Chapter 2:

The Start of Something New

Dawn reached for the door handle, and opened the door for the others who were going to take their place in the back of Reggie's van. Reggie was around the age of twenty-four, had long purple hair that was pulled back into a messy ponytail, but still had the effect of being attractive. Underneath his bangs, he has dark black eyes, matching Paul's, but it makes sense; Reggie is Paul's older brother. Reggie had offered to drive some of the people up to the base of the trail leading to the top of Mount Coronet. Dawn really liked Reggie, since she first met him. She remembered that she wished that Paul was that nice, due to his past of being a callous and heartless trainer who believed becoming friends with your Pokemon would make them distracted and weak. Who knew that one battle in the Sinnoh League between him and Ash, with Ash winning, would change his whole personality.

After Drew, May and Kenny had climbed in the back of the van, Dawn stepped into the van and took her place on the middle seat behind the passenger seat. Paul sat in the seat next to her, behind the driver's seat, and Brock took the passenger seat. Reggie soon followed to his respectful place in the driver's seat and started the van.

Misty and Barry must have gone with Ash in his car, Dawn thought, realizing that those three weren't in the van.

"Are we all ready?" Reggie asked, looking back at all of his passengers.

A mumble of 'yes' came from the other members in the car. Reggie smiled, turned back around and began to back his van out of the driveway.

"The drive will be about three hours from here," Reggie stated, looking back at the younger kids through the rear view mirror. "Feel free to sleep if you need to."With that, both Ash's car as well as Reggie's van had pulled out of the road that was marked as the entrance to Twinleaf Town.

Dawn looked at Paul who was observing the scenery through the window next to him. She noticed how his onyx eyes seemed to catch every detail, not missing anything that he felt was important. Dawn continued gazing into Paul's eyes when he turned around and noticed he was being observed himself. Dawn blinked and blushed until she was nearly beat red, then turned around and began looking out her own window. Paul just smiled and looked back at the scenery.

He saw me looking at him! Dawn thought, her fear growing by the second. What will he think? Will he think that I like him, or will he think that I hate him? She brought her soft fingertips to the corner of her mouth, as she continued to think. I'll never know if I don't talk to him. All I have to do is talk to him...

Dawn turned back around and looked at Paul and took a deep breath. As she was about to open her mouth to speak, Paul began to ask her a question.

"Hey Dawn," Paul began to say, now looking at Dawn. "What was the first Pokemon you ever caught? Pokemon you received from Professor Rowan, any other professor, or from an egg don't count."

All I have to do is talk to him...

"Well, let's see," Dawn began to answer, her blue eyes now fixed on the ceiling of the van, hoping she become more comfortable talking to him the longer their conversation goes. "I began my journey when I was ten, so that was six years ago. My first Pokemon that I caught in the wild was Buneary." She looked at Paul once more and began to speak again. "What was your first Pokemon you caught?"

"That's a good question," Paul replied, unsure of his answer. "It was either Electavire, when it was an Elekid of course, or Marill, who is now an Azumarill and is with a new trainer. I feel bad now that I gave it away after it fainted in a battle again Roark."Paul's eyes began to drift downwards until they met the floor, remembering the day he gave Azumarill away with total ease. Ash has said that Azumarill simply wanted to be Paul's friend, but never received the chance.

"It's okay Paul," Dawn said to him, placing her left hand on his right shoulder, trying to ease his sadness. "I'm sure Azumarill still remembers you, and who knows, maybe you'll see it again."

Paul looked up at Dawn and smiled. "You may be right, Dawn. Thanks," he finally said. Their eyes seemed to have a staring contest the longer their eyes stayed in contact. Their silence was finally broken when May asked a question behind them.

"Reggie," May hollered, sitting up placing her elbows and forearms on the back of the seats of Dawn and Paul. "Are we there yet?"

Reggie laughed upon hearing May's question. "Well, we're almost to Jubilife City, so we've been driving for almost half an hour. So we've got about two and a half hours left."

"Ugh!" May moaned before slouching back in her seat, folding her arms. "That will take forever."

"May," Drew began. "If you sleep on the way there, the time will seem to go by faster."

