I watched Paul walk confidently up to his spot on the battlefield and I couldn't help but frown a bit. He had acted strange when I came over to see him and I wondered if something had happened. Shrugging the feeling off, for now, I moved as close as I could to the edge of the battlefield and looked over at Paul's opponent. To my surprise, I actually recognized the guy. His name was Ryuu and he specialized in dragon type pokemon. I had watched him battle before my second-round battle and he had quite literally crushed his opponents.

The referee repeated the rules of a three-on-three pokemon battle and announced its beginning. For the first time today, Paul got to go second and I watched him carefully as Ryuu released a pokemon I didn't recognize. Glancing surreptitiously around me I slipped my pokedex out of my jacket pocket and quickly scanned it, showing that it was a Turtonator. I remembered studying a little bit about this pokemon a few months ago, but I was embarrassed at how much I had forgotten.

Paul didn't seem to be intimidated by the heavily defensive pokemon that was a good four inches taller than him. Without breaking his expressionless mask he calmly called out his signature phrase as his Lycanroc materialized in front of him and howled up at the sky. I couldn't help but smile as Lycanroc growled menacingly at the much bigger pokemon in front of her and I wished I could be as fearless as she was.

"Dragon Pulse, Turtonator!" Ryuu said in his deep voice. 

His pokemon instantly complied, opening his mouth and letting out a stream of purple power with the rough shape of a dragon's head at the end of the beam.

"Dodge it, and use Stealth Rock," Paul commanded. I watched in admiration as Lycanroc crouched and just before the Dragon Pulse could crash into her she exploded up, flipping beautifully over the stream of power that crashed into the ground. In mid-air, she howled and large jagged rocks began to float around the entire battlefield. Ryuu seemed unconcerned.

"Dragon Pulse again," he ordered.

"Use Drill Run and push through it," Paul ordered. 

Another gush of purple power roared from Turtonator and my eyes widened as Lycanroc began running straight towards it. Suddenly she jumped and began spinning and I blinked as dirt formed a corkscrew around her body. She barreled right into the dragon pulse and split the move in half before careening into Turtonator's spiky shell. The large pokemon grunted and took a step as Lycanroc continued to try and drill into the heavy-duty shell. But as her move ended and she jumped back it looked like the move, even though it should have been super effective, hadn't done that much damage.

"Body Slam!" Ryuu called and my eyes widened as the bulky pokemon turned and began to lumber towards Lycanroc. As it jumped to crash its huge girth against her though I saw Paul smirk.

"Stone Edge," he ordered calmly. 

Lycanroc howled and just as Turtonator was about to connect with her three huge stones erupted from the ground all around her and smacked into the Turtonator's unprotected belly. The huge pokemon was tossed back and landed roughly on its shell. I giggled as the Turtonator struggled. The spikes on its shell had sunk into the ground and seemed to have trapped it for the time being.

"Rock Slide, Lycanroc!" Paul said.

"Protect!" Ryuu called out. 

I saw Paul's smirk fade into his normal expressionless mask as Lycanroc created a large amount of rocks and dumped them on Turtonator's protective barrier. As the rocks fell I could see the large pokemon rocking back and forth until he was able to free himself and get back on his feet.As soon as the protect wore off Ryuu hollered, "Flamethrower!" A large stream of fire gushed from Turtonator's mouth but Lycanroc dodged easily at Paul's instructions.

"Drill Run again," Paul commanded and Ryuu guffawed.

"Crush the puny thing with Body Slam!" 

Once again Turtonator leaped up but Lycanroc, now engulfed in her earth corkscrew, didn't try to dodge the massive pokemon. Turtonator slammed into Lycanroc, completely engulfing her from view and I gasped. All was silent for a few seconds and I was fighting the shock of Paul actually losing one of his pokemon when Turtonator gave a grunt of pain. Suddenly he flew up with Lycanroc's corkscrew body pushing against its unprotected belly. The two pokemon arched across the battlefield where Turtonator crashed onto his back. Lycanroc released her move and stood on top of the still pokemon, howling triumphantly up to the sky. I hollered my congratulations to her.

Ryuu yelled in frustration and returned his Turtonator. Paul didn't make a move to return Lycanroc as she hobbled back to her position in front of him. I winced as Ryuu released his next pokemon, a gigantic Alolan Exeggutor, and all of the rocks that were floated around the battlefield suddenly converged on it, pummeling it from head to toe before floating back to their previous positions. As the stealth rock did its damage Paul returned Lycanroc and released his Weavile instead. I didn't know Weavile very well, but he didn't seem at all worried about the mammoth-sized pokemon in front of him.

