She was eighteen and he was twenty-one when it happened.
They weren't dating, exactly. It was more of an arrangement, but neither of them was complaining, so it continued. The whole thing started out as an accident, to be honest. They were both drunk and feeling sorry for themselves, and then they just went with the flow, as she would later describe it.
Dawn Berlitz was a former Pokémon Coordinator, and won the Kanto Grand festival aged sixteen. She decided to retire after that, going into the fashion business, another thing her heart had always been in. After two years of struggling to get her feet of the ground, she was suddenly launched to fame, with the help of her Loppuny. So this unexpected development in her life was not particularly welcome.
The other half of this problem lay with Paul Rebolledo. His training methods had been questioned by many over the years, but he proved to be one of the strongest trainers in the country. He constantly came second in competitions, but finally, at twenty years old, he had won the Lily of The Valley Conference, and in a weird twist of fate, became the Sinnoh League Champion. As such, he was constantly busy, and had a lot of pressure placed upon him.
Both trainers lived their lives in the spotlight, so it was no wonder they were somehow drawn to each other. They knew each other from before- when she was ten and he was thirteen they had travelled across Sinnoh, and occasionally bumped into each other. Dawn resented him, however, because of his rivalry with Ash, and the way his thirteen-year-old self trained his Pokémon. He had no interest in the contest circuit, so he never paid much attention to her. In fact, he could barely recall her name until they were older.
It started when Dawn spent half an hour bent over the toilet on a Tuesday morning. She phoned in sick to work, but didn't think anything of it. She didn't usually get sick, but it flu season, so it didn't come as too much of a shock.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Johanna asked, concerned about her only daughter's sudden illness.
"Yeah. I probably just ate something weird yesterday. No need to worry!" Johanna gave a wry smile in response to Dawn's enthusiastic response, and offered her more tea. Dawn had curled up on the sofa underneath three layers of blankets, and was feeling very sorry for herself.
"What did you eat?"
"We had hors-d'oeuvres, and I think there was some kind of fish on them, so that might've been it."
"You're not allergic to fish," Johanna pointed out, but Dawn just shrugged.
"Maybe it wasn't cooked properly."
"Maybe."
The topic of illness was dropped, as Dawn didn't seem to be sick again. However, the next morning, she found herself in the same situation as the day before.
"Dawn, seriously, are you okay?"
"I don't feel okay, mom. I just threw up my guts," Dawn deadpanned, flushing the toilet.
"Dawn, you don't think you could…"
"No."
"I didn't even finish my question, dear."
"I can tell what you're going to say, though."
"I was just offering up a suggestion. But if you're convinced, then there's nothing I can do to change your mind." Johanna left the bathroom, leaving Dawn alone on the floor.
These planted a tiny, tiny seed of doubt in Dawn's mind. They had been careful, hadn't they? She had insisted on using a condom every time, since she wasn't on the pill (she had never complained much about periods before). But… well, now she was paranoid. She grabbed her Pokétch, scrolling through the apps until she reached the calendar. Thinking back in her head, she counted back to her last period. One month… two… and a week. She threw her Pokétch across the room, it sliding out onto the landing. She held her head in her hands. This couldn't be happening, not to her. She was only eighteen; she had so much she wanted to do!
She got up, splashing cold water over her face in an attempt to snap her out of it. It didn't really work, but she left the bathroom anyway, picking up her discarded Pokétch on the way to her bedroom. Dawn grabbed her bag from the floor, throwing her Pokétch, phone and purse into it, before running down the stairs.
"I'm going out."
"You're sick," Johanna reminded, but Dawn was already at the door.
"I'm aware."
"Don't do anything stupid."
"When would I ever?"
Dawn hated doctors. It wasn't even seeing the doctor that bothered her, but waiting to go in. The waiting room was always filled with old people, and she generally felt that their illnesses were ten times more important than hers. There were also people that looked sick, and Dawn always felt awful if she got called in before them. And of course, today was one of those days. Doctor Jules appeared from his room, clipboard in hand and a name on his lips.
"Dawn Berlitz?" Every head in the room turned to her as she stood up, crossing the room with her head held high. She sat down in the seat in front of Doctor Jules, and she finally relaxed.
"What seems to be the problem?" He asked, clicking through various files on his computer.
"I… well…" She fiddled with the hem on her top, not really willing to say what was wrong. "I think I'm pregnant," she whispered, so fast she could barely even hear it.
"Ah. Well, you're probably right then. Women tend to be correct about these things. Have you taken a pregnancy test?"
"No. I panicked and just came here."
"Fair enough. Well, I'm sure you know, but to test for pregnancy, we do a urine test. So if you could, take this, and pee in it, to put it bluntly. There's a bathroom at the bottom of the corridor."
"Thanks," Dawn said, as he handed her a polystyrene tub and lid.
She left the room, heading towards the bathroom. She locked the door, then double and triple checked it just to be sure. Peeing on command was a lot harder than she originally imagined, and after a few minutes of trying, she finally managed to get something into the tub. The bluenette left the cramped room, heading back to the doctor's office.
"Great, thank you. I'll pass this through to the nurse for testing, okay?"
"Okay." He disappeared for a second, coming back empty handed.