"I know," May answered. "But I'm not tired!"

"Hey, Reggie?"Kenny began to ask, his hand raised a little as if asking for permission to speak.

He's always so polite, Dawn thought, remembering how kind Kenny was back in Kindergarten and still will be in the future.

"Could we stop through Oreburg City's Poke Mart when we pass through? They have some potions there that I want to get, but they don't have them in Jubilife City," Kenny continued.

"We're not stopping through Oreburg City, actually," Reggie replied. "You're thinking of Hyper Potions, right?"

Kenny nodded. "Right."

"They have those in Eterna City, so we can stop there,"Reggie continued. "Is that okay with you?"

"Yeah, no problem! I'm not in any rush to get them, I just need to stock up on them before the hike," Kenny answered back.

"But Reggie, wouldn't it be quicker to get to Mount Coronet to go through Oreburg City?"Drew asked, his green eyes filled with confusion.

"Yes it would be, Drew, but the base of that trail on Mount Coronet near Oreburg City only takes you up to Hearthome City. The trail up near Eterna takes you to the top of the mountain, so that's why we are heading through there instead," Reggie replied.

"That makes sense," Dawn said, now understanding Reggie's thoughts behind not going through Oreburg City.

"Reggie, are you going to go home after you drop us off?" Paul asked, his hand now on the back of Reggie's seat.

"Not right away," Reggie said, glancing at Paul now and then through his rear view mirror. "I am going to get a Cherubi and a Cyndaquil from an old lady in Celestic Town. I've been asked to watch them for the next couple weeks while their trainer goes on vacation to Snowpoint City. I'll be stopping there before heading home, why?"

"I was wondering if you could watch Weavile for me," Paul stated. "In case I see a Pokemon up there that I want to catch, I want to make sure I have room."

"Sure, Paul, not a problem," replied Reggie, taking Weavile's Pokeball from Paul.

"You're lucky your brother is a breeder," Dawn said to Paul, attempting to start up a conversation with him again. I can't believe our first conversation went so well! I wonder if our next will go the same, Dawn thought. "I'm sure it has tons of advantages."

"It has disadvantages, too," Paul replied. "You don't get to train your Pokemon for that time, so you miss out on some new things, but that's really the only disadvantage."

"Ah," Dawn replied. "I see what your saying."

"Another disadvantage might be that the Pokemon may also have a slight change in personality when the trainer gets back to receive their Pokemon," Brock started, now looking at Paul and Dawn. "When that happens, the trainer might feel a little awkward when meeting with their Pokemon again, not knowing the new things that Pokemon might like or dislike. That's another disadvantage that I can think of."

"You are right, Brock," Reggie agreed. "I forgot about that factor."

Brock nodded then looked back out of the windshield, watching the Pelipper and Wingull flying overhead.

"So it is going to take forever?" May again prodded, obviously losing her patience of being in a van for a long period of time.

"Yes!" everyone said back, also impatient due to the lack of May's patience. May folded her arms and slouched in her seat once again, pouting due to the driving not exactly going the way she thought it was going to go.

Dawn turned back around and continued her conversation with Paul, who seemed just as interested in their conversation as Dawn was.

"So how old were you when you started your journey?" Dawn asked Paul. She knew that he had already traveled through all of the other regions before embarking on a journey in Sinnoh.

"I went with Reggie on his journeys through the other regions, but I came back here and began my journey in my home region when I was almost eleven. I was eight when I went with Reggie on his journeys," Paul answered, smiling back at Dawn. He also was enjoying their conversations.

I wonder if he likes me, Dawn thought to herself once more, still not confident if Paul liked her as much as she liked him. The two of them continued their conversation even though everyone else in the van, except for Reggie, had fallen asleep. They kept smiling at each other and really began to get to know the other person. Dawn felt that Paul was going to be a really good friend to her, no matter which way their relationship takes off. Eventually, Paul had also fallen asleep, due to the long drive to her apartment this morning from his house in Veilstone City. Suddenly feeling exhausted herself, Dawn leaned her head against the window to her right, and closed her eyes, waiting for sleep to take over her.

I'll just have to wait and find out.