Chapter 53: Running  

That afternoon Dawn and I decided to pack up our things and keep walking to avoid Joey. We made sure to head in the opposite direction, hoping that Joey hadn't stopped running west since he left camp this morning. He was more annoying than all the Zubat in Mt. Moon combined. 

We talked throughout getting our things together, though only of casual subjects. Mostly of training, of my speculation that Togekiss was learning Dazzling Gleam on her own, and constantly of the look on Joey's face as he went sliding through the mud. He was as graceful as a Magikarp flopping on land. And just as stupid, though I didn't say that to Dawn. 

At every mention of the prank, Piplup and Bagon would laugh and high five each other. The two small Pokemon played hide and seek as we got ready to go, or at least Piplup attempted to. Bagon would pretend to count for a while before closing his eyes and feigning sleep, a smirk forming on his face when Piplup would abandon his hiding place and come yell at the Dragon type to pay attention and lecture him on how to correctly play hide and seek.  

Why would I do that? I practically heard Bagon reply. When bothering you is so much more fun? 

Piplup's patience reached its limit as Dawn and I put the finishing touches on organizing our packs. Dawn found him chirping angrily at Bagon who yawned in response. As she picked up her blubbery Pokémon, he waved his flippers frantically as if to attack. Bagon snickered and came to stand by me. He looked up, searching for approval. 

"You're running while we walk," I told him. His face dropped in shock. I held back a smile and crouched down, putting my hand on his head. Bagon stared at me in disbelief. His head was warm, the surface rough. I took it as a sign of strength and growth and nodded in approval. He wasn't too big of a slacker after all. 

With a final pat and a tiny growl that I assumed was pleasure from Bagon, I stood back up to see Dawn, backpack slung over her shoulder, a thoughtful smile on her face. 

"Time to go." I put my own backpack across my back. I began walking briskly east, knowing Dawn was about ten steps behind us, keeping her distance. My wondering about our distance was cut short as I heard Bagon's small pattering footsteps at my side. 

I exhaled, annoyed that the world felt a bit more right when Bagon was moving his tiny legs as fast as possible to walk next to me so that we could be a team. 

The irritation prickled in my thoughts. "Arceus knows you're never going to hang on me like a Joltik and ride on my shoulder, Bagon." 

I didn't look down to see if he reacted in any way and he didn't make any noise in reply. I kept going, deciding that it wouldn't be the end of the world if Bagon didn't run today. 

Partly for Bagon's sake and partly to be closer to Dawn, I slowed my pace until we were all walking in a line. I glanced at Dawn. Our eyes met, both calculating what the other was thinking. I smiled softly. She grinned sheepishly and pulled her left hand up to fix her hair. 

"How's your wrist?" I asked, watching her maneuver her hand gingerly with sloppy accuracy. 

"It feels fine now. I can't wait until I can take this thing off. It gets itchy." Dawn examined it herself. 

"If you ever need me to do anything about it, let me know." 

"Thanks." 

I kept walking, accidentally brushing my hand against hers as it swung. I glanced up at her. Dawn blushed and I couldn't help but smile faintly at the sight. 

We continued in silence for a while as I pondered which route would be most logical to travel- that of not easily attained love, or that of knowing future success as a Pokemon Trainer? I could have both if I chose Dawn possibly, but it was less likely a life was easier with so many dreams when two people chose to be together. Life wasn't a fairy tale and it was best to understand that now. 

Which made the probability of us being a successful couple very low. 

My head could logically accept that, but every time I thought it, every time I looked at Dawn, that didn't matter. My chest burned with desire when I looked at her. I didn't like the feeling, not when I couldn't act on it. 

"I'm going on a run," I said abruptly and started gathering my Poke Balls to release my Pokémon. 

Dawn took in my rash expression. "You alright?" 

I paused before clicking the center of Torterra's Poke Ball. "Sometimes thinking is better done when you can't." 

I didn't even know what had made me say or think that. I shook my head at myself, not understanding as Dawn stared blankly at me as my Pokemon appeared in flashes of light. 

"Start running. If I catch up to you, you owe me extra time," I stated. Bagon took off as fast as his little feet could carry him, the others following close behind. 

Right when I was about to start running, Dawn grabbed my wrist. I stood still when she stopped walking. 

Her voice was quiet. "I think what you mean is you don't want to think about something." 

I remained silent. 

"Is that why you train nowadays, Paul? To get away from thinking?" she asked, some sort of sympathy in her voice. 

I tried to push down the loathing I had for the pity being aimed at me and shook off her hand. I jogged a few steps ahead, ready to leave her behind and not think about anything except my feet pounding against the ground and my heart pounding against my chest, forcing my body to endure through it all. 

But I couldn't go any farther than a few feet. I stopped in my tracks, unable to leave her. I couldn't leave her. Not her, not this girl who somehow knew exactly why I ran, why I trained, who I was without me even having to explain it to her anymore.  

My hands formed fists as I realized this. I locked my jaw. Why her? 

I turned back around and stared at her, trying to analyze why I felt this way about her. Dawn seemed taken aback by how quickly I had stopped, but set her face stubbornly, looking ready to stand her ground. 

She sure was a beautiful sight. I walked until I stood right in front of Dawn. Her eyes widened and I couldn't look away. My hand found hers. 

"Sometimes," I breathed, "I train to get away from you." 

I looked down, ashamed at my weakness. I looked back up steadily. "Because if I don't get away from you, sometimes I don't think I could bear being near." 

My hand squeezed hers before letting go, the tips of my fingers trailing along her palm. I felt the burning in my chest again. Her eyes glittered with emotion. 

I turned around and started to run, not looking back. The burning continued.

I caught up to my Pokemon half an hour later. I hadn't stopped once, hadn't slowed down. My lungs felt like they were on fire. My legs trembled from the exertion.  

My Pokemon were standing along the trail, taking a short break. I heard Bagon yell happily as he saw me, though I was too tired to be annoyed. I slowed to a walk, inhaling through my nose, exhaling through my mouth, trying to improve the flow of oxygen. 

I realized how hot it was. Surprisingly, Dawn still had my jacket from this morning and I was only wearing my t-shirt, which I took off in a fluid motion. A breeze cooled my skin and I sighed, finally feeling a bit relieved. 

I tossed my t-shirt which landed on Bagon's unaware head. I looked down as he fumbled to remove it. He looked like a black, bulky ghost. I heard Electivire snicker. Torterra growled at him and kindly removed the t-shirt from Bagon's head with his teeth. Bagon sighed in relief and smiled at Torterra. 

My breathing calmed as I watched my Pokemon interact with each other. Weavile, Honchkrow, and Gastrodon were the most disciplined with their emotions. Weavile looked bored. Honchkrow's eyes glinted with annoyance at Electivire while Gastrodon looked ahead, ready to continue the run, always aiming to get faster.  

Thinking of Gastrodon's dedication tired me. Gastrodon, the slowest of my team when running due to his lack of limbs. I already felt pushed to my mental and physical ends for today, yet Gastrodon seemed uninhibited by the distance he still wanted to cover. 

Dawn's comfy training is rubbing off on me, I said to myself, hating it. 

"I'm done for today." I announced, "I thank you all for training. If you'd wish to continue, you may. If not, you can return to your Poke Balls." 

They all hesitated. This was the first time I'd ever given them an option.  

"I'm done. I'm tired and I'm sure you are too," I said. 

My Pokemon shifted nervously as they thought. Suddenly, I felt a light pressure pushing my calf. I looked down to see Bagon pushing me forward. 

"What do you want?" I asked. 

He pushed harder, though I didn't even lean. I rolled my eyes. He really did need training. His strength, or lack thereof, was pathetic. 

A few seconds later, Weavile stepped behind me and started pushing, forcing me to take a step. 

"Did you not hear my orders?" I raised my voice. "You're to run or rest." 

Gastrodon crawled behind me and started pushing. I stumbled a few steps, gritting my teeth. "If you don't cut it out, you'll regret it." 

Torterra started laughing and stepped behind me, a mischievous grin on his face as he readied to push. 

Oh Arceus. 

"Ok, fine. You win. I'll run too," I said in between my teeth. 

All my Pokemon erupted into cheers. I grabbed my shirt off the ground and brushed off dirt. Gastrodon was the first to begin forward, followed by Honchkrow and Weavile. Electivire began jogging behind them. Torterra's eyes flashed in amusement before he stomped away, leaving Bagon grinning at me. 

"You think you're so great, don't you?" My eyes narrowed at him. Bagon's grin faltered as I kneeled down. I stared at him, trying to keep my expression lethal as I took in his fearful eyes. "You know, you're actually not that bad." 

I stood up, knowing his mouth had dropped open as I took a few steps before barking, "Hurry up. It was your idea to run so you better beat me" 

We ran together, distracting my burning heart with burning limbs and lungs.

Hey Readers!

I feel like it's been awhile since I updated. Plus this chapter was going to be reallllly long compared to normal so I split it up into two parts. I hope you liked this chapter :) 

Well, by now you know the Drill Run of my messages- if you liked the chapter, make sure you vote, comment, and/or follow (if you aren't already). Thanks so much for your support and the love you all give for First Light. It means so much to me.

I'm hoping to post the next chapter next Friday (If you are following me and haven't noticed, I usually try to update this story on Fridays, not that it's every single Friday), but if I don't it's because the next day I'll be at Disneyland so I'll be super busy. 

Thanks for reading and I hope you all have an awesome day!

-Flips

Pokemon Question of the Day: What's your favorite TM move? (I'm not going to be picky if you say an HM, but that'll probably be a question for another chapter) 

By the way, I'm so glad TMs are reusable now. It was such a pain to only use them once before, wasn't it?