Characters: Dawn, Ash, Brock, Paul.

Genre: Romance.

Shipping: Ikarishipping.

Notes: Not much to say. Enjoy!

Drenched in Moonlight

1- Life

There was something really enchanting about travelling at night.

Dawn's head tilted, gazing contentedly at the midnight sky. The round full moon was accompanied by a sprinkling of stars, and the light was enough to bathe the surrounding evergreen forest in a stunning glow. She closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, and took it all in.

Everyone always had a small amount of loneliness in themselves. This loneliness had emerged from the depths of her insecurities, and her inability to confide. It usually didn't bother her - but when it did, the night gave her solace.

That inkling of loneliness was gone in those moments. Moments where Sinnoh wind entered her mind, leaving no room for lingering, nagging thoughts.

"Maybe we should settle down for the night." Brock had the map rolled out in his hands, trying to find their position in the forest. He shrugged and decided either way, it was a fine spot for rest. He looked to Ash, who seemed to agree. Dawn was otherwise occupied.

"Careful your neck doesn't get sore. It might hurt in the morning," Brock commented, sending her a peculiar expression at her daze-like state. Dawn seemed to snap out of it a moment later. After taking another moment to gather herself, she wordlessly began unpacking for the night, starting with her sleeping bag.

"I guess the sky looks pretty nice tonight," Ash brought up. Brown eyes reflecting the stars as he gazed above, he smiled - one of his loving, genuine smiles that warmed the hearts of everyone who knew him. "It actually kinda reminds me of old times."

"Of her?" Brock inquired gently. It was a loaded question; he knew.

Ash's gaze was unwavering. "Yeah."

"What? Huh? Who are you talking about?" Dawn inquired, her overbearing curiosity taken in stride with the others. She was out of the loop on this one, after all. Brock looked to her, chuckling.

"Do you remember that 'Misty lure' he got a while ago?" Brock's grin was eerily suggestive.

"Oh, you mean... oh, that girl he likes?"

Ash suddenly turned to face Dawn, indignant frown on his face. "Hey, are you..."

Dawn grinned, utterly bemused. "Suggesting that you like, like her? Yes."

Ash scoffed, and in an melodramatic display cringed and stuck his tongue out. "Never in a million years."

Brock folded his arms, "Isn't that the line she always used? I betcha if she was here, she'd say 'That's my line!'"

"Oh?" Dawn feigned a suspicious look.

"I can't hear any of you now! Lalala..." Ash buried himself in his sleeping bag, fingers plugging his ears.

"Ash, you–" Brock was cut off by the sound of a twig snapping, followed by low-pitched grumbling.

The three looked at each other simultaneously.

"May I be the first to ask – What was that?" Brock inquired, looking ahead uneasily.

"I'll go check," Dawn said hastily, climbing out of her sleeping bag and reaching for her flashlight. However, it wouldn't switch on, even after multiple thumps to the base. "Ugh, battery's out," she said dejectedly.

"Then I'll come with," said Ash, standing up as Pikachu climbed up on his shoulder. "We can use Chimchar for light," he suggested, releasing the fire-type pokemon right after. He was happy to help.

And then they were off.

After a few minutes of aimlessly following Ash's directions and failing miserably, Dawn took to listening to Pikachu, whose sensitive hearing was put to good use to try and find the source of the mysterious noise.

"Pika!" Ash and Dawn both looked to the electric-type, who motioned for them to stop. "Pika, pika-pi." He pointed ahead, and from what Ash could understand, he was informing them they had arrived.

They pushed back the last curtain of shrubs, only to face none other than the infamous purple-haired, rude-mouthed trainer they all knew as Paul, who was quietly tending to a fire.

"Paul!" Ash exclaimed, eyes widening a fraction. Dawn blinked next to him, not sure what to make of the situation.

"...Hi," Dawn followed with, a bit more hesitantly.

Paul exhaled sharply, seemingly very annoyed. "Your presence isn't particularly appreciated at the moment." He had to deal with them on a nearly day-to-day basis - he wasn't about to entertain them during his much-needed time of solitude.

Dawn understood that Paul was strongly hinting at them to leave and turn the way they came, and was just beginning to wonder what his problem was when they all heard the rustle of shrubs behind them.

"Hey, you guys? You were gone for so long, so I..." Brock emerged from the shadows, with all their sleeping bags and backpacks in hand. He froze at the scene he found.

"So you brought all our stuff here," Ash finished.

"Yeah," Brock said flatly.

There was a long moment of silence.

"Um... do you mind if we just sleep here for the night?" Even after asking it, Dawn knew it was a stupid question. The answer, in fact, was immediate.

"No."

"Alright then, let's get settled!" Ash confirmed, throwing down his backpack and rolling out his sleeping bag.

Paul visibly rolled his eyes. He retreated into his sleeping bag, most likely in favor of ignoring everyone. If he wasted his time arguing, they won.

