To be honest, I don't really care that this chapter is overdue. I'm too happy to be worried about stuff like this! But I ACTUALLY HAVE A REASON AS TO WHY I WAS ABSENT! My basketball team entered the nationals, and we're in the FINALS OMG THIS IS SO COOL. So I've been training, and having many matches to get us into the finals and stuff. And my schedule is packed! If you don't believe me, ask Misty Ketchum97 (sorry to pull you into this, Mist! ^-^')

Last time, Ursula was there… She won't be there for the whole chapter, so Dawn and Paul will be rid of her soon. Paul won't be battling Whitney JUUUST yet, though! ^^

Replies to reviews:

CuteFoxSage: Awwww thanks! I thought it was a shit chapter, but meh. ^^;

Misty Ketchum97: Yeah… But I abandoned that… I'm going to do it at a later date, because I was too busy. Also, that one shot would have taken a REALLY long time! D:

Pikachaaaa: Yeah, I sometimes don't know why people portray Brianna as a villain-y bitch (even though I did in HSH), because she's actually really nice to May! ^-^ Ursula is a total meanie, though, so I can see why. XD

MissShane12: Really? :D You fell of your bed? Awww it wasn't that funny, but thanks!

Supermon: DON'T WORRY! PAUL DOESN'T RELEASE MURKROW! No… I have plans for that Pokemon… ;) *rubs hands together evilly*

jayfeather12345: Yes, I wish Ursula was put in her place in every story! She's so RUDE! Paul and Dawn are slowly both getting used to each other… MANY THINGS WILL HAPPEN. :D

Guest: It's true that Ursula and Paul dated, I thought it was would add more tension between Dawn and Paul. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter, though! And Merry belated Christmas to you, too! =)

improvise me: Thanks.

MelodyOfSecrets: Ursula was okay-ish for me when I first saw/heard about her in the anime. At first, I thought she was really boring, but even if she wasn't particularly nice to Dawn, she was cooler than most of the rivals. I also liked her choice of Pokemon.

Guest: Awww thanks so much! :DDDD

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.

Chapter 19: Bill

Dawn's POV

"Why are we here?!" Paul growled, staring at the menu with disgust. I nodded in agreement, not surprised that they only sold salad and water… I wasn't as hungry as Paul, but I still wanted something to stop my stomach moaning so violently. Ursula seemed at ease, though, and put her menu down – she knew what she was going to have already. "Seriously," Paul seethed, "let's go somewhere else." He glared at Ursula again.

Ursula just smiled sweetly, winking at him. "I'm not just looking out for myself, I'm looking out for you too, Paulie! I want you to stay fit!" she explained to him, leaning forward in her chair.

When she talked, I tried to ignore her as much as possible. I kept looking around the restaurant, watching people digging in to leaves. They were enjoying it, too, and the chefs looked to be at ease. Music was playing over the speakers, but the calm music just annoyed me. The furniture was classy, but it looked to small… Like everyone's stomachs here.

"Also, Dawn needs to get in shape, too," Ursula added. I immediately looked down, my shoulders drooping. I'm not fat, am I? Tears pricked at my eyes as she laughed. Suddenly, Paul's chair fell on the floor as he suddenly stood up.

"Don't you dare say that to her," he threatened her, venom in his onyx orbs. "She may be bigger than you, but I'd rather be with someone like her, than a sickly stick like you." Before Ursula could say anything, Paul grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the restaurant. I watched as Ursula glared daggers at me after her shocked face was recovered. It wasn't like her to be rejected and shouted at by a guy before, especially someone who she had gone on a date with. They'd usually be the ones who were begging on their knees for her to come back to them. For once, though, Ursula would learn something and stop going after my future boyfriend!

I couldn't help blushing crimson red as I remembered that he would like to be with someone like me. Me! Of all people! I sighed dreamily, staring at him as he held my hand. Paul suddenly stopped pulling as we got out of the mall. "Are you okay?" he demanded. I was surprised, that he would even consider how I felt.

"I'm fine," I assured him. "…Thanks…" I then mumbled, staring at my shoes.

"Don't worry, Dawn," he told me, making me jump. He didn't call me Troublesome. "No one's gonna hurt you like that again, okay?" he promised. My eyes widened and I looked away, avoiding his gaze so he wouldn't see how red I was. His stomach rumbled again, and Paul groaned. "We need something to do so I can take my mind off of this, okay?" I nodded, deep in thought.

