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“Pip, piplup!” Dawn’s Piplup races to the other end of the outer deck, nearly tripping on his way there. “Hey!” Dawn pants out. She is crouched down, with her hands on her knees, trying to recover her breath. “Slow down, Piplup!” With a final huff, she straightens up and continues running after her Pokémon. The ship that Dawn is on has only left Sandgem Town a few hours ago. Things have moving in such a whirlwind that she still can’t believe that she is on her way to Hoenn – the land of the birth of contests. She is overwhelmed and is nervous to be traveling far from home, but also excited to see what new adventures she will embark on. When she finally catches up to the Penguin-like creature, she is surprised to see the familiar, purple-haired boy Piplup is pointing to. “Pip, lup!” “Huh? That’s Paul,” Dawn states in surprise. “Hey, Paul!” she calls out, waving her hands. Piplup waves and cries cheerfully as well. He turns around at the sound of her voice and meets her face. His eyes light up in recognition and he raises his hand slightly. “Hey.” He’s quiet for a moment while Dawn walks up to him. She grins. “Remember who I am this time?” she teases. He ignores her words. “Is Ash with you? I’d like a battle with him.” Her elated smile falls into a frown, though not by much, because he does remember her as Ash’s friend. “Oh, I’m sorry, Paul, but he went back to Kanto last month . . . though, I think he’s in Unova now.” “I see . . .” he trails off, as his eyes inspect her face, struggling to remember. You’ve got to be kidding me! Dawn scowls, feeling the annoyance bubble in her chest. He really doesn’t remember her name. She opens her mouth, ready to shout. ‘Excuse me, Sir Rudeness, it’s Dawn! D-A-W-N!’ “Dawn. The coordinator friend.” Her eyes widen in surprise, before her lips curl into a smile. “You do remember!” He says nothing, but stares at her smiling face blankly for a few moments. “See you,” he finally says, before walking away. Dawn’s smile slowly fades away, and then she sighs to herself and shakes her head knowingly, as Piplup cries in confusion. “Pip, pip?” That’s it? “No need to worry, Piplup. That’s just Paul for you.” . “ . . . and I have to show you all of the best places to eat in Petalburg!” “Only in Petalburg?” Dawn teases the girl on the screen in front of her. “What about the rest of Hoenn, May?” On the screen, she sees May smirk. “I’m going to give you a list of the best restaurants in Hoenn before I go back to Johto, silly!” She smiles back at her friend cheerfully. “I’ll hold you to it!” Dawn is about to ask May about Professor Birch, but she swears she sees a flash of purple from the corner of her eye. She turns her head from side to side, as her Piplup, who is in his usual spot in her arms, questions her. “Pip, pip?” “What’s wrong, Dawn?” She shakes her head. “I thought I saw something, but I think I might have just imagined it. No need to worry. What were you going to say?” “I was going to tell you that Drew and I talked to Professor Birch and he’s more than happy to give you one.” “Awesome!” She looks down at Piplup. “Did you hear, Piplup? We’re getting our first, new Hoenn Pokémon added to the team!” Piplup chirps back at her happily, “Pip piplup!” May goes on to explain the three Hoenn starters Pokémon to Dawn, and they chat a little more until Piplup’s stomach growls loudly, much to his embarrassment. With a laugh, Dawn decides to bid an also chuckling May goodbye and head down for dinner. The trainer’s dining area is not so shabby, though it is not too formal, either. It’s a huge, bustling auditorium where trainers partake in a buffet, sit together and dine; because of the ample space, they are able to let their Pokémon out of their Pokéballs and feed them as well. Dawn’s eyes scan through the hall to find a place to sit. Though she doesn’t mind sitting with strangers, there aren’t a lot of empty seats in the first place. She did not realize that she was on the phone with May for so long. “Piplup!” “Huh?” Dawn glances to where her Pokémon points. She smiles at him graciously. “Thanks, Piplup! I can always count on you!” She pushes the cart of her and her Pokémon’s food hurriedly to the table before someone else can take the unoccupied seat. “Hey, Paul,” she says, as she approaches his small table, where he and his Pokémon, on the ground near him, eat, “ do you mind if we sit here?” His hand, holding a dinner roll, pauses in the air. He seems mildly annoyed but shrugs anyway. “I don’t care.” He takes a bite into the bread. Dawn turns to Piplup. “Alright.” She takes out her Pokéballs and throws them into the air. “Time to eat, everyone!” A chorus of her Pokémon’s cries is heard as they’re released from their Pokéballs and cheer in happiness. She then pulls the Pokémon food from the cart and sets each bowl down in front of her Pokémon, the biggest going to her Mamoswine, of course. She then rummages through her backpack and pulls out her big container of poffins (and though it doesn’t look that big, it holds a lot more than one might think, which is why Dawn loves it so much). She puts a few poffins into each of their bowls as well. When she gets to Togekiss’s bowl, Paul’s Honchkrow comes forward to them. “Hey, Honchkrow!” Dawn smiles warmly, petting the top of his head lightly. “Would you like a poffin?” She holds a pink one out for him. He sniffs it hesitantly, but Togekiss reassures him that it is good. To Dawn’s surprise, Honchkrow has a sudden infatuated look in his eyes, and opens his mouth wide for the poffin. She giggles knowingly and feeds him, and then stands up from her crouched position, stretching as she does. She then walks over to the table so she can sit down and finally eat. “What did you do to my Honchkrow?” Dawn looks up to meet Paul’s narrowed eyes. “I fed him a poffin,” she informs him innocently, deciding to withhold that his Honchkrow has a crush on her Togekiss for now. “You don’t mind, right? They’re supposed to be good for Pokémon.” He looks displeased, and opens his mouth to say something, but she beats him to it. “Reggie would approve of them. They’re not store-bought or anything – I make my poffins myself using different types of berries. No need to worry, Paul!” she assures him. He turns his face away and grunts before answering, “Fine.” Dawn is satisfied with his answer, and quickly digs into her food. Arceus, she’s starving. “Fros, froslass?” Dawn looks up from her meal to see Paul’s Froslass in front of her. It looks like Honchkrow has spread the word. She holds back a giggle at the thought. “You want a poffin, too, Froslass?” “Froslass,” Paul warns, giving her a steady glare. “Go eat your food.” “Fros.” Her little shoulders slump, as the Pokémon turns around. “Hey,” Dawn exclaims, grabbing Froslass’s shoulder, feeling the Pokémon’s cold skin beneath her fingers, and then turning to frown at Paul. “Don’t do that. I have more than enough to go around. I made a fresh batch last night before we left Sinnoh.” She passes the open container on the table to Froslass, who takes it hesitantly from her. “Here,” she says softly. “For you and for the rest of Paul’s Pokémon, too.” “Lass?” Froslass gives her trainer a questioning stare; Paul nods curtly. After Froslass drifts away, he glares at Dawn, who resumes eating. “Please, don’t spoil my Pokémon. I’ve worked hard to get to where I want them to be, and I don’t need you to ruin it for me now.” “Now, hold on, Paul.” She puts her fork down and her eyes meet his. “There’s a difference between taking care of your Pokémon and spoiling them. I understand them you feed them regularly and all, but, sometimes, it’s good to treat them for all of the hard work they’ve done, you know?” Paul sighs. “I already told you once that I’m not like Ash. I’ll admit that I’ve learned some things from him . . . but this pampering . . . it’s just not my thing.” He looks up at her, and, for the first time ever, Dawn sees uncertainty in his eyes. She smiles softly, almost in reassurance. “You don’t have to do what Ash does. And no one said you have to pamper your Pokémon, either.” She turns around to see his Pokémon eating the poffins happily, while they also talk and play with Dawn’s Pokémon. “They work and train hard to fulfill your desire of getting stronger and stronger, and they don’t mind that you may get a little too hard on them – you can tell that they love you a lot. All they need in return is just a little love from you, too. Maybe playing with your Pokémon isn’t your thing, but a little treat now and then, a little break every once in a while, or even some words of encouragement from you . . . it would mean the world to them.” She looks back at Paul’s pensive face. “And with that, your bond with them will grow stronger. You and your team will grow stronger, as well.” It’s quiet for a moment before Paul shrugs, and then resumes eating. Dawn sighs in defeat, as it seems that her words probably haven’t gone through his thick skull, and goes back to digging into her food. “Which starter are you picking from Professor Birch?” Dawn’s eyes widen and she then sets her dinner roll down onto her plate – she’s never going to be able to finish this meal. “Aha!” she cries out triumphantly, pointing at him. “I knew I saw you! You were eavesdropping on my conversation with May!” He narrows his eyes at her. “And? You once eavesdropped on my conversation with Reggie.” A warm blush rises to her cheeks. “A-Ah! Right. I forgot about that.” She scratches the back of her head and smiles sheepishly at him. “Let’s consider it even, then.” “Whatever.” He crosses his arms over his chest. “Answer the question.” Geez, he’s so bossy. “I . . . I don’t know. They all sound great, really.” “Pathetic.” He sighs and rolls his eyes. “I should have suspected as much from someone like you.” Dawn narrows his eyes at him. “What’s that supposed to mean!?” “Exactly what I said.” His smirk is taunting, causing feelings of impatience to arise within Dawn. “Oh, yeah? What Hoenn starter would you choose?” “I didn’t get a chance to receive one, so I haven’t given much thought to it.” “Huh.” That causes Dawn’s annoyance to cease. “You know, I can ask Professor Birch to give you a Pokémon as well,” she offers, but the words surprise her. She doesn’t know where that came from – hell, she doesn’t even know if the Professor would be willing to give him a Pokémon as well, since May was the one who asked him to give Dawn one. She begins to anxiously pick at and rip apart her dinner roll as she waits for his answer. “No, thanks. I’m not interested.” His voice is curt. Dawn looks at his plate and realizes that he has finished eating. “Why?” she questions, twisting the bread further in her hands. “You can train it up to participate in the Hoenn League!” He exhales sharply in frustration, the fork in his hand dropping onto his plate with a loud clank. Dawn takes the moment to munch on the deconstructed roll. “I’ve already beaten eight gym leaders, and have fought and lost in the Ever Grande Conference.” She swallows down her food before speaking. “Oh. I forgot you travelled through Hoenn already.” She rubs the back of her neck sheepishly. “I figured you caught some of your Pokémon from other regions, but I wasn’t able to tell if any were from Hoenn.” He nods. “Hoenn was the second region I travelled through. I caught my Hariyama, Froslass, and Aron there.” He reaches into his pocket to grab his Pokéballs and recall his Pokémon. “I see. Is there a reason that you’re going back again, then?” “Hmph.” He stands up from the table, empty plate in hand. He reaches down to pick up the bowls his Pokémon ate from, stacking them one on top of the other and carrying them effortlessly, and it makes Dawn slightly envious of how easy he makes it look. “That’s none of your concern.” She feels irritation rush through her once more – Paul has a talent for stirring such feelings within her. “Well, excuse me for trying to make small talk,” she grumbles scornfully, as she crosses her arms over her chest. “There’s no need for that.” He exhales sharply. “What a troublesome girl,” he mutters to himself as he walks away from Dawn’s fuming figure. Her eyebrows shoot up to her forehead, gone from irritated to furious. “What did you call me!?” He smirks, tilting his head slightly to the left so it is angled towards her. “Hm, like I said – troublesome girl.” And then he walks away, leaving behind a fuming Dawn. . Dawn and Piplup are enraptured by the lights. Being from the small Twinleaf Town, Dawn never got to see the city lights often, until she travelled through cities with Ash and Brock. But none of those city lights compare to what she sees now – not even the gorgeous Valor Lakefront, where Dawn had participated in the Wallace Cup and Sinnoh Grand Festival. “Look at all of the lights, Piplup!” she tells her penguin companion, as they marvel from the upper deck of the cruise liner. “That’s Pokétopia! It’s where really powerful trainers go to participate in coliseum battles.” “Piplup, piplup!” Her Pokémon points to one of the skyscrapers and puffs his chest out proudly. Dawn follows where Piplup is pointing to and gasps. “There’s a Piplup on the top of that building!” She points to the other buildings with widened eyes. “Ahh, there’s a Toxicroak, Turtwig, and Chimchar, too! Oh, and look at the Bronzor Ferris wheel!” “Pokétopia has a lot of Sinnohan influence, since the head architect who designed the buildings is from Sinnoh.” A “Huh?” slips out from Dawn’s lips, before she turns to her left to see Paul standing next to her, staring at the Pokétopia Skyline intently. When did he get here? She’s not mad at him anymore, of course, but she is surprised that he is voluntarily approaching and talking to her, without her prompting him to. He moves to look at her, his onyx eyes boring into hers. It takes her a moment to realize that he has his finger outstretched towards a pink building and is talking. “See that skyscraper?” She snaps out of her trace and glances at the structure in question. “Y-Yeah, it’s a Lickilicky.” He nods as his eyes leave hers to look at the building once more. “Look at its tongue.” His finger trails the length of the slanted line. “The yellow line in its tongue is actually the transparent roof of the escalator inside the building.” Her eyes widen as she sees “Oh, wow, I didn’t even notice that!” Dawn pauses for a moment before she gathers the courage to ask him a question. “Hey, Paul, how do you know so much about this place anyway? Have you been here before?” “That’s none of your business.” Dawn huffs at him, and puts her hands on her hips. “Well, your rudeness, I’m sorry for trying to be friendly.” Oh, well. She knows she wouldn’t be able to get Paul to open up so easily, but it was worth a shot. And so they stand next to each other in silence to stare at the bright, flashing lights of the buildings of the lively city and the spotlight beams waving around in the night sky. Dawn enjoys the night breeze and, surprisingly, Paul’s company, while Paul appreciates the silence between them contently. After that, they – Paul with his hands in his pockets, and Dawn not having Piplup in her arms for once, since he was sleepy and was put back into his Pokéball – walk back to their rooms together. Dawn is surprised how pleasant Paul has been. His final battle with Ash must have changed his demeanor significantly. “Oh!” Dawn suddenly exclaims, as she stops walking. “Ash told me you were going to battle Brandon again. How did your rematch with Brandon go?” He stops walking as well, and turns to face her. “I lost.” She frowns, suddenly embarrassed to have asked him at all. “Oh . . . I’m sorry to hear that.” “I don’t need your pity. My team just wasn’t strong enough.” She is pensive for a moment, before realization hits her like a brick. “Is that why you’re going to Hoenn? To train more?” “Among other reasons,” he answers, his face impassive once more, and Dawn feels happy that he’s finally revealing some information about his plans. “Brandon is in Hoenn to work on the Battle Frontier Project. After training my team more, I’ll challenge him there.” She furrows her eyebrows. “Isn’t the Battle Frontier in the Kanto region, though?” she questions, recalling that Ash fought Brandon in Kanto. “They’re planning on moving it to the Battle Resort island area in Hoenn.” “Oh.” They don’t continue walking to their rooms. Instead, Paul just stands there in silence, lost in thought, while Dawn watches him, pondering as to what he’s thinking about. “Let’s battle,” he suggests suddenly, causing Dawn to let out a gasp. Did she just hear him correctly? “Uh, a battle!?” she sputters out. Paul is surely going to win – he is a more powerful trainer than her for sure. Paul shakes his head. “A contest battle.” She blinks. “Huh? A contest battle?” It’s nearly 1AM in the morning, and he wants to have a contest battle with her? Is she so tired that she is starting to imagine things? What business would he have in a contest battle with her, anyway? He groans and slaps a palm to his forehead – he seems to be frustrated by her response. “Forget it.” “W-Wait, no – ” Her arm stretches out, trying to reach for him, but he’s already walking away.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Dawn loves the feeling of the warm sun on her body, combined with the sand between her toes. Being from Sinnoh, she’s rarely visited any beaches. She’s only been to a handful of beaches with Ash and Brock, and once in Sandgem Town with her mother, but the low temperatures and wind breezes made it less pleasant than it should have been. But here – here, in Undella Town, where the ship has stopped for a 24-hour layover, after 6 days at sea – Dawn can enjoy the warmth to complement the beach. She woke up especially early this morning to go shopping right as the nearby stores opened, so that she could get to the beach before noon and soak up some sun with her Pokémon. She walks towards the middle of the beach barefoot, with her flip-flops in her hand and her trusty tote on her shoulder. She wishes she had bought an umbrella from one of the stores so that she can avoid getting sunburn in the sun (even though she has applied a bunch of sunscreen). Luck would have it though, that Dawn immediately sees Paul under his own big umbrella, sitting on a very large blanket, reading a book. She tries not to pay attention to the fact that he is clad only in a pair of swim trunks, but she feels her face redden anyway. Suppressing her flustered reaction, she walks over to him. He looks up when she approaches him and nods in greeting. Though it is fleeting, his eyes pass over her body – she’s wearing her brand-new green, skirted bikini today – and it makes her blush more. “Can I sit here?” She scratches the back of her head nervously. “I forgot an umbrella.” Her voice is sheepish. He shrugs, but in contrast to his mild annoyance yesterday, he seems indifferent. He moves over slightly to give her space to sit on his large beach towel. They aren’t that close to each other, but it’s enough for Dawn to be aware of their proximity. It’s not uncomfortable, but it is a little unnerving, considering she’s never been this close to Paul before – not even that morning before his battle against Ash in the Lily of the Valley Conference, when she had a real conversation with him for the first time. When she settles in comfortably, she brings out all of her Pokémon and urges Paul, who has gone back to reading, to do the same. He doesn’t answer and simply rolls her eyes at her. “Oh, come on! You have to give them a break every once in a while and let them relax . . . remember what I said last night?” He sighs, setting his book down in his lap. “Hmph. Fine. Just stop grating on my nerves with those kinds of talks. You sound like my brother and Ash.” He pulls his backpack close to him and grabs his Pokéballs to let his Pokémon out as well, causing Dawn to beam at him. His Pokémon all seem surprised to be let out of their Pokéballs, but Paul shrugs at them and waves a hand towards the water, indicating that they should go and enjoy. They cry out happily and move to mingle and play with Dawn’s Pokémon, except for Quilava, who curls up near Dawn’s feet, not wanting to go near the water. Hariyama and Froslass get along nicely with Pachirisu, Buneary, and Piplup, while Mamoswine and Torterra rest in the sand near each other. Honchkrow, of course, immediately flies to Togekiss, who serenely smiles back at him. Dawn can’t help but let out a giggle. It is amusing to see the “big boss” Pokémon become soft in front of her Togekiss. Paul raises an eyebrow at her. “What?” She grins. “I think your Honchkrow has a crush my Togekiss.” His eyes widen in shock. “What?” He grits his teeth and turns sharply to his Pokémon with hers, before looking back at Dawn. “I have a lot of training to do with him and don’t need your Togekiss to be a distraction.” He reaches into his backpack to retrieve Honchkrow’s Pokéball. This time, it is Dawn’s turn to roll her eyes at him. “Geez, relax, Paul. Don’t get so worked up over it. It’s just a crush. Buneary, too, has had a crush on Ash’s Pikachu for the longest time, and it’s never affected either of their battling. And besides, it’s just a crush. It won’t last forever.” “I don’t care. Honchkrow!” he calls out to the bird Pokémon, raising his Pokéball up in the air. “Retur – ” “My, my, well, look who it is.” Paul stops at the sound of the familiar voice, (and Honchkrow goes back to twittering at Togekiss), and Dawn, too, gasps in surprise as she looks up to see the woman with the long, silvery, blonde hair smiling down at them. “Dawn, Paul,” her lithe voice takes on a slightly teasing tone. “I’d never thought I’d find you two together here.” “Cynthia!” Dawn cries out in surprise, quickly scrambling to stand up. “It’s so good to see you!” Paul also places Honchkrow’s Pokéball on the blanket with his book and stands up to bow respectfully to her. “Hello,” he greets her simply. Cynthia shakes his hand, and then looks at Dawn’s Quilava and crouches down to pat him lovingly. “It’s good to see you both again, too, especially travelling together.” There’s a different air to Cynthia, Dawn realizes. Apart from her change of clothes, she seems more relaxed. Before Dawn can tell her that it just happened to be that they were on the same ship to Hoenn, she continues speaking. “The journey is always better with another person – you know that already, Dawn, but Paul, now that Dawn is travelling with you, you get the advantage of a battle partner who can train with you, you have a constant companion, so the journey feels less daunting and lonely, and you can take care of each other; split the chores, talk to each other, help one another out . . .” Cynthia’s face is wistful. “I travelled with a friend when I went on my Pokémon journey, too.” She then smiles at Paul. “I’m happy to see that you’ll be getting to experience all of these wonderful things, as well.” “Hm,” is all that comes out of Paul, but otherwise, he is quiet – pensive, maybe. Dawn is also lost in thought. Travelling with Paul? That would be interesting, for sure, and she can’t help but admit that she really wouldn’t mind it. “Where do you plan to go?” Cynthia asks, breaking Dawn out of her reverie. Dawn racks her brain to explain this to the Sinnoh League Champion in a way that doesn’t reveal that she and Paul aren’t really travelling together, as so not to dishearten Cynthia. “Um, well, our ship has stopped here until tomorrow, but then – ” “We’re travelling through Hoenn together.” Dawn’s eyes widen in surprise, and she turns to look at Paul. He, though, is looking straight at Cynthia, refusing to even glance at Dawn. Cynthia beams. “You’ll enjoy it a lot. It’s nothing like Sinnoh, and the weather is even hotter than it is here, but it’s a nice change of pace. You two will enjoy it for sure.” Dawn is about to whisper to Paul regarding what he just said, but Cynthia exclaims, “Oh!” making her pause. “I just remembered something. Please, come with me to my villa. I have a very important favor to ask of you both.” Dawn and Paul look at each other and nod. They call their Pokémon back into their Pokéballs, except for Piplup, who stays in Dawn’s arms, as always. Cynthia helps them pack up their things, apologizing for having them end their beach day a little early for her sake, but it is absolutely vital that they come with her to her vacation home, which is a short walk away from the beach. As they walk to her villa, Cynthia calls someone on the phone and asks him call Professor Rowan and tells him to retrieve “his sent items.” “Also tell Professor Rowan that I have Dawn Berlitz and Paul Rebolledo with me, as well, please . . . thank you, Jervis, I’ll see you soon.” . Dawn stares at the tray with two Pokéballs that Cynthia has set in front of them. She is already feeling so overwhelmed by the huge, beautiful villa Cynthia invited them to (and she’s only seen the living room), and now, Cynthia is about to ask them for a serious favor. Her eyes slowly slide over to Paul, but he appears unaffected and is simply looking at Cynthia. “As a part of Professor Rowan’s research on evolution, he entrusted me with two Eevee that he wanted me to evolve into Espeon and Umbreon, with the use of a Moon Shard and Sun Shard that he found in the Orre region.” She opens up a case that holds the two shards – and Dawn gasps in awe when she sees them glinting in the sunlight that shines through the windows. “These two types of shards have been used to evolve Eevees into those two evolutions. Professor Rowan is curious to see if these shards only help to evolve Eevee in the Orre region, assuming it has something to do with the electromagnetic fields in the region, or if it can be used anywhere. Unfortunately, though, I simply don’t have the time to raise these two little ones, and have been looking for two responsible trainers to raise and evolve them.” She grins at them. “You both happen to be responsible trainers, with different styles of training your Pokémon, which will serve to help Professor Rowan’s research even more . . . All you would need to do is occasionally check in with Professor Rowan with a call, update him on any new developments, your Eevee’s evolution, and learnset. So, would you both be willing to help us out? It will work out even better since you’re travelling with each other. Professor Rowan and I would be pleased if you could aid us.” Dawn beams and nods enthusiastically. “Of course!” Paul, too, nods. “Yes.” Cynthia smiles back at them, pleased. “Perfect. Both of you must decide amongst yourselves which Eevee you want, since one of them is a shiny Pokémon, and which evolution you each will choose.” Dawn reaches into her back pocket to pull out her Pokédex. “Let’s see,” she mutters, scrolling though the logs to find Umbreon’s entry. “Umbreon, the Moonlight Pokémon. When it is agitated, its pores secrete a poisonous sweat, which it sprays at its opponent's eyes.” Dawn then selects Espeon’s entry, which is easier to find. “Espeon, the Sun Pokémon. It uses the fine hairs that cover its body to sense air currents and predict an opponent's movement.” “I’m going to evolve mine into Espeon,” Paul announces, as he leans away from Dawn’s Pokédex. Dawn almost jolts in surprise – she didn’t realize he was that near her in the first place. “H-Huh? Wait!” Dawn’s outburst has him turning to look at her, an eyebrow raised in response. “What if I want Espeon?” To be honest, she really doesn’t know which evolution she wants. She only knows that she would like to have the shiny Eevee, though. As if Paul can read her mind, he tells her, “Let me evolve my Eevee into Espeon and you can take the shiny Eevee. I don’t care much for aesthetics, anyway.” With that option in front of her, Dawn is relieved that Paul has her work cut out for her and agrees. Cynthia chuckles and gives them each their respective Pokéballs and shards. Dawn and Paul then have their Eevee come out of their Pokéballs and Cynthia introduces them to their new trainers. She asks the two trainers to be gentle and patient with the Eevee, as they are newly hatched and are still young Pokémon. They eat dinner at Cynthia’s villa, and while they eat, Cynthia makes a cryptic remark about the Rubello Town Pokémon Contest in Hoenn, urging Paul to participate, as, if he wins, it will do him some good. Paul nods. “Yes, I received the news a while back.” “I gather that is why you’re travelling to Hoenn,” Cynthia states. “Among other reasons, yes.” “It will do you especially good to have Dawn as your companion then, as she is an experienced Pokémon coordinator.” Dawn is confused, and asks Cynthia for clarification, but Cynthia apologizes, and with a wink, tells her the information is privy only to League participants. Paul, competing in a contest? Dawn can’t even fathom the thought. When they finish eating, Cynthia drops them off to the port where their ship awaits them. Dawn and Paul thank Cynthia for everything. Cynthia warmly wishes them good luck on their journey, and tells them if they ever come back to Undella Town, they are welcome to stay at her villa. She waves them goodbye after they board the ship and begin to set sail. They, too, wave goodbye to her as well, from the upper deck, standing together, side by side. . “Did you mean it?” “What?” She purses her lips. “When you told Cynthia that we would travel through Hoenn together?” He doesn’t answer her, causing her to sigh. Guess not. “Dawn.” Her eyes widen, and hearing her name fall from Paul’s lips for the second time has Beautifly fluttering in her stomach. “I need you to teach me about contests.” “Huh?” She is taken aback by his request. “Is . . . is this about the Rubello Town Pokémon Contest that Cynthia told you about?” she asks hesitantly. He sighs, exasperated. “Will you teach me or not?” She and Piplup share a look, before they look back up at him. “Um, y-yes, sure.” He cracks a small smile, which surprises both Dawn and Piplup. “Good.” He nods. “Then our first destination will be the Dewford Gym.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

