Chapter 48: Moving On
That next morning we woke up early, had a nice long breakfast to make sure we enjoyed our last non-camp meal, thanked Nurse Joy for all her help, and headed out the door.
Piplup walked next to Dawn, stretching his small body and yawning. Since Dawn had started wearing the splint, he had begun walking everywhere himself to avoid hurting Dawn further, though he was light enough to carry in one arm. Now that she had a backpack to carry, she really couldn't afford carrying her Pokemon's weight around as well. I just wondered how long it would take Piplup before he began complaining about his feet getting tired.
Dawn's eyes glowed in excitement as we started walking east.
"You look happy," I commented, glancing over at her. The sun was rising in front of us as if leading us forward, beckoning us to start our journey anew.
"I am happy." She beamed. "I was tired of being cooped up at the Pokemon Center. It's so nice outside and this just feels right, don't you think?"
Dawn's last words were said uncertainly and I wasn't sure of their meaning. But really, this moment felt absolutely perfect. We had a full day of walking ahead of us, the sun's warmth, a nice breezy day, a wonderful view- Beautifly were flying above the trees, and we had each other's company.
"Yeah. It feels right." I gave her a smile, realizing for the first time that the action had gotten far more frequent, and she smiled back.
We talked mostly about Pokemon training as we walked and I asked Dawn what else she wished to accomplish in Hoenn.
"I'd love to compete in the festival here sometime. I just need more ribbons, but I'm not in any hurry. You know, I've always really liked Swablu. I was thinking about catching one if we ever make it to where they live."
I nodded. "Swablu does seem like your type of Pokemon. We'll see what we can do some time."
She beamed at me and we covered the next mile or so in silence as the sun made its way through the sky.
"Hey, Paul?" Dawn asked.
"Hm?"
"If I was going to compete in another Contest anytime soon, would you come and watch again?"
I blinked in surprise. "Of course."
"Really?"
"Well, I did enjoy watching your performance. And taking part of the drama backstage," My mind flashed to what it'd felt like to punch Kenny, "had been entertaining."
She gave me a wry smile that seemed like a mix of disapproval and amusement.
We stopped for lunch off the side of the path under the shade of some oak trees, releasing our Pokemon and making sure they all had food before taking care of ourselves. I unwrapped some sandwiches, handing one to Dawn before sitting down. I pressed my back against a bulky trunk for support. Dawn settled a couple inches away from me.
Dawn quietly hummed to herself after finishing eating and I closed my eyes, listening intently. She really did have a nice voice and I thought back on the one time we'd played truth or dare (against my will, naturally) and I'd forced myself to compliment her singing.
"Do you know how to play any instruments?" I asked, opening my eyes.
She smiled ruefully. "My mom tried teaching me piano when I was little, but I wasn't interested. I can maybe pull off playing chopsticks."
I smirked.
"Hey, I want to give you something." Dawn pulled her bag in front of her and fishing through it with her right hand.
She found what she was looking for and gave it a tug, pulling a long, thin rectangular item out of her bag's depths. "It's a sketchbook, or notepad. Whatever you need it to be."
It was about fifty pages of blank white paper with a pencil attached to the top. I weighed it in my hands, curious as to why she'd want to give me anything in the first place, much less a sketchbook. "Is there some sort of occasion that I'm forgetting?"
"Nope. I'm just glad we're friends, is all."
I frowned at the word friends and shifted my face away from her so she couldn't see.
"You do like it, don't you?" Her tone was sad. She must have noticed my unease.
I forced a small smile. "I can use it to write down strategies and training schedules. Thank you, Dawn. It was very thoughtful of you."
I turned to face her. Dawn's lips turned up happily as she stared at me. A pang of confusion ran through me. What did she want from me?
I'm just glad we're friends, is all. Her words ran through my head. Just friends? Is that really all we were, what she wanted us to be?
Then why had she been acting so anxious lately? Was it because we were shifting into something else? Was her now calm demeanor caused by the return to normalcy, of us traveling?
Still, despite all that, she'd given me many things. Dawn had thrown me a birthday party, though it hadn't been necessary, complete with decorations, cake, and even my first ever birthday present. And now she'd given me a sketchbook, which I'd put to more use than she'd imagine. I was actually particularly good at drawing and enjoyed sitting in the quiet, patiently creating shapes and turning them into recognizable people and objects.
