"Here we are!"
I glanced back up the steep incline that I had just walked down and couldn't help but let a whimper out as I thought of climbing up Brooklet Hill after this trial would finally end. Turning away from the depressing sight though I looked at what Lana (the trial Captain) had led me to. We were at the bottom of Brooklet Hill and I felt my eyes widen at the beauty of the pool of water that was in front of me. The water was a crystal blue and looked very deep. There were several rocks poking up above the water line and I notice one rock in particular looked almost like a miniature platform, it was perfectly flat and right in the middle of the pool.
"The totem pokemon is in the pool, you just have to swim to that flat rock there and then it will appear!" Lana explained, tossing her shoulder-length blue hair over her shoulder with a carefree grin.
"Swim?!" I repeated incredulously and Lana covered her mouth delicately as she laughed.
"But of course! You have a swimsuit don't you?" she asked and I frowned.
"Well yah, but I'm not going to change out here in the open," I said, feeling a blush creep up my cheeks. Lana shrugged and clasped her hands behind her while rocking onto the balls of her feet.
"Well, that's how the trial works. If you don't swim then the totem pokemon won't come out," Lana stated and I glared at the shorter girl.
She couldn't be over 5'2" and both her blue hair and eyes were at least three shades lighter than my own, but she exuded a self-confidence that I was instantly jealous of. I felt myself wanting to show her that I wasn't about to back down.
"Fine. Turn around," I said and she giggled.
"We're both girls," she pointed out with a laugh but I frowned at her.
Eventually, she shrugged and turned around, continuing to rock back and forth. Grimacing slightly I took my backpack off and then removed both my shirt and capris, leaving just my white spaghetti strap undershirt and underclothes on. Squatting down self consciously I released all of my pokemon and they looked at me questioningly.
"We're about to start the fight against the totem pokemon. Growlithe, you stay here and watch our egg and my clothes, okay?" I instructed and he barked, sitting regally in front of the incubator and glaring over at Lana who was still turned away. "Piplup, I want you to come with me. I don't know what pokemon we're going to be up against, but I think it might be to our advantage if you can attack them underwater." Piplup patted his chest as he puffed it out and Cutiefly flew over to me. "If anything goes wrong I'll need you to be ready, okay, Cutiefly?" I asked and she buzzed before rubbing against my cheek.
"Are you ready yet?" Lana called over her shoulder and I licked my lips nervously.
"Yes," I answered, hoping that I sounded confident.
Looking at the pool of water I breathed in and out through my nose several times before looking down at Piplup. He nodded encouragingly at me and I swallowed. Before I could talk myself out of it I ran forward, leaping off the edge of the pool and plunging into the water. It was much colder than I was expecting and as I surfaced I tried to keep my teeth from chattering.
"Lup, piplup!" Piplup sang, swimming up gracefully to my side.
I smiled at him before striking out for the flat rock. My body had just adjusted to the cold water when I reached the rock. To my surprise I could feel steps carved into the rocks so I was able to propel myself out of the water and onto the rock without any trouble. Piplup joined me on the rock and I looked around, wondering what I was waiting for.
"Looking good, Dawn!" Lana called out, waving energetically and I grimaced, folding my arms over my chest self-consciously.
I was just about to tell her to stop looking when a shadow under the water caught my eye. Jerking my head I looked down at the water, searching for the shadow I had seen.
"Lup lup..." Piplup patted my wet leg and pointed towards the far side of the pool.
I turned and watched as small shadows swam from almost every corner of the pool and began to congregate towards one spot. As the small shadows compiled a hulking shape began to take form under the rippling pool's surface and I swallowed hard.
"P-piplup," I stammered nervously.
Suddenly the massive shadow tilted up and a blue and black monster jumped out of the pool. I shrieked in fear as the massive fish fell back down into the water, creating a splash so big that a stream of water hit me on top of the rock. Wiping away water from my eyes quickly I spun around, watching the huge pokemon swimming in circles around my flimsy rock. Gulping past the lump that had formed in my throat I shook my head and looked down at Piplup who had a determined expression on his little face.
