"Hey, Conway, long time no see," Dawn whispered right behind him, as creepily as she could muster.
Startled, he screamed and lost his balance. His glasses slid off his face and landed in the dirt. Not exactly the reaction Dawn had been going for. Oops…
"I'm so sorry!" she cried. She really meant it, too. She tried to pick up Conway's glasses for him, but he got to them first. They were unbroken, probably thanks to their thick black plastic frames.
And as soon as those black plastic frames were back where they belonged, Conway stared at Dawn, and she stared right back. Three or four years is a long time to an adolescent.
Dawn could see that Conway hadn't lost his tan, his clunky glasses, or his longish, choppy haircut (not that she minded, really), but he had grown a few inches. She had, too, and although her chest was still nothing compared to that of her friend May, she had beautiful long legs that were the bane of miniskirts everywhere, leading her to usually wear designer jeans instead. Her inky blue hair was still clipped into place over her ears, but tied in a ponytail in the back, a style she'd used for many of her early Contests.
After a moment, Conway wailed, "I didn't come here because I knew you'd be here! I didn't even know you'd be here, I swear!"
Dawn wasn't entirely sure how to respond to that. She settled for "I wasn't accusing you of anything."
"Oh. Sorry." Conway looked relieved. "I guess my analysis was…unsuccessful. I thought perhaps you were using my old trick against me to make a point."
Dawn was trying to figure out if his voice had gotten any deeper. She didn't think so. Whatever. "I think you failed to take into account the fact that I might not have put so much thought into it." Seriously, why had she done that, she now wondered.
"I suppose I can dish it out but I can't take it." Conway shook his head and his glasses shifted position. He was forced to adjust them to no dramatic effect for once.
As their conversation hit an awkward silence, they realized they were the only ones not crowded around something in the center of courtyard.
Of course, the first event of the Pokémon Summer Academy. The one-day training of a randomly selected Pokémon, followed by a somewhat disorganized competition at the end of the day.
"We'd better get in line." Conway smiled cheerfully.
"Yup." Dawn nodded, and they were out of things to say again.
This awkward silence continued as they waited for their turn to select a PokéBall. All around them, the other Trainers were getting acquainted with the Pokémon they'd be training today. Dawn saw a Muk and wondered if it was the Grimer she'd been teamed up with back then.
Finally, they were given the chance to reach into the box of PokéBalls. Dawn tossed hers upward with a flourish and a Marill flew out. Dawn had only seen this particular species one time before, at a reunion Ash had held for his traveling companions, past and current. She pulled out her PokéDex to get some information on it, but just as she turned the device on, Conway, who was standing nearby with a familiar-looking Monferno, started to speak.
"Ah, a Marill," he said, "Water-type. It evolves into Azumarill and can evolve from Azurill, although it's often born in its own form. See the orb-like thing on the end of its tail? It can inflate that for buoyancy. And I believe they're indigenous to the Johto region, although I've seen them just west of Veilstone - practically in my own backyard."
The Pokémon in question seemed just as impressed as Dawn was. It wiggled its ears and bounced on its stubby feet. "Mariiill!"
Dawn reached down to scoop Marill up in her arms. She was about to mention Ash's friend Tracey and his Marill, but Monferno suddenly tugged violently on Conway's sweater vest.
"Fer! Fer! Monferno!" It seemed to want attention.
"Oh," Conway turned around to look at the Fire-type. "What do you want?" he asked it sincerely.
Monferno pointed to its stomach.
"I'm afraid I don't have any food," Conway said.
"Wait, I do." Dawn reached into her bag and pulled out a Poffin case. After some thought, she picked out a yellow one and placed it in Monferno's paw.
The Pokémon ate it eagerly and seemed satisfied.
"Dawn, I don't have much experience with Poffins and such, but I do know that every individual Pokémon has a favorite flavor…how did you figure out which kind of Poffin this Monferno would like, assuming it wasn't just a lucky guess?"
"I kind of have a knack for figuring out a Pokémon's Contest potential and favorite flavor." Dawn blushed with pride.
"So what sort of Contest potential does Monferno here have? Conway seemed genuinely interested.
"Well, I think it would be good at…displaying its power. Showing off the destructive capabilities of its fire-type attacks. In the Appeal round, I would probably toss up props for it to attack, and then for the-"
Dawn was forced to break off her sentence as Professor Rowan's voice came on over a system of speakers stationed in various places throughout the campus, if you could call it that.
"Now that all participants have their Pokémon for the first day's events, we can declare the Pokémon Summer Academy officially begun!"
