Dawn's POV

Three months have gone by and Paul is still here. I enjoy his company and I can tell that he enjoy's mine. We've grown closer to each other and he keeps my mind off my mother. Most of the time. Sometimes, I still wake up screaming for my mom to run.

I was sitting up in the tree again and looking out at my surroundings. There was the blue sky with few clouds, trees surrounded by more trees, a field filled with flowers, and many pokemon playing around. It was a nice day.

I pricked my ears up as I heard my name being called. I looked down and saw Paul calling me. I jumped down, landing softly, and went up to him.

"I finished taking inventory on the berries. We need a few more Sitrus," He said.

I nodded. "Let's go get those and after that we can spar."

We both set off to the Sitrus berry tree. We carried a few branches back with us and stopped in the field to spar with each other. We hid the berries in a bush and started.

Time Skip After Training~

I breathed out a heavy sigh and collapsed on the floor. Our training ended with a tie and that was okay by me. I looked at him and saw the quick rising and falling of his body that was on the floor as well. He turned around and looked at me in the eye.

"You've gotten stronger," Paul smirked.

"You too. You almost got me with that Toxic attack. Your speed has increased dramatically since the last time that we battled," I complimented.

I slowly stood up and helped him up with my side. He used it to push himself of the ground.

"Thanks."

We grabbed our branches of Sitrus berries and walked back to the hollow. We plucked the berries off of the branches and threw the branches out. We started cleaning up and getting more moss for bedding.

It started turning to dusk as I took some soiled moss out of the hollow and looked at the sky. The dusk sky looked mesmerizing. Multiple shades of orange, red, and dark blue were smeared across the sky and light orange clouds danced in the sky. Small stars we're glittered in the colors.

I sighed in content. This was peaceful and relaxing.

I looked at the sky some more until I saw something strange. Gray clouds? It looked like it was coming from the ground too. I scurried up the tree and sat on a branch that gave me a clear view of the frightening situation.

There was a forest fire. And it was a big one.

I watched in horror as the flames quickly started eating everything in it's path. I could smell the foul odor of smoke from up here already. I was frozen in place and couldn't move any of my limbs.

"Dawn! Are you up there?"

Paul's voice snapped my back into reality. I frantically jumped down the tree carelessly, not stopping to make small jumps. I jumped all the way to the bottom and crashed on the floor.

"Dawn! Why did you do that?! Are you okay?!" Paul asked.

"P-Paul!" I muttered as I tried to stand up straight. "W-We've gotta go... We've gotta go!"

I hastily fastened the dirtied hat on my head and fixed the old scarf around my neck. I grabbed Paul by the tail, turned him around, and started running.

"W-Wait! Dawn!" Paul shouted.

I kept running. I heard lots of rustling coming from behind me. I turned around to see tons of pokemon running or flying in our direction. I saw the smoke getting closer and thicker.

"Dawn! What's going on?!" Paul shouted.

"There's a forest fire! And it's a big one!" I replied.

His eyes widened and we kept running faster. We were in front of all of the pokemon and the fire was gaining on all of us fast. Some water types tried to put the fire out, but it didn't work. Ground types were trying to cover it with dirt and sand. Nothing was working. The fire just kept coming. Never stopping.

"Dawn! I'm going to go back there and try to stop the fire!" Paul shouted over the screams.

"What?! No! You'll get yourself killed if you do that!" I shouted frantically. "I don't want you to die!"

I don't want to be alone again.

"I have to! Lots of pokemon are already risking their lives over there! I have to!" He shouted back. He suddenly stopped running, making me stop as well.

The pokemon all ran around us, not wanting to stop and risk their lives.

"You have to keep going. Stay safe. I promise, I'll find you. Now promise me that you'll go!" Paul said, his voice serious.

"I can't! I can't just leave you!" I screamed. Tears were forming at the edges of my eyes.

"Promise me!" He shouted. Tears were at his eyes as well. He's just as hesitant.

I ran into him, putting my head against his neck and nuzzling him. Tears were now flowing freely from my eyes.

"I-I promise... But you have to stay safe too!" I cried.

I stepped back and looked up at him. Tears were threatening to fall from his eyes, but he blinked them away. He leaned over and licked my cheek, licking some tears off my face too.

"I will. Here," Paul said. He pulled out a silver object from his mane and put it on the ground. "Keep this with you. I'm sure it'll keep you safe."

It was a sooth bell with a pink ribbon tied to it.

"Where did you-" I started.

"It doesn't matter right now. Just go! I promise, I'll see you soon!" He nuzzled me and then ran off.

I watched as I ran towards the fire. His purple fur kept getting smaller the further he went. I tucked the bell into my scarf so that I could run with it. I turned around and sprinted off.

I was in the group of scared pokemon and running. I heard a faint scream and turned my head. An Eevee fell and was close to a burning tree. We were almost out of the forest. She tried to stand up but fell again. I noticed that no one was trying to help. I quickly ran over to her. I helped her stand up and she did a quick bow before running off again.

I was about to run off again when I heard a crack. A tree near me was covered in flames and was breaking. I turned around to run but a thick branch covered in flames fell in front of me. I backed up but more fiery branches fell. The next thing that I knew was that I was surrounded by branches that were covered in thick flames. And I didn't have any moves that could put the fire out. I was trapped.

The fire was so hot that I was panting hard. I couldn't do anything and had to wait for help. The smoke given off by the fire was so thick that I could barely see. The smoke went into my lungs and my vision went hazy. Everything was blurry and then suddenly, it all went black.

So, sorry for not updating! I've already explained why in my other books so I'm too lazy to do it now. Let's just say that you'll be seeing more of me here! Please vote and comment! Tell your fellow Ikarishipping friends about this fanfic too! Thanks again and ciao!

~Crystal

Word Count: 1283

3/18/18