"You ready, Piplup?" I asked and he nodded. "Alright then, Spotlight!" I called out loudly and Piplup dashed forward, jumping into the air and then diving into the water.
"Use Drill Peck!" I called, watching my partner slicing through the water like a knife towards the hulking shadow.
Piplup leaped above the surface to start his beak spinning and then dove, streaking like a rocket towards the huge mass of the totem pokemon. He landed a direct hit to the pokemon's side and it jerked, but I couldn't tell if it had been hurt that bad since they were underwater. Suddenly, faster than I could believe, the pokemon whipped its head around and chomped onto Piplup's stomach.
"Piplup!" I yelled as the totem pokemon jumped out of the water and tossed Piplup away from it before crashing back into the pool.
Piplup sailed towards me and I opened my arms to catch him, grunting as he smacked into my chest.
"Are you okay?" I asked, worried sick. Piplup ruffled up his slippery feathers and peeped furiously towards the pokemon under the water, waving his flippers angrily. Laughing with relief I put Piplup down and he immediately dove into the pool again.
"Alright Piplup, let's try to disorient him a bit. Use Whirlpool, and make it big!" I yelled.
I saw Piplup start to swim swiftly in a circle. I watched as the totem pokemon swam towards Piplup, opening its mouth wide, but the surface of the pool was quickly turning into a gigantic whirlpool and the totem pokemon was sucked into it. I watched as it tried to escape the strong current but every few seconds its body would smack against a rock and it would slip back into the raging whirlpool.
Piplup popped out of the pool to stand next to me on the rock and I pointed. "Use Ice Beam!"
Piplup let loose a stream of ice just as the totem pokemon was trying to jump free of the whirlpool. The Ice Beam connected and the pokemon roared as one of its fins froze over and it smacked back into the pool. The Whirlpool dissipated and Piplup dove back in.
"Use Drill Peck and then swim away!" I called and to my delight, I saw that the totem pokemon was swimming much slower now.
Piplup smacked his Drill Peck into the big pokemon's side and I saw the pokemon shudder, but then a shadow shaped like an arrow came out of nowhere and smacked into Piplup, shooting him several feet through the water until he smacked against the edge of the pool.
"Piplup!" I cried out in shock.
He briefly surfaced while rubbing his head but looked more angry than hurt. I heard a splash and looked over to see an Alomamola diving back under the pool and I figured that was what had attacked Piplup.
I really hate that other pokemon come in to help the totem pokemon. It's so unfair! I thought angrily but shook my head and focused on the battle in front of me.
"Use Hydro Pump on the Alolamola and then use Whirlpool again!"
Piplup dived. As Alomamola shot towards him again he met it with a Hydro Pump which blasted it back until it smacked against the rock that I was standing on. Before Piplup could start his whirlpool though the totem pokemon suddenly swam past and smacked Piplup with its tail now glowing faintly. Piplup somersaulted under the water a few times but I watched in amazement as he turned his somersaults into spins and another powerful whirlpool began to take form.
I held my breath as the whirlpool expanded, snatching up both the totem pokemon and its helper and spinning them around and around, smacking them against rocks every once in a while. Piplup pulled himself onto my rock and I noticed that his flippers were shaking and he was panting hard.
I need to end this quick, I thought as Piplup stood boldly and watched the pokemon struggle in his whirlpool.
"Use Ice Beam as soon as one of them jumps up," I instructed and Piplup peeped in agreement, tensing his little body and creating a disk of Ice in front of his beak in preparation. "Now!" I shouted as the Alomamola surfaced.
Piplup's Ice Beam connected and I shouted with excitement as a thick casing of ice spread over the entire pokemon. It dropped back into the pool, floating on top of the surface like a large pink ice cube.
"Well done, Piplup!" I congratulated.
Slowly the whirlpool lost its strength. The totem pokemon swam listlessly from side to side, hitting its head against the rocks and I nodded.
