me as I tried desperately to move through the swirling sand. 

Eevee looked over at me with fear evident in her little face and my heart broke as I reached out desperately towards her. The sandiles continued to beat their little feet to keep the Sand Tomb going and I yelled in frustration as I stretched my fingers to reach Eevee. Helplessly I watched Eevee's little body slip under the sand completely.

"NO!" I screamed, twisting and pulling desperately as the sand continued to suck me down. "EEVEE!" I yelled desperately. I could hear the sandiles making noises that sounded like triumphant cheers and I glared up at them furiously.

A light flickered in the corner of my eye and I turned away from the sandiles. In the very center of the swirling Sand tomb a light was shining up through the sand, making it shimmer a beautiful gold color. The sand dragged on my body, pulling me down to my armpits, but I kept my eyes trained on the light as a thin, willowy paw broke the surface of the swirling sand. My mouth dropped open as a pokemon emerged, walking out of the sand as easily as if it was air, and then standing on top of the Sand Tomb as the glow around it finally dissipated.

I stared in amazement at the pokemon in front of me. Her body was the same color as Eevee's light brown fur, but her hips and back legs had slightly thicker fur that was a deep red coloring and the same thick fur flowed down from her neck to her shoulders and down her chest. On each of her forelegs a band of gold circled a few inches above her paws. There was a large gold jewel in the middle of her red fur under her neck that made it look like a permanent necklace, and growing out of her forehead was a small golden crown. The pokemon's eyes were gorgeous. They were mainly a deep gold color with light blue irises and as she blinked it looked like her eyelids were actually a pale blue color. 

Yet the most entrancing thing about her was her tail and ears. They seemed to be made out of ever-moving ribbons of sand, with a purple sheen of light traveling from the base of the ribbon out to the end before disappearing into the air and coming up from the base again. As I stared at the pokemon she looked over at me and let out the mewing sound that I had come to know and love from my Eevee.

"Eevee..?" I asked in disbelief. 

The pokemon smiled before tapping her front foot onto the swirling sand beneath her and suddenly the swirling stopped. The sandiles began to back away from the edge of the sand trap they had created and the pokemon's gold and blue eyes flashed towards them angrily.

"Mira!" she called and suddenly the sand ribbons attached where her tail and ears should be lengthened and made a whipping action, flinging streams of shimmering sand in every direction. The shimmering sand smacked into all of the sandiles and propelled them out of my line of sight.

The pokemon that I was fairly certain was my Eevee raced up the sand trap, moving through the sand like it was as solid as rock, and she also disappeared over the lip of the giant hole I was stuck in. I could hear the sounds of a fight and I desperately began to dig into the sand that had swallowed my body. Every time I scooped out a handful though, some more would slide in to replace it. 

My frustration was mounting to the breaking point when a sound caught my attention. Slowly I laid my arms flat against the sand, trying to breathe as the sand crushed my ribs and tears sprang to my eyes as the sound of my name reached my ears.

"Paul!" I yelled, hoping that he could hear me. 

A few seconds later Paul emerged at the top of the sand trap, nearly falling in as he came to a sliding halt at the edge of the large, slanted hole.

"Dawn!" Paul called, his voice sounded both relieved and terrified and I smiled shakily at him.

"Hi," I said, lifting one hand in an awkward greeting as he looked down where I was nearly buried alive.

"What happened?" he asked, sitting down on the lip of the sand trap and slowly sliding down to where I was.

"Apparently sandiles don't like me much," I muttered, craning my neck to look where I hoped my evolved Eevee had gone.

"I thought you were good at making friends," Paul grunted as he slid to a stop next to me and began inspecting my predicament.

"Apparently not," I said quietly and when he met my eyes I was surprised to see guilt reflected in them.

"Dawn..."

"Miiira." 

Soft as silk fur rubbed against the back of my head and I sighed in relief as Eevee rubbed her face against my cheek.

"What is that?" Paul asked with obvious shock.

I tried to shrug my shoulders, but sand began tumbling down around my chest even more so I stopped moving.

"I think it's Eevee," I answered as I met her beautiful eyes.

"What? Impossible," Paul muttered, bringing out his Pokedex and scanning the pokemon.

