Chapter 61: Right Reasons 

"Paul. Hey, Paul."

I opened my eyes, feeling groggy. They slowly adjusted to her face, taking in her light skin, her big blue eyes. She smiled when she saw I was awake. "Hey." 

"Wow, you've been knocked out." Dawn laughed softly. 

We were still in bed, but now she was facing me. I didn't like the distance, but asked, "Any idea what time it is?" 

"I think it's about one in the afternoon," she answered. 

"We slept all day."

"You mean all morning? Yes."

I suppressed my instant "What a waste of time" statement as I realized how well rested and content I felt. "Hmph. I guess sleeping in isn't all that bad." 

"Wasn't the end of the world after all, huh?" Dawn joked. 

I smirked. "We haven't gone outside yet to see if the sky has fallen. You wait. My instincts are hardly ever wrong." 

"Really?" Dawn said smugly. I tried to decipher why, but she continued, "And what did your instincts say about me?" 

I took a deep breath and stared at her seriously. "Like I said, they're hardly ever wrong." 

She smiled and stretched and got out of bed while I remained frozen, wondering why she'd moved. The whole aspect of my mood changed by the simple new five feet between us. 

I sat up, hoping that with a change of position my perspective would follow suit. The comforter fell off and I felt the chill in the room. Dawn gasped. 

I looked at her with concern. "What?" 

"Your chest." She pointed at it, wide eyed. 

My eyes studied the swollen bruises I'd gotten yesterday. They did look bad. 

"Paul, why didn't you tell me how hurt you were?" Dawn asked, her eyebrows pulling down as she studied my chest again. 

I reached a hand out to her face, pausing. "May I?" 

She nodded, hesitant. 

I brushed back her hair, finding the bump and bruise Fuller had caused. I took a deep breath, trying to remain calm. "I didn't tell you because you are hurt enough as it is." 

"I got one bump, big deal. Your chest looks like someone decided to use you as a punching bag." She put her hand over mine and lowered it to the bed, still staring at my chest. 

"I'm fine, but thanks for your concern." My chest did hurt, but I didn't mind. Getting used to pain was a type of training in itself. It would heal and I wasn't worried about pain signals. I was more focused on Dawn who wouldn't look away from my torso. Amused, I murmured, "Do you always stare at shirtless guys?" 

Dawn glared at me. "I'm trying to be serious. You got hurt." 

"I can take care of myself." 

"Paul-" 

"Dawn, I'm fine," I said firmly. 

Dawn looked away and shook her head. "I know. But you don't get it. I know you're tough, Paul, but seeing you hurt like that..." She took a deep breath and looked at me again. "It's my turn to be your serf. What do you need to feel better? I'll get it for you." 

I rolled my eyes. "I don't need anything." 

"Don't be an idiot. Do you need ice? Come on, the swelling can go down. Your chest looks disgusting." 

"Thanks. I try to be as repulsive as possible." 

"Paul." 

"You can get me some ice if it will ease your mind." I leaned back on the bed in defeat, studying my chest. It hurt to move. 

Dawn sighed in relief. "I'll be right back." 

She looks cute in a too big t-shirt, shorts, and bare feet, I thought as she left the room in search for ice, trying to hold back the swell of surprise at me even thinking the word 'cute' and meaning it. 

A few minutes later Dawn came back with a bag of ice in hand. She pulled the chair over from the desk on the wall and sat in front of me, scrutinizing my chest again. 

"You're acting like a bruise is cause for surgery," I stated, breaking the silence. 

Dawn pursed her lips defensively. "Chill." 

She pressed the ice onto my chest before I could retort. I winced at the frigid contact, trying not to shudder. Trying to distract myself, I met Dawn's eyes. She was smiling at me. 

I raised an eyebrow. "What?" 

Her smile widened. "Remember that time I gave you a pink bandage?" 

"Yes, Dawn. If you recall correctly, I have this uncanny knack of remembering annoying situations," I said grimly, trying to hold back my own smile. 

Dawn laughed softly. "You put on a good show, Paul, but I can see through it." 

"What show?" I asked. 

"You try to act like I get on your nerves but I really don't." Dawn scooted her chair closer and moved the ice to a different bruised area of my chest. 

I refrained from reacting from the cold. "As I've told you, you're far less irritating as you once were." 

"Maybe you just see me in a different light." 

"Maybe you're thinking too much about it."

We were sitting extremely close together. Dawn was leaning forward to apply pressure, her mouth opening slightly as she realized our close distance. 

I said abruptly, "I want to take you somewhere tonight." 

Her eyes flickered up to mine. "Where?" 

"It's a surprise." 

Dawn's eyebrows scrunched down as she thought. "You're seriously not going to tell me?" 

"I thought the point of a surprise was for it to remain unknown until the right moment."  

"Yeah, but I have to wait?" Dawn whined. 

"I waited for silence all these months that never came. I think you can handle a few hours of not knowing." 

"You're mean when you're in a good mood." Dawn pouted. 

I smirked. "I'm mean no matter what mood I'm in." 

I was in a good mood though. Dawn was safe, Bagon had evolved into a Salamence, and I knew what I was supposed to do now. What I wanted to do. 

Dawn shivered and I realized she was cold from holding the ice to my chest. I put my hand over hers and she looked up, surprised. 

I murmured, "You'll know soon. In the meantime I think we should both rest and enjoy the present moment."  

Dawn nodded. 

"I can hold the ice if you're cold," I offered. 

Dawn shifted the bag, staring at my chest. After a pause, she stated, "I've realized I'm actually pretty ok with being cold for the right reasons." 

I wasn't exactly sure what she meant by that, but it seemed wrong to ask about it. Instead, I kept my hand over hers and squeezed gently, wanting to make at least half of the cold go away.

After an hour of icing various bruises on my chest and forcing Dawn to ice her face, which had been more difficult than I imagined, we went to the cafeteria to grab lunch and to the front desk to get our Pokemon back from Nurse Joy. 

"Your Pokemon are all fighting fit," Nurse Joy recited. 

"Thanks." Dawn took her Poke Balls. 

"I need to fly with Salamence for a while," I told Dawn as we walked away. 

"Congratulations on him evolving by the way."  

"Thank you." 

"It's so weird that he used to be like our little tiny baby and now he's all grown up." 

"Excuse me?" I stopped walking. "Dawn, he was never a baby and he was absolutely not our baby." 

"I was joking." Dawn gave me a baffled expression. 

Oh. I stifled all waves of embarrassment that threatened to appear on my face for jumping to conclusions. "My apologies, then." 

"Wow, do babies hit a nerve with you?" Dawn stifled a laugh. 

"I was going to invite you to go flying with me, but now I'm not sure."

Dawn waved a hand airily. "I'm not interested. I think you and Salamence need some alone time anyway." 

I hadn't been counting on that response and held back my disappointment. "And what will you be doing?" 

"Why so interested?" Dawn smiled ruefully. 

"You're getting on my nerves today, Troublesome." 

Dawn laughed. "I'm just having fun." 

I was having fun too. I gave her a light smile. "I'll be back in an hour." 

"Have a nice time." Dawn brushed her hand against mine, letting her fingers linger. "We'll talk tonight, right?" 

"I promise." I let my own thumb smoothly run across her palm. I had a lot to say to her, after all. 

"Good. Be careful."

"Careful isn't usually something I partake in, but I'll make an exception at your request," I said, smirking. I turned around, knowing Dawn was rolling her eyes at me. 

I headed out the Pokemon Center doors. It was sunny outside. I took out Salamence's Poke Ball, holding it up to the light before tossing it into the air. Salamence appeared with a triumphant roar and a Flamethrower attack before landing in front of me, his weight causing the earth to tremble on impact. 

His red eyes gleamed as he smiled dopily. He looked exactly the same as he did as a Bagon. 

I crossed my arms. "Only immature, inexperienced Dragon Pokemon show off their Flamethrower attack." 

Salamence's expression dropped, reminding me of the last time he'd shown off as a Bagon and I'd chided him for it. He was still the same despite his changed appearance. 

"I need to see how strong you are as a Salamence," I stated. "Stay still." 

I walked up to his side and patted his shoulder, feeling the rough scales that layered his body. I proceeded to walk around Salamence, checking the length of his body, the exact shade of his wings and skin to determine how healthy he was, how long and strong his claws were. He kept trying to weave his long neck around to see what I was doing. That or he was trying to admire his new form, still growing used to being naturally big and strong. 

"Stay still," I repeated. 

With a low grumble, he did. 

"You're in better shape than I thought," I confirmed once inspecting his teeth. "If you start acting like a Dragon instead of a hatchling you'll make a fine Salamence." 

Salamence looked at me sourly. 

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Were you expecting me to worship the air you fly in once you evolved?" 

Silence. 

"You were wrong to think that. You will always need to train. Luckily for you, I'm willing to continue our arduous journey together. That is, if you can handle it." 

A sharp, short growl rumbled through him. 

"I thought so. Let's fly," I said, using his forearm to climb onto his back. "Focus on getting used to the feeling of flight and what the air feels like at certain heights and places." 

Salamence adjusted his wings anxiously. 

"Now," I instructed after getting settled. 

We took off, both of us trying to harmonize with the wind.

Hey Guys!

So... no idea who is going to win the contest tonight. You know, the "I'm going to comment first" one. Either way, you're all crazy and I think you're awesome. Some people think weird is an insult, but I think of it as a compliment. So thank you all for being weird and amazing!

I kind of split this chapter into two, so I'll be updating next Friday (7/25) as well. And, spoiler alert, that chapter is somewhat short, BUT I wrote part of it in Dawn's POV which you guys seem to enjoy a lot.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thanks so much for all of your support and love. If you liked it, please consider commenting and/or voting :) Following is also cool. It's the one site where I approve of stalkers on. Facebook stalkers give me the creeps though. I've never stalked anyone who looks like my characters *cough* Ok maybe I did. They always end up in my history classes too... it's SO weird.

Pokemon Question of the Day: Max or Bonnie and why? Which Pokemon sibling is more awesome? Or neither, I guess. Truthfully, I'm a huge Bonnie fan. I work with kids and I think she's adorable, very realistic, and she reminds me of a little girl I know who thinks about adults getting married far too often. If a little kid has ever tried to hook you up with someone they know, believe me, it's awkward and I feel bad for Clemont.

Thanks for reading! Have a great day! FLAMMIO HOTMAN! Please understand that reference- ok first one to know what that's from gets a chapter dedication for your awesomeness. Ready, set, GO.

-Flips