Chapter 20: Truth

The next morning, we left very early to avoid Joey tagging along with us.

"I have his PokeGear number now, so if he calls I'll just tell him that we needed to leave early and didn't have time to say good bye."

"Joy." The point of leaving early was to keep him from stalking us, including over the phone, but what did I know?

We continued east, walking until lunch time in which we decided to set up camp in another small clearing. My Pokemon had been running while Dawn and I had walked, so I decided that they wouldn't train at all this afternoon to avoid complete exhaustion.

I felt better now that we were far away from Joey and my irritation at Dawn was a lot smaller than it had been yesterday, so I found it easier to put up with her moments of annoyance. Dawn decided to pass the remainder of the day playing with her Pokemon.

They mostly played hide and seek, which was actually amusing to watch, but mostly because Dawn looked so gullible. Her Pokemon would hide high up in the trees or in camouflaged brush. She took so long to find them that I was surprised she didn't give up or grow bored. Even Mamoswine, pretending to be an actual boulder, was stealthy enough to deceive Dawn.

As she sat down, grinning, at dinner I chuckled.

"What's up?" Dawn asked.

"I just didn't know you had such a hard to telling the difference between rock and fur."

Dawn sighed and looked around the campsite, noticing her Pokemon weren't paying attention, whispered, "Do you really think I didn't notice Mamoswine? He's massive. I was just trying to make him feel good about himself."

Shocked, I didn't say anything at first. So she was just trying to include everyone equally in the game, even if that meant she looked like a complete idiot. "So instead of telling him how his size makes him a horrible hide and seek player, you just pretend you can't find him as if he's a baby? Do you think it's really wise to keep him in the dark?"

"I'm not keeping him in the dark. He knows he's different because he's huge."

"Are you sure? Never mind, what do I care?" I crossed my arms. "If your Pokemon decides to hide behind you instead of battling, which is something a Pokemon of that size was created to do, then so be it."

Dawn sighed. "Maybe you're right. I'll think about it, ok? I just don't feel like arguing."

"Ok."

After a couple minutes, Dawn asked, "Want to play a game?"

"No."

"Come on, Paul! Neither of us are tired enough to go to bed."

"I will be in about fifteen seconds."

"Ugh!" Dawn pouted. "Please..."

My mind flashed to her coupon book and I almost went to rip out one of the multiple "one hour of silence" coupons, but I decided they needed to be saved. Something as precious as silence couldn't be wasted just to avoid whatever childish game Dawn had thought up. It couldn't require that much concentration.

"Fine."

"Cool!" Dawn cheered. "Ok, let's play Truth or Dare."

"I dare you to kill me now."

"No, it doesn't work like that," Dawn said seriously. I resisted the urge to punch something. Maybe I should break out that coupon now. "Truth or dare?"

My eyes flickered to hers, which were very focused on me. I sighed again. "Truth."

"Ok." Dawn thought. "What's your favorite region?"

I glared at her. "We're playing some stupid slumber party game for you to ask me such a basic question?"

"Would you rather I ask you something extremely personal?" Dawn asked smugly.

"Hoenn," I said quickly.

Dawn smiled, amused. "How come?"

"The Pokemon here are interesting and the Pokemon League was more of a challenge than Kanto and Johto. Contests are a con, though," I added wryly.

Dawn frowned. "Ok, your turn to ask me."

I sighed tiredly. "Truth or dare, Dawn."

"Truth."

"If I dared you to do something ludicrous, like eat a Pokemon, would you do it?"

"Ew, no!" she exclaimed.

"Then what's the point of this game?"

"You're not supposed to ask things that are immoral like that. Usually people dare people to kiss someone or go play a prank or... I don't know. Something that's not immoral," she finished lamely.

I raised an eyebrow. "So you wanted me to dare you to kiss someone?"

She looked at me quickly and took too long of a pause before answering quickly, "No."

I raised an eyebrow at her and noticed that her cheeks were getting red.

Dawn bit her lip. "I chose truth."

Amused, I said, "I believe it's my turn."

"Truth or dare?" she asked, looking embarrassed.

"Truth."

After a minute while she gained composure, Dawn asked, "What's your favorite thing to do other than train Pokemon?"

"I like to read."

"How come?"

"Because it gives me an advantage over everyone else. Reading keeps the mind sharp and helps you learn. It's nice to be quiet and sit with no interruptions, though I don't read often because I'm busy." I answered. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

I smirked, too intrigued and amused to ask a different question than what I had in mind. "Have you thought up any dares for me? I do like a challenge."

Taken aback, she stared wide eyed at me before looking away. "Um, no."

I smiled lightly. "Seems like you're lying, Dawn. Does that mean I win?"

"I didn't lie," she said, though not strongly. "Truth or dare?"

I shrugged. "Truth."

She looked at her boots, then said quickly, "Did you want me to dare you to do something?"

"Like what?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Like..." Whatever she was going to say, it seemed lost. She seemed to change her mind. "Like giving a compliment to someone."

A sigh of relief escaped her, though she frowned. I frowned back. "Sure, I'll do it right now."

I took a deep breath to begin, "Dawn-" and then I paused, because I had been about to say the her game wasn't as horrendously boring as I thought it'd be. It didn't sound like much of a compliment.

Stumped, I tried to think of something outright and positive to say, no strings attached. If I said she was kind, was that a compliment? I felt like she was too kind, though.

I felt Dawn's eyes on me and scowled, thinking up a true compliment that I'd rather not admit out loud. Stiffly, I remarked, "You have a nice singing voice."

"What'd you say?" Dawn asked in shock.

"I said," I spoke louder, though with even more loathing, "you have a nice singing voice."

"When did you hear me sing?" Dawn asked.

"I just meant your humming. It's not like I've been stalking you and stumbled upon you singing," I snapped, all amusement gone.

She stayed quiet for a full minute. "Thanks, Paul."

It was probably the most sincere thing anyone had have uttered to my face. I shrugged, shoulders tense.

"Whose turn is it? Dawn's voice was kind of high pitched compared to normal. I looked up at her- she looked like she'd seen a ghost. Her face was pale.

"Doesn't matter, Dawn. I'm going to ask a question." I looked straight into her blue eyes. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"I have a lot of questions, though mostly right now I want to know why you're so fidgety and won't look me in the eye." And then one more occurred to me. "Were you expecting me to dare you to do something?"

She flinched and I struggled to figure out what was going through her head.

Even quieter, I asked, "Did you want me to?"

Dawn flinched away from me and said, "You know what, it is getting late. I'm going to bed."

She stared me in the eyes as if daring me to tell her she couldn't. I frowned. "Good night, then."

"Good night," she said, then stood up and went over to her sleeping bag, unzipping it and climbing in to hide inside.