"Use Stomp," Ryuu ordered. 

I jumped back slightly in shock as Exeggutor lifted one leg after another and charged towards Weavile, stomping down so hard that he left large footprints on the ground. Weavile dodged the first few flying feet but as he ducked under Exeggutor and tried to escape behind him Exeggutor spun around and stomped fiercely on Weavile's back. Weavile grunted from the weight pressing him to the ground and I saw Paul's eyes narrow.

"Aim behind your head, Weavile, and use Poison Jab," Paul ordered.

I looked at his squashed pokemon and felt admiration for Weavile's trust in Paul as he arched his clawed hands back behind him and released several streams of poison at the exeggutor's foot. Exeggutor bellowed in pain, lifting his foot and retreating from his small opponent. Weavile instantly sprang back to his feet, although he did take a moment to rub his belly.

"Use Wood Hammer!" Ryuu called. 

Exeggutor's tail glowed a bright green and he swung himself around so that it would connect with Weavile.

"Block it with X-Scissor!" Paul yelled. 

Weavile crossed his arms in front of him, which were glowing a darker green than Exeggutor's tail, and took on the Wood Hammer without flinching. Weavile pushed against the powerful attack but I could see his feet slipping in the grass as Exeggutor tried to push him back.

"Jump and use Hone Claws!" Paul said. 

Weavile kicked his feet up and flipped over Exeggutor's tail, which whooshed underneath him forcefully now that there was nothing blocking it. Weavile's claws went from green to a bright white, showing that his already impressive attack stat had just gotten boosted even higher. I held my breath in anticipation.

"Use Solar Beam, Exeggutor!" Ryuu called and my mouth dropped open in shock. 

What is he doing? Does he really think he has the time to waste on charging a solar beam?

"Use Poison Jab and follow it up with an Icicle Crash," Paul said with a small smile. 

Weavile dashed forward swiftly and leaped up, sending a stream of poison towards Exeggutor's neck. The large pokemon stumbled, still trying to collect enough sunlight to charge its Solar Beam and I saw its leaves blinking erratically.

Without wasting a second Weavile pointed towards Exeggutor's head as he dropped to the ground and I watched as large shards of ice formed above his head. Before Exeggutor could react the ice crashed down, barraging his entire body with the four times effective move. Exeggutor bellowed in pain and as his body fell to the ground it caused rumbling shockwaves to go through the ground and up into my legs.

"No! Get up, Exeggutor!" Ryuu yelled, but his pokemon had already fainted and the referee called the battle.

Once again Paul left Weavile on the battlefield until Ryuu had sent out his final pokemon. My eyes widened as an intimidating dragon type with clanging scales dripping down its body like armor appeared and let out a rumbling growl. That's Kommo-o, the strongest Dragon type on Alola, I thought in surprise.

I wasn't surprised that Paul returned Weavile as Lycanroc's Stealth Rock raced forward and pummeled the intimidating pokemon. Not only was he looking tired from his last battle, but he was four times weak to fighting type moves and Kommo-o was a dual fighting and dragon type. Paul regarded his opponent for several seconds and I could hear Ryuu taunting him for being so scared he couldn't choose a pokemon, but I knew that Paul wouldn't get scared by something like this.

"Lucario, stand by for battle," Paul said with a determined look and I blinked in shock. 

Lucario? But why? 

As Lucario appeared he moved into a defensive stance and silently observed his opponent. I couldn't help but feel my confidence growing. Even if Lucario was at a type disadvantage, he was the most like Paul with his calm and calculating personality. Plus his attack stats were off the charts, which meant that he should actually have a chance to break through Kommo-o's defense and do some damage.

"Bwa ha ha! A Scrawny Lucario up against my beautiful Kommo-o? Put him in his place, Mo! Use Dragon Dance!" 

I watched as Kommo-o swayed jerkily and a purple light began glowing around his body.

"Use Dragon Pulse!" Paul called and my mouth dropped open in shock. 

Lucario took a deep breath and then let loose an explosive stream of purple power. I watched as it raced towards Kommo-o, who was still in the middle of his dance, and slammed into his stomach. Kommo-o grunted and planted his feet into the ground, but the force of the move shoved him back a few feet and I could see claw marks gouged in the grass-covered ground where.

"Huh, a puny attack like that? Use Clanging Scales!"

Kommo-o pushed his long arms out in front of him and I covered my ears as all of the scales on his body began to bash against each other, causing a cacophonous ruckus that made my eyes water from the pain of the sound. Lucario was blasted back and skidded along the grass but I sighed in relief when he jumped up quickly and glared at his large opponent, apparently unimpressed with the not very effective attack.

"Use Psychic and bring him close," Paul instructed. 

My jaw dropped open as Lucario's eyes glowed blue and the same color engulfed Kommo-o's body. The huge pokemon struggled, punching and kicking in midair as Lucario guided him purposefully across the ground and towards him.

"Use Clanging scales again and break his concentration!" Ryuu called angrily as Lucario psychically flipped Kommo-o upside down on his journey across the battlefield.

"Throw him up, Lucario!" Paul yelled just before Kommo-o let loose his terrible attack. 

I clamped my hands over my ears for a second time and watched as Lucario's ears twitched and he tossed Kommo-o high into the air to avoid the brunt of the attack. 

"Now use Force Palm and follow him." I grinned as Lucario ran forward and then touched his glowing palms onto the ground that then launched him into the air effortlessly.

"Use Close Combat!" Ryuu yelled at his pokemon as he fell from the sky.

"Ice Punch!" Paul yelled at the same time. The two pokemon collided midair and I winced as the two pokemon beat on each other, without regard for the rapidly approaching ground.

"Lucario, watch out!" I yelled as they plunged down to earth. 

I wasn't sure if he had heard me or if he was paying attention, but at that moment Lucario smashed his glowing blue fist against Kommo's face and used the force to propel himself away from the dragon type, flip backwards and land with one leg bent, the other extended, and one paw balancing him on the ground. Kommo-o's landing was not as graceful as he crashed onto his back in a heap on the ground. He wasn't finished yet though and I watched with trepidation as Kommo-o rolled over and propelled himself back to his feet, rubbing one of his scale-covered wrists over his cheek where a patch of ice was shining.

"Let's show him what you're made of Mo. Use Close Combat again!" Ryuu called and at that moment Lucario's body began to be surrounded by a yellow aura. 

Blinking fast I looked over to see that Paul's Z bracelet was glowing and he had finished in a pose where he had one foot forward and his arms were spread apart diagonally while his fingers were curled slightly as if he were pantomiming teeth.

What Z move is this?" I thought with excitement, thinking that even if the move may have looked silly with anyone else, Paul's fierce expression actually made it look pretty intimidating.

Kommo-o rushed towards Lucario, seemingly unconcerned with Lucario's aura encased state. Lucario arched his back as a huge purple orb began to grow in front of him, then he jerked forward, releasing the orb. I squeaked as the circle of power erupted into the shape of a spiky dragon! The dragon-shaped energy streaked through the sky, swooping past the approaching Kommo-o and then banking sharply to hit him from the back. Kommo-o disappeared in a huge geyser of white-purple light and I shielded my eyes from the intensity of the move.

When it finally subsided Kommo-o was fainted on the ground and Lucario flipped backward effortlessly to take his spot next to Paul. The referee declared Paul and Lucario the winners and to my surprise, Ryuu returned his Kommo-o and went over to shake Paul's hand. I watched happily as the two spoke briefly and I was surprised to see Ryuu tousle Lucario's head affectionately. 

Huh, don't judge a book by its cover I guess, I thought with amusement. 

Paul left the stage and I hugged him fiercely, congratulating him on his win. We went to watch the tail end of the battle going on in the battlefield next to us but soon the final eight had been decided.

"Woo! What a display of power that was! Now if everyone will turn their attention to the jumbo screens we will show the lineup for tomorrow's first round of battles!" Professor Kukui's voice exclaimed over the loudspeaker. 

I slipped my hand into Paul's and he squeezed it while keeping his eyes on the jumbo screen. The same eight pictures on the four screens flipped over and shuffled. I bit my lip nervously as they stopped and began to flip over. My body tensed when I saw Paul's expressionless picture turn over and then blinked in shock when the picture next to his was my own.

"Heh. And here I thought I would have to wait until the final match," Paul said quietly.

I blinked up at him and felt a flush of happiness go through me. "You thought I'd make it to the finals?" I asked in return and Paul raised an eyebrow at me.

"Didn't you?" he asked simply. 

I smiled embarrassedly at him and looped my hand around his arm while squeezing his hand. He smiled down at me and I was grateful that he didn't mind me being a little clingy even though we were being watched by a stadium full of people.

"Thank you all for your hard work! We will see you tomorrow starting at 10 am sharp, oh yeah! Goodnight everyone and we wish luck to our top eight!" 

A loud cheer came from the audience and I followed Paul as he began walking off the battlefield. News reporters were grabbing the other top eight finalists left and right but before they could see us Paul slipped through a side door and pulled me through a twisting maze of hallways. After a few minutes though we came to a small door and we left the stadium undetected, which made me chuckle. Paul glanced back at me and I grinned teasingly at him.

"You don't want to be interviewed?" I asked and he rolled his eyes.

"I'm hungry. Plus, reporters get bored with my answers pretty quickly anyways, and then it's just awkward," he said with a shrug and I laughed. 

A cold wind blew and I shivered violently, shocked at the sudden change in temperature. Paul began jogging down the path and I followed after him, dodging past some of the people who were walking down the path to get to the bottom of the mountain.

The trainers lodging building was crowded with spectators when we finally reached it and I sighed as I began to walk towards the stuffed cafeteria. My progress was halted unexpectedly though and I glanced back to see that Paul had grabbed onto my elbow and was looking at the long line with a grimace.

"You know.... I've actually been craving your ramen," he said slowly and I blinked in surprise and then smiled.

"Oh yah? I think ramen sounds great! Why don't you go put a pot of water on and I'll run and grab the food," I suggested and he smiled quietly.

"Sure. How much water do you use? Four cups?" he asked and I nodded.

I waved at him quickly and then weaved my way through the crowd of people towards the staircase. When I got back to my room I quickly grabbed my backpack. After a second I slipped it over my shoulder, deciding that it would be easier to get the ingredients out once I was in the kitchen. Once again I weaved through the large crowd in the lobby and walked past the cafeteria down towards the smaller kitchens that were set up for trainers' personal use.

Glancing through the small window at the top of the doors I was passing I smiled when I saw Paul's familiar silhouette and walked in. He turned and smiled at me as I closed the door behind us and set my backpack on the island in the middle of the kitchen. I rummaged through my backpack and pulled out two packages of ramen, my container of mushrooms, green onions, and the packets of soup stock.

Within twenty minutes the familiar scent of soy sauce and miso filled the air and Paul dished us both up a bowl of the steaming soup. We discussed the battles that we fought today as we waited for the soup to cool a bit and then began eating. Paul had me tell him how I found an Icium Z and then I asked him how he found the Dragonium Z. Even after we finished eating we stayed in the cozy kitchen for a while, just talking, and I couldn't remember a time I felt more content. Paul eventually began cleaning the dishes and I stood next to him to dry and put away the dishes as he finished them.

"We should go and look up the bios of the other six trainers that made it through. It's best to be prepared when you get to these higher rounds of a pokemon league," Paul explained.

I bit the inside of my cheek as I put away the large pot we had used to cook our ramen and turned towards my backpack. His suggestion sounded very logical, but a selfish part of me didn't want to leave this warm place where it was just Paul and me. On a whim I set my backpack back onto the countertop and turned, boosting myself up so that I was sitting on the island as well. I smiled at Paul, who quirked one eyebrow at me in a silent question.

"Who do you think will win tomorrow?" I asked. 

Paul met my eyes with a look of curiosity and slowly walked over to stand in front of me, then leaned back against the counter along the wall.

"Who do you want to win?" he asked teasingly and I lifted an eyebrow.

"What kind of question is that? Obviously, I want to win," I said with a scoff and he regarded me with an amused expression.

"What pokemon are you going to use?" he asked and I smiled.

"I'm going to use the ones I caught in Alola and Piplup," I replied immediately and Paul blinked in surprise.

"But I know those pokemon and all of their moves," he said while furrowing his brow and I chuckled.

"Yah, I know. But they are the ones I have focused the most with my strategic battling. I know them and their abilities like the back of my hand and I think that I could combat any pokemon you might throw at me with them by my side," I said confidently and Paul chuckled.

"Is that so?" he asked with amusement in his voice and I nodded, kicking my legs out gently as I looked down at my knees.

"I thought if I didn't beat you then I would lose you forever, so I trained really hard," I said softly.

Paul didn't respond for a second and as I looked at my knees I saw his black jeans move forward, coming within inches of my feet. Before I could look up I felt him press a gentle kiss to my forehead. I closed my eyes and reached out so I could hold onto a fold of his shirt in my fingers. Paul moved back slightly from me and I lifted my head to meet his eyes, which were shimmering with so many emotions I couldn't pinpoint what he was really feeling.