For a couple of minutes, the silence actually lasted. Brock seemed to have settled down and nodded off already, and Dawn had closed her eyes. Ash however, kept turning and tossing.

"Hey, Paul," Ash said.

"We are not battling."

"But I never said–"

"Don't."

"But-"

"Don't."

Muffled giggles erupted from Dawn's sleeping bag, who couldn't seem to hold them back.

Paul glared murderously and suddenly stood up, and Dawn wondered if he might really pack everything up and leave. No, he couldn't - he had already started a fire. Everyone knew it was hard to start a fire - surely their presence wasn't worth abandoning a warm, toasty fire over.

"Where are you going?" Ash asked.

"Firewood," he answered. Somehow, there was malice packed into that small one-word answer. He really didn't like people, did he? At least, that's what Dawn could gather from his general standoff-ish attitude. It was kind of weird.

She realised all urges of sleep had left her.

"Can I help?" Dawn found herself asking.

She had expected a no - but somehow, even more surprisingly, he didn't say anything. She wondered if it was because he didn't know what he wanted to say.

No, she was being crazy - he was probably just tired of talking. It would have definitely been a 'no' if he answered.

But Dawn followed him, anyway.

They walked together in silence, with Paul's torterra guiding them by cutting the shrubs and vines that blocked their path. Dawn's hand clutched her elbow, feeling a bit awkward with someone she didn't know all that well.

"So, um... what do you do for fun?"

It seemed that neither Paul nor Dawn expected her to say this. While Paul didn't express this, Dawn visibly cringed, inwardly chiding herself for the question. It wasn't exactly a good conversation starter with Paul Robelledo, was it?

She shook her head defiantly. No, it was a perfectly reasonable question. She'd just wait for his answer.

Of course, it didn't come.

"Any day now?" she asked, wondering if he would ever actually say a sentence to her on this walk. Maybe he would never say a sentence to her, not in her entire life. At this point, she had already screwed over the notion of this going well. If she went down with Paul never talking to her again, that was how she would go down.

He briefly glanced at her. "I train."

Before Dawn could even think to laugh, she jumped at the suddenness of the answer. He continually surprised her.

"Solid enough. I guess you aren't that different from the rest of us then, huh?"

Paul seemed to have reverted back into himself again, symbolized by his hands returning to his pockets.

Dawn's face fell. After coming this far, she felt somewhat... dejected. "You know, ignoring me isn't proving anything," she shot out suddenly, and she didn't even know she was angry until she heard the sound of her own voice.

At this, Paul glared. "What do you want me to prove?"

Dawn gazed helplessly. This was so surreal. "I...don't know," she stuttered truthfully. His eyes were a rich, dark chocolate brown. She wasn't sure why she noticed that.

There were many unspoken things in the air as they continued the walk in silence.

They eventually reached an old tree, practically drooping with heavy branches. Paul ordered Torterra to use Slash, and they soon had themselves a pile of firewood. They both grabbed as much as their arms could carry and begin walking the way they came.

Dawn knew if they kept walking, eventually they would get back to the campsite, and whatever was happening now would end, and maybe not happen again. She really wanted to break this boy.

"Hey, um... can you wait up?!" Dawn called as she stopped suddenly, setting her pile of firewood down. She seated herself in a stray log and added, "I'm just a little tired."

Paul didn't want to stop. He most certainly didn't want to yield to Dawn's request, either. So he wasn't sure what made him walk over and sit down next to her without a word. He turned to catch a glance, and he found that she was doing the same. Their gazes connected briefly before Paul broke it first.

He found himself gazing up at the sky, suddenly realising he felt oddly content. The sunlight was always hot on his skin, burning and demanding attention. Moonlight was quiet and you couldn't notice it unless you really looked, and appreciated.

They had many things in common.

"I like the world at night," Dawn told, breathing in her favorite Sinnoh winds.

Paul managed a grunt in response. Again, for some reason he couldn't decipher, his glance shifted to her. Moonlight was hitting her at the perfect angle, one in which her eyes were glimmering and her hair was shining navy. She was a very pretty girl.

Dawn wasn't as oblivious as the rest, though, (Paul had underestimated that in her), and this time she held his gaze. She wondered what he was thinking, but simply gave up on it.

She realised she knew what he was feeling. He was a little bit more free.

"It's late," Paul finally said sharply, looking at the ground. He waited for her to agree, so they could move on and leave all of this behind - whatever this was - and just... leave it behind.

Somehow, it didn't sound as good as it did the first time.

Dawn shifted, and her hand fleetingly touched his as she stood to gather the firewood.

Paul walked back with her, his hand still burning at his side. His mind was positively reeling with foreign emotions and thoughts, all by that one simple accident. He knew there was a long journey ahead of him if he decided to continue down this path, but he knew it was futile in the end.

There was something new that was coursing through his veins that was because of her. He didn't know whether to hate her or love her for it.

They walked, side by side, on a very fine line.