I concluded that the things I'd given her really didn't count- the rose, which I hadn't even paid for and hadn't even planned to give. I'd paid her medical bill, which wouldn't even have happened if I hadn't gone running in the forest without her. Allowing her to travel with me was also a fluke and wouldn't have happened if it hadn't been for her stubborn nature and my assumption that she would lose the bet.
Grumbling internally, I decided that I had to actually give her something that would mean a lot to her. Since I didn't own anything pink and I didn't really have any sentimental items, it was hard to think of something to give to this girl who was always thinking of others. Wasn't there anything I owned that would make a genuine gesture of friendship, if not more?
Instantly, an idea struck, but I wanted to beat it back. Out of all the things I owned, they meant the most to me. How could I possibly give even one up when they were the only symbols I had to prove that I had made accomplishments? They defined me, and my Pokemon, and to give even one of them up...
I looked at Dawn, who had decided to have another sandwich. She looked very carefree and her eyes rested softly on her Pokemon, smiling as she watched them interact.
Gritting my teeth, disbelieving my choice, I decided I would give her one of my badges. But which one?
We began our track again and I thought over each badge I'd earned in turn, trying to figure out which one would be most appropriate to give to Dawn.
I'd begun my journey in the Kanto region, just as Ash had. It appeared that I reached Pokemon Trainer age two years before him, which I was grateful for considering he would have been following me around in every single region. I'd also begun in Pewter City, winning the Boulder Badge. Considering it was the first badge I'd ever won, I was quite fond of it, though now the win was somewhat marred by the fact that I now knew that Brock, the Gym Leader at that time, had traveled around with both Ash and Dawn.
Frowning, I wasn't sure that a badge presented to me by Brock, even if it had been my first, would be an adequate gift for Dawn.
I moved on to thinking about obtaining the Cascade badge from Cerulean City. I smirked, remembering...
I had wasted no time getting to the Pokemon Gym in Cerulean. It was circular, domed, and had a large Dewgong over the front entrance with bright colors. Frowning at the girly sight, I said, "Turtwig, are you ready for our second gym battle?"
"Turt!" he replied, his eyes hardening with determination.
We walked through the front doors and continued down the long hallway towards what seemed like a huge aquarium tank. It was at least thirty feet high, fifty feet long, and twenty feet wide. I stared inside, noticing that quite a few Water Pokemon were swimming around. Turtwig roamed over to a small stool holding a basket near the tank and I followed, looking inside. There was a note that read, "Trainer, if you're here to challenge the Gym Leader, you're in luck! All you have to do is reach inside and take one of these fabulous Cascade badges. It's that easy! Congratulations! Have a rocking day! -Leaders Lily, Daisy, and Violet"
I stared, dumbfounded, at the words and looked under it to see at least a hundred teardrop shaped badges underneath.
"Oh, hi!" an extremely girly voice said from behind me. I turned to find three teenage girls were standing near me, all of them in bathing suits. One had pink hair, one blonde, and one blue.
They all smiled at me. "I see you've found your badge. Bravo on a job well done!"
Job well done? This was insanity! What good was taking the Kanto Pokemon League if the gym wouldn't even accept my challenge?
"Under the rules of the Kanto Pokemon League Challenge, the Gym Leader of this gym has to battle me." I said, stepping away from the basket without even glancing again at the badges. It wasn't worth anything to me if I hadn't earned it.
"Bummer. We're just so tired today. How about we have a contest?" the girl with blue hair said. "Like who could hold their breath underwater the longest? Would you accept the badge then?"
"Or how about who swims the fastest?" the blonde offered.
"Oh, I know! Whoever has the most fantabulous dive wins!" the pink haired teen squealed.
I stared at them wide eyed, about to begin retorting when I heard someone scoff behind me. "You three are total morons!"
I turned around. A girl my age with short red hair up in a messy side ponytail, looking furious, stomped towards the three girls. "You can't just vacation whenever you want. There's a challenger here and it's your job to battle him."
"Whatever, Misty." They rolled their eyes and crossed their arms, shifting their weight to one side. "Like you know how much hard work it is being a Gym Leader."
Misty made an exasperated noise. "You three make me sick. Anyone would make a better Gym Leader than all of you combined."
"Well, if that's what you think, why don't you battle this kid?" the blonde argued.
This kid? They were all talking as if I wasn't there at all.
Misty, without looking at me, yelled, "Fine, I will! Come on."