"Thank you for not giving up on me," Paul said after several silent moments. I felt a happy smile spread across my lips.

Slowly I reached out my other hand and slid them both around his ribcage. Straightening my back I leaned up towards him and hovered centimeters away from his lips. A warm breath washed over my nose as I heard Paul chuckle quietly. My pulse quickened slightly when he cupped one of my cheeks in his rough hand and the other slipped around my neck as he leaned down and met my lips with his. The kiss was gentle and tender and as Paul stepped closer I moved one of my knees to the side so he could lean against the island easier.

His grip tightened on my neck and I felt a shiver go up my spine as he nudged my lips apart and gently clamped his lips around my bottom one. He pulled my lip and scraped his teeth against it and I pressed my hands against his back, pushing us just a little closer. My eyes fluttered briefly before closing again as I felt Paul's tongue purposefully glide from one edge of my captured lip to the other and I couldn't help but think back to our first kiss. That kiss had been full of adrenaline and repressed feelings that burst suddenly and explosively. Honestly, I had been so caught up in the new experience I couldn't really remember much of the details, but this time everything seemed so much more drawn out and tender.

Paul let go of my lip and kissed me deeply for a few seconds but then strangely he pushed my lips apart with his. I followed his lead, moving one of my arms from around his chest so I could loop it around his neck and run my fingertips up and down the back of his neck. His thumb brushed against my cheek as he continued to push my lips apart and then I scrunched my eyes up as I felt his tongue move into my mouth. The sensational was weird and I wasn't sure if I really liked it or not, but I stayed still as his tongue moved across the insides of my cheek and the roof of my mouth, as if he was trying to explore every single inch of my mouth.

After a few seconds I felt his tongue retreat, but as it pulled back the tip of his tongue flicked mine as if beckoning me. Taking only a second to consider the weird invitation I slowly pushed my tongue past our teeth and hovered at the threshold of his mouth. His tongue flicked the bottom of mine playfully and if my mouth wasn't already occupied I would have laughed. Hesitantly I explored his mouth as well and I felt myself shiver as Paul's grip on the back of my neck lessened and he began to trace his fingers up and down my neck and then dip down to ghost over my collarbone.

After a moment I pulled back slightly then took his own bottom lip into my mouth. Paul moved his hand from my neck and wrapped it around my waist, pulling me snugly against his chest and stroking my cheek with his thumb. We kissed until I was starting to feel lightheaded and when we parted I let out a shuddering breath. Paul ran a hand through my bangs and brushed my cheek with the back of his knuckles as he gave me an adoring look. I felt my cheeks heat up but I smiled and reached up so I could place my hands on his cheeks.

"I love you, Paul," I whispered and he turned his face and kissed the palm of my hand. I remembered doing the same thing to him before and I smiled happily up at him as he turned back to face me with a smile.

"I love you too, Dawn," he whispered and a shiver of excitement went down my spine. "And when I win tomorrow I'm going to take you back to Ula'ula so we can remake the bad memories we have there."

My eyes widened at that declaration and I couldn't even make myself be annoyed at his insistence that he was going to win. Instead, I pulled his face gently down to mine and kissed him softly before letting him go and smiling at me.

"Well, when I win, I'm going to take you to Sinnoh where we can make new memories together," I said with a smile and Paul chuckled. 

He put his hands on either side of my waist and picked me up, turning and setting me back down gently on the ground as his eyes twinkled.

"Well, whoever wins we should go look up our possible opponents so we can have a plan," Paul said and I frowned, trying not to look petulant.

"Can't it wait until tomorrow morning?" I asked. 

Paul quirked an eyebrow at me and leaned forward, placing his hands on either side of me and looking me straight in the eye.

"Were you unsatisfied with my kisses?" he asked teasingly and I felt myself blush deeply.

"That's not... I didn't..." I stammered and Paul laughed, swiftly pressing a kiss to my cheek and standing back up to his full height.

"I can teach you more about kissing after we win the pokemon league," he said with a teasing smirk.

I stuck my tongue out at him, wishing I had a rebuttal. He laughed and took my hand, leading me out of the kitchen and to the computer room.

A/N Sorry if I went too much into detail with their kiss :S If anyone feels uncomfortable then let me know and I can be less descriptive in the future. Hopefully you enjoyed the chapter though!