After eight long days travelling by sea from Sinnoh, they’ve finally made it to Slateport City. As she and Paul walk down the ramp and off the cruise ship, Dawn inhales the warm air of the Hoenn, feeling her eyelids close for a moment. It’s so different . . . it’s so refreshing. It’s also very hot. Dawn is grateful that she stowed away her hat and scarf in her backpack, and that she tied her hair up into a ponytail. She notices that Paul, too, has shrugged out of his jacket to reveal a teal-colored, sleeveless turtleneck underneath – but doesn’t he still feel hot in that? (Dawn is extremely hot, even in her skirt and v-neck sleeveless top, and can’t imagine how Paul must be feeling with his neck covered.) Paul stops walking and turns to Dawn. “What time is it?” he suddenly asks her. “Um.” Dawn, who has stopped short and nearly bumps into him, looks at her Pokétch. “It says 9:16PM, but that’s the Sinnohan Standard Time. What’s the time difference?” “Sinnoh is three hours ahead of Hoenn. So, it’s 6:16PM.” His gray eyes then widen in realization. What he realizes, Dawn doesn’t know. “Let’s go!” He grabs her arm, prompting a surprised cry out of her, and begins running. “Pip, lup!” her Pokémon cries out, as Dawn’s other arm curls around him tightly and hurries with Paul. She stumbles a bit, and pulls her other arm away from Paul so that she can hold onto Piplup better. “Hurry up!” “What’s . . . wrong, Paul!?” she gasps out, pushing her legs to go as fast as she can. “Where are we going?” “Dammit, we’re going to miss it!” He’s panting as well. “Run faster!” “I’m trying!” They race from the city’s port, all the way down to the large beach outside of the city. It’s harder to run in the sand, Dawn realizes, once they reach the beach area. Paul sprints ahead of her now, headed towards the shore, where a small dock is located. “Hey, wait for us!” she protests, her legs picking up speed, as Piplup complains in small chirps with her. It takes her a minute to catch up to the dock, where he now talks to a sailor. “ – yeah, but like I said, rides to Dewford Town are done for the day.” Paul runs a hand through his hair and growls. “All of the boats are gone?” “Yeah, the last boat left at 6:30.” Dawn checks her Pokétch, mentally subtracting three hours from the time displayed on the screen. “Aww, it’s 6:37 now. We just missed it,” she informs them sadly, announcing her presence, which causes both the sailor and Paul turn towards her. The sailor shrugs. “Sorry, little lady.” Paul simply lets out a small “Tch.” Dawn furrows her eyebrows. “Isn’t there any other way for us to get to Dewford Town?” she asks. “Please?” Her hands are folded, and Piplup follows suit – though he takes a more pleading approach to it with his wide eyes and pout. The tall man reaches up to scratch the back of his neck awkwardly. “Uh, well, I suppose there is one way you and your lad here can get to Dewford Town, if you’re willing to put up with Mr. Briney and his small, slow boat. He’s also really picky, but, hopefully, a young couple like you will melt his heart.” Dawn, who feels her cheeks flame, is about to open her mouth and correct him, but Paul beats her to it. “That would be great, thank you.” He bows respectfully, discretely turning his head to Dawn in the process and glaring at her sharply. “Oh, um.” Dawn knows better than to look a gift Horsea in the mouth, so she bows as well. “Thank you so much, sir!” “Why are we headed to Dewford Town first?” Dawn asks her travelling companion an hour later, as Mr. Briney sails them away to Dewford Town on the Wingull-shaped boat. Paul leans against the boat’s banister, staring impassively back at her. “I want to train by re-challenging some of the gym leaders here, and maybe participate in the Ever Grande Conference again.” There is a weird, unfamiliar gleam in his eyes that leaves Dawn curious. “Wow . . . is it even allowed to re-challenge the gym leaders if you’ve won against them already?” She is both surprised by and impressed with his determination. “Hmph, of course. It’s an unofficial, rematch with a gym leader.” “Oh,” she responds lamely. “Well, I don’t know much about official Pokémon League and Gym battles.” She’s silent for a moment before speaking once more. “Why don’t you train at the Battle Resort and fight the other Frontier Brains before Brandon? Earning your way through the symbols is supposed to be the proper way to get to him, right?” Paul raises an eyebrow at her. “For someone who doesn’t know much about the Pokémon League and its structure, you seem to be well-informed about the Battle Resort and Battle Frontier.” She simply shrugs at him in response. “But I haven’t decided, yet. We’ll see.” “Gull, gull!” The little Wingull lands onto Paul’s shoulder. Peeko is fond of Paul for some reason – this, along with Peeko’s love for Dawn’s poffins convinced Mr. Briney to let the two ride on his boat to Dewford Town in the first place. Dawn giggles, pointing at the Pokémon in question. “I think Peeko likes you, Paul.” He rolls his eyes and then turns his head away from her, now staring into the Hoenn waters, but doesn’t wave Peeko off his shoulder. Dawn takes the opportunity to mimic Paul’s actions and turn to the sea. She closes her eyes as the wind wafts around her hair. . “Metagross, Bullet Punch!” Dawn turns towards the direction of the hoarse voice and sees that a huge crowd has formed around what appears to be two blue-haired boys who are battling. As she rises on the tips of her toes to get a better look, a loud boom resonates in the air, causing the ground to quake. Dawn lets out a small gasp as she tries to gain her balance, while Piplup wails, afraid of falling out of his trainer’s arms. “Paul.” She moves to turn to her travelling companion, suddenly eager to watch how the battle unfolds. “Do you want to check out – ” But he’s not next to her. “Hey! Paul?! Where did you go?” Her eyes scan the clearing to no avail, and then to the crowd, and sure enough, her eyes catch the lilac mop of hair among the other onlookers. “Paul!” Her eye twitches, as she spots him looking at the battle with interest. “Ugh!” She stomps over to where he stands, pushing and grumpily excusing herself through the crowd, while trying to make sure her starter Pokémon doesn’t get crushed as she tries to squeeze her way through. When she reaches him, she grabs his shoulder and roughly pulls him to her. “You,” she snarls, feeling fire burn in her eyes, “left us behind without a single word! How could you do something like that? You think you – ” He is startled, but roughly pushes her hand off of him. “Shut up,” he hisses, “and watch the battle. You’re the one who wanted to ask me if I want to watch it.” That makes Dawn blink in confusion, her anger not entirely forgotten but starting to dispel away. “You heard what I wanted to ask you? But you were gone. I mean, you had already walked over to here by then and . . .” she trails off, realizing that Paul’s attention is now occupied, his eyes trained on the taller man, donned in a suit, which has an interesting looking pin attached to it. Typical Paul. Dawn sighs, and realizes that she is simply wasting her time, so, she, too, focuses on the battle before her. A Hariyama, who seems to have taken a lot of damage, and a Metagross are engaged in combat. Dawn has never seen a Metagross with a silver and yellow coloring before, and though she is tempted to take out her Pokédex, she decides against it. “You may be riding high on the tide,” the shorter boy, with the darker blue hair says, “but it’s time for your wave to crash! Hariyama, it’s time to unleash your Revenge!” Hariyama lurches forward to attack the opposing Pokémon – of course, it’s a little slow, because of its heavy weight, but it seems to emit an immense amount of power by the way its body glows yellow. “Counter with Zen Headbutt!” The opponent is pointing towards the battlefield, and the glint of rings catches Dawn’s eyes. The two Pokémon clash forward, both equal in the physical power of their respective moves. Their collide causes a bright flash, and the impact is strong enough to cover the field in dust clouds. All is silent for a moment until the dust clears, and only one silhouette can be seen standing. “Metagross!” the man with the rings cries out. Hariyama still stands, though breathes heavily, as it has taken a lot of damage from the Zen Headbutt, since it is extremely weak to Psychic-type moves. Revenge is a move Dawn learned from Conway, back in the Hearthome City Tag Battle Competition. It is a more effective and efficient version of Bide that will inflict double the damage taken by the user; so, it’s no surprise to see Metagross collapse. The referee waves a hand at the collapsed Pokémon. “Metagross is unable to ba – Huh?” But, unlike Dawn thought, Metagross doesn’t faint. After it twitches a few times, it steadily picks itself back up, regains composure, and turns to nod encouragingly at his trainer. “W-What!?” The shorter boy with the board shorts is taken aback. “My Hariyama’s Revenge should have been enough to wipe out Metagross!” The taller man grins. “You underestimate the power of my Pokémon, my friend. Now, Metagross, use Hammer arm!”                                   “Low Kick!” The Metagross attacks the other Pokémon, and though it cannot doge Hariyama’s kick, it does not appear to have taken much damage. Dawn is taken aback by how the heavy Pokémon was able to avoid taking damage from an attack that specifically targeted its weight. Before she can comment on it, Paul, standing next to her, informs her, “It’s Metagross’s hidden ability, Light Metal. It halves the Pokémon’s weight and can especially be useful when being attacked with moves such as Low Kick.” He looks on pensively. “Wow!” She leans forward. “Who are these people anyway?” “So strong,” Paul murmurs to himself, his eyes on the tall individual with the rings. “Of course, they’re strong,” a voice speaks up from Dawn’s left. She and Paul turn to face the stranger, an orange-hair boy in traditional clothing. (Is that . . . a giant sandwich in his hand?) “They’re Brawly and Steven Stone! Not a lot of people know this, but they’ve been best friends for a long time!” The onlooker is haughty, and appears to be taking pride in himself for knowing information about the two trainers that others may not know. Dawn’s eyebrows knit together in confusion. “Who is Brawly?” Without turning to her, Paul simply responds, “Brawly is the gym leader, but I don’t know who Steven Stone is.” His voice is breathless, as if the battle is knocking the wind out of him. The boy’s eyes widen and his jaw drops comically. “Whaaaaaat!? Are you serious? You don’t know who the Steven Stone is?” Dawn nearly holds back a laugh at the onlooker’s behavior. His zeal slightly reminds her of Barry, and this causes a twinge in her chest – she really misses Sinnoh. She frowns slightly. “Uh, no. I don’t know.” “Well, he beat the Ever Grande Conference and the Elite Four, and is planning on challenging Wallace very soon!” She gasps, recognizing the name. “Wallace!? But he’s the Champion!” Paul’s eyes widen in astonishment, and then he gapes at the powerful trainer. He is both truly amazed and confounded by the meager-looking trainer’s strength. “He beat the Elite Four?” “Steven Stone . . . he must be such a powerful trainer.” Dawn looks at Paul, who appears to be lost in thought. She sees that his eyes are hard with determination, and his hands, at his sides, are clenched into fists. She’s seen that very same determination within Ash before. “Sparkling stone, give our bond form!” Dawn is broken out of her thoughts as her eyes catch the bright light casting from the pin that Steven grasps in his hand – she recalls it was pinned onto his suit earlier. She was so invested into her thoughts that she didn’t realize he took it off. In response to his words, the shiny Metagross radiates an enveloping light that comes from what appears to be a stone on its right leg. “Metagross, mega evolve!” he commands, causing the crowd to cheer and shout wildly. Dawn fights back a wince from the loud noise as she tries to decipher the meaning of his words. Mega . . . evolve? With widened eyes, Dawn looks around at the enthusiastic onlookers in confusion – she has never heard of such a thing. “What? Evolve?!” she exclaims to herself. “Is that even possible?” Evolve? But, how? Metagross is at its final evolution stage already. There is no way it can evolve any further than now. Paul’s eyes widen. “Mega evolution?” he chokes out. Dawn and Piplup watch in awe as Metagross begins to double in size, and sprout out two more arms and spikes around its torso. As the encapsulating, warm light around the now-levitating Pokémon begins to fade, she sees that his coloring has slightly changed as well, the most prominent being the ‘X’ across its face turning from yellow to blue. “Mega evolution!?” she screeches, though it drowns in the crowd’s roars. “You’re telling me that Metagross just evolved?” Paul grits his teeth. “Arceus, how . . . how did he get a hold of that key stone? And the mega stone for Metagross?” Dawn does not know Paul that well, but if she didn’t know any better, she would say that he looks a little overwhelmed by the battle unfolding in front of him. It’s an unfamiliar to see such an expression cross his face. “This is really a common thing?! How come I’ve never heard of it?” she demands, releasing one arm off Piplup to put a hand on her hip. “It’s a relatively new discovery,” he says simply, before he goes back to watching the mega evolved Metagross conquer Brawly’s Hariyama with Psychic. Whatever the case may be, Dawn decides she will grill him on it later. “Hariyama is unable to battle,” the referee announces soon after, “Metagross is the winner! And, so, the victory goes to Steven Stone of Mossdeep City.” Metagross is captured in a glow that casts a blue light, and quickly reverts to its original form. Steven walks toward his Pokémon and rubs it affectionately, a Pokéball in hand. “Thank you, Metagross. Return.” Brawly, who is on the ground with his Hariyama, also thanks it before recalling it to its Pokéball. “That was quite a splash you made there, Steven.” Steven raises an eyebrow. “Just a splash?” he teases. “I remember you called it a high tide just not too long ago, Brawly.” He rolls his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Brag on, hotshot.” Some of the crowd dissipates, while others – trainers, fan girls, and fan boys, alike – gather around the pair of friends to ask for autographs, compliment them on their battle, or to talk to Steven. Dawn and Paul wait for these onlookers to leave before Paul, without warning, walks up to Brawly and Steve to introduce himself. Dawn immediately follows behind him, trying to keep up. The two trainers engage in conversation, shoving each other playfully, as Dawn and Paul approach them. Paul clears his throat as he comes forth. “Excuse me, Brawly.” Brawly stops laughing and looks at Paul, his light, blue eyes widening in recognition. “Hey, I know you. You’re Paul.” He beams. “‘Sup?” If Paul is fazed by the fact that Brawly remembers who he is, he shows no indication. Instead, he nods. “Yes. We battled a few years ago, but I would like to battle you again.” Brawly raises his eyebrows in surprised. His eyes flicker to Steven’s quickly, before they move back to Paul. “You want to battle me again?” “Yes.” Dawn resists the urge to roll her eyes. Straight and to the point – that’s Paul, all right. “My Pokémon need to rest right now, but how about we crash some waves at the gym tomorrow?” Steven appears intrigued. “I would like to watch the battle as well, if you don’t mind, Paul.” “That’s fine,” Paul tells Steven, “Tomorrow, then.” Paul turns around, nodding once to Dawn to indicate that they are leaving. But Brawly, whose lips curl into a smirk, is not finished. “So, does the girl behind you want to battle me, too?” he questions cheekily, nodding at Dawn. From the corner of her eye, Dawn sees that Paul has stopped walking, his head tilted toward them. “Oh! Um, I’m actually a coordinator. I’m travelling with Paul, so I’ll sit on the sidelines and cheer him on.” “Huh.” Brawly begins to chuckle, leaving Dawn and Paul, who has turned back around both confused. “That’s cute. You’re like his personal cheerleader or something.” Dawn laughs sheepishly, as a blush rises to her cheeks. “Oh, uh, it wouldn’t be the first time. I used to cheer one of my friends’ gym battles when I started off my journey in Sinnoh.” Paul grunts, though he averts his eyes from Dawn, almost as if he is embarrassed – which causes her to purse her lips and hold back a giggle. “I don’t need a personal cheerleader.” Brawly’s face looks thoughtful. “Sinnoh, huh?” he says, ignoring Paul. “Heard it’s too cold there.” “Too cold? Maybe Hoenn’s just too hot,” Dawn jokes back. He laughs back good-naturedly and then shakes his head. “Touché.” . Thump, thump. “Wake up!” Paul growls, resisting the urge to break down Dawn’s room door down. (Though, Nurse Joy would not be pleased at that, especially considering that he had specifically requested for two separate rooms when Nurse Joy was prepared to only give them one room with two beds – Paul isn’t used to travelling with a partner, let alone a girl, and, so, he needs his own space.) Paul has been up since the crack of dawn, making some final preparations for his upcoming battle. After training with his Pokémon, dressed in his daily attire, choosing to skip out on breakfast and opting for his go-to orange juice, and headed next door to Dawn’s room, to see if she was ready to go. At first, he worried if she was alright, but a soft, muffled snore from behind the door that followed assured him that she was simply asleep. He pounds on her door once more, channeling his frustration through his fist. “Do you want to see the battle or not?” He speaks through gritted teeth. Ugh, whatever. If she wants to come, she will come herself. No need for Paul to his waste time. Though, he is a little annoyed that she won’t be coming to see his battle. They’re travelling companions, after all – if she could go to every one of Ash’s battles, why can’t she do the same for him? Quickly as it comes, though, Paul banishes the thought. It does not matter. They’re simply traveling partners. Nothing more. Ash was her friend; Paul is not. She is simply here to help him ensure a win at the Rubello Town Pokémon Contest. “Troublesome girl,” he mutters to himself, accompanied by a final, softer thump on her room door, before he moves away to leave for the gym.
. “Huh, you weren’t kidding when you said you’ve done the whole cheerleading business before.” Hearing Brawly’s comment, Paul whips his head around to where the gym leader has been staring. Much to his surprise, Dawn stands in front of him in a pink cheerleading outfit, complete with two pom-poms in her hands. Buneary and Piplup are dressed up as well. “Arceus.” He groans, though his cheeks suddenly feel heated. “Troublesome girl,” he mutters to himself, exasperated, trying to avert his eyes from the sight of her in that outfit.

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“You made quite the splash there.” Brawly’s booming laugh reverberates throughout the gym, where he and Paul have just finished their battle. “My Pokémon and I had a lot of fun.” Paul bows respectfully. “Thank you for battling me again.” He knew that Brawly was a strong trainer, since his Hariyama was able to put up with the Metagross for a while, but he didn’t realize how tough it was going to be to beat. Thankfully, he had trained up his Pokémon enough. (Though, since Dawn has started feeding them poffins, they’ve gotten stronger somehow.) “Dawn,” Steven begins, causing her to turn to him. “It was nice to chat with you during Paul and Brawly’s gym battle. Best of luck on your contests. The next one is in Rustboro City.” Dawn is thoughtful for a moment before she smiles graciously. “Thank you so much, Steven! And likewise. Good luck on your championship battle against Wallace!” Paul wishes him the same before they all say farewell to each other, and Paul and Dawn begin walking away from the gym. “I’ll see you two very soon,” Steven tells them cryptically as they wave goodbye, confusing both Dawn and Paul as they briefly share a look of confusion. . They walk back to the Pokémon Center together – Paul is silent as Dawn tells him and Piplup what she has learned from talking to Steven while they were watching Paul and Brawly’s battle. “ . . . and, even though he lives in Hoenn, he has a villa in the Resort Area in Sinnoh. He has told us that we are welcome there anytime!” “Did he say why he was in Sinnoh?” Paul asks, surprising both Dawn and Piplup that he has spoken. Dawn purses her lips in thought. “He didn’t say why, but I’ll bet it’s because he collects rare stones, and Mount Coronet and Stark Mountain must be full of them!” “Steven is a stone collector, huh,” he murmurs to himself, as his eyebrows furrow. “Makes sense.” “What do you mean?” she questions. His eyes harden. “Mega stones and key stones are incredibly rare to find. As a stone collector, that is how he must have found his own.” “Oh, yeah!” Dawn blurts out. “What was that about, anyway? Mega evolution?! That’s really a thing?” “Hmph, what kind of pathetic question is that? You were there for the battle. You saw it yourself. It is a thing.” He looks away and crosses his arms. “But I suppose you wouldn’t get it. You’re a coordinator, after all,” he sneers. Dawn feels irritation rise within her. “And what’s that supposed to mean?” she says furiously, as Piplup angrily twitters with her. “It means exactly what I said.” Her face takes on an incredulous look. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” Why does he think so immaturely when it comes to coordinators? “A coordinator is not weaker or more uninformed than a battling trainer, and I’m going to show you it!” She slowly begins backing away from Paul. She looks once at Piplup, who nods back at his trainer and jumps into the space between the two humans. “I challenge you to a contest battle!” she exclaims, a finger pointed at him. “A single contest battle, one-on-one.” He stares at her blankly for a moment, with his arms still over his chest. “I’ll pass,” he finally responds. Dawn places her hands on her hips and shakes her head. “Nuh-uh. You’re the one that asked for my help, Mister, so, consider this our first contest training session!” Paul purses his lips and then sighs as he pulls out a Pokéball. “Fine. Froslass, standby for battle!” He calls his Pokémon out, who cries out and gracefully hovers over the field. “You can go first.” Dawn’s breath hitches. “Alright, Piplup, use Bubble Beam!” she instructs immediately. Piplup leaps into the air. “Pip – lup, lup, lup!” he cries out, as a stream of bubbles release from his beak, which glows a light blue. “Protect!” Paul shouts, causing Frostlass’s body to radiate gold, while a green force field appears around its lithe body. It effectively blocks the Bubble Beam and dissipates soon after the attack wears out. “Use Shadow ball!” he orders next, causing Dawn to reel back in surprise. Paul is relentless in battle, it seems, unafraid to order an attack after another – though, she should have probably known that from his battles with Ash, and from their battle against her and Conway in the Hearthome Tag Battle Competition. “Cut through it with Drill Peck!” Dawn’s choice of command takes Paul by surprise, but Frostlass is much faster, so the Shadow Ball hits before Piplup has a chance to start preparing his beak for attack, and the impact forces him to the ground. “No, Piplup!” Dawn frets after hearing him groan out in pain, worrying for her Pokémon’s health. Froslass is insanely fast. “Are you okay?” “Pip, piplup!” Piplup, though evidently has taken damage, stands up and puffs his chest out, flippers on his hips. Paul decides he won’t wait around for Dawn and Piplup and waste an opportunity to strike. “Shadow Punch!” “Fros, froslass!” Froslass immediately aims for Piplup, her hand encased in a purple shadow. Dawn gasps in surprise, looking back at the field. “Oh, no! Piplup, Headbutt!” “Lup!” Piplup jumps towards Froslass, his head ramming into her fist, but Froslass is stronger, and Shadow Punch has more of an impact. It sends Piplup flying into the air, and then he crashes back onto the ground. Things aren’t looking good at all for Dawn. Piplup has already taken much damage so quickly into the battle, and she hasn’t gotten a chance to even show some contest moves to Paul. 
Wait a minute . . .
 Paul has been taking an offensive battling approach and is only concentrated on attacking Piplup, Dawn realizes with a start. Why? This is a contest battle, and she knows that he is well aware of that. Is he only treating this battle as a demonstration, just choosing to watch her battling style carefully, rather than trying to craft his own style? Or maybe he doesn’t want to make a fool of himself as a beginner. “Paul,” she shouts across the field, grabbing his attention, as he looks up at her, “contest battling isn’t about trying to beat your opponent’s Pokémon, but about showing your Pokémon off with their moves. Though you can show off your Pokémon’s power, what matters most is their strength and beauty. The point is to show how you can bring it out in a battle. It is not just a battle, but also a performance. Your Froslass is the star of the battle, and she has to shine through.” He regards her for a moment with his determined, piercing eyes, before giving a curt nod. “Froslass, use Icy Wind and wave it around with your arms!” he orders. Froslass obeys waves her arms in the air, swaying back and forth as ice swirls around her and Piplup. It is gentle at first, but suddenly, Piplup grunts as he is buffeted back by the wind, while Froslass is unaffected. Paul silently watches and ignores it, but Dawn, holds back a shudder. However, she also marvels at how the tiny shards of ice make Froslass’s body twinkle and gleam through the icy gust, and understands what Paul is trying to do – make her shine through. She also cannot help but find Icy Wind slightly refreshing in the hot weather. As soon as she thinks it, though, Froslass and Paul seem to realize it as well, since the ice begins to melt and create a revitalizing, windy mist. “Damn the Hoenn sun,” he swears underneath his breath, realizing that the weather is not in his favor and that it is too warm to sustain the Icy Wind – he misses Sinnoh’s cold temperatures and should have thought twice before summoning Froslass for an outdoor battle. With Paul and Froslass inattentive because of the weather conditions skewing their attack, Dawn has a perfect opportunity to strike; however, she chooses not to, as to observe how Paul responds to a situation like this – after all, she has been asked to teach him, and, as he is at the beginner stage, giving him space to craft and adapt is best. Piplup seems to sense this, too, because he joins Dawn in watching them quietly. “Fros?” Froslass looks at her trainer hesitantly. “We’re not backing down,” Paul promises his Pokémon. “Use Frost Breath!” Froslass blows the sparkly, cold, frigid air from her mouth towards Piplup. The shards of ice attack Piplup, more beautifully, but also more powerfully than Dawn might have thought. A critical hit. She shivers as she feel the frosty air hit her exposed arms and legs as well. Bewildered that it didn’t thaw from the hot temperature, she questions, “Why didn’t Frost Breath melt into mist like Icy Wind?!” “The temperature of Froslass’s breath is -58 degrees,” Paul replies back, a smirk playing on his lips, as he crosses his arms and leans back in satisfaction. “Icy Wind failed because the Icy Wind was produced from waving her arms rather than her freezing breath like Frost Breath.” Dawn exhales. Though she is happy to see that Paul was able to turn things around in his favor, when the Icy Wind failed, it’s time to end this battle. “Piplup, use Whirlpool!” But Piplup is slow to respond, most likely due to the effects of Frost Breath, and does not immediately create the whirlpool like Dawn hoped. By the time he has formed the vortex, Paul calmly commands, “Dodge it,” to his Froslass, who floats away with ease. “Grr,” Dawn growls in frustration. “Time to put an end to this – Froslass, Signal Beam!” “S-Signal Beam!?” Dawn exclaims, her eyes trained at the ice crystals on Froslass’s head that now glow purple and form a rainbow ball of energy. But that’s a bug type move! There is no time to dwell on it, though, as Froslass is about to attack. “Piplup, quick, spin and use Bide!” She waves toward Froslass. Paul’s eyebrows furrow in uncertainty, the smug look on his face dropping and his hands falling back to his sides. “What?” “Pip, lup!” Piplup runs on his webbed feet to pick up momentum, as his body glows, outlined in white, before breaking into a spin, barely dodging Froslass’s rainbow beam of light. As he spins, with his eyes clenched closed, his bide allows him catch ahold of some of the signal beam. Rings of iridescent light loop around his body as he spins. “It’s beautiful!” Dawn cries out. Even Paul gapes at the sight. “Amazing,” he breathes, awe-stricken by Piplup’s strength and beauty – he is beginning to understand what Dawn has been trying to convey to him now. “Do it!” she interjects, a fist clenched near her erratically beating heart. The adrenaline pumps through her veins, making her feel as if she is buzzing with anticipation – she hasn’t felt this way since the Grand Festival and has truly missed this feeling. This breaks Paul out of his stupor. “Frostlass, dodge it!” he bellows, a hint of desperation creeping into his voice. But it’s too late. Piplup’s eyes snap open and he jumps into the air, releasing the rainbow beam from the Bide at Froslass. “Froslass, no!” “Lass!” the opposing Pokémon shrieks, the force of the attack shunting her ferociously into the grass. As a result of the impact, dirt clouds begin to swirl around her, which cloak her from Paul and Dawn’s visibility. “Froslass, get up!” Paul urges in a shout. Piplup lands on his feet unsteadily, the grass beneath him giving in with a slight crunch as he heaves, weakened by the brunt of biding that Signal Beam. He, too, silently waits for the haze to clear up. And when it does, Froslass is revealed to be knocked-out cold. Piplup and Dawn turn to look at each other with open-mouthed gapes, and then break out into smiles as Piplup jumps into her arms. “You were so amazing, Piplup!” she praises, lifting him up in the air, as he cheers happily. “Thank you!” Paul, on the other hand, feels as if the wind as been knocked out of him. He stares dumbly at the scene unfolding in front of him – Dawn and Piplup celebrating their victory, as Froslass lies on the ground in front of him. After a moment, he shakes his head and pulls out Froslass’s Pokéball, before kneeling down and patting her ice-cold head lightly. “You did well,” he murmurs quietly to his fainted Pokémon, much to the surprise of Dawn, who turns to him with watchful eyes. He holds the Pokéball near Froslass. “Now, return.” This causes a gentle smile to spread across Dawn’s face. “You and Froslass did a great job. The Icy Wind was a great way to show off Froslass’s strength and beauty, and when it failed, you bounced back quickly with Frost Breath. How does she know Signal Beam, by the way? I thought that was a Bug-type move.” “Reggie was able to teach it to Froslass,” he answers simply, before bowing at her respectfully. “It was a great battle. Using Bide in such a way was clever.” He rises up to look at her with sincere eyes. “I learned a lot. Thank you.” Dawn is taken aback by his show of respect. “Y-You’re welcome.” She’s about to tell him that he doesn’t need to bow to her in thanks, and that she is happy to show him contest battling anytime, but her stomach interrupts her from speaking as it grumbles very, very loudly. Paul smirks. “It’s nearly noon. Let’s go back to the Pokémon Center and get lunch.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Dawn and Paul are en route to Littleroot Town, courtesy of Mr. Briney and little Peeko. It’s been a few hours since their contest battle. After they had lunch at the Pokémon Center, Paul announced that if Dawn wanted to get her starter Pokémon from Littleroot Town now would be the best time to travel there, since the boat ride would take a while on Briney’s slower boat. They could have reached Littleroot Town sooner with the famous Captain Stern’s S.S. Tidal, but Paul was rather insistent on taking Mr. Briney’s boat. (It’s bad enough that Paul has to brace himself to interact with his father soon, so he’d be damned if he stepped foot near Captain Stern, his father’s cousin.) Whatever the case may be, they are finally on their way to Littleroot Town, where Dawn is going to receive a Hoenn starter. “What starter should I choose?” Dawn wonders aloud, as she looks to Piplup, who simply shrugs in response. “If you want to know the Hoenn starters, lass,” Mr. Briney’s voice chimes in from the steering deck above, “you’ve come to the right man! The three Hoenn starters are Torchic, a fire-type, Mudkip, a water-type, and Treecko, a grass-type.” As Dawn reaches into her pocket for her Pokédex to look up their entries, Paul adds, “Torchic’s final evolution is Blaziken, a fire-fighting Pokémon, Mudkip’s is Marshtomp, who is ground and water, and for Treecko it is Sceptile, who stays only a grass-type.” Dawn groans, as she drags the palm of her hand down her cheeks in frustration. “I don’t know! They all sound great.” He shakes his head at her. “What Pokémon did you bring to Hoenn?” Dawn sighs before she stuffs her Pokédex back into her pocket, and pulls out all of her Pokéballs and throws them up into the air. “Come out, everyone!” She then quickly reaches into her other pocket to grab her new Eevee’s Pokéball and toss that into the mix as well. Disbelief crosses Paul’s face as his eyes takes in the sight of the six – no, seven, counting Piplup, who has just jumped off from his position atop her head – Pokémon. “You brought all of them from Sinnoh? How are you going to catch more Pokémon here when you can’t hold more than six Pokéballs on your belt? And Eevee is your seventh Pokémon. You know that you’re breaking the law, right?” She would get into trouble with the Pokémon Association if Paul were to report her. “I don’t know!” she moans again, burying her face into her hands, as Pachirisu jumps onto her shoulder. “I wasn’t thinking! I wanted all of them to come with me and see Hoenn.” He scoffs, arms folded over his chest. “Clearly, you weren’t thinking. I’d suggest you ask Professor Birch to send some of your current Pokémon over to Professor Rowan or your family to hold on to. I thought you would have learned from Ash – he does this, too. You know from the Lily of the Valley conference that you can have them sent over, like Ash and I did, since most Pokémon centers have a transporter.” Dawn is appalled at the idea and opens her mouth to refute, but she sees Paul raises an eyebrow at her and slumps her shoulders. “I’ll have to send at least two back home, since Professor Birch is giving me a starter,” she admits in defeat, frowning, as she gently pats Pachirisu. “So, which ones, then?” She turns to face him. “Um, will you . . . let out your Pokémon out of their Pokéballs as well?” she asks timidly, an underlying sadness in her words that surprises Paul. He shouldn’t have expected any less from her, though. She’s friends with Ash, after all. Though Paul has learned to respect his Pokémon and be grateful that they support and work hard for his ambitions, he isn’t as emotionally attached to his Pokémon as much as Dawn seems to be. There’s no need to brood over the separation; he knows that if he gives a Pokémon to Reggie, it won’t be long before he needs it again. Nonetheless, he shrugs. “Sure.” Dawn appears to be very upset, and the last thing he needs is for her to cry in front of him and Briney – Paul doesn’t know the first thing about how to act when a girl cries. He doesn’t have much experience around girls anyway. His mother passed away after giving birth to him, and Maylene doesn’t count, since she really doesn’t really act like a typical girl and avoids all things girly, anyway (though, he doesn’t understand why his brother dotes on her so much). Paul reaches for his Pokéballs, silently hoping that some of their heavy weights don’t disturb the way the boat calmly floats atop the water, namely Torterra – but if Mamoswine came out of its Pokéball without landing too heavily onto the boat, then surely, neither will Torterra. It’s not like the boat is very small anyway. It’s a rather large-sized, Peeko-shaped boat. So, out come Torterra, Froslass, Eevee, Honchkrow, and Hariyama. To Paul’s displeasure, Honchkrow immediately flies up to Togekiss, who has been serenely taking in the ocean breeze and mist from above them. His newly acquired Eevee runs to Dawn’s Eevee, who is with Piplup, but since the two baby Pokémon are siblings, Paul takes the least amount of offense to that. Quilava moves to greet Hariyama and Froslass, and Paul makes a mental note that he has to send those two Pokémon to Reggie soon and to also ask Dawn to feed them some poffins before he does – they seem to be having a positive effect on his Pokémon. Meanwhile, Dawn stares at all of the Pokémon playing together, feeling a wave of sadness crash over her at the thought of separating them from each other. She particularly watches Torterra, and how he is resting in his place next to Mamoswine, as her Buneary begins to alternate between bouncing on top of him and the twin tusk Pokémon. Her sadness fades slightly as she holds back a laugh at the sight of Torterra taking it in calmly, while Mamoswine appears to be getting slightly annoyed – but her Pokémon is thankfully mature enough to take it in stride and bear it for Buneary’s sake. Dawn is also surprised that all of their Pokémon are able to fit on the boat. “Chi pa!” “Uh . . .” Dawn is broken out of her thoughts at the sounds from Pachirisu and Paul. She did not realize that Pachirisu has jumped out of her arms and onto Paul’s shoulder. “Can you get her off of me, please?” Paul requests calmly. “Oh, um, sure.” Dawn extends her arms towards Pachirisu. “Pachirisu, come back to me, please.” But Pachirisu shakes her head and burrows herself further into Paul. “Pa, chi,” she replies back haughtily. Dawn is surprised that Pachirisu has taken such a liking to Paul, but is annoyed that she isn’t listening to her. “Oh, come on, don’t be like that! Come here!” Paul groans. “I’ll just do it.” “Wait, Paul, she’s still very young,” she warns him, as he tries to pry her off himself, “so be gen – ” “Chi, pachiri!” It’s too late. Pachirisu, in surprise, lets out a discharge on Paul and Dawn. Dawn, of course, shrieks as she feels a buzz of electricity run through her body, while a wide-eyed Paul grunts, silently bearing the charge. Then, Pachirisu scampers around the boat, panicking to herself, as the other Pokémon try to call out for her to calm down. Before they can move to stop her, though, a frazzled Dawn, who is now kneeling on the floor from the impact of the attack, calls out, “Pachirisu!” She quickly reaches into her bag for a poffin and waves it at her. “Come and get a poffin!” Pachirisu stops immediately at the announcement and, with excited eyes, returns to her trainer. She settles onto Dawn’s lap and happily takes the poffin from her, surprising Paul. What kind of magic is in those damn things? Paul wonders internally. “Is everything alright?!” they hear Mr. Briney holler from above. “No need to worry! We’re fine!” Dawn shouts back. She sighs in relief, rubs Pachirisu’s fur softly to calm her down, and then turns to Paul sheepishly. “Sorry about that. She’s very sensitive and becomes hyperactive when she’s startled.” Paul, who has been rubbing his face with a hand from the discharge, looks at Dawn, ready to reproach her for being unable to better control her Pokémon, but stops and stares. “Um.” She feels a blush rise to her face, feeling unnerved. “What’s wrong?” Paul simply points to the spiky, wild disarray that is her head. Dawn’s eyes widen, realizing what has happened, and shrieks. Her immediate reaction is for her hands to fly to her hair. “Oh, no! My hair!” she cries, causing Pachirisu to jump out of her lap. “Not again!” She whips her handy mirror and hairbrush out of her backpack and, with frantic hands, quickly tries to fix it. Pachirisu pauses for a moment to give Dawn a quick look, shrugs, and then resumes eating, while Paul just shakes his head, incredulous. What a mess. “I wouldn’t have pegged you as someone who would be willing to raise a Mamoswine,” Paul comments a few minutes later, as he engages in an undeclared staring contest with Dawn’s guarded Mamoswine – he seems to be protective of Dawn and her other Pokémon, hence his wariness around Paul. Dawn doesn’t know if she’s supposed to take offense at his words, but smiles affectionately at Mamoswine as she answers him. “He was just a little Swinub when we met.” She absentmindedly tucks a piece of her recently groomed hair behind her ear as she reminisces. “He would always eat all of my poffins, leaving none for anybody else. He was always so cheerful and would always be jumping around. He wasn’t ready for battling when we first met, so I kept him on the sidelines to watch how my other Pokémon performed in contests. It was still hard to train him after he evolved into Piloswine, though. He only evolved into Mamoswine only two days after while fighting off Team Rocket, but I had no part in it. He would never listen to my commands, attacking on his own will, now that he had gained all of this power, and even tried to attack me at one point.” “Yet, you didn’t release him,” Paul states simply, as he sees Mamoswine finally avert his eyes from him in shame. Dawn turns to him, a wistful smile on her face. “How could I? He is my Pokémon, and as his trainer, I am responsible for him and also love him dearly. I couldn’t have just given up on him like that. I was determined to train Mamoswine and have him listen to my commands.” She outstretches a hand to pet Mamoswine’s fur. “After he hurt itself one day fighting an Aggron, I tried to take care him like how Brock taught me. The Aggron was still trying to attack him, though, so I did everything I could to protect him – I think he realized it, too, because, though he didn’t listen to me at first, he came around and was able to defeat Aggron and protect me.” She looks back at Mamoswine and grins. “He has a little bit of a rebellious streak in him, and sometimes pretends he’s not interested in training with us, but I know that’s not the case.” She smirks at her Pokémon. “Isn’t that right, Mamoswine?” “Mamo,” he responds, lowering his head and nuzzling it against Dawn’s palm, causing her to giggle. Unfortunately, though, the moment is interrupted by the sound of a large crash. Dawn feels the boat sways unevenly from the result of an impact (that is faint and takes her a minute to realize she has felt one) from the left side of the boat. “Argh, not Team Aqua, again!” Mr. Briney suddenly exclaims. Dawn immediately drops her hand from Mamoswine and turns to look at Paul hesitantly. “Team . . . Aqua?” She had heard of them on the news before, but they had been crushed, along with Team Magma, over a year ago. Paul’s eyebrows are furrowed in confusion as well, but he doesn’t answer her. Instead he goes to the ladder and climbs up to the deck from where Mr. Briney has called out. Dawn, in the meanwhile, jogs up to the edge of the boat, feeling a little dizzy from the swaying of the boat. She stands up on her toes to see that indeed, a small speedboat approaches them, a newer version of the Team Aqua logo on the front of it. There are a small group of people, all dressed in blue outfits, with Grimer and Poochyena aboard. It takes another moment, though, for her to realize that a small school of Carvanha surrounds that one side of the boat. The attack must have come from them, but it was rather weak. “What happened?” Dawn hears Paul ask from above her, before Mr. Briney tells them that they’re probably trying to capture his ship again. They apparently tried to do this once before, along with kidnapping Peeko. “Well, we aren’t going to let them get away with this!” Dawn yells. She looks up to Mr. Briney and Paul. “Steer the boat away from them!” “You want us to just run away?” Paul shouts back at her, incredulous. “They can easily catch up to us!” “No, I just need a clear shot to attack them!” she informs him, feeling satisfied as his face morphs into an expression of understanding. “Hurry, Mr. Briney!” “You got it, lass!” Dawn hears a voice cry out, “They’re getting away!” She looks behind her to see that the speedboat is getting closer, but with Mr. Briney steering away from them, she has a clear window to attack. “Neo Team Aqua will have that boat and rule the seas.” Dawn sweat-drops upon hearing the grunt’s outburst. “How do think they are going to rule the seas with a small, Peeko-shaped boat?” “Now, go, Carvanha!”“Stand back, everyone,” she warns her and Paul’s Pokémon. “Pachirisu, use Discharge at the Carvanha.” Now, she gestures down to the school of Pokémon preparing to attack the boat again with Take Down. Pachirisu sprints up to leap onto Dawn’s shoulder and up into the air and let out a discharge, effectively attacking the weak-leveled Carvanha. Having taken significant damage, they swim away from the durable, Peeko-shaped boat, and back to the speedboat. She turns to Mamoswine and points at the boat. “Use Ancient Power!” “Torterra,” Paul orders, from right beside Dawn, which causes her to jolt in surprise, “use Leaf Storm!” She didn’t even realize that he came back down to her. As their attacks head for the boat, a grunt cries out in desperation and fear, “Grimer, Sludge, and Poochyena, Hidden Power!” But it’s too late. Torterra and Mamoswine’s attacks have hit the boat, completely obliterating it – Leaf Storm pierces through the speedboat, and Ancient Power takes care of its remaining shreds. The “Neo” Team Aqua grunts fall into the water with shrieks and cries, sinking for a moment before they and their Pokémon resurface. They grab onto to the Carvanha, spluttering obscenities as Mr. Briney steers the boat away. “All right! We did it!” Dawn cheers, a fist pumped into the air. “Way to go, guys!” Dawn’s Pokémon cheer, while Paul’s Pokémon look relieved. “Why were those grunts after us in the first place?” “This happened before, too. A Team Aqua thug kidnapped my darling Peeko once, but a pretty lass with a Torchic and three lads helped me get her back. One of the lads had his Pikachu attack the Triangle rock where the grunt was headed, so I was able to grab her and set sail to Dewford.” Dawn’s head snaps to Paul, who immediately looks back at her with stunned eyes. “Mr. Briney,” she asks the sailor above her, “the boy with the Pikachu . . . his name wasn’t Ash, was it?” Briney’s eyes sparkle in recognition. “Aye, yes, indeed, lass! Ash was his name!” “And May has a Blaziken, so the girl with the Torchic had to have been her while she was travelling with Ash,” Dawn murmurs to herself contemplatively. “Hmph. Isn’t he very popular around here?” Paul’s mouth twists in distaste. Dawn simply giggles. “I wonder if Ash saves every region he travels to from an evil team! First Team Aqua, and then Team Galactic with us . . . and we can’t forget Team Rocket, though, that’s on a daily basis.” Mew, the more she thinks about it, the more she misses Ash and Brock. “Wait!” Paul interjects. “You’re the ones that saved Sinnoh from Team Galactic?” She chuckles sheepishly. “Uh, yes?” She gives him an abridged version of the whole ordeal, though chooses to skim over the fact that the boss of Team Galactic, Cyrus, was hiding under their nose the entire time, disguised as a scholar. While she talks, her eyes fall onto her Mamoswine, watching him and Torterra calmly sit together. When Dawn looks up, she sees that Peeko is on Paul’s shoulder again. Sweetly giggling at the adorable sight – which catches Paul’s attention – she reaches into her backpack for her container of poffins. She takes one and tosses it to her mauve-haired companion, who catches it with ease. He tilts his head slightly so he can feed it Peeko. “Pip, pip, lup!” her annoyed, starter Pokémon on her own shoulder complains, flippers on his hips. “Chipa, chi, pa!” Pachirisu also pleads for poffins, her eyes watering softly as she pouts. Dawn laughs at her Pokémon. “Don’t worry, I didn’t forget about you guys.” She then faces Paul. “I’m going to give everyone a little snack, if you don’t mind.” Paul doesn’t look away from Peeko, but nods. “Only a few for my Pokémon.” . They’re standing side-by-side, watching the sunset setting over Littleroot Town, which appears in the distance, when Paul asks, “Did you finally decide?” Dawn nods, suddenly hyperaware of the weight of her Pokéballs on her belt, all of her Pokémon, including a tired Piplup, in them. “I’m taking Piplup, Mamoswine, Eevee, and Togekiss.” Maybe Paul hears the sadness in her voice, too. “You can always switch around,” he reassures. “I know. I’m just going to miss them, you know?” Paul is silent, and for a moment, Dawn thinks that the conversation is over, but he surprises her with a response. “You’ll wish they are there with you, but it gets easier.” Though it’s not the comforting answer Dawn wanted, she smiles at him anyway.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Hmm.” Her eyes flicker between the three Pokémon. Mudkip. Treecko. Torchic. Mudkip . . . Treecko . . . Torchic. Mudkip, Treecko, or Torchic? “You still haven’t realized which one is best for you?” Dawn turns around to scowl at Paul. “If you think you know which Pokémon is best for me, then say it.” “No.” He folds his arms over his chest and looks away haughtily. She knows he is impatient for her to choose – after all, Professor Birch promised to take them to the Pokemon Center to register them for contests, so the sooner she finishes, the sooner they can get their contest passes. He has to call Reggie and she has to call her mother, too. “Figure it out yourself – it’s not my problem you’re too oblivious and can’t see the answer that is right in front of you.” “What did you call me?” Dawn growls at him. Professor Birch holds up his hands in front of the two sheepishly, trying to stop the argument. “H-Hey now, I think we should give Dawn some time to decide. It’s a very hard decision to make, so I understand the indecision.” “Dawn,” a familiar voice calls out exasperatedly. “You haven’t picked your starter Pokémon, yet?” Dawn gasps as she sees a giggling May walk into the lab. “May!” She runs over to her and pulls her into an embrace, which May returns with equal fervor. “So, you’re Dawn.” Dawn releases May from their hug as her eyes take note of the green-haired boy behind May. He has a smirk on his face. “That’s me!” “Dawn,” May begins, a smile on her cherub face. “This is Drew. My friend and rival. Drew, this is Dawn.” Drew extends a hand out for Dawn to take. “Ah, right. You defeated May at the Wallace Cup. It’s nice to finally meet you, Dawn. I’ve heard so much about you.” She beams, returning the handshake with equal fervor. “Thanks, Drew! It’s great to finally meet you as well!” Letting go of his hand, she gestures towards her own traveling companion. “This is Paul – he is Ash’s rival from Sinnoh. We’re travelling through Hoenn together.” Paul briefly raises a hand in the air in greeting. “Sup.” Drew gives him a two-fingered salute. “Hi, Paul!” May greets cheerfully. “I’m May!” He simply nods at her. “I saw your battle during the Wallace Cup. You fought well.” “Hey, thanks!” May gives him a wide grin, pleasantly surprised, and quite frankly, Dawn is shocked by his polite behavior as well. She was expecting him to act a little more aloof, if she is being honest. Dawn’s eyebrows knit together and she gives him a confused glance. “Hold on. When did you watch the Wallace Cup?” He shrugs. “I saw a rerun of it last night.” “Oh,” comes out of her mouth dumbly. Dawn didn’t know he was so dedicated to a victory at the Rubello Town Pokémon Contest that he watched the Wallace Cup. What is he going to gain from winning it, anyway? Is the incentive in the prize? What kind of prize would make Paul of all people want to participate in a contest? “ . . . been in Johto to take part in their contests, but as soon as May found out Dawn was coming, she dragged me back home with her . . . ” Dawn’s breath suddenly hitches, and her eyes slowly move to the right so she can peek a glance at Paul, who is nodding at Drew’s words, his face pensive. If he has seen her win against May in the Wallace Cup, does that mean he has seen her loss against Zoey in the Grand Fe – “Dawn!” She jolts, a surprised gasp escaping her lips breathlessly. “Huh?” “Did you hear me?!” “W-What?” May rolls her eyes and sighs. “I said that I’m going to take you to the best places to eat around here!” “Yeah, if she ever picks a starter Pokémon and stops overthinking it,” Paul mutters scornfully. “Oh, no,” Dawn moans, recalling her original predicament. “I still have to pick one!” May giggles. “Oh, Dawn. What am I going to do with you?” Her hand reaches for a Pokéball on her trainer’s belt. “Blaziken, come on out!” Blaziken is released with a cry, and gracefully lands on its feet. Paul’s interest is piqued. “It’s nice to see you again, Blaziken!” “Pip, piplup!” “A Blaziken,” he murmurs to himself, as Dawn and Piplup greet May’s Pokémon. Drew smirks. “While May here has a Blaziken, I have a Swampert at home.” “My kid, Brendan, also picked out a Swampert,” Professor Birch chimes in, as May calls back Blaziken into its Pokéball. “I must admit that I, too, have an affinity towards Water-type Pokémon due to their performance of illusions in water.” Paul looks over his shoulder to the source of the last voice, only to have his eyebrows raise in surprise at the sight of the Hoenn region champion standing before them. “Oh, Wallace!” Dawn, who is also a little star-struck and shocked by his presence, nonetheless remains her cheerful self. “It’s a pleasure to see you again, Dawn,” he responds back, his voice pleasant and serene voice. That’s right. The troublesome girl has met Wallace before – she won the Wallace Cup, after all. “Hello, Wallace! What a surprise!” Professor Birch exclaims, taking a step forward to shake hands with the champion. “What brings you to the lab?” “Hello, Professor Birch.” He returns the handshake with equal fervor and a dazzling grin. “I am the one who brought Drew and May here to the lab from Sootopolis to meet Dawn and Paul.” His eyes then move to meet Paul’s. The Hoenn Champion already knows about him? A surprised Paul also steps forward and holds out his hand. “Hello, Wallace . . . it’s an honor meeting you.” Taking his hand, Wallace shakes it in another handshake. “Paul,” he starts, and Paul is surprised how his soft voice commands attention. “I have seen your battles on television – the Hearthome Tag Battle, the Sinnoh League, among some. You are a very strong trainer.” “T-Thank you.” Wallace offers an encouraging smile. “I also heard from May that you are travelling with Dawn. Traveling with a coordinator is a splendid way to pick up new training techniques and help you see the different methods of raising Pokémon as well . . . I can tell that you are very determined to learn and better yourself.”  Paul takes a glance at Dawn, who appears to be lost in thought herself.  Wallace’s eyes flit to his right before he suddenly chuckles. “And I can also tell you, Paul, that in the very few moments I have been here, I’ve noted that Professor Birch’s Torchic has not taken his eyes off you.” Paul turns in surprise, his eyes slowly moving to the fire-type starter. “Is . . . is that so?” He takes a step closer to the Torchic. “Hey,” he greets the Pokémon simply. “Tor, tor, Torchic!” he determinedly chirps back. “Uh, I don’t . . .” Paul trails off, confused by what the Pokémon is trying to convey. Wallace tilts his head and smirks. “I think he wants to come with you.” Paul’s eyes widen. “How can you understand its words so easily?” His voice is slightly awed, which takes Dawn by surprise.  “To understand and fully connect with not only people, but Pokémon as well . . . is not only the mark of a good trainer, but an important aspect of being champion.” He looks at Paul knowingly. As Paul ponders Wallace’s rather perceptive statement, his eyes on Torchic, Dawn decides to examine the other two starters once more. She starts with Mudkip, who stares at her, blank-faced. So, in an effort to have her warm up to Dawn, she stretches a hand out to gingerly pat Mudkip’s fin. “Wait, Dawn, she’s a little sensitive – ” But Mudkip spews out a stream of mud from her mouth and into Dawn’s face. “Aah!” she cries out in disgust. Mudkip Mud Sported her. “Mud, mud kip!” The mudfish Pokémon chortles to herself. Paul, too, cannot resist making a jab at Dawn as he crosses his arms over his chest and smirks. “Maybe, it wasn’t as obvious as I thought. You should pick Mudkip.” Dawn grits her teeth as she wipes some mud off of her face. “Shut. Up.” “No, Mudkip! That’s bad!” “Kip!” Mudkip opens her mouth again, but this time, it is to release Water Gun to clean Dawn’s muddy face. She blinks momentarily at the action, before her face morphs into horror and her hands touch her head. “Oh, not my hair, again !” That does it for Paul – he almost howls in laughter, and it triggers a giggle out of May as well. Dawn would marvel at the break in Paul’s stoic nature in wonder, if it wasn’t at her expense. “It’s not funny!” she screeches, her hands on her hips. Mudkip then leaps off the table and defiantly scampers around the lab, as Professor Birch and Wallace try to chase her, until she finally hops onto a tall file cabinet and stays put. “Kip, kip!” What a mess. “Oh no,” Dawn moans, a palm going to the side of her dripping head. “I’m so sorry, Professor Birch.” “Don’t worry about it, Dawn.” Professor Birch looks abashed himself as he hands her a towel that he picked up while running after Mudkip. “I should have mentioned before that Mudkip is a little skirmish and stubborn.” May, too, laughs sheepishly. “Yeah, Dawn. Don’t feel too bad about it. I had a similar experience with one of Professor Birch’s Mudkip once, too.” She places a reassuring hand on Dawn’s shoulder. “Oh, yeah, I remember that, May. You tried to save me from the Poochyena, but Mudkip wouldn’t listen to you at all.” “Mudkip.” Wallace’s gentle coaxing grabs everyone’s attention, as he stretches his arms up to reach for her. “Please come down.” But Mudkip is stubborn and steps back. “Tree, treecko.” “Huh?” Dawn twists her head towards the Pokémon’s voice.  Professor Birch’s Treecko gives Dawn a reassuring nod before it springs to her hat, startling her and her Piplup in her arms. It then jumps to Wallace and crawls onto his shoulder.  Lifting and pressing the tip of its tail to its mouth, the Treecko blows into it. Its whistling causes the Mudkip and Piplup to fall drowsy and, in a matter of seconds, fall asleep. “Grass Whistle?” Wallace mutters to himself, as he reaches up to grab Mudkip. “Oh, no, Piplup! Return!” Dawn holds a sleeping Piplup upright as she summons him back to his Pokéball. Treecko leaps back to Dawn’s shoulder, and her lips can’t help but twitch into a smile. Her hand reaches over to gently pat Treecko’s head. She looks around the laboratory, pleased by how natural it feels to have Treecko with her. And then she notices that Paul’s focus is trained on the Torchic once more, who simply blinks back at him. “You’re still awake,” he states in surprise, as Dawn realizes it herself. At his comment, the chatter around them stops, and all eyes are on Paul and Torchic.  “Tor?” the little chick Pokémon chirps as Paul slowly walks towards him. When he finally reaches the table where Torchic has been, he holds out a hand towards the Pokémon. “Do you want to come with me?” Torchic nods happily and nuzzles its beak into his palm, and in her peripheral vision, Dawn sees Wallace tilt his head and smile.
. “Hey! Is that a Shinx?” “Shinx, shi!” the pokemon at his feet cries happily, scampering to Dawn, Piplup, and her new Treecko. Slightly startled by her outburst, Paul looks over his shoulder to glare at his traveling companion. “No. It’s a Patrat,” he deadpans, before shaking his head at her.  Dawn rolls her eyes, but bends down to pat Shinx on the head affectionately. “Well, aren’t you a ball of sunshine,” she mutters under her breath.  Ignoring her comment, he explains, “Shinx seemed to display an interest in contests. I was going to release it but Reggie took him off my hands.” “Took him off your hands?” Dawn echoes incredulously, then placing her hands on her hips. “That’s so rude!” He scowls. “Hmph. I’m a trainer, not a coordinator. He wasn’t of use to me. At least, till now.” His eyes ever so slightly soften at the slight of the feline Pokémon burrowing against Dawn’s legs. “Reggie sent him over last night.” With her jaw slackened, Dawn is rendered speechless. Paul looks up at her with earnest eyes now, and the unnatural sight makes her breath hitch. “Will you give us a demonstration of a performance for the Appeals Round?” “Yes.” She looks down to Treecko, who nods back determinedly before jumping in front of her. The newest member of her team may be inexperienced, but is resolved to perform well in contests.  So, as Dawn commands Treecko in a low voice, Paul watches studiously. (Usually, she’s so loud and boisterous, especially when she’s training. What is she planning?) She makes Treecko use Grass Knot, and, suddenly, he weaves vines from the grass around his own body.  Dawn never fails to surprise him with her ideas, and today is no different.  Paul, along with Shinx, is completely surprised, and it must show on his face, as Dawn’s eyes, which are glinted with excitement, meet his. “Remember, Paul, your Pokémon is the star of the show, and you have to show off its strength and beauty. But the focus is more on beauty for the Appeals.” “So . . . show its beauty through its strength?” From the corner of his eye, Paul spies Shinx, who is looking at Treecko with resolve. Dawn purses her lips. “Ah, not quite. Just watch.” She turns back to her Pokémon, who has obediently remained still. “Now, use Mega Drain.” Her voice is still quiet and Paul is confused. Treecko closes his eyes before his body glows a radiant yellow, and as he closes his eyes, a dark, green encases the vines around him. Paul and Shinx revel in the amazing contrast of glowing colors. It takes a few seconds before these vines snap into smaller strands of grass that hover around Treecko’s entire form for a moment before they are blown away by the wind. The air becomes peaceful and silent. Everyone watches Treecko’s calm, still form quietly.  And then Treecko finally opens his own eyes. Paul lets out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. Dawn managed to simultaneously heal and rejuvenate Treecko as well as create an appealing visual display out of him that captivated Paul and Shinx. She used his type to her advantage, too: the Grass type is supposed to be calm and peaceful, and that was the image that Treecko preserved throughout the presentation. That also explains her quiet instructions. Simple, yet so efficient and effective. “Wow,” he whispers in awe. Dawn lets out a deep breath, before she and Treecko bow at Paul and Shinx. “Do you understand what I am trying to get at now?” “Yes. Show its strength off with its beauty.” He nods to himself, satisfied, as Dawn pats Treecko’s head affectionately. “Shinx can participate in a contest with you, then.” “ Huh ? Why would he do that? You’re his trainer.” “I want him to gain experience, but he’s . . . a little stubborn with me.” Paul looks slightly . . . abashed ? “And he has a reason to, I’ll admit.” He clears his throat awkwardly. “Anyway, it’s just for one contest. I want him to learn how a contest works firsthand, as soon as possible.” Dawn sighs, crossing her arms over her chest. “We’ll see, but it would be much better if you build a better bond with Shinx and try it yourself.” “I only need to participate in the Rubello Pokémon Contest,” he mutters, mostly to himself it seems, which leaves Dawn confused.  Before she can question him any further, May and Drew return from their shopping at the Oldale Town Poké Mart, bringing back ingredients to make dinner tonight. As they greet and converse with Dawn and Paul, they set their grocery bags onto the foldable table Paul assembled earlier. “I was talking to Drew about the Wallace Cup at Lake Valor,” May says, nibbling on a breadstick she purchased earlier. “He wants to try his hand at contests in Sinnoh.” “Yeah,” Drew confirms, before reaching for May’s breadstick, tearing a piece off – which she yelps at, and then scowls – and popping it into his mouth. “You guys are lucky – I wish Hoenn used the seal function. It would be so nice for contests.” Dawn frowns. “It’s a shame that you don’t use seals here.” She looks at Paul, sitting on a log nearby. He looks mildly disgusted by how May and Drew have been talking while chewing their food, and she can’t help but smirk at that. “I would have had fun showing Paul the different seals and their uses.” “Can I see another demonstration?” Paul asks instead.  “Sure thing,” she replies, unfazed by his abrupt request. “I can use Piplup again, or if you want, Treecko can – ” She stops, as her eyes flash in recollection. And then, she beams, turning to their two companions. “Actually, May and Drew, you both are coordinators, too. Very established and well-experienced coordinators. Would you be willing to demonstrate a contest battle for Paul?” Drew gives May a crooked grin. “How about it, Princess? Shall we show Paul what you’re made of?” “That’s right,” Paul realizes, as Dawn plops onto the log and sits next to him. “They call you the Princess of Hoenn.” “Yep. She’s one of Hoenn’s best.” Is that pride Paul detects in the voice of May’s rival ? May blushes and waves her hands in front of her body defensively. “No, no! You’ve got it all wrong! It’s not just me! Drew’s an amazing coordinator, too!” “Then, let’s see it.” So, as the “Princess of Hoenn” beats Drew in a spectacular display of both power and beauty, Paul watches studiously.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Welcome to Petalburg City!” “Thank Arceus,” Paul mutters. He was beginning to get sick of the noise - if he thought Dawn is loud and obnoxious, May is worse (at least by a factor of 10). Paul prefers silence, and though Dawn is a little talkative, he enjoys her companionship more than May’s. “We’re finally here!” May cries out happily, as her legs push her forward, and Paul is pleasantly surprised to see her immediately take off towards the gym.  Maybe she wants to immediately meet her father, who Paul learned from Dawn was the gym leader of the Petalburg Gym, but Paul will make use of this opportunity.  The last time he was here, he had fought a gym leader named Ashley, so he intends to battle Norman this time. . “M-Mom! I’ve told you that he’s just a friend!”  “May, you’ve kept all of the roses he’s given to ‘Beautifly.’” Caroline holds up her fingers to gesture quotations at “Beautifly.” May flushes red, but rolls her eyes and huffs. “Mom,” she whines. Dawn lets out a laugh. Though Paul was hesitant to stay the night at the Maple house after his battle against Norman, Norman insisted that he and Dawn rest before heading out the next morning. After all, May and Drew are headed back to Johto tomorrow. Dawn was so surprised when he readily agreed to Norman. Caroline laughs, before turning to Dawn. “Dawn, sweetie, do you and Piplup mind getting the milk and cookies I’ve left in the kitchen?” “Y-Yes, of course, Mrs. Maple.” Dawn takes the hint and scrambles to leave the room and give May and her mother some privacy. “Come on, Piplup.” “Pip-lup!” he answers, as he jumps into her arms. Dawn and Piplup make their way out of May’s room and into the kitchen, where Dawn places Piplup on the kitchen counter and opens the fridge. “Pip, lup?” her Pokémon questions, waving a flipper towards May’s room. Dawn giggles, but still carefully pours milk into a few glasses. “No need to worry, Piplup. Mrs. Maple is probably helping May realize her feelings for Drew.”  She continues preparing a tray full of the milk glasses and a plate of cookies. When they’re ready to go back into May’s room, Piplup gently climbs onto Dawn’s shoulder, seeing as her hands are full.  “Hey.” “Pip!” “Aah!” Dawn shrieks in surprise, almost dropping the tray as she whirls around to see Paul. Piplup, too, steadies himself on Dawn’s shoulder. “Paul, you scared us!”  Wordlessly, Paul takes the tray from her hands, giving a flustered Dawn a moment to restart her heart. After a moment of heavy silence, she speaks, shifting her weight on one foot to another. “Um . . . it’s cool that Espeon evolved during the battle with Mr. Maple. You’ll have to tell Professor Rowan that the sun shard had no effect in his evolution.” He only responds with a gentle shrug, before handing her back the tray and turning around towards the corridor bedrooms. She begins to follow Paul. “Nice use of the spin and dodge trick, too.” As the heat on Dawn’s cheeks fade, she gives herself a satisfied smile. “You’re picking up techniques very quickly. You’ll do great at the contest!” He stops, and turns to face her. “Thank you,” he says kindly, and then takes a cookie from the tray before walking away. When he approaches Max’s room, he is surprised to see Max himself leaning against the door, with his arms crossed over his chest and his glasses ominously glowing from the reflection of the moonlight.  Paul swallows down the last bits of his cookie and stares at Max pensively. “What?” he finally demands, after receiving no response. He shakes his head, and Paul suddenly feels stupid , as if Max is actually the adult and he is the kid. “Oh, nothing . . . nothing at all.” . “You aren’t going to fight Roxanne?” Paul looks up from his book, with Shinx sitting next to his chair, to regard her for a moment. “No,” he responds. “I want to focus on training for the contest right now.” He reaches for his cup and sips at his orange juice and resumes reading. Dawn purses her lips, suppressing a sigh. What’s so special about the Rubello Contest anyway?  Shaking her head, she turns to walk towards the open field and reaches for a Pokéball on her belt. “Mamoswine, spotlight!” Dawn hears a soft, “Hmm,” from behind her. Paul must be expressing curiosity on Mamoswine’s performance in contests. Paul comes up to Dawn, Shinx following. “What is your strategy?” She winks at him, which he is taken aback by. “You’ll just have to wait and watch to see it.” “Hmph.” He rolls his eyes and crosses his arms, but his cheeks redden. Dawn shows Paul some Appeal Round moves for almost an hour before Mamoswine’s stomach growls loudly and she announces it’s time to eat. So, they both send out the rest of their Pokémon, and she reaches into her backpack to retrieve poffins along with the Pokémon food she learned to make from Brock. She is about to politely request Paul to set down the bowls for their Pokémon, but is pleasantly surprised to see that he already has the dishes in hand and has started to line them up on the table and the grass. “What are you doing?” Paul asks her later that night, once they have eaten their dinner and cleaned up after themselves. All of their Pokémon are in their Pokéballs, with the exception of Piplup, who is sound asleep in Dawn’s sleeping bag. Dawn’s eyes don’t leave the cubed contraption in front of her. “Making Pokéblock. It’s Hoenn’s equivalent of Poffins.” She is hunched over the table where they ate, her hands picking out berries from a basket full of different types. “It’s getting late, and you’re supposed to train with me early in the morning,” he reminds her, frowning. “You should go to bed. You can make these tomorrow.” She shakes her head. “Paul, I won’t have time to make these then,” she insists. “Different Pokémon like and react to different types of Pokéblock, and, between the two of us, we have so many Pokémon.” He doesn’t understand what she is mumbling about, but she looks rather determined with her tongue peeking out between her lips and her face settled in concentration, so he decides that it is best to leave her be. “May said that it will help us for Pokémon Contests, so I need to try as many combinations of berries as I can.” Her voice is a soft murmur, as if she’s talking to herself, but the words make Paul pause and turn back around. His legs draw him back to her on their own accord, but his mind seems to agree to their actions as the words, “Let me help you, then,” come out of his mouth. It’s the least he can do for all of her help. Dawn finally looks up from the blender in surprise. “Okay . . . I mean, yes!” She pushes back a few locks of stray hair before smiling amicably at him. “That would be great, thanks.” She pats empty space next to her on the table, welcoming him in assisting her. . “Oh, not again! My hair won’t stay put!” Sitting in the dressing room of the Rustboro Contest Hall, Dawn realizes that it has been a while since she has felt like this - actually, the last time contest Dawn had participated in was the Grand Festival, but she doesn’t remember panicking over her hair before her loss against Zoey. It occurs to her only then that, along with that battle, a part of her confidence has also been lost.  Paul, leaning against the doorway of the dressing room with his arms crossed over his chest, rolls his eyes. “Why are you worrying about your dress and hair?” Shinx, who he has released out of his Pokéball, scampers over to Dawn. Dawn’s hands hold down her hair almost defensively as she speaks. “Presentation is important for contests - not just for Pokémon, but for Coordinators, too.” She groans. “Ugh! If only my hair would be presentable!” He sighs, and to his surprise, so does Piplup.  “Piiiip, pip!” Piplup, who is dressed in a cheerleading costume, releases a gentle stream of bubbles at Dawn’s head. Paul blinks. He might have let out a laugh at Piplup’s unexpected Bubble Beam if it weren’t for the fact that the frizz from her hair has actually flattened, and her hair looks shiny. Dawn is taken back momentarily, but then her eyes light up. A wide smile stretches across her face. “Oh, Piplup! Thank you!” She lifts her starter Pokémon up and nuzzles his cheek with her own. “I know it’s been a while, but I needed that.”  “Luup!” Piplup chirps happily back at her, a satisfied look on his face. Dawn places Piplup back onto the floor and begins to clip part of her hair back. “It looks better down,” Paul comments, surprising himself and Dawn both. Dawn blushes at his blunt words, but sets her clips back on the dresser. “Um, if you say so, I’ll leave it down this time.” “Pip, piplup!” Piplup cheers. “Shini!” Shinx also adds in agreement. “Yeah. You look . . . nice.” Paul hesitates at the use of the word. “Good luck.” .  Paul and Shinx watch as Dawn loses in the semifinal round. Paul has to admit, the combinations she used were spectacular. Treecko’s appeals’ performance, which she had practiced in front of Paul and Shinx before, had managed to calm and entrance the entire hall. Even in the semifinals, right before her loss, when Piplup was up against a Mr. Rime - a Pokémon that neither he nor Dawn have ever seen before - Dawn tactfully ordered him to use BubbleBeam against Mr. Rime’s Ice Shard. Her training session with Paul and Froslass came in handy, as she used the temperature difference between the two moves to her advantage. BubbleBeam was warmer than Ice Shard, so their collision resulted in a sparkling mist.  Paul was so impressed that he had Froslass come out to see the battle for herself.  The battle was neck and neck at that point, but that Mr. Rime was powerful, and its coordinator oversmarted Dawn.  As someone who comes from competitive battling, Paul believed that she baited Dawn into ordering Piplup to use Whirlpool, which Mr. Rime froze with an ice beam. As a result, Piplup slipped from the whirlpool and lost control of it, causing it to fall and shatter, and Dawn lost a significant amount of points as the timer hit zero. Regardless, Paul was able to see Dawn in action, and learn for himself that she did not reach the finals of the Sinnoh Grand Festival on a mere fluke. At the end of the contest, he meets her at the exit of the participant dressing room, he doesn’t expect her to look as forlorn as she does.  “You were impressive.” Though his voice is not enthusiastic, he tries to maintain an earnest tone. “I had Froslass watch that last battle. We learned a lot.” “But . . . I lost.” “You also lost the Grand Festival,” he states. It is rather harsh to say to her face aloud, but it is not his intention. “Yet you were still determined to learn from your mistakes and become stronger. You’ve come so far, so why are you crying over a small contest?” Dawn blinks in disbelief, which surprises him. But even more surprising is that he’s right - her eyes are shining with unshed tears. “You don’t think I’m not good enough and that you’ll need another teacher?” His brows furrow in confusion. So she was hoping this was supposed to be an example to show him how to win? Suddenly, Paul feels abashed. Does he really come across as someone who would drop Dawn upon seeing her lose one battle? Or at the very least, is that the way Dawn sees him? “Losing doesn’t define you or your capabilities,” he answers back defensively, looking away, but quickly peeks at Dawn’s reaction to see that she stares at him with a look he can’t discern. He continues talking anyway. “I’ve lost many league conferences, one being to Ash. I’ve also lost to Brandon twice now. But I haven’t given up. I’m still determined to win, and so should you.” Dawn realizes that this is probably the most he has spoken to her in one breath. “Dawn.” He finally turns to look at her, his eyes full of intent. “You can’t keep doubting yourself every time you take a step forward, even when you fall.” He pauses before a twitch of a grin appears on his face. “No need to worry, right?” Hearing the phrase come from Paul sounds unnatural, but the effort is heartwarming.  Dawn blinks back her tears, straightens her back, and slaps her cheeks with her palms. She looks at Paul with determined eyes and nods.   . “Thank you for the meal.” Dawn smiles shyly at Paul from across the table. “I should be thanking you, and my Pokémon, for encouraging me, Paul. I wouldn’t have been able to win the Fallarbor Contest otherwise.” He leans back in his chair and crosses his arms over his chest. “Sure, but we can’t be spending your prize money on an expensive dinner every time you win a contest.” “Well, it’s your turn to win a contest, and then you can return the favor,” Dawn replies cheekily, as she hands their waitress the check folder full of Pokédollars.  Paul grows pensive at her words. “I’m confident I can participate in a contest with Luxio, but LaRousse City’s contest is a 1-Ribbon Costume Contest. Luxio needs experience, which you can give.” “ Me ?” Dawn is incredulous, even more incredulous than when she and Paul looked at the bill for their meal. This was a topic of conversation Paul had brought up when she first met the Pokémon as Shinx, but after their training sessions, she didn’t think he would follow through with it. “Paul, Luxio is your Pokémon!” “There’s no rule against this. And I told you before, it’s just for one contest. He just needs some experience.” Though Dawn is initially very hesitant to participate with Luxio, she has to admit that she had so much fun preparing with Luxio. And Paul. She insists that Paul come up with the appeals and combination ideas, as well as battle strategies for them to implement, so that he also comes out of this with more experience, too.  And so they end up winning the contest. Paul was correct in identifying Luxio - he has a natural inclination for contests. It didn’t take much practice on Luxio’s part to execute Paul’s idea for the appeal: set up a Light Screen, release a Discharge while spinning (an idea inspired by Dawn and Pachirisu), and then Double Team. And though Paul’s plan did have some flaws, they were able to practice and correct the routine for Luxio and his illusionary copies to be encased in a green electrifying glow, as a result of the blue Light Screen and yellow Discharge. Dawn almost feels as though she robbed a victory from Paul - if he had been able to enter the contest with Luxio, they might have won. A part of her mourns that she may not have an opportunity to perform with Luxio in a contest again, but she knows that Paul and Luxio are more than ready for the Rubello Town Pokémon Contest. “I wonder what will be the bad luck to put an end to your flukes.” A confused “Huh?” falls from Dawn’s lips as she is broken out of her thoughts. She looks up to see Ursula standing in the doorway of the changing room. Dawn hoped that things with her had ended on a good note after the Grand Festival, but perhaps, she was wrong. “Ursula!” “We meet again, Deedee.” Dawn smiles brightly at her, as she arises from her seat and walks to her. “I saw your battle in the semifinals - you and Wormadam were great!” She shakes her head and smiles haughtily. “I wish I could say the same for you and that Luxio of yours. Like I said, just a fluke .” Before Dawn even has a chance to respond, Ursula turns right on her heel and heads up the stairs to the main hall. “Grr,” she growls lowly. Some things - and people - just don’t change. “Who was that ?” Paul’s voice questions beside her, startling Dawn. “Oh, Paul, she’s actually - ” Dawn stops, seeing Paul watch Ursula sashay away. “No one of importance!” she suddenly snaps, annoyed that her own travel partner seems to be giving Ursula unnecessary attention. Paul rolls his eyes. He recognizes her rivalry attitude all too well. “Calm down. Let’s go back to the Pokémon Center. We have to leave for Lavaridge Town tomorrow morning.” In spite of her anger, Dawn can’t help herself. “Fine. I call top bunk,” she grumbles, as she follows Paul out of the dressing room. He simply shrugs as he walks, but holds back a smirk at the intended effect. “Whatever.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

The sun shines brightly, and Dawn’s arm instinctively moves to shield her eyes. Brightness . . . is it morning already? Her eyes flutter open to the early morning Hoenn sun. From its position, it seems to be 8AM. So early. So she closes her eyes once more and decides she’ll sleep for another 30 mins or so. She cuddles Piplup, who snores softly under the crook of her arm, and rolls over to go back to sleep. “Nice hair.” A soft “Huh?” falls from Dawn’s lips as she opens her eyes, squinting, and shifts her body to the sound of the voice. She blinks a few times until her vision refocuses to clearly see Paul sitting at their foldable table, a paperback in one hand, a carton of orange juice in another. She is still not entirely used to waking up to Paul as her travel companion. Releasing Piplup from her grasp, she sits up from the sleeping bag and stretches. “Good morning,” she replies in a yawn, ignoring his comment. “Hi,” he answers back quietly, his eyes not leaving the pages of his book.  A pang of pity hits Dawn as she thinks about his Torterra, who is getting treated for serious burns from Paul’s battle yesterday with Flannery. “I’m starving,” Dawn comments in a hoarse, sleep-filled voice. “Are you hungry?” She goes through her mental catalog of her favorite breakfasts made by Brock. He shakes his head. Dawn is about to express her sympathy to him, understanding the feeling of not wanting to eat while his Torterra is not well, but her stomach beats her to it, growling loudly, almost as if she feels even hungrier on his behalf.  “Let me make you breakfast!” she suggests. He does need to eat and this is her chance to show off the omelet-making skills she picked up from Brock! “No, thanks.” “Aww, come on, Paul! It’ll taste good, I promise. Please - “ Something flashes from the corner of Dawn’s eye. “Pi, pi!” “Huh?” Was that a Pokémon? Paul tilts his head quizzically at her. “What’s wrong?” “I thought I heard something from behind the trees,” she tells him, looking back at the source of the noise curiously. His attention is brought to the trees as he stares for a moment. “It’s probably wildlife. We should let it be.” Dawn nods quietly in agreement before standing up and stretching away her fatigue. In spite of Paul’s refusal, she is determined to make breakfast for them both. She decides to make savory crepes - the recipe is her father’s, but she employs Brock’s technique in cooking them on the portable burner. As she hums to herself and prepares the food, Paul wordlessly scribes in his notebook.  “Are you writing out your new strategy to beat Flannery?” she wonders aloud, as she plates their breakfast, “Hmph. Isn’t it obvious?”  Geez, isn’t he a ball of sunshine this morning, Dawn thinks sarcastically.“I just don’t get one thing.” “What now?” he asks, irritated now. She walks over to Paul, balancing their food in her hands before setting it on the table. “You accepted your loss with Wattson so easily but are determined to defeat Flannery. You’re not even fighting her for a badge. Why the rematch?” “Because I can,” he answers simply, and Dawn realizes that she will not be getting an answer out of him. As they eat in silence, she wonders what Paul’s motivation could be behind skipping a victory against Wattson. It is not until she retraces her steps to his original goal that she determines a potential reason. Brandon did not have Pokémon with Fire type moves. Who is to say that he might show up to his and Paul’s next battle with one? Suddenly, Paul pushes his plate and arises from his seat.  “I’ve waited long enough. We should visit Torterra now.” “Yes, of course.” Dawn quickly swallows down the last of her crepe and stands as well. Dawn could tell him that he could have gone to the Pokémon Center to visit Torterra without her, but she does not want to. A strange warmth spreads in her chest at the thought of him waiting for her. Does he know that she wants to see Torterra, too? Or does he want her there with him? “Thank you for the food,” he says quietly, breaking Dawn out of her thoughts. “I’ve never had anything like it before.” A slow blush creeps onto Dawn’s face, as she shyly looks down and collects their plates. “Of course. I’m happy you enjoyed it! It’s a Kalosian specialty.” “Phan, phan!” A plate immediately slips out of a startled Dawn’s hand. Before it can collide with the ground, however, Paul swoops in and catches it. He groans. “It’s just wildlife, Dawn. How could you be so careless?” he scolds, as he lifts himself from the ground. “We’d have to buy new plates with your contest money if you broke these.” On any other occasion, Dawn would not let his comment about replacing their china on her dime slide, but she is enraptured by the sound. She turns on her heel and steps towards the tree. Paul tries to call her back but halts as he sees her reach into her knapsack for a poffin. “Aha!” Dawn exclaims, as a Phanpy comes into view. “You were watching us all morning, weren’t you?” “Pi, Pi!” It makes a happy sound with its trunk. She holds up the poffin and throws it towards Phanpy.  “Pi!” Happily, it takes the snack.  Dawn uses this moment to grab a fresh Pokéball, but to her misfortune, Phanpy seems to take notice and scampers away with the poffin. Annoyed, she bemoans why it keeps coming to her if it doesn’t want to get caught. “It feels like a taunt.” “Don’t you have a Mamoswine already? You wouldn’t even need a Donophan,” Paul points out. She pouts. He may be right - it probably is not meant to be. He sighs and shakes his head. “We need to clean up and leave.” “R-Right!”  Dawn asks Paul about his strategy while they clean and pack everything into their backpacks. Gastrodoon will stay as an entrant, but Espeon was not strong enough to handle Flannery’s Pokémon, and Torterra is still injured, having not been able to combat his Ground type attacks against the Fire types.  “That leaves me needing two Pokémon since it’s a three-on-three battle.” Piplup suddenly leaps onto a boulder next to Paul. “Luuup.” “Huh? Piplup?”  “Pip, pippip, lup!” He waves his flippers towards Paul, and then himself. “Piplup.” “You . . . want to help Paul?” Dawn slowly realizes. It is very sweet of Piplup to offer, but Paul . . . using her Pokemon? Huh. She supposes that it is not too far fetched, considering she won the LaRousse City contest with his Luxio. Paul shakes his head. “Thanks, but no thanks. That would be an easy and unrealistic way out.” His phrasing confirms Dawn’s suspicions that this might be, in fact, about Brandon. Immediately, Torchic leaps up to the boulder next to Piplup. “Tor, torchic!” “Luuuup!” Piplup agrees suddenly. Paul stares at Torchic intently. “You want to participate?” he guesses. “Chic!” He nods eagerly. Dawn, seeing the hesitation on Paul’s face, interjects, “Come on, Paul! It would be a great way for Torchic to get some experience, don’t ya think?” He nods curtly. “Maybe so.” He gently places his palm on Torchic’s warm head as he focuses his attention on Dawn. “We can train Torchic with Quilava today and see if it can learn Dig. But that still leaves me needing another Pokémon.” “No need to worry,” she states cheerfully. “We’re done cleaning up, so we can go to the Pokémon Center now. We can visit Torterra, I can switch out a Pokémon for Quilava, and you can call Reggie and ask him to send a Pokémon over.” He nods, pleased at her suggestion. “Not a bad idea.” But their plans are slightly derailed when Dawn sees the same Phanpy outside of the Pokémon Center.  And this time she will not try to stall with a poffin. But before she even has the chance to reach for the Pokéball on her trainer’s belt, she hears Paul’s shout. “Go, Pokéball!” Almost in slow-motion, a Great Ball flies over her head and taps the Phanpy. Three shakes, and it is captured. She is momentarily stunned into place, unable to move, but as soon as realization registers, she whips her head around. “ You ,” she seethes at Paul, a finger pointed at his chest, “stole my Pokémon.” Paul shrugs, brushing past her to pick up Phanpy’s Pokéball. Dawn nearly growls at him. He tosses the ball in the air a few times, taunting her. “You were complaining that Phanpy is playing hard to get. You didn’t stop and think that it wants to come with me instead of you?” He sneers, sparking more anger within Dawn. “Why would it want to be with you?” Dawn is aghast at the idea. “It hasn’t expressed interest in you at all! I was the one feeding it poffins and trying to catch it.” Wordlessly, Paul releases Phanpy from the Pokéball. “Phi!” Phanpy cries in happiness and snuggles its tiny trunk against Paul’s legs, while he crosses his arms over his chest and smirks at Dawn. Leaving her and Piplup absolutely flabbergasted. Paul pulls out his Pokédex and analyzes his new Pokémon. “You are exactly what I was missing,” he mutters to himself. . “Torterra, please stay in your Pokéball and rest. There is no need to worry, I will win this.” Dawn hides a smirk at Paul’s inadvertent use of her catchphrase. Torterra lifts his head up weakly but his voice is strong. “Terra!” he insists with a grumble.  Paul rolls his eyes, but affectionately rubs his Pokémon’s shell. “I won’t fight you on it.” However, his wary eyes flit to Dawn. She is wearing that cheerleading outfit again. “If he feels unwell at any point, please have him return to his Pokéball.” “Got it.” She nods. “Good luck, Paul.” “Tor . . . torterra!” “Thanks.” Torterra watches the whole battle intently alongside Dawn, Piplup, Eevee, and Quilava. The fight goes well, with Gastrodoon taking out Torkoal, and Phanpy beating Flannery’s Magcargo named Meg. But an odd vision strikes Dawn towards the end of Paul’s battle against Flannery. It happens after Torchic digs up from the ground, when Flannery reflexively orders her Rapidash to use Flamethrower, and Paul has Torchic leap over Rapidash. That is when Torchic evolves. At that moment, Dawn does not see the result of pebbles and debris, from where Torchic, encased in a shining bright light, has dug up, flying into the flamethrower from the impact of Dig. Instead, she sees a dress, glowing brightly at the bodice - maybe with the help of lights. Its train is licked by flames of orange and red, encrusted strategically with crystals, creating an illusion of rolling down the flamethrower dress. And then, Combusken emerges from the luminescence. . “Stupid, troublesome girl,” Paul mutters under his breath. “Excuse me? You’re the stupid one who got us lost!” she bites back, nearly dropping the lantern in her hand. “I’m not arguing with you on this. I followed the shortcut.” He holds up the map with Flannery’s scrawl all over it. “Then why aren’t we out of this tunnel yet?” He grows silent, while Dawn mentally exclaims, Ha!  Dawn was hoping to make poffins tonight from some Liechi berries she saw and quietly picked from a tree outside the tunnel, but at this rate, it seems like they’ll have to spend the night in Rusturf Tunnel.  She suppresses a shudder at the thought of sleeping in the dark, cold cave. Maybe they were better off going around through Mauville City to get to Verdanturf Town instead of taking an obscure shortcut . . . Paul suddenly grabs Dawn by her collar and pulls her towards a set of boulders. She struggles against him as he throws them both behind a boulderstone, with her back up against the rock and his body shielding hers. Their close proximity slightly unnerves Dawn. “What are you - “ “Shh.” He holds a finger up to his lips. “There are grunts up ahead,” he informs her quietly. In spite of the darkness, Dawn is surprised she is able to see his gray eyes shine with concern. Dawn’s head tilts towards the trail they were just on, and sure enough, she can hear faint, but angry voices. Understanding dawns her face. “Neo Team Aqua?” Dawn recalls their encounter with the grunts while traveling with Mr. Briney and Peeko. With Paul’s brows furrowed in confusion, he bends his torso around her and the boulder to get a glimpse ahead. “No, they look different. They’re dressed in red, but Team Magma disbanded a while ago. I wonder if these guys are a Neo Team Magma.” “Neo Team Magma?” she wonders aloud, prompting Paul to shush her again. “Be quiet!” “Sorry!” she whispers back sheepishly, as they hear the crunch of footsteps against gravel.  Paul and Dawn exchange a glance before they both peer over to see. As Paul stated, figures dressed in red walk in a huddle. The male and female grunts that lead them seem to be in conversation. “Are we certain that the information about this green meteor is correct? Didn’t Primal Team Magma previously fail to carry out such a mission to erupt Mt. Chimney?” “Yes. Primal Magma was not able to retrieve the meteorite previously due to a professor destroying it. But this meteorite would hold the purpose of becoming a mega stone.” “Mega stone?” Dawn mouths to Paul quizzically, but he is lost in thought, so Dawn turns her head back towards the grunts. The male grunt is confused as well. “Why would Neo Team Magma need a mega stone? Groundon’s Primal Reversion can’t be done with a mega stone - we would need to retrieve the blue orb for that, no?” Dawn sees the female’s eyes glint evilly in the glow of the torch she holds. “The blue orb is already ours, but why not give ourselves the ability to mega evolve?” Suddenly, her face sours. “And we must do so quickly to get an edge over those buffoons, Neo Team Aqua, so we can rule over the land!” Dawn cannot hold back her gasp, and Paul sharply glares at her. “We have to do something to stop them!” she whispers hurriedly. Neo Team Aqua was much easier to handle, especially since they were on a boat, but these guys look like they will put up more of a fight. “It’s impossible.” He grits his teeth, helpless. “They’re five grunts and we’re only two people - we’d be outnumbered,” he mutters back. “It looks like they want to set up a camp here for the night.” “We have to get out of here before they see us!” Dawn stealthily takes a step back, mapping out the best way to escape without the grunts noticing. “Ach, achoo!” The grunts freeze. “What was that?” Dawn whirls to Paul, stunned. So much for him trying to shut her up.  “Really? You couldn’t hold back a sneeze?” she hisses. And he got irate with her for gasping a few moments ago. “I think I touched your Liechi berries,” he mumbles, pointing to the pouch sticking out of Dawn’s already stuffed knapsack. “When did you pick those up?” Another grunt speaks up. “Oh, if someone heard our plan, that would not be good at all.” “Before we got in the tunnel,” Dawn speaks quickly, irritated at why he is bringing it up when they should be getting out here. The grunts are already alarmed. He tries to clear his throat but fails. “I’m allergic,” he rasps, before letting out another sneeze. “Oh, Mew.” Dawn slaps a forehead to her head. “Who is there?” the voice of the female grunt calls out from behind the boulder. Oh, Mewtwo. They do not have many options left and the trepidation makes Dawn’s heart beat erratically. Her eyes flicker once to the direction of the grunt’s voice, once to the pathway from which the grunts came from, and finally lands on Paul, who nods once. Letting out a shriek, Dawn grabs his hand and bolts. “After them!” the grunt cries.  They hear the sound of running feet behind them, causing a spike of adrenaline that makes Dawn push her feet against the ground faster, with Paul catching up to her.  As they race away from the grunts, Dawn mentally lists out their Pokémon, trying to determine who can help them right now. Flying doesn’t seem to be an option, as the cave ceiling is too low. Her eyes quickly flit to the hand grasping the lantern, clattering from the fast movement. The flame is still intact, but she still has Quilava to replenish it in case it extinguishes.  They need to get Neo Team Magma off their tail and locate the exit fast to get Paul medical attention. Dawn sneaks a glance at him - he is not yet breaking out into hives, but the tip of his nose is a little red and his cheeks are a bit swollen. His hand that she has gripped onto tightly feels warm as well. As if he can read her thoughts, he pants out. “I have . . . a remedy that Reggie packed for me. It’s . . . somewhere in my backpack.”

“Oh, thank Arceus. You really . . . should have told me your allergies!” Maybe talking is not the best way to conserve breath while running, Dawn notes. “I’m sorry . . . I didn’t know it was part of Travel Partners 101!” he bites back, though he is breathless, too. “Whatever the case . . . we need to get somewhere safe!” But as soon as the words are out of her mouth, she falters. There is a mouth of a cave up ahead, leading to somewhere. But it is covered with rocks and boulders. Paul tugs on her hand upon seeing the panic on her face, before reaching into his pocket with his free hand and tossing out a Pokéball. “Phanpy, we need your help!” The Pokémon comes out with a cry, landing on Paul’s head. Paul points at the pile ahead of them. “Phanpy, keep on using bulldoze until those rocks loosen and fall.” Phanpy scampers ahead until it reaches the wall and leaps. “Phaaan, pi!” The ground shakes as Phanpy hits the ground, but the impact is only enough to shake the rocks on top. “Again!” Dawn glances behind her shoulder. “We’re not going to make it! They’re coming!” If only she had transported another Pokémon for Quilava instead of Mamoswine. Paul struggles to move some of the bottom boulders out of the way with his swollen hand, hoping to unsettle the foundation of the pile. “Please, Phanpy, once more!” “You can do this, Phanpy!” Dawn cheers, as she moves to kick and push away some rocks as well.  More boulders fall. Upon hearing the grunts coming in closer. Paul growls in frustration. “Espeon, standby!” “Espi!” He points to the big boulders Phanpy struggles to impact on top. “Use Psychic to move those and as many other boulders as you can!” The red gem on Espeon’s forehead glows brightly. Its body and some of the top boulders are encased in the same red aura, and to Dawn’s surprise, Espeon is able to move most of the top boulders out of the way, and they come rolling down, which Dawn, Phanpy, and Paul dodge. It does so a few more times before it collapses from fatigue and Paul has to call back the Pokémon to its Pokéball. “Thank you for your help. Time to rest.” He stares fondly at the Pokéball for a moment before returning its gaze back to Phanpy. Phanpy nods and leaps into the air to Bulldoze once more. And success! Phanpy is able to shake out a few more rocks at the top to reveal a view of the sky. “Yes!” Paul pumps his fist, made with his good hand, into the air. “This is the best we’re going to get,” Paul shouts, as he thanks Phanpy and has it return to its Pokéball, “so we’ll have to climb up and out.” Right then, the grunts surround them. Dawn is ready to call out her Pokémon for battle - even if they are outnumbered, they have to try and create a distraction and get out of there - but before she and Paul can get out their Pokéballs, a booming laugh echoes from behind the grunts. “Bwahahah, Maxie would be disappointed. You little runts aren’t even the real deal!” Everyone turns to the source of the voice. From the glow of the grunts’ torches, Dawn sees a large figure looming over them. “Fufufu, time for ye scurvy Neo knaves to face a keelhauling!" The mystery man waves them. “Get out of here, ye little scamps!” “Who are you?” Paul calls out. “But what about you?” Dawn cries. “I got these simps, girlie. Steer clear and keep yer nose clean, scamps. Now scram!” he shouts. He did not have to tell Paul and Dawn twice. They nod at him before turning to the boulders. Paul hoists himself a particularly big one, taking the lantern from Dawn and extending his hand to her.  Cursing herself for wearing a skirt, she takes his hand and lifts herself onto the rock.  Dawn waves at their savior, even if he cannot see her motion in the darkness. “Thank you!” she calls out. He does not answer, but guffaws to himself. . With the hand-me-down mortar and pestle she got from Brock, Dawn sits cross-legged on the ground to mash the Leppa berry leaves and the other ingredients Paul provided into a paste. Quilava sits beside her, his fiery body providing light for her. They are just on the outskirts of Verdanturf Town, but Dawn did not want to wait till they got to a Pokémon Center for Paul to have his remedy. His right hand was still so swollen and red. She holds up the mortar. “What do we do with this?” Paul sighs, kneeling down to be at equal level with Dawn, and holds his hand out. “I have to ingest some and leave the rest on my hand overnight.” So Paul takes a spoonful of the remedy, grimacing and shuddering as he swallows it down - Dawn stifles a laugh at that - and then, Dawn spreads the rest of the paste onto some Combee wax paper and wraps it around his hand. “And, voila!” she announces, after securing the paper around his hand with some of her hair ties. “Hopefully this helps, but I think we should ask Nurse Joy to check on it in a few hours.” It was already 10PM, giving them an hour to reach the Pokémon Center before curfew, and morning was not too far away. So they begin the walk to Verdanturf Town. They do not get very far when a man comes across their path. Quilava scuttles closer to the figure, so Dawn and Paul can get a look at who it is.  “Dawn!” Even in the darkness of the night, Dawn can recognize the voice. “It can’t be.” The man steps forward, and his face illuminates in the light of Quilava’s flame. “Yes, it is you, Dawn. I thought it was you! I have not seen you since the incident at Spear Pillar.” Spear Pillar? Paul takes note to question her about it later. “Looker!” she exclaims in surprise happily. “It’s great to see you again.” “What a pleasure to see you again as well.” He smiles at Paul as well, reminding Dawn that Looker and Paul are not acquainted with each other. “Oh! This is Paul, my travel companion. Paul, this is Looker - he is a member of the International Police.” International Police, huh? “Hello, Officer Looker.” Paul extends his good hand out to the officer. “Ah, hello.” The officer looks sheepish as he shakes Paul’s hand. “Looker is my codename.” His gaze flickers towards Paul’s wrapped hand. “Are you alright, Paul?” He nods, but cannot hide the embarrassment on his face. “Yes, just an allergic reaction.” His back straightens as he lets go of Looker’s hand. “Though, I’d like to bring your attention to something a little unrelated.” Huh? Dawn suddenly worries, what is he going to tell Looker? He nods eagerly. “Yes, yes, please do share.” “We had a run in with a band of grunts that call themselves Neo Team Magma tonight in Rusturf Tunnel.” Oh, of course! Looker is someone they should report tonight’s events to, being he is a member of the police. His eyes darken. “Neo Team Magma? In the Rusturf Tunnel? I should have known.” His words are clumped together so fast, Dawn almost does not register what he is saying. “Excuse me, I must take your leave now.” He moves to leave in the direction of the tunnel, Dawn grabs his arm. “Wait, Looker! They’re probably gone now. It’s been an hour since we escaped and someone in there was fighting them off while we were trying to get out of there.” Looker sighs in frustration. “So very close I was. I could have finished the job today itself.” He begins muttering to himself quickly, running a hand through his hair and pacing. “Excuse me, Officer Looker. May I ask a question?” Looker stops pacing and smiles politely at Paul. “Of course.” “What are these Neo teams about anyway? I thought Team Magma and Aqua had been put to a stop already.” Looker explains to them about the rise of the two teams after the heads, Maxie’s and Archie’s failures almost two years ago. Neo Team Aqua is in search of their leader, Archie, who has disappeared, and they are harmless for the most part, but Neo Team Magma wants to revive their missions and awaken Primal Groudon.  “I was in the area and had gotten some intel that they’d be meeting here tonight to hand off some meteorite, but I suppose I was wrong.” “Primal Groudon,” Paul says in awe. “That sounds very dangerous, Looker. If we can be of any help, please let us know.” Dawn’s shocked face is ignored by Paul as Looker chuckles. “I do have a  . . . trump card, if you will, up my sleeve. So it can and will be handled without me being needed when the time comes.” He smirks, almost like he knows an inside joke, to Dawn and Paul’s confusion. “But it is very kind of you to offer. Thank you.” He bows and Paul bows back. Officer Looker is kind enough to drive them in his car to the Pokémon Center, and also pay for their food at the restaurant attached to the Center. He bids them farewell, as he is leaving for Unova on another mission in a few hours.  . “I still can’t understand why you’re insisting on participating in only one contest. You and Luxio could have won Verdanturf if you entered.” Paul shakes his head. ““If you and Quilava lost in the finals, there’s no way I would have stood a chance.”  Dawn twists her fingers nervously as she walks beside him in the huge mall, feeling both flattered and nervous at how highly he thinks of her skills. She opens her mouth to counter his words when the rumble of a stomach growling interrupts. And it’s not hers this time. Dawn stops in her tracks, as her eyes flit to Paul, who wordlessly walks ahead.  He must be famished after his battle with Wattson. “Hey, Paul,” she calls out. He halts and turns around to Dawn. “Hm?” “Let’s get something to eat,” she suggests. He raises an eyebrow. “Yes, I assumed we were walking towards the food court before you stopped me.” “Huh? There’s a food court here, too?” Dawn is incredulous. This place truly has everything they could ever need.  He nods. “Every city, even indoor, needs dining. Wattson must have thought everything out. And May did say that Mauville Food Court has excellent food, did she not?” “Oh yeah.” Dawn slaps a palm to her forehead. “I totally forgot! She said the ramen was the best here.” And so, they eat lunch from Mauville Ramen Bowl. On any other day, Dawn is sure Paul would have jumped to battle the trainers challenging him for their seats while they waited for their food, but his loss to Wattson must have drained him whole. “Dawn,” Paul calls out suddenly, watching her messily slurp at her ramen. Wasn’t he the one famished and tired from his battle? He didn’t realize that she must have been hungry too after sitting through his long battle. She looks up from her bowl sheepishly, before setting it down on the table. “What’s up?” He leans back in his chair and crosses his arms over his chest. “While we’re here, we should see if we can find a Dawn Stone for your new Kirlia.” “A Dawn Stone?” She is puzzled for a moment before realizing his misunderstanding. “No, Paul, Kirlia is female, not male . . . Though I’m starting to doubt the effectiveness of these evolution items anyway,” she grumbles to herself, looking away. Upon seeing Dawn’s frown, Paul states, “You’re still worried about Eevee.” She sighs and pushes her bowl away from herself, her eyes trained on the leftover floating vegetables in the broth. “He still hasn’t evolved yet. Your Eevee evolved so quickly with the sun shard, so why isn’t the moon shard working on mine?” “Professor Rowan and Cynthia did say to be patient,” he reminds. “I know,” she acquiesces, her shoulders dropping in resignation. “I was just hoping to have him evolve into Umbreon for my upcoming contests.” He shakes his head. “That won’t be a problem. Honchkrow can train with Eevee in the nights. When is your next contest?” Her eyes flit back to his, surprised by the kind gesture. “That would be great, thank you. The contest is two days from now in Slateport City,” she informs him. “And then comes the Rubello Town Contest.” She looks at him pointedly. He nods, silently affirming her last comment. “We’ll have to bike there tomorrow then.” Suddenly, he rises from his seat. “Are you done eating? I need to get a chore out of the way.” He grimaces, confusing Dawn. She sets down her chopsticks and her eyebrows furrow. “A chore?” An hour later, Dawn smiles wryly as Paul steps out of the fitting room. “Finally got too hot for the Sinnohan, huh?” Paul scowls, tugging at the collar of his new short sleeved shirt. “Damn the Hoenn sun,” he grumbles under his breath. “Pip lup,” Piplup moans in agreement, as his flipper reaches up to wipe the sweat off his face.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“This is crazy! I can’t believe you get to travel with Paul! I am super jealous! How did you go from spying on him during the Sinnoh League to being his travel buddy, anyway?” Dawn and Piplup, in her arms, scowl at Barry from across the booth. “I already told you, I was not spying!” Her eyes nervously sneak over to Paul, sitting next to her, but he thankfully does not seem to be taking Barry’s words seriously as he studies his book. “Suuure. But, hey! That doesn’t answer my question. You’ve got 10 seconds before I fine you big time! 10 . . . 9 . . .” Dawn rolls her eyes, but cannot hold back her smile. She did miss Barry - since they ran into him in here, the Slateport Pokémon Center, he has reminded her of all of the people she met while traveling in Sinnoh, and it makes her a little homesick. “8, 7, 6, 5, . . .” She looks over at Paul once more, this time to silently ask permission to tell Barry. Paul’s face is blank, but simply shrugs back, his eyes never leaving his book. Do what you want - I don’t care enough, she is certain he would say. So she turns back to Barry as his countdown reaches 2 and waves her palms in front of him. “Hey, no need to fine me!”  Piplup also leans forward and mimics her action, chirping.  “A couple of months ago, we ran into each other while we were on the cruise ride headed here, in Slateport. Paul told me he wanted to compete in the Rubello Town contest, so I’m helping him prepare for it.” Barry does not seem surprised, however. Instead, he purses his lips and tilts his head to the side in thought, before addressing Paul. “Huh, so you heard the rumor, too, huh?” Oh, that’s right! Barry was a participant of the Lily of the Valley Conference, too, so he must be privy to the same knowledge that Paul has about this Mew-forsaken contest. Paul has remained tight-lipped about the contest, but Dawn wonders if she can get any information out of Barry. Paul finally looks up from his book, setting it down on the table, and nods at Barry. “Yeah. Cynthia alluded to it as well. Are you going to compete?” To her surprise, Barry looks sheepish, but proceeds to quickly speak in one breath. “Originally no, but I made the last minute decision and came to Hoenn after Lucas convinced me.”  Dawn recognizes the name of Professor Rowan’s research assistants. “I didn’t have a lot of time, but Kenny prepped me as best as he could. Just got here today, actually . . . Hang on a sec,” he suddenly interjects, his brows furrowing together. “You said you guys ran into each other in Slateport City a couple of months ago. What are you still doing here?” “We’ve actually been traveling around the region. We’re here for a couple of days, and then we’re going to fly into Crossgate Town, and then make our way down to Rubello Town.” For once, Paul agreed this was a good way to spend Dawn’s contest money. It also helped that the Air Altaria tickets were so cheap compared to Sinnoh domestic airlines. “Paul’s been fighting gym leaders and I have been participating in contests. I actually participated in the Slateport Contest last night.” Paul nods towards Dawn. “She won,” he tells Barry quietly.  Barry smiles amicably and lets out a happy clap. “Oh, that’s great, Dawn! You’re catchin’ up to Kenny real fast.” Dawn resists the urge to blow a raspberry at Barry at the mention of her rivalry with Kenny, but Piplup, understanding his trainer’s feelings, does it for her. “Pip, pip, piplup!” It waves a flipper towards Barry before proudly puffing out his chest. With that, an idea suddenly strikes Dawn.“I bet I could teach you way more than Kenny did in the same amount of time.” Then, her lips stretch into a smirk as she leans forward towards Barry. “Actually, I will . . . if you tell me what’s the big deal about this contest anyway.” Paul pulls Dawn back by the shoulder and sharply glares at her. “Can’t you just mind your own business?” he says, exasperated, at the same time Barry says, “No can do!” She huffs impatiently at both boys. “Why not?” she demands Barry. Barry grins cheekily and places a finger over his lips. “League secret. Wouldn’t want to get fined, y’know. Why ruin the secret?”  She petulantly crosses her arms over her chest and looks away momentarily. “I thought you don’t know how to keep secrets,” she grumbles to herself, and she swears she almost hears Paul chuckle. Barry does not hear her and continues, his smile turning triumphant. “Plus, what kind of best friend would I be if I didn’t have faith in Kenny’s training? I still have a week to prepare and I’m not about to take help from the enemy, his rival!” Dawn shakes her head and sighs, while Paul listens silently. “Buuut, the three of us can do some practicing tomorrow morning before I head to Mauville.” She frowns. “Not tomorrow. Tonight,” she insists, finding herself risen from the booth. “I need to evolve my Eevee into Umbreon for the contest, so I have to practice all night. I can’t take chances in the daytime and have him evolve into Espeon.” Barry stands up, too, almost as quick as a blur. “Oh, you have no need to worry, Dawn. We’ll get your Eevee evolved into Umbreon tonight, or else you can fine me a million - no, two million Pokédollars!” Dawn smiles, pleased. “I’ll hold you to that. Thanks, Barry!” She reaches her hand out to high-five him, which he reciprocates eagerly. . Dawn wipes sweat forming above her brow, thankful she chose to wear a white tank top and denim shorts today. The weather is sweltering hot, with the high noon sun shining above them.  “Are you ready for the contest?” Across from her, Paul walks through their makeshift battlefield to meet her, battered from hours of early morning contest battles. They will have to get Torterra and Mamoswine will have to pave down the field later. “Yes.” He nods determinedly. She grins proudly. Her pupil, Paul, is ready to win the Rubello Town Pokémon Contest. He has worked so hard to get to this point, and though she wishes he had participated in some contests beforehand, he has picked up her teachings quite fast and has excelled in learning the ways of contest battling and combinations. When he approaches her, his lips stretch into a half-smile. “I look forward to facing you in the finals.” The blood drains from Dawn’s face. She has been dreading this moment - she was not going to tell him till the very last second and hoped that he would not ask or assume about her participation in the contest either. “I-I wasn’t planning on entering the contest, actually,” she stutters, her eyes averting his penetrating gaze. His stormy eyes flash with anger. “Why not?” He raises his voice, causing Dawn to flinch. Why is he so upset by this? Doesn’t he want to win the contest? “Um, the contest win seems so important to you,” she replies nervously, “and I don’t want to get in the way.”  “Hmph.” He crosses his arms over his chest and turns his face away. Guilt is quickly replaced by rising irritation in Dawn. “Come on, Paul, I’m only trying to help!” she snaps, taking a step towards him. “You’ve helped me enough,” he bites back, also moving closer to her. “Why are you getting mad?” “What a big ego.” “Excuse me?” “You really think you’re so high and mighty that you will get in the way of my victory. After all of the training, you still think so little of me?” Paul sneers, a finger pointed at her. “Listen well, you may have gotten to the finals of the Grand Festival, but ultimately you lost – ” Dawn’s mouth drops. “Excuse me?!” she repeats in disbelief. “- and you’ll lose again, to me at the contest. And then you can show me that ego of yours.” Dawn knows Paul. She knows he is goading her into participating in the contest. He has to be. She knows that he has accumulated enough respect for her as a teacher that he would normally never say anything like this.  So, she does not bother to reply, knowing that she will shout and say something she regrets. Instead, she turns promptly on her feet towards the direction of the Pokémon Center without looking back. She hears Paul let out a curse in a low voice, but does not stop strutting away. When she enters the Pokémon Center, Piplup lets itself out of its Pokéball. “Pip, lup!” He jumps into his trainer’s arms and Dawn hugs him tightly. “Oh, Piplup,” she moans, closing her eyes and swaying side-to-side with the Pokémon in her grasp. “Did you hear all of that? I was just trying to help him win.” “You already are, you troublesome girl.” Her eyes fly open to see Paul awkwardly standing in front of her, his hands in his pockets, shifting his weight.  “I . . . I apologize for yelling.” His voice is bashful. “I was not expecting to hear that news from you.” Dawn’s gaze turns downward. “I’m sorry, too,” she apologizes, unable to keep the shame out of her voice. “I should have told you earlier that I wasn’t going to participate in the contest.” Paul’s eyebrows knit together in confusion. “I still don’t understand why. Do you not think I am capable of facing you? Do you believe I can’t do it?” Her eyes widen. “Not at all, Paul!” she exclaims, surprised by his thoughts. “You’ve learned so much and will be competing against coordinators who might be even more experienced than me. I just don’t want to add to the competition. I want you to win. I want to make all of your efforts worth it.” I want to never hear from you that traveling with me was a bad idea.  “But then where’s the challenge in that?” I’m not here for an easy win. I want to win fair and square. You not participating in the contest means you undermine my efforts and preparation.” “Paul . . .” His eyes hold hers in a steely gaze. “Listen closely, Dawn. If you don’t register, I won’t either.” His voice is icy. Dawn’s jaw slackens. “You can’t!” she protests, nearly dropping Piplup from her arms. “You worked so hard for this!” Piplup frantically waves at Paul, gasping. “Pip, lup pip!”  His chin juts out in defiance. “And, at any point, if you decide to forfeit, I will, too,” he warns. Finally, his gaze softens and he extends his palm towards her.  “Promise me you will participate to the end and won’t hold back.” Dawn sighs in resignation. She knows Paul does not bluff. “I promise.” In defeat, she places her hand on top of his to seal the deal. And so, they stand in line together to register for the contest. “Can I ask you something?” “Hmm?” “Why do you keep saying I’m troublesome?” Paul rolls his eyes. “Because you are troublesome.” She frowns. “Do I  . . . need to stop that?” she asks hesitantly. “Is it too much for you?” He purses his lips, but mirth fills his eyes. “Well, I am used to putting up with it now. You’re my teacher and I travel with you, so I have to deal with it, don’t I?” A sudden, sobering thought enters Dawn’s mind, and she remains silent. Paul shoots her a puzzled glance, but she is too lost in thought to notice. Finally, their turn comes.  This contest registration is a little different then most of the contests Dawn has ever registered for. Nurse Joy asks to see their contest passes, and though the database shows that Dawn’s is marked with participation from her previous Hoenn contests, Paul has nothing. This prompts Nurse Joy to ask Paul if he is a trainer, to which he responds yes. “As we are anticipating a huge volume of trainers to try and register for this contest, and we have limited entries available, we will require a coordinator with contest history from any region to state their relation to the trainer and sign a referral sheet to vouch for anyone who has not participated in previous contests. So, Dawn, are you willing to state your referral for Paul?” “Huh?” Dawn is completely bewildered by this. Such bizarre measures are being taken. What is going on? “A referral? Nurse Joy, doesn’t this seem a bit excessive? Aren’t contests open to all?” Paul arches an eyebrow. “What, you don’t want to sign for me?” Dawn huffs at Paul, exasperated, before politely turning to the nurse at the counter. “Nurse Joy, please give me the referral form for Paul.” Nurse Joy smiles back amicably. “Certainly.” She slides the paper to Dawn, who begins scanning the form. “I understand this may cause confusion especially amongst our coordinators, as this information was not revealed. Strong trainers who have participated in the last League circuits across the regions have been invited to join. This was a last minute rule added, due to the buzz amongst trainers, but we are only allowing trainers who have gotten their contest passes beforehand and have an experienced coordinator to vouch for them. This contest is a bit different and will be large, second to the Wallace Cup, with 25 coordinators and 25 trainers at most. I cannot reveal too much information, but our secret contest sponsor and Mr. Contesta want to examine and showcase the juxtaposition of competitive battling and coordination with a diversity of contestants.” “I had no idea . . . ” Dawn places her hands on her hips and turns to glower at Paul, who gives her a poker-face. “If only I had a travel partner, who comes from competitive battling and is competing in the contest, who could have told me.” Paul gives her a scowl. “Just sign the damn paper, Dawn.” So bossy. Dawn goes back to reading the paper, while Paul looks on. She fills out the appropriate information, such as name, nationality, address, contest history - which is painstaking as Dawn struggles to remember some of the dates of her contests in the Sinnoh circuit - along with some other information about herself as well as Paul.  Time Known Trainer: 1.5 years.  
Relation to Trainer:
 Dawn quickly glances at Paul before sliding her eyes back to the paper. Her instinct would be to say friend, but is that what their relationship is? He has never called her his friend, though she has not called him her friend either. But it does not feel right.   Friends feels too much, but then again, it feels not enough. They are traveling together, and are more used to each other than just friends, but best friends is not the correct relation either.  Too distant to define their relationship as friends, yet the intimacy of travel companions stops them to be called that. She feels Paul’s eyes burning a hole into her. Is he thinking the same as her? Is he wondering what she is going to write? Their relationship is not something that can be captured in a word, she finally decides, so she will write it the way that the world outside their bubble will understand. She inhales softly as her pen scratches the paper. 
Friend and Travel Companion.
 Dawn hears Paul let out a breath beside her and wonders what has been going through his mind, and it reminds her to breathe, too. She pushes the paper back to Nurse Joy, and she hands them the registration forms and some pens. They fill out the registration forms and are pleasantly surprised when Nurse Joy tells them that they are allowed to register three Pokémon for the contest.  Dawn finishes her forms quickly, already used to the process, and peers over at Paul’s papers to ensure he is writing out the information as specified in the fine print. “Your last name is Rebolledo?” Huh, not a Sinnohan last name, she notes.  Paul stiffens beside her. “Mind your own business, you troublesome girl.” She seems to have picked on a sensitive topic, but his tone is calm, and Dawn bites her lip to hide her smile at his subtle joke.  She chooses not to take the matter further, and instead focuses on something else.   “Now, you mentioned you wanted a simpler outfit for the contest?” “Simple,” he corrects. . “You tricked me into dressing up.” Dawn blinks, feigning surprise at Paul’s accusation. “No, why would you think that?” She knows why he would think that. They are surrounded by coordinators and trainers alike in the contestants lobby, and most of the trainers are dressed down. This excludes a few trainers such as Paul and Barry, who looks spiffy in a green doublet and matching slacks - which admittedly is a little short for Barry’s height. That, as well as the cravat with a brooch tied around his neck makes Dawn suspect this outfit is Kenny’s. Paul narrows his eyes at her. “Because you told me it was mandatory to dress up.” She shrugs innocently. “Yeah, it's mandatory if you’re studying with me.” “You didn’t make it mandatory for Ash when he was in the Jubilife Contest.” He watched that? It was her first contest and her first loss. “Most of the trainers here are wearing their regular clothing.” She raises an eyebrow, challenging him. “The trainers aren’t dressed up, but do you see the coordinators wearing cargo pants? Plus, Ash wasn’t spending months training to win,” she reminds him. “Today, you are a coordinator. You’re playing a part, so you have to dress for it.” “Fine.” Then he tugs on the suspenders and scowls. “But I still don’t get why I need these.” She giggles. “It is the perfect flair for the outfit!” “I feel like a retro, evil team boss,” he hisses. “You look fine, no need to worry.” Dawn will never admit it out loud, but Paul does look quite handsome and suave in the outfit. Her eyes roam his body to assess his getup once more - dress shoes, gray slacks, a white dress shirt, a teal tie, and suspenders.  
“Welcome all, to the Rubello Town Pokémon Contest. I am Vivian Meridian, and I will be your MC for today!”
 Everyone’s attention turns to the television as the opening ceremony begins. “Are you excited?” she asks Paul, her body nearly buzzing with exhilaration as she watches the screen. “No,” he says flatly. “Maybe when I get to face you, sure.” She rolls her eyes in response. 
“At this time we would like to present a very special, surprise guest, who will be a part of today’s judging panel. He needs no introduction - already taking the hearts of the region with his victories through the Elite Four, everyone please give a warm welcome to . . . Steven Stone!”
 Dawn lets out an audible gasp, and it echoes through the other contestants. Only a few people in the overcrowded contestant’s lobby do not show surprise, and it occurs to Dawn then that Paul and Barry are not the only competitive trainers competing today. 
“Our surprise judge has been gracious enough to include a surprise prize with today’s contest ribbon.” 
 It is as Dawn suspected, these trainers are all here for the prize Steven is offering.  She waits with bated breath, as Vivian Meridian suspensefully pauses before announcing the prize.  
“The winner of today’s contest will receive a Key Stone, notable to allow a Trainer’s Pokémon holding a mega stone to mega evolve, as well as the latest PokéNav Plus developed by Devon Corporation, who is also the sponsor of today’s contest!”
 The crowd is filled with awed murmurs. “Ah, so that is their secret sponsor,” Paul mutters. But Dawn is focused on the more pressing prize. A Key Stone? Isn’t that what Steven used to mega-evolve his Metagross that one time?  She turns to Paul, about to ask if he was already aware of this information and this is why he asked her to help him prepare for this contest, but she falters upon seeing his fierce gaze glued to the screen. That is the moment Dawn realizes she needs to lose. As if he has read her mind, Paul’s eyes snap to her widened ones and his expression hardens. “This is it. Don’t you dare hold back, Dawn,” he warns, reminding her of the promise she made to him.  She wants to withdraw from the contest and fight him on this, but she cannot break Paul’s trust in her, especially since it is the first promise between them. She swallows thickly. “I won’t. But I do hope you win.” . “Froslass, standby!” “Lass!” 
“Paul is a part of our few contestants today who comes from a trainer background. He is a national competitive trainer, winning 8 badges from Kanto, Johto, Sinnoh, and Hoenn, and has competed in league conferences from those regions.”
 Froslass was a last minute decision when Paul and Dawn discovered they could enter up to three Pokémon in the contest. “Froslass, use Ominous Wind!” “Lass,” she calls out, as she begins by waving its arms and letting out an Ominous Wind, to summon a flurry of an ethereal, swirling cyclone of purple wind.  As the wind whirls around, she gracefully dances among the whips of purple, creating an otherworldly and enchanting ambiance.  
“Look at Froslass go!”
 “Now, Blizzard.” So, Froslass whips up a dazzling snowstorm that combines the spectral purple ribbons and icy snowflakes for a breathtaking atmosphere. It thankfully is neither too cold for the spectators in the stadium, nor is it too hot to be melted by the Hoenn sun - Paul quickly learned that the first time he and Froslass battled Dawn - and instead provides a refreshing and beautiful burst of cool air. The audience bursts into cheers and applause and Vivian begins to speak, but Paul is not done yet.  “Time to end this! Froslass, use Will-O-Wisp, then Double Team!” This was a suggestion made by Dawn during one of their first training sessions, and now things are coming full circle. Within the backdrop of the Ominous Wind-Blizzard that slowly fades from the air, Froslass uses Double Team to create illusionary copies of herself, forming a circle. Each illusion holds a glowing Will-O-Wisp, creating an eerie, yet beautiful scene. Some snowflakes hit the flames, creating lovely bursts of purple mist. Vivian makes a comment, but Paul is too stunned by his own Froslass’s performance to pay attention.  She gracefully moves around the copies, and they slowly merge into one another, unveiling the real Froslass beneath a glittering, snowy, ghostly veil at the end. The crowd goes wild. The judges also have a positive reaction to his and Froslass’ performance. “Your choice of combinations gave a beautiful and spectacular display of Froslass’ dual Ghost and Ice typing.” “Remarkable!” Nurse Joy smiles amicably. “The glow on Froslass’ body at the end was beautiful - you must take good care of her. You and both were in complete sync with each other, something we did not plan to expect from the trainers.” Her hands clasp together in delight. “Well done!” Next to her, Steven Stone’s eyes shine with . . . pride? “As a fellow trainer, you’ve impressed me. You have set the bar quite high for not just the other trainers, but coordinators, too, Paul. I have watched many contests in preparation for today - I can say with certainty that you have done your homework and have performed no less than a seasoned coordinator. I look forward to seeing what else you and your Pokémon have in store for us today.” . By the time a confident Paul returns to the contest lobby and takes a seat next to a nearly vibrating Barry, both anxious and excited, it is Dawn’s turn for the Performance Stage. They watch on the small television as Dawn softly commands Kirlia to use Psybeam, to project a mesmerizing array of colorful, swirling lights across the stage. Kirlia then uses Calm Mind to create a serene and focused aura around itself, enhancing its elegance and poise. Suddenly, Dawn twirls something white and pink in her hand. Is that a baton? When did she bring that in? What is she planning? She tosses it to Kirlia, who leaps gracefully to catch it. Kirla then unfurls the long, shimmering pink ribbon tied to the baton and begins to dance with it, moving with fluidity and precision. She gracefully dances through the lights, twirling and spinning to create a dreamlike and enchanting atmosphere. The ribbon follows Kirlia's graceful movements, creating a mesmerizing and elegant performance that leaves the audience in awe. Dawn and Kirlia conclude the performance with a gentle curtsy, leaving the audience spellbound by Kirlia’s captivating display. “Spectacular!" Mr. Contestant's voice exclaims. “A psychedelic dream waltz done by Kirlia.” “So remarkable!” “Dawn, what an incredible use of the ribbon to highlight Kirlia’s movements, lithe like a ballerina!” Paul is surprised how Dawn and Kirlia made a ribbon go a long way. When he would watch contests or demonstrations, rarely anyone used a prop, and, today, he realizes it is because it is difficult to make it work. The ribbon was not the show, but an accessory to Kirlia and her waltz. “If I may ask, is your Kirlia male or female?” Steven’s question breaks Paul out his thoughts. “Oh, my Kirlia is a female,” Dawn’s soft voice answers back hesitantly. “As you may recall, today’s prize is a Key Stone. If you choose to evolve Kirlia into a Gardevoir, I can just imagine the grace and beauty of Kirlia amplified monumentally as a Mega-Gardevoir.” . The matchups are mapped across the screen, and it makes Paul wonder briefly if they have been rigged. Dawn is up against her rival, Ursula, while Paul is up against Barry. No matter the outcome of the semifinals, this would leave the final battle to be coordinator versus trainer. After wishing both boys good luck in their battle, and receiving the same from them both, Dawn excuses herself to go to the battlefield and start her preparation with Ursula. Meanwhile, Paul does not allow himself to even gloss over how surreal it feels to have made it this far, to have made it so close to earning himself a keystone, to have made it close enough to face Dawn in the final round.  He can think about all of that once he wins. Beside him, Barry chuckles. “I guess this makes us rivals in the coordinating world, too, huh, Paul?” Paul cocks his head to the side. “I don’t understand - this is only one battle between us.” The blond boy shrugs. “Sure, but this one battle has a lot of implications for our mentors. Dawn and Kenny are rivals and we learned about contests from them, so it is up to us to prove whose training can win this! I already told Kenny I’d fine him if I lost . . .” Barry prattles on, but Paul drones out his words, pensive. He cannot deny that Barry is right. It is a matter of pride on the line, both Paul’s and Dawn’s - his, to defend his teacher’s name, and hers, against her one of rivals. And so, he waits eagerly for his battle with Barry as they watch Dawn defeat her other rival. . “Thunder Wave across the stage!” Paul orders, a hand stretched out towards the battlefield before him. Luxio shocks the field with a wave of electricity, paralyzing Barry’s Roserade in the process. “Roserade, no!” Barry panics.  Paul resists smirking as he spies Barry’s points decreasing on the scoreboard. “Now, use Quick Attack with Spark!” Luxio starts by using its Electric-type move, Spark, to create a dazzling display of sparks and electricity around itself. “Please, Roserade, break out of it!” But Roserade struggles to lift itself up off the ground, the electricity still crackling around its body. Luxio starts to sprint, its body glowing from the Quick Attack, performing a lightning-fast dash across the stage and leaving streaks of sparks in its wake. Paul is confident in his victory - Barry’s points are significantly lower than his at this point, and there are only 30 seconds left on the clock - but he does not want to take any chances, as Barry started the battle with a huge lead over him with Roserade’s Magical Leaf, Petal Dance, and Grassy Terrain combination attack. “Time to end this! Discharge!” “Lux!” Luxio finishes by leaping into the air and using Discharge, releasing a brilliant burst of electricity that fills the stage with an electrifying atmosphere. “No, Roserade!” From below the stage, in the contestant’s lobby, Dawn watches Roserade faint on the television screen. “Roserade is unable to battle. That means, moving on to the final round, against Dawn, is Paul!”  She and Piplup cannot help cheer. Paul did it! He has made it to the final round! “Paul,” she hears Barry shout, “you better win against Dawn or else I'm gonna fine you!” On a normal day, she might complain to Barry that she will fine him for not cheering for her, but today, she does not want to win. In contrast to her thoughts, Paul replies, “You bet that I’m going to win.” . “Espeon, standby!” “Umbreon, spotlight!” The crowd murmurs in awe. 