After a second of scanning the Pokedex flashed and I heard it saying in its robotic voice, "Mirageon, the illusion pokemon. Mirageon is one of the rarest of the eeveelution lines. This playful and mysterious pokemon can melt into a sandstorm and create images that can confuse or delight both people and pokemon."

"You really are Eevee!" I exclaimed with relief and Mirageon spun around, showing off her new self.

"It says here that the only way an eevee can evolve into a mirageon is if it has a playful nature and evolves while underground," Paul said with amazement.

 I slowly reached out and touched the crown-like growth on Mirageon's forehead, amazed when it felt as hard as stone.

"I am so sorry you had to go through something like that to evolve, Mirageon," I whispered and she licked the palm of my hand and mewed at me.

"We can look more into this later. We need to get you out of here before the sandiles come back," Paul said, placing his Pokedex back into his pocket and carefully walking around behind me. "Mirageon, try to dig her out from the front and I'll dig over here."

"Geon," Mirageon said in agreement.

She came to stand in front of me and then delicately began parting the sand around me. I watched her work in amazement. As she scooped a pawful of dirt out of the way one of the sand ribbons on the side of her head elongated and hardened, creating a wall and stopping the sand from tumbling back down onto me. After what felt like forever Paul and Mirageon had excavated me down to my waist and I could finally breathe normally.

"Okay, I'm going to try and pull you out," Paul said from behind me, his breath tickling the back of my ear. Shivers went down my spine as he reached one arm around my waist and looped his other arm under my shoulder. "Ready?" he asked, his cheek pressed against the side of my head.

I just nodded, not trusting myself to speak. His arm tightened around my waist and he pulled. I felt my body slide a little bit out of the sand but as I moved the sand seemed to tumble around my moving legs and trap me once again before more than the top of my hips had cleared the sand.

"Mirageon, you dig while I pull," Paul instructed and Mirageon instantly began digging around me in a tight circle. 

Paul once again tightened his grip and pulled. Inch by inch my lower body slowly emerged from the gritty sand pit. Once my knees were free Paul helped me sit and all three of us dug until my feet (now both shoeless and sockless) popped out of the sand. I rubbed my legs that had gone numb and I noticed that my hands were trembling.

"Are you hurt?" Paul asked, his voice gentle and I shook my head.

"My legs are numb, but I'm fine," I replied, looking up to meet his eyes that seemed to be filled with honest concern. Instead of feeling happy though the look sparked my dormant anger and I turned away from him. "Why did you come after me?" I asked, surprised at the bitterness in my voice. 

From the corner of my eye I could see Paul stiffen as he rubbed his hands together to get the sand off as best he could.

"I didn't mean to make you cry," he muttered softly and a bitter laugh escaped me before I could stop it.

"Why did you even let me travel with you if you hated it so much?" I asked angrily, trying to push away my hurt and pain as I glared over at him. 

He raised his amethyst eyes to meet mine and my anger once again gave way to feelings of sadness and inadequacy as he silently looked at me.

"Forget it," I choked out, trying to shut off the overflowing feelings that were welling up inside me every time I looked at Paul. "You made it clear you don't want me around. So, thank you for getting me out of this but I won't bother you anymore," I said, rising shakily to my feet. 

Paul stayed where he was, looking at the ground.

"C'mon, Mirageon," I said, grimacing as I swallowed with difficulty and turned away from Paul for the second time today. 

Everything inside me screamed to turn back around, but I stubbornly walked forward on my throbbing legs. There was no point staying with Paul if he thought I was a burden. Suddenly a wall of sand swirled in front of me, surprising a squeak of fright from me and I backpedaled quickly, losing my balance and falling on my back in the sand.

"Are you okay?" 

Opening my eyes I saw Paul kneeling over me, looking at me with a mixture of worry and sadness. I nodded and scrambled into a sitting position, looking all around for what had caused the sand storm. My mouth turned down in a frown as I looked around and saw that the sandstorm was blowing in a circle around the middle of the sand trap, blocking off our escape.

"Where's Mirageon?" I asked, turning around and starting to panic when she was nowhere to be seen.

"Miiirraaa," a ghostly voice seemed to whisper from the wall of sand in front of me. 

Blinking rapidly I looked at the sand and to my shock, the brown sand shifted and suddenly I was looking at an image of myself shaking Paul awake.

"What...?" I breathed out, turning away and seeing that the image was the same every way I looked.

"Paul!" 

I jumped as my voice yelled paul's name, but my voice sounded fuzzy as if there was some kind of static muffling it.

"Is Mirageon doing this?" Paul asked, making me jump again as I realized that he had walked up behind me. His eyes were narrowed as he watched himself wake up and latch onto my arms, breathing heavily.

"Mirageon, what's going on?" I called, talking over my fuzzy self as I tried to calm down Paul in the weird sand movie. 

Mirageon didn't respond though and I frowned and felt myself blush as the movie, or memory, or whatever it was, continued and Paul turned away from me. As the images continued and Paul eventually fell asleep while I rubbed his back I grimaced, feeling ridiculously embarrassed by seeing this.

"Paul, are you asleep?" my fuzzy voice asked quietly and I slapped a hand over my mouth in horror.

"Mirageon, stop! He doesn't need to see this!" I called out, running towards the image and waving my hands to try and make it go away, but as soon as I reached the picture of me sitting on the same mattress as the sleeping Paul I found myself running towards the real Paul. I stopped and blinked, looking around me in utter confusion.

"This is Mirageon's ability, Dawn. I don't think we can get out until she lets us out," Paul said quietly, not meeting my eye. 

Suddenly the desert was gone and I was sitting on my mattress back in the Pokemon Center room we had stayed in last night. Looking over I could see my mirage self looking down at Paul with a sad expression and I gulped past a ball of embarrassment as my mirage self opened her mouth.

"Hey Paul, there's something I've been wanting to say to you... but I never know how to say it." 

I buried my red face in my hands hoping with every fiber of my being that Mirageon was playing a prank on me and both the sleeping Paul on the bed in front of me, and the Paul sitting silently on the mattress next to me were mirages.

"You always say that you feel 'indebted' to me for this and that but there is no reason for you to feel that way. I'm the one who is indebted to you," my mirage self sighed fuzzily as she ran a hand through her bangs to push them to the side and out of her eyes. "I owe you for so many things. You and Torterra saved me from falling to my death. You've made persistent guys back off twice now. You helped me find the courage to try and follow my dream after I was ready to give up. You put up with my ignorance and take time to teach me things about pokemon I didn't even know I didn't know. And in your strange way, I think you've believed in me more than I believe in myself."

I didn't need to look at the lifelike mirage to know that my other self had pulled my hand away from Paul's back and swung my legs up onto the mattress to sit cross-legged beside Paul's sleeping body.

"I make you dinner every night to thank you for the lessons that you give me. And I make poffins for your pokemon because I love seeing something I make bring a smile to their face. It's completely selfish of me and there is no reason why you should feel indebted for it." 

I fanned my fingers slightly to create an opening so I could see myself reach out a hand and run it gently through Paul's hair. I remembered how soft it had felt and closed my fingers, blocking the sight as my cheeks began to heat up like crazy.

"To be honest, Paul. I feel like you've given me more than I could ever repay in a thousand years, and I feel like nothing I do measures up to what you deserve. The only thing you've asked me to do is help you be able to use Z moves and I don't really understand anything about why I can use the power and you can't. The only thing I can think of is that my pokemon and I love each other. I obviously can't teach you how to love someone, but I can try to teach you how to be a friend. So that's what I am going to do." 

I winced behind my fingers, not having realized how corny that sounded until I heard it like this. Once again I hoped that this was all an elaborate joke and the Paul sitting next to me was not actually hearing this right now.

"No matter how grumpy you act or how rude you are, I truly want to be your friend. I hope you will learn how to rely on me and let me be there for you. Because I rely on you more than I should... and I don't know what I'll do if you turn me away before I can pay you back." 

A stray tear slipped out from under my eye as my mirage self finally stopped talking.

The mattress that had felt as solid as I was suddenly melted away from under me and I squatted down. Sitting on the sandy ground and wrapping my arms around my legs as I buried my face into my knees. Several moments passed and the sound of the raging sandstorm came to a stop. I kept my face buried against my legs, absolutely mortified that the fear that I had expressed to Paul in his sleep had come true not even twelve hours later. 

Why did I let myself think that Paul would let me stay with him? Let alone be his friend?

I heard the sound of soft steps in the sand and I tightened my grip around my legs as I heard Paul sit down next to me. He was so close that I could feel his jacket sleeve brush against my shoulder and I waited, dreading what he was going to say.

"You're wrong," he said firmly and I blinked twice in disbelief. 

Slowly I rose my head up from my knees and looked over at him with narrowed eyes. Paul wasn't looking at me though, he was staring at the wall of the sand trap in front of him and I waited for him to elaborate.

"You don't owe me anything," he stated after a long pause and I snorted in an extremely unladylike way, but at this point, he had already seen me at my most embarrassing so I didn't think I could worsen his opinion of me.

"Just because you say that won't change the way I feel," I retorted bitterly and I saw his eye flick over to look at me before turning back to study the wall of sand.

"I didn't want to have anything to do with you," he said quietly and I stiffened, surprised at the pang of despair that went through me as he said that. "I tried to avoid you as much as possible because you reminded me... you remind me of my mom." 

His voice sounded hoarse as if it was physically painful to speak, and my brow furrowed in confusion. Paul cleared his throat and we sat in silence, the only sound a few distant pokemon calls.

"My mom died the day I got my first pokemon." My eyes widened in shock and I pressed a hand over my mouth, forcing myself to be silent and listen. "Mom wasn't really all there... but I loved her. The last thing I promised her before she died was that I would become the strongest champion in the world."

Paul bent one knee up and rested his elbow on it. I watched him flex his hand in and out of a fist to the rhythm he was slowly breathing as if he was trying to keep himself calm.

I wonder what he means about his mom not being 'all there'. And why is he telling me all this? I wondered silently and then jerked my eyes from his flexing hand to his face as he continued.

"After you fell off mantine and I found you crying by yourself you looked almost exactly like Mom did when she would cry. I kind of panicked and invited you to travel with me because I thought you might... try to kill yourself," he whispered and my eyes widened in shock. 

Did Paul's mom try to commit suicide? I thought, aghast and unable to process this overload of information.

"But once we started traveling together I found myself thinking less and less about my mom and more about you." 

Paul roughly ran a hand through his bangs and my heart flipped in my chest as I wondered what he meant by that.

"Last night I dreamed that Metang had gone crazy again and tried to hurt you. When I blocked his path my mom appeared and Metang hit her instead." 

Tears prickled in the back of my eyes as Paul described his dream to me, and how the mother in his dreams had accused him of forgetting his promise and how she shattered when he tried to touch her.

"Since the day my mom died, I have trained every day so that I could keep my promise to her and become the strongest trainer in the world. But when I travel with you Dawn..." He suddenly turned and met my eyes with his own. They were brimming with more frustration, pain, and confusion than I had ever seen in anyone, let alone Paul. "There are times when I don't even think about how to get stronger because I am thinking about what to teach you next or how to help you get stronger. That... scared me. So I yelled at you. I wanted you to leave me so I wouldn't be distracted from keeping my promise to Mom."

My shoulders slumped as the weight of Paul's situation sank in. I couldn't even imagine the confusion he must have been feeling as he experienced wanting to help someone as pathetic as me to get stronger. He had thought about it so much that he actually felt distracted from his goal. 

But is it really healthy for him to keep himself isolated from everyone around him just so he can obsessively fulfill his mom's dying wish?

"So... what do we do now?" I asked, trying to prepare myself for him to tell me I should leave him alone. 

Paul slowly turned away from me and stared up at the blue sky.

"I don't think you'd survive Alola if I left you alone," he said with complete seriousness and I felt my cheeks flush.

"Okay, just so you know, five out of the last seven years I have traveled by myself through regions I had never been to and I am still alive," I pointed out indignantly. Paul glanced over at me with a serious expression and nodded.

"I see. I don't blame you for not wanting to come with me anymore," he said quietly.

My eyes widened and I shifted to my knees then leaned closer to him, shaking my head.

"That is NOT what I said! Of course I still want to go with you!" I exclaimed. Paul blinked, leaning away from me slightly and I sank back down onto my knees. "I just didn't want you thinking I was completely helpless," I mumbled dejectedly.

A puff of air that might have been the beginning of a laugh or a scoff escaped through Paul's nose, but he turned away from me so I couldn't see if he was smiling or scowling.

"Are you sure you want us to travel together still?" I asked hesitantly and he turned back to me, hesitation written all over his face.

