Chapter 3: Implications

"How's he doing?" Dawn stood up from a lobby couch, her eyes full of worry. Piplup even seemed a bit uneasy as he sat, frozen in place instead of his normal squirming.

"He's fine." I proceeded in telling her what Nurse Joy had said.

"Oh." Dawn blinked, "Well, I'm sure he's not going to like that very much."

"You guessed correctly. And truthfully, neither do I. I wasn't planning on spending any time around human beings for at least another week."

"Hey, Paul. I know you're pretty slow, so I think I should just tell you now- I'm a human being." Dawn whispered to me as if it was a secret.

I eyed her warily, "Really? I never would have guessed."

My heart lightened a bit at her teasing and she smiled.

"So, I guess you're stuck being around people like me." Dawn sat back down, seeming more comfortable.

"I don't even know where we are." I realized, surprising myself.

"I was told we're in Fiducia Town." Dawn handed me her Pokegear and pointed north of Mt. Pyre, "Right there."

"I've never been here before." I admitted.

"Such a shocker. The great Paul hasn't been absolutely everywhere in Hoenn?" Dawn gasped.

"I was too busy avoiding towns to visit everywhere."

"It's still better than somewhere."

Dawn and I exchanged a very long glance before she couldn't help but laugh. The amount of times she joked about that, I didn't know how she still found it funny.

"What's the plan for the rest of the day?"

I looked at the clock. Four in the afternoon, "We should stay here. I don't want to leave Salamence. It's getting late and I'm not in the mood for talking to people."

Dawn smiled, "Hey, you're talking to me."

My lip quirked up, "You're not people."

"I'm glad I'm unique." Dawn said happily before standing up and grabbing my hand, "Ok, well let's go watch a movie before dinner."

I followed without complaint despite not being in the mood. It didn't matter. Dawn wanted to watch a movie, or perhaps she just wanted to try and get my mind off Salamence. No matter her intentions, it was spending time with her and I didn't have any complaints about that.

After the movie, which I paid no attention to (Teenage Mutant Ninja Squirtle. The horror), we had dinner and then headed to one of the many empty lounge-like areas the Pokemon Center had to offer. We began talking casually on a couch. Or, more accurately, Dawn would talk while I listened and reflected upon how I was so at ease with her talking instead of irritated, like I would have been even months before. She talked, I listened, and Piplup snored as he slept.

Something began bothering me as she talked, which I couldn't decipher until she began talking about how she wasn't sure what to do about her Contest dress.

"What were you doing with your eyes closed when I was trying to figure out what to do?" I asked suddenly.

"Wait, what are you talking about?"

"After we fell and Salamence was hurt, you closed your eyes. What were you doing?"

Dawn straightened up on the couch attentively, "I was praying."

I paused before repeating, "Praying?"

"Yeah. I'm a Christian, remember?"

Of course I remembered. She'd brought it up in conversation several times, talking enthusiastically about churches and God and love and all things bright and wonderful that I'd tuned out, even after we'd gotten together. I tried to listen eventually, but it was something I couldn't hear. It wasn't for me.

I decided not to acknowledge her, "What were you praying?"

"For help, like you said. You said we needed help, I agreed, so I asked for help and John came there the next second."

I took a deep breath, speaking slowly as if it'd avoid hurting her feelings, "You know that was just a coincidence, right?"
"I don't believe in coincidences." Dawn replied, undeterred.

"I do."

Dawn shrugged, "Well, we already knew we believed different things. You never seemed bothered by it before."

"I'm not bothered."

Dawn looked at me straight on in the way only she could, "Right. You're not bothered."

She grabbed my hand and I sighed, "Fine, maybe I'm a little bothered."

"People can't be forced to change, you know."

"Why do you mention that?"

"Because arguing never made people change their minds or hearts and I feel like right now you're really defensive, even though there's no reason to be."

I tried to lessen my unease on the subject, but failed. I leaned my head against hers, trying to feel a sense of peace, but didn't succeed.

"Does it bother you?" I murmured into her hair, rubbing my thumb against her palm, "My beliefs?"

I heard her catch her breath in surprise, but she didn't move away, "I think I worry about it sometimes, but it's kind of weird..."
"What is?"

"I feel like you lie to yourself about what you believe." She said quietly, gripping my hand with a bit of urgency.

My free hand formed a fist and I forced the rest of my body not to react. I didn't like where this conversation was going, "You said I didn't have any reason to be defensive."

"You don't." Dawn moved her head away from mine and blinked in surprise at me. I observed how innocent her expression was, how pure, and felt a pang of annoyance at myself for accusing the least rude person on the face of the Earth of being somewhat hostile.

"Sorry." I bit the word, disliking apologizing so much in one day.

"We don't have to talk about it anymore if you don't want. That's just what I feel." Dawn said hesitantly.