"Oh!" I exclaimed, turning to him. "My mom said that if we should ever go to Goldenrod, we should visit this man named Bill… And… Bill is my godfather." I smiled, remembering memories of him coming to see us in Twinleaf Town. "He was my dad's best friend, even though he lived extremely far away from us."

Paul did a double take. "Bill? As in the genius Bill who is the reason why we've evolved so well?! He's invented so much… You're joking, aren't you?"

"I'm not!" I protested. "I'm telling you the complete truth! I'll show you, in fact." I set off down the sidewalk, determined for Paul to believe me. "My family and I visited Johto once before," I told him.

"Oh, yeah. I remember that. I was so bored that summer vacation…" Paul mumbled, a frown coming back to his face. "No one would play with me, other than Barry – but even he went to visit Kanto in the end."

"Yes, well, my mom and I went to stay with Bill for a while. I know where his house is…" I marched on, nodding to myself. I would not get myself lost. I had a point to prove, so I couldn't do something stupid like that! "It's just around the corner…" We walked around the corner, ducking past people as we passed houses upon houses. Finally, right at the end, we were met with a snug little house. "Bill is originally from Kanto, but he comes here a lot," I explained, just as I was about to get to his door.

My heart pounded in my chest as I raised my fist to knock on the door. Would Bill recognize me? It had been quite a few years since we've last seen each other…

Many doubts fizzed through my brain, worrying me too much. Paul raised an eyebrow at me when he saw me stopping – contemplating. Sighing, I decided to take a chance. I rapped on the door, standing tall and straight.

I heard the faint noises of someone padding over. Then, we heard the sound of a key turning in the lock. The door opened slowly. I was face-to-face with my godfather, Bill!

He had aged a lot since the last time I had saw him, but then again, I have as well. His brown hair looked messy, as if he'd fallen asleep and moved around while he slept. Bill definitely looked shorter the last time I had seen him, but I decided that it was because I had grown taller. I was an inch taller than him (though he was nowhere near Paul's height). He was wearing a pale blue shirt, with brown chinos. A wrinkled lab coat was wrapped around him.

"Uncle Bill…?" I asked meekly, glancing at him.

He stared at me for a few moments, before smiling in recognition. "Dawn?" I nodded eagerly. His face lit up, as he pulled me into a hug. I smiled, patting his back. "Dawn! I haven't seen you in years! How are you?! How's Johanna? Is she holding up by herself? She called me on the phone a month ago, telling me that you'd gone on a journey to the Johto region! I was ecstatic, and made sure to be in my house as much as possible! I really wanted you to visit me." He stopped babbling for a moment, staring at Paul. "Who is this young man…? Your boyfriend?"

My face grew hot, and I shook my head quickly. "N-no! This is Paul Shinji." Paul nodded his head as a greeting.

"Paul? Ah… I remember meeting you at Dawn's sixth birthday! You're her best friend, are you not?" Bill asked. "And I'm glad you're not her boyfriend… She's too young."

"Uncle Bill!" I whined, rolling my eyes. "You're starting to sound like Mom!" That wasn't a compliment. Ignoring the dig I had made at him, Bill simply chuckled. "But yes. Paul was, and will always be, my best friend. He moved away when we were eleven, so I hadn't seen him for five years! All until he saved my life a month ago just outside of New Bark Town!"

Bill's eyes boggled. "YOU FELL OFF A CLIFF-?!"

"Why are you and Mom so alike?!" I groaned, interrupting, remembering that she had a similar reaction.

Bill chuckled. "Why don't you both come in? I'll put some lunch on, while you tell me what happened. Everything." He ushered us inside, and I was happy to come inside. Standing on the doorstep felt awkward, and both Paul and I couldn't stand any longer.

I stared at his house, letting memories flood into me. I remember stubbing my toe on is table, which caused me incredible pain – my parents and Bill had just laughed, though… I was a pretty big drama queen, though, so I wasn't surprised when they ignored my whimpering. I giggled at a picture of me when I was six, a pink tiara on my head. "You still have this?" I asked, picking it up fondly.

"Of course," Bill called from the kitchen.

Paul and I soon smelt the food being heated in the microwave, and we followed the aroma. I was starving. We sat down at the little table, waiting for the food to be ready. "Start from the beginning," Bill ordered as he moved a book from the floor to the counter.

I took a deep breath, before confessing everything – what had happened after Paul had saved me. I even told him the plans we had. Paul was going to battle Whitney soon, and I desperately wanted to enter into another Contest. I missed out the bits between Paul and me… I didn't tell Bill about the many incidents where I felt electricity between us, nor did I even give him a hint that I was in love with Paul. He didn't need to know.

I sighed when Bill placed a steaming bowl of pasta in front of us. My stomach growled again weakly. I needed to shove that food in my mouth (how unattractive that'll look) before I starved! Blowing on a spoonful, I took a bite, smiling. Paul was eating pretty fast as well.

"So tell me about work!" I said through blowing. Bill was a scientist, and was the reason why we work so easily with Pokemon nowadays. The whole world owed this guy a lot, and I always felt interested when hearing about what he was doing.

"Oh, it's pretty boring," he told me, trying to act modest. I could tell that he was dying to brag about how smart he was, or how the work was going brilliantly. "I'm only working with this thing called…" He stopped himself. "Oh, you wouldn't want to know – science is pretty boring, right?" I rolled my eyes, but he gave me a knowing look. Okay, so maybe I always thought science sucked from school, but Bill made it interesting! I wished he was my Science teacher instead of Mr. Sanderson…

"No! I want to know!" I demanded, grinning. Even Paul nodded in agreement. He was always so good at that subject, though, so it didn't surprise me.

"Well, there is a new region quite far away from us, called the Kalos region," he explained. "In that region, they have a new gadget called a Holo Caster!" I stared at him blankly. "Y'know… Like an Xtransiever?" I shook my head. "That gadget from Unova? It lets you make calls? You can speak to up to four people at the same time…?" Shrugging, I glanced at Paul for help. I frowned at him when I caught him smirking at my ignorance.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I confessed, ignoring Paul's chuckles.

"A Holo Caster is a useful thing. The word 'holo' is short for hologram. The Holo Caster lets you send a hologram – which is like a short video – to a person you have exchanged numbers with. It's quite handy, if the person can't be called. And it's a lot more efficient than a text! It's very popular in the Kalos region."

"Then what are you doing with it in the Johto region?" Paul questioned, his brow furrowing in thought.

Bill grinned, getting excited. "With the help of two very smart and accomplished people – Augustine Sycamore and Lysandre Fleur-de-lis – we are going to develop it. Also, bringing this new device into the other regions should be very useful!" He stood up suddenly, taking away our empty bowls. "It's a lot harder explaining it to you… I'm going to show you instead!"

With that, Bill marched out of the kitchen, his head held high. Glancing at each other, Paul and I shrugged (he had his frown back) and trailed after him.

We watched as he opened a door at the end of the hallway – that was the entrance to his lab. I only faintly remembered visiting his lab. I wasn't allowed to be in the lab for too long, because there was always glasses and beakers filled with chemicals. Bill nodded to himself as he made his way down the stairs (the lab was in the basement). I looked back at Paul, wondering silently if he was interested into my godfather's work.

"WHAT?!" I heard Bill yelp. Turning in front in alarm, I ran down the stairs.

"What is it- oh my gosh…" I whispered, my eyes widening in shock.

The lab was a mess! Broken glass, numerous books littered the floor, making it hard to see the cold tiles. All of Bill's papers were torn apart, leaving the information in shreds. Liquids were spilt all over the table, and parts of a machine were lying on the desk. Cogs, springs, nuts and bolts were hanging off the shelf as well.

"Someone has broken in…" Bill murmured. He stepped over broken glass, before looking in a drawer. "And they've stolen important information…" he added, making me gasp. He moved to a safe, rotating the dial. He looked like he was going to burst into tears when I peeked at his face.

"No!" he shouted.

"What is it?" I asked.

"…They've stolen the Holo Caster…"

CLIFFHANGER! Some random person has sabotaged Bill's research! What will Dawn and Paul do? :O

On another note…

…

OMG I AM SO SORRY FOR THE LATE CHAPTER! Three months late, huh? Hehehe… SORRY! School has been a hassle, with basketball, and other stuff. Also, I'm having a very stressful day! Most of my friends know what I'm going through, and want me to stop working, but I just had to update this for you guys! I'm emotionally and physically exhausted, but I forced a chapter out for you!

I'm really sorry for the crappy chapter… I need to get back into my writing. DX Hopefully, it won't take as long to write the next chapter… And I'm really sorry that it's so short! I'm just happy that you have stayed by me, reviewing every chapter! This means a lot, guys. :D I owe you a lot. :3

Please: review, review and review! ^-^