"Just one more Drill Peck should do it," I said fiercely.
Piplup peeped a short battle cry before mustering the last of his strength and charged head first into the pool. Piplup's little body swam swiftly through the water and before the totem pokemon could move he smacked his spinning beak into the totem's side and the enormous pokemon seemed to explode into a million tiny fragments.
I watched in utter confusion as the tiny slivers swam away from Piplup, leaving him alone in the pool. Piplup surfaced a few seconds later, peeping in confusion. The sound of clapping caught my attention and I turned to see Lana applauding exuberantly. A movement caught my eye and I raised my gaze past Lana's small frame and realized that someone very tall was leaning against the cliff wall. My eyes connected with familiar purple/black ones and I shrieked, turning and diving into the pool.
What the heck is Paul doing here? I yelled in my head as I surfaced, holding onto the edge of the rock and peeking over it to see if I had been imagining things.
Growlithe was on his feet and barking like crazy, but he didn't leave his post in front of our egg. Lana was grabbing a fistful of Paul's jacket and dug her heels into the ground while leaning back as if she was trying to keep him from escaping as she continued to wave and holler at me. I ducked behind the rock again as I felt like my cheeks would explode from embarrassment.
How long was he standing there? How much did he see? Oh Arceus, he must think I'm a total floozy! I wailed in my head and Piplup swam up touching my shoulder and peeping in concern.
"I can't let him see me like this!" I whispered to Piplup, completely mortified. "Piplup, can you find my towel and get it out for me please?"
With a tired nod Piplup swam away and I peeked over the rock again to watch him make his way to my backpack. Paul seemed to be arguing with Lana, so taking advantage of his distraction I quietly swam towards the edge of the pool where Piplup was waiting for me, dragging my towel behind him.
"Thank you, Piplup. You were amazing, by the way," I praised him sincerely.
He saluted before plopping down on his bottom and sighing tiredly. Glancing up my eyes once again met Paul's and I put up one hand and turned my face away from him, knowing that I was blushing furiously.
"Turn around already!" I yelled.
"But Dawn I need to give you your Waterium Z!" Lana said and I glared over at her, grateful to see that Paul had indeed turned around completely.
Swiftly I boosted myself out of the pool and grabbed my towel, wrapping it around me as tightly as I could and still feeling like my cheeks were on fire.
"Lana, why are you not letting Paul go?" I asked with exasperation and Paul glanced over his shoulder. Letting out a squeak I squatted down, bringing my knees up to my chest while still holding the towel tightly around me.
"Why should I let him go? He came to watch you didn't he?" Lana asked and Paul growled.
"I already told you it's not like that! I was just looking to battle the totem pokemon; so will you let me go already, midget?" he asked angrily and Lana laughed.
"Sure sure, in a minute. First I need to give Dawn her Waterium Z! That was the best water battle I've seen in a long time!" she said with glee, walking over to where I was crouching and dragging Paul by his jacket.
Even my ears were starting to feel warm as Lana tugged Paul towards me. Thankfully Growlithe leaped forward, baring his fangs and growling threateningly at both Lana and Paul.
"Calm down, cutie, we're not going to hurt your trainer!" Lana said, finally relinquishing Paul's jacket and coming over to smile innocently at Growlithe.
I reached out a hand and hooked it around Gorwlithe's neck just as he jumped forward to bite Lana. She jerked back with a look of surprise and I pulled Growlithe back down as he continued to growl menacingly.
"Can I get changed before you give me the Z stone, please?" I asked Lana through gritted teeth and she sighed.
"Fine. I'll go keep your boyfriend company. We'll wait for you at the top of the hill," she said with a wide smile before skipping away, grabbing onto Paul's arm as he was leaving the little cove. I heard him yell at her angrily to get off and I sighed, falling onto my back as emotional exhaustion made my muscles weak. Growlithe whined and nudged my cheek with his cold nose and I rubbed his ear gently.