"You'll know soon enough!" He sounded enthusiastic about this, but Dawn was anything but. "I have some questions I'm required to ask you… when was your last period, if you can remember?"
"Two months ago, roughly."
"And… when was the last time you engaged in intercourse?" Dawn winced at the word. It wasn't what she was expecting to hear, but she answered anyway.
"About two and a half months ago. I don't see him a lot," she quickly explained. She was hardly going to tell her doctor that they weren't even dating- that was a step too far.
"Okay. From this information alone, I think that it's quite likely that you are in fact pregnant." Great. A nurse appeared from the side door, holding a piece of paper in her hand.
"The results, Doctor."
"Thank you, Carol." He scanned the sheet, before setting it down on the table. "Congratulations, Miss Berlitz. You're pregnant!"
Dawn stormed home, slamming her front door and stomping up the stairs. She threw herself onto her bed, covering her face and resisting the urge to scream. This was not part of her plan. Okay, she always liked the idea of having kids, but not at her age! When she was ten years older, maybe! When she wasn't in the middle of creating herself as a person, she might've considered it! But it was happening now, and she was going to have to deal with it.
She had to tell her mom. She had heard her fumbling about downstairs, and it was only a matter of time before she came upstairs asking questions. Her mom would be okay- she would accept it, because she cared about Dawn more than anything. Telling Paul would be another whole problem. This wasn't something he would take happily to- the two of them were for fun; he had confirmed this on multiple occasions. She didn't see herself having a life with him, and she seriously doubted he wanted to be with her.
As if on cue, Johanna appeared, a mug of tea in each hand.
"Want to talk about it?" No, she didn't, not really, but she didn't have much of a choice.
"I'm pregnant! Surprise! You were right!" She held her hands out to receive her tea, and Johanna passed it over without a word. "Please say something," Dawn begged, after a few moments of silence.
"Who's the father? I didn't think you were dating anyone."
"I just didn't tell you," Dawn sighed, sipping her tea. She hoped her lie wasn't too obvious, but this was the sort of thing her mother picked up on. "His name is Paul."
"Not the Sinnoh League Champion, Paul?"
"Yes, that Paul exactly. He used to be one of Ash's rivals, so I knew him back in the day."
"Well… have you told him?"
"No. I'll do it soon though. I just need to be mentally prepared."
"Do it today," Johanna said solemnly.
"Why?"
"The sooner you get it over with, the better you'll feel."
"I know. But… what do you think?"
"Well… it's not ideal, of course, but I know you'll make a good mom. And hopefully, I'll be a good grandmother."
"Thank you," Dawn said, wrapping her arms around her mom. Johanna patted her on the back, before speaking up again.
"Now, phone him."
She left the room, leaving Dawn with a mug of tea and her sorrows. Dawn considered phoning Paul and just telling him that way, but decided that would be the asshole way of doing it, and she should do it face to face. She picked up her Pokétch and scrolled through the contacts until her finger was hovering above Paul's name. She reconsidered her options, but decided she needed to do this.
"Hello?" Came the response from the other end, and Dawn had to restrain herself from squeaking in fear.
"Hi, Paul, it's Dawn."
"Oh. Uh, can you phone back later? I'm kinda busy."
"This won't take long."
"I'm in a League meeting, and they're giving me weird looks," he hissed, and Dawn rolled her eyes.
"This won't take long."
"Hurry up, then."
"We… um, we need to talk. Tonight, if possible."
"Okay? Where do you want to meet?" Dawn recoiled slightly in shock. She barely even expected him to answer the phone, never mind agree to meet with her.
"Would the restaurant in Sunyshore be okay? At seven."
"Sure. Is that not really far from you, though?"
"It'll be fine."
"Okay then. See you there." He hung up after this, and Dawn flopped backwards on her bed. She definitely had to do it now- there was no going back.
After an hour of trying on outfits, Dawn picked a baby blue knee length dress. She had to look somewhat appealing, but sexy was not something she was going for this evening. She grabbed a clutch, throwing everything in it, and heading out.
"I'm leaving, mom!"
"Good luck, dear!" Came the response from the kitchen.
Dawn called out Togekiss, and jumped on her back. The Jubilee Pokémon ascended, and Dawn finally had a spare moment to calculate what she was going to say to Paul. Just announcing that she was pregnant wasn't going to cut it- she had to be subtle, and not just blurt it out. She landed in Sunyshore much to quickly for her liking, and calmly returned Togekiss to her Pokéball. The restaurant wasn't too far from the Pokémon Centre, and she made it there to see Paul leaning against a column outside.
"You look nice," he commented.
"Thanks."
They took their seats in the restaurant, food being carried out to them almost as soon as they sat down. Ah, the perks of being famous. They ate the meal mostly in silence, Dawn politely refusing wine when it was offered to her.
"So… what did you want to talk about?"
"You're not going to take this well," she said, trying to prepare him the best she could for the news.
"You… want to stop all this?" She closed her eyes tight, hoping and praying that he would take what she was going to say they way she wanted.
"Paul… I'm pregnant."
AN: Okay! So I've been talking about this for a while, and here it is, my first multichaptered PokéAni fanfic! IkariShipping is very important to me, and this story is based around a personal headcanon of mine. Hope you enjoy, and please leave a review! c: