Chapter 50: Sketches 

I didn't sleep well, as I had predicted, and had woken my Pokemon up a few hours earlier than planned by shaking them awake and hissing, "Wake up, we're going for a run. That is, if you're not going to be pathetic and sleep all day." 

And that we had. They hadn't seemed too bothered by missing out on sleep either. Apparently they'd missed training as much as I had. The possibility of them also having girl issues and being unable to sleep was discarded immediately, naturally. 

After an hour job, they began stretching and focusing on their main attacks. We'd hiked pretty far away from camp as to not wake Dawn and her Pokemon, which would be entirely too easy as my Pokemon seemed keen on dismantling the entire route. I didn't blame them. If I had the power to use an attack that could crush anything in my path, I'd use it in a heartbeat. Especially at times such as these when we'd been cooped up inside for such a long period of time.  

My Pokemon and I returned to camp two hours later to find Dawn and her Pokemon getting ready for the day. Dawn was making oatmeal, which I was thankful for. We'd gone to train without eating (any idiot could train well on a full stomach) and we were all ready for a bit of nourishment.  

"Good morning." Dawn handed me a bowl of oatmeal. 

"Morning." I sat down roughly, relieved as I took a bite. 

"I see you were eager to start early today."

I nodded, my mouth full of oatmeal.  

"Did you trip over anything while I was asleep?" 

I ignored her teasing. "No." 

"Good. I didn't miss anything." She stretched cheerfully and I saw Piplup give me a smug look. At least he didn't seem eager to use Ice Beam on me anymore.  

"When do you plan to start training?" I asked, moving away from the jokes. 

"Right after we eat." Dawn watched her Pokemon nibble on their food. "I'm really excited." 

"Yeah, it's refreshing." 

"I can tell you missed it."

"I did, but my time has not been wasted." I took another bite before feeling anxious about what I'd said. Dawn didn't reply and instead finished her oatmeal. 

"Ok, guys," she called once they finished. "It's time to train." 

"Us too." I nodded to my Pokemon who gathered behind me. 

Dawn and I stared at each other for a few seconds before Dawn said, "I guess I'll see you later." 

I frowned, disliking thinking about not seeing her until lunch. It hadn't bothered me this morning, being away from her, but now that I was thinking about it, being away from her didn't appeal to me. "I guess so." 

"Good luck, Paul." She winked at me and held out her hand. 

I shook it, feeling a bit wary of why we were being so formal. "I don't need it. You don't either, you know." 

She grinned. "Right. See you soon." 

Soon, I repeated in my head, watching her skip away as she chatted energetically to her Pokemon as they left camp.

Bagon and I had begun our one on one training right after parting ways with Dawn. It had felt nice to get back into the routine and I'd surprisingly missed his quiet company. He was a lot like me in several ways and shared my never ending perseverance to grow strong. The amount of whining involved in this, however, varied immensely.  

Bagon's whining aside, I felt back in my element helping my Dragon Pokemon get stronger and it was invigorating. We'd been working on Protect, though I doubted we'd ever really use it. Still, it could come in handy. It was difficult work- a move that failed after repetitive use was challenging and required a lot of concentration. Even with Electivire's help, Bagon could hardly maintain the move for more than a few seconds.  

After the strenuous training session with little progress, not that I had been expecting much, we went to lunch. We made it to camp before Dawn, so I started unpacking all the food. By the time I'd finished she walked through the trees and greeted me happily. 

I smiled back at her, my heart feeling a bit less tense than it had during training. I hadn't noticed the odd heavy feeling before, but it was obvious that I felt more relaxed and at ease when she was around. As a person who'd never felt dependent on anyone else, I wasn't sure if I liked that or not.  

Our conversation was energetic and we both talked about what kind of training we planned to do. I talked more than usual, though Dawn didn't tease me about it, which I was grateful for. I knew she wouldn't forget me falling anytime soon. Neither would I, quite frankly.  

During lunch I noticed Bagon had fallen asleep due to exhaustion before even finishing his food. A bit disappointed, I decided he needed the rest and would train with him that night. His endurance still needed work, obviously, if he couldn't even last half a day of my training. He'd grown lazy in his time off. 

Without any other necessary training coming to mind for today, it seemed best that I go watch Dawn work with her Pokemon. She'd happily accepted my request to watch and led me to a pond after lunch. True to her word, she was practicing the counter shields that Ash had somehow developed (discovered by chance, I still say) and was currently working with her Quilava on both a Swift and Flamethrower counter shield. 

I watched quietly under the branches of a tree, using my backpack as a pillow. I was about thirty feet away from the pair of them and Dawn was paying no attention to me, her concentration unwavering as Quilava attempted his counter shield once again. I shifted my weight as I observed the pair, then noticed my shoulder blade hitting something unfamiliar in my pack. 

Curious, I unzipped it. The sketchbook was what had bumped against my shoulder and I opened it to the first page, wondering if I should draw something. Looking around the pond, the only thing that really interested me at all was Dawn. I pulled the pencil out of its holder, staring at the paper, wondering if I should actually draw her. 