"I'm okay, Growlithe. Just embarrassed," I moaned.
After allowing myself a few minutes to recover mentally I dried myself off as best as I could and quickly put on my clothes, grimacing as my damp underclothes stuck to both my skin and clothes uncomfortably.
Taking a few extra seconds to brush my hair I returned all of my pokemon and picked up my egg incubator, holding it protectively against my chest. Slowly and deliberately I climbed up the steep hill and followed the sound of boisterous laughter to where Lana was being yanked back and forth as Paul tried to extricate his arm from her iron grip.
"There she is! See, I told you it wouldn't take long," Lana said, abruptly letting go of Paul's arm and he snatched it to his chest, growling under his breath as he flexed his hand.
Lana skipped over to me and held up a beautiful blue stone in both of her hands. Shifting so I had a more secure grip on my egg incubator with my right hand I reached out and accepted the crystal from Lana who grinned widely.
"Thank you, Lana," I muttered, holding the crystal in my fist and wrapping my arm around the incubator again.
"You're welcome! I'll show you the move... Don't you run away!" Lana shouted, sprinting over to the retreating Paul.
Paul spun around holding a Pokeball. With anger flashing in his dark eyes he released Torterra who roared and wrapped a vine whip around Lana's stomach, lifting her in the air with a squeak of surprise.
"Don't touch me," Paul seethed, looking like he wanted to toss her off a cliff.
Feeling a little worried I jogged forward, catching Torterra's attention.
"Terra!" he called happily and I smiled down at the big pokemon.
"Hi there, Torterra," I greeted gently. "Could you please put her down?"
Torterra glanced at Paul who scowled but didn't say anything so he gently lowered Lana to her feet and retracted his vine.
"Woo wee! With a pokemon like that, you shouldn't have any trouble against my Wishiwashi!" Lana said, smiling brightly and seeming to not have found her recent experience too frightening.
Paul glared down at the exuberant captain and I tightened my grip around the incubator, glancing down as the egg inside flashed again.
"Aawww, you're going to have a new addition soon! Well, then I won't keep you too much longer. Let me just show you how to use your Z-stone."
Lana stood back, making sure both Paul and I were watching her. She crossed her arms in front of her face, then swayed her arms in a wave motion from her left side to her right, and then she held the position. I awkwardly clapped with my fingers around the incubator and Paul scoffed, folding his arms grumpily.
"Can I go now?" he growled and Lana straightened with a giggle.
"Okay, but come back tomorrow to face my Wishiwashi! I'll wait for you at the top of the hill," she said. "Bye bye, Dawn!"
With that, she skipped happily down the slope towards the Totem's Cove and I wondered briefly how old she was. An awkward silence descended as neither Paul nor I moved or looked at each other.
"Tor terra tor," Torterra rumbled, taking a step towards me and looking with interest at the egg incubator in my arms.
"Ah, Piplup and Cutiefly picked it out for me. I don't know what pokemon it will be," I explained, squatting so that Torterra could see it better.
Torterra examined the egg with interest and I found myself glancing at Paul out of the corner of my eye. His arms were still folded and I could see the annoyance and anger rolling off of him like waves, but it didn't seem to be directed towards me.
"I... made poffins the other day," I said awkwardly and Paul glanced over at me, his face still pinched with residual anger. "You've probably already eaten but... I could give them to you if you have somewhere to store them."
Paul didn't respond for several long seconds and a grumble rose from Torterra's throat as he narrowed his eyes at his trainer. He looked down at Torterra with an affronted expression then turned, motioning with two fingers for me to follow him. Blinking in surprise I stood and walked next to Torterra as we followed his moody trainer past several smaller pools of water that dotted Brooklet Hill. Once we crossed a bridge over the main river Paul turned off the path and walked along the riverbank for a few minutes. Suddenly he plopped down on the ground and without a word released his pokemon.