“Espeon versus Umbreon, what a show starter! And look at those gorgeous blue rings on Dawn’s Umbreon!”
 From one side of the battle field, Dawn calls out to her opponent. “Good luck, Paul.” Her voice is hoarse from shouting on stage all day. “Good luck to you, too, Dawn. Don’t hold back,” he reminds.  “5 minutes on the clock, and time starts . . . now!” Vivian shouts. “Espeon, Psybeam!” Espeon starts by using Psybeam to create a shimmering and disorienting display of multicolored lights. “Umbreon, Dark Pulse.” “Light Screen!” This creates illusory barriers that shatters Umbreon’s beam of weaved dark energy, much to Dawn’s displeasure. 
“Incredible! Paul is off to a great start. How creative to use Light Screen with Psybeam! The effect is stunning!”
 Not wanting to waste a moment against a well-seasoned and talented coordinator as Dawn, Paul commands Espeon to use Future Sight. Espeon’s eyes and the gem on its forehead glow momentarily, but then nothing happens. “Huh? Hey, what kind of move is that?” Dawn wonders aloud, but realizes there is no time to stall. “Umbreon, Shadow Ball, quick!” As soon as Umbreon throws the Shadow Ball towards Espeon, its eyes glow again and a slight breeze hits the battlefield. The Shadow Ball is caught in the Light Screen, just as Dark Pulse did, and a sphere of rainbow colored energy suddenly hits Umbreon. “No, Umbreon!”   Paul looks on smugly. “You shouldn’t have used a move like Shadow Ball when Espeon still has Light Screen set up, you know?” His tone is mocking. Dawn feels the blood drain from her face as she hears the sound of her points getting deducted. “W-What was that?” Paul capitalizes on her confusion to strike again. “Now, Zen Headbutt!” Oh, no. “Spin and dodge!” But Espeon is too close for Umbreon to evade and attacks his brother.  “Bree,” her Pokémon moans, as he struggles to push himself off the ground. “Come on, Umbreon, you can do it!” Dawn encourages. Paul chooses that moment to explain his strategy. “Future Sight allows a Pokémon to foresee an attack, so I had Espeon use the move to predict Umbreon's movements and position itself strategically.” Dawn glares at Paul, but mentally takes a note to be more wary if he commands Future Sight again. Thankfully, Umbreon has gotten itself back up and has regained some stamina. After that, the battle moves in Dawn’s favor, Umbreon gaining strength to weaken Espeon more, but Paul has a knack for evading her combination moves and their points stay even.  “Espeon, Psychic!” “Es, pi!”  Dawn panics as Umbreon becomes encased in the same color glow as Espeon’s forehead gem. “No! Umbreon, break out of it and use Assurance on Espeon!” But it is too late. Umbreon cries out as it is lifted into the air. Thinking fast, Dawn orders her Pokémon to use Confuse Ray, and it does just the trick - his blue rings glow, and in combination with the red light from Psychic, a magenta light beams from its body and hits Espeon. Immediately, Umbreon is broken out of Espeon’s Psychic.  Vivian chimes in, much to Paul’s irritation. “What a beautiful way to display Umbreon’s rings and confuse Espeon at the same time!”  He groans. “Espeon, Future sight, again!” Much to his delight, Espeon’s confusion wears off immediately and is able to hear his command. Umbreon stills for a moment, until Dawn exclaims, “Bite through the Light Screen!” Umbreon sprints, its mouth opening wide and fangs glowing.  
“Look at that speed!”
 Paul commands his Espeon to counter, but Umbreon is much faster than his sister and bites through before leaping back to his side of the field. An exasperated growl escapes Paul. “Though Dawn had to deal with the Light Screen, Paul has two obvious disadvantages working against him - Umbreon’s type advantage over Espeon, and his limited coordinating experience versus Dawn’s.”  Hearing Vivian’s words, Paul snorts. “And one more obvious advantage I do have.” Dawn becomes wary. “And what’s that?” “I’ve seen you train. You taught me what I need to know, and I know your strats. Espeon, Psyshock!” Dawn’s breath nearly catches in her mouth. She panics as she needs to think quickly, until she realizes that she does not need to think at all. “Umbreon, take the Psyshock!” Paul’s face morphs into an expression of horror as he watches Umbreon try to tank the Psyshock with a grunt, resulting in purple sparks surrounding its body.  “Are you insane?” he nearly thunders almost tripping where he stands. “You’re just going to let Pokémon take the attack?” Yes, Dawn’s Umbreon is bulky in defense, but not as much as the average Umbreon. And even then, who is stupid enough to take the hit without a play like Bide?  “You don’t know all my strats.” She cheekily taps at her temple. “Some of my best strats come on the fly!” His eyes flicker to the scoreboard, but her points do not lower - what is up her sleeve? He does not have to wait long to find out the answer. To his utter surprise, Umbreon suddenly sprints and butts heads into Espeon, spreading the same jolts of purple to Paul’s Pokémon. “What the hell was that! What did you do to my Espeon?” “Don’t ‘cha know? Espeon and Umbreon have the ability Synchronize, so my Umbreon just reflected some of that mental damage from Psyshock back into Espeon.” “B-But that’s for status effects!” he sputters. “Oh?” She tilts her head, mocking confusion. “Look at our Pokémon. You wouldn’t call what’s happened to our Pokémon a status effect?” Paul nearly growls. “I don’t care enough. This needs to end now! Morning Sun and then Light Screen!” Suddenly, the stadium is blinded by the brightness of Morning Sun that soon turns into the color of sunset, thanks to the Light Screen. Beautiful. The visual plants an idea in Dawn at that moment. “Quick, counter with Moonlight and then use Swift into the sky!”  Umbreon uses Moonlight to create an eerie and enchanting aura, shrouding the stage in darkness momentarily before the stars of Swift light the sky. The result is Morning Sun and Moonlight finally settling together. The audience goes wild, captivated by the dance of light and darkness and stars.  
“How beautiful! The combination of Espeon and Umbreon’s attacks have created a solar eclipse in our very own contest hall!”
  Ping. Dawn gasps in surprise, while Paul grunts.  
“Oh, time is up!”
 Time already? They lock eyes momentarily before simultaneously whipping their heads to the screen glowing in the darkness. The solar eclipse their Pokémon have created starts to fade away, brightness slowly returning to the stadium. Dawn is not sure if it is because her vision is readjusting to the light, but the amount of points they both have left look so identical, she thinks that they could nearly be the same.  
“And the winner . . .”
 Dawn’s heart is pounding as she struggles to make sense of who has more points — was this how frantic she was when her battle against Zoey ended with time running out a few months ago? It is ironic now, because this time, she is hoping she has lost. 
“ . . . is Dawn!”
 Oh, Arceus . . . this is not how it was supposed to go. Vivian is supposed to be calling out Paul’s name right now.  Dawn just stole the victory from Paul. The last few months of his hard work, all down the drain, all because she participated. Her eyes are pricking with unshed tears, but she will be damned if she cries on national television.  She anxiously takes a peek at Paul. But he appears to be fine - no, not fine . . . he is smiling proudly. His hands raise to his chest and he starts applauding, with the rest of the stadium following, and walks towards her. Dawn can only respond to him with a weak smile. After calling their Pokémon to their Pokéballs, they meet in the middle of the battlefield, reminding him of yesterday after their training, right before he told her he hoped to face her finals and they argued over her participation in the contest. Paul does not know what to do now - admittedly, he has never watched any contest reruns to this point. Are they supposed to bow to each other? Should he shake her hand? But to his surprise, Dawn acts in a way even he knows is unconventional for contests: she pulls him in for an embrace. “I’m really sorry,” she mumbles tearfully, to his surprise. His hands raise slightly and hover over her back, but before he can assuage her worries, she releases herself from his arms. He carefully watches her take a deep breath and compose herself, before putting on a polite smile on her face for the approaching judges. Mr. Contesta shakes Paul’s hand and then Dawn’s. “This battle truly highlighted the unique qualities of Espeon and Umbreon and the dramatic interplay between their Psychic and Dark type abilities. It truly felt like a tasteful blend of competitive and contest battling. Well done to both of you.” “Thank you,” Paul and Dawn murmur together. Then they move to Mr. Sukizo. “Remarkable, absolutely remarkable!” he exclaims, fervently shaking Paul’s hand.  As he steps over to Nurse Joy and hears Mr. Suzika congratulating Dawn similarly, Paul wonders if the word is the only word in his dictionary, or if he means to exclusively use his catchphrase while speaking as some image stunt.  “That eclipse at the end was so wonderful! What a significant end to a battle between a coordinator and trainer - as different as the sun and moon, but both can prove themselves to produce a beautiful result when together!” Paul does not miss Dawn looking over at him shyly when Nurse Joy says that last part. Finally, Paul moves forward to shake Steven Stone’s hand. Steven commends Paul on his ability to nearly win this contest, with contest battles differing so vastly from competitive battling.  “I would have not believed that this was your first contest, Paul. Very well done.” Paul bows in gratitude. “It was thanks to Dawn’s help, actually, that I was able to make it to the finals.” His voice lowers to a murmur, so that Dawn does not catch his words. “She has been a mentor to me for the past few months. This victory is rightfully hers.” Steven appears to be delighted by his words. “To echo Mr. Sukizo - absolutely remarkable. Dawn has clearly taught you well.” The volume of his words matches Paul’s. “You were able to absorb that information and present such a beautiful performance today. I was hoping to see that amongst the trainers, and you proved that today. Thank you.” “Thank you,” Paul replies, before stepping away to the side of the battlefield to give Dawn and Steven the floor. “Congratulations, Dawn!” Steven fervently shakes Dawn’s hand. “I cannot think of another coordinator here today more deserving to win this contest and prize than you.” Dawn’s cheeks flush a delicate pink, but it is more from guilt than flattery. “Thank you so much.” Mr. Contesta comes forward and begins addressing the audience. “As you all know, this contest is a little unconventional, as we invited trainers across regions to participate. It was my intention to introduce these trainers to the world Pokémon contests and see how well they could perform. It is very rare we get to see the two worlds of contest and competitive battling collide. It just so happened that Mr. Joseph Stone, Steven’s father and head of the Devon corporation, approached me to sponsor a contest and award the prize of a PokéNav Plus. So I thought, why not combine these two ideas into one contest?” Steven jumps in. “I wanted to take it a step further. I had found a Key Stone in my previous expedition, and, when I found out my father was to sponsor a Pokémon contest, I discussed with them the impact of mega evolution on competitive battling, and how we can create an opportunity to impart mega evolution to coordinators and the world of Pokémon contests. That is the reason why I offered that Key Stone as a prize for this contest.” Nurse Joy and Mr. Sukizo approach, each holding trays with the prizes. Steven takes the green-striped ribbon from Nurse Joy’s tray and presents it to Dawn as the crowd bursts into applause and cheers.  Dawn steadies her fingers from trembling and takes the ribbon from him.  Steven does the same for the PokéNavPlus and a mesh, white pouch, in which a jagged, rainbow stone is apparent, before they all pose for a photo.  “Once we find you some mega stones, I’ll be anxious to see how you plan to proceed as a coordinator with the ability to mega evolve!” Dawn prays silently that her guilt is not too palpable on her face. The press affairs following a victory usually do not take very long after the contest, but for Dawn, it seems to drag on forever this time, almost like a taunt. When she finally makes it down to the dressing room and faces Paul, she feels so sluggish and drained of energy. “Paul, I . . . ” She swallows thickly. The words are unable to reach her lips, so she simply holds out the pouch with the Key Stone to him. Paul’s eyes widen in realization. “Are you crazy?” He takes her hand and curls her fingers inward so that the pouch is clasped in her palm. “Dawn, this prize is rightfully yours,” he says softly. “It should have been yours.” Her voice breaks, and she feels wetness rolling down her cheek. Immediately, Paul wipes the stray tear away with a swipe of his thumb. “Not at all. Didn’t you hear Steven? The point of this prize is to allow coordinators - ” “Oh, I so hope that I’m not interrupting anything important.”  Startled by the voice, Dawn and Paul break away from each other. Dawn turns her face momentarily to sneakily brush the tears off her cheeks before facing the source of the voice. Ursula leans against the doorframe with her arms crossed over her chest.  Paul narrows his eyes at her. “You’re already interrupting.” His voice is stiff. “I thought you had hugged it all out already on stage.” A haughty smile plays on her lips. “Hm, so you’re Paul . . . The contest is over, so why is such a strong trainer like you still roaming with the likes of Deedee?” Apart from her words, there is something in her more-than-usual saccharine voice that pricks Dawn in irritation. “Deedee?” Paul’s brows furrow in confusion. “Who is that?” “Excuse me, Ursula!” Dawn butts in. Deedee was not a nickname that bothered her as it did in the past, but she does not need Paul to learn about it, too. Paul sighs and rolls his eyes. Were he and Ash this bad? He feels a headache coming on. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”  Without any prelude, he takes her by the hand and leads them out of the dressing room, much to Ursula’s bewilderment. “W-Wait!” she splutters. “I wasn’t finished talking!” . 
“Well, I am used to putting up with it now. You’re my teacher and I travel with you, so I have to deal with it, don’t I?”
 It was a seed of worry, planted in Dawn’s head at the time. But now the worry has grown into tangled vines, weaved into thoughts and worries that all root to the same question. What is going to happen now?  
“The contest is over, so why is such a strong trainer like you still roaming with the likes of Deedee?”
 Paul asked Dawn to travel with him and prepare him for the Rubello Town Contest, which ended in Paul’s loss and her victory, so now what? Is this the end of her journey with Paul?  She has gotten so used to having him around, and genuinely has enjoyed having him as a travel companion, even if the dynamic they share is different than her dynamic was with Ash and Brock.  “Hey, Dawn?” But why does it matter so much if they have to part ways? Every phase in life is timeboxed. Her time with Ash and Brock came to an end, and she moved on without much worry. Her time with Paul has now come to an end, and all she is doing is worrying? “Deedee?”  Paul’s quiet teasing breaks her out of her thoughts.  She blinks, but does not acknowledge the nickname.  He folds his arms over his chest and leans back against the side of the Rubello Town Pokémon Center. “Aren’t you always saying, ‘No need to worry?’”  “Huh?” She wonders for a moment if she spoke aloud while thinking. “Yeah, so?” A ghost of a smile appears on his face, surprising Dawn. “You’re terrible at following your own words. What’s wrong?” He has been in high - well, higher than usual - spirits, since their post-contest celebration last night. Dawn frowns. “Paul . . . the Rubello Contest is over, so what now?” She wrings at the edge of her shirt nervously as she awaits his answer. He purses his lips as he ponders. “I . . . need to schedule a battle with Winona.” He does not seem to catch the double meaning in her words.  “Oh,” she responds dejectedly, letting out a breath she does not realize she was holding. Well, it was to be expected that their journey together would end after the contest. Maybe she would visit Mt. Chimney.  “I had to fight her three times before I won against her the first time. This time around, I am thinking of using Froslass, Aggron, and, instead of Electivire, I’ll use Luxio - I want to give him an opportunity to explore competitive battling.” “Yeah . . . ” Maybe she could go to the Berry Master and his huge garden. She would be able to travel with Paul for a little bit longer before he would have to go up Route 119 to get to Fortree City. And it is on the way to Purika City, too, site of her next contest.  “. . . so, I’ll need to train with Honchkrow and Togekiss.”  “Yeah,” she replies again absentmindedly, at least until his previous words actually register.  Her breath hitches upon realization. “Togekiss?” Her voice is a rasp.  Paul stares at her intently, before he looks away. “Yes.”  It is silent, but powerful, resounding . . . and all the confirmation she needs for her lips to stretch into a big grin. “Okay. You can train with Togekiss.” So, they do not have to part ways just yet. A faint smile twitches at the corner of his lips. “Appreciate it, Deedee.” She shoots him the dirtiest look she can manage. “Call me that again and Honchkrow misses out on his training date with Togekiss.” He rolls his eyes. “It’s just a crush. He’ll get over it.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Come on, don’t be like that. If you’re already discouraged about winning the next contest, how are you supposed to win?” 
 “I know. I just can’t help it. I lost the Purika City Pokémon Contest, so this is my last chance to get my fifth ribbon.”  
“Hey, don’t you always say ‘no need to worry’?”
 Next to Zoey, Candice appears, squeezing into the camera frame. “Candice, hi!” Dawn greets happily. 
“Hey, Dawn. Now what’s this I’m hearing about you worrying about losing a contest? You have a Key Stone, Dawn. You could crush your way into winning the Grand Festival if you’re able to mega-evolve!”
 The smile from Dawn’s face drops. “I . . . I don’t know if Zoey told you the whole story, but I am trying to give the Key Stone to Paul, actually. He is refusing to take it.” Candice purses her lips. “Zo-Zo did tell me, but I don’t agree with it. You earned it Dawn - that stone is yours . . .” Zoey rolls her eyes. “And we both also think he will not take it. You handing him a freebie is just going to hurt his pride.” Piplup, who is perched on Dawn’s shoulder, also chirps in agreement. Dawn lets out an elongated groan and bows in defeat, nearly dropping Piplup in the process. “I know.” She talks to them for a few mins, but as she ends the call, she hears a familiar voice in the booth next to her. She stretches up on her toes and peers over the divider, suppressing a gasp when she sees her neighbor and quickly retreating to her side of the booth. Piplup is equally as shocked and is unable to keep quiet. “Pip, pi - ” Dawn quickly cups her hand over her Pokémon’s beak. “Shh, don’t let him hear us, Piplup,” she whispers, before turning away and charging towards the couches, where her travel companion sits. “Paul, Paul!” she hisses as she approaches him. “Hm?” He looks up from Dawn’s new PokéNav Plus - he has been trying to figure out how to set up the Entry Call app for her, so that she can make calls directly off of her device. “What’s up?” Piplup leaps from Dawn’s arms and lands softly onto the coffee table in front of Paul. “Pip, pip, lup piplup!” He gestures his flippers from the booth to Dawn. “Lup, lup.” He waves his flippers in a flying motion. “Pip, piplup!” His flippers move to rest on his hips as he puffs his chest and stands proudly, and then waves frantically again towards the phone booths. “Pip, pip, lip!” he finishes with a chirp.  Paul stares blankly. “What?” An aghast Piplup’s chest deflates. “Lup, piplup, pip, lup!” Paul does not need to know Piplup’s tongue to understand the cause of the glum, dejected expression on his face: they have been traveling together for months and he still cannot understand Piplup half of the time. Dawn, accustomed to their daily banter, ignores their exchange and plops herself onto the sofa adjacent to Paul’s. “We saw Wallace, the Champion, in the booth next to us. I think he was talking to Winona. She seemed upset with him.” Paul shakes his head disapprovingly. “Your habit of eavesdropping hasn’t gone away.” Dawn feels scratched with irritation. “It is completely natural to overhear someone talking next to you!” “Dawn, I thought it was you.” Wallace’s suddenly gentle voice calls out, as Dawn and Paul turn where he approaches them.  And wouldn't you know? Speak of the Giratina, and the Giratina shall appear. “Ah, Paul, too. I am happy to see you are both still traveling with each other. How are you both?” Dawn and Paul both arise from their seats and shake Wallace’s hand. Before they can exchange pleasantries with Wallace, he interrupts them. “I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation next to my booth, Dawn, and I understand that you are worried about earning 5 ribbons on this circuit.”  In spite of her confusion, Dawn quickly flashes a smug, pointed look at Paul. Wallace does not seem to notice their exchange and continues speaking. “You can use your ribbon from the Wallace Cup in Sinnoh, since it’s in a different region’s circuit, if you’d like. It’s not conventional, but it is certainly not illegal.” She frowns. “I wasn’t aware, but I’d like to try to win Lilycove for myself.”  She withholds herself from admitting that she might not bother participating in the Grand Festival if she loses. It is bad enough she already has to deal with winning the Rubello Town Contest - it feels cheap to use another ribbon she feels was wrongly entered for the Grand Festival.  Wallace appears to be pleased by her answer. “Of course. You know, I was so pleased to see you both perform in the Rubello Town Pokémon Contest. Congratulations to you, Dawn, on your victory, and to you, Paul, on making it to the finals!” As Wallace raves about their final set of combinations in the final round, Paul remembers Wallaces comment, “Traveling with a coordinator is a splendid way to pick up new training techniques and help you see the different methods of raising Pokémon as well . . . I can tell that you are very determined to learn and better yourself.”   Perhaps, Wallace is thinking about it as well, as he says, “Truly, Paul, I am so impressed with how you battled and showed off your Pokémon in the contest.” Paul bows politely. “Thank you, Wallace.” Wallace smiles pleasantly. “I must admit that I am regretful that I did not get to see how your bond with your Torchic has grown, since I recall it taking such a liking to you in Littleroot. I would love to see you display everything that you’ve learned with Torchic in a battle with me.”  “My Combusken and I would be honored to battle you.” Wallace is a powerful trainer, and has not been awarded his Champion title for naught. Naturally, Paul and Combusken lose the fight to Wallace and Ludicolo. “It’s close to evolving. I feel so,” Wallace tells Paul after their battle. Paul stares at Wallace, puzzled. “How are you able to tell?” Wallace kneels to pat the top of Combusken’s head. “An important part about being a Champion is not just understanding people, but Pokémon as well.”  Paul considers Combusken for a moment as Wallace lifts himself off the ground and turns his attention to Dawn. “Dawn, the next Wallace Cup is four months from now, in Johto. It will be in Cherry Grove City,” he informs. Dawn lets out a small gasp. The Wallace Cup, already? “Oh, wow, has it already been eight months since the last one?” Wallace looks on wistfully. “Time slips away like a handful of sand from our fingers, doesn’t it?” They talk for a few more minutes, until Wallace bids them farewell. As the Champion of Hoenn walks away, Paul turns to Dawn with an unexpected question. “What did you hear Wallace say to Winona?” She might have exclaimed, “Ha!” to Paul, as even he cannot bite back the curiosity, but instead, a blush rises to her face. “Um, he was flirting with her.” “That’s it?” “Yeah . . .” There is no way Dawn is going to tell Paul that she heard Wallace dreamily sigh to Winona about the charisma of lovers with purple hair.   . When they finally reach Lilycove City, Dawn is surprised when Paul makes a beeline for the department store there. He immediately tries his hand at the lottery and surprisingly wins a Moomoo Milk. The onlooking spectators in the mall are happy for him, but he just grumbles out, “Thank you,” and stomps sulkily to the register to redeem his prize. Dawn follows him, hands on her hips as she tries to figure out what just went wrong.“Hey, you won, so what’s with the grumpy face?” “If I wanted a Moomoo Milk, I could just walk over to the café near my house in Sinnoh,” he mutters scornfully, as he hands the voucher to the cashier. She lets out a giggle. He is acting like a child who just found out his mother is making Crawdaunt claw stew for dinner. “Miltank is a rarity in Hoenn,” she reminds him. “Hoenn is turning into Sinnoh.” He growls frustratedly, as he thrusts the bottle of milk into her shopping tote. “First the RageCandyBars are all out, and now this.” Dawn wrinkles her nose in disgust. “A RageCandyBar? Paul, don’t tell me you have a sweet tooth for the ‘Cake of Rage,’ too?” “Actually,” the cashier interrupts, “some pirate came in here and bought the last of them. Like, just now.” “An actual pirate?” She raises herself on her toes to see a man in a blue bandana heading out, though something about him seems familiar . . .  “No, no, he was just dressed - ” But Paul has already taken off after the pirate. “H-Hey, Paul! Wait up!” Dawn hollers, running after him. Paul chases after the mystery customer, while Dawn chases after him. Finally, after a few minutes, the man stops in his tracks, realizing he is being followed, and Paul collides into his back with a force that hauls him to the ground.  “Paul!” Dawn gasps, as she finally catches up to him and helps him off the ground. The tall man turns around –  . . . To reveal himself as their savior from Rusturf tunnel.  The bandana, the darker-toned skin - it is exactly how Dawn remembers in the darkness of that cave. But something else about him seems so familiar, tugging at the edge of Dawn’s memory. Paul’s jaw drops. “You’re the guy from the tunnel. You saved us from Team - ” “Team Aqua!” Dawn realizes with a startled cry, recalling the news reports from last year. “Mew, you’re the boss of Team Aqua! Your name is Archie!” The man’s eyes widen in surprise, and in a quick movement, he grabs Dawn by the shoulders, spins her around, pulls her close, and covers her mouth with a minty-smelling cloth. “Dawn, no!” she hears, before the world goes black. . Dawn wakes up on a bed. To be more specific, she wakes up on a bed next to Paul. She wrenches upright with a gasp. Oh , her head feels heavy. Archie . . . must have drugged them. She quickly turns to her companion and shakes him awake. “Paul, Paul!” she hisses desperately, roughing pushing and pulling at his shoulders, until he finally stirs.  “Huh?” He blinks several times, before his eyes widen to meet Dawn’s. He immediately jumps out of the bed and looks around frantically. “W-Where are we?” He clutches at his head for a moment. “The RageCandyBars . . . Archie . . . he made us faint.” Dawn takes in her surroundings. They seem to be in a dingy motel room. The smell of mold and cigarettes is heady, wallpaper is peeling off the wall, and the ceiling is full of water stains. Even the bed they were on was full of scratchy sheets and was hardly comfortable. She spots the door, but momentarily fears what awaits them on the other side of it. She doesn’t know where they are, but she knows that Archie must have kidnapped them. “He took my trainer’s belt!” Paul rasps. Oh, no . . . they can’t leave their Pokémon behind. Dawn’s hands fly to her waist, but nothing is there. Her hands search her pockets. Empty. Archie must have stripped them both of their Pokéballs and belongings. Her eyes search the room once more until she sees their backpacks in the corner of the room, atop a dresser.  She steps forward to retrieve them, but the door flies open to reveal Giratina himself. The sudden movement startles her into taking a step back, right into Paul, who then holds her by the shoulders to steady her. They should be more concerned about the man in front of them, but she cannot help herself. “I didn’t realize you were so passionate about the RageCandyBars,” Dawn whispers to him, as she moves to stand side-by-side with him.  “I was hoping I would be rewarded with free RageCandyBars for life,” he mumbles flusteredly, as blood rises to his cheeks. “What?” If she and Paul were currently not hostages of the ex-boss of Team Aqua, she would belt out a laugh at the fact that his head is still probably spinning and is not making much sense. Archie chooses to step forward at that moment, and suddenly, the mirth has vanished. He scratches the back of his head awkwardly. “Apologies for makin’ ye scamps talk a caulk. Didn’t wanna do it, but yer said me name. We ain’t the bad guys anymore, but couldn’t risk exposure, ye see.”  He steps to the side to reveal another man in the room.  Paul identifies him immediately. “Maxie?” His voice is a murmur, but Dawn still catches it. “No way, from Team Magma?” Her voice is a whisper this time, ensuring not to make the same mistake that got them into this mess in the first place. Maxie does not say anything. Instead, he examines Dawn for the longest time, searching her face intently. His eyes are trained on her, like she’s an experiment waiting to be performed on, and it makes her uncomfortable.  Perhaps, Paul understands, as he takes her hand within his.   Archie rubs his jaws roughly with his palm. “Yer caught ye’self a good lad, lassie. I was only expectin’ him to hang the jib and cry, but he got a right hook better than me old metal one!” He lets out a hearty laugh. “Wanted to put up a real fight. Got ‘em Pokéballs out, too.” Paul tried to physically fight this giant mountain of a man? Her eyes flit to him as she tries to examine him for any injuries and he squeezes her hand reassuringly. He seems fine, thankfully, but she will have to ask him later, once they’re out of here. The question remains, though, how are they going to get out of here? “Can we leave now?” Paul asks point-blank. Dawn wonders if he has lost it, but to her surprise, Archie purses his lips and nods. “Aye. Yer free to set sail.” Before they have a chance to rejoice that they’re getting out of here, let alone even think about moving, Maxie takes his eyes off Dawn and turns to Archie. “No!” he suddenly snaps, raising a palm in the air. “She’s perfect!” “Excuse me?” “Um, yeah . . .” Dawn butts in, unable to hold back her surprise at Paul taking the words out of her mouth, “excuse us?”  Archie grunts. “What’s goin’ through yer head now, landlubber?” “You picked up these strays,” Maxie scoffs, “might as well make use of them before letting them back out into the wild. Now . . .” He points a finger at Dawn’s hair, taking a step forward. “You! Take off the beanie!” “Uh . . .” The fingers of her free hand twitch, and she slowly lifts them up to her head. “Don’t take it off, Dawn,” Paul orders, squeezing her hand holding his once again. But she takes the beanie off her head anyway. “It’s okay, Paul,” she reassures softly. They have her, Paul, and their Pokémon hostage, and taking off her beanie seems harmless enough. She closes her eyes and silently prays that, Arceus forbid, he just doesn’t ask her to take anything else off . . .  “You resemble a Magma Grunt so closely, it’s uncanny.” Her eyes fly open, and she realizes that she has been squeezing poor Paul’s hand off. She gently releases her grip on his hand. “ Huh ?” That is the last thing she expected to come out of his mouth. “Is that supposed to be an insult?” “Ah!” Archie’s eyes sparkle with recognition. “Yer sayin’ this fair maiden here would be the key to our cunning plan?” “Yes!” “Hold on. What are you guys talking about?” Paul warily crosses his arms over his chest. “What plan?” “Let her pose as a humble Neo Magma landlubber, blendin' with the crew, all the while plottin' to pilfer that precious orb from under their very noses.” Paul and Dawn share a knowing look. Neo Magma? “And why would I do that for you?” Her eyes narrow and her nostrils flare in contempt. “Stealing is illegal!” Maxie exhales sharply. “Not that you would believe us, but we are on the side of the law. Neo Magma must be stopped, and the only way to do so is to steal the blue orb from them.”  Paul wants none of it. “Are you insane?” he thunders. “Who knows what they’ll do to Dawn if she’s caught? We barely escaped Neo Team Magma the last time!”  “These Sinnohans,” Maxie begins muttering to himself, shaking his head, “always so rambunctious and fast. Just like Archie’s officer comrade.” Dawn perks up. Officer? He is not referring to Looker, is he? Archie sighs and rolls his eyes. “Listen, lad. We ain’t tryna put the lassie in danger. We just need her to go to the Harbor and grab the loot from ‘em landlubbers before it sails to the new headquarters. ‘sides, I saved ye once already, haven’t I? If her cover’s blown, I’ll be around, waitin’ to teach ‘em scurvy dogs a lesson.” Before Paul can object again, Dawn tugs on his arm and whispers, “I think Archie and Maxie are the trump card Looker was talking about. We owe it to him to help. And even Archie’s saved us once before, so shouldn’t we return the favor?”  Paul lets out a groan, before pointing to the suitcase where Archie pulled out a female grunt uniform. “Archie, do you have a male uniform in there?”  “Wait . . . what are you doing?” she questions, suddenly wary. “I’m coming with you,” he answers, as if it is the most obvious conclusion. Maxie clasps his hands together in delight. “Excellent!” he hisses. . “Aww, man! I was hoping for some more excitement than that!” Dawn laments, as they run back with Archie to the Lily Cove Motel. “What is wrong with you?” Paul counters back, unable to keep the disbelief out of his voice. “We don’t even have our Pokémon on us!” Their heist turns out to be quite uneventful. Archie, donning a ridiculous hat over his head and a coat much too thick for the Hoenn sun, escorts them to the Lilycove Harbor. He provides them with a decoy orb, which Dawn hides under her uniform jacket, and a key he stole from that night in the Rusturf Tunnel, informing them that as per his intel, the orb should be in a locked crate. They enter the harbor port mostly unnoticed. The Neo grunts do not suspect them one bit. Most of their adventure consists of quietly rummaging through the piles and piles of crates - which thankfully do well to hide them - unlocking the one locked crate, switching the orbs, and tucking the real one safely under Dawn’s uniform before exiting the harbor and discreetly handing it to Archie. Dawn is bummed about the lack of action on their end, but Paul is relieved they did not get caught and made it in one piece. When they finally make it through the motel room door, Dawn ignores whatever Maxie greets them with and sprints to the bathroom to practically tear the itchy uniform off. How do the grunts wear these all day? She could design and make much better uniforms than this. When she exits the bathroom, she sees that Paul has also changed into his usual clothing. Maxie stands by the door with their backpacks, trainer’s belts, and her PokéNav Plus, which they take back eagerly. Dawn cannot stop the flood of relief that spreads through her when her trainer belt is buckled back onto her waist. She missed her Pokémon way too much. “What is wrong?” Maxie’s question prompts Dawn’s eyes to flit to Paul, who is frowning at the two men. “It’s hard to imagine the former heads of Team Magma and Aqua working together, even if it’s for the greater good.” Maxie smirks, crossing his arms over his chest. “It wouldn’t be the first time.” "Aye! Maxie and I, we sailed together as comrades.” Archie’s eyes shine in reminiscence.“We were part of a crew devoted to preservin' the environment, protectin' the beauty of the land and sea alike. But alas, fate took a twist, and Maxie turned from a true sailor to a landlubber! Oh, the tales we could tell of our days as environmental stewards on the briny deep." “Those days started our rivalry.” Maxie’s grin is twisted, and it makes Dawn shudder. “Now, it’s your turn, Archie. Neo Magma was a greater threat, but you must convince Neo Aqua to cease their nonsense.” Archie is about to open his mouth, but freezes. His eyes slowly move to look at Paul and Dawn, who suddenly realize they are intruders in a private conversation.  He takes big steps and crosses over the room to them. He then reaches into his coat pocket and shoves something into Paul’s hands.  “Scram, little scamps,” is the last thing Dawn hears before she and Paul are pushed out of the hotel room. As the door slams behind them, she peers over to see what Archie gave him moments ago. Paul turns over the foil-covered bun in his hands. “A RageCandyBar!” he exclaims in awe. The excitement in his voice surprises Dawn, and she lets out a giggle. “Why are you so obsessed with them anyway?” He rolls his eyes. “It’s not a crime to like candy, Dawn.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Before the finals of the Lilycove Contest, Ursula approached Dawn in the fitting room.