Too interested to turn the opportunity down, I stared at Dawn and began a light sketch of her kneeling in the grass and smiling as she petted her Quilava on the head from his first success at a counter shield. The task was peaceful. My arm moved with precision, my wrist flicking to form certain angles and shading. I looked up every half minute or so to study Dawn to match the exact shape of her legs, the length of her arms, the way her hair flowed from underneath her hat. 

I focused especially on her face after a light sketch was done of the rest of her body, making sure I got her smile and that light in her eyes just right. 

After what seemed like no time at all, though I noticed the sun was in a completely different position in the sky than when I had started drawing, I stared down at the results. It wasn't perfect, but considering I hadn't drawn in such a long time I mentally approved of what I'd just produced. Putting my pencil down on my lap, I continued looking at the picture, trying to decide on a title before signing my name. 

The sound of footsteps coming toward me interrupted my thoughts and I quickly shut the notebook before looking up at Dawn and her Quilava moving closer to me. She seemed to be in a good mood as she skipped. 

"Hey! We got both counter shields down. Thanks for those tips, Paul. They really helped." She came and sat next to me and placed her hand on Quilava's head again, which he rested on her lap. "What have you been up to? Hey, is that your sketchbook? Did you use it?" 

I'd hidden it partially behind me, but Dawn reached over me and snatched it up. She was usually more reluctant to touch my things nowadays, but I guessed she figured it was empty or just filled with Pokemon stats or schedules. Dawn flipped to the first page and froze, her mouth open. 

I watched her for a full minute, unsure if I should say something. Before I could think of a response, she said, "Did you draw this? Just now?" 

"Yes." I looked at my legs. 

She tore her eyes from the page. "How'd you learn how to do this?" 

I took a deep breath. "My Uncle Ben was a Pokemon Watcher. He's the one who taught me how to be so patient and how to tell the difference between weak and strong Pokemon judging just by their appearance and behavior. He also taught me how to draw." 

"He taught you really well." Dawn looked back at the picture in awe. 

"Thanks." I fiddled with the pencil in my hand. 

Dawn touched my arm gently. "Why didn't you tell me you could draw?" 

I shrugged. "I didn't even know I could still draw like that. It's been a long time. Besides, it didn't seem important." 

"I would like to know more about you, you know. You're very interesting and I find everything about you important." 

My eyes flicked up to study her. She was looking at the picture again, her forehead creased with what I thought was worry as she asked, "Can I keep this?" 

"Sure. Let me just title and sign it." 

She handed me the pad and I studied it for a minute before adding the title to the top and my signature to the bottom. I gave it back to her. 

"Kindness," She read aloud. 

I nodded. "Seemed right." 

A silence enveloped us and I felt pressured to say something, felt her eyes study mine, and felt the strong current of questions she was holding back.

"I'm going back to camp to wake up Bagon," I announced abruptly, wanting to get away from the growing discomfort between us. 

Standing up with my backpack, stretching and refusing to wince and I noticed how sore I was from sitting on the hard forest ground, I looked at Dawn who stared up at me, frowning slightly. "Oh, ok." 

Stuffing my hands in my pockets, I turned and wondered why she sounded so upset by me leaving.

Hi Readers!

Ok, I hope this satisfies your craving for First Light if you are one of those people who have been asking for an update. I'm also hoping during Spring Break I'll have some time to write because so far, I had all of these chapters written, a "bonus chapter" that I'll eventually post (It's in Dawn's POV which is why I call it that, but it takes place before this point in the story), and I also have the last few chapters written past 50. So that leaves me with a gap in my chapters which needs to be filled. What does that mean for you guys? Sadly a slower rate of chapter posting. I'm still deciding on how long this gap between the "finale chapters" and right now is going to be. I have at least one chapter idea, and blah blah blah... ok you get it lol. My chapter updates aren't going to be as frequent. (Note that if it's summer time I'll have more time to write and, thus, more updates).

Ok, question though! To make up for my lack of First Light updates, would you guys want me to post an OC Pokemon story I came up with involving time travel and most of the characters Paul battled? (Daniel, Emma, Amanda, Anthony) Sadly, Gabby isn't in the story. I have plenty of chapters written on that and I can try to post something Pokemon related. If you would like me to, comment below and I'll be glad to start posting that story earlier than planned. (By the way- Emma's parents are Ash and Misty as well as old Pokemon characters if that helps spark your interest).

This message is getting long. As usual, I hope you enjoyed my chapter. Vote, follow, and/or comment if you feel like it :) You guys are all amazing and I'm so glad I have so many readers reading my story. Without you First Light wouldn't be possible!

Pokemon Question of the Day: (I'm not sure if I did the first one or not so I'll include two)

1. Which Pokemon is the most annoying Pokemon to you? 

2. Which baby Pokemon is your favorite? (I mean first stage like Azurill, Pichu, Cleffa, etc.)

Keep being Super Effective, guys!

-Flips