Torracat perked up when he saw me and ran over, purring so loud it sounded like a car engine as he wrapped himself around my legs. I laughed and knelt down, gently placing my egg next to me so I could pet his soft ears. Glancing past Torracat I saw Rockruff sitting beside Paul, looking at me uneasily as if she still felt guilty for hurting me. Then my eyes came to rest on an unexpected pokemon.
"Paul, you caught a Riolu!" I exclaimed in surprise and Riolu looked at me calmly, barely showing any emotion.
"Just a few days ago," he responded without looking at me and I smiled at the little fighting type.
"My name is Dawn, it's nice to meet you," I said and Riolu regarded me for a moment before bowing politely.
How cute! I thought and then pulled out my Pokeballs, releasing my own pokemon. Piplup still looked exhausted from his battle and I wasn't surprised when he waddled over and plopped onto my lap.
"We're taking a poffin break. Would you all like some?" I asked and all of the pokemon except for Rockruff and Riolu crowded around me. Within a few minutes, cartons of multi-colored poffins were out and sounds of contentment were coming from all of the pokemon.
"Here Rockruff, I made these for you. I hope you like them," I said, pushing a carton of yellow poffins towards her.
Rockruff looked at Paul, who nodded stiffly. Cautiously Rockruff padded over to me, glancing over at Growlithe and Torracat who were both attacking a carton of red poffins loaded with cherri and tamato berries. When Growlithe continued to ignore Rockruff she took the last few steps over to me and sniffed the poffins. Her tail began to wag a little and she gingerly bit down on one of the poffins. Her ears and tail both stood up straight and she turned her blue eyes on me, giving me an amazed expression before attacking the rest of the poffins with gusto.
I laughed quietly, delighted to see her enjoying them so much, before looking over at Paul who was still sulking silently, his head turned away from me.
Ugh. What do I do? I wondered, looking down at Piplup who had fallen asleep with a half-eaten poffin still in his flippers. The embarrassment of being caught battling in just my underthings was still hovering in the back of my head and I wondered why Paul had even bothered watching my battle. But I need to say something or else it's going to be hecka awkward whenever I see him next, I thought to myself in exasperation and so I cleared my throat weakly. Paul turned his head slightly so he could look at me out of the corner of his eye and I forced myself to smile.
"I... uh... Does... Mmm... Would Riolu like some berries?" I finally managed to stammer out, groaning inwardly at my stupid tongue.
Riolu, who was still standing beside Paul, met my gaze and looked at all of the other pokemon enjoying their poffins. Sighing, I dug into my backpack for my berry storage capsule and released them all before smiling and motioning for Riolu to come over. He regarded me for a moment before walking around the other pokemon and coming to stand by the pile of berries.
"If you pick out your favorite berries then I'll make some special poffins for you next time, okay?" I promised gently.
Riolu looked up at me with a closed expression. Eventually he did inspect the pile of berries and chose an occa and qualot berry from the pile, carefully extracting them so the rest wouldn't fall. I returned the rest of the berries to their capsule and Riolu held up the two berries, one in each paw, towards me.
"I haven't used those berries in poffins before, but I'm sure they'll be super yummy!" I remarked happily and Riolu nodded seriously. "You can go ahead and eat those for now, I'm sorry I don't have any poffins for you."
Riolu shook his head at me and then went back to Paul, sitting down and taking a bite of the occa berry.
"How much did the poffins cost?" Paul asked suddenly and I looked up at him in surprise. His eyes seemed to be swirling with emotion but I couldn't quite decide what emotion that was.
"The ingredients don't cost that much, you don't have to worry about it," I responded and Paul frowned.
"You made twice as many poffins for Torterra than anyone else. I should pay you back," he insisted stubbornly but I shook my head.
"I made them because I wanted to, not so you could pay me back," I retorted and his eyes narrowed a bit.
"I don't like being indebted to people," he said gruffly and I frowned at him, starting to feel defensive.
"You're not 'indebted' to me. It's called being nice," I said quietly, doing my best not to disturb Piplup's nap.
"When did I ask you to be nice to me?" he growled and my mouth dropped open in shock.