She pushed my back, forcing me to take a few steps forward against my will. Misty went over to s control panel that was embedded into the wall and pressed a button. Instantly, the tank began to lower into the ground.
"You're a bit young to be a Gym Leader," I observed as the tank continued its slow descent.
Misty tapped her foot impatiently. "Yeah? I'm just as old as you and an even better Trainer, so you better watch your mouth. I'll show you and my sisters."
I held back a small smile. I liked this girl. Misty was tough and spoke her mind. Hopefully she'd actually be a challenge, unlike her supposed sisters.
Once the tank had fully lowered, I noticed that on the opposite sides there were rectangular dock-like surfaces for Trainers to stand on as well as multiple islands floating in the pool for Pokemon who couldn't swim. Misty walked to the right hand side, so Turtwig and I went to the left.
As we both stood on our island, Misty yelled, "Are you ready for your most trying battle ever?"
"I'm not sure about most trying, but I am ready." I held out a Poke Ball.
Misty smiled. "I like your attitude. Too bad we're going to wash it right out of you."
"We'll see." I smirked. And I threw my Poke Ball.
Coming out of my flashback, my eyes landed on Dawn, trying to remember something that felt important, "Dawn?"
"Yeah?" She turned around. For the past half hour she'd been walking ahead of me.
"Who did Ash travel around with through Kanto again?"
"Brock and a girl named Misty."
"Do you know anything else about Misty?"
Dawn gave me a quizzical look. "Yeah. She's the Gym Leader in Cerulean City and wants to be the best Water Pokemon trainer in the world. Why?"
My eyes widened at the information. "I was just curious, is all."
Damn, I thought. One of the only Trainers I'd ever grown respect for just happened to be the girl that Ash had traveled around with for years. Perhaps Dawn's suspicion of their attraction for each other was true, but it made the Cascade badge a horrible choice to present to Dawn if it represented both Ash and Misty. She'd put up a great fight, too.
I silently wondered if Ash would ever actually tell Misty how he felt and if she returned the affection. Grimacing as I realized where my thoughts had turned, and wanting to punch myself for struggling with the same problem that freaking Ash Ketchum was struggling with, I went back to thinking about badges.
The Thunder Badge had been fairly simple considering I had captured a Sandslash prior to the match. It was a tough Pokemon, though its move pool and its meager speed and defenses kept him from being reliable. The Rainbow Badge, with Nidorino's help especially, had been a piece of cake.
I'd found a lone Kadabra wandering through Lavender Town and had captured it, though it had seemed weak. I had assumed its Psychic attacks would come in handy later on. The Soul Badge was easy to obtain with Kadabra's help considering his attacks were super effective against Koga's Poison type Pokemon.
I sighed- none of the gym battles, except for Misty's, had been very challenging in Kanto. I moved on to my Johto gym collection, going through memories of battling new Leaders. Only two stuck out as having proved difficult at all- winning the Fog Badge from Morty of Ecruteak and the Rising Badge from Clair of Blackthorn.
Morty hadn't proved too difficult of an opponent, though before I had reached the gym I'd accidentally stumbled upon a herd of Stantler. They'd confused me into thinking I was talking to my Uncle Ben who had died about three years before my journey in Johto. The Stantler had made him run along the path towards the town, away from their herd, and he had faded away right as I had reached Ecruteak. It had shaken me and messed with my head during the battle, though my Pokemon had pulled through in the end.
I shook my head at giving Dawn that badge- distraction wasn't the memory, the symbol, I would give her. The only other badge I could think of was the Rising Badge. Battling Clair had been intense. I had just captured Sneasel who had had problems pinning down Clair's Dragonair who's long, thin body evaded attacks without problem. Her Gyrados had been easier to subdue with Elekid, who I had also obtained in Johto. Clair's Kingdra was the most difficult to battle. Its lack of many weaknesses made it hard to damage. It was probably the longest gym battle I'd ever been in. Since then, they'd all become simple and easy.
There had been this one moment where we had almost lost the match. Sneasel and Elekid had both fainted. Grotle had been my last Pokemon. Kingdra's speed was too high and Grotle had a hard time dodging and blocking the never ending attacks. The Dragon Pokemon had kept diving in and out of the water, firing attack after attack. Finally, Kingdra decided to end the battle and launched a Hyper Beam.
With nowhere to go, Grotle had taken the hit and collapsed.