"I know." I said too harshly before softening my voice, "It's a hard subject."

I could feel her dying to ask why, but she didn't push me, which I was very appreciative of.

"Would you like to go to bed? It's getting late." Dawn stood up and stretched. I watched her pale arms extend towards the sky as her face scrunched together.

"I'm really glad you didn't get hurt in the fall." I said softly.

"Me too." Dawn smiled, "Same with you. You might not let other people know, but I know you're human and just as fragile as anyone else."

I rolled my eyes, "That's your theory. Until proven, your hypothesis can't be used as actual fact."

Dawn laughed and I got off the couch, a small smile on my face and my heart a bit lighter, glad that our conversation had changed its course.

"Let's get some sleep. We can figure out what we're doing tomorrow when we wake up." Dawn said.

I sighed, "It appears we'll have a lazy day surrounded by people who want to socialize with me."

"Hey, that's not the worst thing ever." Dawn picked up her slumbering partner and tugged at my arm, leading me to our room.

"I'd rather be Salamence and be unable to move." I stated. She hit my bicep and I winced theatrically, causing her to grin.

We reached our room and spent half an hour or so preparing for bed. Dawn took longer than I did, though I waited up, reading a Trainer magazine left in the room by Nurse Joy, idly flipping through advertisements I didn't care about.

Dawn returned from the bathrooms, looking content, "Hey, Paul?"

"Yes?"

"Mind if I sleep in the same bed as you tonight?"

"Is that really a question?"

"Well, I did just ask it."

I paused after my playfulness, studying her critically, "You really are an enigma."

She frowned, "What do you mean?"

Our earlier talk was still on our mind, "You're Christian, correct?"

"Yeah."

"Which means there are specific rules set in place." I wondered why I refused to specifically state even the words implied if I never felt held to the so-called rules.

Dawn let out an impatient huff, but I saw her cheeks get a bit red, "Yes, but I'm not breaking any rules."

"And you trust me not to break these rules, which I'm not bound to?"

"That's a really weird question, Paul. I don't think you usually say what you mean." Dawn sat down on the bed opposite of me, apparently indifferent to such a critical question.

"Then what do I mean?"

"I think you're trying to ask if I think you're safe... like you want to know if you won't break 'those rules'," She used air quotes, rolling her eyes, "and this isn't about me at all."

"Isn't it?"

"Nope."

"You're the one who wanted to sleep in my bed." I said under my breath.

Dawn heard me, "I don't have to. I just don't feel pressured to, and I don't think you feel pressured about anything, or want to pressure me, so that's why I asked."

"You're not a guy."

"So this is about you." Dawn smiled a little.

"I'm just wondering about implications."

Dawn leaned back on the bed and sighed, "You're so complicated, Paul. Implications? Do you even know what you're talking about? Because I think when you have no idea what you're feeling about something, you just use big words and confusing talk to make it sound like you know, but really you have no idea."

I decided not to comment. Dawn noticed, "Well, I'm going to sleep in my own bed then. It's seriously no big deal. I don't want it to be a problem."

I frowned. Most girls said those type of things with sarcasm or some sort of offensive tone. Not Dawn. It really was fine with her and she was in no way upset with me. I didn't know how her patience was so highly developed.

Dawn got under the sheets of her own bed and squirmed until she was comfortable. I walked over and knelt by her head so that our faces were almost even. Her blue eyes sparkled as she looked at me.

"You really put up with a lot from me, don't you?" I murmured.

"You're not that bad." Dawn whispered.

I put a hand in her hair, running it through softly. Her eyes closed. I kissed her cheek before pulling away, "I love you."

"I love you too, Paul." Dawn scooted closer to me so our foreheads touched.

"Sweet dreams, Troublesome." I said quietly.

I walked over to the light switch.

"Hey, Paul?"

"Yes?"

"I pray for you."

A moment of silence passed as I considered this, remembering a soft, protective voice, a sense of rightness I no longer felt.

I turned off the lights and said once again, softly, "Good night, Dawn."

Hey Readers!

I'm sure you all enjoyed the cute moments between Dawn and Paul. It's such a relief to see that they actually have personalities, grow, and have issues. And I'm comparing them to normal Pokemon where everyone is basically happy all the time and there aren't many problems at all besides super repetitive Pokemon stealing. So I'm glad I can write about people being people in the Pokemon world. Yaaay!

Also, I feel like people will ask- I made up Fiducia Town. It's my own design, so you won't find it on an official map. 

Let me know what you think of the story so far. It's going to keep getting more complex and emotional from here, so stand by for battle! (That's so fun to say)

Pokemon Question of the Day: What kind of Pokemon town/city would you live in? Or be registered as living in while you're traveling around. I get it, we all want to travel. But where would you vacation or live when you had down time and didn't want to walk all day?

Thanks for all your support! 

God bless,

Flips