"I don't know, Dawn," he admitted with a sigh. "Aren't you upset with me for helping you because you reminded me of my mom?" 

I blinked twice in bewilderment and shook my head. "No. Why would that upset me? I actually think it's really sweet," I said with a smile and he frowned at me.

"I am not sweet," he grumbled and I slowly smiled at him.

"You are a lot sweeter than you realize, Paul," I stated and then bit my lip nervously. "But Paul... I do have something I want to ask you."

"What is it?" he asked, his tone slightly suspicious and I rubbed my arm awkwardly.

"If you don't want to talk about it then just tell me and I'll shut up," I prefaced quickly and he quirked an eyebrow at me but didn't say anything so I went on. "I understand that you want to get strong because of your promise to your mom... but do you really think she would have wanted you to train alone for all of these years?" 

Paul blinked once. I wondered if I had caught him off-guard with the question, but after a second he shrugged and turned away from me.

"It was my idea to train alone. Once I'm a champion I am going to be busy taking care of the region and battling people all over the place. It'd be better for me not to have any attachments so I don't leave anyone behind," he said flatly. 

I frowned and brought my knees up to my chest again. "So you would prefer that we don't travel together?" I asked sadly.

He glanced over at me, catching my eye and his expression seemed conflicted. We stared at each other without saying anything for several seconds before he sighed and turned so that he was facing me head-on.

"It would be easier for me if we didn't travel together," Paul said honestly and once again my heart clenched painfully. I opened my mouth but he shook his head and held up a hand. "Just let me finish." 

I closed my mouth abruptly and leaned my chin against the top of my knees. Paul sighed and met my eyes once more with his deep amethyst colored ones.

"It would be easier...but I think that you really could teach me about becoming friends with my pokemon." I felt warmth spread from my toes up into my ears at the compliment and I shifted so I was sitting cross-legged, and watched him intently as he continued to speak. "If you still want to travel with me then I want you to stay with me. At least until we complete the island challenge." 

I tried to remain calm and composed on the outside while my heart was racing at a hundred miles a minute. Paul wants me to stay with him! I thought exuberantly before calming myself mentally. I met his eyes and cleared my throat.

"I didn't mean for you to hear... any... of what you did," I said, embarrassed, and to my surprise Paul actually looked away from me for a second before meeting my gaze again. "But you know that I want to stay with you as long as I can. And I promise I will do anything that I can to help you fulfill your goal of becoming a Pokemon Champion. If you ever feel like I am being a burden or distracting you from your training just let me know and I will back off," I said fiercely. 

To my shock Paul chuckled and then SMILED at me!

A real smile! The kind that friends give each other! My insides cringed slightly as I thought the word "friend" and I had to duck my head down as my cheeks heated up. Don't be an idiot, Dawn. If Paul knew that I had THOSE kinds of feelings for him he would probably send me packing.

"Mira!" 

Suddenly a weight landed on my back, pushing me forward and almost causing me to whack my cheek against Paul's knee. He reached out and caught my shoulders, steadying me as Mirageon hopped off my back and wound herself between Paul and me.

"Mirageon, in the future please ask me before you show off private moments like that, okay?" I told her, feeling both embarrassed and secretly pleased. 

Mirageon walked up to me and gave me a radiant smile, mischief twinkling in her gold eyes. I stroked her head and the thick red fur on her neck.

"We should probably get out of the desert, we're technically not supposed to be here until after we pass our next trial," Paul said while standing up. 

I smiled up at him and offered him my hand, trying not to grin like a lovesick girl as he took it and helped pull me to my feet.

A/N Wow, I am really sorry this chapter was so long. There was just no good spot to stop! What do you all think of Mirageon? If any of you are actually into the pokemon games I created a unique Eeveelution stat spread for her which is: HP 95, Attack 60, Special Attack 130, Defense 65, Special Defense 65, Speed 110. So basically she is a super speedy special attacker. I created a move specific to her which is called Sand Ribbon (original, I know :S) which is a special ground type attack with base 90 power and it's an arena move. She also has a signature ability "Mirage" where Mirageon can completely disappear in a sandstorm and create images that confuse its opponent (as you saw in this chapter). Thanks again to Elliee for the amazing idea and I hope you all are enjoying the story!