“Let’s make ourselves a little deal, Deedee.” She folded her arms over her chest and smirked. “You win, and you can ask for whatever, but if I win, I steal your cute little traveling partner.”

A growl escaped Dawn’s lips. She was surprised by her own strong reaction, possessive. Of course, they both knew it was on Paul to decide from himself, but it did not stop them from fighting it out.
 
But now, Ursula is the one growling in the empty lobby, stomping her foot like a petulant, spoiled brat.
 
“It’s unfair!” she cries, uncharacteristic of her usual calm, smug nature. “You rob me of my fifth victory in the Hoenn circuit,

and

you get to keep your close traveling partner.”
 
Dawn wonders about Ursula's intentions with Paul - does she actually have an interest in him, or was the purpose of her bet just to break Dawn down?
 
Dawn blushes at another thought and begins to think how close indeed she and Paul are to each other. 
 
“Congratulations on your victory, Dawn.” His gaze softens, and Dawn finds it striking how easy it is to stay looking into his eyes. “It was well-deserved.”
 
Paul addresses Ursula for the first time. “Paul.” He introduces herself with a nod. Dawn is secretly gleeful that he doesn’t add any pleasantries to it.
 
Ursula gapes at Paul for a moment and . . .

blushes

, before collecting herself. Instead of answering him, she turns to Dawn and sighs wistfully. “Your luck doesn’t seem to run out these days, Deedee.”
 
Dawn shakes her head, almost amazed at how thick Ursula’s skull is. “One of these days, you’ll see it’s far from luck - it’s the hard work of me and my Pokémon and the support of my friends and family.” She is proud at how calmly she is carrying herself.
 
“Yes . . .” Ursula’s eyes darken as they flicker to Paul briefly. “I’m slowly beginning to see the effects of your support system.” 
 
Dawn feels like her cheeks are going to burst into flames. She peeks at Paul but thankfully, he seems confused at Ursula’s insinuation.
 
Ursula simply shrugs. “Until next time then.” Without waiting for a response, she promptly turns around and walks away.
 
“What was she going on about?” Paul questions, once Ursula leaves, taking a step closer to Dawn.
 
Dawn waves it off. “Oh, you know how rivalries go,” she says airily, hoping he doesn’t read too much into it.
 
He narrows his eyes at her but thankfully doesn’t press it any further. ”Sure,

Deedee

.”
 
She huffs. “Out of all of the people, the last person I need to call me Deedee is you.’
 
Paul cannot hold back his smirk. “What are you going to do about it?” he taunts, taking a step closer towards her.
 
But a voice interrupts whatever reply Dawn is about to give him. 
 
“I didn’t believe it when Barry told me.”
 
Dawn and Paul turn to the source of the voice.
 
“Oh, it’s Kenny!”
 
Before Paul can feel irritation at the intrusion of the boy he knows as Dawn’s rival, another voice booms into the room.
 
“Hey, lassy! Great job out there!”
 
“Aah!” Kenny is trampled down to the ground with a thud as Archie marches into the dressing room.
 
Paul resists the urge to let out a chuckle.
 
Dawn gasps. “Oh, no, Kenny!” she cries out, but before she can move towards him, Archie’s eyes widen and he whirls to help Kenny up.
 
“Oh! Sorry, lil scamp. Didn’t see ye there.”
 
Maxie, who has trailed in behind Archie, lets out a grunt in disapproval. “Was it necessary to

run

backstage, Archie?” he rebukes. “We’re drawing unnecessary attention to ourselves.”
 
Dawn blinks. “Um, what are you two doing here?”
 
Archie grins wolfishly. “Couldn’t afford to miss the future generation setting sail towards the voyage of progress. We wanted to watch yer performance in the contest.”
 
It seems Dawn is surprised that Maxie does not object to his statement. Instead, Maxie quietly nods. “Thank you for your help.”
 
After Archie and Maxie bid the pair adieu and leave the dressing room, Paul notices Kenny is ready to fire off again.
 
“Deedee, I can’t - ”
 
“Hold your breath,” Paul quickly interrupts, his voice terse. “Dawn needs to change and we need to get out of here.”
 
Kenny grouses under his breath, as Dawn agrees and heads to the locker room to change out of her dress.
 
As Paul stands in tense silence with Kenny, his mind begins wandering to Kenny and Dawn’s relationship.
 
Dawn comes out of the dressing room shortly after.
 
Paul steps toward Dawn. “I know I said it earlier, but you were wonderful out there. Congratulations, again.” His eyes quickly flicker to Kenny, satisfied to see his face puckered up into a frown. 
 
Yeah, Paul is laying it on a little thick. Even Dawn must know the word “wonderful” is not in his dictionary, but he wanted to gauge Kenny’s reaction.
 
“Yeah, congrats, Deedee! You were great out there,” Kenny adds quickly, coming closer as well.
 
Dawn’s cheeks redden. “Oh stop it, you two. You’re making me blush.” So, maybe she did not notice what Paul was trying to do after all.
 
His suspicion is confirmed when they walk out of the Contest Hall and head towards the Pokémon Center, as Paul hides back a smile when Dawn grumbles, “

Wonderful

,” next to him.
 
Kenny, who walks ahead, slows his pace so he can be next to Dawn as well. “Hey, I have a bone to pick with you, Deedee.”
 
There is that nickname again. Deedee. The alias seems to get a rise out of Dawn sometimes, so Paul is sure it was not coined out of fondness; but considering Dawn, Kenny, and Ursula are all from Twinleaf Town, there seems to be some childhood affiliation to it. He makes a mental note to ask Dawn about it later.
 
“Huh? What’s up?”
 
“You said you were going to cheer Ash at the Sinnoh League! But now, you’re here, traveling with the guy who lost to Ash, even when I asked you to travel with me? That’s not fair, Dee Dee!”
 
“Kenny, Paul’s - ”

Paul smirks. “She’s here with me.”

“Oh, so, is she here because you lost to Ash?”

Paul’s stormy eyes blaze in fury. A flash of some indescribable emotion rushes through Dawn as he nearly growls, “She’s here with me because she wants to be!” It reminds her of the possessiveness she felt when Ursula set forth that bet yesterday before the finals.

They are suddenly in each other’s faces.

“I challenge you to a battle! Winner gets Dawn to travel with them!” Kenny smirks, leaning back. “Of course, that will be me, since you’ll be easy to beat, anyway. I was able to beat Ash before, and if he beat you, this should be no problem, right, Empoleon?” He turns to his Pokémon, who cries out its name in agreement.

Paul grits his teeth. “You’re on.”
 
Dawn slides in between the two, extending her palms up to both sides. “Oh, no. There will be no battling tonight. I’m

starving

, and if I don't get to eat right now, it won't be a Pokémon on that battlefield kicking your butts!”

“That’s fine! Tomorrow morning. You and me, Paul,” Kenny adds quickly.
 
“Not again!” Dawn whines, as her rival sprints away from them and towards the Pokémon Center. She turns to Paul, hands on her hips. “What’s this all about?” she demands. She can understand Kenny’s childishness, but Paul, too? 
 
Paul raises an eyebrow. “Oh, you know how rivalries go,” he mocks. So, he hasn’t let go of yesterday’s exchange with Ursula.
 
“That’s different,” she snaps. “Ursula’s been my rival, and so has Kenny. How did

my

rival become

yours

when you’ve barely known him a day? And you can’t bet over me like this! I’m not going to – ” Dawn breaks off and suddenly shrieks as Paul grabs her arm and pulls her close to him, so that his mouth can hover over her ear.

“What - ”
 
“No need to worry,” he tells her. Dawn shivers at the sudden proximity to realize he stole her catchphrase again. “I’ll win, and then you’ll be able to go with whomever you want to go with.” She can almost feel his smug smile. “Though I’d hope you would save yourself the trouble of choosing to go off with

him

.”
 
She is unable to do nothing but nod dumbly. He is so,

so

close to Dawn that she’s holding her breath, and she feels light-headed . . .

“Good.” His hot breath washes over Dawn’s cheek, causing the blood to rush up there. Was he talking in her ear because Kenny’s nearby . . . or because he’s

not

nearby?
 
“Also . . . you’re wrong about Kenny,” he says softly. Cohesion slowly returns to Dawn as he pulls back. 
 
She blinks, still a little disoriented and confused by the mild attraction to Paul she just felt. “W-Wrong how?”
 
Paul looks back at the Pokémon Center, casting a shadow over half his face. “Kenny became a rival the moment he tried to stake a claim on you,” he says darkly. “It’s been barely a day, but he is trying to steal my traveling partner away from me. That makes him a rival.”
 
Paul must admit, Kenny is interesting to infuriate. 
 
He takes note of Kenny’s movement around Dawn all night - when she moves, he stumbles after her. It is not in a gravitational or symbiotic way, but in a lost Lillipup way. 
 
He does not find himself taking a liking to Kenny, apart from their new rivalry. His body language is often defensive every time Paul purposefully engages with Dawn, and he takes note of it for his battle with the boy tomorrow. 
 
On a normal night, Paul might be irritated at the fact that the Pokemon Center has only one room available for them, meant to be shared with up to 4 people, but Kenny’s sour face is enough to make up for it.
 
It gets even better, though, when they walk into the room to reveal two bunk beds.
 
“I call top bunk!” Dawn cries out, as she pushes past Paul and Kenny to run into the room and practically leap up to the top level of one of the beds. This is nothing new to Paul, as, during the rare occasions they have to share a room with a bunk bed, she always claims the top.
 
But before Kenny can run to claim the bed below Dawn, Paul springs into action. In a very uncharacteristic move, he immediately slings his bag off his back and chucks it onto the bunk beneath hers.
 
Dawn giggles sweetly, unaware, which stops Kenny from opening his mouth to protest. “Lucky you, Kenny! Poor Paul never gets a choice with me, but at least you get to pick the top or bottom bunk, huh?”
 
But Paul did get his choice, even if Dawn does not realize it.
 
“Yeah,” Kenny grumbles back, albeit a little more cheerful, as he moves to climb onto the opposing top bunk. “At least, I can be up here with you.”
 
Paul holds back a snort. The two bunks are on opposite sides of the room.
 
Regardless, a part of him cannot help but relish the jealousy radiating off of Kenny for the rest of the night.
 
The next morning, Kenny is up early, impatient to fight Paul.
 
Dawn wakes up at 10AM to see Kenny sitting at the table in the room.
 
She lets out a quiet, “Oh, brother.”
 
By the time she gets ready and steps out of the bathroom, Kenny is practically vibrating in the chair, his eyes trained on Dawn.
 
“C’mon, Deedee,” he moans. “It’s already almost 11 o’clock! When are we gonna battle if I don't wake him up now?”
 
“Shh!” Dawn sharply glares at Kenny, before her gaze softens at the sight over his shoulder. 
 
A sleeping Paul is nestled into his covers in the bottom level of their bunk bed. 
 
“Kenny,” she chides in a whisper, “let him sleep. He’s been training so hard for the Mossdeep Gym.”
 
Kenny appears crestfallen, and guilt pricks at Dawn. Of course, with their newfound rivalry, Kenny must be excited to battle Paul, even if she thinks they’re both acting stupid. 
 
Determined to cheer him up, Dawn takes a seat at the table. “So, what have you been up to these days, Kenny?” Her voice is soft, in hopes Paul will not hear her and arouse from his sleep.
 
Kenny beams at her. “I’m actually traveling to Kalos to try my hand at Pokémon Performing for Pokémon Showcases. I wanted to stop by Hoenn on the way and found you guys when I saw you participate in the Lilycove Contest.”
 
“Huh . . . What are Pokémon Showcases?” The name reminds her of contests.
 
Kenny shrugs. “Honestly, I’m not sure, but I’ve heard they are similar to contests. Kalos has recently started allowing males to sign up for Pokémon Showcases, too, so I want to try it."
 
“Kalos, huh?” The region holds some familiarity to Dawn, but it is not memorable enough. She only visited Kalos as a child, during her parents' attempt to have her explore her paternal roots. “That's great, Kenny!" She injects as much enthusiasm as she can into her voice, but the memory of her father in her childhood days overpowers her thoughts. "I think I’d like to travel through the region someday soon.”
 
Kenny’s eyes widen as he suddenly seems to remember something. “Oh yeah! How’d ya start traveling with Paul anyway? I didn’t realize it when I watched the Rubello Town Contest until Barry mentioned it to me later.”
 
Broken out of her trance, Dawn explains how they ran into each other on the ship ride to Slateport City, meeting Cynthia in Unova, and Paul’s motivation to start traveling with her to prepare for the Rubello Town Pokémon Contest. They go back and forth on the contest for a bit, including Barry’s last minute preparations and Dawn’s new Key Stone.
 
Right as Kenny tells Dawn that she is fully deserving of the Rubello City Contest ribbon and the Key Stone, Paul rouses from his sleep and stretches himself upright with a yawn.
 
“Morning, sleepyhead,” Dawn teases.
 
Paul scratches the back of his head absentmindedly. “You’re the one who should be exhausted from yesterday’s contest, not me.” His voice is thick with sleep. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”
 
“You deserved a nice rest after all your training.”
 
After a late breakfast, Kenny and Paul agree that it is time to battle, much to Dawn’s exasperation. As they make their way to the battlefield behind the Pokémon Center, a memory suddenly strikes Dawn.

“It must be weird to cheer for both sides,”

she remembers telling Barry at the Lily of the Valley Conference.

“Yeah, pretty weird!”

“Yeah . . .” She remembers sweat dropping, remembering that she wasn’t sure who to cheer for herself, wanting to cheer for both sides herself, after her conversation with Paul that morning.

Kenny is her friend and rival, but Paul has become a bit of a friend to her, too, and she does consider him close to her. 
 
“No pompoms?” Paul quips, breaking her out of her thoughts.
 
Dawn looks down at her attire reflexively. She chose not to wear the cheerleading outfit today and give anyone the wrong idea. “Thought you hated the pompoms?” She smirks back at him.
 
Kenny’s brows knit together curiously. “Don’t tell me you expect Deedee to wear a cheerleading outfit for your battles every time?”
 
Paul raises an eyebrow at Kenny. “Don’t tell me you don’t know that Dawn hates being called ‘Deedee.’ And not at all - she

chooses

to wear one for my battles.”
 
Dawn sweatdrops and waves her palms out at the two of them. “Now, now you two, there is no need to worry.” She chortles nervously, worrying that the battle will not be enough to stop them from killing each other. Geez, are she and Ursula really

this

bad? “Let’s not forget that I have my own brain and if I have a problem, I won’t shy away from saying it.”
 
Paul turns and nods dutifully at Dawn. “Of course.”
 
A blush rises to Kenny’s cheek as he defensively answers, “Yes, Dawn, I know that, too!”
 
The battle is one-on-one, with Paul’s Espeon versus Kenny’s Dragalge - a Pokémon Dawn has never seen before. It starts off in Paul’s favor, at least until Kenny and Dragalge, recognizing Espeon's psychic abilities, strategically time Dragalge’s moves to release toxic clouds just as Espeon attempts Psychic. The clouds absorb the psychic energy, creating a unique visual effect and neutralizing Espeon's attack.
 
Paul scowls. “I didn’t realize this was supposed to be a contest battle.”
 
Kenny grins back, crossing his arms over his chest. “You beat Barry, but can you beat me?”
 
“Grr.”
 
The battle goes on for a couple more minutes, with Paul and Kenny taunting each other from time-to-time. By the climax of the battle, both Pokémon are significantly weakened. Dawn, Piplup, Treecko, Empoleon, and Phanpy look on with bated breath.
 
But at the final leg of the battle, when both Pokémon are to the point of near exhaustion, something very interesting occurs.
 
Wild Pokémon in the area, drawn by the intense battle, make a brief appearance. A group of Aipom, Linoone, Gloom, and even a Kecleon appear.
 
“Perfect! Espeon, Psychic,” Paul commands.
 
Dawn, Kenny, and their Pokémon are all horrified as they think Paul has commanded Espeon to attack the wild Pokémon, but when Espeon’s eyes momentarily glow red, as well as the wildlife’s, nothing happens. At least, until some of the Pokémon grouped at the edge of the battle start acting

strange

.
 
Two Aipoms put on a display of acrobatic moves in the treetops, swinging between branches and creating a spectacle. Meanwhile, the wild Gloom releases an Aromatic Mist around Dragalge, creating a calming effect and causing its aggressiveness from battling to quell. 
 
At that moment, Paul commands Espeon to use Psyshock. Kenny tries to command Dragalge to dodge, but it is too distracted by the wild Pokémon to respond.
 
Kenny is floored. Not floored, he is awe-struck. It might have been a cheap move, but he is too astounded to complain. 
 
“W-Wow,” he stumbles out, “that was a weird play, Paul. I didn’t . . . wouldn’t have . . . who would have thought you could use a Pokémon’s psychic abilities like that?”
 
Dawn, too, is speechless. Hell, everyone is, except for Phanpy, who jumps up and down and cheers happily at its trainer’s victory. 
 
Paul shrugs. “It was an illegal move, and, I’ll admit, you might have won if I didn’t do that.” A hint of a smile touches his lips as he takes a step forward towards Kenny. “But I can’t afford to lose my travel partner, can I?”
 
A quiet, “Huh?” slips from Dawn’s lips as Kenny slowly smiles back at Paul. “Yeah,” he answers back good-naturedly, meeting him in the middle and shaking his hand, in a complete contrast to their antagonistic behavior towards each other. 
 
She and Piplup whip their heads to each other, aghast. What in Mew just happened between those two? Weren’t they trying to kill each other before?
 
“It was a good battle,” Paul tells Kenny, as Dawn and their Pokémon move from the log they were situated on to meet the two boys in the middle of the battlefield. “You and your Dragalge put up a good fight.”
 
“Likewise.” Kenny moves to retrieve his backpack and calls Empoleon back to its Pokéball. “I should get going.”
 
“Take care.” Paul nods.
 
Dawn frowns. The past few minutes have been such a whirlwind that his departure feels too sudden. “You’re leaving already?”
 
If Dawn doesn’t know any better, she would think that Kenny’s smile reaches too far into his eyes to mask some feeling of longing. “Yeah, I don’t have long before my flight to Kalos, so I want to explore Hoenn for as long as I can.” He tilts his head and smiles. “No need to worry, Dawn. Like you said, we have the same dream, and so, we’ll meet again.”
 
He extends his palm up to high-five Dawn, which she returns cheerfully.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“T-Two gym leaders?! A double battle!?” he splutters. Dawn rolls her eyes. If she can pinpoint one important thing about Paul from the months she has spent traveling with him, it would be that he loves to plan his strategies out. He loves to come into a major battle prepared. Their conversation from the night before Ash’s battle against Nando in the Lily of the Valley Conference comes to her mind. 
“I’ll bet I know how you base your picks,” Dawn asserted. “On your opponent’s strategy and type advantage!”

Paul faced her, his hard, gray eyes meeting hers. “You bet right,” he said, and she was surprised that he wasn't showing any snide to her as he had just done with Ash. "I look at the options and choose my three best Pokémon."
 He definitely was not prepared for this. Maybe Dawn should have worn her cheerleading outfit - it is the first time she has not worn it for his gym battle, and now, things seem to be going off course. Paul actually mocked her earlier today for not wearing it, to which she poked her tongue out and replied that it is in the laundry room of the Mossdeep Pokémon Center. Paul turns to look at her, a scowl marring his face. “This used to be a Steel-type gym, three-on-three, with one gym leader!” Dawn furrows her eyebrows. “But the board outside said it’s a Psychic-type gym." One of the gym leaders, Liz, smirks, with her hands on her hips. “Well, we’ve been here for a year now . . ." “And our double battle, Psychic-type gym has been well received!” Tate continues with a grin. “It seems that I’ll have to improvise,” Paul grumbles, as he reaches into his pocket to grab another Pokéball. “Hey, hold on.” All eyes flit to Dawn. “Excuse me, Tate, Liz. Would it be all right if I fight alongside Paul? It’s not really an official gym battle, so I can do that, right?” Tate shrugs. “The more . . .”  “The merrier!” Liz smiles encouragingly. “Great! Thank you!” she cheers, before she smiles amicably at them before giving Paul a questioning look. “Is it fine with you, Paul?” Paul sighs, resigned. “This should be interesting.” He throws his Pokéball up into the air. “Torterra, standby for battle!” “Torterra!” the Pokémon roars, landing onto the battlefield with a heavy stomp. Dawn smiles to herself. “Perfect! Umbreon, spotlight!” She sends out her Pokémon who comes out with a cry. He nods in approval at her choice of Pokémon. . “Ice Beam, Lunatone!" Paul’s jaw tightens, before he growls, “Lunatone knows ice beam?!” “No need to worry! I got this!” Dawn interjects, before she points at Lunatone. "Umbreon, jump onto Torterra’s back, now.” “Ah, I see. Torterra, frenzy plant!” Her Umbreon is fast - faster than Paul’s Espeon, of course, which cost him victory at the Rubello Town Pokémon Contest. He quickly leaps from Torterra’s glowing body onto the growing roots, using them as a path as he sprints toward Solrock. “Solrock, hidden power, quick!” At the last second, though, the spring in his step allows Umbreon to jump at Lunatone. Thankfully, Dawn learned her lesson with Light Screen at the Rubello Town Pokemon Contest against Paul and his Espeon, so she chooses a physical attacking move to cut through the barrier put up by Lunatone. “Night Slash!" "Cut through the Frenzy Plant with Leaf Storm!" When they win the battle, Dawn cheers and instinctively throws up her palm for a high-five, but she remembers that it is serious, grumpy, unfun Paul standing next to her. Embarrassed, she is about to put down her hand, but he surprisingly slaps it back - albeit, awkwardly - with his own flat palm, smirking slightly. “You guys make a good pair,” both twins echo together, causing Dawn and Paul to turn to face them. “Yes, we do.” Paul’s unexpected response causes Dawn’s cheeks to erupt into flames. Where is this coming from? .

“Come on, get up, you troublesome girl! We have to get to Sootopolis City!”  It is another morning of Dawn accidentally oversleeping and of Paul rushing her to get ready.  It’s nothing out of the ordinary - Paul used to even have Torchic peck her awake some mornings, in the early days of their journey - but he seems a little bit more frustrated today and Dawn chalks it up to his battle with Juan.  “I’m coming, I’m coming!” she calls out, pulling her beanie over her head and grabbing her knapsack, before she opens the door. But by the time they have hurried to the edge of Mossdeep City, it is too late. They have missed the ferry. Dawn wonders briefly if this means they have some time to visit Steven Stone’s house, which is nearby, but her reasoning is silly - it is not like he will have another Key Stone in hand for Paul. “Ugh!” Paul frustratedly runs a hand through her hair, before pointing at her. “You got us late, again!” Dawn scowls bitterly. “It’s not my fault you always book the morning ferries!” she argues. They quarrel for a few minutes until Paul lets out a frustrated groan and summons a shiny Lapras, which gracefully lands onto the water in front of them. Her irritation forgotten, Dawn stares at the Pokémon in awe, never having seen one in person. “She’s beautiful,” Dawn breathes. So purple and pretty. “Where did you catch her?” “Reggie sent it over this morning,” he answers softly, their tiff forgotten. He gently leaps onto Lapras, and extends a hand out to her. She climbs onto the Pokémon’s back and perches herself and Piplup in front of Paul, carefully to stay put between the shell’s spikes.  She pets the Lapras’ shell tenderly. “Thank you, Lapras. How did such a grump like Paul catch a cutie like you?” Paul rolls his eyes while she coos at his Pokémon. “By throwing my Pokéball at it in the Icefall Cave of Sevii Islands.” Lapras seems to enjoy Dawn’s attention, though. “Lap!” she responds back happily. “Lapras,” Paul instructs kindly, “Please take us to Sootopolis.” “Lap, lapras.” Dawn and Paul sit for the next half an hour in silence, taking in the breeze of the wind and gentle spray of the Hoenn waters as Lapras swims. At least, until a familiar feeling of tightness clutches at Dawn’s chest. “Augh,” she grunts softly, as her hand flies to her sternum. Panic strikes her as she recalls what happened the last time she felt this way. No . . . it can’t be in danger. This time, the feeling is warm, like a strong embrace, rather than the pain she felt previously. “Dawn.” She feels Paul’s warm hands clutch her shoulders, holding her upright. “What’s wrong?” “I . . . No need to worry.” How can she explain to him that she believes a Pokémon is calling to her? But where does it call her to? She looks at the ocean beyond Lapras, and something inside of her whispers, “Right.”  “Lapras!” she gasps throatily. “Please swim east of here. Please.” “What’s wrong? What are you doing?!”  “Piplup?” her Pokémon in her lap also questions. Dawn fishes into her skirt pocket to pull out her PokéNav Plus and open the map application. There is a cavern a mile up ahead in this direction. This must be where they have to go. She feels a gentle squeeze on her shoulders, breaking her out of her trance. Paul . “Dawn?” he calls out to her again, this time more calmly. “Are you alright? Where are you taking us?” “Paul, Piplup, please trust me! I need us to go that way!” She points in the direction Lapras is now headed. “It’s not too far off our course and I won’t take long. But I need to go!” “Okay, then,” he answers without hesitation, to her surprise, “lead the way.” She wants to turn around to look at his face and gauge his reaction, but refrains from doing so. When they reach an island cavern, Paul takes the PokéNav Plus she has been clutching tightly in her hands. It is not a hard task, considering she is so focused on running into the cave in front of them. He looks at the map app she had opened. Nameless Cavern. Why has she taken them to a place like this? Taken, actually, does not seem to cover it. If she intended to come here, she would have asked Paul to add it to their itinerary.  So, why was she suddenly led to this place? He and Piplup confusedly share a look before they follow her into the cave. It is cold - a pleasant surprise for Paul, a Sinnohan that loathes the Hoenn sun - and dark, prompting him to enable the flashlight on the PokéNav Plus. Suddenly, Paul feels a gust of wind lash at his face before sighting a strangely familiar shadow sneak by their silhouettes on the cavern floor. “Ah!” he hears Dawn gasp quietly. “Thank Arceus, you’re alright!” He almost does not catch the words. She appears to be filled with relief upon seeing the shadow. And then he remembers why the shadow seems familiar. Paul whips his head to Dawn, his widened eyes stunned. “Was that . . . Was that Mesprit!?” he sputters. “From the Sinnoh myths!?”  Dawn nods, and he remembers what Looker said when they first encountered him near Verdanturf Town. “What happened at Spear Pillar with you and Looker?” His voice holds an accusatory tone that pricks Dawn with annoyance. Why is he being so hot and cold with her? She narrows his eyes at him and places her hands on her hips. “You never answer any of my questions.” “So, answer me one question, and I’ll answer you one,” he proposes impatiently. Dawn purses her lips as she considers his offer. “Fine,” she concedes, before retelling the story of Team Galactic, the Lake Guardians, the Red Chain, and Dialga and Palkia. She also mentions the bond she, Ash, and Brock shared with the guardian trio. “Wow,” he breathes in amazement. “My turn,” she declares quickly, before he has a chance to comment and ask her follow-up questions to her story. There are so many answered and unanswered questions she has asked him in the past, and there are so many other things about him that she would love to know, but one memory stands out.  Hollow, dark eyes, full of rage and obsession.  “Why are you so . . . consumed with beating Brandon in battle?” Paul’s face turns to stone and as he turns away from her questioning gaze. She taps her foot impatiently and crosses her arms over her chest. “Well?” she demands. No answer again. He begins to walk away, inciting a sudden anger with Dawn. She knows the question teetered on personal territory, but it hurts that he still feels a need to be that careful around her. “Are you kidding me? You won’t tell me?” Her voice is incredulous. “I’ve been traveling with you for months and I still feel like I know nothing about you, while you know so much about me!” It’s a half lie, half truth, but not by Dawn’s own choice - she truly feels that she knows everything about him, and at the same time, still knows nothing. “It’s your own fault for revealing so much about yourself!” Paul replies harshly. “If you’re so upset now, you should have been careful like me.”  Unexpected tears prick at Dawn’s eyes. “What’s wrong with you!?” she shouts, instinctively taking a step forward. “Can you still not really trust me, Paul?” She feels a drop escape her eye. “Forget it,” she sniffs softly. Not wanting Paul to see anymore of her crying, she storms off toward the other side of the cave.  “Dawn, wait!” Paul steps forward after her as she stomps away, but Piplup leaps in front of his path. “Pip, pip, piplup!” he trills angrily, crossing his flippers over his chest. “It was a personal question!” Paul retorts, holding his hands up defensively. “She could have asked me anything else and I might have answered.” Piplup holds his two flippers in the air and curls them downwards to make quotation marks in the air. “'Lup?’” He glowers at Paul’s use of ‘might.’  Paul glares back. “Well, what if she asks another question that is too personal?” “Pip lup pip pip lup!” The Pokémon’s chirps echo throughout the cave. “Her troublesome self will only ask questions that are too personal for me!” “Lup, lup, piplup!” “I trusted her when she brought us here, didn’t I?” Piplup twitters and waves his limbs around for a full minute, passionately trying to argue some point, but Paul is too frustrated to express that he cannot not comprehend the Pokémon’s response.  “Agh, forget it!” he growls, as he walks around Piplup to follow the way Dawn went. Piplup sighs, resigned, before waddling behind him. They find her sniffling and perched on a rock behind a large, strangely-shaped, shallow pool of water. Paul might pay attention to it more if he is not more worried about the girl crying in front of him. Slowly, he approaches her, while Piplup jumps onto her shoulder. “Dawn, don’t cry . . . you know I like RageCandyBars,” he reminds her, his voice stiff with uncertainty. The only other girl he knows well enough is Maylene, and Reggie is the one who has dealt with her crying. Next to Dawn, Piplup subtly forms his flipper into what seems like his version of a thumbs up, his smile encouraging. Paul is not a fan of it. It is bad enough the little pipsqueak likes to spite him by purposefully wearing a cheerleader outfit along with Dawn (who does not see the mocking faces Piplup usually makes at Paul behind her back), and now he wants to offer suggestions to him? She huffs, making Paul forget everything else. “I don’t even know why you like them when you don’t seem to have a sweet tooth for anything else! You don’t even like sweet orange juice . . . just sour and with pulp.” She noticed something as minute as that? She is more observant than Paul originally took her for. “And that’s all I know about you. I asked you one question and you won’t even answer that?”   She’s being so silly, he wants to tell her. There are so many things about him that she knows, that he would never dream to reveal to anyone else. It is to a point where he feels vulnerable around her sometimes, so now, it does not sit with him to reveal more information than necessary. “I am sorry, but it’s too personal,” he answers gruffly instead. “Everything is too personal for you,” she complains. He feels a need to provide a peace offering for her to understand that it truly is not against her, and that she is someone he trusts. “ . . . I can reveal other information about myself.” She turns her face away. “There’s no need,” she answers tearfully, but her ears still perk up to listen.  He suppresses the unexpected urge to extend his hand out and touch her shoulder. “My mother was an architect,” he answers in a monotone, “and Reggie used to bring me RageCandyBars as a souvenir every time he came back home.”  The two facts Paul has just listed are unrelated to each other, so Dawn is surprised that he has shared not one, but two truths about himself.  His use of past tense when speaking about his mother does not escape her either. “I . . . I didn’t know,” Dawn says softly. Suddenly, she regrets being so nosy. She makes a mental note to try and make it up to him with a RageCandyBar - especially now knowing why he loves them so much. Paul’s voice is gruff when he answers. “No one does.”  Her smile is watery. “Thank you for telling me,” she whispers softly. “It must have been difficult for you to share that.” Her hands reach out to clasp his, and Paul suppresses a jolt. Her cold hands . . . they feel nice - too nice - in his warm ones. Unsurprisingly, Paul quickly retracts his hands - though, maybe more so than Dawn would assume. “We should get out of here.” As soon as the words are out of his mouth, a breeze blows over his head. His eyes follow the movement until he can make out the form of Mesprit hovering around him. “Ah . . . !” “Mesprit!” Dawn cries out happily, as Mesprit nuzzles the crook of her neck, and she pats it back lovingly. “You just wanted to meet again, didn’t you?” Piplup leaps up as Mesprit moves to float over him. “Pip, piplup!” he also cheers. As quickly as the legendary Pokémon comes, it disappears, filling the cavern with silence.  Dawn’s stomach growls loudly after that, so Paul suggests they get out of the cave and get to Sootopolis City. . Paul has been trying to strategically recover from his loss to Juan - he originally went into battle unprepared for the unconventional gym battlefield with two stages, and, Dawn has to admit, lost spectacularly. When Paul was informed of Juan’s rules of using the special water battlefield, he had to substitute Electivire and Torterra, his two trump Pokémon. They would have been too large to move around the floating platforms, so he made a last minute decision to call in Luxio and Espeon for the double battle, effectively messing up his strategy. Reggie, who has come to visit and support Paul in his rematch, tells Dawn that he struggled with Juan too - “Juan? I thought Wallace was always the gym leader before.” Dawn props her elbow onto the bistro table and leans forward. Reggie laughs sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. “I’m getting old. Juan used to be the gym leader before Wallace. He was his teacher and then handed his gym down to his best student, before taking it back after Wallace became Champion.”  Meanwhile, Paul, who has been scrawling into his notebook, clenches his jaw, seemingly frustrated by their chitchatting. “If you’re going to talk badly about someone, you should do it when they are not in hearing range,” he snaps. Dawn glares at him sharply. “You think I was talking badly about you?”  Reggie appears unfazed, simply chuckling to himself. Paul exhales softly. “I . . . I don’t know.” He goes back to writing on the page, holding down the page as the sea breeze threatens to push his thin notebook close. Dawn rolls her eyes. Here they sit, at the waterfront behind the café where they just ate lunch, and instead of taking in the beautiful view, Paul has his nose buried into his strategizing. Yet, the curiosity gets the better of her as she cranes her neck to get a peak at his notes.  Electivire Luxio
Froslass
Torterra Espeon
Gastrodon

Honchkrow

Wartortle
 Dawn watches, amazed, as Paul’s pencil moves across the opposing page to sketch an image of Juan’s two gym stages. Along with the drawing, his memory is impressive - Dawn would have not been able to remember the exact locations of the floating platforms and terrain changes. “You draw so well.” The compliment slips from her mouth unthinkingly. Reggie looks on proudly as well. “Our mother was good at drawing, too,” he shares, though his voice has dropped to nearly a wistful murmur. "She used to draw on napkins and leave them all around the house." “Oh yeah, you said she was an architect, right?”  As a suddenly blanched-face Paul sucks in a breath, Reggie cannot mask his surprise. “You know about that?” the older boy asks. Paul turns his face away to stare at the waterfront, for the first time since they have been here, and Dawn wonders if she made a mistake by bringing his mother up. “Y-Yeah, Paul told me recently. Sorry.” To her surprise, Reggie smiles fondly. “No need to apologize. I just didn't expect it to come out of Paul’s mouth. I don’t know how much he told you, but our mother was the head architect of the Pokétopia Project.” “Pokétopia?” Ah! Dawn recalls the night the ship passed by Pokétopia and the information Paul knew. Her eyes lock with his as she gazes at him pensively. “That’s really cool,” she replies absentmindedly. Reggie smiles softly before clearing his throat and declaring that he wants to teach Luxio Wild Charge for the rematch, so they leave their table and walk to the grassy terrain in front of the water. With the help of Dawn’s Grovyle, they are able to repeat the move until Luxio can master it. When Reggie instructs Paul to now have Luxio practice against his Bibarel, Dawn decides to return to their bistro table. To her surprise, she finds that Juan has taken Reggie’s seat and has been watching their training intensely. “Oh, hi, Juan. Staking out the competition?” she teases good-naturedly. The scrape of the iron bistro chair against the brick courtyard flooring pierces the air as she sits down across from him. He chuckles. "I hope it doesn't cause any inconvenience. I couldn't resist - the grace in Luxio's movements anchors me here. The elegance with which he performs resonates with the coordinator in me." Dawn finds herself agreeing with a nod. “I know that Luxio is Paul’s Pokémon, but I won the LaRousse contest on this circuit with Luxio - he was a dream to work with and responded wonderfully in the contest.” Truly, he was so wonderful to perform with. Paul was right when he said that Luxio has a natural inclination for contests, and Dawn meant it when she said she would love to perform with him again someday. "I've witnessed your performance in the Sinnoh Grand Festival.” This causes a blush to spread across Dawn’s cheeks. “Surely, your duo must have shone brilliantly on that stage. I must catch the televised replay! . . . Have you secured five ribbons from this circuit?" “Yes, I do.” In contrast to Juan’s grace, she clumsily reaches into her backpack and pulls out her ribbon case. She turns the case towards Juan, who pinches the lid open. His eyes sparkle as they take in every ribbon and his hands clasp together in delight. "Ah, your talent is truly exceptional. I notice the Rubello Town Pokémon Contest Ribbon as well. Impressive.”  Suddenly, the case in her hand weighs a hundred pounds heavier, and all she can manage is a meek smile in response.  “So, you must be gearing up for the Grand Festival now, am I correct? Can you feel the exhilaration of showcasing your skills on such a splendid stage?" Dawn hesitates for a moment, and it does not escape Juan. He kindly does not press her on it, but it feels rude not to answer. “I am excited, but . . . to be honest, I am also scared to lose again,” she admits quietly. At that moment, Paul’s eyes meet hers from across the grounds. She offers him a small smile, which he returns with an expressionless nod, and she suppresses a frown. "Dawn.” When her eyes meet Juan’s, she is surprised to find his expression fierce. “There is no disgrace in tasting defeat; it is a crucible that tempers one's strength. You see, I found myself partaking in three Grand Festivals, each an arduous journey, before the sweet victory graced my path.” He smiles, his eyes suddenly wistful. “Perhaps, your journey is meant to find that sweet victory in Hoenn. Perhaps, elsewhere. In the grand performance of your Pokémon journey, absorb wisdom with every step, ensuring both you and your cherished Pokémon revel in the joyous voyage." Dawn opens her mouth to answer, but a bright glow shines in front of the water. “Ah, how wonderful!” Juan exclaims, uncharacteristically knocking over his chair as he quickly stands. “Luxio is evolving!” From the white light growing in form, Luxray emerges. He stands tall and beautiful - it is awe-inspiring. “He’s grown into a beauty,” Juan murmurs next to Dawn, his gaze on the newly evolved Pokémon unwavering.  But Dawn’s eyes are not trained on Luxray anymore. For the first time in days, Paul appears to be relaxed and pleased.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

It is the day before the Hoenn Grand Festival. Dawn has been preparing with her Pokémon, battling against Reggie in the battlefield behind the Rustboro Pokémon Center. He has been giving her helpful tips on her combinations and has even helped her Piplup learn Ice Beam. “Let’s take a break,” Reggie suggests to Dawn, after an hour of training. “Okay!” She calls out for Piplup to get some rest as she recalls him back to his Pokéball. “Hey, Paul,” she then addresses their onlooker, who sits at a picnic bench nearby. “Do you want to train with me next? You haven’t started preparing for the Ever Grande Conference, yet.” Without even looking in her direction, Paul arises from his seat and steps toward the direction of the Pokémon Center. “I am not planning to participate,” he responds in a flat voice. “Huh? Why not? You have eight badges from the last time you competed in the Ever Grande Conference.” He stops for a moment before he looks over his shoulder. “I’m tired of beating around the bush.” Truly, she can hear the weariness in his voice. “I think it is time for me to fight Brandon.” “Oh,” she says lamely, unable to hold back her surprise. It feels like a rather sudden decision - he did not leave after the Rubello Town Contest to battle Brandon, so why would he go now? With a grunt, Paul announces that he is going inside the Pokémon Center to schedule his battle with the Battle Pyramid, leaving Dawn and Reggie behind. As he walks away, Dawn feels her chest sink in guilt, as the cold realization hits. He has not yet gone to defeat Brandon because of her . He has stayed here to cheer her on at the Grand Festival. Reggie seems to gauge the direction of her thoughts and addresses her immediately after her face drains of color. “Paul has fought in many Champion League conferences with the intention to win the Champion title before, but he's not the kind of guy who will fight in the Champion League again unless he really wants to be the Champion of that region. After Brandon, he fully plans on focusing on the Sinnoh league and defeating Cynthia, since it’s his native region.” Her guilt is temporarily suppressed by her surprise at Reggie’s words. Dawn has seen so much of Paul’s tunnel vision focused on beating Brandon that she has nearly forgotten up to this point of his aspirations to beat the Sinnoh League.  “Not that he didn’t do well,” she starts off, instantly regretting the sentence that is flowing from her mouth, “but do you think he could have done better at the Lily of the Valley Conference if it weren’t for . . . ” She trails off, almost fearful that her words can be twisted into an accusation. “My and his loss against Brandon clouding some part of his mind?” Reggie completes.  Dawn nods hesitantly. “Absolutely.” He nods firmly. “Brandon said it himself that Paul needs to control his emotions, and he is right. ” Reggie takes a seat at the picnic table, and gestures to Dawn to do the same. It rained the night before, but the wet, wooden bench does not bother her when she already has so much on her mind. “Though Paul has a lot to learn about himself and the world before he can be Champion of and to Sinnoh, I’m confident that he will be a good one when that time comes.” His voice is full of conviction.  Dawn, on the other hand, has trouble thinking of him as a Champion like Cynthia, since he’s so closed off and gruff. Dawn does not doubt his power one bit, but he is nothing like the current Champion, who loves and cares for people and Pokemon so much. “Paul is one of the most determined people I know, but I sometimes have trouble seeing it. Being Champion is such a big responsibility.”  No , she realizes as soon as the words are out of her mouth, recalling the many moments before and during their journey. The respect that has grown in his heart for Ash and Infernape, his relationship with Luxray, whom he originally disregarded upon catching, his help in putting a stop to Neo Team Magma . . . He does care for people and Pokémon, even if he does not show it outwardly. Even his relationship with her has changed monumentally since that first day on the ship -  Reggie speaks, interrupting her thoughts. “You know, if Paul truly felt like he was being held back by you and wanted to move on to battling Brandon, he would have left right after losing the Rubello Town Contest. He will never admit it, but he’s here because he wants to cheer you on and see you win the Grand Festival.”  She bites her lip nervously at the reminder of her initial turmoil, her hands falling from the table to her sides. “I wonder the same, but he’s been so closed off, especially for the past few days. I can never tell what he is thinking,” she confides in a whisper. “Have you ever confronted him about it?”  “Once, when we saw Mesprit at the Nameless Cavern, he was trying to ask me how I had a connection to it.”  “You guys, too, huh? Even I saw Uxie once at Lake Acuity.” Dawn is about to tell him about Ash and Brock, too, but he beats her to it. “Honestly, I still am in shock that Paul willingly told you about our mother.” Reggie purses his lips. “I know you think he is closed off, but you should understand how big it is that he has shared this with you.” “No . . .” Dawn feels chastened by her own guilt, as she lowers her eyes in shame. “That’s my fault. I pressured him to share something about himself with me, since I felt like I didn’t know him at all.” He shakes his head. “Not at all, Dawn. He could have told you anything else, but instead he chose to share the most personal piece of info he has to offer.” There is something in the tone of his voice that strikes Dawn as odd, but she cannot put her finger to it. “He must really trust you to tell you about our mom.” Dawn bites her tongue from protesting. How can she express to Reggie that though she feels the same, she also feels far from the opposite? How can she tell him that since that day in the cavern, she has been seeing remnants of the old Paul - the Paul she knew even before they started traveling together - coming back to her Paul right now? Does Reggie see it, too, the way Paul has been pushing her away and putting up those old walls? So, she chooses to stay quiet and nods. “If you say so.” Reggie’s eyes are glazed over, though, lost in thought. “Since Paul trusts you enough to tell you about our mother, I trust you enough to get something off my chest that Paul would never fess up, even to me.” “Um, sure, go ahead.” She leans in closer, pushing her elbows against the table to prop herself up, the nosy side of her curious to hear what Reggie has to share. She is sure that her equally as nosy little Piplup is probably straining to hear from inside his Pokéball as well. “When my mother died, I had to suspend my journey to raise Paul.” Though Paul is nowhere in sight, Reggie’s voice is low. “That’s why I never went back to beat Brandon and became a breeder instead. He was only a kid at the time, you know.” Dawn gapes. She knows that their mother has been referred to in past tense, but hearing it from Reggie still tightens her chest. “Reggie, I’m really sorry - ” “Thank you, Dawn.” His smile is tight, and Dawn opts against pushing her sympathy any more. “I’ve never held it against Paul, though I really think he blames himself for it.” Dawn is unable to suppress her curiosity at a moment like this. “Do you think that’s why he is so obsessed with beating Brandon?” Piplup is probably facepalming in his Pokéball at her insensitivity.  To her surprise, Reggie stiffens. “No,” he answers curtly. His eyes darken with a gloom that Dawn fails to understand. “ That , you’ll have to hear from him yourself.” She frowns, confused by his hostile reaction. Yes, her curiosity got the better of her, but her question should not have come across as that insensitive. She should apologize, but his reaction concerns her more. “Paul says it’s too personal to reveal.” Reggie looks away. “If he told you about our mother, it’s only a matter of time before he tells you about our fam - um, fairly simple history when it comes to battling Brandon.”  Huh ? But Dawn knows their history with battling Brandon, and it is pretty simple. Reggie lost to Brandon, who told him to work on finding a unique battle strategy. Paul had watched their battle as a novice trainer, and later decided to battle Brandon at Snowpoint City and lost, twice.  And now, he is determined to beat Brandon in battle, for only Mew - and Reggie - know what reason. . Later on, Reggie and Paul sit in their room as Dawn is out running errands, making last minute preparations. “I still can’t believe you told Dawn about Mom. You hate bringing her up.” Reggie’s tone is kind, but Paul still takes it the wrong way.  He slams a hand against the desk. “It just came out, okay?” he answers frustratedly, ignoring the stinging from the impact. “It won’t happen again.” “Actually, I think it should happen again,” Reggie responds calmly, a hand reaching over across the table to pat Paul’s reddening palm softly. “It would be nice for you to have someone to share these things with besides me.” “No, thanks. Let’s just keep this between ourselves.” “Come on, Paul. I share these things with Maylene.” Paul’s cheeks redden. “Reggie, Dawn is not my Maylene,” he whispers harshly, embarrassed by the insinuation. “You’ve forced Maylene into the family at this point.” Reggie crosses his arms over his chest and leans back in his seat. “Maylene is just my good friend - she is not my girlfriend or anything.” Yet , Paul adds mentally. “Dawn, on the other hand, you’ve been getting very close to.” With a sigh, Paul bows his head in defeat. As much as he wants to refute Reggie’s claim, he cannot deny it. “I hate to admit it, but I’m getting used to her,” he mutters. “Finally, you admit it!” Reggie grins, a strange glee alighting his eyes. “You say it like it’s a bad thing!” “Of course, it is!” he protests defensively. “She’ll distract me.” Paul has already admitted more than he should to Reggie - but he cannot explicitly tell his brother that he believes that his closeness for Dawn will eventually spiral out of control. “Has she distracted you thus far?” he asks knowingly. The tips of Paul’s ears feel hot. He hates when Reggie acts like this. “I could have defeated Brandon by now if I weren’t traveling with her for her contests,” he counters. Reggie arches an eyebrow. “So why didn’t you leave her after the Rubello Town Contest?” Paul is silent.  “Admit it, Paul. She’s been helping you learn new things and you enjoy her company. She’s far from a distraction." Looking out the room window, Paul watches Dawn feed her Umbreon a poffin on the field, as the twilight bleeds into evening, marked by Umbreon’s rings glowing a soft blue. Over the past few days, he nearly lost against Kenny, having to resort to a cheap play, he was not prepared for the Mossdeep Gym, nor the Sootopolis Gym, losing to Juan once, and, most importantly, he has been wasting time, losing sight of his goal to defeat Brandon, while aimlessly spending time with Dawn throughout Hoenn - as baffling as his sudden carelessness has been, it has opened his eyes to what no longer should be. “No.” His voice is tinged with regret. “But . . . she eventually will become one.” As the next few days unfold, though, Reggie might argue that Paul has been a distraction to Dawn. Not because he is a distraction and she is distracted by him, but because if anyone had any evidence of losing with the other’s presence, it is Dawn, as she loses - albeit, gracefully - the Hoenn Grand Festival in the Top 8. . “You’re Sinnohan, right?” Dawn tilts her head quizzically at Steven. “Yes . . .” A few days after the Grand Festival, Dawn and Paul stumbled upon some familiar faces while checking out the Devon Corporation building from the outside. Running into Steven was not a huge shock, as his father is the CEO of the company, but what surprises Dawn and Paul both was seeing Cynthia, the Sinnoh Champion, beside him. Of course, Paul could not resist asking Steven for a battle, seeing as he is planning to fight Brandon and Steven is scheduled to fight Wallace soon for the title of Hoenn Champion. Though Steven ended up beating Paul after using mega evolution, he was impressed by the risky moves Paul made.  Now, as Paul discusses his strategy for Brandon with Cynthia, Dawn and Steven sit in the Pokémon Center canteen, deciding to give them some privacy. "Excellent! I have gathered some Mega Stones from Sinnoh that I believe you might find beneficial.”  Dawn’s breath hitches. She was not prepared to think about using her Key Stone, let alone think about what Mega Stones she would need. “I can provide them to you tomorrow or so . . . I must warn you, though, they're quite rough, and the stones need to be smoothed down. I believe I mentioned the same for the Key Stone as well.” His tone is apologetic. “Unfortunately, I didn't have time to do it myself." “Um, actually, Steven, can I ask you something . . . off the record?” His brows raise in surprise, but thankfully, he humors her anyway. “Sure, go ahead.” “You said that the reason behind giving a keystone as a prize for the Rubello Contest was so that you could introduce mega-evolution to coordinators ,” she whispers, suddenly finding interest in a scuff on her pink boots. He nods. “Yes, that’s correct.” “So, the final round . . .” She bites her lower lip and sneaks a peek at Paul, who talks to Cynthia on the other side of the Pokémon Center.  “Ah.” Understanding dawns his face. “You’re worried that you and Paul did not have a fair fight.” She hesitantly looks up and nods at him. "There is no need to fret, Dawn,” he assures smoothly. “I'm not sure if Paul informed you, but every participant in the Champion League nationwide was aware that I would be awarding a Keystone. Although trainers were invited to compete, our confidence lay in the belief that a coordinator would be the one to claim the prize, given the distinct spirits of trainers and coordinators." Dawn holds her tongue at the assumption as she thinks of her old friend, Nando, who embraces the spirit of both - maybe she will discourse with Steven over that another day. "You may have observed that many trainers struggled to execute some of their combinations during the contest." “Yeah, most of the trainers were unprepared or had some of their performances fall flat. Only a few made it very far.” "See? Paul was the most prepared, benefiting from your guidance, and he made it as far as he did on his own that night. But in the end, the student couldn't defeat the master." Though Dawn knows it is not Steven’s intention, his words feel like a taunt. “I wasn’t planning to participate,” she confesses sheepishly, “but he threatened to withdraw if I didn’t. He would have won if I wasn’t competing against him.” Steven is pensive for a moment, before he laughs gently. “Um, what’s so funny about that?” She blushes a bright red, embarrassed that a candidate for Regional Champion is laughing in her face when she is expressing vulnerability before him. “I apologize, I’m not laughing at you.” He shakes his head amusedly. “I just find this all terribly ironic.”  “W-What do you mean?” "You're concerned that Paul had the odds stacked against him, but based on what you're telling me, he planned to level the playing field by compelling you to participate." . The end of Dawn and Paul’s journey together in Hoenn is decided by one phone call, all too quickly. Nurse Joy informs Dawn that she is getting a call from her mother, Johanna, whom Paul has spoken to a few times, so she goes quickly to receive the call, accompanied by Steven.  From the opposite side of the Pokémon Center lobby, Cynthia stands next to Paul, watching Dawn and Steven at the video phone booth. “There is just something about the blunets, wouldn’t you agree, Paul?” she teases light-heartedly.  “Um . . . ” Paul’s cheeks flush pink - he is speechless, unable to agree yet unable to deny - while Cynthia giggles almost girlishly. Well, at least his suspicion about Steven and Cynthia has been confirmed. Thankfully, Dawn and Steven walk over and save Paul from getting stuck in a very awkward conversation. Dawn informs them that some Sinnohan fashion celebrity, Paris, got in touch with her mother to invite Dawn to Unovan gym leader Elesa’s fashion event in Unova, but she will have to leave for the region right away. “When is your flight?” “Paris has booked it for tomorrow.” “Okay.” Okay? That’s all Paul has to say? Dawn searches his face for any trace of emotion, but all she sees is his normal, blank stare.  Can he not at least feel upset that she will miss his battle against Brandon? She knows that he has been acting weirdly distant for the past week, but she hoped that maybe he might feel upset for, at the very least, that reason, too.  Steven nudges her gently, reminding her that she and Paul are not alone. She swallows back her frustrations and does her best to avoid looking at Paul. “I'll arrange for someone from my father's office to send your items over tonight.” His voice is a low murmur. She nods. “Thank you,” she answers back quietly. “Of course.” She turns her attention to Cynthia, trying to ignore Paul’s eyes burning a hole into her. “I guess, that means I might see you in Unova?” Cynthia smiles, delighted. “Of course. Even when I’m not there, you are most welcome at my villa anytime.” . Dawn hangs up the receiver with a sigh. She originally called to inform her mother that she’d be sending over the Pokémon she caught in Hoenn, and wanted her mother to send over her Sinnoh Pokémon. Admitting the reason aloud made her feel silly, but, truly, she wants to show them the world, the ones she started her journey with. Thankfully, her mother thought it was a sweet gesture, but the conversation took a glum turn as she asked if Paul would be accompanying Dawn to Unova, and Dawn told her that he was not. Her mother’s last words from their call echo in her mind. “Oh, Dawn, sometimes, we have to journey on our own to learn ourselves. No need to worry. You’ll be alright.”    The lights are mostly off in the empty Pokémon Center lobby, being that it is past curfew. Dawn reaches into her pocket to fish out her PokéNav Plus and use the flashlight function on it, but her fingers touch soft silk instead. Curling her fingers around the object, she pulls out the pouch sent to her by Steven.  Unlike the Key Stone and the Rubello Town Contest ribbon, however, this pouch does not feel like a lead weight in her hands.  Maybe, just maybe, she can make the most of this gift from Steven. . Paul accompanies Dawn to the airport the next morning. Piplup is safely stowed away in his Pokéball, but since he is a Pokémon that meets the height and weight requirements for and has been registered as a Pokémon passenger, she will be allowed to release him once the plane has taken off. The air is forlorn, silent, tense, at least for Dawn. Her left fist, stuffed into her skirt pocket, curls tightly around the pouch with her parting gift to him. She can feel the sharpness dig into her palm. “Where’s Reggie?” “Something came up.” Strange. Reggie hasn’t come? She feels dismayed, and nearly offended. Did Paul tell him not to come? He has been pushing her away as it is, but now, he is asking Reggie to keep his distance, too? It almost feels as though a bandage is trying to be ripped off.  Dawn feels her throat tighten at the suspicion. When they reach the beginning of the line for the security check, she turns to bid him farewell. “Paul,” she begins with a deep breath, “I . . . I want to thank you for everything. You’ve taught me so much about Pokémon, battling, and about myself as a trainer. I-I . . . ” She hesitates. It was so much easier to say goodbye to Ash and Brock, with a simple ‘thank you.’ But it is different with Paul. She extends her free hand to shake his, but instead of shaking it with his own right hand, he holds her hand with his left and leads her ahead.  That, along with his quiet chuckle causes a small, “Huh?” to escape her lips.  “Wait, where are we going?” “You can’t get rid of me today, troublesome.” His lips twitch in humor. She blinks. “What do you mean?” He rolls his eyes and his hand now moves to grab her arm. “Come on.” He nods towards the line for the security check. Dawn is confused, but follows him anyway, at least until he pulls out a ticket of his own to present to the security agent. Braviary Unova, Flight BU467, just like Dawn. “Please move forward to the Security Screening,” the agent responds, as she hands them back their Poképasses and tickets.  Dawn is still confused, though. “What about your battle with Brandon?” But it doesn’t seem like she is going to get her answer just yet, as Paul gently tugs on Dawn’s arm so she can move forward. She doesn’t realize until then that she is holding up the line. He takes a few bins from the side and hands it to her.   Once they move forward to the start of the screening, Dawn unthinkingly leans on Paul for a moment so she can bend down to take off her boots. She stuffs her shoes, trainer’s belt, backpack, windbreaker, duffle into the bin and keeps her passport and ticket in her hand before walking into the body scanner. Once they both pass through, they grab their things and sit down on a bench to put their shoes back on. Dawn takes a mental inventory of her things - duffle, shoes, windbreaker, trainer’s belt, backpack, passport, ticket. She peers over at Paul to see that he is also settled, and sighs in relief that the screening is over. “If my battle with Wallace and Steven gave me any indication,” he finally answers, “I’m not prepared to defeat Brandon. Cynthia helped me to reach that conclusion yesterday. And I have yet to fight Unova’s gyms, anyway, so it would help to further train my Pokémon.”  “Wow.” Dawn pauses for a moment, processing this information. “So, you canceled the battle?”  He shakes his head once, before another smirk appears on his face. “He’s just going to be surprised to see a different challenger taking my place today.” She is confused for a moment until his oddly vague words from a few minutes ago ring in her mind. “No way! You mean Reggie!?” That means that Reggie is on a flight right now to the new Battle Frontier! She remembers seeing an Air Altaria booking confirmation in Paul’s hands earlier this morning - she assumed originally that it was his.  He nods. “Right. That’s why he wasn’t able to see us off today.” “Wow . . .” And then it finally hits her. Us ? “Wait! You’re flying with me to Unova?!” she exclaims, her heart warming and strangely feeling as though it wants to burst at the revelation. He treats her with a rare smile, which elicits a smile out of her, too. The Paul she knows has returned to her after the past few days of silence and distance. “Yes, I am.” 
End of Safe Travels, Part I: In Abundant Relations.