A New Dream

Poffin Partners: Dawn's POV

"Terra terra," Torterra said in his gravelly voice, tilting his huge head up to look at me. I knelt down gingerly on the grass and wrapped my bandaged arms around his head, careful to avoid the spikes that served as his ears.

"You're my hero, Torterra. Thanks for saving me and carrying me all the way here," I said and I heard a rumble coming from his throat that almost seemed like a rocky purr. Giggling slightly I pulled away and was not surprised to see a look of barely concealed disgust on Paul's face.

"If you're really grateful to him then you should help me clean the blood," Paul said gruffly, holding up the the red spotted cloth in his hand.

"Of course," I agreed, happy that Paul was letting me help. To my surprise Torterra grew out vines from his shoulders and wrapped them around my waist to gently lift me from the ground and placed me on my feet. "Thank you, Torterra. You are as nice is Paul is grumpy," I said loudly, smiling triumphantly when I saw the corner of Paul's mouth turn down in a scowl.

Without another word I walked over to Paul and took the cloth he handed to me. Working in silence Paul hosed down a section of Torterra's large shell that had a brown or red stain, then I would scrub it with the cloth and soap that Paul handed to me. After fifteen minutes my arm was getting sore but Torterra was almost back to normal.

"Can you spray just a little bit under the tree?" I asked Paul without looking over at him and suddenly my whole right side was deluged with a burst of water.

"Hey!" I cried out, jumping back from Torterra but the change of position on my knees proved too much, causing them to buckle and I fell gracelessly onto my back.

"I'm sorry!" Paul said and I felt my mouth drop open as I looked up at him and realized that he genuinely looked apologetic, even slightly panicked. "Did you hurt yourself?" Paul asked, dropping the hose in front of my feet like it had burned him.

"Ah, no, I'm okay," I answered, covering my mouth with my hand as I tried to hide my smile. Paul narrowed his eyes at me and folded his arms grumpily.

"Something funny?" he asked crossly. I lifted my other hand to cover my uncontrollable grin as I laid on the ground next to Torterra's large brown foot.

"N-no," I stuttered through my hands, imagining Paul's panicked face again and feeling my stomach clench up from trying not to laugh.

"I hate being laughed at," Paul stated with a glare. I swallowed hard, crossed my legs, and sat up so I could look up at him from a slightly less vulnerable position.

"I'm surprised anyone has dared to, to be honest," I replied with mirth. Paul blinked then twitched his head to the side to move his bangs out of his eyes.

"It's been a while," he admitted. 

I smiled, holding my right hand where my bandage had gotten soaked from his unintentional water gun attack with the hose. Paul regarded my outstretched hand for a minute like he thought it was an ekans waiting to strike. I waited patiently though, wondering why he was making such a big deal out of it even though he was the one who had made me fall. 

He must have come to the same conclusion because he scowled and took my hand in his larger one. To my surprise though he bent down and placed his other hand behind my shoulder, pulling me up gently so that I was only a few inches from his chest once I was standing. As soon as I was on my own feet though he removed his hand from my shoulder, let go of my right hand, and took several steps back from me.

"Thanks...?" I said, watching him curiously as he shrugged and turned his head to the side, not seeming to be looking at anything in particular. A short silence stretched between us and I heard a few pokemon calls coming from the forest surrounding Iki Town.