"What is your problem? It's not like I made anything for you; I made the poffins for your pokemon," I snapped and Paul's eyebrows furrowed angrily.
"You're so nosy," he sneered.
I clenched my teeth but just then two large leaves smacked into Paul's head. With a snarl, he exploded to his feet and glared over at Torterra who was giving him a reproachful expression. I watched the two silently glare at each other and all of the other pokemon went quiet, waiting to see what would happen. After several seconds went by Paul gritted his teeth, causing the skin around his jaw to tighten slightly and he sat back down, turning away from both Torterra and me.
Torterra looked over at me with a sad, apologetic expression and I felt my anger melt away as I looked at Paul's back. With a sigh, I gently lifted Piplup from my lap and laid him down next to the egg incubator. All of our pokemon watched me as I stepped carefully around them and, after hesitating for a second, sat down next to Paul.
"I'm sorry if I made you feel indebted to me," I said quietly and Paul glared over at me.
"Why can't you leave me alone?" he growled, but his tone seemed more tired than angry.
"You're the one who crashed my Totem Battle," I retorted, instantly feeling my cheeks heat up and I looked down at my knees that were bent up against my chest.
"I didn't plan to. I was just looking for the Captain and when I saw you battling I... wanted to see what moves the totem pokemon had," he muttered. I glanced up to see that he had been looking away from me too.
"To call the totem pokemon you have to swim to the flat rock in the middle of the pool," I explained awkwardly, covering my cheeks to hide the fact that they were burning up. "I didn't know and so I wasn't prepared with a swimsuit so..." I trailed off miserably and Paul quickly glanced down at me with a guarded expression. "Sorry," I mumbled.
Paul expelled a quick breath of air through his nose. "Don't flatter yourself. It's not like I was looking at you," Paul said stiffly.
The heat in my cheeks faded as I looked up at him with narrowed eyes. I was still deciding whether I was more offended or relieved when he suddenly turned and looked me directly in the eye.
"If you're going to make poffins for my pokemon in the future let me pay you. We're not friends that give each other gifts whenever we feel like it," Paul said roughly.
I blinked in surprise as I realized that my shoulder was millimeters from Paul and if I had wanted to I could reach out and touch the fringe of his bangs that hung in between his eyes. Shaking myself mentally I stood up and glared down at him, putting one hand on my hip.
"You're right, Paul. WE are not friends, but your pokemon and I are so I can give them gifts whenever I want."
Paul glared up at me and for just a second his hard eyes seemed to wobble and I thought I saw something almost vulnerable in their dark depths. But then he blinked and the hardness was back as he scoffed and stood up, towering over me.
"Do what you want," he said gruffly, meeting my eyes with a glare.
"I will," I retorted, folding my arms and taking a step closer to show I wasn't intimidated by him.
A heavy sigh sounded behind me and I glanced over to see Torterra shaking his head with what looked like exasperation. My anger softened a little bit and I felt my shoulders relax slightly. Growlithe, Torracat, Rockruff, and Riolu were all watching us with varying degrees of interest and Cutiefly looked like she had fallen asleep on top of the egg incubator.
"Well, it looks like everyone is done eating," I observed while taking in all of the empty containers on the ground. Giving Paul one last glare I turned and put everything away in my backpack before returning my pokemon to their Pokeballs.
A thin vine touched my cheek and I looked over at Torterra who was smiling at me. Returning his smile I knelt down and gave him a hug and Torracat came and rubbed up against my side, purring loudly. Rockruff also padded over and licked my arm where she had scratched me, although with the herbal cream I put on the scratches the last few days you could hardly even tell it had happened.
I said my goodbyes to Paul's pokemon and stood, pausing a moment to see if Paul would say anything. He regarded me with a closed expression but didn't move or show any sign of wanting to speak with me so I took a page out of his book. I turned around and walked away without a word.
A/N I'm not sure why but I just loved this chapter a lot, it was really fun to write. I hope you enjoy it as well :)