Clair had smiled. "Well, it looks like we're stronger after all."
"You're wrong," I'd said quietly, staring at Grotle's unmoving form.
Clair had opened her mouth to argue, but a blinding light had filled the battle field. Grotle began glowing, his limbs elongating, the plants on his back erupting.
As the light faded, Grotle stood, but as Grotle no more. He was now Torterra.
Awed by his strength and willingness to continue, to not lose, I didn't speak as he turned to face me. Torterra nodded, eyes shining.
"Right." I nodded. "Use Frenzy Plant!"
We'd won the battle after that. Clair's expression was priceless and Torterra and I had grown closer because of that match. I pictured the badge in my head- it was one of my most cherished possessions.
I nodded to myself. If I was going to give Dawn something of mine that meant a lot to me, it would be my Rising Badge.
After returning from my thoughts, I realized the sun was setting. Dawn had hardly spoken to me at all and, instead, had remained quiet or talked to Piplup who, as I had guessed, was now complaining about walking the entire day.
"Awe, Piplup. You said you could handle all the walking." Dawn frowned in worry at her first partner whose face was planted firmly on the ground after he'd collapsed dramatically. It was pretty amusing.
"P'lup," he muttered before rolling over onto his back, looking ready to fall asleep.
"We can stop walking," I confirmed. "We covered a lot of ground today."
Piplup opened an eye weakly and looked at me with relief before closing it again. Dawn giggled and I sighed and bent down to scoop up the little blubbery Pokemon. He started squirming immediately and I frowned. "Calm down. As much as I want to hurl you off a cliff, I won't drop you."
"Hey!" Dawn yelled at me, but I saw that she was about to laugh because she knew I didn't actually mean it.
Or did I?
I rolled my eyes at her and looked back at Piplup, holding him away from me in distaste. "Seriously, stay still or you're walking. I'm not as nice as Dawn and you know I will leave you behind if you're lagging."
He scowled and crossed his flippers, but remained still. I smirked. "There, was that so difficult?"
Piplup put his beak in the air and refused to look at me.
"Hmph, fine. Be that way." I looked at Dawn. "Let's just go through the trees here and we'll unpack."
"Ok," she said cheerfully. We started walking, cutting through the brush. "Hey... Paul?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for carrying Piplup for me."
"I would say my pleasure, but Piplup is the one enjoying himself." I glanced at his stubborn expression and forced myself not to smile.
Dawn laughed and patted Piplup's head with her good hand. "Cheer up, Piplup! You're in good hands."
I stiffly tried to figure out if she meant anything by that phrase before shaking off the question. Of course it hadn't meant anything. Though the way her eyes landed on me afterwards with their softness, her hand brushing against my arm... that may have meant something.
Hey Readers!
I know a lot of you have really been wanting me to update so here you are. It's a pretty long chapter compared to some of the other ones too so I hope your First Light hunger is a bit satisfied for the time being :P It'd be awesome if I had time to write First Light every day, but that just doesn't happen very often. Like, for instance, right now I'm writing an essay outline that's due this week, about three chapters from a text book to read, and a 120 page movie script to read. (And that's after working all yesterday on homework too- I've still got this left). Curse you, school! My point? I'll try to update when I can, but I do have a full plate with school and work so sadly I can't write as much as I want to.
Also, I'd like to let you guys know that after First Light has reached its ending chapter that I'll still be writing about Paul and Dawn, including several Dawn POV's that will be scattered throughout the progress of First Light because it's fun writing from her point of view too and I based off getting so many votes on that chapter that focused on her, I'm sure you'll all like it. So don't worry about not reading anything new about Paul and Dawn after First Light ends- I'll make sure to keep writing about them. AND after First Light is done I'll start posting my own character Pokemon story that involves time travel. Oh, Pokemon. I love you and your unrealistic impossible scenarios.
If you liked the chapter and learning more about Paul and his oh so wonderful idea to give something sentimental to Dawn, make sure you vote, follow, and/or comment!
Pokemon Question of the Day: Who is your favorite Gym Leader and why? You can also say your least favorite. I have to say I hate Whitney because of her Miltank. When I was 7 and that thing pulverized my team. Oh my Arceus, I wanted to kill it so badly. And then I caught a Heracross and KO'D her team when I got older. ^_^ Take that, Miltank!
Thanks for reading and have an awesome day!
-Flips